parent engagement
Meet las Familias Latinas Por La Educación. These Families Won't Be Ignored.
Throughout my 20 year career in Houston, I have fought for Latino parents and caregivers to be considered equal members of their local school systems and to be included in the education...
school leadership
Here's How Houston Is Bringing More Men of Color Into Teaching
How many teachers in your K-12 experience do you feel truly impacted you? It’s a Saturday afternoon in early June, and urban education expert Kwame Simmons sits in a classroom at Westbury High School...
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy
We Can't Protect Our Students From Racism, But We Can Prepare Them to Combat and Reject It
On January 6, when an angry mob stormed the Capitol, I was in the middle of teaching my 7th grade English language arts students about the Free African Society in Philadelphia’s 1793 Yellow Fever...
remote learning
If Houston’s District Schools Keep Taking the Day Off, Students Will Never Catch Up
There have been some good reasons to close schools over the past year—in the early days of the pandemic, for example, or during major weather events like the recent winter storm here in Texas. Last...
identity
We Need to Provide Gender Identity-Affirming Mirrors for Our Youngest Learners
J, a seven-year-old boy in my classroom, was bright and energetic, always wanting to help and always starting the day with a smile. J liked to play fashion shows, paint nails and ballet dance. The...
Texas
I’m Empowering My Students to Lead Conversations About Race
In late September, I began my class with my usual prompt: Is there anything in the news you’d like to share? My students would generally talk about the presidential election or COVID-19, but today...