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This is a follow-up and conclusion to my 2 previous posts about the #itstimetotalkracism campaign, which you can read HERE and HERE. The organizer, Chrissy from Buzzing with Ms. B, has put together a list of books with anti-racist themes and books that honor diversity that teachers can use to
When I was asked if I’d like to participate in the #itstimetotalkracism campaign, at first I wasn’t sure what I could write about because I’d never really taught an explicit anti-racism lesson. But after thinking about it, I realized I could present a lesson I’d implemented when I was a
The #itstimetotalkracism campaign is a 22-day effort by teachers to help other educators and their students discuss racism, bias, and related issues. Please click HERE to read how and why it got started. I was honored to be invited to participate and hope you will share these blog posts and
Are you a regular education/mainstream teacher with English Language Learners in your classes? Or are you an ESL teacher with multi-level ELLs in your classes? Both teaching contexts present a challenge when using a textbook or a novel since it’s quite likely your ELLs are not all reading at the
Learning to read is important. So is understanding information that is read aloud. But it is not realistic to expect students to read a text out loud in class and simultaneously comprehend what was read. It doesn’t matter if they are the students doing the reading or they are just
Spending my senior year in Sweden as an exchange student meant attending a Swedish-language high school. I had wanted to learn another foreign language and was thrilled when offered the opportunity to go to Scandinavia because I was interested in Viking history. It was a wonderful year! A few months
Have you heard of TpT ClassFund? Read on for an explanation, links for more info, and a time-sensitive offer. Find out more HERE TpT ClassFund is a new program from TeachersPayTeachers that gives people an easy way to purchase TpT resources for educators. There are other online programs
Setting up my classroom for a new school year was nothing compared to getting my house in order for the visitors I had over the 4th of July weekend! Three months ago, I received an email from the Japanese exchange student, Naomi, that my family had hosted for a year
Do your students feel like the school year is over once they’ve finished taking their annual standardized English, math, and science tests? Mine sure did! But there was still a good 2 months left in the year and a lot of learning can and should take place during that time.
Cinco de Mayo and the start of Ramadan in the U.S. fall on the same day this year, May 5th. That provides educators with a great opportunity to teach about tolerance, understanding, immigration, and the benefits of diversity in America! Photo from Flickr Teaching Tolerance has this short
If you don’t know who Greta Thunberg is, chances are your more environmentally-aware students do. She’s the Swedish teenager who started the worldwide movement of students striking on Fridays to address the impact of climate change. You can read more about her HERE. Below are 8 websites that will help
(This post was updated April 8, 2026) I’ve been thinking, during Women’s History Month this year, about two girls who were my students at different times of my public school teaching career. Both were survivors of sexual violence. The first girl was 12 years old and her mother’s boyfriend had
