In one of my first posts of the school year, I discussed how we as educators each find our tipping point for intolerable acts regarding children. At the end of the article I described the tensions of being mixed-race during the start of school integration, and a heinous situation that developed for me.… Read the rest
(In my second blog I told the true story about a gang of boys dragging me to the “pussy-bushes” in 3rd grade)
Then came 5th grade when a lone troubled boy stalked me in the hallways at recess, using the packed passageways as cover as he repeatedly pressed his groin against me.… Read the rest
I wasn’t sure for a moment whether to laugh or cry because I failed to save a draft before an “open-tab-over-load” forced me to reboot. Thanks (or maybe no thanks) to Google docs my brain now assumes everything is being backed up automatically, so my heart raced when I realized this platform was different.… Read the rest
(This is my yearbook photo from 9th grade)
Berkeley Unified was one of the first districts in the country to integrate “by choice”. That sounds terrific — they didn’t need a court to order them to do, but as I’ve mentioned in my post: Reality Check https://mixedgirlsurvivalschool.com/reality-check/… Read the rest
(None of My Brothers or Sister Went College…and that is Truly a Shame)
The only stress that rivals back-to-school time, is apply-to-college time. For some families college applications are the culmination of a decade (or more) of preparation, for others, it’s a last-minute gut-slam.… Read the rest
(My Father is on the far left of the back row)
In some families everyone is a cop, or a doctor, or in the military. Well, teacher-families are a thing too. My children’s grandmother, grandfather, and mother all joined the education corps – so to speak.… Read the rest
Lovely bulletin boards, PTA fundraisers, and singing kids at assemblies aside: let us not be fooled…shit-showness is always present to one degree or another.
I support public education. Yes. I. DO. But the problems that schools have are the same problems that the country has.… Read the rest
It’s here…FINALLY! The fashion show of new outfits, the chatter on the playground, the hugging of friends reunited — all of these eternal rituals unfold as the clock ticks down to the first bell of the 2017-2018 school year. Students’ anxiety, which hit when the first back to school commercial began airing, subsides as the inevitable envelops them.… Read the rest
Excerpt from: The March Begins
…I think I can actually smell the hair products, the cold sweats, hear the joyful laughter as well as the well rehearsed inspirational “welcome-back” and “looking-ahead” assembly speeches and intercom announcements…
… Read the rest