-
When sickness sets in, teachers can be reluctant to take sick days
Brian Stack EducationMy wife Erica recently returned to the elementary classroom after a decade-long hiatus to raise our young family. In late January, she succumbed to her first multiday battle with the flu. She knew she was going to be in trouble when the aches and pains started to set in, then the cough followed almost immediately after. Twenty-four hours later, she was laid up on the couch and miserable. Ironically, for as bad as she felt physically, the guilt she felt from missing her students and her team was significantly more impactful than anything else.
-
US employers add 225,000 jobs; unemployment ticks up to 3.6%
Seth Sandronsky Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementIn January, U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew by a total of 225,000 after December's gain of 145,000, while the rate of unemployment rose to 3.6% from 3.5% the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2019, the average monthly gain of jobs was 175,000. The total number of unemployed persons rose to 5.9 million in January from 5.8 million in December. January's data showed that unemployment among major worker groups experienced little or no change versus December's numbers.
-
Understanding the structure of Arabic for ESL teachers
Douglas Magrath EducationAn understanding of the basic structure of Arabic is useful to ESL teachers who have Arabic students or who are planning to teach in the Middle East. This knowledge will help instructors understand some of the problems Arabic learners will have as well as anticipate linguistic interference as well as crossover. The English learner often attempts to communicate by drawing upon translations from the native language. First-language influence is strongest in complex word order and in word-for-word translations of phrases.
-
In 2020, more states to focus on earlier, diverse computer science education
Bambi Majumdar EducationComputer science education is essential for students who love to code as well as those who do not. In this digital age, a computer science curriculum will enable students of all ages to develop essential logic and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, demographic disparities need to be addressed both in terms of gender and race, which has led to an educational gap in the field between white males and minority and female students.
-
The cost of changing jobs
Anne Rose Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementWhat is the cost of changing jobs? Make no mistake, there is always a cost involved that has nothing to do with salary. Gone are the days when the norm was to work one job at one company until retirement. We have a much more mobile workforce with more opportunities, and people change jobs often to avail themselves of perceived advantages, better pay, and better work-life balance. But sometimes when you change jobs, the benefits don't materialize as you'd expected, and regrets ensue.
-
Rest your eyes and listen
Debra Josephson Abrams EducationStories designed to teach particular lessons, such as Aesop's Fables or Chassidic tales, can be used to promote cultural awareness and sensitivity; critical and creative thinking; making predictions and inferences; the elements of literature; and story-making and storytelling so students can create their own lessons. Though we often associate fables and tales with children, they transcend age; the best have lessons to teach all of us. There are a number of ways you can design a fable-making project.
-
Non-negotiable needs for struggling learners
Howard Margolis EducationWhen teachers and other IEP team members work tirelessly to accelerate struggling learners' (SLs) rates of progress, they often fall short of their goals. Often, progress regresses, stagnates, or crawls forward by only small inches rather than the 10 yards the IEP team had deemed realistic. Why regression? Why stagnation? Why only a few inches? Some of these SLs try hard but unsuccessfully to succeed. Some don't focus, some lack energy, some show little interest, some angrily resist instruction, and some disrupt instruction with ingenious antics.
-
When it comes to social media, what do our students need to know?
Brian Stack EducationImagine a world without social media. No likes. No status updates. No notifications. Those of us born before 2000 can remember life before social media, but I'm not sure how many of us would actually want to go back to those days for any length of time, especially when we start to weigh the advantages and disadvantages that social media platforms have given us in both our personal and professional lives. We are at a unique time in our human existence — one where teachers and students are learning how to navigate this brave, new digital world. How can teachers make sense of all of this so that they can do right by their students?
-
Battles won and lost in American education’s bitter reading wars
Patrick Gleeson EducationAmerican and British educators are divided into two opposing camps over the best way to teach children to read: the “whole language” camp and the “phonics” camp. Both methods have been taught for over a century, but since 1955 the two camps have become stridently opposed to a degree that justifies the popular title for the dispute: “the reading wars.” Below is a brief review of this curious battle of angry academics and legislators, along with my answers to three cogent questions: What does each group propose? Why do they distrust and dislike each other so much? And, finally, is there any hope of a truce?
-
How I moved on after being discriminated against because of my learning…
Amy Temple EducationA few weeks ago, I applied for a job as a freelance proofreader for a proofreading company. Before I go on, let me say that I am experienced in this field. I recently proofread "My Heart Speaks," a book of poetry written by Ernest Roberson Sr. I participated in the Business Professionals of America's district contest in high school, where I placed in the top 10 of the administrative assisting and proofreading/editing competitions. So, I didn't go into this opportunity totally blind. I was sent a sample essay to proofread — obviously to show my skills — and I honestly thought I did pretty well.
All Education Articles