DEMOCRACY vs. AUTOCRACY ~ History ~ Chapter 2024 ~ In Surround Sound and High Definition

DEMOCRACY vs. AUTOCRACY ~ History ~ Chapter 2024 ~ In Surround Sound and High Definition

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

We tend to think of history as times, places, events and protagonists living in the past.

History can become somewhat cloudy as we move from generation to generation.

But in 2023, history is being, not only written, but starkly watched and heard 24/7, providing raw truths of what it means to live in a Democracy versus and Autocracy.

We did not write the past chapters of humankind. But regardless of our social-cultural-political affinities, each of us can contribute to the next chapter.

We have a choice in 2024, in the present, to impact the future.

What is the legacy that we as Americans want to leave behind – no longer held hostage by its past?

Surviving 2nd Language Acquisition . . . and then She Appeared . . .

Surviving 2nd Language Acquisition . . . and then She Appeared . . .

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

Schools to my immigrant uneducated parents were “Temples of Learning” and teachers were “Holy”.
The plan was simple – they would sacrifice and I would attend school.
Their past would not dictate my future.
But what they did not realize was that sometimes classrooms can imprison and oppress.
I was not learning but merely surviving – until she appeared . . .

The Courage to Teach

The Courage to Teach

ByParker J. Palmer

“If we embrace the promise of diversity, of creative conflict, and of “losing” in order to “win,” we still face one final fear – the fear that a live encounter with otherness will challenge or even compel us to change our lives.

Otherness taken seriously, always invites transformation, calling us not only to new facts and theories and values but also to new ways of living our lives – and that is, the most daunting threat of all.” Parker J. Palmer

Never Too Early ~ Producing a Globally Sensitive Generation

Never Too Early ~ Producing a Globally Sensitive Generation

ByGloria Lopata - Prosperi

Increasingly, one of the challenges of a homogenous teacher population teaching an exponentially growing heterogenous student body from diverse families and backgrounds requires rethinking what teaching and learning means in the 21st Century.
It becomes the responsibility of teachers to challenge social -isms and phobias so as to create safe cultural school environments that accept, affirm and build on the identities of all students with respect, dignity and integrity.

Thinking Critically ~ Brain-Based Learning and Teaching

Thinking Critically ~ Brain-Based Learning and Teaching

ByJorge D. H. Prosperi

As educators, we often share with parents that we don’t only teach content, but we teach young minds.
While being well intended, the comment is vague. What is not mentioned is that what we are really talking about is the complexities of our brain and how it learns. Ultimately, our goal is to provide each brain with pathways and maps by which to navigate knowledge, to decipher it critically and fall in love with the voyage.