As an eighth-grade civics teacher, I am about to start my unit of study on the Executive Branch. To be honest, I’m a little scared. Strike that. I am very scared. “Why are you scared, George?” you may ask. “If you stick to the facts, you’ll have nothing to worry about,” In normal times, I’d […]
Social Justice
Using Popular Music in the Secondary Classroom
Teachers born between 1950 and 1980 makeup both the baby-boom generation and those known as “Generation X.” The music with which they grew up is a reflection of the historical periods that produced it – Vietnam, the Cold War, the Fall of Communism, September 11, 2001, and the events that followed. Teachers of social studies […]
Reflections on My First Black History Month
I am forty-four-years-old. I have been a social studies teacher for 23 Septembers. I have been a student of history all of my life. I have cared about civil rights forever. But, before this February, I have never celebrated Black History Month. I am both ashamed of my ignorance and enlightened by this experience–it is […]
Dear Generation X: It is Now, or Never.
I see us on Facebook. On the soccer field. In the classroom. We are the generation born between 1961–1981. We are now finally of age. We thought adulthood began at 18, but that was just a stepping stone. No, we are now parents, for fuck’s sake. We are in charge. Many of us are educators. […]
[Opinion] America’s Gun Problem: What Can Teachers Do?
It’s been a tough week. If you are a teacher, student or parent in an American public school, the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people is just as upsetting as the mass shooting that came before it. Memories of the Las Vegas shooting, the Orlando Pulse shooting, San Bernardino, Virginia Tech, Aurora, […]
Do Black Lives Matter At School?
Hey, teacher: did you know that the week of February 5-10, 2018 has been designated Black Lives Matter At School? Did you know that Black Lives Matter at School is a thing? According to Teaching for Change, an organization dedicated to social justice, the first full week of February promotes three demands: End Zero Tolerance, […]
31 Reasons For Black History Month
The captain of the Umoja Step Team popped into my classroom as she is apt to do at least two times a day. As she was leaving, she patted the advertisement posted on my classroom door for the upcoming Black History Celebration, hosted by the team. Turning towards me, she stated: “A girl in my […]
How a Nationwide 5G System Would Impact Students
On June 29, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, creating a “national system of interstate and defense highways.” The work to create a national system of highways, now something we seemingly take for granted, was nearly an unprecedented public first waged by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with a bill of the […]