JOSE

These posts are focused more on world events from an educator’s perspective. Raw and unfiltered, these writings tackle the tougher subjects.

So Much On My Mind That I Can’t Recline [On Hurricane Sandy]

October 30, 2012 Jose

The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis, Shinin’, like “Who on top of this?” – Mos Def in Blackstar’s “Respiration” Flashlights. Bottles of water. Cereal. Baby food. Milk. Batteries. Charged devices. Landline phone on deck. Ready-to-eat foods. As we went through the list at the supermarket, I found myself feeling stupid [...]

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Wherever The DREAM May Lead Us [An Education For All]

October 25, 2012 Jose

Recently, the conversation around the use of the word “illegal immigrant” came to a precipice when the New York Times’ public editor said there was nothing wrong with using the phrase. Writers like Jose Antonio Vargas and institutions like Univision chimed in, and rightly so. “Illegal immigrant” suggests that the immigrant themselves is illegal. The [...]

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Why Learning Math Is Political

October 23, 2012 Jose

For my own professional development, I picked up the book Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights by Robert Moses. The book equates the struggles Moses had with developing voter representations amongst the most underrepresented in the South with developing math knowledge / pedagogy into the curriculum in America’s classrooms. Observe: So algebra, once solely [...]

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The Clappety-Clap Bullshit [On Character Education]

October 17, 2012 Jose

In different spheres, educators of all stripes have had conversations about this idea of “character education.” Before this year, I too used to equate character education with all the positive things about schools that concentrate on the socio-emotional as well as the academic sides of students. Especially during my time at Nativity Mission School and [...]

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The Power of We: In The Memory of Malala Yousafzai [On Thinking Globally] #BAD12

October 15, 2012 Jose

Have you ever felt like the things you do in the classroom connect to some other, higher purpose? Sometimes. When I read about stories like Malala Yousafzai’s, it puts everything I do in the classroom in its proper perspective. For those of you who are unaware, Malala’s shown up in the news recently after Taliban [...]

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The School To Prison Pipeline From An Educator’s Perspective [Interview]

October 10, 2012 Jose

“Teaching in the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Strategies to Empower Youth” featuring New York City public school teacher, education activist and TEDxNYED speaker Jose Vilson. Urban Youth Justice Director Ernest Saadiq Morris talks to Jose Vilson about his unique perspective as a Black-Latino male teacher and youth advocate regarding the obstacles facing students of color in achieving [...]

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AP: Jay-Z Signs Math Educator Jovan Miles to Roc Nation

October 8, 2012 Jose

Somewhere in the future … For the casual music fans, it’s easy to see why one might get confused looking at the initial Roc Nation artists. Jay-Z. J-Cole. Jay Electronica. The trifecta of J’s (and Willow Smith) have had their share of success either from the underground circuit to the international stage (in varying degrees). [...]

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On Stuyvesant High School and Having One Cocoa Puff In A Bowl of Milk [Why We Write]

October 4, 2012 Jose

In high school, my family used to get assorted flavors of high-sugar cereals. Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, and Corn Pops frequented the top of my fridge, and every morning, my brother and I would have a huge bowl of them just because. We’d pour so much milk into our bowls that we bought a gallon [...]

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On Junot Diaz, The Kennedy Center and Affirmative Action [Latino History Series]

October 1, 2012 Jose

An awesome thing happened today when Junot Diaz, author of the meritorious and raw The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and more recently This Is How You Lose Her, won the MacArthur Award / Grant. As a fellow Dominican, my initial thought was, “Watch how many new cousins, aunts, and former lovers he suddenly [...]

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The Examiner Examines … Me (On Writing about Education) [Why We Write]

September 27, 2012 Jose

Recently, Wendy Coakley-Thompson interviewed me for the Washington, DC Publishing Industry Examiner about education, writing, and how my passions intersect: 2. In what ways do both poetry and education writings satisfy your need for creative self-expression? Poetry satisfies my more creative urges, where I get to play with the more ethereal, the emotional, the wedges [...]

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