In my role as a Black counselor in an educational setting, I am tasked with the unspoken responsibility of “handling” Black children.

Not only do visual arts classes make space in a student’s day for creativity, they can also offer a chance to focus on something bigger.

“I went into teaching so that I could help children perform well on standardized testing,” said no teacher, ever.

Two years ago, my principal rolled an iPad cart into my classroom. I'd been challenged to design and implement a 1:1 iPad program that would enhance the highly structured academic curriculum already in place. I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I set out on this technology adventure, but I quickly realized that trail-blazing wasn't all glitter and rainbows.

After teaching at an alternative middle school for the past 4 years, the one thing I constantly hear from new students is: “We can move around in your room and not get in trouble?

As an educator in Canada, whose homeland has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples long before me, I have the opportunity and responsibility to teach this history to my students.

Thanks to a collaboration with musician and anti-bullying advocate RobenX, I discovered many strategies for reaching students in new and lasting ways.

I search, “Talking to children about racialized violence.” I know experts say children are never too young to talk about race, but none of them have a lesson plan for me.

As teachers, we’ve been given the role to navigate what technology now looks like in our classrooms. At my school we have developed a model to support technology use.