Let’s be real: most teachers hate professional development. And I get it. Too often, it feels disconnected, repetitive, or worse—like someone’s checking a compliance box. Teachers walk in thinking, “There’s nothing this 18-year-old-looking-new-teacher can teach me,” or, “Here we go again… another PowerPoint, another acronym, another ‘strategy’ that doesn’t fit my reality.”

Language is never just about words. It's about worldview, power, identity, and history. And in the case of Native American communities, language has also been a site of resistance.

Let’s be honest—education is messy, beautiful, political, and deeply personal. It’s policy written in ink but lived in real time by kids, families, and teachers. It’s strategy and struggle, data and desire. And somewhere in between mandates and Monday morning routines, we build futures. Or we try to.