Every future teacher has a lot to learn in college, but as I would soon find out after my college graduation day, nothing beats the “on the job training” you get when you go through that first year of teaching. I was so excited when I received my first teaching job in Florida back […]
High School
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
FIVE Miserable COVID Truths Teachers Don’t Say Out Loud
I had extraordinarily high bookish ambitions when I realized I was going to be stuck at home for a year. As a fan of classical texts and modern classics, I had some woeful gaps in my reading resume. I was going to read John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. I was going to read Ralph Ellison’s, […]
Posted inBook Review
Publishing So White: 7 Essential Black Young Adult Authors
Last week, The New York Times published a piece examining the whiteness in the publishing industry. (Thank you to Pod Save the People for bringing it to my attention in your underreported news section. I learn something new from you every week!) In the five major publications, they analyzed, from 1950-2018, 95% of their authors […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
Disrupt Grind Culture, But How?
Disrupt Grind Culture I have been in school my entire life, constantly learning and moving towards my next achievement. I went to college right after high school, as expected in my family and town. After graduating early from college, I went to grad school the next term and started teaching as soon as I earned […]
Posted inSocial Justice
Dear White Teachers, Black Students Matter
Dear White Teachers, Black Students Matter After George Floyd’s murder, I woke up to a string of messages from one of my Black students, M. She poured her heart out to me at three in the morning, releasing the burdens she carries as a young Black woman in America. She said she was desperate to […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
10 Reasons Why American Reconstruction Is the Most Important Unit I’ll Teach This Year
When I first started teaching the second-half of American history, my colleagues and I fell in love with the curriculum. The Civil War, the World Wars, the industrialization and rise of America, and the jazz age all piqued our interests. But one unit that always left us wanting more was Reconstruction. Often glossed over as […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher
Accountability and Empathy: Where’s the Balance?
Accountability and Empathy: Where’s the Balance? Pandemic Adjustments I went into this year knowing online learning would be tough. I zoomed in with my equity lens and kept it sharply focused, ready to make adjustments wherever necessary to meet students’ needs. 2020 has been a stressful time for all of us and my students are […]
Posted inTeacher Self Care
Don’t Read the Comments: Digital Teacher Self Care
Everyone knows you don’t read the comments on Twitter. An adorable video of a dog skateboarding can instantly turn sour when unleashed on the internet. Facebook lets users publish a staggering amount of misinformation, which is especially frightening in a contentious election season. And every teacher knows that, like Yelp reviews, students only evaluate in […]