World Teacher's Day - Diverse Books for the Classroom

Happy Teacher’s Day to my fellow educators!

I hope your admin, colleagues, students, and/or parents made you feel just how special you truly are. Next week is Teacher Appreciation Day, so stay tuned for what I have in the works.

As an educator, I really believe in the power of identity, inclusion, and equity in the classroom and doing so in a culturally relevant way. Getting to know our students DEEPLY and AUTHENTICALLY will allow us to truly educate them.

In today’s post, I have book recs for the middle school/high school classroom. Keep reading and share this post with your teacher friends. 

Here are some titles that I personally recommend for the classroom:

1. Iveliz Explains It All is great for mental health representation and lessons on the dealing with grief.

2. Other Words for Home shows students what’s it like to leave your home for another country and it will also resonate with a lot of students who are immigrants or children of immigrants.

3. Punching the Air gives students insight into the criminal justice system and its impact on young, Black boys/men.

4. The 1619 Projects needs to become the national American History textbook; it’s that powerful and amazing. I recommend excerpts to supplement novels.

Let me know if you've used any of these in your classroom! 

Happy Teaching!

~ Tuma