I Believe in Public Schools, But They Just Weren’t Working for My Son

“The wolf took one last look at his mother and father…” My son is reading aloud in the other room. I hear his little voice…

Yes, We Should Require Teachers to Be Vaccinated

While children becoming seriously ill from the coronavirus is exceedingly rare, it is imperative for teachers to be vaccinated in order to keep schools open…

After the Last Year and a Half, We Must Never Forget How Resilient Students Are

Kids today are too fragile. We’re raising a generation of snowflakes! It’s a universal truth: As long as there are young people, there will be older…

We Don’t Have to Choose Between Relationships and Rigor. Our Students Need Both.

Know your why, and it will sustain you. Dr. Adam Saenz When I read this quote from Dr. Adam Saenz, licensed psychologist and author, it…

Times Are Tough. Asking Teachers to Get Tougher Isn’t the Answer.

Wednesday started out like any other; I left my house at 7:00 am to drive to my school campus, where I teach bilingual early childhood…

Online Learning Has Its Place, but Kids Need Their Teachers

Boy am I glad to have my kids back this year. Last year, I had to share them with a digital teaching tool. I had…

When My Struggling Readers Won’t Read for School, but They Will for Squid Game

“Squid Game” is graphic and not meant for young audiences. This is not an endorsement of using the show as teaching material. As a teacher,…

Your Thanksgiving Clip Art and Crafts Might Be Microaggressions. Here’s How to Do Better.

In March, Dr. Seuss Enterprises decided to cease publication of six of the prolific writer’s works due to his demeaning caricatures of non-white ethnicities. This…

These 5 Anti-Racist Books Will Help Level Up Your School’s Professional Development

Over the past year, I have been able to read a ton of great books focused on social justice, culturally relevant pedagogy, and disrupting white…

It’s Time to Dump Deficit-Based Data

As the school year begins, we hear lots of deficit-laden words like “Title I,” “tough,” “low-income,” and “low-achieving” to describe primarily Black and brown students…