Article Type Parent
Biden’s Medicare drug initiative is not revolutionary
In response to Retired Teachers Chapter Leader Tom Murphy’s column about the Inflation Reduction Act giving Medicare the authority to bargain on prescription drug prices [Nov. 2]: This legislation encourages a continuation of financing Big Pharma and...
Burnout is an important topic
In response to a UFT tweet about the Your Well-Being column on healing from burnout [Sept. 7]: I’m so glad that the union put out this post. It’ll help people dealing with burnout know that they are not alone. I’m so grateful for the better working...
Don’t make Regents optional
When any test is made mandatory for graduation, it usually reaches for the lowest common denominator. If scores on such tests are “influenced by a student’s income, cultural differences or other obstacles,” the solution is not to eliminate such tests...
Hexagonal thinking article resonated
I enjoyed Sarah Kuhner’s Teacher to Teacher column headlined “Make connections with hexagonal thinking” [Nov. 2].
Better holiday habits
As we enter the holiday season, remember to make yourself a priority as well. The end of the year is a good time to reflect on decisions made during the past year: what worked and what didn’t, and how to build better habits.
Katie Garfield, hospital schools program teacher
As a teacher at a hospital clinic, Katie Garfield instructs K–12 students while they receive treatment for cancer and blood diseases including sickle-cell anemia.
Giving back to communities year round
UFT Vice President for Elementary Schools Karen Alford writes that our schools are more than academic institutions. They are caring institutions and, as educators, we understand that caring for the communities we work in is part of teaching and...
Three informal assessment options
Sometimes, informal assessments can be more meaningful and less anxiety-provoking than traditional tests for students. Three informal assessments I use in my high school chemistry classes are 10-Point Bingo, a whiteboard activity and “I Can”...
History of the UFT pension plan
New pension plan tiers come into existence when the state Legislature enacts new laws that change benefits, contribution rates and service requirements. But a pension tier is never set in amber. Over the past 40 years, legislative amendments to each...
Dancing to his own drummer again
When Roy Fialkow retired in 2019 after a 29-year career as an adaptive physical education teacher, his life came full circle: He returned to Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, where he had been a dancer in his 20s, as the nonprofit’s education...