March 20, 2024

Centering Vulnerability and Heart in Teaching and Learning

What draws you and keeps you in the classroom?  Many days teachers  ask themselves this exact question.  Dr. Becky Thompson’s vision for teaching is clear:...

March 20, 2024

New College-Career Charter School Features Class that Centers Student Agency

This fall I had the opportunity to sit down with John Pellman, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Capital College and Career Academy (CCCA), a...

January 15, 2024

MLK’s Legacy on My Leadership & How to Embody the Dream

How does Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. impact your leadership?  How can businesses, schools, and individuals seek to embody his dream today? These were two...

January 3, 2024

New Year = Relaunching Uncommon Voices

Hi there! It's been a while since I've been on the air!! Since my last post, I’ve been busy behind the scenes working and really...

May 26, 2023

Mother-Son Convo: Race & Identity, Part II

Jacob and I get together again in Episode 26 (Apple, Spotify, Google Play) to continue our conversation, this time after watching the documentary 1000% Me:...

May 10, 2023

A Salute to My Teachers

May 8 - 12, 2023 is Teacher Appreciation Week. As a product of the public schools, by and large, in Episode 25 (Apple, Spotify, Google...

April 24, 2023

Mother-Son Convo: Race & Identity, Part I

Sometimes awkward, sometimes revealing, last November I sat down with my youngest son, Jacob, to talk about what it means to be multi-ethnic in a...

April 10, 2023

The Making of a Champion

We often hear about people who’ve achieved great things, but we don’t necessarily know the back story. Nancy and Elizabeth Jorgenson, with Gwen Jorgensen, have...

March 13, 2023

The Kids Are the Power

If you use social media to find out what educators are talking about, undoubtedly you’ve seen a post by Tyler Rablin.  In Episode 22 (Apple,...

February 28, 2023

Making a Case for Reparations

Recently I learned my great-grandmother, along with her uncle were forced to leave their homes in South Carolina.  Though she was a teacher in South...

February 22, 2023

You Are the Change You Want to See

In #20 You Are the Change You Want to See, (Available on Youtube, Apple, Spotify, GooglePlay) former colleague and friend, Francisco Pepin, sat down to...

February 1, 2023

#19 Act II: Moving From Surviving to Thriving

In Episode #19 (Apple, Spotify, Google Play) my gal pal, Dr. Nicole Gainyard, and I team up again (our first episode together was Episode 6:...

January 10, 2023

#18 A Healthy Pause

"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot." These are...

November 7, 2022

#17 Staying Curious about What’s Possible

Listening to the news, the current state of education seems to be at an important juncture. Student learning loss. School safety. Teacher shortages. All top...

October 17, 2022

#16 Leaning In: A Conversation about Access and Opportunity

Recently while visiting a hairdresser for the first time, I was fortunate to meet Mrs. LaDeetra Kincy, a multiple subjects and special education teacher who...

October 4, 2022

#15 I Am My Own Place

Advocate, mother, racial justice warrior, creator of safe spaces for women of color, especially Black women, LaTasha DeLoach and I sat down to talk about...

September 28, 2022

#14 The Episode that Almost Wasn’t

For more than a week now, I’ve struggled with finishing this episode (available on the following platforms: YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Google Play). Why, you might...

September 6, 2022

#13 Affairs of the Heart

In the lead up to the 2022-2023 school year, Roderic Cockhern, a retired Air Force serviceman and current junior high counselor for the Arlington Independent...

August 22, 2022

#12 Mother-Son Conversation

Navigating the Complexities of Adolescence Listening to parents and school officials, every generation is decried as being more difficult than the last, but in the...

August 8, 2022

Season 2, Episode 11: New Horizons, New Opportunities

Second, I’m excited to kick-off Season 2, Episode 11, “New Horizons, New Opportunities” (YouTube/Buzzsprout), featuring Dr. Jared Smith. I had the opportunity to chat with...

May 24, 2022

#10 Educating the WHOLE Child

Schools are under enormous pressure to close educational gaps, respond to community expectations and needs, and meet students where they are. It’s no wonder students,...

May 9, 2022

#9 Winners & Losers?: Public Education at the Crossroads

In a time of economic, political, and cultural turmoil, we continue to have an educational system centered around the concept of competition, despite the recognition...

April 25, 2022

#8 Me, Myself, and I

Education is a profoundly human endeavor. To teach and to learn requires establishing relationships, making connections, and being vulnerable to challenge what you thought was...

April 11, 2022

#7 Implicit Bias Training During Polarizing Times

The world is changing. Most people can agree about this.  How each of us responds is part of the current challenge in our society.  In...

April 2, 2022

#6 To Be Young, Black, a Single Mother and Doctoral Candidate

Finding a way when there isn’t a clear one laid before you can be difficult. For the last ten years, my friend Dr. Nicole Gainyard...

March 25, 2022

#5 I Work FOR Kids

I was fortunate to meet 2018 Illinios Teacher of the Year, Dr. Lindsey Jenson, through our mutual roles on the Regional 9 Comprehensive Center Advisory...

March 1, 2022

#4 The Importance of Empowering Youth

Join Founder and President of Empowering Youth of Iowa (EYI), Sarah Swayze, as we talk about EYI working to help struggling adolescents catch up and...

February 14, 2022

#3 Education and the “Culture Wars”

January 31, 2022

#2: Humanizing Educators & Education Spaces

January 17, 2022

What Are We Doing for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service?

Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1983 legislation was signed declaring the third Monday in January Martin Luther...

January 17, 2022

#1 Investing in Human Capital

May 6, 2013

The Burden

April 5, 2013

Recognizing Talent

Recognizing Talent This year, my youngest son was admitted into the district Extended Learning Program (ELP), a program for students identified as gifted and talented. ...

October 12, 2012

The Power of Belief

As I drove into work this morning, I realized that in a foreseeable amount of time (one month from now), a long-term goal that has...

June 18, 2012

The Burden of Understanding: The Challenge for English Language Learners

In my second year as a doctoral student, I worked with a professor who was finishing his first book.  Among my many tasks was to...

March 27, 2012

What’s Missing in the Conversation: The Trayvon Martin Shooting and Race

Yesterday morning as I prepared for work, I heard someone speak about the February 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin stating that he should have stayed...

December 23, 2011

Creating Risk

Minnesota state officials recently released the Minnesota Readiness Study showing that children of color and children who live in poverty are “less likely to be...

November 23, 2011

Why Teacher Diversity Matters

When I first became a teacher, honestly, I didn’t think race mattered.  As a child who grew up in single-parent, low-income household, when I first...

August 19, 2011

The Myth of Meritocracy

People who know me know that I have a healthy National Public Radio (NPR) addiction.  As of late, it has become a habit to tune...