This Moment in History and our Role

Educators should meet the moment of any history to prepare students for the skills and understanding they need. Question is what is the purpose of education? Career-readiness for capitalist market skills? Habits and social skills? Learning about themselves and others? Self-discovery and expression? 

Especially in this particular moment of history with disheartening abuses and questions of human rights coming up routinely, what do we owe to students of privileged and marginalized communities? How do we impact systems with the work we do in our classrooms to safeguard students and their learning journey from shifts in political ideologies?  How do we welcome students validating who they are but also challenging their comfort zones to learn about their world, tough histories and other communities? 

As a 16-year veteran educator, I am taking a year off to establish a greater presence blogging and interacting with teachers who are looking to justice and diversity work. I want to have discussions and provide materials that have worked for me as an educator. I plan to return to the classroom but I would love to have a more established presence in curriculum and practices to help teachers around the country use more authentic and compelling input resources to represent the diverse communities of Spanish speakers and learners.