Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Unveiling the roots of math phobia: A journey toward joyful learning and equity

Math phobia: Let’s begin by reiterating one of my favorite phrases as a math teacher, “Everyone’s a math person.”  Individuals who appreciate puzzles, sports, video games, and problem-solving can’t genuinely harbor a dislike for math. What breeds disdain is the culture surrounding math which creates such distress that many prefer to avoid it altogether. Renowned […]

Posted inEnglish Language Learners

Biden-Harris Administration Launches “Being Bilingual is a Superpower” Initiative

In a move to underscore the importance of multilingualism in the educational landscape, the Biden-Harris Administration today unveiled the “Being Bilingual is a Superpower” initiative, spearheaded by the U.S. Department of Education. The initiative aims to promote and enhance multilingual education, focusing on advancing high-quality language programs and fostering a diverse multilingual educator workforce throughout […]

Posted inWriting

The Power of Authentic Audiences

Authentic Audiences: Late one Wednesday morning, my seventh- and eighth-grade multilingual learners with emerging English language skills were emphatically complaining about the amount of writing required of them as we read and answered questions about teenage screen time usage. This work prepared them for an argumentative paragraph assignment on whether kids have too much screen […]

Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

Talk Shop Tuesdays: Ingrained Professional Development For Teachers and By Teachers

It’s a Tuesday in March 2023; twelve “staffulty” (faculty and staff, including administrators, counselors, or technology) are gathered in a classroom for professional development. The book club leader, an English teacher, looks around at us and asks, “How much do you like to be confronted? It’s maybe a 2 for me, but I think I […]