NY’s teachers are committed educators who sometimes feel at odds with their leaders and/or the Department of Education. They seek meaningful professional development, a more diverse teaching staff, and adequate support to serve our children.
Yesterday in one of my classes, an announcement came over the loudspeaker informing students that the bathrooms were closed and that they needed to remain in their classrooms. Upon hearing that, I locked the front classroom door. It was an instinctual response to the directive given. As I locked the door, my students asked me… Continue reading The Trauma-Informed Classroom: Six Years After The Sandy Hook Massacre
The narrative earned Mr. Sassau acceptance to St. John’s University in New York. There was one problem: None of it was true. “I was just a small piece in a whole fathom of lies,” Mr. Sassau said. I read this statement in in the New York Times when a colleague sent it to me and I… Continue reading What Does Airing The Louisiana Landry School’s Dirty Laundry Mean For The Rest Of Us?
A Total Surprise: “Are you going to wear that again on Friday?” Debbie asked me one afternoon. An odd sort of a question I thought, especially coming from Debbie. Everyone knows that I wear a white shirt and black pants to school every day. This was our school uniform at the time. The kids were… Continue reading SURPRISE! Teaching Is Serious Business — At Least Most of the Time.
This post is by Joy Prescott, a fourth-grade math teacher at Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School in Florida and the 2019 Florida Department of Education Teacher of the Year. It was originally published at National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Over the course of almost two centuries, Florida’s Seminoles endured three wars with the U.S. government, resisted numerous… Continue reading Rekindling the Heritage of an Unconquered Indian Tribe
Danielle Asher is the Director of Curriculum and Training for Family Leadership Network, a division of the social justice nonprofit, Choice For All in Roosevelt, NY. Ms. Asher works with families and communities to shift the culture of what leadership looks like while working towards anti-racist and equitable systemic change. Danielle works locally and nationally to… Continue reading Family Engagement: The Missing Link to School Reform
In my November 5th post, In Mixed Ability Classrooms, Who Is Really Doing the Teaching, I reiterated my contention that it’s very difficult for teachers to work effectively in a classroom where students come in with wildly different levels of preparedness. This post triggered intense pushback on Facebook from teachers, who insisted they had been… Continue reading Should Teachers Forbid Students From Learning Outside of School? What Happens When They Do?
Last week I wrote a very personal post about the connections between our nation’s education and criminal justice systems. I was accused by a reader of not grounding my assertions in research, thus voiding my post’s truth or relevance. I reminded the reader that I’d written a blog post, not a research paper. However, this… Continue reading The Life-Changing Benefits of Black Teachers for Black Students
This is a post by my friend and colleague Zachary Wright, a national finalist for the United States Department of Education’s School Ambassador Fellowship. Zach is an assistant professor of practice at Relay Graduate School of Education serving Philadelphia and Camden. Prior to that, he was the 12th-grade world literature and AP literature teacher at Mastery… Continue reading No Matter What Anyone Says, the Money Ought to Follow the Kid Regardless of What Kind of Public School They Choose.
On Tuesday, October 30th, I received one of the greatest gifts of my life: After serving 19 and a half years of a 20-to-life sentence, my husband John Dukes was released from prison. Each day he’s home is a blessing. Each day he’s home also highlights the challenges that formerly incarcerated people face along their… Continue reading A Personal Perspective Into The School-To-Prison Pipeline: John Is Home!
“You want me to do what?!” I said with mock disbelief. Some of my students were helping to plan our school’s annual spring break college tour where they visit universities up and down the east coast during their Easter vacation. They asked me if I would help chaperone their trip. I responded, “let me make… Continue reading Teachers, Do You Know Your Limitations? Let Me Tell You Some Of Mine!
