Stories

This teacher said a thing and I thought all hell would break loose.  It happened last week when my 8 Black Hands crew recorded a live podcast at a gatherin

Welcome back to a new year of students and teaching! For some of you, this will be your first group of students and they will make a lasting impact on your

This summer, my students and I learned that blue crabs are really feisty, but mosquitos are even feistier.  For two weeks in June, I chaperoned a student f

Every student deserves the chance to tell their story. Three years ago, to me, the daily proceedings at the vast majority of schools across my home state o

My social media feeds were drenched with homophobia this week. People were saying how they really felt about my state, Illinois, joining other states manda

In a few short weeks, my classroom will be squirming with anxious excitement from a group of new first graders. But they aren’t the only anxious ones—after

Joining a new school community comes with a unique set of challenges. In addition to the difficulties inherent in any new school year, new teachers must al

Last week I made what I thought was a simple request: for all of us to prioritize the question “how are the children?” as if our nation depends on it. This

“The Holocaust was an atrocity.” This was the example I gave my eighth graders as we were learning our words of the week. And with one word, I learned that