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 ›
Over the past several days I’ve been reading over some of the teaching resources and ideas that have been published since the murder of Michael Brown and the militaristic police response to protestors in the weeks that followed. Rethinking Schools and The Morningside Center offer excellent curriculum ideas. My friend and principal Chris Lehmann has a thoughtful post […]Read Post ›
