http://www.embracediverseschools.com Beyond celebration diversity - to valuing the power of difference Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:26:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en It is amazing how our assumptions limit us every day. I went to a great business networking event where individuals have 45 seconds to describe their businesses. One polished professional talked about his business which hauls junk from a site -- tripled his business in past few years. I was ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2011/03/08/beyond_assumptions/ Words have power. I see that impact when people tell me they were moved to action by my speech or by a passage in my book. I know how I feel when I hear words that inspire or enrage me. We don't know what sparks a disturbed mind to take a ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2011/01/13/power-of-our-words/ Engaging parents in their children's education is a critical piece of education reform. Yet too many parents remain disconnected from schools. Typically the parents who are involved are those who understand how school works, feel valued, and feel empowered to be there. Traditional ways of involving parents, such as Back-to-School ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2010/09/27/why-parents-dont-come-to-school/ The current dialogue on education reform is looking at critical issues such as hiring and retaining good teachers and innovative classroom instruction. But there is one critical piece of education reform that isn't getting much attention. It's particularly significant in diverse multicultural schools. And it doesn't cost a lot to ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2010/09/27/ed-reform-that-connects-students-to-their-education/      When I was young, I rarely went to a library. My family didn't go to the town library very much and my school didn’t have a library.  My family did value books and there were always books around for my brother and me to read. But I don't remember ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2010/07/25/are-there-more-books-like-this/ I went to Philadelphia for a conference recently. Staying with a friend in the suburbs, I took the commuter train to the meeting. I went into a small train station filled with regulars and asked the agent for a ticket “downtown” for the “rush hour” fare. As soon as ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2010/05/05/communicating_right_way/ Everyone loves a snow day. Not so much the 6th or 7th in a row as we’ve had in some mid-Atlantic states. And some students, more than others, feel the negative impact on education. Unfortunately, the snow days just increase the educational inequalities ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2010/02/12/snow-days-and-the-digital-divide/ "We do have hopes and dreams for our children. But no one ever asked us about them and we did not know how to help our children." Those were the words of a grandmother raising her grandchildren in a rural Black township in South Africa. The group of some ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2009/09/11/engaging-families-in-school-by-valuing-their-dreams/ Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice because she is just what we need on the court -- a smart, thoughtful, and experienced juror. It's unfortunate, however, that she had to defend her impartiality as a judge by pulling back from her comments that a wise Latina woman ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2009/07/23/a-diverse-court-will-make-better-decisions/ (From Author Interviews on ASK WENDY blog Author Interview) Interview with Award-winning Author Eileen Gale Kugler  I speak and write about the unique benefits that diversity brings schools and communities, which is a topic that nearly everyone is (finally) paying attention to. I help break through society’s “myth-perceptions” about race and culture, urging people ... http://www.embracediverseschools.com/2009/06/16/interview-with-eileen-at-ask-wendy-highlights-benefits-of-diversity/