Using the Depth and Complexity Icons to design more meaningful learning experiences.
Instruction & Curriculum
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Scholastic faces criticism for creating separate section for BIPOC authors
Scholastic, a staple in children’s literature, has sparked controversy with its recent decision to create a separate section called “Share Every Story, Celebrate Every Voice” for diverse titles at its Book Fairs. Each Rising Voices Library was designed for students to have access to high-interest, culturally relevant texts that celebrate the stories of the historically underrepresented. […]
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Tough Conversations: Creating a Safe Space with Class Meetings around the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
During the past few weeks, our news feeds have become inundated with stories regarding the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Websites and news outlets update their information every few minutes, and social media has run amok with personal accounts of the atrocities of a civil war. As educators, it’s our job to help our students navigate these […]
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Unlocking Success: 4 Compelling Reasons to Embrace Passion-Led Learning
Passion-Led Learning: It was the middle of the second day of my professional development workshop, and I was about to dismiss my participants for a well-deserved lunch break when loud music suddenly filled the room. My head snapped toward the cacophony of sound, expecting to see a teacher embarrassingly fumbling with a cell phone that […]
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Banned Books Week: The Most Banned Books in 2022
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe: Gender Queer: A Memoir is a 2019 graphic memoir written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe. It recounts Kobabe’s journey from adolescence to adulthood and the author’s exploration of gender identity and sexuality, ultimately identifying as being outside of the gender binary. Reasons for bans: LGBTQIA+ content claimed to be sexually explicit All Boys […]
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The Case for More Accountability: It’s Time to Blame the Parents
As you read this headline, I know you cringed- so did I as I wrote it. But as I grapple with retiring after 25 years in the classroom due to student (and parent) misbehavior, it’s something that I feel uniquely qualified to say. There will be some people who will not hear what I’m saying, […]
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5 Tips for Welcoming First-Time Virtual Students
Virtual learning has its share of issues–slow internet, social disconnection, a lack of cohesion between teacher and student.
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
“Unveiling Bias in G.E.D.: The Untold Stories of History
A professor revisits standardized testing, immigration policy, and the salience of Paulo Freire in times of cultural war. This is in a series on a teacher’s experience teaching a cross-cultural G.E.D. To read the first article, click here. One issue surrounding the G.E.D. has gotten shorter shrift among educators and academics: the test’s somewhat jingoistic […]