Our students are passionate about food. This past week, I was reminded of how that passion can actually support learning.
Our school is participating in NYC’s innovative Participatory Budgeting Program for students, in which the student body is given $2000 to spend on the school, using a democratic process to propose ideas and vote on them. The first thing the students came up with was “better food.” Given that our students are from cultures all over the world, this was not a huge surprise. Through the program, the students learned that spending the money on food would not be a sustainable project; it would result in perhaps one to two meals for the entire school, and then the money would be gone. They quickly moved on to other ideas.
However, the students’ passion about the topic gave me pause. Continue reading
The New Zealand mosque shooting had particular resonance for my students. My school is for newcomer immigrant English Language Learners and many of our students are Muslim. The day after the shooting, a girl who is not Muslim came in with a poster she had made on her own stating “We stand with our Muslim neighbors.” It was the first of several events last week that showed me a new level of leadership among my students.
What impacts student learning? Teachers, school leaders, counselors, parent-school partnerships. Access to quality books and materials, curriculum.
A couple of weeks ago, Sami arrived at our 
Jeetu, a 12th-grade boy, sat in my office, eager to talk.
I find my students touching, and often cute. However, in thinking of them as “cute,” I don’t always see their wisdom.
