At its best, education broadens the way students view the world and their place in it.
Photo: https://magcloud.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/creativity.jpg Let’s just say it from the outset: School should be fun. It should be a place where students not only gain knowledge but also develop a curiosity for more of it. Replicating 20th century classrooms, with row upon row of student desks, a teacher's desk as the central focus and monotonous work labeled …
Photo: https://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2013/07/classroomfamily.html One of the many reasons I became a teacher was that I genuinely liked being with kids all day—even teenagers. While people often responded with horrified looks when they discovered that I did, in fact, teach teenagers, I always said, “Well, somebody has to like them! And I do.” They were more than …
Continue reading "The Difference Between Teaching Students and Teaching Children"
Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-aims-to-lift-students-who-are-young-male-6671320.php “It’s a very, very dark world, but you can’t be afraid to be a source of light.” These words, spoken by a middle school student in Oakland, California, and quoted in a New York Times article, illuminate the premise of a groundbreaking program now underway in that school district. …
Continue reading "The Value of Classes in Manhood and Heritage"
Kids are intriguing people. In fact, that’s one of the reasons I became a teacher. In the early years, they taught me as much as I taught them, imparting life lessons they had earned the hard way on rough streets as I set about sparking an interest in history. And we all gained from it. …
Photo: http://www.kindnesswyoming.org/ Obviously, school is all about learning, which, to the average person, means academics. However, as educators know, there’s so much more to education. From music and art to physical education and shop classes, electives help to enrich and round out students. Yet even that is not everything. The truth is that the softer …
Continue reading "The Power of Kindness and Other Fine Qualities"
Photo: https://www.therapidian.org/taking-stand-against-racism Immigration, racism, politics—volatile yet unquestionably timely issues, they are so incendiary that they’re usually touched only by teachers of government, civics and other social studies classes. And “touched” is the operative word as not many teachers delve deeply into these quagmires for fear of being consumed by them. What will the principal say? …
Continue reading "Immigration, Racism and DACA: Why Silence is Not an Option for Educators"
Photo: https://thegrio.com/2011/09/28/new-study-shows-teacher-pay-gap-in-black-and-latino-schoolssigni/ Let’s begin with this basic fact: Teachers of color comprise just under 18 percent of all teachers in the United States. However, as of the 2014-2015 school year, students of color are a new majority in public schools, representing approximately 50.3 percent of all students. It’s a glaring disparity. And the repercussions are …
Continue reading "Why All Students Need More Teachers of Color"
Photo: https://cybraryman.com/studentnames.html How many of your elementary school teachers’ names do you remember? Despite the many years that have elapsed, I remember all of mine, from Miss Sanford in kindergarten to Mrs. Maloney in eighth grade. And it’s likely that you do as well. In fact, students usually learn teachers’ names the first day of …
Photo: http://www.trbimg.com/img-1348089477/ turbine/chi-school19stairs20120919130404/ 768 Educational changes can be good, but sometimes you need to weigh the benefits gained against the disadvantages that students might incur. What I’m talking about is the new practice of having elementary students change classes—or departmentalize—as middle and high school students have always done. Gaining in acceptance as it becomes more …
Denise Fawcett Facey 
