Dear Teachers of Rhode Island, Many of you probably don’t realize that the hard work you’ve been doing for the past two months is not the norm throughout the country. You have led the way while other cities and states have been painfully slow in keeping students connected to school and to learning. Perhaps you… Continue reading A Letter of Thanks to the Teachers of Rhode Island
Social media has changed human behavior in countless ways. For many, what used to be reserved for venting to family and friends—and maybe even strangers on those really bad days—has morphed into fodder for public shaming. We see mommy bloggers writing about the most private struggles of their children. We see parents posting videos of… Continue reading When Teachers Publicly Put Parents And Students on Blast
The thought has crossed my mind a lot, I should take some time off. But I think about, ‘I need to be there for the students. Meet Sylvester Morris, a math teacher from Texas who has never missed a day of school in his 24 years teaching close to 4,000 students.
Nehemiah Frank is a young African American teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma and someone I am blessed to have met in my work around education story-telling and advocacy. He is also the founder and executive director of the Black Wall Street Times, an online media company that seeks to tell the history of Greenwood and north… Continue reading A Tedx Talk with Nehemiah Frank: Finding the Excellence Within
Each month in the state of Rhode Island, a teacher is surprised by TV cameras, a local news anchor, the Commissioner of Education to learn that they have won the Golden Apple Award because they’ve been nominated by a student or parent who thinks that they are pretty awesome. So, a really cool coincidence happened… Continue reading My Kid’s Teacher Wins the Golden Apple
While the start of the night wasn’t ideal as my only copy of my 7th grade son’s schedule was what he had scrawled onto a napkin with a highlighter, it ended up being really good and there is one simple reason: the teachers. Obviously I only got a snapshot of how they do things but… Continue reading Back To School Night: The Best Parts and Why They Matter
President Trump is making most of us a little crazy these days and a recent meeting regarding education is certainly no exception. With the aftermath of the election coupled with the unprecedented opposition to Betsy DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education, there has been a hyper intensity about all things political in general and also… Continue reading Madame Secretary, Where are the Parents and Teachers of Color?
One parent said her son wasn’t successful or able to get the help he needed in a private school. Now, she said, “He can’t wait for Monday.” West Broadway Middle School is a window into the promise of urban public schools when they have strong and positive leaders who are able to hire and build… Continue reading West Broadway Middle School: A Window Into How an Urban District School Can Be Totally Awesome
Right winger. One percenter. Anti-democracy. These are the charges that Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, levels at her own members as well as supporters of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the case coming before the Supreme Court this week. Yes, the AFT president actually hurls these insults at veteran teachers who… Continue reading Come On Randi
