A quote attributed to Maya Angelou reads, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better” (qtd. in Treuer). The Minnesota public education system has made significant strides toward improving the education of Native American students. At different intervals throughout history, attempts have been made to improve the … Continue reading Help Minnesota Teachers Do Better: Fund Culturally Sensitive Training by Tanya J. Stafsholt Miller
Hunger Would Be Creation: Leveraging Diverse Brains by Bryan Boyce
In 2015, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld a policy about when to execute people with intellectual disabilities that was crafted on an 80-year-old work of fiction. I’m an English teacher. Our class motto my last year teaching K-12 was “reading and writing are opportunities to decide how we live our lives.” It’s hard … Continue reading Hunger Would Be Creation: Leveraging Diverse Brains by Bryan Boyce
Meeting Students Where They Need: A First-Year Reflection by Kassandra Rood
Don’t finish the book if you hate it. Find something you like. Pencils are on my desk. If you’re tired, rest your eyes. Yes, you can eat food here. All phrases I never thought I would say in my classroom. This is an English class; of course they have to finish every book they start. … Continue reading Meeting Students Where They Need: A First-Year Reflection by Kassandra Rood
Teaching Animal Farm in Central America by Taylore Lenway
In high school, I decided that I wanted to be an English teacher, and I followed that goal to the University of Minnesota Duluth. I cannot speak highly enough of the preparation I received, through word and example, at UMD, and despite the many curveballs thrown by COVID-19, I completed a fairly normal student teaching … Continue reading Teaching Animal Farm in Central America by Taylore Lenway
Don’t Call It “The Chinese Virus”: Asian Faculty’s Reflection on Xenophobic Naming by Jongsun Wee and Rieko Miyakuni
We are two Asian professors who teach at a state university in southeast Minnesota. At our institution, Jongsun teaches undergraduate children’s literature and literacy education classes, and Rieko teaches graduate counselor education classes. We are two of the few faculty members of color in our college. We are not Americans, but we both have lived … Continue reading Don’t Call It “The Chinese Virus”: Asian Faculty’s Reflection on Xenophobic Naming by Jongsun Wee and Rieko Miyakuni
Come on in! The Water’s Fine: School Reform Begins with Me by Sheryl Lain
When I was a kid, I could not bring my toes to release their hold on the lip of the high dive, even though my girlfriend pressed me forward, begging me to hurry and jump. The first few times on that thin line in the sky, I had to retreat down the ladder, my tail … Continue reading Come on in! The Water’s Fine: School Reform Begins with Me by Sheryl Lain
Becoming THAT Teacher—An Account of One Year of Teaching by Kasden Watson
Like many, I believed that crossing the threshold of the downward ramp, and passing my tassel, meant that I was a full-blown teacher. I had graduated, and amidst the roar of Duluth’s stadium arena, I reflected on all that I had worked for. Each day spent in my cooperating teacher’s classroom, each paper I had … Continue reading Becoming THAT Teacher—An Account of One Year of Teaching by Kasden Watson
#ReadingWars and Equity by Allison Sirovy
Following the #ReadingWars on social media? If you are, you may feel like me—lost and confused. Although I teach middle school English, reading instruction is near and dear to my heart because I teach in a school where many of our readers are considered striving readers. (Please note the phrase "striving readers." It is intentional: … Continue reading #ReadingWars and Equity by Allison Sirovy
The Sustainability of the Empathetic Teacher by Shaina Lane
At 6:30 on a snowy Monday morning, I click my key into the lock of the school office to start my day. There is never anyone there before me, which I prefer because it gives me enough time to get myself together before adolescent bodies start streaming through the door. I set my stuff down, change out … Continue reading The Sustainability of the Empathetic Teacher by Shaina Lane
Internalizing the Message by Kay J. Walter
I had a few extra minutes that day when I entered the classroom in which I was teaching composition to second-semester freshmen at my university. I teach at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, a public university in rural Arkansas attended mostly by first-generation students of higher education. I try to start each of my … Continue reading Internalizing the Message by Kay J. Walter
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