Three days ago, one of my teenage boys asked me if I had heard that Ye (formerly known as Kanye West) was a guest on InfoWars. This far-right-wing political site espouses conspiracy theories and promotes non-factual news.

I had not known this, but I...

Last week, I worked with educators in Illinois on “Reaching and Teaching Students Experiencing Poverty.”  As with every session related to topics that ask participants to share and reflect on their own experiences, I explained four agreements that I ...

We all know that trust is a cornerstone of any healthy relationship. Yet, how often do we intentionally talk about it—especially with students?

We want to trust our students to:

• treat one another with respect and dignity,

• act responsibly when ...

In the first season of the SELinEDU podcast, we had the great pleasure of interviewing Jodi Friedman. As an assistant principal and equity leader, Jodi’s work as an anti-racist leader includes co-creating the Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Facilita...

One of my kiddos is writing his essay for the Common App for colleges.

He came out of his bedroom to tell me that the app recommended that they not end with "...and they all lived happily ever after."

I laughed and said, "Learning doesn't always en...

You may know I have three sons - two biological and one bonus son (stepson). They are my daily motivation to put good energy into the world, inspire me to be and do better, and model for me what authentic growth entails. 

Jared and I had a conversat...

As I write this, I am heading home from a two-week trip that included traveling to Hawaii and Florida. I was fortunate to mix bits of vacation time while working in a school in Hawaii and presenting at the Florida Learning Forward Conference. 

I rec...

I was in third grade when my family moved to a new school district. It was just after winter break, and my new classmates had already settled into their routines, inside jokes, and lunch table rituals. I arrived as "the new kid"—unsure of where to si...

Two weeks ago, my friend Linda and I were having breakfast in a restaurant when I saw her attention go to the booth behind me to the left. Before I could figure out what was happening, she said to them, “That’s okay; we are both teachers and boy moms...

The beach has always been my “happy place” - the one location where I ponder life, have deep conversations with my three siblings, and play with my boys. 

A few weeks ago, I stood knee-deep in the Atlantic Ocean and watched as the waves rolled towar...

By May 2019, my husband and I had saved enough to take our three boys to Italy to visit his sister and extended family. His parents were born and raised just south of Rome, and the opportunity to explore their roots while making new memories felt lik...

Two weeks ago, I attended a conference of my fellow ASCD Emerging Leaders. We are a group of educators who bonded together through our experiences in the two-year program sponsored by ASCD.

For many of us, the last time we convened was in Fall 2019 ...