Are you finding it hard to engage your students in coursework? Do your lessons sometimes feel dragging? I’ve been there, and trust me, I’ve got a solution that might change how you approach teaching. Let me tell you about an experience I had that turned everything around. A couple of semesters ago, in my creative […]
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Amplifying Voices: One Mother’s Mission to Change the Narrative on Autism in Black Communities
When Toni Morrison famously said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it,” Michele Lamons-Raiford took it personally—and literally. Inspired by her journey as a mother of a Black son with autism, the veteran educator, writer, and advocate, Michele Lamons-Raiford, created Amplify Our […]
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Rampaging elephants, stolen markers, and the reason we teach
An elephant had waltzed through Anthony’s schoolground the morning of the day I interviewed him. Turns out that’s a thing teachers deal with in rural Uganda. It’s not normal, but not entirely rare either—an elephant will wander through the grounds, calf in tow, looking for some maize or sugarcane to munch on. The kids squeal with […]
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Calls for resignation grow after Memphis school board member’s ICE threat
Memphis Shelby County School Board member Towanna Murphy has issued an apology for threatening to deport Hispanic women who messaged her on social media to criticize her tenure on the school board and called her names. Murphy, the District 7 school board member, represents the Whitehaven and Hickory Hill communities in Memphis Shelby County Schools, the […]
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Top scholar says evidence for special education inclusion is ‘fundamentally flawed’
This article first appeared in The Hechinger Report, a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education. Contact staff writer Jill Barshay at 212-678-3595 or barshay@hechingerreport.org. A prominent professor of special education is about to ignite a fierce debate over a tenet of his field, that students with disabilities should be educated as much as possible alongside […]
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The Impact of DEI Bans on American Schools: Consequences for students and educators
Times are strange, aren’t they? Everyday, sometimes every hour, we are bombarded with “unprecedented” news. As educators, we are accustomed to navigating the twists and turns that come with constant power struggles in our country. However, few things have impacted education as profoundly as the recent bans on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in […]
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Trump shifts student loan oversight to SBA, Special needs funding to HHS in education shake-up
President Donald Trump announced Friday that the Small Business Administration (SBA) will assume responsibility for the federal student loan portfolio. At the same time, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will oversee funding for special needs students. The decision follows his executive order signed earlier in the day, initiating the process to dismantle […]
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Done! Trump signs executive order to begin dismantling the Department of Education
Today, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Education to transfer education oversight to individual states. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon released a statement following the announcement, calling the executive order a “history-making action” that will “free future generations of American students and forge opportunities for their success.” “Education is […]