Teaching
I Felt Invisible in School, But I Teach So My LGBTQ+ Students Can Have the Chance to Be Seen
If you look up the word “visibility” in the dictionary, you get quite a few definitions including, “The ability to see or be seen.” When I was 12 years old, I remember feeling invisible because of my...
Charter Schools
Starting a Debate Team Helped Unlock My Students' Potential and It Can Do the Same for Yours
After teaching middle and high school history for almost 15 years, I believe deeply that rigorous history education has the potential to empower young people to more meaningfully engage with the...
equity
White Teachers Working to Create Equitable Schools Must Accept That Race Impacts How We Teach
I remember the moment clearly. It was my sophomore year of college and we were in a crowded cafeteria. A friend asked me to identify the partner I was working with on a class project, so I pointed...
bias
Ava Duvernay’s ‘When They See Us’ Is Unfolding Right in Our Schools
When you see them, they may be laughing, talking loudly, listening to music that is not your music. They may be dressed in clothes that are not your clothes, speaking words that are not like yours....
Poverty
What It's Like to Attend School in Rural America
On a rainy day in May of 2018, I toured a public school in northern Pennsylvania. Most of the students were eligible for free lunch. The ceiling tiles were falling in, and water was running down the...
bias
Having a Mock Slave Auction Isn't Teaching Students About Slavery, It's Just Racist
As an educator, I am sometimes left with more questions than answers. One question that I have is how come conducting a mock slave auction is a popular way to teach slavery to elementary students?...
