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Educators: These Two Principles Are Your Universal Code of Ethics

The sphere of ethical responsibilities and moral dilemmas is not just limited to teachers. Professionals from all fields—including doctors, architects, engineers, or psychologists—face ethical issues during their professional duties and find themselves grappling with right and wrong. That’s why most professions have generated a universal code of ethics that every professional belonging to the group is supposed to follow. Doctors abide by the Hippocratic oath, for example. But as mentioned, the teaching profession unfortunately has no universally accepted code of ethics. The InTASC Standards come close. A number of organizations have formulated useful codes of ethics. The National Education Association …

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Ask An Expert: Disrupting the School-to-Prison Cycle

Question: Dr. Lynch, I am a youth counselor in Philadelphia, PA. Everyday I witness the public school system fail our children. The end result is that many of them drop out and end up in prison. What can activists like myself do to end the school to prison pipeline? Nate T. Answer: Nate, thank you for sending this question my way. Though all people are genetically predisposed, it is ultimately the environment that encompasses the formative years that shapes lives. Some of that comes from home environments, and the rest from society. Our nation’s public schools play an integral role …

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14 Signs of Cyberbullying in the Classroom

By Gabe Duverge One of the biggest trends affecting education across the country is the migration of bullying to digital media, which is commonly referred to as cyberbullying. About 7 percent of students in grades 6-12 experience cyberbullying each year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying is much harder for educators to detect and address. The perpetrators are often able to maintain anonymity, and much of the cyberbullying activity occurs outside of school. Like traditional bullying, there are warning signs for teachers to watch for in their students. These signs can help you identify …

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How Teachers Should Build Their Resumes

When you apply for a teaching position and hand in your teaching portfolio, your resume will likely be the first component that your potential employers review. A résumé is a one- to two-page written summary of your abilities and experiences. It assists prospective employers in considering your potential for success in their school system. Although it doesn’t replace an application, it should be submitted along with it. The overall goal of the résumé is to make it as easy as possible for the person reading it to quickly find the information they need. How to Organize a Resume The first …

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A Metric for the Big Picture: The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards

Obtaining a National Board Certification is every teacher’s professional dream. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching created the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBTS) in 1987. The aim was to create a set of high standards for teachers and to certify teachers who meet those standards. The Carnegie Foundation has also established four steps in the career ladder of a teacher. These include the licensed teacher, the national board-certified teacher, the advanced teacher, and the lead teacher, based on several parameters. The following are the requirements for applying for a national board certification: 1. Met all degree …

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How to Spell Words Made Easy: Go Back To The Roots

Note: Julie Bradley has been an educator for more than 30 years. Her expertise has taken her to outback Australia and around the world presenting to educators and parents on spelling and foundational skills. Mrs Bradley is Managing Director of Smart Achievers, a worldwide distributor for Smart Words Spelling, Reading and Perceptual Motor Programs. Another amazing session in Minnesota, USA with spelling guru, Denise Eide, was on Greek and Latin roots. You might wonder why we need to bother with these when we are learning how to spell words in English. What’s interesting is that 95% of multisyllabic words in …

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Understanding the Teacher Shortage Crisis and the Solutions to Fix it

By Keith Lockwood According to numerous sources, America is experiencing a nationwide teacher shortage that will undoubtedly escalate to a crisis within the next two years. Recent reports state that there are currently over 30,000 teacher vacancies this year that will increase to 70,000 over the next two years. The reasons for the decline in the number of teachers are correlated to teacher evaluation systems blended with high stakes standardized testing implemented over the past ten years, a shrinking student base in teacher education programs, a lack of respect for the teaching profession, and low salaries and benefits. These variables …

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Ask An Expert: Helping Students Avoid the Summer Slide

When the school year ends, teachers are happy to have a break from the drudgery of the school year, but they also want students to avoid the summer slide. The summer slide occurs when children lose some of the academic skills and dispositions that they gained during the school year due to the absence and scarcity of quality learning activities during summer vacation. As the old saying goes, if you don’t use it, you lose it. To succeed academically, children need continuous opportunities to acquire new skills and practice existing ones. This need is especially heightened during the summer months, …

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Instead of textbooks, why not pay teachers for content?

By Brandon Wilmarth As an English teacher in Oklahoma’s Moore Public Schools, I was recruited by some textbook providers to help them create content. It was a lot of fun, and I was happy to make some extra money doing it. But there are so many teachers in our district who are much more talented than I am. If I was developing curriculum materials that school systems across the nation were purchasing, they certainly could be doing this, too. So when I became a technology integration specialist for the district, one of my long-term goals was to leverage the expertise …

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How to Build a Teaching Portfolio

When applying for a teaching position, you’ll need to have a portfolio put together and ready for presentation to your potential employers. A teaching portfolio is a compilation of works collected throughout your teaching career that highlight your work and accomplishments. Portfolios can be used for various reasons, including as an evaluation tool when completing your teacher education program or when interviewing for a job. A teaching portfolio should reflect your personality and highlight and describe who you are as a teacher. Although each portfolio is unique, all portfolios contain the same kinds of information. Materials are typically contained in …

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