Teacher Voice

I Can’t Pretend That What I’m Doing Right Now Is Helping My Students, So I Quit

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Featured Posts

Posted Feb. 17, 2021

I have been navigating majority (or all) white spaces for a very long time. Whether it was the tracked gifted and talented classes or my…

Posted Feb. 16, 2021

I came across an image on social media the other day and it made me stop and think. In it, two boys—one white and one…

Posted Feb. 17, 2021

On January 6, as my students were learning about the history of trench warfare during World War I, I had no idea that our own…

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I Love Teaching, But I’m Not a Martyr

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Featured Posts

Posted Feb. 17, 2021

I have been navigating majority (or all) white spaces for a very long time. Whether it was the tracked gifted and talented classes or my…

Posted Feb. 16, 2021

I came across an image on social media the other day and it made me stop and think. In it, two boys—one white and one…

Posted Feb. 17, 2021

On January 6, as my students were learning about the history of trench warfare during World War I, I had no idea that our own…

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My Teacher Didn’t Know How To Be Culturally Responsive, But These Standards Will Help the Next Generation of Teachers

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Featured Posts

Posted Feb. 12, 2021

I was gifted an advanced screening of “Judas and the Black Messiah” earlier this week and it affirmed just how much education equals power, while…

Posted Feb. 10, 2021

Prior to COVID-19 upending American education, some state legislatures around the country considered moratoriums or “pauses” on public charter schools; while others, like in California,…

Posted Feb. 11, 2021

A war has been waging in my home state of Illinois, and the battle lines have been drawn. In one corner of the ring—the “uber…

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To the People Pushing Back on Culturally Responsive Teaching During Black History Month

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Featured Posts

Posted Feb. 11, 2021

A war has been waging in my home state of Illinois, and the battle lines have been drawn. In one corner of the ring—the “uber…

Posted Feb. 10, 2021

Prior to COVID-19 upending American education, some state legislatures around the country considered moratoriums or “pauses” on public charter schools; while others, like in California,…

Posted Feb. 8, 2021

Although the United States has always had a diverse population, public school curricula are overwhelmingly built around a white, male perspective. Students are learning a…

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Saving Our Children from Violence When Schools Are the Abusers

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Featured Posts

Posted Feb. 1, 2021

*Mic check* (Ahem). Educators: Are you aware that this month is Black History Month? Have you asked your students, specifically your Black students, what they’d like…

Posted Feb. 1, 2021

Here at brightbeam, our North Star is “How Are The Children?” As parents look back over the last nine months of COVID-related school disruptions and…

Posted Jan. 29, 2021

From insurrection to impeachment to inauguration—January has been quite a month for current events! And maybe you thought you could safely tune out of politics—at…

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When There Is Choice, All Students Win

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For nearly two decades, I have enjoyed teaching micro and macroeconomics and coaching the economics team at a public high school. I feel immensely gratified

Are We Going to Let ‘Nice White Parents’ Kill Black and Brown Families?

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Featured Posts

Posted Jan. 25, 2021

A new COVID-19 strain is more contagious than ever. The Trump administration’s sheer neglect in the face of this deadly pandemic is enraging. Federal inaction…

Posted Jan. 20, 2021

November 2016, I walked into my school building to students blocking their peers from coming through my classroom door. They said, “We’re building a wall,…

Posted Jan. 13, 2021

Chicago Public Schools students are back in school.  Well, some of them are. It’s complicated, and getting messier by the minute.  WBEZ Chicago has more…

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2021 Must Be the Year for Rural Education

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Featured Posts

Posted Jan. 20, 2021

Today at President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration, Amanda Gorman stole the show. Lady Gaga? J-Lo? Garth Brooks? No contest. This 22-year-old…

Posted Jan. 20, 2021

November 2016, I walked into my school building to students blocking their peers from coming through my classroom door. They said, “We’re building a wall,…

Posted Jan. 13, 2021

Chicago Public Schools students are back in school.  Well, some of them are. It’s complicated, and getting messier by the minute.  WBEZ Chicago has more…

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