TL;DR: While self-care is important, it has become a way of shifting the responsibility, whilst putting more work on the shoulders of already overwhelmed educators. Mutual aid is collective coordination to meet each other’s needs. Collective care removes the responsibility from the shoulders of individual teachers and shifts the onus to the school, district, and educators as a collective group. … Read More
Breaking Down Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice
TL;DR: Diversity, equity, and inclusion must also include justice. Schools are smaller microcosms of our world, and include power dynamics that communities need to make sense of in order to shift from diversity and inclusion to equity and justice. This past week’s Daily Drop In theme was equity and inclusion. This is a topic close to my heart and even … Read More
Teaching and Remembering 9/11 Twenty Years Later
TL;DR: Never Forget: Teaching 9/11 twenty years later. This post shares ideas on how to include September 11th in your classroom through a trauma-informed lens. Remembering September 11, 2001 Almost everyone I grew up with has a story related to the attacks of September 11th. Some of the kids I went to school with or grew up with lost relatives, … Read More
Episode #122: Being an Advocate and Champion for Equity with Traci Browder
Traci Browder, M.Ed. is a trailblazer in education inspiring and mentoring teachers and changing the lives of children for more than 17 years. Traci is known best for her innovative, out-of-the-box teaching style with a mixture of Montessori, gifted/talented, and special services all rolled into one classroom environment. Her Kindergarten classroom is a live learning lab in which teachers … Read More
What Are Book Deserts?
TL;DR: A book desert is defined as a “geographic area with limited access to age-appropriate books, print materials and reading culture.” Reading requires time and access to materials. Students have a right to quality, diverse, and robust selections of books. Consider representation in reading materials. Readers who can see themselves in books are more likely to pick up more books. What is … Read More