Although it’s been a rough start to the 20-2021 school year for most school districts in the United States, school districts are still required to meet the service needs of their special education students. Under IDEA, the Bible for Special Services, also known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act, denotes in detail what our special […]
How to Fix Education
Posted inHow to Fix Education
How School Boards Became the Most Important People You Never Voted For
There’s a number I can’t get out of my head: 20%. As folks affix their Trump and Biden signs in their yards and argue precipitously over politics with their neighbors, claiming how this is the “most important election of their lives” and how the other guy will “ruin America,” I’m still thinking about that number. […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
The American Teacher: Savior or Scapegoat?
Absolutely necessary; extremely important; crucial; necessary; key; vital; indispensable; needed; required; vitally important; critical; life-and-death; imperative; mandatory; compulsory; obligatory; compelling; urgent; pressing; burning; acute; paramount; preeminent;high-priority; significant; consequential. These words describe the word essential. Notice how many words are employed to define a single word. Anthropologists note that the higher a term is valued, the […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Lead Racism Out of Your School
Racism is like water. When racism finds a way in, it seeps into every opening it can find. Does racism exist in your school? If you said no, then dig deeper because you’re probably missing something. If you answered yes, what are you doing to lead racism out of your school? Racism in schools is […]
Posted inHigh School
Support in Schools is a Circle
There is a lot going on right now. Protests, a pandemic, and so much uncertainty. In the midst of everything, we are also finishing up a school year. A school year that highlighted how necessary the internet is for everyone. And has been full of uncertainty. For students, parents, and teachers, this spring has been […]
Posted inSocial Justice
Lets Change the Conversation Around Defunding Education and the Police
As a teacher listening to calls to defund the police, my first reaction is to shrug and revel that someone else is feeling the misery of being expendable at budget time. Why should I suffer alone? That is a short-sighted view of the movement to defund the police. It’s not a movement to harm police. […]
Posted inProfessional Development
Obstinance Has No Place in Teaching and Learning
For teachers, it is a fact of life that they teach lessons. One of those lessons is to help students grapple with new, difficult, and controversial ideas. To help students make sense and place those ideas within their own experiences is part of the job; I enjoy it. So, this week, as my frustrations in […]
Posted innews
An Open Letter to White Educators
Trayvon Martin was killed on February 26, 2012. It has been eight years, and nothing has changed. Michael Brown was killed on August 9, 2014, preceding the Ferguson unrest that lasted weeks, and nothing has changed. Alton Sterling was killed on July 5, 2016, and nothing has changed. Stephon Clark was shot and killed on […]