September 14, 2023 · Uncategorized
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15- October 15. Read more about why it starts on September 15th and enjoy these helpful resources from the National Museum of the American Latino here . As always, heritage months should only be reminders or extra opportunities to celebrate and recognize a community, because students should see themselves in their learning and what they learn should reflect the diversity of our world every single day. When introducing Hispanic Heritage Month, start by asking or clarifying who is Hispanic? Ask students what they know about the term and what questions they have. Start by looking at a world map, but emphasize that there are many Hispanic Americans as well. If you aren’t sure about distinctions and terminology or just want a refresher before answering lots of students’ questions, these two articles might help: The
September 6, 2022 · Uncategorized
Back to School Night Tips Oh back to school night (BTSN!), it’s not my favorite time if I am being honest. It feels so stressful to have to present a set up room and school year plan when you’re just trying to get your footing and get the kids situated.. Then suddenly you are on display for parents and guardians and tons of questions! Whew. It’s a lot. Here are some tips for BTSN that help us make it feel a little more successful. At the heart of it, BTSN can feel like the first day of school for guardians and is their main (sometimes only) peek into what school looks and feels like for their kiddos. With that in mind, the goals for BTSN for me remain: A) Invite them into our world and affirm we are on the same team for their child/ren B) Communicate my expectations of them and how communication will work for the year C) Stay afloat for myself amidst juggling the beginning of the year
parentBTSNpaneltipslist
August 1, 2022 · Uncategorized
Throwback to one of our favorite Halloween costumes! Hope it inspires you to have some fun with classroom set up! How is it August already? As we gear up for “teacher new year,” we have lots of beginning of the year activity ideas for you to start getting to know your students and building community. We also have some invaluable beginning of the year tools & tips from the past, as well as great r ead aloud ideas for back to school and more specific b ack to school activities for distance learning . One reminder I need every school year is these computer tips: how to rollout the great (but challenging) tool! However, before you start thinking about all the wonderful exploration and learning you will do with your students, you need to set up your classroom and get yourself ready for the year. Honestly, after the past few years, none of us feel ready and I know many of you could use
June 8, 2022 · Uncategorized
A page from Little Feminists: Families Happy Pride! Always important. Incredibly important this year. May we keep on keepin’ on to ensure we AND OUR CHILDREN can embody and explore and all be our full selves safely and lovingly. We humans are so diverse and contain multitudes. Here are some of our favorite books for Pride. I could go ON AND ON about queer and LGBTQIA+ type books and have written or posted about many in the past as I love to read them personally (especially MG/YA/ sci fi and graphic novel ones...send me your faves!) so I will try to keep this short and just give my current mood (spoiler, the current reading mood is on the lighter side of life) top picks but feel free to ask for more bonus ones! Baby: Little Feminists: Families So queer so amazing. Perfect for babies because it is photographs so they can enjoy it from a super young age. Perfect age with a baby book
May 8, 2022 · Uncategorized
Recently when sharing about our chapter in Anti-Oppressive Education in “Elite” Schools with Katy Swalwell’s class, we were asked about all of the simulations we have created and taught. This was not a question we could answer quickly during a brief Q&A, so we tried to compile them all here. We may have missed one (or more), but it is a good place to start! Some of these simulations were done with 3rd graders, 5th graders, and/or adults. Some posts talk about more than one simulation and how they go together. I also included some investigations and some inquiry work as it all goes together and I didn’t want to omit something based on a rigid definition of “simulation.” Of course, this is only a list of the ones we have written about that we have created so far, so I’m sure there will be more to add sooner or later! Simulations: What continent do you think they are from? Drawing humans
January 3, 2022 · Uncategorized
Happy New Year, everyone! We made it. Weather, COVID, Winter in general.. Life! Whew, a lot is going on. If a good story/book helps invigorate you (or your class, or a lesson, or a book club) we thought we’d share a few we really enjoyed this past year. These are Gabby specific so if you don’t like the vibe- please blame Gabby’s taste only :). Board Book: We Are Little Feminists: Families : I love this book for so many reasons. It has pictures of real people which is fun starting pretty early for littles, and then it is the kind of board book that has longevity for the conversations you get to have while reading it. Also the queer and multigenerational rep in this one just delights my heart and I love it. A great gift if you have any babies in your lives. Picture Books The Tree in Me - the art alone is wow, the poetic nature of it all is totally Corinna. I know I have shared this one
October 26, 2021 · Uncategorized
Salutations friends, We are constantly on the lookout for strong representation in kid lit. We both firmly believe (read the research!), and know from teaching our students the power of providing young humans (and all humans!) with as holistic an experience of representation of humanity as possible. It’s good for everyone! We often talk about windows and mirrors and we love the ways our students grow as they sort themselves out within the beautiful web of the diverse human experience. We have an ongoing collection of books we love (you can read about some we love for different occasions all over this blog) but one has become appallingly apparent to us in our representation quest: SINGLE MAMAS. Shoutout to SINGLE MAMAS EVERYWHERE. We have been hunting and are beyond disappointed by what we’ve found. Some of the best mamas we know are badass single mamas and not only do their babies
October 19, 2021 · Uncategorized
We are both more visual readers than audiobook listeners. However, we see the value and ways audiobooks can be excellent. I’ve currently been listening to a lot more while walking my dog or doing chores. They can really work for our students, too. I’ll do a graphic novels post soon (one of my true loves) but I wanted to give audiobooks their time to shine and provide a mini celebration and reminder that audiobooks are valuable and reading, too! We love them because: They are accessible and inclusive! Excellent tool as a repeat to an in-class read-aloud, review for homework/bonus work, or with headphones as a calming time. Incredibly enjoyable for some kiddos. Some of us are audio-first strength humans. This format can really be what feels best for students. It can be its own assignment - in a fun and real-world application way while practicing fluency. Students can hear strong
September 21, 2021 · Uncategorized
2021 Back to School: Graphic Novels! This list will grow but I am overdue for shouting out my love for graphic novels. As Fall rolls back in and kiddos bring in their favorite books from the summer and look for recommendations from us, remember our graphic novel friends. They are contagious in the best way (they will ripple through a whole class quickly if it gets rave reviews!) and get everybody back into the reading swing from the summer if they have been stagnant. There has never been a better time for fantastic graphic novels and here are a few of my recent faves that I hope you can share with some of your students to get them excited about reading at school again. Middle Grade See some of our favorite graphic novel series to pass to kiddos here. Snapdragon I know I have shouted this one out previously but it truly doesn’t get better than this quirky witchy, gender bendy mystery
September 14, 2021 · Uncategorized
Fall 2021 Back to School Series Recommendations! We love series because they are the gateway to keeping/getting a student hooked sometimes. We’ve found they can be the final piece of the puzzle or golden ticket to having a reluctant reader get into a book. They also work well as the start of a class read-aloud or book club, and then students can choose to continue on the series hooked to know what happens next! The picture book series are also great because of their foundational sense of familiarity while giving students the chance to take on the text independently or take their analysis (compare/contrast) levels deeper with each book. Here are some that would be great to pass along to students coming back into the mix this Fall. Young readers Jada Jones Series Alvin Ho (we still like these for his humor, accessibility, and the mix of graphics and text for young readers) Julian is a
September 7, 2021 · Uncategorized
image from fistfuloftalent.com Gabby here. One thing I’ve been coming back to time and time again this past year, be it endless COVID lifestyle navigations, trying out all of the things thrown at us as teachers (from always but especially these past two years), or as humans in our own lives is: the importance of changing our minds. This year one of my big undercurrent goals is to nurture the acceptance and celebration of changing our minds. Our kids have already been beyond exceptional at this and I think it will be easy to be in awe of and affirm them right from the jump of this school year. One great example of this was Simone Biles changing her mind at the Olympics, doing what she needed to do to take care of herself. The backlash she received is an unfortunate excellent example of a lot of things (racism, sexism, etc.), but also of how rigid and how difficult it is for so many of us
August 17, 2021 · Uncategorized
SUMMER BOOK SHOUT OUTS A peek at some of our summer highlight books from board books to adult. We hope you are resting some (a lot, please!) and making some summer memories in ways that feel good. We wanted to do a quick shout-out to some of our favorite summer reads so far in case anyone is searching for what is next, aren’t we are always?! We love that it continues to be such a great time for kiddo books and that some awesome authors and publishers are continuing to work towards books that provide all our kiddos with windows and mirrors. Sometimes we just get so happy that this time continues to shift for our students (and ourselves!) as teachers and humans. More books, about all of us , always. Board Books Little Ladybug (interactive finger puppet! silly!) I am Peace: A Book of Mindfulness Feast for 10 My Heart Fills with Happiness You Hold Me Up Press Here (we enjoy the creative
May 6, 2021 · Uncategorized
Greetings! If you are teaching right now we have no words to champion your efforts (and truly, good enough IS good enough!) as you hang on and complete this school year. We don’t like to support over-working and hero narratives around teaching, and also— teachers are remarkable. Three quick things we have to share with you. The first is that we are getting published in a book coming out very soon! You can check it out below. We are fans of anthologies (I particularly LOVE the Best American Non-Required Reading Series also known as BANR by nerdy fans of the series like me, I can’t help but slide in a book rec)! and it is pretty neat that we get to be a part of this anthology conversation about our how we’ve approached our work in private schools. Here’s the book: Anti-Oppressive Education in "Elite" Schools I’ve been hopping in and out of some of these sessions and I wish we had more
April 22, 2021 · Uncategorized
Hello! If we haven’t said it lately, we are happy to be sharing our time on this planet with you. Like all good (intentional) holidays, Earth Day is one we would say is a daily practice and celebration. Just like our bodies, we only get one planet! There are SO many ways to integrate nature, gratitude for the Earth, climate justice activism, science and natural wonderment into the classroom through literature… but I tried to choose a few that might be a little different/ less obvious. We are indeed a fan of We are Water Protectors currently getting a lot of air time right now, as well as Jane Goodal l related books that we’ve written about in the past. Here are a few other sweet picture book options. *1. My current FAVORITE is The Tree in Me by Corinna Luyken. I don’t know her but shou-tout to this stupendous fellow Midd grad. The art (like always with her work) is resplendent and
August 6, 2020 · Uncategorized
Book Reflection Time! Some books that have given us good moments this summer. Here are made up awards I’m giving books I’ve enjoyed this summer. Best Calming vibes: How To Relax ( I now want this entire series because How To Fight and How to Love were also great ... I still burn the top of my mouth trying eat all the time so How To Eat is probably what’s up next, clearly I need it). The most lovely: The Carrying : Poems - Let’s be honest pretty much anything she touches turns beautiful. These are no exception. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (is it an adult book? A kids book? A little Pooh Bear vibes? Hard to say but it was sweet and lovely). Made me think/ continued learning: How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective - especially excellent. If you haven’t read This Bridge Called My Back I would recommend pairing the two! Girl, Woman, Other - it’s just
July 29, 2020 · Uncategorized
That’s great, we believe in you, here are some humble tips! We figured The Color of Fear would be an apt image for this post! (watch this film if you haven’t seen it, a real gem). Is your company trying to make an affinity space? A conversational community? A SURJ group? What’s the name, what's the style, what’s the vibe? OK, ok we’re not trying to tease. These spaces can be really effective, important, and even transformative -- when done well and properly supported and cared for. We actually happen to be really passionate about these types of spaces, they’re incredibly special when successful. We’ve started students of color groups and facilitated them, as well as run adult conversational communities (year long ones-- shout out to the National SEED project!), and conference ones. Every group of humans is different and facilitating is a true art form. If there’s anything we’ve really
June 2, 2020 · Uncategorized
Hi wonderful people. We thought it might be useful to share some new and old favorite resources of ours that we turn to as we engage in our justice educatorianship. We’ll come up with a new trendy term for it just to keep everyone on their toes (we’re kidding, there’s a lot of those to keep up with as it is). We do want to start with the brief (sometimes painful, but essential and realistic) reminder about how this work is ongoing.. and ongoing..and ongoing. We aren’t surprised because we know how deep this work has to go and yet that doesn’t remove the pain/numbness/exhaustion/tears the list goes on. We respect that sometimes the heavy fury of this work in our society comes in the form of self care (see our list below for good vibes). Other times, it’ll come in the form of modeling the answer to the guiding questions we teach backwards from: HOW DO WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO TALK ABOUT
May 3, 2019 · Uncategorized
A Few Additions: Our Favorite Recent Reading in Honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Check out last year’s post here ! Here are a few more worth taking a peek at this month, or any month:) The House that Lou Built by Mae Respicio We know we chose this one for Womyn’s month, too-- but with intersectionality and all, Lou and her family have a ton of awesome women as well as rocking their heritage, being thoughtful, and the list of what they rock goes on.. ! Enjoy the Bay Area vibes, tiny house-plot, girls who know what they want, and Filipino rep— it’s a keeper. Counting on Community by our fave (we met him!!!) Innosanto Nagara. This is our favorite board book of his and is most certainly what Gabby will be giving to all of her loved ones who have babies. A beautiful counting book that adds aspects of the lovely things that make community. This has his staple artistic beauty,
March 4, 2019 · Uncategorized
Great New Books to Keep You Celebrating Womens’/Womyns’ History Month (All Year Long) image from: https://hfhealthyliving.org/five-ways-celebrate-womens-history-month-new-york-city/ If you are a regular of our blog (hi!) you know we are of the mindset that while we appreciate the monthly celebrations as reminders to re-up our work, we don’t want to fall into the trap of only emphasizing the community being supposedly celebrated during only that month with our students. That being said, we love an excuse to add extra incentive and energy around learning about womyn. So here are some newer fiction books (most we read as ARCs so we could keep you as in the loop as possible) that have heroines that we think will aid in great conversations, or are solid options for keeping your students hooked in their adventures and inspired! The House That Lou Built by Mae Respicio We love this for its
December 6, 2018 · Uncategorized
Gabby here- first post in eternity. It’s finals week over here in graduate school land, and as I begin to reflect on the term (or procrastinate-- whatever you want to call it!), I have been thinking about what past teacher me could be reminded about from my current student life. Here are a few pieces that came up as I reflected (or procrastinated, really, you decide- just don’t tell me!). Hopefully these can be helpful right before the upcoming break, or when students return in January.. in addition to reviewing all those hard taught classroom expectations that they forgot! Time: What is time really, you know? And how does it just disappear so fast?! In seriousness, the demands of time management of a student are hard (different from a teacher’s but still very hard in its own way!), and I forgot to the degree they are especially when we calculate in the rest of their lives. Students do
Student-centeredstresssocial emotional learningWinterpedagogy
September 5, 2018 · Uncategorized
Hi everyone-- Gabby here writing to you from Oregon! While one of us gearing up for another great year leading the classroom, the other one of us is actually getting ready to be a student again... (cue the student-esque excitement annnd cue the whining about homework... well, hopefully I’ve outgrown that!). When I wasn’t packing or convincing cats that it’s fun to fly on planes to their new home, I have been doing my best read some soon to be released middle grade and YA lit. I have been loving the ARC (advanced reader copy) life. Here are a few of the recently released or soon to be released (!!) notable reads from the summer. Hopefully, you haven’t spent your whole classroom budget (like we did last year!) and you’ve got room to add a few of these to your shiny classroom library to kick off the year right! Picture books- This cover is so fabulous we won't even try to make it smaller!
literacybook reviewbooksread aloudnew books
June 11, 2018 · Uncategorized
We feel so hip, so cutting edge! It is no surprise to any of you who follow us here (or on Twitter) how much we love literature. We have seen on a daily basis how transformative it can be for us personally, but also for our students. As a result, we are now reading ARC's ( Advanced Reader's Copies) to continue our ongoing quest of excellent, thoughtful, diverse literature. If you are someone who is looking for a reader (or two! ) feel free to reach out to us! We have loved reading the ones we have received so far. We especially loved How to Love a Jamaican by Alexia Arthurs. The very first piece (Light Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands) in her short story collection blew our minds from the get go with its nuance, humanity, and the way it got at the depths of the many layers in our identities. Beautifully done-- we hope you can snag a copy this summer (It is officially out July 24th,
literacyread aloudsummer readingdiverse voicesdiscussion
January 12, 2018 · Uncategorized
Finding the opportunities in our problems, creating new vocabulary for the classroom, and teaching into post Winter Break transition blues! We are back from Winter Break and full swing into the wonderful world of 3rd grade! We are also... tired, but isn’t everyone? That tiredness though, and the adjustment period back into school routines , means that we (teachers and students alike) might bump into a few more dilemmas throughout our days. It happens! It is part of being human, and because we try to be thoughtful humans we have decided to teach INTO it! (Key word being try!). Our first piece of teaching into it (besides the typical reviewing of our classroom contract etc..) is to read one of our recent favorite books aloud: What Do You Do With a Problem? By Kobi Yamada and Mae Besom. You may have stumbled upon other fantastic work these two have created, our personal favorite being,
October 24, 2017 · Uncategorized
We are back in DC and reunited with our 3rd graders, a little wiped, but feeling very grateful. We just returned from the NWTSJ Conference (Northwest Teaching for Social Justice) in Seattle! We were graciously asked to return and do another presentation, and we couldn't pass it up. As we met participants along the way, we frequently got the question, "Wow, DC!? Why did you come all the way here?" The answer is simple. We love this conference. The energy is infectious, and we love checking out the hard work of largely West Coast public school educators. The conversations are dynamic and the passion seems neverending. A few highlights beyond the Seattle fresh air and rain were: A workshop about how to teach about the not so distant, painful history of Japanese-American Incarceration. We have been looking for resources for how to make this history more visible and this definitely fueled
conferencesSocial Studiessocial justice education
August 17, 2017 · Uncategorized
Message from two students on the last day of school (names removed for privacy). As the beginning of the new school year approaches (or Teachers’ New Year, as I like to call it), memories and reflections from last year always pop up as we decide what we want to keep, adapt, and get rid of as we start anew. This year, Gabby and I are moving from teaching 5th grade to teaching 3rd grade, so the calculation is even more complex. The first way we close the year is by literally closing a book. We also finished our class read aloud, Walk Two Moons, on the very last day of school, which felt perfect - Walk Two Moons (if you haven’t read it, RUN and pick it up!) has a complex, multi-faceted ending with lots of emotions, just like the end of the school year. It also reminded me for the umpteenth time how much I love read alouds and how they are an essential teaching and learning tool, but also
back to schoolend of the yeartraditionscommunity building
January 10, 2017 · Uncategorized
One Word From Sophia By Jim Averbeck and Yasmeen Ismail Summary: Sophia is a passionate young person who really wants her One True Desire for her birthday. She spends the book trying out different tactics (graphs, word choice, surveys etc.) to persuade her family members to get her, her wish. We love that she is multi-ethnic (!!!) and that this is represented in the different family members she goes to speak to throughout the book. Sophia is also hilarious and always makes us laugh (teachers and students). Be warned, there is a line about poop, this is pretty much a guaranteed giggle. We also love the sophisticated vocabulary that this book employs-- many of our students feel inspired to elevate their language after this read aloud! Questions/conversations with students: We go over vocabulary in this text We go over her strategies, explicitly noting her thoughtful use of graphs, charts
January 5, 2017 · Uncategorized
We started off the new year by having our students write their own New Year's Resolutions. We (teacher and students) love Kid President , and we (teachers) love his framing of thinking about what we can do for others in the new year. So we watched his AWESOME YEAR Challenge and brainstormed ideas for what we can do to make 2017 awesome for somebody else. Students had their own templates which included a section for brainstorming ideas. Next, they chose ideas they wanted to elaborate on, and used these sentence starters: I resolve to… I will do this by… This is significant because… (So what?!) We frequently include the "so what" section as it really pushes students to be reflective and think about a bigger picture instead of making a concrete or limited statement. We also ask our students to choose one resolution and think of two ways we (their teachers) can help them work on or achieve
January 2, 2017 · Uncategorized
We hope you all have been finding moments of peace and moments of rest during the holidays. We are gearing up for tomorrow and this next chapter in the school year. We hope to bring calm and routines back into the lives of our spunky 10/11 year olds! For now we wanted to leave with you a few quotes that have been guiding our preparation into the new year. We hope they support you in your work and your self care! Sending you warmth, Gabby +
December 3, 2016 · Uncategorized
Gabby reading Fox aloud to the students in preparation for our text-based debate. We tried something new this week and launched our character analysis unit with a text based debate! I got this idea from attending a debate related workshop at the Capital Area Progressive Schools conference at Green Acres last month. Our students LOVE debating so we had to try it out. The idea of a text based debate is that students agree or disagree with a claim about a character and find evidence from the text to back up their argument. We used the book Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks . The claim we used was: Magpie is a good friend. If you don't know the book, you should check it out! image credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2651521-fox We started by having students do a quick write in their writer's notebooks answering the question: what makes someone a good friend? Then, we read Fox aloud
November 10, 2016 · Uncategorized
Yesterday was a difficult day, in every sense of the word. I went into school feeling devastated and exhausted. Other teachers came into our classroom for hugs. Many of my coworkers were in tears, sharing stories of heartbreaking questions their children asked them that morning. Some were wondering what to do to make sure they or their family members would stay (and feel) safe. Image credit: VOA news ( http://www.voanews.com/a/minnesota-state-legislature-llhan-omar-somali-refugee/3589660.html ) But our students were arriving, whether we were ready or not, so I set up our sign-in prompt for the day. It was the photograph above with the headline: "Ilhan Omar will be nation's first Somali-American legislator." Students wrote thoughts and questions related to the headline as they trickled into the classroom. Later, we watched this video during Morning Meeting. My students responded to the
electionpolitics
November 2, 2016 · Uncategorized
This photo always makes us laugh and reminds us of the birth of the "Pomelo Hat Challenge" Here are our pomelos before 1. We got hungry. And 2. We all become creative fashion designers! Great news! Per request (we should've thought of this sooner), we have made it so that you can subscribe to our blog. YAY. We hope you'll join us (and keep the pressure on us) as we document our school year and our thoughts on social justice ed. As always, keep us posted on what you are up to/thinking/what is working for you all out there. We've loved being education and social justice nerds with you all. With excitement and love, Nina + Gabby Subscribe below :) Subscribe to our
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November 2, 2016 · Uncategorized
Hallo again! (see what we did there ? Nina says this wasn’t my finest). Yours truly were there , and they're ( their was also a costume but is not pictured). Of course we can all have a reminder about homophones on Halloween! It was just recently Halloween in 5th grade and we wanted to share one of our favorite parts of prepping for the holiday. In 5th grade since we are constantly examining systems and institutions, we examine many holidays throughout the year and Halloween is no exception! Halloween is a jackpot for discussing stereotypes, cultural appropriation, gender norms, “trends” and media. In short, we LOVE it as a way to inspire even more social justice conversations. We do an investigation into Halloween in which students are broken into four groups: “boys" costumes, "girls" costumes, cultural/international costumes, and "women’s" costumes. We have either found appropriate
social justice educationsocinvestigationholidays
October 17, 2016 · Uncategorized
Gif (in case you want the full enjoyment of this photo-- you're welcome!) That's right! The kids are in charge! We recently had two days of conferences with students and their families. Our favorite parts about student-led conferences are below. We share about these because while we know that not all schools have space for this type of set up with the official parent conferences, student-led conferences can also be done within your classroom as a way of checking in. They can confer with just you, or confer/present in small groups with you, as well. There are so many ways to utilize the format. Here are some key takeaway pieces about student-led conferences that we love: While we provide (especially at the beginning of the year) support and graphic organizers etc.. students begin practicing the essential life and student skill of REFLECTION. Students also build off of this reflection
conferencesstudent reflection
October 5, 2016 · Uncategorized
We found an awesome "Women's Rights Advocate Monster" on someone's homework today! Cool! Is it only Wednesday? There's so much happening this week! The world keeps spinning! In our classroom especially there is a buzz about the upcoming election (especially the debates) and protests on protests on protests. One realm of protests our students have some background on in different capacities are the Black Lives Matter protests, largely the sports related ones. Another area of protest news that we have had energy around is water protectors against the DAPL (largely from us, because that protest has had a severe LACK of coverage). All of this is to say, while we have been working hard in 5th grade to tackle routines and settle in for the school year-- the world continues on! Finding the time and space to be informed about these news stories and issues can seem daunting and frustrating. Meet…
Social Studiessocial justice educationcurriculumcurrent events
September 30, 2016 · Uncategorized
Our students were beyond excited to learn all about Goodreads! They feel grown up having graduated from physical “reading logs” and love the social interaction Goodreads provides. It is much more dynamic than reading logs as you update what you are currently reading (so the page by page tracking option is still there) and what you want to read in the future. Also, when you finish a book, you rate it, review it, and can recommend it to others! In a classroom where we really could talk about books all day, Goodreads provides a framework for reviewing and recommending books as well as a meaningful way to get ideas for new books to read. Some of our more competitive and numbers minded students also love the “challenge” option and how Goodreads automatically keeps track of the number of books you read. They set goals for the number of books they hope to read in the remaining months of 2016
September 7, 2016 · Uncategorized
Every year on the first day of school (or Teacher's New Year as we like to call it), we ask our students to write a letter to themselves detailing their expectations, hopes, and goals for the year ahead. Tomorrow, we will collect their (sealed) letters and put them away until the last day of school. It is always fun to watch students laugh as they open their letters at the end of the school year and are shocked by their growth (as writers, learners, and more) and how their perceptions and expectations have changed! Below is my letter to myself: Dear (future) Nina, No matter how many first days of school you teach, they always feel the same: exciting, exhausting, and nerve-wracking! There are so many things I am joyfully anticipating this year: a third year in a row teaching the same grade at the same school with the same co-teacher (unprecedented stability for me), mentoring an
first day of schoolwritingreflection
August 20, 2016 · Uncategorized
One of our class "pets" serving as an audience member while students practice their stories! It is that time again (ahhh how does it happen so fast?!) We know many of our fellow teachers and friends have already begun.. To those colleagues we wish you a joyful, honest, and growth-filled school year! This summer was full. On a global and national level, it was full of pain, confusion, and fear. There is also Olympic excitement. There are protests continuing on for the Dakota Access Pipeline… The list goes on. For us personally and professionally, the summer was full for those aforementioned reasons, and also because we traveled a lot, went to a few conferences, and listened a lot. We see summer as an integral part of educator reflection. As we head into the school year, we want to share with you the kinds of questions we ask ourselves to prepare for the amazing humans we will foster
back to schoolreflection
June 20, 2016 · Uncategorized
Introducing our storytelling end of year extravaganza: Final Stage! The year is wrapping up in 5th grade! Where has the time gone?! We love many things about the end of the school year, but our favorite is the culmination of our Storytelling Unit. We have a big Final Stage show in which every single one of our 26 students steps up onto the stage and tells a true story LIVE! There are so many reasons why we love teaching storytelling. It is rigorous, social justice oriented, colorful, and has the power to be incredibly personal and meaningful. We love how it opens up spaces for each student's voice, and we love how it allows space for deeper connections with family friends, especially in the act of reflection. However, this year, we had our students fill out a survey so we could have a sense of what they thought about studying the craft of storytelling. Check out some of their thoughts
storytellingdiverse voicesoral historycurric
June 10, 2016 · Uncategorized
Students participating in a "gallery walk" admiring each other's final projects! Our final Social Studies project for this year was a case study of a Virginia Indian tribe. We wanted students to learn about the peoples who have been in this area for thousands of years and understand that each tribe is different. For the final product, students wrote a top ten list indicating the top ten things you should know about this tribe. They also designed an annotated illustration to go along with their top ten lists. We were very impressed with their work. One of our students who studied the Rappahanock Tribe reflected: "This particular tribe and many other tribes are facing a challenge that is that they do not have enough money. This is because of the white settlers pretty much completely. Many of them live on their reservation but if they did not many of them would be having a tough time
Native American studiesVirginia IndiansCase Studies
May 8, 2016 · Uncategorized
Background: Following the Responsive Classroom model, the norms and expectations in our classroom are called our 'covenant'. In our classroom, we spend the first month and a half (!) trying to sort out what we value individually and as a class, so that we can create a covenant that feels true to us. We have three dynamic simulations in which students 'experience' Anarchy, Totalitarianism, and Republicanism. After each class period, we reflect on each government model to decide what we like best about it. We take these positive aspects and try to figure out how we want our classroom to run and which pieces we would like to incorporate into our community. The covenant is a labor of love and becomes all their own. This year, our class created a written covenant, a song (they are an incredibly musical bunch), and a logo which was "reproduced" (AKA copied and laminated) for everyone to put
simulationsexperiential learningIndigenous American StudiesSocial Studiescurriculum
May 5, 2016 · Uncategorized
In our classroom we have a Social Studies unit focused on Virginia's (and Maryland's) Indigenous people. This unit developed after we noticed that our students had no idea about the people, cultures, and communities that have been on this land for thousands of years. One part of this unit that we are just getting into is an investigation about the one and only Pocahontas. She is from a tribe in the Virginia area, called the Pamunkey (part of the Powhatan Confederacy) and thus is very relevant. She also was a source of great interest to our students-- so we went with it! Investigations are a great way to get students (or anyone!) invested in a conversation, and gives the space for everyone to get some more background information before taking on a heavier or more dynamic conversation. Our Pocahontas Investigation was structured by having small groups (3-4 students) doing what is
Native American studiesIndigenous peoplesinvestigationPocahontas
May 2, 2016 · Uncategorized
This week, we shared a note in our all school newsletter about our presentation at the White Privilege Conference. We were surprised and touched when a parent of a former student came to tell us she read our newsletter addition and she was so happy to hear about us sharing our work with a larger audience! Apparently, our work with her child last year changed the way she thought about inequity, structural poverty, racism and more. This has impacted her role as a teacher at an inter-faith Sunday school as they now do activities that she said she never would have thought of before we taught her child. She said that from experiential activities even the young students were able to understand more abstract concepts because they were engaged and felt something. She was thrilled to see that we are reaching other adults and educators. It's always lovely to hear positive memories from a former
thanksparent
April 18, 2016 · Uncategorized
We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to facilitate a workshop at the White Privilege Conference in Philadelphia this past weekend. We presented our workshop, Is This Equitable?: Experiential Learning Activities to Confront White Privilege and White Supremacy on Sunday twice and really enjoyed hearing feedback, ideas, questions, and suggestions from other conference attendees. For our first activity, we had our participants draw people based off of descriptions we provided. This led to a fruitful discussion about internalized bias and stereotypes and how this activity can be used to claim and work through unconscious racism and prejudices we all had. The act of drawing people and then confronting the tangible visual of who you envisioned versus who we were actually describing creates cognitive dissonance and makes privilege real and personally relevant. We talked about how we