It is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This is the time of the year where we acknowledge the contributions and heritage of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. As is the case with every heritage or history month, we should do this year-round. I always try to share some history during heritage months. Typically,…
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and now more than ever, mental health needs to be a priority. People across the world were not prepared to enter into a pandemic. As more people become vaccinated, restrictions are being dropped, and people are being pushed into life as it was before the pandemic. The problem is…
The end of the last school year and this school year has been like no other. It is especially important for parents to do a pulse check and check-in with their children at the end of the school year. My twin sons’ last day of school was last Thursday … they did start school at…
News flash: most teachers work during summer break! Despite the rumors that are floating around out there, too many teachers work during part of summer break or even throughout the summer break. This year, teachers should put themselves first and relax. In college, teachers are taught some skills they might not use but they are…
Last week, I attended the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL) Conference. The keynote speaker was Randi Foor Dalton, and her presentation “Decolonize Your Library” had principles that were applicable outside of the library space. Dalton, who is Haudenosaunee (hoe-dee-no-SHOW-nee) and a children’s librarian in Michigan, explained the importance of decolonization and the impact…
COVID-19 and the impromptu e-Learning movement that it caused was the biggest education story of last year. Within that story, there were two minor subplots: the digital divide and e-Learning absenteeism. People were quick to blame the latter on the former which is only natural. The digital divide has long established the gap in technology…
COVID-19 has shut schools down all over the country. As more people get vaccinated, they are slowly beginning to open back up. Some areas are still online only. Many are offering hybrid instruction, but nationwide most districts have already returned to some level of in-person learning. US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona expects every district…
As the school year winds to a close, typically educators begin talking about the summer slide and how to prevent it. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, learning loss has become a prominent focus in schools. If we are being real, too many students were behind before the pandemic hit. Then, the pandemic exacerbated and widened…
It’s state testing season. It is nobody’s favorite time of the year. We have talked at length about how the state tests, however tedious and inconvenient they may be, are a necessary evil. Because of this, schools, students, and parents should take them seriously. With that being said, schools should not be using them as…
School nurses have always played a critical role in schools, but their work became more important once the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020. The end of the 2019-2020 school year ended with students learning from home. Then, many schools reopened at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, reminding us all of the impact of…