It’s a privilege for me to write occasional posts for the Teaching Tolerance blog. However, years before I ever wrote a word for the Tolerance website, I used it as a reference and information source to develop my teaching skills and expand my understanding of the world.
You should too.
If you don’t know about Teaching Tolerance, an arm of the Southern Poverty Law Center, or if you don’t visit the website on a regular basis, you are missing an ever-expanding information universe focused on human rights, diversity, anti-racism, community-building, acceptance, tolerance, inclusion, and much more. In the digital age, with information and misinformation moving at lightning speed, we cannot learn too much about these topics.
The Teaching Tolerance website includes a broad collection of lesson plans and other classroom resources. The print magazine — subscriptions are free for teachers — is also available in a digitized edition. A professional development area includes materials that help educators and administrators build (or rebuild) supportive and accepting school communities.
The Tolerance staff notes that in organizational surveys, “… students have identified the cafeteria as the place where divisions are most clearly drawn.” So an annual Mix-It-Up Lunch Day, sponsored by Teaching Tolerance, encourages students to celebrate differences and eat lunch with someone new. Check out the map with participating Mix-It-Up Day schools.
I check in with the teacher-friendly and resource-rich Teaching Tolerance website several times a week. It’s a part of my blog aggregator, so I always see the most recent four or five posts. It’s a part of my 21st Century personal learning (and teaching) network.
If you are committed to diversity and acceptance, and you work with children in a school, church, or another youth-focused setting, Teaching Tolerance is a resource you need to explore and use.
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