The Blog

What I Told My Seniors classroom reflection Nov 14, 2016

I didn’t realize how unprepared I was for Trump’s election. I had simply not thought that result through. Immediately I began receiving text messages. My father’s words to all of his children will stay with me. I was teary-eyed as I dropped Analiz off at school. I cried a bit when I arrived at my pa...

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Takin’ On the Hard Topics csp Oct 31, 2016

Recently, I wrote a response to the Larry Ferlazzo’s Classroom Q & A blog question: What are good strategies teachers can use when exploring “controversial” topics? Since my courses are infused with what folks consider to be controversial topics, this was somewhat of an easy write-up for me. My work...

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Teachin’ Ain’t for the Weak reflection Oct 17, 2016

Teaching at Headwaters is quite the change of pace & style for me. The main differences are the creative autonomy I have and the student academic freedoms they enjoy.  I wrote more about that here.

What are the main differences? 

1. Debriefing class/lessons.

2. Offering students the opportunity t...

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Not Your Momma’s Mockingbird csp reflection resources Oct 01, 2016
I’ve taught 9th grade for many years and one thing I’ve learned is that they are young, ready, willing, and needing of a space to be themselves. Since I began working with a predominantly white student body, I have tweaked my approach to teaching from an anti-bias/anti-racist lens to meet the needs ...
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Hope csp reflection Sep 19, 2016
Working at this independent school has been a great and challenging experience for me. The biggest challenge? I have never taught in a classroom where I was the ethnic minority. I have never taught in a classroom where the group wasn’t Latino. That was a big shift and certainly something that impact...
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Academically Free education educational equity reflection Sep 03, 2016

After teaching at an oppressive, regimented, “turn around” school district, I can now say I know what it means to be academically free. Those who’ve taught in such spaces understand what I mean when I use those words above. It’s a space where all my steps are watched, all my mistakes are counted, al...

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Caliban oh, Caliban! anti-racist schools books csp educational equity professionaldevelopment Jul 18, 2016

As part of a professional development session, we offered about racial identity and how that relates to teaching, we discussed Caliban from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We analyzed him as the first indigenous person in the Western literary imagination. We thought about how he was represented and made ...

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Goodies books ell resources Jul 17, 2016

This is an ever-growing list of resources we recommend. They can help to develop a theoretical framework from which to operate in order to successfully create safe and inclusive classroom spaces for students.

Articles

Jackson, Karen Keaton. “Chapter 9: The Power of Their Texts by David E. Kirkland...

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Multilingual Speakers in the U.S. bilingual ed ell Nov 28, 2015

Our Beliefs

We believe that bilingual education is a civil right.

We believe that students of color learning a second language in public schools are currently under attack through intense high stakes standardized testing that goes against research indications of productive educational practices. 

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