Imagine the student who always said they wanted to be a teacher. Now imagine this same student was not only encouraged from an early age but also provided opportunities to cultivate the skills necessary to become a teacher. Then, take it a step further and actually imagine putting our money where our mouth was as […]
Michele Lamons-Raiford
Michele Lamons-Raiford is a hearing American Sign Language (ASL) and English teacher at Pinole Valley High School in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. She has been a High School teacher for the past twenty years, as well as an Adjunct Instructor at Solano Community College for the past fifteen years. She has a BA and MA in English from Cal State University Sacramento, and teaching credentials in English and ASL from Cal State University East Bay. She is a devoted wife, a mother of a beautiful Neurodiverse Son, and a lifelong Advocate for ASL, Deaf Culture, Students with Special Needs, Culturally Relevant, Culturally Affirming, Anti-Racist School Cultures, Climates, and Diversity in Educational Institutions and Organizations.
Posted inBack to School
Amplify black voices: The unconquerable journey of a Black educator
Amiri Baraka once said, “Hope is delicate suffering.” As educators, we can relate to this all too well. This system seems to be a never-ending road of suffering, constantly finding and losing hope as the pendulum of uncertainty plagues our broken systems. As a Black teacher, this suffering is amplified by the strength and hope […]
Posted inCOVID
And Now They Are Seniors: The Covid Class of 2024
“Ms Lamons, do you remember meeting me online? Honestly, that whole year is a bit of a blur.” It just hit me. I met my incoming seniors for the 2023-2024 school year for the first time online. I met them behind the infamous Black Square Boxes. I engaged with them for an entire school year […]
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
Dyslexia Awareness Month: A student and her mother’s journey
October is Dyslexia Awareness Month. As a twenty-two-year veteran teacher, I admittedly am not very familiar with it, but I know about the importance of seeking out the experts. As a lifelong learner, I wanted to learn more about how I can help these students who might enter my classroom. But what better way to […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Coping with the Loss and Grief of a Teacher Bestie
Teacher Bestie: Writing has always been a cathartic vehicle for tumultuous times throughout my life. When I had a catastrophic miscarriage of quadruplets, lost my beautiful grandmother, or lost a decades-long friend who was the absolute kindest soul I knew, I leaned on my faith, my circle of support, and all that I ever learned […]
Posted inBack to School
Five Ways to Increase Parent Involvement in Schools
I am fortunate to be uniquely positioned to be both a parent and a teacher. As a high school and college instructor, the world of elementary education is extremely new to me. I am also a mother who has jumped into the new terrain of raising an elementary-age child with neurodiversity. The boundless questions and […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Lebron James’ I Promise School: Test Scores Don’t Always Tell the Whole Story
With the recent headlines about the failing state test scores of students in Lebron James, I Promise school, many point their proverbial “blame and shame” fingers. There is so much to unpack in the negative light painted in the focus on the fact these upcoming eighth graders “hadn’t passed the math portion of their state […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
God Must Have Forgot About Me: Book Reflection from a Veteran Teacher
Once you get past googling the multifaceted Jason Lee, author of God Must Have Forgot About Me, and finished clutching your imaginary pearls, take a few deep breaths, push past your pre-judgments, and ask yourself why a veteran teacher would choose this particular book to reflect on this summer. The answer is very simple: Lee’s […]