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When I was studying to be a teacher, I had to write a philosophy of education. This essay was to explain what I believed about kids and the role teachers and education played in their lives. I wrote that all kids could learn, that they all deserved equal access to inspired teaching and that my role was to meet them wherever they were and serve them in the way that best met their needs.Although I still believe those things are true, I've come to realize that my teaching is driven more by a different philosophy than the one I wrote about.

Browse a menu of ideas that honor student identities, build intergroup awareness and support diverse learners.

Recent news of some troubling comments reveals two false assumptions: that teaching kindergarten isn’t work and that sexual harassment isn’t a problem in schools.

My journalism students were brainstorming topics for their final story projects. I urged them to come up with compelling ideas that relate to their experiences but that push deeply into national trends. “Stop letting all the midlife writers (like myself) tell your stories,” I pushed. “Tell your own.”

At first the idea sounded too simple to be anything worthwhile. Have students sit with someone new at lunch? How much effect could that really have? After years of perusing and using Teaching Tolerance’s other resources, I finally felt compelled to try to Mix It Up.

Yesterday, the Trump administration rescinded the Obama administration’s guidance on transgender students’ rights in public schools. Despite this action, the work to build safe, welcoming and affirming schools for transgender students must continue.