#SmallBites

With book bans sweeping the country, I felt the need to record some of the words I've written, just in case. Cherry Lake publishing has released a phenomenal Black Achievement series, designed by Kelissa Wing, just in time for Black History Month. I am honored to have written 3 titles, one of which I'll preview here.  In this episode, you'll hear about Dr. Tai-Danae Bradley who looks more lik...

Over the past few weeks, I have awakened daily to the news of new humans in the classroom. Now, if you've taught a while, you'll remember when "new humans in the classroom" meant meeting a fresh-faced new group in August or September of each year. Now, it means new humans teaching in the classrooms. Well, teaching is relative. As long as the children are attended, we're good. Hey Rick Grimes, got...

It was not so very long ago that Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina led the charge against this MLK holiday that we now celebrate. Today, that congressional fight has largely faded from memory as we celebrate the powerful words Dr. King spoke. In Selma. In Detroit. In Washington. From the many great speeches: I have a dream ...; Now is time to make real the promise of democracy ... so many grea...

This episode is dedicated to Sidney Poitier, the first actor I remember seeing who looked like me, may he rest in peace. I don't remember when it happened, but somewhere along my journey, I lost my taste for 'classic' movies. As much as I loved curling up together with my grandmom to watch old Hollywood movies, and as much as those memories warm me, the movies themselves no longer hold the same en...

Hello all, Smallbites is taking a short winter break and will be back on January 10th with SmallBites Lagniappe as the Flagship SmallBites production! Take care, happy new year and 'see you' in 2022!

With states enacting legal bans on what people and politicians call CRT , which is a catch all for most anything to do with race and identity, teachers are coming under scrutiny for 'indoctrination' if they flaut any of the very non-specific rules in these state bills and laws. Since the rules of these laws are broadly written, teaching history and talking about the Trail of Tears vs. Westward exp...

Watching the big Hollywood musicals as a child with my family was always my happy place. We were a musical family and as the years passed, I learned the lyrics and sang them along with my mom and the characters on TV. West Side Story was no different. I dimly remember talk about Natalie Wood, the original Maria, being White, but it didn't really make sense to me, she was pretty and she could sing....

In case you missed it, Finding Your Blind Spots launched officially on Friday night with much fun and fanfare. You can see the festivities here . But if you'd like a deeper look at the book, order your copy here and scroll to the bottom of the page to get the free reproducibles. The thing that I am most excited about is that, beyond CRT bans, beyond arguments on discussions on race and representat...

Last week after an exceptional conversation about education, bias and divisive rhetoric on the Tom Schimmer podcast, I reflected on a question he asked me. He wanted to know what we could do about all the negative rhetoric on social media, as well as face to face. It was a real idk moment, and I don't have a lot of those. The question made me feel small and helpless because not being mean seems li...

The social media fights always get me down. I rarely venture from Edutwitter out into what some educators call "gen pop", but when I do, it's a cruel world. 'Kyle Rittenhouse is White so why is this about race', right? The overrepresentation of people of color in our jails and the harsher punitive measures taken are glaring indictments of our 'liberty and justice for all'. Seeing Rittenhouse go fr...

One of the resources I share in Finding Your Blind Spots is a list of people and accounts to follow on Social Media. If you are an educator who has not tapped in to micro and macro social media platform PDs, here are a few to get you started. History and first-person information on Indigenous American, LGBTQ+, Arabic, and Black communities: @arabicmclovin (Tiktok) @Antiracistcalendar (Instagram) @...

Who would have thought that a picture of a mug could encapsulate everything I do? "I promise to teach my babies to love your babies". There it was, on a white ceramic mug with little hearts in shades from beige to brown, with a little rainbow heart on the end. I'd planned to talk about the Archbishop's judgy, loveless rant about the gaps in today's religions being filled by those who show they car...

I never thought I’d be on a banned book list. I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 back in high school in SE Texas. I remember being incredulous that literature and Great Works were being burned, and that a select few were governing the thoughts of the many. Now I am wondering if I should be worried about my own books being slated for a burning, Texas legislator's list circulates with my name on it....

Oh so NOW you’re mad? You want to try, judge and jail a teacher for being 'racist'? You want to say with surety she did all that stuff we saw in the video with malicious intent?  Was it bad? Yes. Was it an offensive and insensitive display mocking the sacred traditions of a community this country has already taken from over and over again? Yes. But before we go casting stones: Have you ever w...

For those who watch football, imagine; Pats are deep in their own territory and they run the ball every play, straight up the middle. Now, for those who don’t watch football, just know, that's a pretty ridiculous strategy, even though it's called foot ball not throw ball. Fact is, different strategies and plays will have varying chances of success depending on a variety of factors. Adapting for th...

Who are our heroes? What do we celebrate? Why do we celebrate them? And if it's still Hispanic Heritage month, do we have to deal with it at all? So many questions. I have no answers. Except, decide to look beyond the surface.  It seems Columbus day was not all about Columbus. The holiday was always embroiled in turmoil. Now, this day means "see me" to Native American tribes. An acknowledgeme...

If 'no man is an island, no man stands alone', then the same is probably true of schools. A school is not an island, separate from the community it supports. As we look for ways to close 'learning gaps' and combat 'learning loss', let's first remember that until the 70s, this country was still legally legally non-White student access to the same education it provided White students. That means tha...

After experiencing the exhaustion of so many educators as seen through their stories on social media throughout this first 6 weeks, I am on heightened alert. How do we fight off the demoralization and feelings of futility that I talked about in Friday's YouTube episode ?  In her "Seven Strategies for Embracing the Emotional Labor of Teaching" , Colorado State's Dr. Ashley Harvey explores stra...

This week's episode continues to explore "learning loss" through an Education Week article by Mark Lieberman in which he cites instances of all the wraparound services provided, often as mandates without funding. He writes, “All the while, we’re asking schools to accomplish more than what their funding allows and their employees to do far more than they’ve been trained to do. And we’ve been doing...

The thing about interrupted learning, is that we are treating it like this is the first time learning has been interrupted. Oh, we acknowledge the summer slide and consider year 'round school but we don't consider the many systemic interruptions that have brought us to the place where we just can't get the learning gaps to close.  Our educational system is like a woman trying to get into a dr...

As Texas is praised for/comes under scrutiny after its recent landmark #abortionban, I am reminded of a conversation between students talking about reproductive rights. They were on opposite sides of the abortion issue and yet, they acknowledged the validity of all arguments presented. They also agreed that it was wrong that men who fathered children were not held accountable, and that men should...

Today we'll be flying the last plane out of Afghanistan, ending our longest war ever. To those who've lost family in Afghanistan, thank you for your sacrifice. I'll never understand loss of life on foreign soil, my condolences are with you. To those who made the decision to spend 300 million a day every day for the last 20 years, I am afraid my sympathies don't run so deep.  As an educator, a...

My mom said that when I was a little girl I once came in crying. When she asked what was wrong, my reply was that the kids were fighting, and I wanted to play, not fight.  I know that sometimes conflict is necessary, but why we're having conflict over doing our best to protect people--our teachers, our nurses, the frail among us--I'm not sure. This week, I don't have many strategies, only thi...

It's that time of the year, folks! While you're on your Dollar Tree/Target, run listen to my Babyface concert story, I had a ball. Oh, and special for August, I mention a few activities you can use to build community in your class. This year may be different because of what kids learned and may not have learned last year; because of what you may or may not be able to talk about in your class; or e...

When my son finally made it to me at the airport to pick me up after a wonderful week with the Jefferson County Public School educators, he hugged me hard and whispered these terrifying words into my neck; "Mom, I got pulled over."  Still shaken, he recounted the terror going through his brain ('just act normal, don't get shot') the menacing words of the officers ('cooperate with us, we'll co...