Top Teacher Stories: Week of November 1, 2019

The Chicago teacher strike comes to an end.

Every Friday, the WeAreTeachers editors share our favorite finds and news from the week, from the top teacher stories to must-use discounts and the latest and greatest memes. It gets better: if you sign up for our newsletter, you’ll get these picks before everyone else.

1. Chicago teacher strike comes to an end

But the union leader says it’s not a time for photo ops.

2. Here’s what we really need if we want to save education

We couldn’t love this list more.

3. There really is no tired like teacher tired

No Tired Like Teacher Tired

And these teacher exhaustion stories prove it.

5. The reality of teaching on your feet all day

These laugh-out-loud truths nail it.

5. Stop taking piles of paperwork home every night

Grading Done at School

Ways to get grading done at school.

6. What inclusion really means

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Love this simple graphic for breaking down a complex idea.

7. This might shock some of you

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Breaking news!

Plus, other stories you may have missed on WeAreTeachers:

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to get our top stories every week! Plus, check out top stories from prior weeks below.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 25, 2019

1. Chicago teachers strike for school nurses, librarians

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2. A reminder to lead with compassion

3. Teaching with autoimmune disorders and other chronic conditions

4. Why we’re loving the new teacher rewards program from Carson Dellosa

5. Woof! We’re here for this trend

6. Sometimes you have to sweat for it

7. A whiteboard upgrade we’re excited about

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 11, 2019

1. Why we need more black men in the classroom

2. We need to put more trust back in teachers.

3. ‘Tis the season for DEVOLSON

4. Obsessed with these recycling bin upgrades

5. What are the comfiest teacher shoes?

6. The pull of a pencil sale

7. You can only choose two.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 4, 2019

1. How can we retain more teachers of color?

2. The controversy of the “clear the room” strategy

3. How can we better help kids with anxiety?

4. We ❤ these free storybooks

5. Have you tried this miracle product?

6. Accurate.

7. Forget about the trappings.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of September 27, 2019

1. When teachers are physically attacked on the job

2. A problem high school teachers say they’re seeing more and more of

3. The problem of teacher-on-teacher bullying

4. Love this cool opportunity for students

5. Did you know you can get certified in mental health first aid?

6. The tiny pencil struggle

7. Then again, we’ll take tiny pencils over dead squirrels.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of September 20, 2019

1. New study shows teens’ biggest concerns—as shown in their letters to political candidates

2. Reading strategies that work, according to science

3. Why it’s time to back away from the alligator mouth

4. Going to hang this recycling poster above all of our bins

5. Should hugs and other physical contact be a part of teaching?

6. The idea that every teacher is going to steal for back-to-school night

7. Oh, the darkness of back-to-school

Top Teacher Stories: Week of September 13, 2019

1. Love, Teach shares “the biggest shift” she’s made in her teaching

2. Almost one in five people say they wanted to be a teacher when they grew up

3. Put down those Capri Sun straws

4. A simple certification that means better-paying jobs for your students

5. Bulletin boards that aren’t just pretty to look at

6. What teachers need

7. Our wish for your weekend

Top Teacher Stories: Week of September 6, 2019

1. Finally, something we can all agree on

2. The case for not having a classroom library

3. Why do we insist on telling kids that learning constantly needs to be fun?

4. An easy way to get students tuned into current events

5. It’s early September, and teacher exhaustion is real

6. Let’s redefine what it means to be positive

7. The sacrifices we make

Top Teacher Stories: Week of August 30, 2019

1. Ask the teachers and you might get a different story

2. Should teachers use sarcasm?

3. How to get student buy-in on your classroom culture

4. A child is not an N or a K

5. Childhood depression is on the rise

6. Facts

7. True for our students, our colleagues, everyone we meet

Top Teacher Stories: Week of August 23, 2019

1. What #clearthelist gets wrong.

2. The impact of the border crisis on schools.

3. A name-learning hack that works

4.   A new tool that looks worth checking out

5. The problem with saying “times”

6. We have to make it explicit

7. Real talk on BTS alarms

Top Teacher Stories: Week of August 16, 2019

1. No more name shaming, please

2. A guide for making the first day go more smoothly

3. A reminder that “color-blindness” is not a good thing

4. How do you know if kids are having trouble seeing?

5. Help, we’re on an emotional roller coaster and we can’t get off

6. A shout out to you, and you, and you, and you.

7. The seating chart struggle is real, my friends

Top Teacher Stories: Week of August 9, 2019 

1. New report shows teacher frustration is at an all-time high

2. Teaching math with social justice in mind

3. Tips for choosing a class novel

4. Bon voyage!

5. We’re in love with our latest classroom poster

6. Good advice as we head into a new school year

7. Pencil problems

Top Teacher Stories: Week of August 2, 2019

1. The brilliance of a “comfort closet”

2. Trauma doesn’t always look the way you’d expec

3. I want to try all of these team-building activities

4. The scoop on teacher deals

5. The new-teacher advice we read every year

6. This sounds about right

7. It’s 2019, aren’t we supposed to be farther along with time travel by now?

Top Teacher Stories: Week of July 26, 2019

1. Hey, it turns out grown-ups don’t like clip charts, either

2. It’s time to rethink kindergarten

3. Proud to be a middle school teacher…

4. In case you need a new laptop

5. We share our favorite flexible seating options

6. I’m totally fine

7. Too real

Top Teacher Stories: Week of July 19, 2019

1. #NoSummersOff campaign tackles the myth of the 12-week vacation

2. When you feel like you can’t show your true self at school

3. The prejudice against older teachers

4. The truth about trauma

5. Well, shiitake! Curse word alternatives for teachers

6. How do those Pinterest teachers do it?

7. The difference you make, every day

Top Teacher Stories: Week of July 12, 2019

  1. Why are teachers still paying for their own school supplies?

2. The fundamental importance of self-care

3. Why we need to fight for school librarians

4. Be the coolest teacher in your school when you win these robots

5. There’s nothing like visiting with a former student

6. The Netflix binge that never ends

7. Made us laugh…

Top Teacher Stories: Week of June 28, 2019

1. What teachers really need

2. We’ll take the discount, but…

3. The powerful bond between teacher and student

4. We’re giving away iPads

5. What are students’ biggest motivation killers?

6. Let’s prioritize kindness.

7. AirDrop for the win

Top Teacher Stories: Week of June 21, 2019

1. “Why I stay”

2. The rise of 4-day school weeks

3. The horrible things we do to our students

4. Getting middle schoolers to embrace differences

5. How to stop yelling

6. Over here trying to relax like…

7. When we have to turn in proof to the tooth fairy…

Top Teacher Stories: Week of June 14, 2019

1. Teacher’s “filter-less” view of classroom challenges goes viral

2. The truth about teacher workload

3. Proof that my disorganization is a GOOD thing

4. Hooray for live theater!

5. How you can save at Disney this summer

6. Copying this for my classroom next year…

7. Take our Twitter poll

Top Teacher Stories: Week of June 7, 2019

1. That’s it, we’re all moving to Johnstown, PA

2. It’s time to rethink perfect attendance awards

3. Is Donuts With Dads outdated?

4. Are your students money smart?

5. A cool way to get free books

6. How to be a teacher in 2019

7. Me rn

Top Teacher Stories: Week of May 31, 2019

1. Denver teacher adopts sick student

2. The trouble with kindergarten

3. Why cursive still matters

4. An answer to teacher stress

5. Because we could all use a little humor this time of year.

6. My new teaching motto

7. For real though…

Top Teacher Stories: Week of May 24, 2019

1.  Teacher thank you notes that make it all worthwhile

2. Texas school triples recess and guess what?

3. Classroom fundraiser ideas that go beyond the bake sale

4. Have you entered our Teacher Appreciation giveaways yet?

5.  Too much screen time at school?

6.  This time of year, we all get a little squirrely.

7. Finally, 101 ways to cope with stress

Top Teacher Stories: Week of May 17, 2019

1. It’s better to be rich than smart, according to new research from Georgetown 

2. Recess shouldn’t be a requirement, says Georgia Governor

3. Are teacher’s leadership skills a corporate liability

4. #MayProblems

5. 17 Things Teachers Wish People Understood About Teaching

6. We Are Not Okay!

Top Teacher Stories: Week of May 10, 2019

1. Oregon teachers not asking for raises, just nurses, librarians, and arts education

2. Empathize first, and the rest will follow

3. Why is this happening in 2019?

4. A good deal on continuing education

5. Bookmark this; read every day until school gets out

6. Take that, Superman!

7. Current mood

Top Teacher Stories: Week of May 3, 2019

1. Our favorite teacher appreciation giveaways

2. Plus don’t miss our list of Teacher Appreciation discounts…

3. What teachers need to know about the rise in teen suicide

4. The problem with adding cursive to the curriculum

5. The pros and cons of coming to teaching later in life…

6. Why teaching is worth it…

7. A genius way to teach 3D shapes

Top Teacher Stories: Week of April 26, 2019

1. Can we all agree that we need to STOP taking recess away from kids?

2. Why don’t all schools have EpiPens?

3. The many benefits of therapy dogs in school

4. An inspiring event to wrap up the school year

5. Rocking that teacher apron…

6. It’s usually worth it to dig deeper

7. Important message to that one teacher in your school…

Top Teacher Stories: Week of April 19, 2019

1. AFT President Randi Weingarten delivers wide-ranging speech on the state of teaching

2. Plus, in the Breaking News category, it turns out teachers don’t get lunch breaks

3. What can teachers in training learn from prisoners?

4. “That kid” is so often dealing with pain or fear

5. We’re digging this source for free classroom video

6. Anyone who says “kids these days”…

7. BRB, printing these for our next faculty meeting

Top Teacher Stories: Week of April 12, 2019

1. Teachers can get free flights to Mexico for Teacher Appreciation Week

2. This is one of the biggest pain points of our week 

3. James Patterson supports classroom libraries

4. Great phonics practice for the end of the year

5. We’d love to see this idea spread

6. The challenge of Oppositional Defiance Disorder

7. Totally playing this at our next faculty meeting

Top Teacher Stories: Week of April 5, 2019

1. Our favorite P.E. game since the parachute

2. A smart way to keep hungry kids fed

3. Adulting class? Yes, please

4. How much do you know about special ed law?

5. How to make co-teaching work

6. Who needs CEUs when you have BFFs?

7. A pretty epic prank

Top Teacher Stories: Week of March 29, 2019

1. Betsy DeVos argues for bigger class sizes

2. What are the best states for teachers?

3. Gear up for April Fools’ Day with this epic list

4. A cool contest for high school girls

5. It’s getting to be that time of year…

6. A teacher’s March Madness bracket

7. We can’t stop laughing at this #laminatingfail

Top Teacher Stories: Week of March 22, 2019

1. School districts are banning DonorsChoose.org

2. Indiana teachers shot with pellet guns during active shooter drill

3. The coolest school bathrooms you ever did see

4. Surprising classroom triggers for students who have experienced trauma

5. Save this list for when you’re in need of some conversation starters 

6. The genius of the purple folder

7. Kids are so literal

Top Teacher Stories: Week of March 15, 2019

1. Test anxiety is on the rise

2. Smart and easy classroom swaps you can make for the environment

3. Our favorite classroom dice games

4. Yay! Pizza on us

5. Middle schoolers are a little bit evil

6. The most genius classroom management trick

7. My kinda teachers

Top Teacher Stories: Week of March 8, 2019

1. The value of old-fashioned note-taking

2. Sometimes all it takes is encouraging kids to speak up

3. Forget your bottle biographies

4. Kids are so amazingly creative

5. Some helpful tips for standardized test season

6. There has never been a truer meme

7. Comparison is the thief of joy

Top Teacher Stories: Week of March 1, 2019

1. The importance of unstructured play

2. What happens when you get rid of behavior incentives?

3. Prepping for Pi Day

4. The best prize money we’ve seen in a long time

5. I wish I was half as clever as these teachers

6. “Look! Animals are ‘hugging’!”

7. I probably should get this tattooed on my left arm.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of February 22, 2019

1. Oakland teachers are the latest to walk out

2. What schools can do to welcome immigrant families

3. Mad for reading

4. Your teacher friends should apply for this

5. What’s the difference between receptive and expressive language disorders?

6. The college courses we wish we’d taken

7. My classroom theme: “Do your work”

Top Teacher Stories: Week of February 15, 2019

1. Denver teachers reach agreement

2. The missing piece in literacy instruction

3. Who has the best job in education?

4. The most popular kids’ books by grade

5. Eye-popping, inspiring, AND empowering?

6. Yeah, this rings true for my school

7. The importance of showing you care

Top Teacher Stories: Week of February 8, 2019

1. The glorification of cute

2. Speaking of simpler classrooms …

3. Solidarity, Denver …

4. A chance to turn students into published authors

5. The power of choice

6. We didn’t make an easy choice

7. The importance of early intervention

Top Teacher Stories: Week of February 1, 2019

1. The Internet agrees: best bus driver ever

2. Esports are headed to a school near you

3. Why we need to let kids fail

4. How schools are teaching the most underrated social emotional skill

5. The job-hunting article you need to read

6. The four-color was pretty good, but six? Amazing.

7. Teamwork makes the dream work

Top Teacher Stories: Week of January 25, 2019

1. Kids learn from who they love

2. Doing screen time the right way

3. Bringing coopetition from the boardroom to the classroom

4. How to make a beloved series come to life

5. An open letter to school leaders

6. The funniest kid answer of the week

7. Why teacher BFFs are so important.

 

Top Teacher Stories: Week of January 18, 2019

1. Los Angeles teachers strike

2. Where have all the valedictorians gone?

3. There goes middle school, giving us 80s vibes

4. A teacher who defaulted on her loans makes a comeback

5. Reading, writing, and…building houses?

6. When you support teachers, you support kids.

7. An honest mistake

Top Teacher Stories: Week of January 11, 2019

1. Teachers ready to strike in Los Angeles, Denver

2. The things we do behind closed doors

3. What are some alternatives to being in the classroom?

4. Did you hear?

5. When resignation letters go viral

6. The coolest hallways ever.

7. The hardest part about teaching

Top Teacher Stories: Week of December 14, 2018

1. Los Angeles headed toward teacher strike

2. Why teachers don’t use pricy educational software

3. The symbols of teaching past

4. The free printable that could save indoor recess 

5. Kids need to be outside, even in the snow

6. When we want independence, but demand compliance

7. What does a teacher do all day?

Top Teacher Stories: Week of December 7, 2018

1. Should parents eat in the school cafeteria?

2. Put away those classroom Christmas trees

3. The thing we can’t forget about winter break

4. When inclusion gets challenging

5. We’re asking kids to do too much, too soon

6. Best idea ever

7. The surprising affects of teaching

Top Teacher Stories: Week of November 30, 2018

1. Rhode Island students sue for the right to learn civics.

2. Why do teachers leave the profession?

3. Kids born in August are the most likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis

4. We’re giving away thousands in prizes during December

5. New research shows teachers turn to DonorsChoose when faced with budget shortfalls

6. There’s no tired like teacher tired

7. Don’t say it, don’t say it…

Top Teacher Stories: Week of November 16, 2018

1. Teacher heroes sleep overnight at school

2. D.C. teachers leaving in droves

3. What reading 20 minutes a day does to your brain

4. We’re giving away boatloads of Amazon.com Gift Cards

5. Put this in your lesson plans for next week

6. We can’t stop laughing at the answers to this question.

7. From victimhood to agency?

Top Teacher Stories: Week of November 9, 2018

1. Make way; teachers are headed for office

2. What teachers really need

3. What happens when you stop shushing a chatty class?

4. An inspiring way to give back to your community

5. Because we could all use a little more kindness

6. A peer editing anchor chart we love

7. File this one under “unexpected but totally earned teacher skills”

Top Teacher Stories: Week of November 2, 2018

1. Kids in poverty get more screen time, wealthier kids get less

2. South Carolina teachers are poorer now than in 2008

3. Should teachers take mental health days?

4. Need a whiteboard upgrade?

5. The importance of meaningful, focused conversation in the classroom

6. Do charter schools offer better retirement plans?

7. Can we get an amen?

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 26, 2018

1. Districts turning to creative housing for teachers

2. In related news, teacher salaries in some states are shockingly close to the poverty line

3. Maybe more teachers in office will shift the balance?

4. How these schools are getting their kids up and running—literally

5. What it means to have dyscalculia

6. National Cat Day is on October 29—are you ready?

7. Not a bill, and not junk mail

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 19, 2018

1. These actual rules for teachers will blow your mind

2. Newsflash: American teachers are not respected

3. Speaking of which…your Aunt Linda should probably read this list

4. What are your dreams for your students?

5. Celebrating the National Day on Writing

6. Is flexible seating overrated?

7. Every. Single. Time.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 12, 2018

1. The struggle to manage teacher stress

2. The ultimate teacher hack

3. Are fine motor skills on the decline?

4. Last chance to register for the Mindful Education Summit

5. Definitely the way I will be handling all future graffiti

6. Please don’t take away our planning time

7. What people don’t realize about teaching

Top Teacher Stories: Week of October 5, 2018

1. Crowded classrooms making it harder than ever to teach

2. What happens when kids lock up their phones

3. It’s hygge season, y’all

4. Last chance to win $1,000 for your classroom

5. To friend or not to friend?

6. Where have all the (working) markers gone?

7. Already feeling tired and drained? Here’s one way to reset.

Top Teacher Stories: Week of September 28, 2018

1. Teacher allegedly fired for refusing to follow “no zero” policy

2. Schools reckon with Kavanaugh nomination

3. Give us all of the banned books

4. A math program that gives kids the extra practice they need

5. At last! We have something in common with Kristen Bell

6. How one teacher found a way through tragedy

7. Finally, a moment of levity we could all use