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Like many, if not most, I had a rough first year as a teacher. I was 21 years old and full of passion and desire but little else. I had survived student teaching on the Navajo Reservation for six months, but arrived on the other side of that experience with much to learn. I was teaching two-hour blocks of seventh-grade history and English. I was struggling on almost every level in almost every area.

“To err is human” but to reflect is divine. Teachers are human. We get frustrated, lose our tempers, make bad judgment calls and sometimes wish for a do-over button. Unfortunately, there isn't a magical reset button—or is there? Being an effective, successful teacher does not mean you never make mistakes. It just means we need to learn from them.

Melea hates school. She is 4 years old and was adopted at birth by two gay men. Her dads (Mark and Sam) are Caucasian and Melea is African American-Latino.

Check out TT’s can’t-miss stories, blogs and PD resources from 2016!

As adults and authority figures, teachers have power over their students. This toolkit is an “adult privilege” checklist teachers can use as a self-assessment tool to help them think about their own privilege in the classroom.

Let’s uncover implicit bias—together.

Learn more about the 10 finalists for the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching.