It is not uncommon for a student to struggle with newly learned material. The question we need to ask is when does it become problematic?

We don’t have to choose between structure and creativity. The best teaching lives in the in-between, where we follow a script, but we fill it with our stories, our students’ voices, and our classroom rhythms.

I see sleepy kids every day in my 8th grade English class. Their heads are drooping. Their eyes are barely open. Their energy is low.

I avidly recall a second grade class that would excitedly huddle around my rocking chair for story time. Students scrambled around sliding chairs to the carpet where I read heartwarming and sometimes zany tales, they reminded me that story time was counted among the most meaningful and cherished moments of a child’s day. Story time is a child’s portal into endless worlds, kingdoms, and dimensions.

In-person instruction has been a common source of stress during what I have dubbed “The Year of COVID,” with instructions on how to teach changing by the second.

Musicals form an important part of the arts, serving as powerful resources for student learning, engagement, and motivation.

When I told my fifth-grade class that they were old enough to take charge of their own learning, something unexpected happened.

Students often display a morbid curiosity that I feel I cannot ignore, but can I lean into it? Can I use this fascination in a way that engages students, but also humanizes them?

Student absences are not a new issue in education, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have only added to this growing problem.