B.H. James is the author of Parnucklian for Chocolate and co-author of A Sea of Troubles: Pairing Literary and Informational Texts to Address Social Inequality and of Method to the Madness: A Common Core Guide to Creating Critical Thinkers through the Study of Literature. He has taught English at Franklin High School in Stockton, CA since 2006. Every May, I […]
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Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
The Missing Link in Culturally Diverse, Anti-Racist Work is Paid Collaboration
We have heard so much about the need for a culturally diverse, anti-racist curriculum, but the question is, are you willing to pay teachers for their time and energy in writing and implementing it? There are many teachers out there who have seen enough seminars and been to enough conferences to have been inspired to […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Setting Boundaries for Type A Personality Teachers
Think about the number of things you do each day. Now think about how many of those things you do that are actually things you enjoy doing. I hope that the number of things you enjoy doing outnumbers the things you don’t enjoy, but for many of us, I believe that’s untrue. We live in […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Check Your Toxic Positivity and Correct Your Word Choices
How many times this past year during pandemic teaching did you hear, “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” How many times after hearing that “verse” have you felt like a complete failure? Well, here’s the deal – that’s not actually a verse, but a variation of this one: No temptation has overtaken […]
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President Biden is Correct, All Teachers Should Be Vaccinated, But With One Exception
“There’s no way I’d do it. I’d rather be fired!” “Sign me up tomorrow; we should be testing all kids and teachers! We’re in a pandemic!” “It’s a conspiracy. Why do you think they’re so bent on us getting this shot!” These were the tidbits of conversations that I heard as I clocked in Friday […]
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A New Hippocratic Oath For Teachers
In March of this year, I watched as a student’s beloved grandfather had a stroke via Zoom. It was beyond frustrating to know there was so little I could do for him, and the event was not only traumatic for my student but pretty much summed up the entire year for me as a virtual […]
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Teachers Didn’t Sign Up for This
It’s 11:49 pm on Tuesday night at my house. The kitchen is clean. The house is locked up. The kids are asleep, my dog is asleep, and for once, I can sit down and hear the sounds of nothing in my house. Yet, as I finally sit down in my recliner to try and grade […]
Posted inInstruction & Curriculum
Why Race? Why Mathematics? Listening and Learning with Black Mathematics Teachers
Authors: Toya Jones Frank, Jenice View, Marvin Powell, and Jay Bradley. “I’m a math teacher,” but [administrators and other teachers] don’t look at me as a math teacher because of who I am… [S]o that speaks volumes about what the rest of the country must think as well. (Asa, middle school mathematics teacher) This quote […]