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443 Results
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Bathroom Rules to Keep Students Safe
For transgender youth, the school’s bathroom can be a dangerous place. School administrators must set policies now allowing for students to use the facilities to match their gender identities.
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James Baldwin: Art, Sexuality and Civil Rights
In this lesson, students will revisit the life of James Baldwin, an African-American literary writer and critic, as well as an icon for civil and gay rights.
January 7, 2013
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Peer Perspective Challenges Stereotypes
On a recent field trip, I found Nashley and Bersabeh in a quiet corner of the library, sharing both a chair and a book. For an English teacher, this scene is pure gold: two ninth-graders, becoming friends, in the library, reading a book. I snapped a photo before squealing my delight. Then, I crouched down next to them to find out more about what they were reading.
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Help Save A Life
Students are dying. On Nov. 27, Josh Pacheco took his own life. He had come out as gay to his mother a couple months before his death. His parents learned recently that Josh had been bullied at school.
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Helping Boys Become Readers
Many boys at my school struggle with reading. Most are more interested in video games and outdoor activities than books. Our school is not an anomaly.
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Day of the Girl Inspires Student Action
The first International Day of the Girl, a United Nations initiative to promote gender equality around the world, was Oct. 11. When I explained the day to my extra-curricular group for girls, their responses varied. One student remarked that a day wasn’t enough, but it was definitely a step in the right direction. Another noted that it was about time someone recognized the multitude of issues that girls face. Still another asked why we needed a day at all.
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Coming Out as a Safe Zone for LGBT Students?
In an ideal world, our students would be safe to openly be who they are at all times. Since the world we live in is far from ideal, we must support our students’ rights to privacy and trust them to make the decision to reveal their sexuality when they feel the time is right.
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Keep Students Strong While We Stop Bullies
After teaching a particularly grueling class, I looked forward to the solace of my 55-minute planning period. I started to organize the black hole that is my desk and found a folded piece of notebook paper with my name, Ms. Samsa, hastily scrawled onto it.
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Intolerance Crumbled After Meeting a Family
A family of four came to speak to my high school juniors and seniors. Two dads and their 16-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son talked about their family, the adoption process and their experiences with discrimination and prejudice.