Too Dope Teachers and a Mic

This has been hard. Gerardo is at his breaking point. Hard week, and Kevin noticed that it's starting to boil over a little. He's a lil snippy in department meets, scowls in front of his camera during staff meetings and is running his mouth without thinking first. Kevin is concerned. We have a little therapy session, the fellas blow off some steam, discuss all kinds of stress-inducing events from...

We hope 2021 welcomes you with optimism, resolve and human connection! By the time you're hearing this, you might have tasks to assess and grade. Don't grade anything until you've listened to this! Gerardo sat down with Natalie Vardabasso of the #Educrush podcast a while back to discuss an important challenge faced by all teachers: feedback, grading, and antiracism. In it, we explore the intersect...

What better way to kick off the most uncertain semester in the history of public education than with educator, author, revolutionary, superhero and trickster Cornelius Minor? He sits with us for a fun, energetic, optimistic and wide-spanning conversation that covers such eclectic topics as race in education, a pedagogy centered in Black and African spirituality, community and intellectualism, bask...

We've really tried to avoid thinking about work these last couple of weeks. However, we agree that in these few days before we see students, some planning is in order. Lauren Piraro is a brilliant early-service teacher in the Bay Area. She teaches high school history, and like so many of us, is dedicated to doing the best she can for ALL students, especially her students from communities of color...

This past summer, Kevin and I had the privilege, the blessing, the amazing opportunity to be a part of the National Education Association’s Justice Summer Camp. Our partnership with NEA on the issue of educational justice has been a thrilling two-year experience, and we must thank the amazing Shilpa and Stephanie for coordinating for us and connecting us to dope educators, thinkers, and artists wh...

We have arrived at the most anticipated winter break in the history of public education! We have a lot on our minds, and a lot to decompress; thankfully, we have our nation of toodope therapists to listen and not judge us! In this episode, the final episode of 2020, we discuss lessons we have learned, both school-related and otherwise, during this year, we discuss the importance of healing, and ma...

Gerardo flies solo this week, as Kevin attends to family business, as Emily Santiago of the Center for Cognitive Diversity breaks down the urgency of trauma informed practice and antiracism in schools. After beginning her career as a Montessori teacher, Emily discovered that providing true social/emotional support was her true calling. As the executive director of the Center, she and her team have...

December is nearing the halfway point, and we get together to talk about our continuing (unending?) COVID-19 experience. Despite all that has changed in school and system accountability practice, teachers in many states will still be evaluated this semester, and this year. Evaluations are a loaded and emotional experience for all teachers, but the biases and assumptions that BIPOC teachers, especi...

This week we revisit our memorable session with the incredible and real Boots Riley, who breaks down artistic expression, social justice, community organizing, hip hop, and education from the 2019 Revolutionary Summer Mixtape!

The most anticipated break in the history of public education is finally upon us. In the most chaotic moment that either of can remember, with a future that is hazy at best, Kevin and Gerardo take some needed "us" time for their relationship. No guest this week means that we chop it up like we used to. We discuss what teaching, learning, and evaluation should look like in this moment, share an les...

On this historic weekend, we talk to Olivia Meikle, have of the dynamic duo that hosts the incredible "What's Her Name?" podcast. On this historic day, Olivia shares with us what motivates her and Dr. Katie Nelson to publish a true labor of love and scholarship which aims to tell amazing stories of women you never heard of. Moving deeper than the traditional list of important women in history, Wha...

Not too long ago, Asia Lyons found herself at a career crossroads. By introducing social justice curriculum, she landed in hot water with her school leadership. Now, having been away from the classroom and running her own consulting business, Lyons Educational Consulting, Asia has started her doctoral research on Racial Battle Fatigue. Teachers of color, and Black teachers in particular, face inst...

Kevin and Gerardo are LIVE at the Teachers of Color and Allies summit at the University of Colorado! Following the incredible act of Dr. Eve Ewing, author of Ghosts in the Schoolyard , the fellas unpack #teacherlife in November. With an energetic audience and teachers of many backgrounds and experience levels, we try to make sense of our lives in trying times. Be strong, check us out!

Kevin and Gerardo are LIVE at the Teachers of Color and Allies summit at the University of Colorado! Following the incredible act of Dr. Eve Ewing, author of Ghosts in the Schoolyard , the fellas unpack #teacherlife in November. With an energetic audience and teachers of many backgrounds and experience levels, we try to make sense of our lives in trying times. Be strong, check us out!

The block is hot! In difficult times, when performance ratings, electoral tension locally and globally, and a high level of professional and institutional anxiety threaten our very spiritual happiness, it is critical that we circle back to why we started. Young Kev and Young Gera are back, full of code-switching idealistic fervor, to remind the old fellas why they continue to do this work. Who are...

The block is hot! In difficult times, when performance ratings, electoral tension locally and globally, and a high level of professional and institutional anxiety threaten our very spiritual happiness, it is critical that we circle back to why we started. Young Kev and Young Gera are back, full of code-switching idealistic fervor, to remind the old fellas why they continue to do this work. Who are...

IT IS OUR 50TH EPISODE, Y'ALL. FITTY! The boyz are back, checking in after a hard few weeks. We discuss the new bad weather policy in the district, the impending school ratings, and adopting a mindset of solidarity with our students as we navigate accountability measures within a political climate that has no doubt elevaned stress, anxiety, and trauma for our most vulnerable families and communiti...

IT IS OUR 50TH EPISODE, Y'ALL. FITTY! The boyz are back, checking in after a hard few weeks. We discuss the new bad weather policy in the district, the impending school ratings, and adopting a mindset of solidarity with our students as we navigate accountability measures within a political climate that has no doubt elevaned stress, anxiety, and trauma for our most vulnerable families and communiti...

It's Back to School night for the fellas, and before we meet parents and members of our larger community, we reflect on the first month of the 2019-2020 school year. What are we discovering? What are we as a community not yet good at? Also, get a sneak preview of the stuff we're gettin into, including a presentation at the Colorado Thespian Educators conference, as well as our upcoming hosting of...

It's Back to School night for the fellas, and before we meet parents and members of our larger community, we reflect on the first month of the 2019-2020 school year. What are we discovering? What are we as a community not yet good at? Also, get a sneak preview of the stuff we're gettin into, including a presentation at the Colorado Thespian Educators conference, as well as our upcoming hosting of...

The boyz are back, can you believe it? Neither can they. The summer is over, and the new school year has hit us like a freight train! But through the mayhem of understanding the school focus, making sense of a post- (and maybe pre-) strike world, and a teaching world that calls upon us to do even more in the name of justice, we can say emphatically that WE OUT HERE. We chop it up about out focus,...

The boyz are back, can you believe it? Neither can they. The summer is over, and the new school year has hit us like a freight train! But through the mayhem of understanding the school focus, making sense of a post- (and maybe pre-) strike world, and a teaching world that calls upon us to do even more in the name of justice, we can say emphatically that WE OUT HERE. We chop it up about out focus,...

A very special guest, on the heels of a rousing and inspirational performance at the end of the NEA Conference on Racial and Social Justice, Recording artist and advocateTaina Asili has been refining her music and her community activism for decades. The child of artist-educator-activists, she embodies the life well-lived: advocacy for your community, solidarity with communities in struggle, crisis...

A very special guest, on the heels of a rousing and inspirational performance at the end of the NEA Conference on Racial and Social Justice, Recording artist and advocateTaina Asili has been refining her music and her community activism for decades. The child of artist-educator-activists, she embodies the life well-lived: advocacy for your community, solidarity with communities in struggle, crisis...

When the system fails to meet the needs of our young people, we have a choice to make. But sometimes their needs are so invisible to people in power that we need to go it alone. Meet the courageous Freedom Educators of the MAPSO Freedom School, in the joint South Orange-Maplewood School District, serving two municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey. In the tradition of the Freedom Schools during...