Tara Blair 
| By Gale Staff | You have to have a particular kind of passion to be an ELA teacher. One that compels you to dig deep past the words on the page to find the soul of the story—the era in which it was penned, the societal norms that the author faced, and the personal … Read more
| By Gale Staff | It can be nerve-wracking to invite high schoolers to engage in discourse about controversial topics. You run the risk of sparking what Lee Warren of Harvard University’s Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning calls “hot moments.” However, it’s our job as educators to ensure that our classrooms are safe … Read more
What does lesson planning look like for you? If you’re like many educators, it consists of carefully evaluating resource after resource, hand-selecting the best material, and figuring out a way to weave it all together into a logical, organized flow. You spend time scrubbing through YouTube videos to check for inappropriate language, creating text sets … Read more
| By Gale Staff | When the first separatist Puritans stumbled off the Mayflower gangplank onto the sandbars of Cape Cod on November 11, 1620, they brought with them a profound sense of religious duty and reverence for worship. Still, they weren’t big supporters of celebrations during the holy days. The sentiment was so strong … Read more
| By Gale Staff | Celebrating holidays in your elementary classroom is always exciting—and the topic can be especially engaging from a global perspective. Learning how different cultures approach the same holiday is fascinating and encourages students to identify connections between themselves and those from other backgrounds, encouraging empathy and nurturing curiosity. As the spring … Read more
| By Gale Staff | February 2024 marks the 48th anniversary of Black History Month—and an exciting opportunity for educators to broaden students’ horizons beyond the current cultural canon of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. Gale In Context: Biography brings the legacies of these luminaries to light, highlighting their indelible impact … Read more
| By Gale Staff | The American classroom is growing increasingly diverse, bringing students from different cultural backgrounds, abilities, genders, and religions into a shared learning space. As an educator, you aspire to create equally diverse lesson plans that integrate multiple perspectives and encourage young learners to be curious about the complex world around them. … Read more
| By Gale Staff | In 1978, a group of education stakeholders in Sonoma County, California, planned the first “Women’s History Week.” Local teacher Molly Murphy McGregor spearheaded the initiative, integrating stories of empowering female accomplishments throughout her curriculum. Dozens of schools participated in the weeklong celebration, which included themed presentations, a student essay contest, … Read more
| By Joel Meredith, Course Lecturer, Purdue University | When you think back, who was that one teacher or professor whose impact remains with you today? Someone who recognized your talent when you couldn’t see it or whose encouragement helped you foster a sense of self-belief. For many educators, paying it forward to a new … Read more
| By Gale Staff | Biography is a powerful classroom tool for all grade levels. When students learn through the real stories and experiences of others, they gain role models, discover critical lessons in perseverance, and develop important perspectives on the period in which a person lived. This March, we encourage K-12 educators to find … Read more