When Disney’s ‘Frozen II’ Represents Indigenous Peoples Better Than Elementary Schools, There’s a Problem

As I sat with my 7-year-old daughter and her friends in a movie theater for a showing of “Frozen II,” I was fascinated. No, it wasn’t…

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…

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…

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.…

I’m Teaching My Students How to Read and Think Beyond the Headline

We’ve all been there. A tempting headline, a picture too startling to keep our fingers at rest. We skim through the article. We write a…

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…

Would We Advocate for Boys in Hoodies the Way We Advocate for Boys in MAGA Hats?

Educational empathy. That’s what guides me in my work with students. It’s the very foundation of my educational advocacy. “How would a student feel if…