Columbia Spotlight

After reading more and more about the horrendous uptick in hate crimes (especially against those in the AAPI community), I was reminded by a  great resource that the NYT  came out with a few years ago (but still quite relevant).  These  25 short  New York Times  documentaries  that range in time from 1 to 7 minutes tackle issues of race, bias, and identity. You may want to note that the editors "provide several teaching ideas, related readings, and student activities ... to help teachers make the most of these films."  These films come from four different series published on  Nytimes.com  from 2015 to 2017. A Conversation on Race   — This series of short films features everyday people as they discuss issues of race and identity in America. Continue reading the main story •  A Conversation With My Black Son  (5 min.) •  A Conversation About Growing Up Black  (5 min.) •  A Conversation With White People o...

  May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month . Make sure to check out the  APAHM website   for excellent resources and teaching materials. Specifically, the site has teaching resources and links to great programs like the National Archives' many exhibits. Also, in celebration of this occasion,  EDSITEment has compiled a list of resources  to educate students about the contributions of Asian Americans. This can help us honor the rich history and tradition of Asian Americans. Additional Programming Ancestors in America -  Asia Society's AskAsia site is an on-line source for K-12 Asian and Asian American studies. The site provides access to classroom-tested resources and activities, relevant links and a virtual community of educators. AACP is a not-for-profit source for books on Asian American heritage and contemporary experience. Asian Pacific Month's Guide for Educators .  Paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enri...

  Here is a great new resource from Common Sense Media that you can access as an educator or as a parent.  Wide Open School  is a free collection of online learning experiences for kids. This resource collection has learning experiences for students across k–12, and will be updated with new content regularly. This is a great resource for educators designing remote learning for students, and for families trying to find high-quality learning experiences for their children. I just checked out the high school Social Studies section on  Wide Open School , and I found some neat lessons (as you can see from the three below). Check out  Wide Open School . 

For over 20 years, libraries, schools, and poets have celebrated April as National Poetry Month . This post will provide you with great resources that you can use in your classes. We hope they can help instill the love of poetry in our students! Poets.org  This is one of the best sites. There you can download  this year’s poster , participate in  Poem in Your Pocket Day  (April 27), explore how the  Dear Poet project  appeals to students, sign up to read a  Poem-a-Day  and check out  30 more ways to celebrate . PBS NewsHour & Poetry . The Newshour has a great  Poetry Series  which it creates modern poets for students with lessons and videos.  NCTE Poetry Page . The NCTE's  Read.Think.Write.  website has many resources for teachers and connections to additional resources. NYT Learning Blog's " 28 Ways to Teach and Learn About Poetry With The New York Times ."   Try a Golden Shovel Poem! NYT Art...

For the past several years, my daughters and many students in my former school took part in a super-neat program called Destination Imagination . The best part of DI is that it combines STEM and arts with critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills! That's why I was so impressed with the James Dyson Foundation's Challenge Cards that remind me of the STEM challenges in DI.  What's especially cool is that these projects are especially geared for students to do at home during our virtual educational experience we ae currently experiencing.  Check out their cool challenges including the BALLOON CAR RACE, SPAGHETTI BRIDGES, MARBLE RUN, CARDBOARD CHAIR, MAKE A PERISCOPE, and CARDBOARD BOAT.

Just last week, the entire SOMSD administrative team took part on a professional development focusing on the intersectionality of gender and racial discrimination and how that can affect our students. Our faculty will be attending another PD opportunity in two weeks about LGBTQ+ students and how we can create an even better environment here in our schools. These conversations and workshops are vital, especially as the NJDOE has mandated LGBTQ+ inclusion in our curriculum. That is why it is so appreciated when faculty members continue their research for best practices and resources for colleagues. One of our great Health teachers has highlighted the Museum of the City of New York as a great clearinghouse for webinars and teaching materials.  I love the Activist NY Lesson Plans , since it reminds me of our earlier post focusing on " Action Civics ."  Make sure to scroll down through all of the MCNY's activist plans until you find When Existence Is Resistance: Transgender ...

One of my favorite West Wing episodes was the " Block of Cheese " one from the first season when Leo made all of the characters meet with citizens to discuss their petitions. That is when CJ had to meet with the Cartagrophers for Social Equality, helping all of us understand the dangers of map distortion!  As a former geography teacher, I always found map projections interesting which is why I was so stoked to read about the newest map projection  designed by astrophysicists J. Richard Gott & David Goldberg with assistance from Robert Vanderbei, a Princeton professor of operations research and financial engineering, that is two-sided and round! Make sure to check out this great article to learn more about the new map and how it fits into the history of projections.