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 What All the NAEP Coverage Missed

Articles on the release of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores rang an alarm of familiar decline: “Math scores remained relatively flat in…

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Black Boys With Dyslexia Need Love and Learning, Not Shame and Prison

As a young boy, I wasn’t a bad person. I feared going into the classroom because I couldn’t read. Had someone intervened in third or…

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,…

Reading the Right Books, Not Just the White Books, Will Help Black Students Succeed

Dear Black Students:  I want to tell you something controversial, something different from the messages most people will give you. I want you to know…

If We Don’t Give Students the Freedom to Choose What They Read, They May Choose Not to Read at All

Once again there is a story about censorship in schools. A Catholic school in Tennessee has decided their students should not read Harry Potter because they…

When It Comes to Teaching Reading, When Will We Get It Right?

This summer, it seems like nobody took time off from the debate about how best to teach children to read. Emily Hanford’s latest documentary explores…

My Kid Had Tons of Background Knowledge, But He Couldn’t Read Without Learning Phonics

When our son was born, my husband and I knew a lot about how to prepare him to be a reader. We knew how to…

10 Summer Book Recommendations for Teachers, by Teachers

Everybody loves to give teachers their ideas for a great summer reading list. But what happens when teachers themselves do the choosing? Now that we’re…