It’s Black History Month. It is around this time that teachers all over the country will start dusting off their Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks lesson plans. That is understandable. Students definitely need to have an appreciation of the key figures in the Civil Rights Movement, but why do educators always jump to…
Anybody who works in a school is aware of the substitute teacher shortage. To call it a shortage is really putting mildly. Some schools aren’t simply “having trouble” finding subs. They aren’t finding them period. Those schools are having to double up classes, have teachers teaching during their prep periods, and even staff classes with…
There is a group of fifth graders that congregate outside the front door of the school in the morning. As I was wading through them to get in yesterday, I overheard this interaction: Student 1: “COVER YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SNEEZE! Ain’t nobody trying to get rona.” Student 2: “It’s not COVID. I just got…
It is National School Choice Week. This is a week in which we celebrate and uplift a family’s right to send their kids to a school they choose as opposed to one they were sorted into by zip code. This is a week that always confuses non-educators because it sounds like something we should obviously…
It is now 2022. Most people probably didn’t think we would still be dealing with Covid-19, at least not to the same degree. In fact, you can make an argument that it is the worst it’s ever been. But even though the pandemic has not really gotten that much better, our response has definitely shifted….
Across the country school curriculum bills are making their way through state legislatures. These bills are largely aimed at stopping the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” or at least what people perceive as Critical Race Theory. Critical Race Theory (CRT), is an academic framework that examines how race has intertwined with institutions since slavery and…
As an inner-city teacher, I can say confidently that most people have no idea what I do. That is largely because there is really not a good representation of inner city teaching in the media. Your choices for inner-city education films are typically white-savior centered melodramas or characters of color conquering all obstacles simply through…
It’s winter break. This is traditionally the time of year in which people go home and gather with their families. If you are like me, you may even catch up with your old friends being that you are already in town. But given that the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been running wild, the Centers…
You hear that? Listen close. That pecking noise … That is the sound of millions of teachers worldwide preparing their “What did you get for Christmas?” assignment. Everyone knows winter break is coming to an end. However, that doesn’t stop teachers from waiting until the last minute to plan what they are doing on that…
Many teachers are preparing to receive raises next year. Some school districts are even planning to give bigger raises this coming school year than in years prior. Some of that was made possible by an influx in COVID money and referendum funds. However, ironically the circumstances that contributed to some of the extra money are…