There’s a lot to celebrate with Joe Biden’s election. The glass ceiling shattered when Madame Vice President Kamala Harris stepped onto the acceptance stage in suffragette white. Black women turned out in record numbers, truly changing the trajectory of the election (thanks, Stacey Abrams!) The fear that many of us lived with under Trump is [...]
Last week, TheEducatorsRoom hosted a Twitter Chat titled “Is Teaching Political?” It was a conversation prompted in part by President Trump’s announcement of a commission--The 1776 Commission--to design a “patriotic education” program one month earlier. At the heart of his plan is an opinion that “left-wing indoctrination in our schools" is destroying the country. Instead [...]
The F Word: Feminism in 2020 I’ll never forget the moment I explained feminism to a freshman boy. In my first year of teaching, a precocious student asked me why I used “Ms.” in my name. My partner and I are committed to each other without the institution of marriage and childless by choice. But, [...]
Several weeks ago, President Trump announced his plans for a patriotic education commission, dubbed the 1776 Commission. He simultaneously criticized teachers for indoctrinating students and urged them to focus on America’s strengths; the president has confused indoctrination and education. Picking and choosing what history to emphasize or highlight based on how it makes the nation [...]
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 [...]