Learning and Unlearning about Race
“This is not a black person issue; this is a humanity issue.” I wish I knew who to attribute this quote to but did not catch the name on the […]
To the Class of 2020
Each year I give a commencement address to my students. This has been such an usual year, and I am still collecting my thoughts as we wind up the year. […]
Remembering Mrs. Roby
Yesterday I found out that my high school English teacher passed away. She was a legend in Trussville, Alabama, and as you can imagine, a large inspiration for me. The […]
Praying for Students
Life as we know it changed very suddenly last week. Many of our students will now be facing circumstances that are difficult to process. Some will be without food; others […]
“Crossing”
In preparation for National Poetry Month in April, I am working on a post for NCTE featuring Jericho Brown. This is based on an activity that I’ve done for the […]
An English Teacher’s Reading Life: February 2020
Leap year!! That means an extra day of reading in 2020. February was a good reading month primarily because I had a few work trips which gave me some extra […]
Reading: January, 2020
Man’s Search for Meaning, ★★★★★ Frankl, 2006, Nonfiction “For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.” Frankl’s book […]
#StopTeacherGuilt
There are so many education trends that I can get behind: interdisciplinary learning and projects, culturally responsive teaching, and the promotion of teaching living poets and disrupting texts in an […]
Who’s Doing the Work?
This post originally appeared on my professional blog and is reprinted here. Enjoy! e·piph·a·ny /əˈpifənē/ a moment of sudden revelation or insight January 6th marks Epiphany as the Christian tradition […]
