It is no great surprise that humans care for their children over all others, but the deeply human need to care for “our children” over the children of a community or a society presents some significant challenges for policymakers and those interested in improving social, economic and educational outcomes for children who grow up in…
Category: Reflections
Capitalism and Moving
Moving captures the reality of modern capitalism in some fascinating ways that help to illuminate aspects of our system of capitalism that are not always visible in day-to-day life. I took the previous week off of writing as I moved from Chicago to St. Louis, and as I dealt with the stresses of moving, I…
The Learning of School Year 20/21
At the start of school year 20/21, I told that it would be unlike any in history, and suggested they consider writing a journal of their experiences. Coming off of the COVID-altered 19/20 school year, I had low expectations for remote learning, but the year went better than expected. Although I’m not sure how many…
Eating Semi-Vegetarian
My taste for meat and cheese and eggs is very much at odds with the reality that consumption of these foods not only vastly increases human and animal suffering but also has significant negative environmental impacts on people and the planet. And yet, it is only over the last half a year that I’ve been…
Asking For Help
An interesting trend I am noticing in my students’ final reflections on the year, is that some are mentioning they didn’t ask for help as much as they should have, and they are recommending that future students ask for help when they need it. This is despite my constant refrains that, “the only dumb question…
Powerful Learning Remotely
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my students who were failing remote learning. In the end, as I approach my grading deadline, only six students will fail. That seems like a success relative to the 22 who were in danger of failing two weeks ago, particularly since I saw four of the six…
Eleven Days on the Picket Line
What follows are some reflections based on my notes from the 2019 Chicago Teachers Union strike where I served as my school’s strike captain. On our eleven days on the picket line, we sang, danced, ate, and engaged in conversation punctuated by honking cars and trucks, and the occasional middle finger angrily aimed in our…
Graduating Seniors
For the first time in my career, I am enjoying the experience of seeing students I first taught as freshmen, and then again as juniors and seniors, graduate from high school. Of course, these students have had their high school experience dramatically altered as a result of the pandemic, but as Illinois and the United…
Serving a Community
Throughout my early college years, I struggled with wanting to know more about the world and its problems and wanting to make a genuinely positive impact on the world. I often felt paralyzed into inaction by my desire to know more. How could I be sure I was doing something meaningful or impactful, or that…
Critical Race Theory Panic
As a teacher of history and politics, I’ve been following the news about conservative objections to the teaching about race and racism in history, as well as the ensuing critical race theory panic closely. What is not so clear from the coverage about this topic is what exactly conservative forces mean by critical race theory….