Literacy
Science of Literacy and Dual Language Advocates Can Work Together, But It’s Harder Than You Think
Early this year, the Illinois Right to Read Act looked like a no-brainer. As originally written, the bill pushed teacher colleges, districts and schools to pay greater attention to phonics and...
Social Emotional Learning
Parents Aren’t Falling for the Partisan Outrage About SEL in Schools
Do you want kids to develop the self-discipline to succeed academically? Want them to build communication and kindness skills to work together with their peers? Then you want social-emotional...
anti-racism
Why the Time Requires Us to Teach Like Malcolm
As we celebrate and honor what would have been Malcolm X’s 97th birthday, I can’t help but think of his legacy in the context of today’s whitelash against speaking and teaching truth to the youth...
Social Emotional Learning
3 Strategies To Help Kids Heal When Racist Tragedies Strike
Students across our nation started another week of school after yet another tragic mass shooting motivated by racism and hate. Teachers will face students who have likely heard about how an...
Here's How the 'Brown' Decision Impacted Black Teachers
To close Black History Month 2020, brightbeam CEO Chris Stewart took to a Twitter thread to share some history on the Black teaching force in America. Specifically, the unintended consequences of the...
Teaching
It Didn't Take Long for My Students to Ask About the Buffalo Shooting
It didn’t take long for them to ask. Just a little bit of downtime and a student approached. “Mr. Wamsted, did you hear about the shooting in Buffalo?” All around the country, teachers went to school...
