The Blog

A Lesson on the N-Word #antiracistedu abar antiracist black lives matter classroom discussion ela reflection resources Nov 01, 2017

You can’t teach the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and not discuss the n-word. Ignoring it is irresponsible. So, how does a teacher engage her class in a discussion around this very controversial and complicated word? 

My current teaching context is a small...

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Dust Your Shoulders Off classroom reflection Jan 04, 2017

I’ve had many difficult teaching moments. Some were a result of my own doing, yet many were a result of systemic inequalities that bled into the four walls of my classroom. I once had a student drop out of his junior year in order to work full time so he could help his family back home in...

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What I Told My Seniors classroom reflection Nov 14, 2016

I didn’t realize how unprepared I was for Trump’s election. I had simply not thought that result through. Immediately I began receiving text messages. My father’s words to all of his children will stay with me. I was teary-eyed as I dropped Analiz off at school. I cried a bit...

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Takin’ On the Hard Topics csp Oct 31, 2016

Recently, I wrote a response to the Larry Ferlazzo’s Classroom Q & A blog question: What are good strategies teachers can use when exploring “controversial” topics? Since my courses are infused with what folks consider to be controversial topics, this was somewhat...

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Teachin’ Ain’t for the Weak reflection Oct 17, 2016

Teaching at Headwaters is quite the change of pace & style for me. The main differences are the creative autonomy I have and the student academic freedoms they enjoy.  I wrote more about that here.

What are the main differences? 

1. Debriefing class/lessons.

2....

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Not Your Momma’s Mockingbird csp reflection resources Oct 01, 2016
I’ve taught 9th grade for many years and one thing I’ve learned is that they are young, ready, willing, and needing of a space to be themselves. Since I began working with a predominantly white student body, I have tweaked my approach to teaching from an anti-bias/anti-racist lens to...
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Hope csp reflection Sep 19, 2016
Working at this independent school has been a great and challenging experience for me. The biggest challenge? I have never taught in a classroom where I was the ethnic minority. I have never taught in a classroom where the group wasn’t Latino. That was a big shift and certainly something...
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Academically Free education educational equity reflection Sep 03, 2016

After teaching at an oppressive, regimented, “turn around” school district, I can now say I know what it means to be academically free. Those who’ve taught in such spaces understand what I mean when I use those words above. It’s a space where all my steps are watched, all...

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Caliban oh, Caliban! anti-racist schools books csp educational equity professionaldevelopment Jul 18, 2016

As part of a professional development session, we offered about racial identity and how that relates to teaching, we discussed Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We analyzed him as the first indigenous person in the Western literary imagination. We thought about how he was...

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