America and the World Today It has been a difficult week for America and the world. American leadership in the world seems to be collapsing as nations considered to be our allies are criticized and nations thought to be adversarial are applauded as friends. The old world order established after World War II where the […]
Parents
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Equity in Action: Mitigating Unconscious Bias In the Classroom
In this heightened political atmosphere, our society seems to be replete with instances where white people are being caught on social media being or acting in an overtly racist manner. It seems our Facebook or Twitter feeds will have on a daily basis some video of a white person treating an African-American, Hispanic, or member […]
Posted inParents
Fighting for Parental Leave as a Teacher
At sixteen, I decided that I wanted to become a high school teacher, and one of my main reasons to pursue this endeavor was because I believed teaching is a mother-friendly career.  I’d be at work while the kids were in school; I’d be able to make their early evening activities’ events; I’d be at […]
Posted inHow to Fix Education
Affirmative Action at the Crossroads: Which Direction will the Supreme Court Go?
Affirmative Action: Remedy or Racist? Recent actions by the Trump Administration and the pending resignation of Anthony Kennedy from the Supreme Court have brought into question the status of affirmative action, the set of federal policies instituted by John F. Kennedy to counteract centuries of discrimination against specific minorities in American society. Affirmative action was […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
Taking the Anxiety Out of Student Placement in Special Education
If you are like me you get very invested in your students in special education. So invested that it is difficult to release them to the next special education teacher. I teach kindergarten through third grade mild/moderate special education in a resource room, so some of my kids loop up with me the next year […]
Posted inAdult Learning
Civility in the Classroom and the Rise of American Fascism
Setting the Stage I am in a hotel room with three millennials: Grace, 24, Gabriel, 22, Glorie, 20. An argument is raging: How can I be civil with people who support evil? I know that’s harsh. Is your neighbor who voted for Trump evil? I’ll say no. But these young people are having none of it. […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
For Teachers Looking for Summer Fun… Lessons From Teaching My Daughter’s To Drive
Are you a teacher looking to invite some extra excitement into your summer break? I have just the thing for you! Take on prepping two teenage daughters for their driver’s license road test. My number one (Charlie Chan speak for my oldest) is 19, and conventional wisdom would have most thinking that she should have […]
Posted inAdult Learning
The Politics and Pedagogy of Immigration Policy
The national debate over the Trump Administration policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border has reached a fever pitch. Images and audio of crying children, traumatized by the removal of their parents to detention facilities while the children are detained in what amounts to cages, have preoccupied the national media and gripped […]