Who Made the New Deal? Part II
A history teacher helps his students see the conservatism of the early New Deal and the impact of organizing and mass resistance.
English
Other People’s Lives
An introduction to persona poems, which ask students “to find that place inside themselves that connects with a moment in history, literature, life.”
Remembering Harold Berlak
This past January, our nation lost an outstanding fighter for educational justice. Harold Berlak died at age 83 at home in Oakland, California, of congestive heart failure. The son of […]
Our picks for books, videos, websites, and other social justice education resources 29.3
Check out these valuable resources, reviewed by Rethinking Schools editors and Teaching for Change colleagues.
The Koch Brothers Sneak into School
The Koch-funded Bill of Rights Institute cherry-picks the Constitution, history, and current events to hammer home the lesson that freedom means freedom to make money.
They Deserve Good Teaching, Too
A teaching assistant working with students with autism realizes the behavior modification-based teaching strategies she is told to use are robbing her students of voice and independence. She tries something else instead.
4-Year-Olds Discuss Love and Marriage
An early childhood educator shows how far-ranging discussions can open children’s eyes to a broader understanding of relationships, including same-sex marriage and not getting married at all.
Baby Steps Toward Restorative Justice
A middle school teacher tries to implement restorative practices in her classroom. It’s harder than she thought.
Blood on the Tracks
Science teachers at a Portland, Oregon, high school ask how they can make their science classes more welcoming to Black students.
Can We Rescue the Common Core Standards from the Testing Machine?
Would the Common Core be OK if it weren’t for the tests? An activist/blogger says no.
Climate Change and School in a Yup’ik Fishing Village
In a small village in southwestern Alaska, climate change is a current reality, not a distant fear. But it’s not in the curriculum or discussed at school.
Collaborating to Capture Community Resilience
Teachers form an inquiry-based study group to support each other as they look for ways to build on the resilience of their students.
Colonizing Wild Tongues
A teacher vividly describes her own experience of English-only schooling.
Learning About Inequality
A master English teacher uses dialogue poems to develop empathy and connect history to literature.
Research as Healing
As 9th graders focus persuasive letters on community issues, their teacher realizes she must be open about her own pain to empower students to be open about theirs.
Short Stuff 29.4
Seattle Students Vote with Their Feet Not a single junior at Seattle’s Nathan Hale High School showed up to take this spring’s Smarter Balanced tests (SBAC—one version of the Common […]
Storytelling as Resistance
After a critical look at how their community is described by others, high school students interview and tell the true stories of people in their Watts, Los Angeles, neighborhood.
Teaching as Defiance
Recently, we posted an article at the Rethinking Schools Facebook page that listed reasons why parents should opt their children out of standardized testing, including “standardized tests narrow the curriculum.” […]
Thinking and Playing Under Pressure
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“¿Qué es deportar?”
An early elementary school teacher realizes she needs to dump the scripted curriculum and basal reader, find Latina/o literature in Spanish, and make space for her students’ thoughts and feelings.
Empowering Change Through Art
A teacher educator introduces her students to labor history and makes a case for its centrality to U.S. history.
Getting Deeper
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Happening Yesterday, Happened Tomorrow
A poet/teacher/activist shows students how to use poetry to understand and share their pain and outrage.
Letters to the Editor 29.2
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No Principles, No Progress
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