When this teacher asked newly-minted sixth-graders how they want to treat themselves, others and their communities during middle school, paper airplanes made for a creative way for these students to offer answers.
In this poem, the speaker traces the senseless killings taking place abroad and at home, with a particular focus on the African-American community. The speaker also calls communities to action to "grow our hope and heal our hearts" in order to live together in peace.
Gender, sexuality and religion are common themes in challenged books of 2015. Rather than effectively ban these topics from the classroom, TT recommends teaching about them and offers student texts to do so.
Helping students understand how ideology influences decisions allows them to be more thoughtful and engaged participants in society. Examining banned books is one way into that awareness and engagement.
Constant exposure to violence via social media is certainly harming our students, and we can learn to recognize the signs to give them the support they need.
As the current election cycle reaches its climax, establishing “intellectually safe” communities of inquiry can help mitigate the negative effects the campaign has had on children and classrooms.
Amber is the director of Curriculum and Research at the University of Hawai‘i Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education and an associate specialist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Education Institute for Teacher Education Secondary Program. She is a dedicated practitioner of philosophy for children in Hawai‘i and achieved National Board Certification while teaching secondary social studies in the Hawaii State Department of Education for over 10 years. In 2011 she won the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching. Her current projects