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Equity Is More Than Race, Culture, and Religion

By a Teacher Who Sees It Every Day When most people hear the word equity , their minds jump straight to race, culture, and religion. And yes, those are critical aspects. We absolutely must acknowledge historical and ongoing inequities based on race and identity. But if we stop there, we miss the bigger picture. Equity is not a checkbox. It’s a lens—a way of seeing every child, every family, every circumstance, and asking: What do they need to thrive? Let’s get real: equity shows up in the shoes a student wears to school, the food (or lack of food) in their lunchbox, and the chaos (or calm) they return to at home. It’s in whether a child has a quiet place to do homework or is babysitting siblings all evening. It’s whether a student has access to the internet, a functioning Chromebook, or someone at home who can help them with fractions. Equity is giving kids what they need—not what’s equal. Because fair doesn’t always mean “the same.” Fair sometimes means offering extended test time...
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Things I’ve learned as a teacher

  As a teacher, you learn pretty quickly that admin is rarely the thing that makes or breaks your ability to do your job. Sometimes you have great admin, sometimes they’re just there, and other times, they’re frustrating. But at the end of the day, no matter who’s sitting in that office, our job stays the same—teaching kids. There’s a big difference between admin making decisions that are annoying or unpopular and admin actually preventing you from doing your job. If you have an admin who is truly making it impossible for teachers to teach or for students to learn, that’s a problem. But if the frustration comes from things that don’t directly impact what’s happening in the classroom, then maybe the energy is better spent elsewhere. Who Actually Supports You? The reality is, admin changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. But your team—the teachers around you—is what truly makes or breaks your day-to-day experience. • Do you have people you trust when things get to...
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Why Restorative Practices Aren’t Working (And How We Fix Them)

There’s a trend in schools right now— restorative practices. If you’re not familiar, the idea is that instead of traditional discipline (detention, suspension, etc.), kids have conversations about their behavior, reflect on their actions, and find ways to repair harm. Sounds nice, right? Sure, in theory. But here’s the problem: the real world doesn’t work like that. If you speed , you don’t get a cozy circle discussion with a police officer about how you feel about going 90 mph in a school zone. You get a ticket. If you don’t pay your mortgage , the bank doesn’t invite you to a restorative conversation. You lose your house. So why are we pretending kids don’t need to learn about real consequences? The Brain Learns from Consequences Let’s talk about brain science for a second (because, you know, I’m all about that ). The prefrontal cortex (The Mighty Owl) helps us plan ahead and make good choices. But it doesn’t fully develop until around age 25. So kids? Yeah, not the best decision-...
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Rethinking Equity and Inclusion in Education

Equity. Inclusion. These words get thrown around in education constantly, yet their true meaning often gets lost in committees, buzzwords, and checklists. Many teachers push back on equity initiatives, not because they don’t believe in helping kids succeed, but because, in reality, good teachers are already doing equity work—just without the formal label. At its core, equity is about giving students what they need to succeed. But here’s the part that often gets overlooked: what happens when those resources aren’t readily available? Equity isn’t just about handing students the tools—they also need to know how to find them when they don’t have access. That’s a lifelong skill we should be focusing on just as much as meeting their immediate needs. Equity: More Than Cultural or Gender Representation Too often, equity is reduced to cultural or gender representation. While those are important, true equity is so much more. It’s not about making grand gestures or attaching labels to everything...
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Why Do Schools Have Equity Committees When It’s Just Good Teaching?

By now, most educators have sat through at least one (or a dozen) equity committee meetings, where we discuss how to make learning accessible for all students. The goal? Ensuring every child gets what they need to succeed. But for many teachers, a nagging thought lingers: Isn’t this just good teaching? The Reality Check: Equity Shouldn’t Be a Separate Initiative Great teachers have always differentiated instruction, built strong relationships, and recognized that not all students start at the same place. We scaffold learning, create inclusive environments, and adapt to individual needs because that is what good teaching is. So why the need for a separate committee? The reality is that while many teachers naturally implement equitable practices, not every system, policy, or educator does. Schools don’t always operate in a way that ensures fairness, even if most teachers want them to. Where Equity Committees (Ideally) Help At their best, equity committees: Identify Systemic B...
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Why Kindness Week Isn’t Enough (And What to Do About It)

  As a teacher, I’m all for celebrating kindness. Don’t get me wrong—it’s beautiful to see kids write little notes to each other, hold doors open, and smile more intentionally for a week. But if we’re being honest, a “Kindness Week” doesn’t cut it when it comes to teaching kids what kindness really is—or helping them build habits that last longer than the next assembly. Lately, I’ve been inspired by the work of Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist who dives into how the brain actually works. And while he hasn’t  specifically  addressed Kindness Week, his research on habits, emotions, and neuroplasticity (how our brains change and grow) has me rethinking what we’re doing in schools when it comes to kindness. Spoiler: We can do better. The Science of Kindness Huberman’s research would remind us that kindness isn’t just a nice idea—it’s a literal brain workout. Here’s what happens in the brain when we’re kind: 1. Oxytocin gets released  (that’s the “bonding hormone”), ...
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The First 25 Years: Why Experience and Consequences Shape the Brain

  As a teacher, I’ve always been fascinated by how kids learn. Watching those “aha!” moments unfold in my classroom never gets old. But the more I dive into brain science, the more I realize those moments are not just about learning a math problem or finishing a book. They’re about how the brain is wired to grow through experience, especially in the first 25 years of life. And let me tell you that wiring is deeply influenced by consequences—both good and bad. This idea isn’t just my opinion—it’s backed by science, much of which I’ve learned from Andrew Huberman’s podcasts and his incredible guests. If you haven’t listened to him yet, you’re missing out. He explains complex brain science in a way that makes you go, “Oh, that’s why I do that!” One thing that stuck with me is how neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and adapt, is most powerful in the first 25 years of life. This is when the brain is primed for growth, learning, and reshaping itself based on the experiences w...
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