Articles

The year I taught art in the dysfunctional chaos of an overcrowded urban middle school with weak administrators, practically everyone in the school—both students and teachers—needed a "safe place."

Grades: 5-8 Subjects: Science and Health Categories: Diversity and inclusion; Disability The “new PE” emphasizes personalized fitness programs and cooperative rather than competitive games. How could this work in your

Grades: 9-12 Subjects: Social Studies, Reading and Language Arts Categories: History As this Teaching Tolerance story tells us, it’s important to study history—in particular first-hand documents—so that we can continue

As Neal A. Lester reminds us in “ Straight Talk About the N-word,” the term is one of the most loaded words in the English language. Is there ever a place for the n-word?

Grades: 9-12 Subjects: Reading and Language Arts, Social Studies, ELL/ESL Categories: Wealth and poverty; Gender, Race and ethnicity Speak Truth To Power is a project of the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights. For

Grades: 9-12 Subjects: Reading and Language Arts, Social Studies, ELL/ESL, Science and Health Categories: Religion; Diversity and Inclusion; Bullying and Exclusion; Stereotypes and Bias This Teaching Tolerance story

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?