If we wanted to build a flying car, we would look for people with a diversity of experience – engineers, designers, technicians, mechanics, cost analysts, etc. But would we also look for social diversity? Would having people from different ethnic backgrounds, races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations help us build a better flying car? So […]
Restorative Justice – The Time is Now
By Tim Wolcott We are all builders: either of justice and peace or of injustice and war. Given the choice, most attempt to create harmony and equity in the world. However, many have no choice at all in this matter. They are allowed little agency. These are students in many of our primary and secondary […]
Are You Stressed?
Activities for a Time of Stress This is the time of year when we often think about peace and yet many times find ourselves stressed from holiday preparations and rounds of visitors. Below are some activities that teachers can do with their students, and parents can do with their children, or that you can do on your own, in order […]
What’s wrong with this picture?
By Tim Wolcott “Help us stomp out domestic violence – join Waverly Cares.” The President of STANYS (Science Teachers Association of New York State), my professional association, rallies us to implement Common Cores (national teaching standards) and SLO’s (Student Learning Objectives), address STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math teaching objectives), adhere to RTTT (Race To […]
I want to be a good person
There was once a boy named Nikolai who sometimes felt uncertain about the right way to act. “I want to be a good person…but I don’t always know the best way to do that.” So writes Jon J. Muth in a retelling of a story by Leo Tolstoy: The Three Questions. When is the best time to do […]
International Day of Democracy
September 15th is the International Day of Democracy. A good day to check out how democracy plays out in your own family, community, and school. When I was a child, I attended a “Democracy in Action” elementary school. In every class from kindergarten to sixth grade we voted – every day. We voted on which […]
International Literacy Day
Imagine not being able to read. You would not be able to text a message or send an e-mail. You would not be able to blog. You would not have access to the wonderful world of books. Reading is a human right. September 8th is International Literacy Day a day set aside by the United […]
Addressing Racism
Stand Against Racism Dayis April 27th. Here are links to some exemplary lessons to use in your classrooms from our own website and from others. Lessons are ordered by suggested grade levels, but can be adapted by creative educators to other levels. Preschool Alike and Different All the Colors We Are The Colors of Us […]
Stand Against Racism
Becoming an Anti-Racist Educator and Parent: Debra Van Ausdale and Joe R. Feagin in their book The First R : How Children Learn about Race and Racism document a year they spent in an exemplary multicultural preschool listening to three- and four-year-olds talk about skin color and race. What they learned was that even very young children are […]
You Can’t Say You Can’t Play
In every classroom, in every school, in every community there are always insiders and outsiders. When you were in school which were you? In 1992 Vivian Gussin Paley set out to change the social order in her kindergarten classroom. She noticed, as most teachers do, that even when you outlaw hitting and ban name calling, […]
