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…

We Need Native American Lit in High Schools Every Day, Not Just Around Thanksgiving

The romanticized narrative of Thanksgiving continues to thrive in many schools, but “Native Americans have been speaking out and writing back against the colonialist narrative…

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…

We Can Tell the Truth About Thanksgiving to Our Preschoolers, Too

Since urging my preschool to eliminate Columbus Day from the school calendar, I continuously contemplate how to teach about Native Americans, and especially Thanksgiving, in the…

December Can Be Tough. Let’s Bring Empathy and Grace Into Our Schools in the New Year

Everyday moments have the power to transform our thinking around the most important ideas in education. I was stopped cold in my tracks by just…

Whether Families Choose Diversity or Cultural Affirmation, Charters Meet Their Needs

For many years, education policy has focused on closing educational access and achievement gaps that exist between low-income, predominantly communities of color, and more affluent…

My Classroom Changed When I Started to Understand What Empathy Really Is

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. These sayings are frequently used to get…