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Explorations of faiths at school.

Before winter break hits, take some time to plan your school’s celebration of kindness!

On the anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, we encourage teachers to break through the simplistic King narrative and share his righteous anger at poverty and militarism.

This activity is to accompany the Teaching Tolerance article "Identity."

After a candid classroom discussion, this high school teacher marvels at the questions and concerns that educators like herself must confront at school.

During the school year, I try to empower my students to make their own decisions and form their own opinions. I begin with a unit I call, “Question Authority.” Students investigate all kinds of authorities, including government, media, and history. It’s a powerful unit that leaves kids shocked (“Food labels can say fat-free even if there’s fat in the food?”), disappointed (“Those models in the magazine are all Photoshopped?”), and angry (“We imprisoned people just because of their ethnic heritage?”). They learn to develop a critical lens with which to question the reality they once blindly accepted.

I like to switch things up every once in a while, so I assigned my high school students a project I’d never done before—a gift book. In addition to the academic value, I hoped to strengthen at least one teen-adult connection at a time when it’s sometimes hard to just grunt, “Good morning,” without an argument. (I know this because I have two teens in my own house.) I also wanted students to be able to create a keepsake to give a loved one during the holiday season. Many students could not afford to buy anything. In our rural school, many students come from low-income homes.

As you consider addressing Thanksgiving in your classroom, the approaches of the educators in our community offer great places to start.

Mitali Perkins explores the bittersweet aspects of immigration.