Last year as I walked through my school’s commons area in the morning, I couldn’t help but notice the students were sitting at tables segregated by race. The same segregation occurred when students were allowed to select their seats for assemblies. My school population has about a 60/40 mix of white and Latino students. As I glanced from table to table in the commons, once in a while I noticed a few mixed tables, but the norm was definitely segregation by color.
Author Archives: Shelly
Meme:Five Important Things Policymakers Ought to Know–Shelly’s Take
This meme was sent out by Nancy Flanagan, a thoughtful blogger at Teacher in a Strange Land. The purpose was to get a group of people sharing their thoughts on what policymakers should know.
1. The students in my classroom deserve a well rounded curriculum that both challenges and inspires them. When making policy decisions, keep in mind that education goes far beyond skills in reading and math. A few years ago I had a student in my classroom who struggled with reading. One day she ran up to me crying at lunch recess. I asked her what was wrong. She handed me her class schedule. She had been taken out of choir to attend an additional reading class. I will never forget her looking at me and saying, “I know I need to work on my reading, but I love to sing.” My kids deserve the chance to sing, dance and create in addition to learning the basics.
An Invitation
As a writing teacher I work with seventh graders all year to help them find their voice as writers. I actually ordered a custom quote from Wallwords™ that says Find Your Voice to post in my classroom. Every day when I walk to school, those words in matte brick red, greet me. The words remind me that before my students learn any of the ins and outs of language they must first understand they have unique experiences, thoughts and ideas to share with the world.