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Ms. Simmons had two first-grade boys by the arms. “Fighting in the bathroom,” she said. “Send them home.” It’s the second week of day camp hosted at our school. The policy is strict: Two strikes and you’re out. On the one hand, it makes sense. It’s summer camp. Camp should be safe and enjoyable for all children. It’s hard to feel comfortable when you’re worried there might be a fight. There’s no mandate for children to be here. It’s optional and a privilege.

Mexican culture cannot be reduced to tacos, oversized sombreros and piñatas.

Rodrigue drove me nuts. He stood too close and talked too much. If his hand was raised and I didn’t call on him, his face would contort and he would put his head down on his desk. He answered questions with a “know-it-all” tone that the other students (and I) found obnoxious.

Teaching students about the role children have played in the march for civil rights—historically and today—is just one of many ways teachers can bring the Women’s March into the classroom.

After hearing talk of the presidential election being rigged, this teacher, swim coach and TT Award winner began reflecting on a race that actually is rigged—the one his students face every day.

In this fourth-grade teacher’s classroom, a long lineup of U.S. presidential faces is tacked on the wall. She reflects on how a new president will soon gaze down on her students.

A year ago, we introduced a new curriculum, Civil Discourse in the Classroom and Beyond, citing the “pressing need to change the tenor of public debate from shouts and slurs to something more reasoned.” This weekend’s carnage in Tucson, with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords gravely injured, six people dead and 14 others wounded, is a terrible tragedy, not just for the victims and their families. It is a tragedy for a nation whose political process depends on people airing issues, managing conflict and confronting controversy in the public square.