My students and I are reading the novel Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, a series of vignettes about each character’s life woven together to tell the story of how a community garden comes into existence. It came to me that, in my effort to intentionally build a caring classroom community, it would benefit us to start… Continue reading Nurturing My Students – Mind, Body, Soul, and Spirit
I have a serious inquiry for school administrators: Is a teacher applicant’s race a factor when you consider hiring them? Let me be more specific: Do you think about your minority student demographics and then consider the positive impact that having a teacher who looks like them will have on them? Do any of these… Continue reading Damn! NO Black Teachers Are Being Hired? This Is Crazy!!
I applaud my fellow educational allies who have begun to assemble curriculum resources. I encourage you to follow #CharlotttesvilleCurriculum on social media as it can lead you to an array of resources and subsequently increase awareness of what schools are encouraging. The voices of classroom teachers are also amplified. At the same time, it’s essential… Continue reading “Take a look at yourself, and then make a change”: In the Wake of Charlottesville, a Teacher Contemplates Bias
Educators: Speak out against hate. Defend love. Racism is a diabolical social construct. The truth is that there is only one race — the human race. We need more love, friends. All this anger and hatred is literally eating us alive. From its impetus, America has been built upon divisiveness, corruption, and hate. Do we… Continue reading Be Brave: Teach America’s Ugly Truths
In a few short weeks school will resume in New York and I’m already thinking about how we are going to address racism within the four walls of my classroom. I can already see us previewing images like the one above for a Do Now discussion and quick-write. I’m thinking about what texts, historical and… Continue reading Addressing Racism Within The Four Walls Of My Classroom — And Yours
I only had one Black teacher in my entire K-12 academic career. One. I graduated from Elmont Memorial High School (EMHS) on Long Island almost 25 years ago. I always brag about the quality education that I got there. It really was top-notch. The neighborhood in which we lived and attended school was culturally diverse.… Continue reading How Are These White Teachers At A Long Island High School Helping Black Kids Achieve Above- Average Graduation Rates?
Recently I’ve been forcing myself to take a news fast but earlier this week, while out socializing with some members of my new education family at the Education Post Blogger Summit, I learned about the murder of a pregnant Black woman in Seattle at the hands of two White police officers in front of her children.… Continue reading The Education Plantation: It’s Time I Move From The Field To The House
When I went on break today and checked my Facebook page, I began reading the usual stories of love, tragedy, comedy, politics, and spirituality that run the gamut of my feed. However, my jaw dropped when I read this post. (I’ve deleted names to protect privacy.) Got a call from the deans office at my… Continue reading “I Am Not Your Nigger”: Racial Slurs Run Amok in Schools Across America
Educational Bias and Bigotry Are Flourishing Under the Leadership of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
Writing is helping me make deeper connections among various topics. Follow me right now, if you will. I’m beginning to see how the school-to-prison pipeline continues to flourish because of a lack of culturally relevant pedagogy. Culturally-relevant pedagogy is lacking because of a void of Black teachers, especially Black, male teachers. One reason there… Continue reading Educational Bias and Bigotry Are Flourishing Under the Leadership of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
Restorative justice. Restorative circles. Equity in education. College and career ready. These are all buzz phrases about initiatives high on education’s lexicon list. They sound good but, without any action taken towards their actual fruition, they are words that mean absolutely nothing. Just saying them or writing them surely isn’t doing much to change the… Continue reading Our Schools Need Support Staff, Not Police!
