March 12, 2018 Since the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS in Parkland, Florida, students have been engaging in a variety of actions to force change on gun control, including preparations for nationwide student walkouts on March 14 and April 20. Teachable Moments Whether you personally support these walkouts or not, as a teacher or school administrator they are an opportunity to elevate student voice and action as powerful teachable moments. These can include conversations…

February 28, 2018 This post originally appeared on the Leadership 360 blog in Education Week on February 22, 2018. Last week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, seventeen students and adults were murdered in a mass shooting. What happened next was unusual. Instead of waiting for adults to act, students took the lead. They are giving fiery speeches, demanding their turn to enact change. Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School,…

January 30, 2018 At a time when women have become increasingly vocal in addressing critical issues like sexual harassment and sexual violence, reproductive rights, workplace opportunity and equal pay, a group of far right trolls have deliberately appropriated slogans from the women’s movement in service of their own xenophobic cause. The far right campaign appropriates “No Means No” and recasts “My Body My Choice” as “My Borders My Choice.” …

January 25, 2018 In July 2017, after seven days of statements and testimony from more than 150 sexual abuse survivors, Larry Nassar, the former team doctor for the U.S. gymnastics team, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. From the women's testimony, here's what we learned: Many of the accusers were minors, as young as six years old, at the time of the assaults. Most of the women were gymnasts but they also included dancers, rowers and runners. Some of those who shared their experiences…

January 17, 2018 Updated: July 16, 2019 It has become commonplace to witness a public display of bigoted and offensive language. In a tweet, President Trump remarked that four U.S. Congresswomen of color (Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Pressley and Tlaib) should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.” The language of "go back to where you came from" is widely recognized as a racist slur, and in particular this one is also…

January 12, 2018 White supremacists expressed delight online after President Trump’s reported remarks about “shithole” majority black countries. Mr. Trump made the comments Thursday afternoon during a White House meeting about immigration, asking the assembled group of Senators and Representatives why he would want “all these people from shithole countries,” referring to African nations and Haiti, adding that the United States should admit more people from…