I am exhausted. Stressed. Frustrated. Sad. The “back and forth” with the vaccine mandate for educational staff is just ridiculous. Three days before the “official“ start of school, the mayor proclaimed that CBO Pre-K teachers and staff who were contracted with the DOE would have NO testing option. We would be forced to get the… Continue reading NYC Educator Says, “Enough! Who Will Teach Our Neediest Children?”
After attending a HUGE “Teachers for Choice” rally at City Hall last Wednesday, I really saw firsthand how the vaccine mandate movement was building. Thousands were there and countless news outlets. Teachers for Choice is led by Michael Kane, a DOE teacher who has left the UFT due to these mandates, and is encouraging others… Continue reading NYC Issues Vaccine Mandate: Teachers For Choice Push Back
My Brooklyn colleague, Marina Kolmanovsky, wrote this about the prospect of requiring Pre-K teachers to get vaccines before returning to work: While my view on the Covid vaccine might be an unpopular one, it is nevertheless my opinion, and I have no desire to get it. My site has been reopened since June 4, 2020… Continue reading Two Pre-K Teachers’ Views on Mandatory COVID Vaccines
America hates teachers. There’s no other way to put it. I’m not interested in massaging language to say what is quite obvious to me and so many of my fellow teachers — especially when nobody cares to massage their language when they’re out there bashing us! America has a very toxic relationship with teachers and… Continue reading America’s Toxic Relationship With Teachers
“Teachers get off at three o’clock. They don’t work a full day.” “Teachers get summers off and all those holidays.” These are the comments that teachers often hear that make our skin crawl. If our workdays are so cushy, why aren’t people lining up to take our place? Folks who make these remarks never seem… Continue reading Lets Talk About Days and Hours Worked
If I were asked what in my experience was the number one obstacle to teaching an effective lesson in the classroom, the answer would undoubtedly have been an unruly or disruptive student. A young girl or boy who was lacking discipline or a child who wanted to be the constant center of attention could cause… Continue reading No Smartphones Allowed!
This is a guest post by Chloe Pashman, an Education Director of a CBO preschool in the Bronx. She has worked in the Early Childhood Education field for over twenty years. On July 9th, 2019, after decades of unjust, racist, and illegal pay disparities between CBO (Community-Based Organizations) PreKs, and DOE (Department of Education) PreKs,… Continue reading “Mayor de Blasio, Clean Up Your Mess!” Non-Union Pre-Kindergarten Staff Speak Out.
This school year started off on a not-so-good note for me. My dad’s favorite uncle died and my siblings and I had to accompany our father to Jamaica, West Indies for the funeral. This caused me to miss the first three days of back-to-school. You see, just as we adults have troubling things going on… Continue reading Are Our Social-Emotional Needs Being Met? No! NY Students Are Hurting And So Are Their Teachers.
I have been reflecting about the ways students treat their teachers and their school facilities. As a teacher, I’ve always had excellent classroom management. That comes from being a no-nonsense mom long before I became a teacher. Kids are like dogs — they smell fear. They know who to mess with and with whom to… Continue reading I Witnessed My Mother Endure Blatant Disrespect At The Hands Of Her Students Today
I’m so scared for my Black students. I can’t speak about any other demographic. I work with Black students every day and I am so scared about what I see. More and more they seem less and less interested in academic endeavors. We talk so much about having more technology in the classroom but today… Continue reading I’m So Scared For My Black Students
