Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a Black teacher who advocates for the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the heated debate about a Black Mermaid has piqued my interest on many levels. I recently discussed the issue with members of my African American Student Union […]
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 inOpinion
Should We “Flatten” Education?
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! “The system of education is broken.” I hear this same statement over and over again, but I want to know what it will take to fix it. Thankfully, some have realized that we must get past blaming the elephant […]
Posted inInterviews
Voices from the 2%
An Interview with Black Male Math Teacher Jason Lee Morgan Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Nationally, only two percent of America’s teachers are Black men. Veteran Philadelphia Educator and Director Shariff El-Mekkii established the Center for Black Educator Development to “dramatically change the face […]
Posted inOpinion
Educators Need Safe Spaces Too
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! “Thank you for helping me feel seen.” As educators who advocate for equity in education, some of us might expect this statement from a student. So would it surprise you that this was from a teacher? I recently returned […]
Posted inMental Health
An End of Summer Reminder: Just Breathe
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! Does anyone else find themselves looking at the calendar and beginning to freak out that the end of summer break is approaching faster than a deadline for end-of-term grades I haven’t started to calculate? Recently I watched “The 7 […]
Posted inOpinion
The Five Love Languages for Teachers
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! “I don’t know how you teach! I couldn’t take it!” I had heard this statement so many times I decided to ask the very next person who said that to me a question. “Take what?” My come-back sounded much […]
Posted inOpinion
What Teachers Have in Common With Steph Curry and the Warriors
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! As a “die-hard” Golden State Warriors fan, over the years, I have learned what it means to be a “real” fan when we were continually “dying hard.” After decades of supporting a team that had not seen success since […]
Posted inCOVID-19
A Conversation With My Deaf Quadrilingual Student
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! In the summer of 2018 I learned that I would be meeting my first deaf[i] student in my American Sign Language (ASL) Class. After a decade of teaching ASL the majority of my students were hearing students. Only a […]