Author: jeannielondon

Mother was browsing through the store. It was the end of the month. I remember weaving in and out of the racks of clothes playing hide and seek, trying to stay one aisle ahead of Mother. In my playing, I glanced up, and the bright white handlebars of a red tricycle caught my eye. The…

Outside the tall classroom windows, dark clouds hovered like balloons that had lost their helium, slowly sinking toward the earth. Inside, the air felt just as heavy. We were gathered in a circle—a shape meant for inclusion—yet I always sat on the very edge. I was trying to find that impossible balance: to fit in,…

Before I knew the taste of a milkshake or a hamburger, I knew the sharp tang of vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. In our living room, Sesame Street played in the background—a window into an American world I didn’t yet belong to. I liked the bouncy music and the colorful puppets, but they were like…

Looking Beyond Stereotypes I created a short Ignite Presentation on my experiences working with boys of color at a middle school in Oregon. I was especially committed to this work because my sons were also attending the middle school at the same time as I was teaching there. Current students in our Public Education system…

ELAReading’s mission is to support classroom teachers serving English Language Learners (ELL). ELL students benefit greatly from English vocabulary enrichment activities. The more English vocabulary students know, the more they will understand what is being taught. ELAReading’s goal is to provide teachers with a diverse toolkit of resources and materials to help teach vocabulary and…