April 12, 2022

Teaching About Trans Athletes Amidst Harmful Legislation

Lawmakers across the country continue to restrict the rights of trans people—particularly trans students and student athletes—but educators can take this moment to start a conversation about transgender identity, justice and ways to take action. In this LFJ article, educator Skye Tooley encourages teaching and celebrating trans athletes to dispel stereotypes and myths around transgender folks. Read more here.

What Anti-racism Really Means for Educators // Jamilah Pitts

How Culturally Responsive Lessons Teach Critical Thinking // Clint Smith

Mathematics in Context: The Pedagogy of Liberation // Marian Dingle and Cathery Yeh

Close the Loop: Affirming Immigrant Students Webinar

Join us at 3:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, April 13, for a follow-up webinar to our recent Supporting and Affirming Immigrant Students and Families webinar. You’ll have the opportunity to ask additional questions and learn about new resources. You’ll also learn more strategies to assess local policies and practices and to advocate for positive change. Register here!

National Poetry Month: “Hair” by Elizabeth Acevedo

“You call them wild curls. I call them breathing.” Author and poet Elizabeth Acevedo celebrates self-love in the poem “Hair,” highlighting notions of race, ethnicity, class and more. Teach this text, which includes a live performance video and text-dependent questions for students.  

New Podcast Episode: Black Political Thought

Black political ideologies in the early 20th century evolved against a backdrop of derogatory stereotypes and racial terrorism. In a new episode of our Teaching Hard History podcast, historian Minkah Makalani contextualizes this era of Black intellectualism and shows how movements of the 1920s and 1930s fed into what became the civil rights and Black Power movements.
Inclusive Teaching About the Environment
As Earth Day approaches, it’s a good time to think about ways to approach issues of identity and diversity when it comes to the environment. Science teacher Chris Widmaier shares how he incorporated the work of authors from different cultural backgrounds into lessons about nature, culminating in a student-led discussion.

Check Out What We’re Reading

“Advocates for the transgender community argue that the legislation and the surrounding rhetoric endanger children who are already vulnerable as they struggle with their gender identity.” — The New York Times

“‘Gen-Z is fed up with politicians using queer people as political pawns.’” — Teen Vogue

“For Williams and her daughter, Thursday’s Senate vote confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court is the culmination of a journey they began two years ago when President Biden made a pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.” — The Washington Post
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