Education

Disclosure :: This post is sponsored by the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. A Parent’s Guide to Raising a “Digital Native” Snapchat. Instagram. iMessage. YouTube. Fortnite. These media and gaming platforms are all part of daily life for many teenagers, readily accessible at any time, day or night, from smartphones, laptops, and other devices. A 2018 Pew Research Center survey indicated that 95% of teens have access to a smartphone. 45% reported they are online “almost constantly,” and another 44% said they are online “several times a day.” Teens reported using Snapchat (35%), YouTube (32%), and Instagram (15%) most often, and 97% of teenage boys reported playing video games (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). How has technology and media use become so...

I tried for a shorter title but nothing else worked. Basically, the world is ending in tears and brokenness and third grade is the reason. I wanted to write something after the day / week I've had. I wanted to complain and laugh at my own pain. (As you do.) So, (only half-teasing) I asked our editors how they thought folks would relate to a profanity-ridden diatribe about third grade in general because I have *so* many thoughts. However, what started out as a semi-joke evolved into a serious conversation between some of our contributors about how the expectations of school, especially at this stage, are breaking us and our children. Here are some snippets of that: #secondgradeiskillingme "The expectations are CRUSHING our...

When I was in school, our teachers would find ways to celebrate Black History Month, February, by working it into our established classroom culture. In history, this may have meant telling the stories of significant African Americans and their contributions to society from different eras. In English, it often meant reading literature from prodigious writers of color.  I vividly remember, even in college, reading Langston Hughes's "Theme for English B" within the space of the 28 days of February. I was moved by Hughes's commentary about privilege decades before the concept would finally make its way into social conversation. As is often the case and the very purpose of literature, it provided a perspective entirely different from my own.  In my...

  Some of you may have heard of a little NBA player by the name of Lebron James. Now as a fan of the great Golden State Warriors, I can not say I’m a huge LeBron fan on the court. BUT, as an educator, mother and just all around conscientious citizen, I may have just become LeBron’s greatest supporter.   Mr. James just opened a new school servicing students in the city of Akron, Ohio (where he is from). This isn’t just any school; it is an absolutely free public school. The facility is state of the art and enticing to any child’s eye.   Student’s receive free meals and uniforms, all necessary school supplies, and even bicycles to name a few things. There...

Homework has suddenly found its way into my life again ... much, much sooner than anticipated. You see, this year my daughter is in a pre-k 4 program at her daycare. Last year, all she could talk about was how excited she was to be in the Pre-K4 class. She learned so much last year, and I knew that she would thrive this year. At this point, it's important for me to add that my daughter is not yet four. She is in this class early - a decision that at times I've thought was right, but I've also questioned that choice many times. A prime example of this happened one week into Pre-K4. As we were walking to the...