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Reflecting on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday, I’ve wondered what we as a society have learned and how those lessons can help our students today. Listening to some of the youngest participants in the march – children at the time – reminds me that our children need to see that they can “drive the change … read more »
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Today is National Read A Book Day, which gives us an extra reason to pick up a book and immerse ourselves in a new and different world. Sometimes, making a short stop in that alternate place is not enough. Students may need to extend the experience to learn about the text’s characters, periods, and themes. Here … read more »
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June is Great Outdoors Month, a time to celebrate our local, state, national parks, and waterways. As we straddle the line between pandemic and endemic COVID-19, we need to balance safety for those still vulnerable and learning to live with COVID19 as an endemic disease. In 2020 we discussed staying close to home with your … read more »
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June is African American Music Month. Well-meaning teachers may take this as an opportunity to introduce a lesson about African American music. However, without context or connection to the curriculum, the class might fall flat and not engage students as intended. I want to suggest a more culturally responsive approach. Reading Teach Boldly for the … read more »
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May is when we officially celebrate the Get Caught Reading public service campaign. The idea of the campaign is to share the excitement of reading with others. The sponsoring organization provides posters, others create social media challenges, and libraries plan special events to encourage people to pick up a book. There are many reasons why … read more »
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If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. —Nelson Mandela The first whole week of March is National Foreign Language Week (NFLW). The purpose of the week and the various activities sponsored is to help make … read more »
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International Literacy Day is celebrated annually on September 8th. This year’s theme center’s around recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Unesco facilitates the global celebration as a day to remember that literacy affects a person’s sense of dignity and that globally there are over 773 million people who lack basic literacy skills. While we are in various phases … read more »
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World Storytelling Day is just around the corner. As the world gets ready to celebrate the art of oral storytelling, it seemed the perfect time to ponder the instructional case for storytelling. Storytelling is an ancient interactive art form in which one conveys a tale with gestures, words, and sounds while encouraging the listener to use … read more »
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March is Music in our Schools Month®️. This year’s theme – Music The Sound Of My Heart – brought to mind several ways that educators can leverage music to practice Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) in the classroom. Music is such an essential part of every culture that using it in instruction has been a strategy for ages. It … read more »
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Sustained social isolation during the pandemic has taken its toll on everyone, especially our students. As educators, we need to help our students with ways to meet social-emotional learning (SEL) needs while we collectively continue to work towards overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic threat. Science tells us that kindness increases your happiness, so now is the … read more »