“When despair for the world grows in me,” writes Wendell Berry. “I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.” This poem is recited at the beginning of every class I teach. The class is called Wilderness Literature. The intent of the poem is to transition from […]
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When Behavior Is Survival: Understanding Trauma in the Classroom
More than meets the eye We’re sitting together, going over her English notes, and I can see the frustration building in her eyes. Before I can even finish my sentence, she bolts out of her chair, storms over, her voice trembling as she shouts, “I’m going to fail! I’m a failure. I’m never going to […]
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Personalized Book Recommendations Changed My Classroom Library. Here’s Why.
Walk into almost any school library and you’ll see the same thing… A small group of students browsing confidently. A much larger group hovering, unsure where to start. And a few who’ve already mentally checked out before they’ve even touched a book. What separates the engaged readers from everyone else? Often, it’s not ability. It’s […]
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Truth, Courage, and the Power of Student Voice: The Transformative Work of Jessyca Mathews
For Jessyca Mathews, education has never been just about teaching literature or preparing students for exams. It has always been about something deeper: helping young people find their voice and use it to change the world. An English and AP African American Studies teacher at Carman-Ainsworth High School, Mathews has built a national reputation as […]
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You Won the Race”: A health class euphemism, reimagined
I generally dislike teacher stories marketed as “based on a true story.” They’re always cleaned up, sanded down, and weaponized for sentimentality. So here’s something that actually happened on Friday: exactly as it happened, with no moral pre-installed. I teach special education English in an urban high school in the Northeast. First period. A self-contained […]
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Education Department to vacate D.C. headquarters as downsizing effort continues
The U.S. Department of Education announced plans to vacate its longtime headquarters in the Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) building, marking one of the most visible steps yet in the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to scale back the agency. The Department said the LBJ building, which is located in downtown Washington, will be turned over to […]
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Our school system is broken
I have worked for the New York City Department of Education since 2005. I began as a teaching assistant while in high school, became a teaching scholar in college, substitute taught for six years, and have now taught full-time as a special education teacher for the past eleven years. Through all these roles, one truth […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
We must reinvent the way we teach to win back students
During my final years in the classroom, I struggled with something many teachers now face: We’ve lost our students. Disengagement is everywhere, and if we keep teaching the same way, we risk losing them for good. We must find a way to bring them back. “There are many students who are lacking motivation,” a Pennsylvania […]