Guest Blogger: Ms. Kara Boyer, District #323 Diagnostician

Over the summer, Ms. Boyer, our new district diagnostician (formerly the High School CREW teacher) shared with me her reading choices. Check them out! Whole Brain Child 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D This book gives amazing insight to the importance of …

A #BlackLivesMatter Reading List

My cousin and I discussed collaborating on a reading list. Here is what I came up with. FICTION The Wilful Girl by Anonymous (2000 BC) The Book of Thoth by Anonymous (5th – 1st Century BC) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Acebe Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo …

Hacking School Discipline: 9 Ways to Create a Culture of Empathy & Responsibility Using Restorative Justice by Nathan Maynard and Brad Weinstein

“It seems like there might be something off in our priorities when it comes to education and justice in this country. There’s no time like the present to get to work! Reading this book is an excellent first step.”

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

You have a voice.
Use it.

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

It’s comforting to remember right now that all aspects of life have their moments where there are not answers. We need to remember that sometimes, we don’t need answers, that the question is what’s really important. We need to keep questioning, even if there are no answers.

The Promise by Eva Schloss and Barbara Powers

“If you have young children, prepare yourself to talk to them about the world — its darkness as well as its light.”

Why?: Explaining the Holocaust by Peter Hayes

I agree with Hayes when he says that this is a natural response but that if we don’t dig into the “why” of the Holocaust “that stance blocks the possibility of learning from the subject” (xiii).

The Legacy of Anne Frank by Gillian Walnes Perry

“I can’t wait for funds, convenience, or the opportune moment because everything I need to do my part is already at my disposal and it’s there for you, too. Anne had a notebook and a pen. I have a classroom and a love for the written word.”

Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism by Bob Edwards

This style is on the news all the time, now; but before Murrow and his peers, the news probably sounded very dry and perpetuated the isolation Americans felt from the rest of the world at this time.

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese

“even if we think we know the whole story … we don’t. There’s always more. There’s always another perspective. We owe it to those long-marginalized to listen to their story. What’s more, we owe it to ourselves to take in diverse perspectives so that we can better understand the truth.”