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Hand-raising workshops combat participation inequity.

It was a whirlwind day, and yet it was entirely typical of what happens at our high school—in most high schools, probably. I just thought it was worthwhile to put this day down as an official mark that this is what regularly happens. First thing in the morning my secretary called me on the radio to tell me that I had a visitor. This could be anybody: former students, current students, teachers in other buildings who are visiting and wanted to drop by to say hello. It was Janelle. Janelle graduated early this year, so I never get to see her much anymore. She brought her month-old daughter and wanted to show me that she had all ten fingers and all ten toes. Of course, I said, “You know I’m going to hold her, right? And smell her? And kiss her? And then I’ll steal her.” She laughed and looked at me sideways because I’m always joking with her. If I keep it light enough, I sometimes think I can force her to stay in school.

Students learn to spot bias in their culture —and confront their own homophobia in the process.

This teacher uses activist memoirs and an engaging exercise to help her students overcome internal barriers to acting on their values.

A 7th grade Holocaust history project evolves into a memorial sculpture.

B loves bugs. I met him during the first week of school as I conducted the standard assessment of how many words he could read per minute from a second-grade story. After the assessment, I gave him the customary caterpillar sticker to put on his shirt to show everyone that he was going to emerge as a great reader during his second-grade year.

Use first-graders’ commitment to fairness to help them connect with the modern civil rights movement.

When dealing with a student whose behavior is a challenge, first ask yourself if you have a relationship with the student. When you build a relationship, you’ll notice a huge difference in behavior.

Slut-shaming is a dangerous phenomenon in schools, but there are ways to support students.

When this teacher assigned her students to debate a topic, they learned more than effective argumentation—they learned how to consider the perspectives of others.