Education

When I was in school, our teachers would find ways to celebrate Black History Month, February, by working it into our established classroom culture. In history, this may have meant telling the stories of significant African Americans and their contributions to society from different eras. In English, it often meant reading literature from prodigious writers of color.  I vividly remember, even in college, reading Langston Hughes's "Theme for English B" within the space of the 28 days of February. I was moved by Hughes's commentary about privilege decades before the concept would finally make its way into social conversation. As is often the case and the very purpose of literature, it provided a perspective entirely different from my own.  In my...

  Some of you may have heard of a little NBA player by the name of Lebron James. Now as a fan of the great Golden State Warriors, I can not say I’m a huge LeBron fan on the court. BUT, as an educator, mother and just all around conscientious citizen, I may have just become LeBron’s greatest supporter.   Mr. James just opened a new school servicing students in the city of Akron, Ohio (where he is from). This isn’t just any school; it is an absolutely free public school. The facility is state of the art and enticing to any child’s eye.   Student’s receive free meals and uniforms, all necessary school supplies, and even bicycles to name a few things. There...

Homework has suddenly found its way into my life again ... much, much sooner than anticipated. You see, this year my daughter is in a pre-k 4 program at her daycare. Last year, all she could talk about was how excited she was to be in the Pre-K4 class. She learned so much last year, and I knew that she would thrive this year. At this point, it's important for me to add that my daughter is not yet four. She is in this class early - a decision that at times I've thought was right, but I've also questioned that choice many times. A prime example of this happened one week into Pre-K4. As we were walking to the...

My friend recently told me her daughter has been going home lately complaining about a girl in her class who has learning disabilities. Her daughter gets home and unleashes a vast amount of negative emotions due to all the pent up frustrations she has throughout the school day concerning her workload. But more specifically there's one girl in her class who seems to be getting frustrated every time she doesn’t understand the lesson. According to my friend, the child screams, yells, and acts out begging for immediate attention. Come to find out, she has learning disabilities. Now, why is a child with special needs in a regular classroom, you ask? Well, according to the teacher, they are trying to...

Dear Awesome Educator, First, let me say thank you for giving of yourself tirelessly in a field that is often under-appreciated but always so needed! I want you to know that as an educator myself, I GET IT. Some days are hard, and then some days are harder than hard. Please know we are grateful for your professionalism and respect your knowledge. It is my personal belief that teachers have a special part of their heart that genuinely wants to change the world. I want to speak to the reason that you became a teacher. You knew that if you could reach a student, you could change his life, and ultimately, his world. Now that dream is becoming reality in the...