Teacher Writings

Nikki Smith, Teacher Writer
May 27, 2023

Pick a book (Read 2 pages) I need drink of water Not that book—this book No I have to climb up the chair this way (Read book 2) I have to see if the moon is there (Checks clock) (Name every character On every page) Three-year-old Bedtime Time for bed Oh look, this book You forgot to turn off the light, Mommy Climb in bed I...

Outside the Darkened School

Rex Muston, Teacher Writer
April 17, 2023

I Struggle

Erika Bass, Teacher-Writer
February 7, 2023

I struggle because the world has changed so drastically from when I started teaching nearly 15 years ago. How can I prepare teachers for a career that is far more politicized than I ever experienced? When I decided to become a teacher educator, I knew it was partially because I had felt underprepared for my own first job. As I entered my first classroom, I found there was much more to teaching than...

Safe Classrooms, Unsafe Schools

Abby Heggen
December 27, 2022

My classroom becomes unsafe. My students become unsafe. I become unsafe. We all become unsafe.

November Supplication

Rex Muston, Teacher Writer
December 13, 2022

NOVEMBER SUPPLICATION I step out into the raucous caws from the crows in the neighborhood, piercing over the hum of the furnace flue from my home, from Sharon’s home, from our homes. There is a skin of ice over the rusty wheelbarrow water, and frost spawns in my exhalations as I walk the garbage out, returning to lift the leashes from...

BookMarks

Skip Olson, Teacher Writer
November 23, 2022

I. Some of my favorite things to hear “I need a new book.” “Do you have any other books by this author?” “I need a bookmark.” II. A Bookmark Means You found a story you want to come back to. A story was so good that you’re willing to wait for it until the next day. You don’t want to miss a thing, you...

Iowa Council of Teachers of English

Iowa Council of Teachers of English