Posts Tagged ‘teacher’
Santa Fe vigil highlights nationwide apathy
I received a text message from a friend who knew one of the victims from the Santa Fe High School shooting, and she asked if I’d like to attend the vigil on May 20. Shocked and overwhelmed, I agreed to come with her to honor those who had passed away the day before. When I…
Read MoreReflections on Navigating the High School Admission Process
It typically begins in seventh grade. Sometime in March or April. Unfamiliar feelings. Wandering eyes. Vague insecurities. Burgeoning cases of FOMO, or the “fear of missing out.” A dim awareness that other people are watching you, wondering what you’re thinking. This isn’t the first sign of puberty. These are not the hormone-induced emotions of fragile…
Read MoreSailing Through High School: A Nautical Alternative
When my kids were little and needed to get out of the house, I took them down to the water. There was much to do: skip rocks, play in the sand, and make dams to hold back the tide. If the tide was low, we looked for creatures under the rocks. We had a dory…
Read MoreToday is the Day: I drop down
It’s week two of my sophomore year, and I’m already near tears. I don’t belong here, I think as I flip through the test. “Skip the hard ones,” they tell you. But what if they’re all hard ones? I had taken honors biology the year before and done well in it, getting a pretty solid A. I…
Read MoreThe Tune of the Hick’ry Stick: An Apology
“What part of this don’t you understand?” the judge asked, frustration edging her voice. “You’re fifteen. The law says you need to be in school. Do you think the rules don’t apply to you?” The boy looked at her, swiveling slightly in the green, high-backed chair. He tugged a couple of times at his long…
Read MoreWere our textbooks really that helpful?
Before break, some friends in my dorm and I were discussing the different types of educations we received from elementary school through high school. There were the expected differences that arose between private and public schools, but we also realized there were stark differences based on where we grew up. Three of us — from…
Read MoreHow Coming Out as a Gay Teacher Helped My Students
Being out only endeared this teacher to his adolescent charges. As a gay high school teacher, I often ask myself how to best navigate my sexual orientation in my classroom. I believe that at a time when cultural conversations about what it means to be a man or a woman are not so clear, LGBT…
Read MoreConsider teaching — especially if you’re a student of color
If you’re a person of color and passionate about social justice, try becoming a teacher. Our presence in the classroom has long-term implications on how future generations will come to navigate race, and now more than ever, our children need brilliant teachers of color. You might hesitate at this thought. If you’re anything like I…
Read MoreLessons from high school
“In a few years you’re going to college,” my ninth-grade English teacher cautioned us. “And no one is going to care about what you did in high school.” Similar sentiments have echoed around me for years — from teachers, parents and, just this April, students at Yale. “Next year, nothing from high school will matter anymore.”…
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