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A first-year teacher uses journalism exercises—lessons learned from a favorite teacher—to build classroom unity and trust.

Today, I opened my classroom door to a surprise. Diego was back! He put his arm around my shoulder and said, “It’s good to see you again.” One of the best things about being a teacher is when students come back. Some of those homecomings are more significant than others. Just a 10th-grader, Diego wasn’t back to tell me about his college life, his career or kids. He was back to tell me that in juvenile hall, where he’d spent the last three weeks, he had found out he loved to write.

This teacher’s choice to be vulnerable with her students transformed the learning experience.

To help her students understand each other’s stories, backgrounds and experiences—and to improve their writing—this teacher added blogging to her curriculum.

Conversations about African and Indigenous cultures are essential for learning about the history of our country and making connections with a broader world.