Reflecting & Storytelling About Teaching
Most of the novels I read are young adult, even though I haven’t taught middle school English for years. I sink into them for respite and for hope. These books – unlike the news, unlike most contemporary adult literature – offer redemptive endings. The story is not over, and in fact it’s usually just beginning. And their stock in trade is… Continue reading
For the past 18 years, I’ve taught at secular schools with their own rich sets of values. But Ariel Burger’s Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom brought back memories from my early teaching and, in the process, helped me with two teaching conundrums… Continue reading
It has taken me a year to write this post, and I still feel inadequate. I’m writing about this experience because I want to take something from it – to understand better how I can prepare to teach, and then lean into, difficult topics… Continue reading
For librarians Christina Dorr and Liz Deskins, getting the right book into the hands of the right kid at the right time is paramount – even more so when the topic is something not everyone wants to talk about… Continue reading
When I walked into a one-hour session at the most recent National Council for the Social Studies annual conference – a mega-gathering with ideas and fellow teachers spilling from every corner, not to mention a celebrity sighting of Constitution USA guru Peter Sagal – I didn’t expect to walk out ready to transform… Continue reading
For two days last spring, my 8th grade U.S. history class had been studying the challenges of refugees, in history and in the present. In class discussions, I had been trying to balance the difficulties governments encounter… Continue reading
While I was reading it, Matthew R. Kay’s Not Light, But Fire inspired me to change in real time the way I framed conversations about current events and history – which very often involve race, ethnicity, religion, politics… Continue reading
When I browse the new books shelf at the library, usually I’ll look for titles on history, cooking or biography – such as the brief yet profound… Continue reading
I was way late to the podcast party. For a long time I had what I thought were good reasons: I don’t commute far. I like to listen to music, not words, while I exercise. I had a wonky old phone without enough memory… Continue reading
Linda Christensen and Dyan Watson’s Rhythm and Resistance: Teaching Poetry for Social Justice had me at its title, which promises the perfect blend of art and activism. After I read the introduction to the first chapter, I realized this book might promise even more than that… Continue reading
