Nate Bowling

Nate Bowling is a high school government teacher in Tacoma, Washington, who was named the 2016 Washington State Teacher of the Year and a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. He is also a recipient of the 2014 Milken National Teaching Award and founding member of Teachers United. In August 2017, he came together with more than 40 other African-American parents, students and teachers to talk about the Black experience in America's public schools. These conversations were released as a video series in Getting Real About Education: A Conversation With Black Parents, Teachers and Students.

Posts By Nate Bowling

Teaching

Families of Color Have a Lot to Worry About, Teachers Doing Stupid, Racist Things Shouldn't Be One of Them

If you’re anything like me, you’ve found yourself looking at your social media timeline recently and muttering “what in the world is happening?” In late October, a teacher in Davenport, Iowa, decided...

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Teaching

I've Had 12 Students Tell Me They're Homeless This Year

Every period, every day, I greet students at the door so I can have a pre-class check-in. I joke with kids, compliment fades, eyebrows and edges. I get updates on their uncle’s immigration hearings...

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Achievement Gap

Students of Color Need to See More People of Color. That Shouldn't Be Controversial.

I spent most of my first year of grad school sitting in the back row of class with my hood up. There were nearly 40 of us in the cohort. Two were Black. My hoodie was an act of silent dissent. Today,...

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Poverty

Stop Berating Black and Brown Parents Over Charters (and Give Your Twitter Fingers a Rest)

I read too many education arguments for my own good. It’s a known issue in my household. The argument I find most cringe-inducing is the fight over charter schools. With the news that Secretary DeVos...

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student achievement

Why the Hell Didn't Someone Put These Books in My Hand When I Was Younger?

I should read more than I do. Everyone should. I think we’d be better off as a nation and a species if we all read more. Teachers have a unique role in fostering a love of reading and engendering an...

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Washington D.C.

Four Educators, Three Days, 600 miles, One Mazda, Kids From Five Universities and Infinite Hugs

The Lincoln High School Alumni Support Tour was born from the struggles we saw in our first-generation college students. Over the last decade we’ve built a college going culture in our school. We...

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