A Call to Reflection and Action for White Female Educators
A 2017-18 National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) report shows that 79 percent of elementary and secondary educators are white; 7 percent are Black. Further, 76 percent of elementary and secondary educators are female. Given white women make up the vast majority of the public education workforce, what are our critical responsibilities when teaching a […]
In Celebration of Juneteenth
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865: the day that Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and told slaves of their emancipation. “In accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” Granger read to a crowd. That day came more than two years after President Abraham […]
A Challenge to White Folks…
The events in NYC and Minnesota over the weekend are additional examples of how our communities of Color are under constant attack in the United States. As White woman who continues to struggle with my own privilege and role in a society that attacks people of Color, I want to use this space to acknowledge […]
Creating Powerful Moments: Deepen students’ feelings of safety and security
This blog series is aimed at helping educators in a time of uncertainty and challenge. Does anyone else feel like Alice when she falls through the rabbit hole into a strange new world? All of the chaos that’s part of the COVID-19 pandemic leaves me feeling like I’m in some kind of absurd fictional world […]
The 5 Rules Every Happy Teacher Follows
Happy Teacher Rule #1: Don’t look at discomfort as a negative. Teaching is hard, and it should be. If you are doing it well, it means you are actively pursuing and working towards getting 100% of your students engaged, 100% of the time. That takes a relentless pursuit of continuous growth that will include making […]
Repost: How to Have ‘Courageous Conversations’ About Race That Can Help End Inequities in Our Schools
Courageous Conversations Training This post originally appeared in The 74 on September 18, 2017. With the election of our first black president, many clung to hope that we had entered a post-racial America. The recent events in Charlottesville proved that we are not as far along in this journey as we had hoped, a […]
Who Can We Run To? Supporting Black Males in the Classroom and Beyond
Supporting Black Males in the Classroom In a country where one in three black males will be incarcerated at some point in their lives (Equal Justice Initiative, 2018), who do black males run to for support? The statistics are alarming. According to NAACP.org, African Americans/blacks are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of […]
If you see something, say something
If you see something, say something. I started my teaching career in middle school with a resource room math class. I had never taught math before and didn’t have any curriculum materials to draw from, so I went to the eighth-grade math teacher on my team and asked her what she was teaching her students. […]
Caring About vs. Caring For
Travel to schools across the country, and you’ll see it’s clear that teachers are working hard and truly care about their students. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be doing this job day after day. When I walk through buildings and talk with teachers, I hear and sense this. However, when it comes to what care actually looks […]
Top 8 Tips for New Teachers That You Probably Haven’t Considered
Here are some teacher guidance tips for new teachers. Being a first-year teacher is rewarding, challenging, and filled with lessons that you plan for your students and that you learn from yourself. While your first year is likely to include late night planning, anxiety with each classroom observation, and tons of trial and error, there […]
