Extra Credit: Immigrant teachers, classroom comedians, giving students voice - SmartBrief

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Extra Credit: Immigrant teachers, classroom comedians, giving students voice

Take a break with Education Extra Credit and read our roundup of topics from funny teachers to weary ones and beyond.

3 min read

Updates

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Happy Friday!

SmartBrief’s weekly Education Extra Credit shares some topics of note from the past week or so that we couldn’t fit into our newsletters, as well as occasional highlights from a couple of our education newsletters. We’d love to hear your thoughts on Education Extra Credit or stories that have been important to you this week.

Embracing humanity and immigrant families. A terrific opinion piece by educator Tan Huynh offers a fresh approach to students who are immigrants, as well as their families — one that sees them not as challenges but as people who can share a rich culture. A Kentucky school district is just one that’s creating an easier transition to American schools, as well as a sense of belonging, for students new to the US. 

Three comedian-teachers walk onto a stage … The Bored Teachers online platform has created a traveling show of comedian-teachers who talk candidly – and for laughs – as they vent about all things education. If it weren’t so funny, you’d have to cry. (My favorite joke in this story involved a stapler.)

Legislating against people, not giving students voice. While companies around the globe are going all-in on diversity, equity and inclusion, it seems some US states and school districts are drinking from the other end of the straw. We need to work harder to find room for both sides and avoid alienating each other, and we definitely need to listen to our studentsthe ones who will be replacing our existing policymakers and educators in a few more years. 

“Soon there’s only going to be first-year teachers.” Several Texas educators share just how deep frustrations lie with many, many teachers. Minneapolis teachers are in the second week of their strike. But the tale of a teacher strike in the same city in 1970 shows that even weary teachers can effect change in the right circumstances. 

What topic is especially important to you? Let us know via email. 

Diane Benson Harrington is an education writer at SmartBrief. Reach out to her via email or LinkedIn.

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