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Blog Post #5: Empowering Students & Creating Change in the Antibias ELA Classroom

The Need for Change The world we live in seems to be constantly changing, and often for the worse. Although some are certainly impacted more than others, it’s a dark time to be a student, regardless of your political beliefs. That’s why it is more important than ever that we educators cultivate classroom environments of safety and acceptance. We have to accept that the world that’s been given to us, and teach our students to stand up for what they believe in and for those around them, to make it a better place. We have to teach students how to think critically and for themselves in a world where AI can do work for them and misinformation can be found almost anywhere. We have to make our classrooms yet another source of change, a change toward social justice. The current educational system and traditions have failed too many students, and will continue to do so if we educators don’t work to improve it. We owe it to our students to center social justice and inclusion in our curri...

Blog Post #4: Teaching Language As An Antibias Art

The Trouble with Traditional Grammar Instruction Not many people have pleasant memories of grammar instruction from their school days. And who can blame them? Even as a self-confessed grammar nerd, I have to admit there’s not much to fondly remember. Who can find joy in endless red pen corrections with the sole purpose of highlighting exactly what you did wrong? One common classroom practice that is slowly (and rightfully) being moved away from is Daily Oral Language (DOL). If that name isn’t familiar, the concept almost certainly will be. DOL exercises typically consist of a teacher projecting an erroneous sentence on the board and requesting that students mark up the sentence for mistakes, editing it until it is correct. DOL sounds like a good idea in theory, right? It seems like it would be quick, repetitive practice in an easy practice that forces students to engage in actively thinking about grammar. It sounds like it would build up their writing over time. In real...

Blog Post - KATE Conference

I recently had the privilege to attend the Kansas Association of Teachers of English (KATE) 2025 Conference, Empowering Voices, Inspiring Change: Navigating Change in Turbulent Times. As a pre-service teacher and an introvert to a fault, this was my first KATE conference, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned and the fact that I even enjoyed the experience. I was lucky enough to be able to attend every breakout session and learn from a diverse group of experienced educators and experts. Although I entered uncertain, worried that I was missing a day in the classroom and that I would just be overwhelmed, I left the conference feeling incredibly inspired and ready to make plans for my own future classroom. Spotlighting Reading in Your Classroom Every single Keynote speaker over the weekend was absolutely incredible, but the standout speaker was author and elementary educator Colby Sharp . Throughout his presentation, I found myself tearing up, and a look around the...

Blog Post #3: Reading and Representation in the Antibias Classroom

On The Importance of Reading People don’t read about subjects that they don’t know about. So, when designing an antibias classroom, it is essential that both we educators and our students have access to a wide variety of books and other media in our classrooms to expand our worldview. As Tricia Ebarvia explains, books can be thought of as windows into other perspectives, letting us readers experience things we might never even think of or be able to empathize with otherwise. In addition to acting as windows, some books are more like mirrors, affirming a reader’s own life experience. Books are undoubtedly important, whether they act more like a mirror or a window. However, many students will only reach for mirrors. This isn’t their fault; it’s out of habit. Students will naturally gravitate toward the familiar. Additionally, many teenagers and young adults need the affirmation that a mirror-book can provide. As Ebarvia puts it, “students read what they need, whatever that may ...

Blog Post #2: Composing Change: Cultivating Antibias Expression in ELA Classrooms

The most successful classrooms are safe classrooms. This is an idea continuously hammered into educators' heads, and rightfully so. But what does that really mean? Creating a positive and safe classroom environment requires intentional work that starts on day one and continues throughout the school year. You have to design a space that allows students to fully be themselves and embrace their own identities, as well as those of their peers. It is only when an educator creates a classroom community that allows for this that their teaching can be fully effective. Thankfully, many methods, activities, and skills can be relatively easily implemented to make that mission possible. Although some are more time-consuming than others, I believe they are well worth the extra effort. Starting the School Year Successfully Creating a successful, safe classroom can start with how you design it before the school year even starts. Turning again to Tricia Ebarvia’s 2023 book Get Free: Antibias Liter...

Blog Post #1: Breaking Down Bias, Building Better Teaching

Addressing Bias in Education Bias is a complex subject, especially in the classroom. Although typically viewed in a negative light, bias itself is not inherently good or bad. Biases are simply “the automated processes in our brains that inform our decision-making” (Ebarvia 14). However, many of our biases are the result of being socialized in a society that too often normalizes problematic behavior like sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, etc. As educators, we have a duty to be aware of that socialization and our own biases, to work against them. Of course, no good teacher ever intentionally creates an ineffective lesson or unsafe classroom environment. But bias can be a sneaky issue that can easily inform our instruction. In her 2023 book Get Free: Antibias Literacy Instruction for Stronger Readers, Writers, and Thinkers , Tricia Ebarvia discusses five types of bias that can commonly influence educators. By examining them, we will be able to better understand not only bias, bu...