Virtually never addressed, this topic influences every aspect of one’s teaching career.

Office politics, or as I call it, the politics of teaching.

Politics exist in schools across the country, however, aspiring teachers learn nothing directly of this matter in classrooms or internship experiences. Perhaps their education of the political dynamics of education start occurring through observation and osmosis. For instance, they might see the dynamic of their mentor teacher and...

As a k-12 teacher, I often struggled with how to explain enrichment to elementary students. I also questioned myself over when it was academically appropriate to offer enrichment—that is until I stumbled upon the analogy of dessert before dinner. I don’t even remember where I picked up this analogy but somehow it stuck. It helped me visualize when was the “right” time to provide enrichment activities to students, whether gifted students or other students who happened to master a learning...