The Iowa City School Board Can Turn Unsettling Decisions Into Opportunity
“Rescind your decision to hold school on MLK Day.” Members from the Coalition for Racial Justice and general community spoke this message at the November 26th school board meeting. The issue began when school officials scheduled classes on MLK day. In addition, teachers were asked to educate students about “multicultural…
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Peer Coaching
One of the greatest privileges in my professional life has been the opportunity to learn the discipline of professional learning in education from highly respected researchers who advanced not just the field of professional development (PD) but the broader sphere of educational reform. Beverly Showers, a widely published and internationally…
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To Everyone in Our Schools: Thank You for Your Compassion and Empathy
This week I will ask my kids to tell me what they are thankful for. I will most likely get the usual responses – my dog, my video games, my doll, my Transformers. And when I ask them to reflect a little more I’ll get some answers I like better…
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Local Activism for Equity
There is an exciting movement under foot in Iowa City, as residents across our community–diverse by race, geography, culture, language, income, and wealth–join together to approach the Iowa City Community School Board tonight. Earlier in the year, the Calendar Committee, appointed by the superintendent of schools, presented a school year…
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Reflections from the Conference on Disproportionate Minority Incarceration
Adriene Wing—professor at University of Iowa’s School of Law provided a two-fold answer on how teachers can help decrease the numbers of minorities who enter prisons during the Conference on Racial Justice & Disproportionate Minority Incarceration. First, educators must develop alternate discipline practices because expulsion, suspension, and other exclusionary methods that…
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Poet’s Words Give Pause
I just came across some quotations by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), one of the great 20th century German language poets. His writing often gives me a fresh way to think about ideas I have been wrestling with. Perhaps these quotations will give you pause to think more deeply about…
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