Like seemingly everything else, issues surrounding the importance of mental health have been highlighted to an unprecedented level during this pandemic. Some might consider athletes, celebrities, and influencers an unlikely source for teachable moments, but the importance of those like Naomi Osaka is the perfect real-time, relatable, and relevant stories teachers should pay close attention […]
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 inInstruction & Curriculum
Exploring the Commonalities Found Within Diversity in a Classroom
My students are so diverse, and yet many with shared experiences. As a teacher, I soon learned to explore these diversities to find even more commonalities. The southeast Asian girl who wore the Hijab felt the same stares as the girl who demonstrated her own form of modesty by purposely not wearing makeup. The unnaturally […]
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The Culturally Affirming Power of Music
When teachers are thinking of ways to create a Culturally Affirming School Climate, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. What are we already doing that we can use to value and affirm the cultures and backgrounds of our students? One of the easiest ways to make this purposeful shift is to allow the students […]
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Teachers Don’t Need More Mugs, They Need Respect and Empathy for Teacher Appreciation Week
“I am not a perfectionist, but still I seek perfection. I am not a great romantic, but yet I yearn 4 affection” (Tupac Shakur). Teacher Appreciation Week is near, and teachers want respect and empathy. No matter the profession, everyone wants to feel valued, to know that someone appreciates their efforts, and to think that […]
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Opinion: Two Men in Uniform: The Lessons Black Educators Have to Teach Students
Two men in uniform. One with visible hands raised in an effort to avoid any “misunderstandings”, and the other literally holding the other’s life at the end of the chamber in his gun. One clearly serving his country and one perpetuating the stereotype so many hold about law enforcement officers. As the daughter of a […]
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Inhale Adversity, Exhale Hope: Reflections of a Black Educator
I didn’t even realize I was holding my breath until I heard the words. “Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.” I let out a slow and deliberate exhale, one full of relief for George Floyd’s family, his friends, and for the brave soul who captured the video of this public lynching. I continued to exhale for my family, […]
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Culturally Relevant Lessons in the Life of DMX
I remember when I first taught the life, music, and poetry of Tupac Amaru Shakur back in 2002. I received my first written complaint questioning why an educator would “glorify a thug.” I knew then I would continue to find ways to tap into my students’ interest by using Hip Hop Culture in my curriculum. […]
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Sustainable Investment in Education – More Than Just a One Time Fix
Well, our day has finally come! Or has it? We have an unprecedented amount of money we have all been begging for! But, as educators, yet again, no one is asking the “experts in the room” how to spend it. Education has always been about droplets in a seemingly never-ending sea of inequities, where teachers […]