10 Books to Help Your Students Find the Diverse Voices They Need to Hear

The day my teaching changed forever didn’t happen in a classroom. It happened at the local mall, in a bookstore that was going out of…

Here’s How to Help Your Students Find the Voices Missing From the Traditional Thanksgiving Story

In the elementary classroom, teachers often shy away from teaching a more critical viewpoint of “traditional history” for fear of how this shift will be…

Stop Spreading Lies About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is upon us—in the air, in the trees, in the longer nights and anticipation of a long weekend. But also, in the grocery stores…

Culture-Based Education Looks Like This Wellness Program for Native Youth

Can outside speakers influence, inspire or motivate students if they just parachute in for the day and don’t have relationships with the young people with…

The ELL Population Is Growing, But Where Are the Teachers to Help Them Excel?

Your first year of teaching isn’t usually filled with victories, but I’ll never forget the brightest moment of mine. It was a Friday in early…

Here’s How You Can Talk About Christopher Columbus in Your Classroom

When I invite teachers to rethink how they teach Columbus at our semiannual UnColumbus Day Symposium in Philadelphia, many teachers think it’s not for them.…

We Can’t Just Teach About Heroes and Holidays and Call It Culturally Responsive

In a recent training on culturally responsive teaching, I was introduced to a theory called the “Stages of Multicultural Transformation.” It goes something like this.…

Yes, You Can Give Teachers Challenging and Culturally Relevant Materials. Just Look at Chicago.

Two-thirds of Chicago’s teachers spend hours on the weekend scouring websites like Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers because they say they don’t have up-to-date, culturally…

If Your Students Can Relate, They Can Read, So Give Them Culturally Relevant Texts

As a teacher, I know that to get students learning they must first enjoy the idea of learning. Teaching English language arts may seem easy,…

How Do We Bring Magic Into the Classroom? Georgia’s New Teacher of the Year Shows the Way.

For 2020 Georgia Teacher of the Year Tracey Nance Pendley, the road to teaching was not easy. Pendley’s mother was a drug addict who was…