Columbia Spotlight

I was so proud of my daughter who as a Freshmen just had her first op-ed published in her high school newspaper. It was a piece on why Black History and Women's History months are needed. She advocates that gender and race should be central in all classes throughout the year, but that having specific months to commemorate accomplishments of specific peoples is important to celebrate different groups of Americans and marvel at how many persevered over systematic racism and/or misogyny.  Today we will begin a list of resources for you to celebrate women in American history for Women's History Month 2021: "Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced."  If you have suggestions, please email me and I will add them here. THANK YOU! 1. Two years ago, to commemorate National Women's History Month, the New York Times launched an awesome feature called  OVERLOOKED  that highlights the lives and achievements of women throughout history who’ve been forgotten in the lar...

If you read conservative news outlets like the National Review , "ultra-woke" curriculum is the biggest threat to America today. While reading their editorial, I was shocked at how they described Action Civics as "transparent attempts to import leftist political activism and indoctrination our schools.  Really? Action Civics is a pedagogy that encourages students to voice their opinions, reflect and analyze on your perspective and be conscious of how others think, and "learn by doing" by participating in the civic process. I am not sure if that is a threat, unless, of course, you are scared of citizens actively participating in society.  If you are interested in using Action Civics in your classes, check out these resources. Send me any resources you use so we can share them with the whole department. C3 Summary on Action Civics National Action Civics Collaborative's Students at the Center Hub Generation Citizen . You can access their 5-unit curriculum GC...

  It is the goal of this blog to identify great resources for teachers planning activities and lessons. This month Columbia High School is commemorating Black History Month with several events planned by our incredible MAC scholars. For those looking for lesson planning inspiration, we have also identified some great resources below and we have more in  our archived posts from earlier this year.   This year's Black History Month 2021 theme is “Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity” which explores the African diaspora, and the spread of Black families across the United States. 1. National Endowment for the Humanities' EDsitement website . One of my favorite NEH programs is called CREATED EQUAL . According to the website, "The NEH Created Equal project uses the power of documentary films to encourage public conversations about the changing meanings of freedom and equality in America. The five films that are part of this project tell the remarkable stori...