9 Quotes by Matthew R. Kay

The best growth is aided by community. Yes, we teachers should study our craft vigorously. We should take classes. We should attend conferences. But, in truth, without discussion practice, we will never see our fullest potential. Here, teaching is no different from other pursuits: Lasting improvement requires dedication to the humbling cycle of practice and reflection.

We, as teachers, know our sphere of influence. Our students. We read new books with them in mind. When our research hands us hard problems, we know that we don't have to wrestle with them by ourselves. Most importantly, we recognize our power and know where we can use it.

Students must know that they can have strong convictions, and yet remain open to making adjustments when exposed to better arguments.

We want our students to consider our classrooms relevant to their world and responsive to their needs, so when world events dredge up new discussion needs, we shouldn't inadvertently signal that students should save them for the hallway, the lunchroom, and their social media.

What race subjects should our students be engaging? Which stories should be told? Which histories examined? Considering this book's chief assertion--there is a difference between 'light' and 'fire,' between empty and meaningful--how do teachers pick the proper fuel for their students' race discourse?

The more we want our students to buy in to our race conversations, the clearer we must make our purposes. Whether it is to celebrate the beauty of a culture, solve a hard problem, contribute to scholarship, or ultimately publish, our students must never be confused about why they are being asked to take such a demanding journey.

While every race conversation isn't going to push against the edges of what is commonly discussed, there is more potential to do so than we usually admit. Standing at the edge means we don't carry every conversation from the previous year. It requires a willingness to research the current conversations being held in both popular culture and the halls of academia.

Collaboration is generally the least valued and most haphazardly executed aspect of teachers' pedagogy, and some entire schools are being built around individualization and specialization. When we then ask students to, in effect, be their brother's keeper, many understandably have no idea what comes next. And this is where we, as teachers, must have more to offer than a day-one 'abracadabra!

We see meaningful connections between often-archaic texts and our students' very modern lives; our mission is to make these connections clear without boring our students into inattention or complacency. When discussing historical injustice, this personal engagement becomes even more important: As many students as possible must recognize the thread between yesterday's crimes and the world they currently inhabit.