Much fuss has been made the last couple of weeks about lowering the standards to become a teacher. Between proposals to allowing unlicensed military veterans to become teachers to waiving the certification exams, many states have kicked around ideas that would make it easier to enter the classroom. Not everyone is on board with these…
If you grew up during the 90s as I did, you probably know the song “Regulate” featuring Warren G and Nate Dogg. Early in the song, you hear, “Regulators, mount up.” In other words, get control before you get controlled. I assert this same energy can be directed to the classroom. Teachers either regulate or…
Welcome to the EduVerse with ProfessorJBA. This series is aimed at parents and caregivers in an effort to inform them about the various roles and aspects of the educational landscape to ensure that caregivers can make informed decisions. I don’t know who is driving the narrative that school isn’t fun but it needs to stop….
In the age of information, a data breach is one of the worst things that can happen. At best, it is a violation of privacy, and at worse, it leads to identity theft. This is why schools need to do better when it comes to managing student data. Schools keep tons of data on their…
October is known as National Principals Month. I want to celebrate and elevate the principal seat. Principals, Need Love Too. If you haven’t read part I, start there first. Quick message to my fellow principals: You are strong, smart, and valuable. Be you, and who you are is enough! Here are tips 5-8 that I…
Come and let’s play together in the bright sunny weather. Lets all go to Gullah, Gullah Island. Gullah, Gullah, Gullah, Gullah. If you sang instead of read these lines, you might have been a child who watched “Gullah Gullah Island.” The show featured a Black family who lived in a fictional place called Gullah Gullah…
Welcome to the EduVerse with ProfessorJBA. This series is aimed at parents and caregivers in an effort to inform them about the various roles and aspects of the educational landscape to ensure that caregivers can make informed decisions. Parenting is such a critical aspect of life. The way in which we engage parents and families…
October is known as National Principals Month, and this principal is on sabbatical. Many of my fellow principals just finished fall break and hopefully had the opportunity to rest and get rejuvenated to return to the most difficult, demanding, and rewarding job in the K 12 system. I figured I would use this month to…
While the title may seem depressing, this is not a piece about how terrible it is to be a principal; this piece is a reminder about how hard and, at times, lonely the principal seat can be. I was given some advice early in my tenure as a principal, “it is lonely at the top.”…
My husband, Jermaine Barnes, and I went to the same elementary school, middle school, and high school in Indianapolis, but we first connected online on Black Planet (a social media platform at the time that helped you connect to other Black people). When we connected online, we both were students at Purdue University. His major…