If Your Students Seem Unmotivated, Maybe It’s Time to Go Deep on Why

Most of us don’t think about motivation on a day-to-day basis. It’s when we want to change habits or accomplish something new and bold that…

To Defeat Implicit Bias, Try Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is a very powerful practice for accelerating important learning for Black, Brown, and low-income kids. It provides “voice and choice” for the students…

Dear White People: When it Comes to Educational Equity, You’ll Have to Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Is the public school system rooted in White supremacy culture? Damn right it is. And This brings me to question why teachers in New York…

The Discomfort of White Adults Should Never Take Priority Over the Success of Our Black and Brown Students

“I didn’t come here to teach those kinds of kids.” It’s alarming to think that adults charged with helping students of color succeed in school…

Forget Implicit Bias, Let’s Talk about Explicit Bias in Education

Last month I kicked off a training on ways to use language as an asset to unleash the critical thinking potential of English learners with…

Families of Color Have a Lot to Worry About, Teachers Doing Stupid, Racist Things Shouldn’t Be One of Them

If you’re anything like me, you’ve found yourself looking at your social media timeline recently and muttering “what in the world is happening?” In late…

‘Sesame Street’ Just Missed a Big Opportunity to Support the LGBT+ Community

Recently, a whirlwind of controversy swirled around speculation that childhood favorites Bert and Ernie, of “Sesame Street,” might be partners—yes, a gay couple. In an…

We Need to Keep Talking About Serena Williams and the Dignity of Black Children

By now we’ve all seen the headlines after the most recent U.S. Open in which Serena Williams lost to Naomi Osaka. Yet the headlines weren’t…

The Last Thing We Need Is a Negative Teacher. 5 Tips to Keep It Positive This School Year.

It’s that time of year again. The start of a new school year presents teachers with the opportunity to create new goals, build relationships and reconsider…

What Kids Want Teachers to Know Before the First Day of School

Back to school time makes everyone a little nervous: parents, teachers, staff and especially students. Conventional wisdom tells us that students are primarily worried about…