Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! I remember having my qualifications questioned, dissected and scrutinized. I remember having to pause, take a mental step back and gather my thoughts before responding to an attempt to get me to fulfill the stereotype of an “Angry Black […]
Equity
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Dangerous Suppression of “Don’t Say Gay”
Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! There is a lot of news lately about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. But it isn’t the only one. In Indiana, there is a bill that would ban any discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in classrooms. Another […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
I’m an Ohio Educator Against HB 327
Ohio House Bill 327 Would Outlaw “Divisive” Concepts in Schools, Shred the Community Fabric Have you signed up for The Educator’s Room Daily Newsletter? Click here and support independent journalism! When my son was in the first grade, he came home from school and said, “I hate myself.” When I asked why, he said it […]
Posted inCulturally Responsive Teaching
My Twenty-Five Minute Lunchtime Lesson on Humility
I went to Google during my lunch break to look up the phone number for our pediatrician. While searching, I came upon a different pediatrics practice that sports this as their logo: We’ve lived in Germany for a long time, and I’ve grown accustomed to (but certainly not accepting of) the use of blackface and […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why Transgender Students Need Teachers Who Aren’t Afraid
The battles taking place in the classroom in Virginia are at the core of what it means to be a teacher in American public education today. The debate over mask mandates, the US History curriculum, and how to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ students are all in the news today, with teachers and students in […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
Teach to the Rest: Three More Ways We Can Use the Pandemic to Transform Schools For the Better- Part 2
By Thomas Courtney Last year, I wrote about the opportunity we had to change the very way in which our schools operated. Twenty years ago, teaching to the test transformed our educational system. To many, the pandemic was simply the last piece of the puzzle that revealed the picture of what our schools had become. […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Please Stop Using Blaccent With Your Students
Probably one of the most dehumanizing aspects of my educational journey as both a student and an educator is the “blaccent” that non-Black educators use when addressing Black people. According to Dictionary.com, a “blaccent” is “the imitation of Black English by non-black people.” It’s an offensive mockery of Black culture. To my non-Black educators, stop […]
Posted inSocial Justice
Really, Though, Why Do We Say The Pledge of Allegiance?
The Resurgence of the Pledge In the past, my school has been inconsistent about saying the pledge of allegiance. We’ve had it as a part of our video announcements with limited fidelity, and definitely not daily. I have only hazy memories of saying it as a student, perhaps on occasion in elementary school. This year, […]