Educators

She was an educatorShe taught the children how to readSundays in the South 'neath that big oak treeAn infant torn from her familyLearned to read up in the cityShe knew it was illegalAnd she knew that it was rightAnd when the war was done and the children were all freedShe realized a greater need (1) …

Union Talk: Oklahoma Walkout Edition

(See below for definitions.) Teachers and State Employees in Oklahoma are getting jiggie (1) with a statewide job action (2). For ten years Oklahoma teachers have been told, “Bob’s your uncle” (3). During this time, teachers in Oklahoma gained a reputation for being Worms (4). Now, many teachers are belly up (5), and some have dragin …

Confessions of an Aspiring “Woke” White Teacher

I am aspiring because “woke” is not a title that white people should ever bestow upon ourselves. There was a time when being “woke” was primarily about information gathering, and these days a lot of people gather information almost exclusively through social media. Post Ferguson, however, keeping informed of racial injustice on Facebook and Twitter …

The Problem with Preparing Students for ‘The Real World’

“’Welcome to the real world,’ she said to me, condescendingly. Take a seat. Take your life. Plot it out in black and white.” That’s how John Mayer’s breakthrough hit from 2002, “No Such Thing,” begins. “She,” presumably, is Mayer’s high school guidance counselor who wants the young musician to “stay inside the lines.” The song …

Classroom Management or Something Better

In my last post, “Social Justice Teaching in the Content Area,” I hinted that although adapting principles of social justice to fit inside a given curriculum is very important, social justice teaching ultimately has a much bigger scope. Teachers interested in social justice issues will inevitably move beyond critique of standardized text books and creative …

LGBTQ Students Need Support Long Before They Reach High School

It is rather common for high schools in any region of the U.S. to be inclusive of clubs such as GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) and/or welcoming to LGBTQ advocacy groups such as PFLAG. High school classrooms can often be found prominently displaying stickers or posters declaring the room a “safe space” for LGBTQ students. Traditionally, because …

LGBTQ Advocacy in Oklahoma Classrooms Part II

A companion to the “Dear Colleague Letter” released by the Obama administration last spring, which directed public schools to make necessary changes to protect the civil rights of transgender students, was a document called “Examples of Policies and Emerging Practices for Supporting Transgender Students.” This extensive document is organized in a question and answer format …

“Masters of Law”

(The following is a parody of the Bob Dylan song “Masters of War” written especially for Oklahoma Republican Legislators. You can find the original lyrics here. Enjoy!) Come you masters of law, You that cut the big deals. Are you really that evil? Or just asleep at the wheel? How was your evening When you …

LGBTQ Advocacy in Oklahoma Classrooms – Part I

On any given day during the legislative session, Oklahoma can be seen running a tight race with North Carolina and Tennessee for the title of “state with the most homophobic and discriminatory legislation.” Every year in Oklahoma, a host of anti-LGBTQ bills are introduced in both houses. Fortunately, over the last several years, virtually all …

School Choice: An Inside Look

Like so many others in #oklaed, I registered and received a free ticket to attend the Oklahoma School Choice Summit, January 26th, 2017, at Oklahoma City Community College. On Thursday, I left school and went straight to OCCC. I went in around 4:15 wearing my Mid-Del ID, signed in on the back of a piece …