Teaching in an Urban School: Purpose, Pressure, and Possibility
By Faith Darnell

Faith Darnell teaches math at University Prep Art and Design Middle School. In this piece, the first feature of Teaching Teachers Review, Issue 1, she writes honestly about what it takes to stay in urban education: the pressure, the joy, and the responsibility of building classrooms where students are pushed toward their highest potential without being defined by what they’re carrying.

“I see myself as a portal to greatness and excellence for my students.”

That line captures what this journal exists to do, give practitioners the space to reflect on their work in their own voice, without the distance so much education writing puts between the classroom and the page.

Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: How My Culture, Values, and Life Have Shaped My Vision for an Inclusive Education System
By Coral Zayas

Coral Zayas is the author of Teaching K-5 Science: Encouraging Exploration, Inquiry and Problem Solving and founder of Coqui Learning Lab LLC. In this piece, she traces how growing up between languages and cultures, being pulled into ESL classes as a child, watching classmates get boxed out of advanced coursework, shaped the educator she became.

“I believe this is where my fire was lit for both aspects of education that became central to my career.”

That’s the thread running through Teaching Teachers: educators doing their best work when they bring their full selves, and their full story, into the classroom instead of leaving pieces of it at the door. Coral’s piece is a reminder of what gets built when that happens.