<![CDATA[Little but Fierce: A Teaching Blog

<![CDATA[Little but Fierce: A Teaching Blog - Little but Fierce]]>Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:54:36 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[holding space with student journalists on 9/11]]>Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:57:34 GMThttps://www.littlebutfierce.com/little-but-fierce/holding-space-with-student-journalists-on-911One of the most important lessons I teach my high school journalists is the one I save for 9/11 — the role of journalists in crisis. I thought I'd take a moment today to explain what I do since it has evolved a lot over the years.

I teach mixed-grade, mixed level courses by choice. I love having my intro students in the same room as my second, third and fourth-year reporters — there's a richness to our discussions because of those grades and experience levels mixing together, and the young students are inspired by the older ones. For the first semester, we start as a whole class to do team-building or have conversations, and then my returning staff go off to work as a team on their publication while I teach traditional intro lessons (law and ethics, the First Amendment, interviewing, journalistic writing, photojournalism, and so on) to those new reporters. We slowly start to come together as a group in November when the intro staff get their first assignments, and we are fully melded into a production staff second semester.

For this lesson, I gave my returning staff a heads up that they would be staying for the first half of class, and I mixed them into table groups with the intro students. Here were the essential questions I posed at the beginning of class:

What is the role of a journalist during a crisis? Some would argue journalists are intrusive and unnecessary during times of crisis and trauma — how would you respond? How does this translate to our work on our publication?
How should an ethical journalist balance their duty to seek truth and report it with their responsibility to minimize harm to those experiencing a crisis? How does this translate to our work on our publication?

I started the main lesson this year with something new: I had the whole class read the editorial my '24-'25 Oracle editorial board wrote in the wake of the LA fires: "The role of service journalism in times of crisis." When my editors wrote that piece in February 2025, I felt a pride I can hardly describe. The staff's coverage of the LA Fires throughout that terrible time was truly outstanding, but this editorial told me I was doing something right. They got it. They really got it.

My instinct to include this editorial for the first time paid off. The discussion that followed was incredible. Older students who were on staff at the time of the fires shared their experiences, and younger students explored the piece and asked great questions. It was a great set-up for a more specific discussion of the role of journalists during 9/11. Before I sent the returning staff off to work, I was able to add another new element to the lesson — a complete, original copy of a USA Today published Sept. 12, 2001, which my friend Jerry sent me along with other old papers his parents had saved over the years from pivotal moments in our history. It meant so much to them to look through the paper and see the impact 9/11 had on all aspects of our country. When I showed them he also sent me sections of papers from the end of WWII, the Kennedy assassination, and the moon landing, they were speechless. They wanted to make sure I told you thank you, Jerry. Thank you.

After I sent my returning staff off to work, I then continued the traditional intro lesson I've done in the past, watching the 13-minute documentary about journalists covering 9/11 in Manhattan called "Running Toward Danger," which is housed on the Newseum's website. If you'd like to watch the video, just create a free account on their website. (I recommend all humanities teachers get a Newseum account — they have amazing resources.) This video is so powerful, though hard to watch, especially if it is a memory for you rather than the history lesson it is for them. I always prepare them for what they are going to see — nothing explicit, but real footage of the events of that day, which are upsetting — but I have never had a student who regretted watching it.

I do a version of this lesson every year, and it's always so powerful. This being the 25th anniversary made it especially poignant. One of my junior editors was inspired by the anniversary to write a feature where she interviews members of our faculty and staff about where they were and what they remember. We have faculty who weren't yet born or were too young to remember, faculty who were in school as students, and faculty like me who were adults, and she's hoping to show that range of experience. I was a 26-year-old English teacher teaching a senior English class in Connecticut when it happened. I'll never forget realizing I had to keep it together for my students when I wanted to fall apart. This is just one example of the many stories she will find as she interviews members of our community.

Anyway, this is how I keep my 9/11 vigil every year. I teach this lesson. I remind my students that the core of ethical journalism is to serve the public. I tell them that they are real journalists, even if they aren't professional ones, and I reassure my new students that they — just like the students who covered the LA fires — are capable of rising to the challenge of reporting in crisis situations.

It's such important work. I'm privileged to do it.]]><![CDATA[A road map for advisers and student journalists who want to change minds during SJW and beyond]]>Sun, 05 Apr 2026 03:42:30 GMThttps://www.littlebutfierce.com/little-but-fierce/a-road-map-for-advisers-and-student-journalists-who-want-to-change-minds-during-sjw-and-beyondA version of this blog was originally posted on JEA Feb. 12, 2026.

As a journalism adviser, I work daily to empower my student journalists, encouraging them to seek truth and report it in the most ethical way possible and teaching them the skills they need to do this important work. But from the beginning of the year, we start with the “why”: Why do we need journalists? Why is it important to be able to identify misinformation? Why is the “watchdog” role so important to a democracy?
I feel confident that our journalism students — the majority of them, anyway — leave our classes understanding journalism’s crucial role in our society and taking pride in their roles as truth-tellers. But what about the students we never teach, especially in schools without media literacy training? According to the News Literacy Project’s 2025 report, “‘Biased,” “Boring” and “Bad’: Unpacking perceptions of news media and journalism among U.S. teens,” the average teen perception doesn’t look good.
Some of the grim findings NLP highlighted in their introduction:

Almost half of teens (45%), said journalists do more harm to democracy than protect it.
Only a little over half of teens (56%) believed that journalists and news organizations take journalism standards such as accuracy and fairness seriously in their work.
The majority of teens (80%) said that journalists fail to produce information that is more impartial than other content creators online.
Nearly 7 in 10 teens (69%) thought that news organizations intentionally add bias to coverage to advance a specific perspective.

In the months since this report came out, I’ve been thinking a lot about how we got here and how journalism advisers can work with our staffs to actively counteract these beliefs. I started with a conversation with my students. In the fall, we looked at the report’s findings, and they shared their thoughts about why their peers feel the way they do. Unsurprisingly, social media and AI came up a lot. Teens have grown up in a saturated social media culture, listening to hot takes on current events from influencers and not understanding the difference between pure opinion, news analysis and objective reporting. In recent years, they’ve learned not to trust what they see and hear since AI-generated tools have become more and more convincing, and anyone can make fake images and videos. The Oracle editorial board wrote about this in their December editorial, “AI’s threat to our shared sense of reality,” but we knew we wanted to do more.

I’m lucky to work with phenomenal educators at my school, and media literacy is a core part of our curriculum. Still, AI technology is evolving at a dizzying speed, and many don’t explicitly teach the concept of standards-based journalism. I worked with my students to change that during Scholastic Journalism Week. Because the yearbook staff is always on a very tight deadline in February with our final print submission looming, my Oracle staff takes the lead during SJW.

This is what we did for 2026; it was our most successful and impactful celebration yet, and I hope it provides a road map other advisers might find useful in the future.

News Literacy Project Resources: JEA has phenomenal curriculum resources, of course, but I also want to shout out the incredible resources on the News Literacy Project’s website, free once you register. Their Checkology modules are fantastic. Teachers can choose from pre-packaged units on news literacy and learning basic journalism skills or create their own course tailored for their specific class. I do this for all of my intro students during the first semester. I also highly recommend subscribing to their Sift newsletter, which provides excellent bell-ringers and slides teachers can use in their classrooms right away. The format is easy to read and includes Daily Do Now slides, Top Picks, discussion prompts, related resources, “Rumor Guard” and “kickers” on other topics. When I originally wrote this blog, the most recent newsletter had resources about preserving Black newspapers, prompts about the significance of journalists being arrested in Minneapolis, content about how AI Slop is perpetuating Holocaust misinformation and more. Their Instagram account is also excellent, providing timely reels about these topics in a student-friendly format.

Initial Presentation: We are a small grades six through 12 school with middle and upper school divisions. My student SJW presentation team prepared a presentation for both groups. Before they got into a discussion of what SJW is and how they would be celebrating each day, they drew on NLP resources. They started with an NLP reel about the AI video-generator Sora and asked students why this technology like that has become a problem for basic news literacy. They then introduced the concept of standards-based journalism, using the seven standards the NLP outlines in a helpful poster. Then, they made the essential connection: Because standards-based news media won’t publish videos and photos it can’t verify, consumers can trust their content — and when they make a mistake, they will be accountable and transparent about it. My students explained that our scholastic media program follows the same standards-based approach, which includes clearly labeling opinion. Only did the presenters shift into a discussion of why they were leading a celebration of scholastic journalism during SJW. During the presentation, used interactive strategies, such as turn-and-talk followed by volunteers sharing takeaways.

SJW Celebrations: My editors divided our staff into five teams, one for each day. Each team was responsible for bringing that day’s theme to life. I created a planning doc with links to JEA’s fantastic SJW resources website and then let student editors lead their teams to plan their approach. This was a graded assignment with clear criteria for success. Each team had a tab on the planning doc where they had to fill out the following information:

What’s our angle on this day’s theme?
Article/Multimedia Plan:
Social Media:
Courtyard Table (who will sit at it; how you will bring the day’s theme to life):
Extras/Fun stuff:
How will you ensure every single member of your group has something meaningful to do to contribute to this day?

Every year, the Scholastic Journalism Week website offers a plethora of resources for schools that would like to participate, including the theme days referenced above.

You can see what my students published each day on the Oracle website. The courtyard tables were also a hit.

Follow-Up: After SJW, we debriefed as a staff and evaluated how it went. I always end with a reminder: It takes more than a single presentation and a week of celebration to change teens’ minds about the value of standards-based journalism. How can we carry this forward all year round?

Although it’s easy to feel defeated by studies about teens’ beliefs around standards-based journalism, allowing our journalism students to dig into the problem and work to solve it can be an incredible source of hope. If you missed SJW this year, don’t feel like you’ve missed the chance to be part of the solution. Presentations, info sessions and student-led initiatives are evergreen. I promise you’ll come out the other side feeling better.

]]><![CDATA[10 Great reads from 2020]]>Mon, 28 Dec 2020 21:32:04 GMThttps://www.littlebutfierce.com/little-but-fierce/10-great-reads-from-2020I'm going to take a break from talking explicitly about teaching today to indulge the English teacher in me and share 10 books I read in 2020 I think others might enjoy. I should start by saying that reading for pleasure is one of my great joys. I read every night in bed — sometimes for 20 minutes, but often for 2-3 hours — and I also run an antiracist book club, which generally focuses on a single book each month (one exception to that — we broke "Stamped from the Beginning" into three months, as Kendi's phenomenal history of racism in America needed more than a single month to read and process). I read a lot over the course of each year, averaging somewhere between 125-150 books most years. I'm currently at 172 for 2020.

I am also the opposite of a book snob. Although I have specific tastes, for sure, I believe all reading is good reading. I love fantasy and science fiction, the genres I read most every year, but I also read a fair amount of mystery, romance and more general fiction. Here are some of the best books I read this year.

"The House in the Cerulean Sea" by T. J. Klune
Described by many as "a hug in the form of a book," this beautiful story gave me joy in a year I needed it most. It's a whimsical story about Linus Baker, a man who works as a social worker for supernatural orphans, who gets sent to Marsyas Island Orphanage to evaluate six particularly dangerous children and their caretaker. It's a sweet and funny story with an unexpected love story nestled at the heart of the narrative. I absolutely loved it. If you want more books like this, check out "6 books that feel like a hug" on Weird Zeal.

"Such a Fun Age" by Kiley Reid
I just finished this book, devouring it in a single, cringing session, and it's brilliant. Reid skillfully builds each of the main characters and juxtaposes their identities, personal histories and world views in such interesting ways, shifting perspectives and telling and retelling stories until they tangle into something that is simultaneously very simple and also terribly complex. The ambiguity of the ending is perfect. It's not a comfortable read, but it's an excellent one.

"The Bone Shard Daughter" by Andrea Stewart
This is the first in new trilogy by debut author Andrea Stewart, who creates a wildly inventive world where an Emperor can manipulate the bones of his people and create eerie, animalistic bone constructs to maintain law and order. The protagonist is his daughter, Lin, whose memories beyond the past five years have vanished. The central story is her quest to regain her memories and prove herself worthy to be her father's heir, but as she seeks to master bone shard magic, she uncovers difficult truths. It's such a unique fantasy; I really loved it.

"Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi
I'm cheating with this one because I'm still finishing this incredible book, but I'm so close, and it's too important not to include. Kendi's meticulously researched text frames the evolution of racist ideas through five main historical figures: Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, William Lloyd Garrison, W. E. B. Du Bois and Angela Davis. This is not a fast read; expect to need a long time to work through it and process how much history you didn't know or knew incompletely or knew without nuance. It's absolutely worth your time.

"The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue" by V. E. Schwab
I'm a sucker for magical realism and great writing, and this book has both. It's is a coming-of-age story, a romance and a supernatural mystery set over 300 years after a young woman gets her wish to live forever — but ends up being forgotten by everyone as soon as she leaves their sight. It's beautifully written as the heroine carves a life for herself outside of normal life and learns to live, fiercely, despite her isolation through the centuries and the temptation to end her bargain with the devil-figure who granted it. I really enjoyed it.

"A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking" by T. Kingfisher
This is the weirdest, most wonderful fantasy I read in 2020. T. Kingfisher is "the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon," who writes children's stories. She uses this pen name whenever she writes adult fiction, though I think this book could easily be classified as YA. I love all of her work (except her horror! I am a coward!), but I especially love her adult fantasy. Her Clocktaur Boys series is great. This tale, however, with 14-year-old protagonist Mona and her sentient sourdough starter, is particularly delightful.

"Hood Feminism" by Mikki Kendall
This fantastic series of essays has been much written about already. I'm recommending it to everyone because of how persuasively Kendall argues meeting basic needs is the most critical feminist issue, one mainstream white feminism has ignored. As stated in the Penguin overview of the book, "How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?" If you're like me, you'll finish this book rethinking feminism and deeply inspired to take action.

"How Long 'Til Black Future Month?" by N. K. Jemisin
I loved this collection of short stories (so weird! so interesting!), but this is really an excuse for me to shoutout all of Jemisin's work. Jemisin has been one of my favorite authors for years; her sci-fi and fantasy are incredibly inventive and her characters richly drawn. I reread both the Dreamblood and Inheritance trilogies in addition to this collection this year and need to go back to reread the Broken Earth series as well. Many of the stories in this collection are drawn from these worlds, including an origin story for her newest series, The Great Cities.

"Network Effect" by Martha Wells
This is the fifth book in the "Murderbot Diaries," the ongoing tale of a security robot who gains sentience, a love of popular culture and a deep sense of ennui while reluctantly getting caught up in adventures. I unabashedly love this sci-fi exploration of an old trope — the sentient robot — with his dark sense of humor and pessimism about the human race...while simultaneously kind of wanting to protect them. If this sounds intriguing, start with the 2018 novella "All Systems Red." The whole series is great escapist reading.

"The Calculating Stars" by Mary Robinette Kowal
If you liked Andy Weir's "The Martian," you have to check out this great trilogy. I'm cheating a little, here, because the book I actually read in 2020 was the third in the series — "The Relentless Moon" — but this one is worth reading from the beginning. It's an alternative history book about the direction the Space Race might have taken after a cataclysmic astroid strike, and the characters are really interesting and well drawn. It won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2019 for best novel.

]]><![CDATA[5 Tips for news literacy during Election Week]]>Tue, 03 Nov 2020 20:22:18 GMThttps://www.littlebutfierce.com/little-but-fierce/5-tips-for-news-literacy-during-election-weekI created these five tips for good news media literacy this week for the upper school students at my school but wanted to share them here as well. Please feel free to share with your own students if you think they would be useful.

Here are five tips to ensure you are getting (and sharing) good information:

Know the difference between news reporting and opinion/commentary. Both are valuable, but reputable news reporting isn't trying to persuade you to a viewpoint.
Always ask, "What's your source?" when someone shares news. Evaluate that source; you may want to use the nonpartisan Media Bias Chart. Sources in the green box are the most reliable, even if their opinion sections lean left or right.
Don't re-post/share without verifying the information.
This NYT article gives estimates for how long it will take each state to fully count all votes. It might be helpful to refer to it if you hear early results from specific states.
BE SKEPTICAL of anyone who shares results or makes predictions before the votes are fully counted. Breaking news is always subject to what we call "Big Story Bias" where people make assumptions and rush to judgment. On the Media has a guide to breaking news that might be useful (the point about shootings is for gun violence stories).

]]><![CDATA[10 Episodes of NPR’s Code Switch for teachers]]>Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:26:50 GMThttps://www.littlebutfierce.com/little-but-fierce/nprs-code-switch-how-a-podcast-makes-me-a-better-teacherA version of this review originally published on JEA's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion blog.

Gene Demby, NPR Code Switch co-host, records a live episode at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles on Oct. 6, 2017. The podcast gained national prominence in the wake of Black LIves Matter protests in 2020, when it shot up to #1 on Apple Podcasts and was featured in Oprah Magazine. Photo Credit: Kristin Taylor

One of the key points in Zaretta Hammond's book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain is that becoming a culturally responsive teacher means educating ourselves — immersing ourselves in diverse perspectives. One of my favorite ways to do this is to listen to podcasts hosted and produced by people too often marginalized in mainstream media.

NPR’s Code Switch started as a blog, which I read regularly, so I was absolutely thrilled when it morphed into a podcast four years ago. The very first episode, “Can we talk about Whiteness?” debuted May 31, 2016, and I’ve been a devoted listener ever since. I was thrilled when they rebranded this year: their new tagline (“Race. In Your Face”) reflects an unflinching willingness to ask those hard questions and talk about them openly. Co-hosts Gene Demby and Shereen Marisol Meraji blend stellar reporting with personal anecdotes; they have an easy camaraderie that gives the podcast warmth and humor, even when they are exploring some of the darkest and most troubling topics. They are experts, yet they freely admit questions about race and identity aren’t easily answered — one of the most common refrains on the show is “It’s complicated.”

The “Code Switch fam,” who they shout out every episode, bring a wealth of perspectives and experiences, which is evident in the tremendous diversity of topics they tackle — from veteran reporter Karen Grigsby Bates’ episode “What’s in a Karen?” about the Karens (or Becky’s or Miss Ann’s) throughout history, to Alyssa Jeong Perry’s episode “One Korean American’s Reckoning” about the stereotype of the “quiet, submissive Asian” versus the actual history of Asian American resistance. They talk about immigration, Native treaty rights, Black resistance, Latinx identity, race in politics, how we use words — nothing is off limits, and everything is grounded in authentic voices and solid journalism.

I wasn’t surprised when I learned a college professor created a course around this podcast; I have learned more about race, ethnicity and identity from listening the past four years than I ever did in college.

I’ve been using episodes of the podcast in my high school journalism and English classrooms from the start. I know teachers in more conservative parts of the country are facing a lot of pressure and may not be able to do the same — I’ve heard stories of administrators telling teachers they aren’t even allowed to talk about Black Lives Matter due to parent backlash — but if you can’t use it in class, I encourage you to at least listen to it for yourself.

Whether you identify as white, a person of color (a contentious question they explored recently in “Is it time to say R.I.P. to POC?”) or as a member of any marginalized group, this podcast provides insight into so many aspects of identity and asks such important questions that I believe there is something there for everyone.

In addition to these longer episodes, they do shorter “Word Watch” episodes that are fascinating — some as audio and others as blog posts. A few examples of terms they cover: white trash, namaste, nappy, ghetto and white tears.

10 Episodes to get you started

If you’re sold, you may be asking yourself where to start. You could certainly start from the beginning, but that would take more time than any teacher has right now, so here’s a list of some of my favorite episodes to get a taste of the show.

Is it time to say R.I.P. to POC?, Sept. 30, 2020 — A fascinating discussion about the terms POC, BIPOC, how language changes over time and why “it’s complicated.”
What’s in a Karen?, July 15, 2020 — Names for white women wielding their power against Black people aren’t new; Karen Grigsby Bates explores this history.
A Decade of Watching Black People Die, May 31, 2020 — Why did white people finally start turning out to protest for Black lives after George Floyd’s death? This powerful episode revisits Jamil Smith’s powerful 2015 essay “What Does Seeing Black Men Die Do for You?”
Ask Code Switch: What About Your Friends?, Jan. 22, 2020 — This episode explores how racism impacts interracial friendships.
E Ola Ka 'Olelo Hawai'i, June 12, 2019 — The incredible story of a group of second-language learners who re-centered and, arguably, saved the Hawaiian language.
Our Homeland is Each Other, Oct. 10, 2018 — An episode focused on the complex identity of being a transracial adoptee.
The Difficult Math Of Being Native American, Feb. 17, 2018 — This episode focuses on the controversial topic of “blood quantum” and the implications of finding love outside of Native communities.
Who Put The 'Hispanic' In Hispanic Heritage Month?, Sept. 23, 2017 — Hispanic, Latino/a, Latinx...where do these terms come from, and how did Hispanic Heritage Month get its name?
'Racial Impostor Syndrome': Here Are Your Stories, June 8, 2017 — What does it mean to be a “real” part of your heritage group? This episode explores the stories of people who feel like imposters about some aspect of their identities.
Say My Name, Say My Name (Correctly, Please), Aug. 9, 2016 — An important episode for all teachers, I think, as it explores the impact of mispronouncing names — or even giving someone an “easier” name — rather than learning them.

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