During my early childhood years, I went from the little girl who at first received check marks on her report card for talking too much to the little girl who must have a learning disability because she never spoke, participated, and demonstrated overall disinterest in school. Throw into the mix that I cried all the […]
Instruction & Curriculum
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 inInstruction & Curriculum
Zooming into the Abyss: The VANISHING AMERICAN STUDENT
The students have begun to disappear. In the beginning of the school year, when class began every day, I was greeted with a friendly mosaic of smiling teenage faces. This was the beginning of their senior year of high school, and while no one wanted it to commence with the assistance of Zoom and Google […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Teaching with Integrity: “Politics” in English Class.
Reading the News One of the things I love most about teaching English is the broad range of source material I can pull from. I love lesson planning and I dislike being bored, so my teaching is constantly in flux. My students read novels, analyze popular song lyrics, write poetry, watch Ted Talks, and everything […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
9 Growing Gaps in Education Are A Learning Lesson for All
I read the news regularly and work diligently at having a solid give-and-take, reciprocal relationship with my students, but these 9 growing gaps in education have been quite a learning lesson for me. Our atypical 2020 school year (with hybrid/online learning and mask-wearing) has most certainly highlighted in ways I cannot ignore. 1. THE HAVE […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
I’m a Teacher and I’m Counting down the Days until my School Shuts Down
I want to start this article with a confession: I’m counting down the days till when my school finally shuts down. No seriously, every morning as I sit at my desk in my classroom, I immediately check off another day on my calendar signifying another day that has passed in which I’ve physically been teaching […]
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 […]