Kim Haynes

It’s that time of year again. The months between winter break and spring break can feel like the longest days of a teacher’s life. But don’t despair! Here are some ways to snap yourself – or your students – out of that slump.

There’s a faculty meeting tomorrow, a parent-teacher conference the next day, you have to prep your materials for that project next week, and – almost forgot – you still haven’t graded the assignments from two weeks ago, plus a new stack of papers walks in with today’s students. And somewhere in all of this you might actually want to see your family or catch a movie while it’s still in the theater.

Sound familiar? Don’t despair – try these tips to avoid grading overload:

Looking for a way to celebrate Black History Month without once again teaching kids about Martin Luther King Junior and Rosa Parks?

Searching for a lesson plan that honors the ethnic heritage of all your students?

Here are four different ideas to try out:

English-Language Learners are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States: in fact, the percentage of ELL students grew 60% between 1995 and 2005, according to the New York Times.

Many teachers worry about effectively teaching English learners while still meeting the needs of their other students. Here are some classroom strategies are actually good for both types of students.