by: Talisha Mathis Congratulations!!! Yes!!! You did it! You graduated from college with a BS in education, and you have landed a job. You are excited even though you didn’t get the job at the school in the suburbs. Instead, you got the job on the bad side of town, in the hood, near the projects. But hey, it’s a job and you are ready. You’ve read B.F. Skinner, Benjamin Bloom, and Howard Gardner, so you have no doubt that you are ready. At your teacher shower, your family and friends got you motivational posters to put up in your class. Your favorite one states “Shoot for the moon, even if you ..read more

by: Patricia Clahar Teaching has always given me life, no matter what the subject. But there's one subject that always seems to bring extra excitement to the classroom – entrepreneurship. Every time I bring this topic up eyes widen, hands fly into the air and business ideas start coming from every corner of the room. Lemonade! Glow-in-the-dark slime! Life-sized replicas of Thor’s hammer that you can throw and it comes back to you just like in the movie!!! If you introduce entrepreneurship in the right way, most students get hooked on the idea pretty quickly. For some, it’s the allure of d ..read more

By Kristen Womack, M.Ed We want our scholars (all ages) to become active readers in order to improve their comprehension. That is the goal. So, what is active reading? This just means that while students are reading, they are actually “doing” something with it. They are engaging with the text. Too often students just read straight through a text, get to the end, and have no idea what they have read. Active reading helps to prevent that. I actually require my students to keep their pencil, pen, or highlighter in their hand the entire time they are reading. So, even before they begin reading, th ..read more

by: Tanesha Yusuf The current pandemic has caused us to make immediate lifestyle adjustments. We have had to modify routines related to our occupation, education, and recreation. In the area of education, there have had to be vast, swift adjustments to ensure that students receive some form of instruction to limit the loss of learning. The first priority is to ensure that our students are safe. It is important that their physiological needs are met before we delve into what is needed educationally. We must also be mindful that learning at home could be with us for a while, so it is imperative ..read more

by: Toni Woodlon Mindset. I never knew just how much it mattered until I became an educator. Growing up, I was privy to the same adages that permeated many households, such as You can do whatever you put your mind to. My younger self likely let those words in, yet did not know exactly how to make those words actionable. All I knew was that it worked because I was motivated! As an educator, however, I intentionally move beyond motivation - to action. I have learned that developing a positive mindset is about more than the words you tell yourself and others. It is about how actions align with th ..read more

by: Kewanta Brooks Like most new teachers, I was excited and a little nervous at the same time.  However, despite my nerves, I felt more than ready to take on the task of educating young people.  I received training in content, engagement, and management. Not to toot my own horn, but I was an excellent student.  I excelled in all of my classes and passed the certification with flying colors. My job interviews were a cakewalk and I got hired by my first choice immediately. Oh but reality.   Reality hit me like a shiny new bullet train with a destination to my own privat ..read more

By: Kymberly Ellis Education is one of the most interesting professional fields. Ironically enough, it seems as if it is also one of the most undervalued and underappreciated fields as well. During my time in this profession, I have learned that it definitely takes someone special to teach. There are so many factors: administration, students, parents, scores, lesson plans, etc. Those on the outside looking in seem to think that the breaks more than make up for the things with which educators deal, but most people don’t realize that we have earned that break within the first two weeks of the ne ..read more

Written by: Gloria Martinez If you feel like you’re being called to become a teacher - congratulations. While the job isn’t easy, it is one of the most fulfilling, soul-satisfying, and rewarding career options out there. You’ll be joining the ranks of ,four million Americans who are looking to make a difference by impacting our youth positively. As a demanding job, deciding if your personality, education, and career aspirations fit the job will be essential to consider before embarking on this career. Here, ,Black Teachers Educate walks you through everything you need to know. What Do Teachers ..read more

By: Nakesha Merritt Dawson, Ed.D The Situation Imagine you are born into poverty and being your situation will never change. It’s a pretty stark way to begin this blog, but it’s even bleaker if you are born in Charlotte, North Carolina. In a 2014 study conducted by Harvard and UC Berkeley, the city of Charlotte ranks last (50 out of 50) among America’s largest cities as it relates to upward mobility. In a nutshell, if a child is born poor in Charlotte, it is harder for them to get out of poverty than any other large city in the United States (Quarterly Journal of Economics 129 (4): 1553-1623 ..read more

By: Rhonda Ekwunoh It was the week of March 9th and some schools across New York City had started to close due to the coronavirus. My school had not yet announced its closing, in fact, my school had a staff meeting that Friday, March 13th informing staff that we would be following the guidance of New York DOE (public schools in NYC) and therefore; remain open until they had announced their closing. With that information, I was expecting to return back to school on Monday and see my 29 scholars. That Sunday March 15th, Mayor Bill de Blasio made the decision to close the nation’s largest public ..read more