The year is 2020, and by now everyone thing in America can be automated- from payments for your household bills to access our medical records to how we secure our houses when we leave. The ease of this automation allows us to have more time to live a more “fulfilled” life. As a teacher, I […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
In Defense of Classic Literature
Every so often, Twitter is abuzz with literary “hot takes.” Some are anti-Shakespeare. Others want only contemporary literature in schools. Most of the time, they are about how awful some classic literature is. They talk about the classics, and how overrated they are. The comments range from agreement to shock. The Classics and Language One […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Standardized Testing’s Negative Affect on Math Education
Standardized Testing has been around for decades. In its original form, it was used to check a student’s progress from year to year. At some point around the 1970s test results were used to find specific areas of a subject where a majority of children were doing poorly. Teachers were encouraged to use activities that […]
Posted inOpinion
Hair Love Is What Your Students Need
Last night the viral sensation, Hair Love the American animated short film written and directed by Matthew A. Cherry, and co-produced with Karen Rupert Toliver won an Oscar for the best animated short film and the internet shouted. Not because the film was done perfectly (it was) or that it represented for black girls what’s […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Shaking Up the Literary Canon
As an English teacher, I’ve noticed that most students tend to gravitate towards contemporary novels, rather than classic literature. Many of them tend to relate better to the characters in modern literature. It makes sense that students would be drawn to these stories, with themes that can relate directly to their lives and struggles today. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
“How my Identity as an Immigrant has helped me as an Educator”
I’ve lived my whole life adapting. I had to adapt when my mother had my little brother and I had to help her to take care of him. I had to adapt when I moved from a small elementary school to a large high school and was suddenly thrown into a class of almost 40 […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
This is Not the Teacher I Wanted To Be
“This is the not the teacher I wanted to be.” From time to time, I stand in front of my students, eyes filled with tears, while this thought repeats itself over and over again. I’m not sure when I first realized it, but once I did, there was no going back. I wake up every […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Getting Reading Right: The Education Week Online Summit
Getting Reading Right was the title and focus of the free online Education Week summit held on January 28, 2020. EdWeek reporters moderated with guest literacy specialists in six separate online chats framed by the results of the 2019 EdWeek Research Center survey on Early Reading Instruction. Online registered participants were eligible for a certificate […]