Essential education reporting across America
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Gabrielle Birkner

Features Editor and Fellowship Director

Gabrielle Birkner oversees the First Person and How I Teach series. She was previously the story editor for the New York bureau. Before joining Chalkbeat, she served as the managing editor at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the director of digital media at the Forward. She is the co-founder of Modern Loss. Gabrielle co-authored “Modern Loss: Candid Conversation About Grief. Beginners Welcome” (2018) and “The Kveller Haggadah: A Seder for Curious Kids (and Their Grownups)” (2019). Gabrielle lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children.

People in rain coats hold signs and umbrellas while walking outside during a strike.
Politics & Policy Politics & Policy
Parents scramble — and voice support — as strike disrupts school in Los Angeles
As schools remain closed in Los Angeles, recreation centers help scrambling families.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
A woman wearing a mask stretches out her arms as several children stand below her while they all wear masks and stand in front of a wall with letters on it.
From Chalkbeat Philadelphia How I Teach
Her students were babies during lockdown. Here’s how that’s changed her approach to teaching.
This veteran preschool teacher spoke with Chalkbeat Philadelphia about teaching preschoolers to share, common misconceptions about early learners, and more.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
The words “Student Voices Fellowship 2022-23” inside conversation bubbles on a black background.
Student Voices Fellowship Student Voices Fellowship
Student Voices: Meet Chalkbeat’s new fellows
Six high school students from New York City and Newark will share their stories in Chalkbeat.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
A black background with text bubbles all around. In the middle are the words Student Voices Fellowship.
Student Voices Fellowship Student Voices Fellowship
Interested in becoming a Chalkbeat Student Voices Fellow? Here’s how to apply.
This paid essay-writing fellowship is open to students in NYC and Newark.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
A teenager sits on the floor, holding their head in their hands, silhouetted with images of the American flag and bullet holes in a pane of glass.
First Person First Person
Student voices on Uvalde: Our leaders ‘are just not going to protect us’
Teens around the country share how gun violence impacts their lives, schools, and neighborhoods.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
White text on a dark blue background reads: Student Voices. The text is surrounded by overlapping speech bubbles.
First Person First Person
Meet Chalkbeat’s Student Voices fellows
These six high school students will be writing essays about their lives and education.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
This NYC counselor is helping students work through COVID-era trauma
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
People look on as smoke from the burning World Trade Center towers fills up the downtown Manhattan skyline after both buildings were attacked by airplanes on September 11, 2001 in New York City.
First Person First Person
On 9/11, they were at school. Here’s what happened inside their classrooms.
Chalkbeat asked teachers and students what they remember about that terrifying day 20 years later
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
A pen on notebook paper. Text next to the pen reads, “First Person Student Voices Fellowship.”
Chalkbeat is launching a Student Voices essay-writing fellowship
If you’re a high school student in Chicago, Newark, or Philadelphia, here’s what to know and how to apply.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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Featured Stories Featured Stories
This singing principal of viral video fame wants students to know they are loved. A call from Oprah would be nice, too.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
A woman in a mask is pictured with six masked students.
From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
This NYC teacher scrolls with care and reminds students that empathy is a ‘radical’ act
‘I don’t teach for likes or for followers or to post pretty pictures on Instagram. I teach for the children in front of me’ Islah Tauheed says.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
This NYC bilingual educator shares what it means to teach for ‘equity, not equality’
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
For blind students, accessibility makes all the difference, this NYC teacher says
From making maps to touring city buses — it’s all part of the job for one award-winning educator.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
Illustration of Kamala Harris with a blue and purple background, by Alyxis Wilson.
First Person First Person
‘This is something I can do now’: What Kamala Harris’ ascension means for girls of color
Across America, Black, brown, and Asian students look to the Biden administration with hope, pride, and great expectations.
By Caroline Bauman and Gabrielle Birkner
 
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How I Teach How I Teach
‘Focus on the issue at hand’: How a leader representing school boards has handled a pandemic transition
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
No instruments, no problem: Amid the pandemic, this Bronx teacher is embracing new ways of making music
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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First Person First Person
For these teens, election season has been a political awakening
Here are the issues driving NYC youth to get out the vote.
By Gabrielle Birkner and Sarah Darville
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
At a Manhattan school where half the students are homeless, this teacher aims to ‘make the shame and sadness scatter’
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
This NYC science teacher says remote learning is here to stay
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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How I Teach How I Teach
Even before George Floyd’s death, this Minneapolis teacher was showing students ‘the power of their voices’
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York Mental Health in Schools
Ideas to power next school year in NYC: How to confront trauma and foster healing
When schools reopen, many students will face mental health challenges. Here’s what might help.
By Amy Zimmer, Gabrielle Birkner, and 1 more
 
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From Chalkbeat New York Student Voices
Ideas to power next school year in NYC: How can we use and improve remote learning?
7 lessons from the COVID era, and how they could inform how teachers teach and students learn
By Amy Zimmer, Gabrielle Birkner, and 1 more
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
Turning laundry day into a robotics lab — it can be done, says this Harlem teacher
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat New York How I Teach
This NYC teacher wants her students to know she’s struggling, too
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
Fordham Leadership Academy teacher Larry Minetti recreates Vincent Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" using household objects.
From Chalkbeat New York COVID and Schools
Working from home, this NYC art teacher has students rethinking what they need to create a masterpiece
With schools closed and lessons moved online, Bronx high school art Larry Minetti has transformed his dining room into an art studio.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
Michael Urda teaches English at South Bronx Classical School 1, a K-8 charter in the Longwood neighborhood.
From Chalkbeat New York COVID and Schools
These two traits will make you a better at-home teacher, this Bronx educator says
With schools shuttered due to coronavirus, an NYC teacher explains what is and isn’t possible for educators working remotely.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
Michigan's Teacher of the Year Cara Lougheed, left, with Michigan Education Association Vice President Chandra Madafferi.
From Chalkbeat Detroit How I Teach
Michigan’s Teacher of the Year is homeschooling during the coronavirus crisis. Her children aren’t impressed.
Millions of parents are attempting to teach their children from home. It’s no simple feat for even for the nation’s most celebrated educators.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
Teacher Andrew Pillow at a Chalkbeat Indiana story slam event.
From Chalkbeat Indiana Teaching & Classroom
Why this Indianapolis teacher no longer tells students their hoop dreams are unrealistic
Andrew Pillow used to think it was his job to disabuse students of the notion that they would grow up to be professional athletes. No more.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
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From Chalkbeat Chicago Leadership & Management
Inspired by bananas, Tinder, Taylor Swift: See 12 creative signs from Chicago’s picket lines
Chicago teachers got creative in Day 1 of the teachers strike. Here are 12 super creative picket signs that caught our reporters’ eyes.
By Gabrielle Birkner
 
Laurie Kingsberry, a veteran New York City educator, at one of her retirement parties.
From Chalkbeat New York Teaching & Classroom
A former student traveled nearly 1,000 miles to celebrate this teacher’s retirement
This transition marks a major change for Kingsberry, who has been part of New York City public schools for almost all of her life.
By Gabrielle Birkner