Articles

Grades: 5-12 Subjects: Arts, Reading and Language Arts, Math and Technology Categories: Diversity and Inclusion; Wealth and Poverty Broad cuts to public school arts programs can encourage students to think of these

As I head back to the classroom, I think about the last school year. In the second-to-last week of school, my fifth-grade classroom was 90 degrees, with no air conditioning. My students were sitting together, helping each other, laughing, struggling and having fun. At the beginning of the year, they were unsure of each other. They smiled politely but kept to themselves or the friends they knew and never asked for help. So what had changed?

A couple of months ago, a student pulled me aside to ask for help with a job application. As a teacher working with adult immigrants and refugees, I hear this request fairly often. After class, we discussed the job she wanted –housekeeping for one of the large hotel chains in the area. Paper applications were no longer accepted.

Classroom discussions are usually dominated by a few “alpha” students eager to participate. We can all envision those students. Hands stretched high, fingers waving, literally or figuratively saying, “Ooh, pick me, pick me.” But how do you get that student who is desperately trying not to make eye contact with you—or anyone else in the classroom—involved in the conversation?

Many in the LGBT community love sports. Sports, though, have rarely returned the affection. Basketball star Kobe Bryant highlighted the problem when he made an anti-gay slur in a televised game last April. In sports

Alternative certification gives educators a different route to the classroom. Does it make them fish out of water once they get there?

Reader responses: you talk social media, bullying and speaking English.

Q: Some of my world history students have taken to drawing Confederate battle flags on their homework assignments. What should I do?

Toni Giarnese found inspiration in her job thanks to a disabled boy who looked a lot like a knight in shining armor.

Administrator William Joslyn says modeling tolerance is key for school leaders. “If we don’t walk the walk, we can’t expect others to.”