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Closing out our unit on the L.A. Riots, I asked my students to reflect on whether they thought a similar incident could happen in Oakland. Student opinion revealed an even split.Here’s what a few of the optimists had to say[...]

Remember Constance McMillen? She’s the lesbian teen in Fulton, Miss., who fought to take her date to the prom and wear a tuxedo. Her case drew national attention after she and the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the Itawamba County School District. The district had banned same-sex prom dates and decreed that only male students could wear tuxedos.

Jeanette Winterson, author and poet, once said, “Books communicate ideas and make bridges between people.” As a middle school language arts teacher, I believed in this theory but wanted to see it in action. When I suggested to my principal that I would like to organize a book club with my students and local senior citizens, he was cautiously intrigued by the idea.

Through his experience at a poetry festival, one teacher realized how daily poetry readings could offer students a glimpse into a variety of experiences.

As a child I asked my father whether there was someone like Martin Luther King Jr. who had fought for Latino rights. “Yes,” he said, and told me that his name was César Chávez. My father, a former farmworker who had toiled in the agricultural fields from childhood until adulthood, taught me about César Chávez, Dolores Huerta and the farmworker struggle.

Many schools are offering civil rights trips over spring break. Find out how you can engage students in your communities and across the country.

Most people want to be kind, but many reject being politically correct. Here are three rules that can help you be both.

Many students come to school with stories already attached to them. This teacher prefers to hear students’ own stories about themselves.

Field trips can be a great opportunity to take critical literacy to a new level. This toolkit will help you prepare your students to take on social justice issues on trips.

Paul Gorski calls on fellow educators examine the classist assumptions infiltrating classrooms and schools.