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A new manual uses language to explore bias

Texas is in the throes of rewriting the curriculum standards for its K-12 textbooks. And that is something to be very, very worried about.

I do a lot of things in my classroom to teach, manage and assess my students. Countless assignments, procedures and projects are designed to keep the academic machinery of my classroom running smoothly. But when I want to know what my students really think about the world, I ask them to write a play.

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.

This teacher argues that educators can’t shy away from discussing the current political climate. Students need to learn how to navigate explosive, emotional conversations in ways that nudge the discourse back toward civility.

Have you ever noticed the toolkit icon at the bottom of a TT magazine story? Have you ever “opened” it?

What can we say to our kids after a week like this one?

The rhetoric used by this summer’s Olympic media has given educators many rich examples to introduce students to intersectionality.

When I was growing up, most of my friends’ families had a mom and a dad. A few parents were divorced and that meant stepdads and stepmoms were also in the picture. That was about the extent of family diversity in my experience. During my teaching credential program, I learned about children having two moms or two dads. I made a mental note to remember this. I have discovered that family configurations are limitless and I now work to be inclusive, aware and respectful.