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When you’re the only person of color in your class, school can become a struggle between two worlds.

As educators, we must push past the call to “prepare students for the future.” This approach is insufficient and ultimately hazardous.

Is Beyoncé—or any pop culture icon—someone we should discuss with our students?

Years ago I worked with a child named Justin. A bright, happy child, Justin was a wonderful artist. He loved to create, exploring shapes and colors with crayons and markers and paints. One day, when he was 4 years old, we were coloring together in his big notebook. We had been at it for some time when I picked up a purple crayon and began to add purple to the dazzling array of colors on our page. Almost as soon as I’d begun, Justin dropped his crayon and stared at me.

Spanish classes are the perfect place to help students develop cultural competence.

Teaching Tolerance offers tools to help teachers and students get through the grueling and seemingly unrewarding weeks of mandated testing.

Among my third-graders, conflicts often arose over the issue of skin color. “Your mama left you in the oven too long. You look just like a burnt cookie!” “Oh yeah, well you look like a white boy. I bet you ain’t even black.” As a young white teacher coming into a school that is about half African-American and half Latino, I knew there would be racial conflicts, but I didn’t know how they would manifest themselves. I assumed that both groups’ first concern would be the oppression and racism from white people. I was not expecting the intense criticism that I found within the African-American community of its own members.

Slavery is a tough subject. These tips will help you teach it well.