Professional Practice

Pedagogy|Professional Practice

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Breakthroughs: Checking My Bias

Brent Driessen is an eight-year Marine Corps veteran, 13-year Baltimore County elementary school teacher, and a 2021-2022 teacher of the year finalist. He holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s in supervision and administration. Meeting his students’ academic, social, and emotional needs is his true passion in life. A major concern in […]
Pedagogy|Professional Practice

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Breakthroughs: Improving Math Skills through Math Number Talk

Ibrahim Omar is a third grade teacher and elementary math department chair at Maya Angelou French Immersion IB World School in Prince George’s County. He is a 20-year veteran educator and National Board Certified Teacher who recently renewed his certificate in Mathematics: Early Adolescence. Omar is a graduate of University of Maryland. For almost two […]
Coronavirus and Schools|Educator Voice|Professional Practice

Press Room

Poll: Crushing Workloads Burning Out Educators; Right to Bargain for Smaller Classes Would Improve Retention

A majority of Maryland educators report that classes are so large, stress levels so high, burnout so exhausting, and staffing shortages so prevalent that they are more likely to leave the profession or retire early, according to a recent poll conducted by the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA). Poll findings include: 96% of educators say […]
Professional Practice|Teacher Toolkit

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Toolkit: English Language Teacher Katie Miller

Katie Miller is an English language teacher and department chair at Tuscarora High School in Frederick County and past president of Maryland TESOL (Teachers of English as a Second Language). She is a member of the Frederick County Teachers Association. COLLABORATION Everyone in the building (and beyond) impacts our students, so we can’t work in […]
Coronavirus and Schools|Professional Practice

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Safeguarding Virtual Education for Students and Educators

“Protecting the quality and access to public education is essential no matter how a child receives their lessons. While we believe in-person learning is essential for relationship-building, community-building, and the social-emotional growth of students, there may be cases where virtual learning is necessary,” says Cheryl Bost, MSEA president. “In these cases, it is paramount that […]
Educator Voice|Professional Practice

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Re-Elect Rachel McCusker as the Teacher Voice on the SBOE

When music educator Rachel McCusker joined the State Board of Education (SBOE) in 2020, she was the first member to be elected as the teacher representative, a position long sought by MSEA as essential to bringing the voice and issues of frontline educators to the SBOE. There may have been no better time for the […]
Professional Practice|Racial and Social Justice|School Funding

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ActionLine Special: Q&A with State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury

Meet new Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury in this special ActionLine interview. Choudhury comes to MSDE from Texas where he was Associate Superintendent and Chief Strategy, Talent, and Innovation Officer in San Antonio and Chief and Director of Transformation and Innovation in Dallas. Grab a cup of coffee and meet this Maryland newcomer […]
Early Career Educators|Professional Practice|Racial and Social Justice

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2021 Maryland Teacher of the Year: "Teaching is a revolutionary act of love"

Meet Brianna Ross, Maryland’s new Teacher of the Year and a Baltimore County middle school social studies teacher who also serves as her school’s equity liaison and department chair. ActionLine interviewed Brianna recently focusing on the issues of race and inequality and her perspective as a social studies and history teacher. As a middle school […]
Pedagogy|Professional Practice

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Breakthroughs: Building a Tiger Squad for Elementary Boys

Tamara Thumbtzen is currently a behavior intervention specialist at North Glen ES in Anne Arundel County. She has a bachelor’s in health education, a master’s in family studies, and a post-master’s certification in administration and supervision. In 2017, I became an empty nester when my second child went off to college. I shook things up […]
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