How the Parkland students became those activists Will it be student activists who force political action regarding gun violence in America? Maybe that’s exactly what this country needs. Mere days after the February 14th shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland Florida, Emma Gonzales, one of the student-survivors, was calling out politicians at a […]
schools
Posted inCurrent Events in Education
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 […]
Posted inParents
More Rural Schools Journal: The Sick Day
On a recent Thursday afternoon, I decide to take a sick day. I just called for a sub to cover my duties tomorrow. I’m taking a “sick day.” My youngest, (of the three girls I have written so much about in the past) didn’t really want to go to school this morning, was clearly feeling […]
Posted inFrom the Front Lines
My Journal From Working in a Rural School- Entry One
Mr. McConnell’s Rural Schools Journal Entry 1 (7/7/2016) What it looks like, lives like, what I’ve seen In a rural area, the suppression and exclusion of the hardest working and neediest among us can readily be seen in almost any school that serves struggling populations. It probably looks different and it comes at you different, […]
Posted inHigh School, Interviews, Opinion, Principals' Corner, The Unemployed Teacher
Transition Time: Finding the Right School Fit Over Summer
Summer means leaving a school for greener pastures for many educators, but how is one to know if the new school is going to be better? Here’s a brief checklist I’ve used during interviews in years past to figure out whether a school is a possible home or a major flop: 1. Outlook and attitude […]
Posted inConfessions of a Teacher, From the Front Lines, Middle School, Uncategorized
Teachers Who Won’t Be Silent Anymore: Ebony Murphy-Root
Bullying is a huge problem in our schools today. When a student is being bullied we, as teachers, encourage students to tell a trusted adult and it will be handled from there. In a perfect world, the responsible party would intervene, an agreement would be reached, and appropriate consequences will be issued. But what if […]
Posted inHigh School, Opinion
{Opinion Piece} Prayer Back in Schools
I confess- I am a believer in the most high God. So it comes as no surprise that I am all for prayer in school. As a young child I never had the privilege of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance followed by a morning prayer. However, there were many days as a public inner city […]