July 1, 2019 · conferences
Last year, I took on a new role at my school and in addition to be a 3rd grade teacher, I was also the Co-Teaching Facilitator . It was fun to be able to work with my colleagues in a new capacity and rewarding to find and provide resources to (hopefully) support them. As part of this role and some hopes for next year, I attended The Art of Coaching Teams Institute through Bright Morning . I had already read and worked with The Art of Coaching by Elena Aguilar and was excited to add The Art of Coaching Teams (also by Elena Aguilar) to my resources bank. The workshop packed a lot into two days and I especially loved the opportunities to collaborate with others and make what we were learning and discussing relevant to our own work. There was so much to appreciate, but here are a few of my highlights: I loved the Cycle of an Emotion (in the photo above). It is so concrete and applies to
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May 14, 2019 · conferences
Participants’ drawings during our activity Last month, I had the opportunity to present at the Capital Area Progressive Schools (CAPS) Conference! The theme of the conference was Responsive Practice: Diversity, Equity, and Differentiation. This conference takes place every two years and all CAPS members faculty and staff are invited to join. This year, my school had the day off for students so everyone could attend and it seemed like most other schools did so as well. It was so lovely that so many schools were able to do this so we had so many other teachers (and faculty and staff) to meet! Coming from a small school with only one class per grade, it’s always very exciting to have a chance to talk to other 3rd grade teachers. My (new) co-teacher and I presented our W hat continent do you think they are from? drawing humans activity that Gabby and I designed as part of our 3rd grade
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December 15, 2018 · conferences
Late last month, I had the honor of participating on a panel presentation at the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) annual convention. I was sharing details about our beloved storytelling unit on a panel about cultural relevancy, the arts, and student voice! I was lucky to be paired up with an excellent co-presenter (the panel ended up just being the two of us!) and loved sharing details about what still is one of my favorite units to teach. I was originally slated to be on a panel with four other people, but as it worked out, only two of us were able to present. We were both able to share more details about our work and had more time for questions (which is often my favorite part). Not surprisingly, the highlight of my presentation really was the video of a student performance from our Final Stage show where every single one of our students performed a true story about
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October 26, 2018 · curriculum
A snapshot of our “contract wall” showcasing some student art! As we near the end of October and my school has its Fall round of conferences with families, I was recently pleased to notice how many of my students use the language of our class contract (rules for our class) in their reflections about how the year is going for them. Creating our contract was a multi-step process starting with a read aloud and ending with a signed contract and accompanying art projects (and of course a shared understanding about the kind of community we want to create). We started with a read aloud (always a wonderful place to start!). Our first chapter book read aloud of the year is Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks . We read a few chapters and a day and do a variety of responses to our reading to help us empathize with the characters. The main characters’ negative experiences at school
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July 17, 2018 · conferences
Last week, I was fortunate enough to attend the National Presbyterian School Diversity Institute featuring Rosetta Lee . I first encountered Rosetta when we were both presenting (about microaggressions) at the Asian Educators Alliance in 2016 , and have been a big fan ever since! I also loved attending a local conference and meeting many early childhood educators who also work in the DC Metro area. There were so many things to love about this institute. I especially appreciated being able to attend a session for early childhood (PK-3rd) educators, as so many diversity or social justice workshops seem to be geared for middle school and up. There is nothing like being surrounded by early childhood social justice educators to make you feel vindicated for all the times you insisted that third graders (or even fifth graders) are most definitely NOT “too young for this work!” I also was so
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April 27, 2018 · conferences
Last week, I was fortunate enough to facilitate a workshop at the Asian Educators Alliance (AsEA) Conference here in Washington, DC! I presented a workshop titled Rebranding Microaggressions: Otherizing and Marginalization at the AsEA Conference in Berkeley, CA in 2016, so it was wonderful to be back and connect with so many amazing educators on the other side of the country (and without even needing to fly anywhere)! My workshop was titled What Continent Do You Think They Are From: Confronting & Challenging Internalized Stereotypes. I led participants through the drawing humans and guessing what continent they might be from activity that we created for our class as an example of one activity you could use to uncover racial, gender, geographic or other biases. I find that the activity highlights and counteracts internalized stereotypes, assumptions, and bias, and hoped it would provide
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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
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March 18, 2017 · conferences
Excited to share some of our favorite activities with others at PSPP (pom poms in hand!) We had the pleasure of visiting GDS High School and attending the Private Schools for Public Purpose (PSPP) conference ! We presented some experiential learning activities we do in our 5th grade classroom (two of our favorites, our drawing activity and pom pom simulation , and some new ones like our factory simulation in our Econ 101 unit!), along with how we talk about race and socio-economic status in our classroom. We were privileged to spend our workshop time with thoughtful, justice-oriented educators. Unlike some other presentations we have done, this space was small and intimate, and we loved getting to hear from everyone and have a dynamic discussion. We heard all about affinity groups, equity work, and innovative programming at other schools. Our trusty bin of workshop supplies: pom poms,
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November 6, 2016 · conferences
Getting ready to lead our workshop! On Friday, we were fortunate to be part of the contingent from our school attending the Capitol Area Progressive Schools (CAPS) conference! The conference was held at another area progressive school and teachers and staff from seven other progressive schools were in attendance. We were excited by the prospect of sharing our simulations and curriculum with local schools as the possibility of continued collaboration is so much higher when you are in the same city! Our workshop centered around the social justice work in our classroom, with participants actually experiencing two activities we created ourselves: our drawing activity that highlights internalized stereotypes and our pom pom simulation . As always, our participants brought their own unique perspectives, responses, and reactions to our activities. During the drawing simulation, multiple people
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November 1, 2016 · conferences
We went to beautiful Portland, Oregon to present at the Northwest Teaching for Social Justice conference (NWTSJ) . This conference is unique in that it is organized BY teachers and mainly run by volunteers. It was our first time in Portland and at this conference, and we were loved both (the sun even came out specially for our visit)! The keynote speaker, Kevin Kumashiro, Dean of the University of San Francisco School of Education, reminded us that education is a social movement and the purpose of a social movement is to change the status quo and the dominant or “common sense” way of thinking. His rhetoric around “common sense” resonated with us as we often tell our students that saying something is obvious or common is NOT an argument. Historically, it was “obvious” (to those in power) for a long time that white men were superior. It also speaks to the relevance of identity and
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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
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