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Every week I write a quotation on the board and ask my students to write responses to it in their journals. One of our favorite quotes is by William Butler Yeats: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." This quote aptly captures the reason why I teach. A group of minds in a room–thinking through problems together–can generate amazing heat and ignite a fire.

When a student’s frustration escalates, this teacher suggests several ways to address it that does not include punishment.

Professor and author Carol Anderson explains how voter suppression remains alive and well—and how it’s hurting us all.

Recently my family stopped at the Civil War battlefield at Vicksburg, Miss., to take a walk and soak in some history. Near the monument to Louisiana’s troops stood a young boy, about 8 or 9, with his mom and dad. The boy was dressed up as a gray-clad Confederate soldier. The combination of the outfit and the Confederate flag sticker on his family’s car told me something important about this boy. It told me that he was a lot like me at that age.

For people who complain about a “war on Christmas,” here’s a reality check. If you’re Christian in the United States, you can generally practice your religion without constraint. Assuming you don’t force your faith on others, being devout is not likely to cost you your job.

A Louisiana Children's Museum exhibit takes the "dis" out of disability.

“So, there aren’t any girls in the book?” Find out how an English teacher answered this student question—and fit the male-centered Lord of the Flies into a classroom focused on voices traditionally left in the margins.