Journal of a Black Teacher

A good teacher looks beyond the main character to help students discover that every person in a story has a purpose. Focusing on Alice's unnamed sister teaches students to read critically instead of simply following the plot. Her brief appearance frames the entire novel, representing the real world while Alice explores the world of imagination. By asking why Lewis Carroll included a sister without giving her a name, students begin to analyze symbolism, author's purpose, characterization, and theme. They learn that even minor characters can carry major ideas. This approach also encourages discussion about the role of mentors, caregivers, and quiet leaders whose influence often goes unnoticed. Rather than asking only, "What happened to Alice?" a skilled teacher asks, "Why did Carroll begin and end with her sister?" That single question moves students from remembering facts to interpreting literature, evaluating meaning, and appreciating how great authors use e...

By Don Allen We live in a nation frozen in a cycle of deep denial. As our national debt rapidly marches toward $39 trillion, and annual interest payments surpass the staggering $1 trillion threshold, the traditional political class offers no viable solutions [406, 815]. Instead, we are presented with a false choice: raise taxes on a struggling middle class or print more fiat money, diluting the purchasing power of the very citizens we claim to protect [1, 139]. Meanwhile, the social fabric of our communities continues to fray [424]. Disparities in educational readiness and long-term opportunity widen by zip code [577], and government bureaucratic programs consistently fail to deliver the high-quality early childhood outcomes necessary to break the cycle of generational poverty [424, 650]. As Strauss and Howe warned in The Fourth Turning, we are in a decisive era of upheaval where the old civic order must be replaced with a fresh lens of Western civilization values [134]. To break this...

  By Don Allen  Saturday night left me thinking about a question that educators, parents, and community leaders should all be asking: What is happening to our children? As I looked outside my home, I noticed five teenagers running from house to house in my neighborhood. They eventually entered an apartment building before making their way into my neighbor's backyard. Concerned about what I was seeing, I walked outside and asked, "Hey, you guys, what are you doing back there? What's going on?" One of the teenagers replied, "We're hiding. Someone's trying to kill us." I responded by telling them they couldn't be hiding in someone else's backyard because it was private property. I asked whether they wanted me to call the police. Instead of hearing respect or even an explanation, one of the teenagers responded by cursing at me. That encounter lasted less than a minute, but it represented something much larger than five young people trespassing...