Teach100 Mentor

Just as every teacher has their own style of teaching, each also has his or her own style when it comes to classroom design.

[caption id="attachment_11172" align="aligncenter" width="300"]An image from the Science of Classroom Design infographic[/caption]

And those choices matter. Remember this infographic?

From posters on the wall to books on the shelves, desk arrangements to desk lamps, teachers make a lot of choices about what their learning spaces look and feel like. It's a quick breakdown of the major ways can have an imp…

We could TELL you just how much teachers do, but a picture's worth a thousand words: we'll let our most recent survey results show you.

We asked Teach100 Mentors about the above-and-beyond efforts they've made this past year, and the results are conclusive: teachers are killing it. We also asked them to write themselves the thank-you card they'd like to receive from students and parents, and using designs from the #thankteachersfor project, we brought them to life. Thank a teacher today!

Teaching requires bravery. From the public speaking aspect of it (you try leading a class while your principal takes notes) to the fact that you're in charge when a child has a seizure (true story from one of our Teach100 Mentors below), being a good teacher means being a tough cookie. But that's not to say some experiences don't leave even the veterans shaken. We asked our Teach100 Mentors--just in time for halloween!--to share their teaching horror stories. Gather around the campfire, here they are!

What's the scariest thing that's ever happened to you at school or in the classroom?

"I had a student with low blood sugar. One day she passed out in class, but she didn't fall down and her head didn't droop. She just sat in her seat very still with her eyes open. We did an a…

Though most teachers experience some back-to-school jitters in September, first year teachers undoubtedly have the most anxiety to cope with. From navigating paperwork and logistics to managing classrooms full of students, the learning curve can be steep.

That's why so many schools have adopted first-year teaching mentoring programs--including 60% of our surveyed Teach100 Mentors, who also report having mostly been mentored during their own first year (67%).

So how important is this practice, and how much does it actually help with retention (undoubtedly the desired result)?

We asked our Teach100Mentors and here's what they had to say:

Have you mentored other teachers? What did you learn from the experience? What did you need to provide assistance or guid…

As the 2016 presidential ballot becomes more and more like a clown car (with 22 candidates at the date this post was published!) politics is a hot national topic. And since education issues will be at the forefront in August 6th's first Republican presidential debate, we were wondering: what topics do Teach100 Mentors hope will get some air time? Here's what a few of our favorite contributors had to say.

(And as for the candidates? A little birdie, AKA our survey, tells us that Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Mike Huckabee, and Carly Fiorina are favorites among our teachers.)

TODD BLOCH, SWEAT TO INSPIRE

… 

Congratulations teachers and administrators on surviving another school year!

With the end of the year drawing nigh, we asked our Teach100 Mentors what their most--and least--favorite parts of the school-year wrap up are.

Managing restless students, final grades/report cards/paperwork, and year end assessments top the list of "most dreaded end-of-year tasks," but our survey-takers are also looking forward to some much-needed time to do some learning themselves.

To be exact, 68% of our survey responders are planning on reading a job-related book this summer, 58% will attend a job-related conference, and 32% are going to take a class of their own this summer. Teach100 Mentors are a very dedicated bunch! Of course, 11% report that they'll still be working (womp womp), while anothe…