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I’m a Teaching Tolerance Fellow, and I’m working to develop classroom resources that balance the requirements of the Common Core State Standards with culturally responsive instruction. I’m hoping to draw upon our readers’ expertise to meet this challenge. What readings or texts do you recommend that answer the call of the Common Core and culturally responsive pedagogy?

Students won’t succeed until they believe they can.

I decided not to leave a phone message. As my mind began racing through what I wanted to say in an email instead, I thought about my dual roles in school. As a teacher for more than 20 years, I have confidence that schools and teachers are there to help, support and build a relationship with parents. But as a parent, faced with having to speak to my child’s teacher, I froze.

Like many of us, I sometimes overuse the word “need.” I have a tendency to say that I need the new iPhone or I need a pedicure, even though those are clearly things that I want, rather than need. My greatest lesson on distinguishing between a want and a need came with my first-grade class when I was a new teacher. Volunteers from the business community came to teach for a day through the Junior Achievement program. As a new teacher, I was overwhelmed and relieved not to be responsible for lesson plans for the day. I was nervous, however, about how an idealistic businessperson would deal with 20 extremely needy first-graders living in one of the most violent parts of Oakland, Calif.

Relying too heavily on labels blinds us to exceptions, individuality and uniqueness.

We need to consider equity when we talk about “Bring Your Own Device” policies. This toolkit involves students in conversations that analyze both the financial and emotional costs of implementing a BYOD policy.

Policies and practices that favor incarceration over education do us all a grave injustice.

This teacher had the information she needed to decode a student’s tough behavior…but what if she hadn’t?

An Anti-Defamation League video inspires this teacher to help his students imagine—and build—a world in which everyone thrives.

One-size-fits-all appearance policies cannot work in our increasingly diverse schools.