How ten minutes created doubt — I’ve watched many teachers break over the years. They end up huddled in the corner of the hallway trying to hide their tears or completely losing it on their students to the point of placing their careers in jeopardy. I’ve had moments where I asked if this profession was for…

A deeper look into fan outrage, why they are wrong, and the one way horror can really go too far — I recently heard a bit of buzz about a horror movie whose teaser trailer was so graphic Hollywood execs pulled funding and fans were furious. I’m used to overblown outrage, but I am a fan of a good horror flick, so I had to seek it out. The film in…

A look at the opioid epidemic and how it impacts real people — The Fall of the House of Usher is another hit by Mike Flanagan. It loosely adapts many of Poe’s stories, weaving them together into a masterpiece. The story follows a financially successful family, one that built their wealth by marketing highly addictive medicines as a miracle drug. The family is…

A look at the Nashville shooter’s leaked manifesto — Last week I wrote a piece about internalized self-hatred in my Black students. In the piece, I posited white self-hatred was rare if it existed at all. Critical Race Theory wasn’t being taught in schools and learning about real history was not going to make White children hate themselves. Yesterday…

How my Black students insult their peers for being Black — Although it has died down a bit in recent months, the fear of Critical Race Theory has impacted the curriculum of many schools. I’ve received more than a few messages from angry parents if we read a book with a Black protagonist. …

Should we forgive evil children — In 2004, way back when people were still surprised by school shootings, Jon Romano attempted to sketch his name in history. Luckily, everyone survived the experience, but not for lack of trying. Romano shot at two students as they tried to escape him. A bullet took the baseball cap off…

A teacher’s responsibility to prevent violence — Being an effective teacher is hard. The teaching part alone is an almost impossible task at times, but we are also called on to be therapists and protectors. The amount of responsibility placed on us to ensure the mental health and physical safety of our students is unparalleled. I love…

A look at Black love and why it fails — Black love is one of those elusive phrases I grew up hearing about but never quite understood. I just knew it was a goal I was supposed to obtain before reaching my thirties. Now in my thirties, I still struggle to define Black love, but images do pop into my…

Why are incels claiming to transition and is it beneficial? — I understand this topic is sensitive, and I want to hear from people who live through these experiences. I wrote on incels a few months back and stumbled across the concept of transmaxxing. …