R. Rakeem Miller, Sr. is an educator with a passion for urban education and a heart for empowering students, families and fellow educators. He is also a husband and a father who is devoted to his family. He has served as a social studies teacher for the past 6 years in Camden City charter schools. He has experience teaching social studies to grades 5 through 12, mentoring first-year teachers, coaching, writing curricula, facilitating professional development and as an assistant principal of school-wide discipline. Currently, he is a director of a federally funded after-school program in the Woodbury City school district. Mr. Miller is honored to be married to his wife of 7 years. Their union has yielded 4 beautiful children. He and his family currently reside in Southern, New Jersey. Mr. Miller is also an author of two books and a contributor to one book. He is the author of The Double D's of Destruction: How Our Distracted and Desensitized Consciousness Is Destroying Our Communities and Failing Our Children and The Cooper Street Offense: A Philosophy for Reaching, Teaching and Discipling Black and Hispanic/Latino Students in Inner City Schools. He is a contributor in Black Male Teachers: Diversifying the United States' Teacher Workforce. He is a graduate of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey with a B.A. in Political Science and an M.P.A. in Public Policy and Administration. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in Public Affairs and Community Development at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.
It was during my lone year as a vice principal that I was the disciplinarian at my school. I absolutely hate the job. I loved the kids. I knew many of them very well because I taught them previously. They were really great kids. I hated the job because of my teacher colleagues—they saw my … More How NOT To Discipline in an Urban School
There’s been a lot of talk about quiet quitting amongst teachers. I get the idea considering the current environment. COVID-19 has impacted teachers; many teachers are struggling for various reasons and that’s led to some leaving the profession. Whether it’s working with students as they readjust to in-person instruction, and the rigor associated with it, … More No Quiet Quitting Pt. 1: Surviving a Toxic Environment
I am a firm believer that school should be fun for kids. I don’t mean the fun from watching videos, going on field trips or letting them run around all day—although that is fun too. I mean fun in the classroom learning. Yes… kids can have fun learning in the classroom. Of course, it requires … More How To Actually Have Fun In Class
The most envied teacher at any school isn’t the smartest teacher, the most politically connected teacher or the longest tenured or the most attractive teacher. The teacher most envied was the teacher was the teacher with the best classroom management. I know this because years ago, not to toot my own horn, but I was … More Building Classroom Management by Being Visible
Whew, its been a while since I’ve spoken here… let me dust off the cobwebs and see if I remember how to do this… This year, I was “elected” to be the department chair of the humanities; English, Social Studies, the Arts and Foreign Language departments. It sounds prestigious on paper. But it’s just more … More How to Approach Walkthroughs
This week, I chose a piece from Abolition For The People: Mark Anthony Neal’s The Myth of the “Good Cop”: Pop Culture Helped Turn Police Officers Into Rock Stars – And Black Folks Into Criminals. You can access the piece HERE for your reading pleasure. I encourage all of you to read this text. This … More SOAPing American History: Mark Anthony Neal’s The Myth of the “Good Cop”: Pop Culture Helped Turn Police Officers Into Rock Stars – And Black Folks Into Criminals.
This week, I chose a piece from the 1619 Project: Matthew Desmond’s American Capitalism Is Brutal. You Can Trace That to the Plantation. You can access the piece HERE for your reading pleasure. I encourage all of you to read this important text. This piece underscores just how deep our capitalist roots as a society … More SOAPing American History: Matthew Desmond’s American Capitalism is Brutal; You Can Trace That To the Plantation
I’ve previously shared that I didn’t use textbooks as a teacher. I knew the history textbooks were whitewashed and void of the whole truth. Thankfully, there was a Black-owned bookstore around the corner from where I taught; LaUnique Bookstore at 111 North 6th Street in Camden was at my disposal. I found numerous gems in … More SOAPing American History
I was talking to good friend of mine on the challenges of homeschooling. He is the father of a 2 and a 4-year-old, respectively, and he spoke about the challenges of working while teaching and playing with his kids all hours of the day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many parents, he’s used to … More Quarantined Fathering
This post marks the second part in a series of post designed to explore history instruction to assist history teachers at teaching history in more culturally inclusive, balanced, and responsive ways. You can read part one here. As an adolescent, history was nothing more than dates, events, people and places I saw in books. It … More Teaching History Part 2: Purpose
This post marks the first part in a series of post designed to explore history instruction to assist history teachers at teaching history in more culturally inclusive, balanced, and responsive ways. Teaching history is a major responsibility. I don’t minimize the other content areas, but teaching history is so important. However, there are some who … More Teaching History Part 1: Motivation
When you ask a teacher about lunch duty, they give one of two answers… either they think it’s cool or they hate it. Some teachers hate lunch duty for legit reasons. One reason is that their colleagues ditch it and their left with one or two less adults. Another reason is because there is little … More Lunch Duty
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone
Where Race and Sport Intersect at the Point of Commentary
A blog on race, equity, and urban education
... A Strong Rhyme to Step To
"To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth."
Navigating Inner City Ministry in Real Time
Urban Education Mixtape 