It’s Going to Take More Than a Black History Month Report to See Racial Equity in Our Schools

Black History Month provides a calendar-driven chance for students and teachers to talk about Black History. But it can easily become a way of tokenizing…

The Best Part of Teaching Is When You Succeed in Engaging Your Students’ Mind, Body and Spirit

My favorite book in the world is “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and it is special for me to share that book with my students. They…

I Always Write About How Hard Teaching Is But I Really Do Love It

Once, forever ago, I wrote a tweet bemoaning how many stories out there were about how much teaching sucks, and all the reasons people left…

You Know You Love Teaching When You’re on Maternity Leave and Stop to Talk to a Former Student

#LoveTeaching Week is a grassroots campaign started by teachers in 2015 as an opportunity to celebrate teaching, leading, and learning in a way that unites…

I Took a Year Off Work to Learn About Dyslexia Because My Son’s Teachers Couldn’t Teach Him How to Read

Why, for so many, is access to an education that recognizes the science of reading limited to private programs? My son experienced this as a…

Holding Teachers Accountable Without Adequate Teacher Prep Programs Is a Set-Up

One of my resolutions for this new year is to think outside of silos and to start connecting the dots between the wide, disparate, and…

How My School Blocked Me From Teaching ‘The Hate U Give’

While “The Hate U Give” is a best-selling book and top-rated film, I’m getting some real pushback from my administration about having my students read the…

Let’s Put The Science of Reading in Teachers’ Hands, So Kids Aren’t Left Behind

Several years ago, I found myself a parent of a struggling reader. My son was attending a very well-regarded NYC public school, but the teachers…

If You’re Not Going to Teach Our Kids to Read, Then We’re Taking Your Ass to Court

Outrage: Kids Can’t Read, America It took the kid about 5 minutes to read one sentence. He struggled to pronounce the easiest words. I was…

Books Saved Me as a Foster Child and Now I Hope They Will Save Others

Because of my young parents’ crass negligence, at age 6, I was pulled from their custody and placed in Philadelphia’s child protection services. For 15…