The Blog

You know what's an important thing we need time for in schools? There are so many answers to that question, but the one we want to discuss here is TIME FOR REFLECTION. When teachers can reflect, so many problems are solved and so much gets better. 

In this case, fellow educator Brent Gilson has cre...

The man who was 45th president of the United States and wants to be the 47th, just did his racist thing again in New Hampshire. He decided to claim that immigrants from South America, Africa, and Asia are “poisoning” the blood of the United States. All by itself, this comment is hideous, but when pu...

As a result of strong anti-southern biases among northerners and people outside of the south, anti south commentary persists in this season of keyboard warriors. In response to DeSa*tis and Abbo*t legislation, people easily want to ban Florida and Texas, for example, from the union. It’s wild how qu...

"He sits there and keeps his down and just does his work. He's such a good student." 

"Mary was diagnosed with cancer and we didn't even know! She's such a trooper." 

"Juan barely talks and responds only when called upon." 

"They're such a difficult student. They fidget all day and need all these...

When we're planning for the new school year, we're often thinking about classroom set up, decorations, start-of-the-year activities/events, and even what our first book or reading might be to welcome students. While those aspects are important, they're not the crux of teaching. You can have all thos...

In 2016, at the Montessori for Social Justice Conference we delivered a keynote that focused on joy as a form of resistance. This was two years after the death of Philando Castile. That death rocked us. The conference was in the Minneapolis area. The Mississippi River runs through that city. The sam...

I remember in 7th grade when one of my teachers, Mrs. B, did a terrible thing. My classmate was reading aloud. Slowly. Struggling through the lines. Working his way. Making gains. And doing it in front of all of us. You know what Mrs. B did? She blurted out, as he walked through the letters and word...

There exists a movement among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color all around the world (basically wherever there was colonization) to Whiten our skin. The lure of the proximity to Whiteness as a privilege and as a means for survival is both real and not new. For those of us that can’t pass as Whi...

Indigenous People’s Day is an important holiday and it also brings up many feelings… like anger, frustration, pain, and exhaustion. There are still so many that argue that Columbus was an “explorer” and that we must focus on “the good” of his “discovery.” I can’t do that. I won’t do that. Folks at T...