NerdyTeacherMom

The end of July conjures up a bit of anxiety for this NerdyTeacherMom. I know, I know ... the Bible says "be anxious for nothing." I'm working on that. This is right about when I start to lose sleep about the upcoming school year. The 3 a.m. worries are typically things like how can I do a better job teacher question words this year,   or I should find someone now to talk to my classes about why speaking Spanish is so important, or   maybe I'll try planning a field trip this year . On top of the usual worries, this year I've added a biggie: I am pursuing my National Board Teacher Certification. Becoming a Board Certified Teacher  will be validation that I am an "accomplished teacher." It will help me improve my teaching and make my school look good. Plus, it will add a few extra bucks to my paycheck. Despite recommendations to spread this process over two years, I have committed myself to submitting all of the required components i...

When given an opportunity to select topics for projects, my children know that they are free to choose their own. There's only one catch: the topic needs to be Black. Okay, maybe they aren't free to choose.  Why limit them? Because they need to know our history. Their history. Period. And I'm not going to leave it to others to make sure they are self-aware. Over the years, the girls have submitted projects on Bessie Coleman, Wilma Rudolph, Barack Obama and Gabby Douglas. They've researched places like Bermuda and the Bahamas. Then there was this year's 5th grade bottle project. The assignment was to use a 2-liter bottle to create an image and write a one-page report telling why the selected person is a leader. When Morgan came home with this assignment, my mind immediately went to work with suggestions: Madame C.J. Walker, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X ... But she had another idea. "I know you want me to do somebody Black, but I really want to...