It is mid-August, and teachers all around the U.S. are setting up their classrooms for a new school year. Many are chomping at the bit to get their class rosters, to imagine what students will fill their classrooms this year and what those students will bring to the class community, and the lessons to be learned. It is during this time that, in the name of planning ahead, we teachers have a tendency to start to make assumptions about what our students will come knowing, or no

Paridad’s Oaxaca Institute is in full swing! Yesterday we visited the pre-Columbian archaeological site of Monte Alban. Our tour guides took us on dynamic tours where we learned about the history of Oaxaca and its indigenous cultures. In the afternoon, we visited the studio of Doña Angélica Vásquez Cruz, a world-renowned artist based in Oaxaca. She gave us a sculpting demonstration while telling us the riveting story of her journey as an artist and woman in Mexico. Our partic