Indy K12 – 2020

indy k12

In January 2017, I began writing for Indy K12 (formerly called Indy/Ed), an education publication that is amplified by Brightbeam.  After being a writer for Indy K12 for a couple of years, I moved into the role of Editor-in-Chief.

I am humbled to be part of a network of educators and parents who are advocates for the least of these in the world of education. Below, you can read what I wrote in 2020.

To read my work from other years, click on the year: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018, & 2017.

Don’t forget to check out my viral piece, “Teachers Quit Principals, Not Schools” which has been viewed over 1,000,000 times.

12/26/2020Indy K12’s Top Ten of 2020 – Part II
12/24/2020Throwback Thursday: A Look Back at Our Most Popular Pieces of 2020 Not Written This Year
12/20/2020Indy K12’s Top Ten of 2020 – Part I
12/18/2020The Struggle for Black Gifted Education and Advanced Course Placement
12/16/2020Barnes: My Education Wish List
12/14/2020Our Students Don’t Deserve a Teacher Sick Out During a Pandemic
12/10/2020Indy Students Can Return to In-Person on January 4
12/8/2020Leaders, It’s Time to Listen to Your Teachers’ Feedback about You
12/7/2020ILEARN & I-READ-3 Must Be Administered In-Person
12/1/2020The Racists Aren’t All in Rural Indiana
11/30/2020The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read is Not a Story to Celebrate
11/29/2020That Teachers Can Learn from ‘Jingle Jangle’
11/27/2020What We Should Keep from Pandemic Learning: Virtual Clubs
11/24/2020Let’s Get Back to Grace and Gratitude During the Pandemic
11/23/2020Preparing for the Return to Remote Learning
11/18/2020What We Should Keep from Pandemic Learning: One-to-One Technology and Internet Access
11/14/202060th Anniversary of Ruby Bridges Desegregating a White School
11/11/2020Service to Our Country is a Viable Post-Secondary Option for Students
11/9/2020Do You Know the COVID-19 Threshold for Your Children’s School Building to Close or Reopen?
11/5/2020What We Should Keep from Pandemic Learning: Outdoor Learning Spaces
10/31/2020What Educators Can Learn from the Technology Field
10/28/2020We Need a Full Picture of School Board Candidates Before We Vote for Our Choice?
10/27/2020Pause Before You Have That Halloween Celebration
10/25/2020Did Social Justice Summer 2020 Make DEI Work Easier or Harder Inside of Our Schools?
10/20/2020If District Leaders, Principals, and Educators Aren’t Auditing Lessons, How Do They Know They’re Diverse or Inclusive Enough?
10/15/2020Graphic Novels are Real Novels Worth Reading
10/10/2020Check on Teachers; They Are Not Okay
10/7/2020Don’t Forget Afro-Latinos During Hispanic Heritage Month
10/5/2020Teachers Can’t Serve Students Well Alone
10/2/2020Thank a Custodian Today and Every Day!
9/30/2020Physical Safety Versus Emotional Safety: The Difficult Position of Parents During the Coronavirus Pandemic
9/25/2020Censoring LGBTQIA+ Books Censors Our LGBTQIA+ Students
9/23/2020Exposing Students to Different Viewpoints is Not Indoctrination
9/20/2020College GO! Campaign 2020
9/17/2020The Zoom Waiting Room is the New ‘Go Sit in the Hall’
9/16/2020Washington Township Changes Reopening Guidelines
9/11/2020Remembering 9/11
9/8/2020America Fails to See the Worth of Black Boys
9/5/2020Pretending to be Black Like Jessica Krug is Nothing New; Non-Black Teachers Stop Doing This in Your Classroom
9/3/2020Principal David McGuire Featured in ‘This American Life’
8/29/2020The Importance of Talking About Current Events in the Classroom
8/28/2020Your School Put Out a Statement After the Death of George Floyd, but Did Anything Change?
8/26/2020From the Home Front: Remote Learning After School Buildings Reopened
8/24/2020From the Frontlines: First Full Week After School Buildings Reopened
8/23/2020If Teachers are Burning Out During the Pandemic, We Have to Consider What Administrators Should Do Differently?
8/21/2020What Hill Should We Die On For Remote Learning?
8/17/2020Kamala Harris Deserves to Have Her Name Pronounced Correctly and So Do Your Students
8/13/2020Where Did the Compassion Go for Educators During This Pandemic?
8/11/2020The Stakes are Higher with the Second Round of Remote Learning
8/1/2020White Allies, Your Job is to Listen and Learn, Not  Lead
7/29/2020IPS Changes Course; School Board to Vote to Begin School Year Remotely
7/29/2020Getting Pepper Sprayed By the Police Shouldn’t Be Part of the Job as the Teacher
7/27/2020How to Prepare Your Children for Remote Instruction
7/22/2020The Plight of Educators, Who Are Also Parents, As Schools Plan to Reopen During the Coronavirus Pandemic    
7/18/2020I’m Okay With Getting Into Good Trouble
7/17/2020Hamilton Southeastern Schools Shift to a Virtual Reopening with Buildings Closed Until Labor Day
7/13/2020Washington Township Schools Will Reopen 100% Virtually
7/8/2020Should Parents Send Their Children Back to School or Keep Them at Home?
7/6/2020We Can’t Have a Conversation about Decolonizing the Curriculum without Having a Conversation about “Hamilton: An American Musical”
7/2/2020Response to Why This Black Teacher Quit Brownsburg Community School Corporation
6/30/2020Is Your Anti-Racism, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Work Happening in Your Surrounding or Only on Your Posts Online?
6/29/2020The Revolution is Still NOT Being Televised
6/27/2020Why This Black Teacher Quit Brownsburg Community School Corporation
6/25/2020How Much Do You Know about Your Local School Board?
6/21/2020Let’s Eliminate the Myth of the Black Absentee Father
6/18/2020Race and Equity Talks Have Magnified How Emotionally Unsafe I Feel at My School
6/15/2020It’s Time to Revise the Curriculum; Let’s Start By Adding Juneteenth
6/12/2020How to Ensure Black Lives Matter in Schools
6/9/2020Save the Diversity Statements and Address Diversity Issues in Your School
6/5/2020IDOE Releases Guidelines to Get Students Back in Class This Fall
5/31/2020Our Black Lives Matter!
5/30/2020How to Meaningfully Implement and Maintain Staff Diversity
5/29/2020Black Educator Excellence Needs to be Celebrated
5/28/2020How to Interview Virtually for an Education Job
5/27/2020Dear White Teachers, Are You Like Amy Cooper?
5/21/2020A Look Back at My First Year as a School Administrator
5/20/2020Avoiding the Summer Slide during a Pandemic
5/17/2020At-Home Learning Is Not All Bad
5/10/2020Why I am Grateful to be Quarantined this Mother’s Day
5/9/2020Let’s Get Real: When Schools Reopen, We Will Not Return to Normal
4/30/2020Teacher Appreciation Week 2020: How Can We Show Appreciation to Teachers During a Pandemic?
4/29/2020If You Want to Keep Diverse Educators Like Me, Make Sure a Diverse Leader Does Not Push Me Out the Door
4/27/20205 Ways to Support Teachers Working Remotely During the Coronavirus Pandemic
4/24/2020If You Want to Keep Educators Like Me, You Need to Think Beyond Your Diversity Quota
4/22/2020Teacher Strikes Should Be Canceled for Next School Year
4/19/2020Never Forget: 25th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing
4/14/2020Mourning the Loss of the 2019-2020 School Year is Okay
4/5/2020Ask Educator Barnes: What Will School Be Like Next School Year?
4/2/2020What Good Is a Laptop from School If There’s No Internet at Home?
4/1/2020If You Want to Support Education, Participate in the 2020 Census
3/31/2020If Your Child Has an ILP, IEP, or 504, Here’s What You Need to Know During the COVID-19 School Closures
3/30/2020Unexpected E-Learning Illuminates the Technology Issues in Our Schools
3/26/2020Should Child Care in Indiana be Open during the Coronavirus Pandemic?
3/25/2020Why Did It Take a Pandemic for Parent Engagement and Support to Improve?
3/19/2020Indiana Schools Closed Until May 1
3/14/2020How to Work Remotely and Teach Your Child During the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic
3/11/2020Parent Prep for the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
3/10/2020How Educators Can Help Calm Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hysteria
3/8/2020Empowering Our Girls
3/5/2020Parents Should be Able to Observe Teachers Unannounced
2/29/2020Teachers, If You are Big and Bad Enough to Write Up My Child, Be Big and Bad Enough to Let Me Know
2/28/2020Toxic Teachers Need to Go
2/27/2020For Students’ Sake, School Leaders Must Find Teachers Who Are The Ideal Team Players
2/26/2020Teachers Need to Take Care of Themselves
2/24/2020Teacher Confessions: I Used to be a Classroom Teacher; Now, I’m a School Teacher
2/22/2020Be Honest on Intent to Return Forms
2/14/2020Show Love and Give Books
2/10/2020Lessons School Leaders Can Learn from Hair Love
2/6/2020Addressing Tragedy and Controversial Current Events in the Classroom
2/1/2020World Read Aloud Day 2020
1/31/2020Don’t Challenge My School Choice
1/29/2020Black with Kids: The Importance of Affirmations
1/27/2020Black History Month is Every Month
1/20/2020My Son’s Teacher Told Him that Dr. King Did Not See Color
1/19/2020Is Homework Needed?
1/12/2020Teachers Should Bring the Same Energy of Informing Parents about Academics as They do about Discipline
1/11/2020What Educators Need to Remember When Transitioning from Teacher to Administrator
1/9/2020Should SEL Curriculum be Mandated Across the U.S.?
1/4/2020Leaders Should be Examples of Boundaries and Self-Care