A Teacher Asked About My Child’s Hopes and Dreams and It Changed Everything

As a child in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, I did not have a good experience in school. My teachers did not understand my ADHD, and I…

This School Hired the ‘Best Person’ for the Job and Ended Up With a 75% Black Male Teaching Staff

As he moves around his seventh grade math classroom, Aurum Preparatory Academy (“Aurum Prep”) teacher, Salif Doubare, is crackling with energy. He’s tall, thin, wearing…

What You Think You Know About Restorative Justice Is Probably Wrong

On Monday, we ran a piece written by a mother whose experience with restorative justice was a horror story. Readers responded in large numbers to the piece,…

Pardon My Grumpy Appearance, Kids. This Year I’ll Show You More Mr. Nice Guy

I think we all know, or we had better, that the old advice of, “Don’t smile until Christmas,” is just bad. In most classrooms, thankfully,…

Here’s How Teachers Can Help All Students Thrive, Even After Trauma

Fall has always been my favorite season. Having the opportunity to join hundreds of educators at the recent LEAP InnovatED Summit, just days before most…

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…

‘I Knew I Wanted to Teach Kids Whose Backgrounds Looked Just Like Mine’

Nylah Newkirk, Da´Montae Neclos and Dionte Edmonds fall out laughing while describing the unforgettable morning when their math teacher taught them about quadrants. There’s nothing…

Don’t Expect Results If You’re Selling Your Students Short With Old Strategies

I teach English Language Arts to high school students in Washington, D.C. All of my students are students of color. While bright and talented, many…

Puberty Is Hard, and So Is Teaching About It

Puberty is hard. Teaching it ain’t easy either. Still, those “what happens to my body” conversations are a perfect test-case for why school is pretty…

I #LoveTeaching Because I Craft Tomorrow’s Heroes, Today

A few years ago, I asked one of my students, JC, why he kept working through the difficulties of creating experiences for a holographic headset,…