When I Failed My Student, Restorative Justice Picked Us Up

During one of my daily writing warm-up exercises Alex, a sophomore in my remedial English class, decided to exercise his defiance by yelling, “Get off…

No Teacher Should Be an Island

I didn’t quite understand what it meant to be an “island” until I started teaching eight years ago. For years, I was the only United…

Stop Teaching Like Technology and the Internet Don’t Exist

It’s tough to take an individualized approach to teaching by using technology in the classroom. Even when the technology is there—which it often isn’t—the teacher…

How New Mexico Is Becoming a Quiet Leader in the Education Reform Movement

While much of the education reform world was convening in Austin for the annual charter schools conference this week, I snuck off to Albuquerque for…

Teachers Shouldn’t Have to Wait Until Summer to Get Professional Development

The end of the school year is always my favorite time. With standardized assessments finished, it’s my time to finally breathe, slow down to reflect…

How I Learned to Help My Students Talk About Hard Things

Up until a few years ago, I had struggled to find my voice as a teacher. I had internalized a set of classroom management principles…

Here’s One Way We Could Keep More Black Male Educators in the Classroom

Does being me give me an advantage in my inner-city classroom? I often reflect on this question because every school year I learn from a…

For Black Teachers It’s About More Than Just Academics

As we celebrate Black History Month and pay homage to our milestones, I reflect on my time inside the classroom. As an African-American woman my…

My Undocumented Students Have Invested in Our Country. We Should Invest in Them.

At the end of my first year of teaching, Maria, one of my sixth-graders, wrote this to me: Before you, school just wasn’t my thing.…

We Can Be a Nation of Dreamers and a Nation of Laws

On a hot day before the end of the school year, I sat in my classroom with Wajid, a tall and reedy senior who had…