Teaching for a Living Democracy: Project Based Learning in the English and History Classroom is a product of the years I’ve spent working with young people, most of which has been with youth in public schools in Philly. The book, which is rooted in a commitment to equity and social justice, presents a framework of changing the way […]Read Post ›
The other day I sat in the front of a classroom north of Wellington facing thirty teenagers. We had met thirty minutes earlier. I had heard from them about their school and their community before sharing information about my school and my students in Philly. “What else would you like to know?” I asked. “Ask […]Read Post ›
[Cross-posted on Edutopia.] Recently, national media published several articles that examine educational inequality in our country. The New York Times analyzed the correlation between money, race, and success in different school districts, while National Public Radio produced a series titled School Money: The Cost of Opportunity. This information about schools and the disparate daily realities […]Read Post ›
[Cross-posted on Edutopia.] At their best, schools and classrooms affirm the power of community and what it means to be human. I once taught a student who spent months struggling with depression and cutting. One day, I watched her stand up in front of the class and share a poem that she’d written about her […]Read Post ›
[Cross-posted on Edutopia] Children force us to acknowledge realities that many of us can and would chose to ignore. How is it that I regularly hurry past the homeless, hoping to avoid interacting, while my son intentionally slows down and registers that there is a human being in need right there in front of him? […]Read Post ›
Mr J Block 