I am just 6 short weeks away from completing my first-year teaching. I feel like it was just yesterday I was beside myself to have sight into my first and very own classroom, my own teacher ID, school e-mail address, own roster, etc. My dream-career since second grade was becoming true. My “When I have my own classroom..” … Continue reading
Iâm writing this post today because of the recent murder of Walter Scott. We have another publicized case of a black man being shot in the back by a police officer. *Warning: Graphic, unedited footage During my student-teaching internship with 7th grade middle school students last fall, the cases of Eric Garner, Mike Brown, and Aiyana Stanley-Jones … Continue reading
One of my earliest encounters with the idea of gender that I can remember was in 1st grade. I’ll never forget. I had a girl friend who always wore blue, wore stickers that said, “Boys rule!” and constantly told me she wanted to be a boy and was proud to be a tom-boy. At 7 … Continue reading
Ankur Singh, Â student at University of Missouri-Mizzou, took a semester off to interview and film various students, teachers, parents, activists, and all the alike from all over the country to get their perspective on the current state of our education system. What I personally found compelling of this film is, first, this is … Continue reading
“Originality, forget it. Creativity, forget it. Critical thinking, asking questions–there’s no time for children to ask questions! If they learned to ask demanding questions, they might start to question why the people we elect to office will not keep their promises.” -Jonathan Kozol, Save Our Schools March in DC, 7/30/11 I am an example why those … Continue reading
Words of my wonderful co-president: Some of you may or may not know that since the end of last semester, myself and a few other future educators have been working on starting up a new organization at Rutgers. I remember this day clearly. It was in recitation for Education Psychology last April, and I brought … Continue reading
“Miss Stephanie, did you know that’s a girl?” “Miss Stephanie, she wants to be boy!” What would you do if you had 4th, 5th, and 6th graders coming up to you frantically telling you this? What I find frustrating with many education reformers, policy makers, and even society in general, is their refusal to acknowledge … Continue reading
![Students in Action: Philly Student Union takes on Governor Corbett [Video]](https://stephrrivera.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/screenshot_8.png?w=160&h=120&crop=1 "Students in Action: Philly Student Union takes on Governor Corbett [Video]")
Dear Gov. Corbett, Fall Back In Love With Education. Learn more about the Philly Student Union Here
(Sorry, this became more of a rant as I meant to introduce this group, so feel free to scroll past it to read about YASP) It completely amazes me that I continue to discover youth standing up for what they know is right, when majority of adults would never even think about displaying this amount … Continue reading
“The Philly Youth Poetry Movement is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to helping the youth of Philadelphia discover the power of their voices through spoken word and literary expression. Founded in 2006, PYPM provides a safe environment for at-risk youth ages 13-19 to use poetry as a vehicle to express and advocate for themselves, explore … Continue reading
