Coffee Break: Why Ramon Griffin Left Law to Change School Discipline

Coffee Break: Why Ramon Griffin Left Law to Change School Discipline

As a youth in Ford Heights, Illinois, Ramon Griffin grew up asking hard questions. Why did his ZIP code have so many schools on the academic watch list? Wh

Read More
Not to Be a Buzzkill, But Teachers Need a Reminder to Be Nice to Their Students

Not to Be a Buzzkill, But Teachers Need a Reminder to Be Nice to Their Students

I couldn’t sleep the other night and found myself doing what any reasonable person would do: I turned to Twitter. There was the usual: President Trump had

Read More
Before Deciding the Fate of Houston's Schools, You Need to Listen to Parents

Before Deciding the Fate of Houston’s Schools, You Need to Listen to Parents

Last week, 2019 state ratings showed three out of four Houston Independent School District (HISD) schools made gains on test scores and got off “Improvemen

Read More
First Day Jitters? Teachers Get Them Too!

First Day Jitters? Teachers Get Them Too!

As I embark on my 15th year in public education, I’m baffled that it still happens to me. After all, this is my 15th “first day”!  I have my first-day hand

Read More
Why We Need LGBTQ+ Curricula

Why We Need LGBTQ+ Curricula

In 2018, GLSEN’s national school climate study indicated that 59.5% of LGBTQ students “felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation and 44.6%

Read More
White Teacher, Here’s How You Can Successfully Partner With Black Families

White Teacher, Here’s How You Can Successfully Partner With Black Families

The show was going really well. We were in Pittsburgh, taping a live 8 Black Hands podcast episode at the State of Black Learning Conference, and we were j

Read More
To Support Your LGBTQ+ Students, Love Them and Give Them Someone to Look Up To

To Support Your LGBTQ+ Students, Love Them and Give Them Someone to Look Up To

Every student deserves a role model with whom they can relate. For many students, literature and curriculum are resources they can use to find role models

Read More
Think Economics Is Boring? It’s Actually the Key to Good Citizenship

Think Economics Is Boring? It’s Actually the Key to Good Citizenship

When teachers, parents and students think about civics in the classroom, first and foremost they imagine social studies, Constitution Day and the Pledge of

Read More
Back to School, Back to Basics With Parent-Teacher Partnerships

Back to School, Back to Basics With Parent-Teacher Partnerships

The smell of education is in the air. Parents have bought uniforms and school supplies are packed up and ready to go. Teachers have completed their beginni

Read More