The year: 1980 Activists in education are needed now more than ever. I was thirteen years old when I saw this coming. A smug ex-actor with Brylcreemed hair dropped a condescending line in a presidential debate. That isn’t a big deal by itself, especially when you consider how low the presidential decency bar currently is. […]
Social Justice
Posted inSocial Justice
The Teacher Wage Penalty
In 1991, I graduated at the top of my high school class. I could have majored in a myriad of topics. I chose the teaching profession. First in my nuclear family to graduate high school with a traditional diploma and one of the few in my extended family to pursue a college degree, I forged […]
Posted inCharter Schools
The Importance of Public Schools
Public schools are a cornerstone of our communities, and help to shore up our society as a whole. Public Schools Week 2019 (March 25th to 29th) is seeking to spread that love and say it proudly. The week is almost over, but that’s no reason to either forget how important our schools are or that […]
Posted inAsk a Teacher
This is Why Teachers Quit
Looking for a message about your value as an educator? Well then, an over-the-top active shooter drill is a perfect addition to the “reasons why teachers quit” list. Teachers know there are better ways to save lives. Subjecting children, schools, and teachers to the sick, sad theater of these drills is just one more trauma […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Implications of ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ in our Classrooms
I spent the last two evenings watching Lifetime’s documentary “Surviving R. Kelly.” If you haven’t seen it, watch it. Watch it now. I was in college at the University of Illinois at Chicago at the time his infamous “pee tape” became famous. I remember people in my classes telling me, through hushed whispers and giggles, […]
Posted inSocial Justice
10 Teacher Resolutions for 2019
Happy 2019! I know that for most teachers the “new year” begins on the first day of teaching in either August or September. However, the calendar does not lie–2018 is history–it’s January 2019, the midpoint of the teaching year, which offers an opportunity for reflection. In my school district the year 2020 is the focus year […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Forget Allies and Advocates, I Needed an Activist
We (educators) like to think that we’re advocates for students. I’ve even been guilty myself of living in the nobleness of the word. However, as our current climate (societal and educational) continues to toil with inclusivity and what it means to be responsive to ALL, I grow impatient with our “nobleness.” Case in point, social […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Microaggressions to Misbehavior: How School to Prison Pipeline Begins
Wow, I’m surprised he did so well on the test. He’s not ghetto like those other boys. She’s so loud. They don’t care. They can’t read. They’re just lazy. Microaggression: a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group (such as a […]