Being vulnerable: It’s not something we think about when we prepare to teach our students. There are even some schools of thought that suggest being a stone wall in front of our students and not, under any circumstances, letting them know that we, as their teachers, are tired, stressed, sad, or experiencing any other negative… Continue reading The Power of Vulnerability in the Classroom
On June 19th, author Nora Raleigh-Baskin paid a visit to my students and me at our school to discuss her life and her book, Ruby on the Outside. If you read my blog posts regularly, you know that I am very transparent with my students and many of them know that my husband is incarcerated. Through… Continue reading The Power of School Author Visits for Our Students
This question is haunting me. I can’t sleep. I have knots in my stomach. I can’t eat. All I can see is the images of innocent, unsuspecting children sleeping on cold floors, living in cages with no access to their parents or any other trusted adult while some Americans sit around and show more concern… Continue reading What Do I Do As A Mandated Reporter When The Federal Government Is The Child Abuser?
I have been reflecting about the ways students treat their teachers and their school facilities. As a teacher, I’ve always had excellent classroom management. That comes from being a no-nonsense mom long before I became a teacher. Kids are like dogs — they smell fear. They know who to mess with and with whom to… Continue reading I Witnessed My Mother Endure Blatant Disrespect At The Hands Of Her Students Today
It’s June 2nd and for the past few weeks I’ve attended and seen photos and videos of many graduations from Pre-K through graduate school. No matter the grade level, the excitement is always way up there. As a Black woman and educator, graduations of Black students are exceptionally important to me for each graduate who… Continue reading Vocational Degrees: Educational Decency or Destruction?
It’s just about the end of this school year and, as I reflect upon what worked and what didn’t in preparation for next year, I am faced with the unfortunate truth that a lot of my students — my Black students, in particular – are being recommended or mandated to attend summer school. While I’m… Continue reading Black Students, Teachers, and Community Are In A Perpetual State of Emergency.
Growing up in my home, education was pushed as the most important resource to obtain. My parents reminded me repeatedly that I was already born with two strikes against me — being a female and being Black. They prepared me for the harsh yet true reality that although I was smart and did exceptionally well… Continue reading This Is How We Damage Our Black Students’ Prospects
CNN recently reported about yet another culturally insensitive assignment given to students in an eighth-grade U.S. history class at a charter school in Texas. There, students were told to complete an assignment on the “positive aspects” and “negative aspects” of the life of slaves, giving a “balanced view.” This assignment wreaks of micro-aggressive and racist… Continue reading Schools Are Some of The Most Racist Places on Earth
It’s over 50 years since the historic Supreme Court vote that ushered integration into public schools into the public school system of United States of America. Yet in 2018 rich white people are still up in arms about the mere mention of allocating seats in their segregated schools for minority children. They didn’t want our… Continue reading So Let Me Get This Straight: If Black Kids Come to a School, the School is Going to Automatically Fail?
According to CNN, “a Texas charter school is apologizing after a teacher gave an assignment to an eighth grade American History class, asking students to list the positive aspects of slavery.” As outraged as I am, I wish I could write that what happened at Great Hearts Monte Vista School is an isolated incident —… Continue reading The First Step towards Achieving Educational Equity for Black Students Must Be Hiring More Black Teachers
