Our Students Need More Than Our Outrage, They Need Dialogue

On the afternoon of last Wednesday’s attempted insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., Twitter was a refuge. While living and working in…

This Is a Perfect Time to Talk With Our Students About Social Injustice

The COVID-19 pandemic offers teachers a unique opportunity to capitalize on student empathy. Before the pandemic hit, millions of U.S. students were already in our…

This Out and Proud Teacher Could Make History if Elected to the Texas State Board of Education

Michelle Palmer, a longtime Houston community activist and education leader, might soon make history as the first openly LGBTQ+ teacher elected to the Texas State…

Now Is the Time to Remake Our Schools With Equity in Mind

This week, the school reopening conversation is largely about when we reopen schools. Some people, including our president, want schools to reopen widely, as soon…

I Am a Teacher. Here’s What Scares Me Most About COVID-19

I’m afraid of COVID-19. So are you. And so is everyone else. Fear is the only rational response given the current pandemic. Yet fear can…

There Are Teachers Out There Right Now Causing Real Harm to Black and Brown Students

This is an incredible thread. Joe Truss took the Amy Cooper viral video and described all the ways that that behavior shows up in classrooms…

5 Ways School Leaders Can Begin to Better Equip Themselves to Deal With the Challenge We’re Facing

One of my mentors begins each interrogative problem-solving conversation with the same question, “Who knew what, when, and what did you do about it?” The…

If You Want to Know What Works for Students With Dyslexia, Ask Them

Imagine you are a mature, intelligent middle-school student who finds it difficult to write anything—numbers or letters—on paper in a way that makes sense. You…

What the Coronavirus Can Teach Us About Empathy and Equity in Schools

We’re facing a global emergency where tens of millions of children are seeing their education disrupted. But the truth is that for many kids and…

The Week Before Winter Break Doesn’t Have to Be a Nightmare

One of the hardest weeks of the school year is the week before winter break.  The turn up is real. Students start acting as if…