What Do Grades Mean And Why Are They Important To Us?
What Do Grades Mean? With so many changes in the classroom over the last year, it’s understandable that some teachers might not be excited to dive into the debate of how we grade students. For many, it’s a process that they have developed over years of trial and error, and asking them to reexamine their…
Read MoreAs Educators, What Can We Learn from the Attack on the Capitol?
A week after protesters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, the pictures are still hard to fathom. While peaceful demonstrations are rightfully a part of life in Washington, this incident is unlike anything we’ve seen in two centuries. The Senate chamber was breached by people wearing combat gear and carrying zip ties. A Confederate…
Read MoreIt’s Time to Reinstate Voting Rights for Former Felons
Since 1972, roughly 50-55% of eligible voters have cast their votes in proceeding elections. But there is one group of people who, in some cases, will never be able to vote. Voting Rights for Former Felons While some states have been working towards reinstating voting rights for formerly incarcerated felons, in many cases, these people…
Read MoreThis is How Poverty Affects Students and What Teachers Can Do About It
As a professor at the University of Virginia whose student body isn’t especially diverse, I’ve not come face to face with many of the harsh truths about inequities in our educational system. They’ve always been there, of course, including at UVA, but until recently, they were swept under the rug, hidden from my everyday awareness. …
Read MoreWill Schools Open This Fall? Should They?
The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted longer than many of us expected and has impacted all areas of our lives, including schools. From elementary up to the college level, educators around the country are wondering what school will look like in the fall. While many districts and universities have already decided to stay completely online through…
Read MoreResources for Creating Equality in the Classrooms and the World
As a teacher dedicated to educational equity, I’ve become painfully aware how much I still have to learn about racism in our country, and how I must actively work to prevent racism from ever rearing its ugly head in my classroom. One of my most important discoveries is that even the most well-meaning teachers can…
Read MoreStudents Don’t Need You to be a Perfect Teacher Right Now
In early March, my university administration informed me that I had a week to transition my University of Virginia course Books Behind Bars online. This is a class I’ve been teaching for the past decade, where UVA students meet regularly with incarcerated youth at Bon Air Juvenile Correctional Center in Richmond, Virginia to explore questions…
Read MoreHow to Teach Your Kids When You Have No Idea What You’re Doing
As the COVID-19 threat wreaks havoc on our lives, all of us are coping with the utterly unpredictable and traumatic circumstances as best as we can. For parents, in particular, who have been thrust into the role of a full-time stay-at-home mom and/or dad and full-time teacher, this new world is especially terrifying. John Dewey,…
Read MoreHow Great Students Can Change a Teacher’s Life
We’ve all heard stories about great teachers who have changed students’ lives. Far less common are stories from teachers about students who have changed their lives, yet anybody in the teaching profession knows that learning is a reciprocal activity that can have a profound impact on both members of the exchange. Just as there are…
Read MoreHow I Learned to Get Out of My Own Way as a Teacher
For years as a college teacher, I thought I knew my subject. When it came time to creating the syllabus for my introduction to Russian literature class, I did what most professors do: I decided which novels, stories, and poems I needed to cover in a matter of fourteen weeks, divided the total number by…
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