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Teaching and Healing: A Conversation on Trauma Informed Teaching with Arlène Casimir and Alex Vene‪t‬

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Teaching and Healing: A Conversation on Trauma Informed Teaching with Arlène Casimir and Alex Vene‪t‬

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Provided by CaroleAnn

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teaching and healing: a conversation on trauma informed teaching with arlène casimir and alex venet

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‎Heinemann Podcast: Teaching and Healing: A Conversation on Trauma Informed Teaching with Arlène Casimir and Alex Venet on Apple Podcasts

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‎Show Heinemann Podcast, Ep Teaching and Healing: A Conversation on Trauma Informed Teaching with Arlène Casimir and Alex Venet - Mar 18, 2021

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There is no average student. So how should educators measure learning?

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There is no average student. So how should educators measure learning?

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Provided by CaroleAnn

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What if the way we think about testing and how we measure students is broken? That's the argument made by our guest today, Todd Rose, author of the bestselling "The End of Average," who has researched the history of grades and standardized tests, and argues for a new way to think about them.

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there is no average student. so how should educators measure learning?

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‎EdSurge Podcast: There Is No Average Student. So How Should Educators Measure Learning? on Apple Podcasts

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‎What if the way we think about testing and how we measure students is broken? That's the argument made by our guest today, Todd Rose, author of the bestselling "The End of Average," who has researched the history of grades and standardized tests, and argues for a new way to think about them.

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Provided by Greta

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"early childhood education" "lgbtqia kids" "woke kindergarten" "woke education" "woke read alouds"

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The illest early learning on YouTube. Liberation is the goal. Abolition is the journey. All Power to the Little People!

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Download a SampleKids First from Day One by Christine Hertz, Kristine Mraz

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Download a SampleKids First from Day One by Christine Hertz, Kristine Mraz

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A Teacher's Guide to Today's Classroom

The classroom of your dreams starts with one big idea. From the first days of school to the last, Kids First from Day One shares how to put your deepest teaching belief into action. Whether it's building community, designing your classroom spaces, matching instruction to students' needs, or engaging students in curriculum, Christine Hertz and Kristi Mraz help you put into action the belief that children are the most important people in the room.

Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more.

"This book is a place to start creating the classroom of your dreams from the very first minute of school, a classroom that is research based, child centered, and in step with the world today."
- Christine Hertz and Kristine Mraz

The classroom of your dreams starts with one big idea. From the first days of school to the last, Kids First from Day One shares teaching that puts your deepest teaching belief into action: that children are the most important people in the room.

Christine Hertz and Kristi Mraz show how to take that single, heartfelt value and create a cohesive, highly effective approach to teaching that addresses today's connected, collaborative world. With infectious enthusiasm, hard-won experience, and a generous dose of humor, Kids First from Day One shows exactly how Christine and Kristi build and maintain a positive, cooperative, responsive classroom where students engage deeply with their learning and one another.

Kids First from Day One strengthens and deepens the connections between your love of working with kids, your desire to impact their lives, and your teaching practice. It shares:

plans for designing beautiful classroom spaces that burst with the fun of learning

positive language and classroom routines that reduce disruptive behavior-without rewards and consequences

suggestions for matching students' needs to high-impact teaching structures

a treasury of the Christine and Kristi's favorite "teacher stuff" such as quick guides for challenging behavior, small-group planning grids, and parent letters

links to videos that model the moves of Christine's and Kristi's own teaching.

Just starting out and want to know what really works in classrooms? Curious about how to make your room hum with learning? Or always on the lookout for amazing teaching ideas? Read Kids First from Day One. You'll discover that the classroom of your dreams is well within your reach.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

1. Teaching Is Heart Work

The Flourishing Teacher
The Empathetic Teacher
The Playful Teacher
The Flexible Teacher
The Reflective Teacher
Conclusion: Glad We Got That All Figured Out
Interviews with Experts: Jessica Lifshitz, Sara Ahmed, Chad Everett

2. The Physical Environment
Big Idea: Setting Up Your Classroom: Start with a Blank Canvas Not a Finished Masterpiece
Big Idea: Let Your Space Reflect Your Students
Conclusion: Take Time to Reflect on Your Classroom and Your Beliefs
Interview with an Expert: Julie Denberg

3. The Emotional Environment
Big Idea: Scheduling for Success
Big Idea: Build a Community Don't Just Manage One
Big Idea: Social Skills Can Be Taught
Big Idea: Supporting Every Child
Conclusion: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day; Kids Won't Learn Everything
About Your Community Overnight
Interview with an Expert: Allyson Black-Foley

4. Building Curriculum
Big Idea: Curriculum Should Be Responsive and Intentional
Big Idea: Build a Better Teaching Toolbox: Clear Teaching Structures Drive Complex Learning
Big Idea: Responsive Teachers Draw from All They Know
Conclusion: Assume Success Is Possible When the Factors Are Right
Interviews with Experts: Annie Dunn, Yvonne Yiu, Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts
Tips for Family Interaction
Annotated First-Day Letter
Annotated Letter About Mindset
Room Planning Guide
Quick Guide to Teaching Social Skills
Quick Guide to Challenging Behaviors
Checklist Template
Conference Notes Form
Conferring and Small-Group Planning Grid

In Depth

This book is a place to start creating the classroom of your dreams. A classroom that is research based, child centered, and in step with the world today. A classroom that exemplifies the collaboration, flexibility, agency, and problem-solving that people need to be successful in the coming decades. A classroom where critical thinking, thoughtful reflection, and curious inquiry sit side by side with reading, writing, and math, But here's a caveat: we're not going to promise that you'll ever achieve classroom nirvana-we know there's no such thing as perfection. And we are the first to admit that this is hard, messy work. There will be missteps and mishaps, but just like your students, you will learn from your mistakes and grow. Know that there is a community out there ready to celebrate and commiserate and think and question with you every step of the way. This book is just a first step, a launching pad to what is possible. To help you along the way, we've included lots of our favorite books, people to follow on Twitter, interviews with experts, and videos of the two of us teaching.

Are you looking to infuse or reclaim a spirit of joy and possibility into your teaching? Do you wish your students were happier and more playful? Start in Section 1.

Looking to create a beautiful classroom space that fosters collaboration, independence, and curiosity? Are you curious about the intersection between environment and behavior? Start in Section 2.

Do you want to create a classroom community free of rewards and threats? Do you see a need for your children to learn social skills but aren't sure how to go about it? Start in Section 3.

Do you find that you use the same teaching structures (guided reading for example) again and again and again? Are you interested in finding ways to engage students in learning that isn't always teacher driven? Are you curious about how to make your teaching more responsive, even if the curriculum is set? Start in Section 4.

Do you love stuff? Let's be honest, we all do. The goodies are in the back. Start in the appendixes.

- Introduction

Companion Resources

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The classroom of your dreams starts with one big idea. From the first days of school to the last, Kids First from Day One shares how to put your deepest teaching belief into action.

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No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching By Mariana Souto-Manning, Carmen I. Lugo Llerena, Jessica Martell, Abigail Salas Maguire, Alicia Arce-Boardman

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No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching By Mariana Souto-Manning, Carmen I. Lugo Llerena, Jessica Martell, Abigail Salas Maguire, Alicia Arce-Boardman

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Culturally relevant teaching is essential, now more than ever. If we want children to develop as successful learners, we must communicate that they belong in our classrooms. They need to see themselves, their cultures, their families, and their communities reflected in the materials and resources they find there.

Every child is a cultural being with a unique history and rich cultural practices; a member of communities in and outside of school. Yet too many children spend their days inside classrooms where they rarely find their voices, values, and cultural practices reflected in curriculum materials, much less embraced and celebrated through instructional practices.

Culturally relevant teaching is essential, now more than ever. If we want children to develop as successful learners, we must communicate that they belong in our classrooms. They need to see themselves, their cultures, their families, and their communities reflected in the materials and resources they find there.

Culturally relevant teachers honor students' identities by positioning them at the center of teaching and learning. Each and every day, they make sure children and their families feel that they belong in school. They include multiple perspectives and points of view in the curriculum.

In this book, four teachers who teach in richly diverse classrooms and have studied culturally relevant pedagogy for years with researcher Mariana Souto-Manning, share specific practices, strategies, and tools that make their teaching culturally relevant. Join the authors of No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching and show your students that their lives do matter...in teaching, in learning, and in society.

(click any section below to continue reading)

In Depth

Having a handful of "multicultural" picture books is not enough. Carmen, Jessica, Abigail, and Alicia explore some wholly original and fascinating approaches that go beyond read-alouds.

Wait until you get to the section about children bringing their "artifactual histories" into the classroom or the section in which "story acting" is used to help children understand oppression! The authors underscore the importance of narrative; we need to bring the stories of children's lives outside the classroom into our everyday work with children. They go on to address the need for counternarratives. Whose voices provide a different perspective than those we're accustomed to hearing? Whose voices are missing completely?

This is a book about disrupting perceptions and preconceived notions about children and teaching practice. In one of the most deliciously diverse countries in the world, there is an urgency to move toward culturally relevant teaching. This book will light the path of your journey.

-Ellin Oliver Keene

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If we want children to develop as successful learners, we must communicate that they belong in our classrooms. They need to see themselves, their cultures, their families, and their communities reflected in the materials and resources they find there.

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It’s All About the Books,How to Create Bookrooms and Classroom Libraries That Inspire Readers By Tammy Mulligan, Clare Landrigan Foreword by Jennifer Serravallo

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It’s All About the Books,How to Create Bookrooms and Classroom Libraries That Inspire Readers By Tammy Mulligan, Clare Landrigan Foreword by Jennifer Serravallo

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It's All About the Books - Mulligan, Landrigan

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How to Create Bookrooms and Classroom Libraries That Inspire Readers. A practical yet detailed guide to creating a system where classroom libraries and bookrooms work seamlessly to make it easy for teachers to find books to engage and scaffold all students in a school community.

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Unlocking the Power of Classroom TalkTeaching Kids to Talk with Clarity and Purpose By Shana Frazin, Katy Wischow

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Unlocking the Power of Classroom TalkTeaching Kids to Talk with Clarity and Purpose By Shana Frazin, Katy Wischow

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Teaching Kids to Talk with Clarity and Purpose

Practical strategies for teaching talk across the school day and in every subject. Classroom video shows the work in action!

Shana Frazin and Katy Wischow passionately believe in the need to help students develop strong talk skills across the school day, in every subject, to prepare them for their academic lives and lives as active citizens outside of school. Using a unique "cycle" for talk that's similar to the writing process (generating, choosing, developing, acting, and reflecting), they name the predictable things we do most times we engage in a conversation, and show us how we can teach into those parts.

Shana and Katy provide practical strategies for teaching four important purposes for talk that exist both in the classroom and in the real world:
* talking to build relationships
* talking to play with ideas
* talking to clarify, analyze, and argue
* talking to report.
They offer a clear description of each purpose, the "when and how" to teach into those purposes, and what to do when things go awry. Classroom video brings the content to life showing what the talk looks and sounds like in action.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Part One: Foundations of Talk
Ch. 1: Why Teach Talk?
Ch. 2: Talk Is a Cycle, Too
Part Two: Purposes for Talk
Ch. 3: Talking to Build Relationships
Ch. 4: Talking to Play with Ideas
Ch. 5: Talking to Clarify, Analyze, and Argue
Ch. 6: Talking to Report
Part Three: Leveling Up Your Talk
Ch. 7: Reciprocity: The Relationship Between Listening and Talking
Ch. 8: Making Talk Visible: Celebrating, Going Public, and Assessing
Ch. 9: Tackling Talk Trouble

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Practical strategies for teaching talk across the school day and in every subject. Classroom video shows the work in action! - Heinemann

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En Comunidad, Lessons for Centering the Voices and Experiences of Bilingual Latinx Students By Carla España, Luz Yadira Herrera

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En Comunidad, Lessons for Centering the Voices and Experiences of Bilingual Latinx Students By Carla España, Luz Yadira Herrera

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"Here's our book, at last! España and Herrera's engaging narrative, and the voices of teachers and students, remind us that we are en comunidad when we express our care, love, and understanding for emergent bilingual learners of Spanish, English, and all world languages. En Comunidad confirms that students possess intellect, creativity, and imagination across their language assets and repertoires. We educators were waiting for España and Herrera as our colleagues, guides, and seers, and they're here at last. Thank you for guiding us further in our journeys toward literacy, libertad, and equity through your humane work, vision, and practices."-R. Joseph Rodríguez, author of Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites

"It shouldn't be a mystery or a chore to educate secondary Latinx bilingual learners. To this end, teachers need to learn how to center their students' voices and experiences in their classrooms, and in so doing, to make education meaningful to them. Kudos to Carla España and Luz Yadira Herrera for this conceptually rich, beautifully written, and highly accessible text that indeed charts a new way forward."-Angela Valenzuela, College of Education, University of Texas at Austin

"Somehow this book manages to be at once deeply personal and profoundly practical all at the same time. Carla and Luz weave their own stories as Latinx educators and students with concrete, transformative suggestions for making all students feel welcome, honored, and supported in our schools. Each year there is one book that comes out that makes me wish I could go back to my first year teaching and do it all over again - to do it better. This is the book for me this year. How I wish I had had Carla and Luz in my ear, and how glad I am they are here for you now." -Kate Roberts, author of A Novel Approach

"This book centers around how to empower minoritized Latinx students as learners by helping them value their own language, their own history, their own community and themselves in a system that has marginalized them for centuries. En Communidad is not just for Latinx students or teachers who teach Latinx students, but for all American students and teachers who desire to bring real democracy to this country and make this world justice for all people. This is indeed a wonderful book."- Danling Fu, Professor of Language and Literature in the College of Education, University of Florida

"In this incredible book, Carla and Luz remind us that, like in all good teaching, the most effective classrooms place students at the center of teaching and learning. In a mix of critical pedagogy and inspirational practice, they demonstrate ways to build curriculum around students' lives, to avoid the trap of monolithic thinking, and to trust-truly trust-students to fill in knowledge gaps (including our own) through shared discussion and inquiry. Carla and Luz guide us to consider: when classrooms are shared spaces, when children teach as much as they learn, we, as a community, can thrive."-Chris Lehman, coauthor of Falling in Love with Close Reading

"Dr. Espana and Dr. Herrera hit a home-run. Together they beautifully bridge the gaps between theory, policy, practice, and personal experience. Their work evokes untold Latinx histories, and offers culturally sustaining pedagogical approaches to classroom practice. It's clear this work is not only about sustaining Latinx raciolinguistic ways being, rather it's also about sustaining researchers and classroom practitioners as well. This work reminds us that we are here and we belong."- Steven Arenas, English Teacher and Recipient of the NCTE 2016 Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award

"In this book, grounded in research and lifted by story, Carla and Luz provide compelling rationales and practical ideas for valuing students' and colleagues' linguistic repertoires and identities. As a monolingual teacher, this book exponentially expanded my growing understanding of best practices for teaching all children and for building inclusive and appreciative learning communities in which everyone is seen, heard, and valued."-Kathy Collins, coauthor of I Am Reading

"This book is a radical departure from every other professional development book I've read about teaching about emergent bilinguals. Carla and Luz's embrace of each student they work with and their staunch belief that every child brings an abundance of value to our classrooms, not in spite of, but because of their linguistic heritage, feels revolutionary in this day and age. Then they went one step further and made those ideals tangible by providing engaging, practical lessons about language, identity and literacy. Every educator who reads this book will be changed by it. And perhaps most importantly, so will our students."-Colleen Cruz, author of The Unstoppable Writing Teacher

"As a scholar who seeks to challenge racial and linguistic hierarchies in the education of Latinx children, the most common question that I receive from teachers and administrators is how they can work to dismantle these hierarchies in their day-to-day practice. Now the answer has become more simple: En Comunidad. In this book, España and Herrera treat seriously the idea that the cultural and linguistic practices of Latinx children are legitimate and should be made central to their educational experiences. It is a must read for all educators who work with Latinx students."-Nelson Flores, Ph.D., Penn Graduate School of Education

"En Comunidad pushes beyond the common notions of learning language, using language, or having language. Authors España and Herrera send the invitation to live language. When we are safe to live our languages inside classroom spaces, we can live a more represented, connected and liberated life. And I can't imagine a greater gift to give students. Thank you, Carla and Luz, for writing a book that not only offers an insightful course on language, but helps us take the power off the page and into the classroom with a series of researched, dynamic lessons."-Maggie Beatty Roberts, coauthor of DIY Literacy

"Have you ever wondered what bilingual education would look like if it were intentionally designed to sustain the rich practices and identities of Latinx children, families, and communities? If so, you will definitely want to read En Comunidad. In this engaging book, you will be introduced to a critical bilingual literacies approach to curriculum and teaching. Intentionally centering bilingual Latinx voices, values, practices, and experiences, this approach invites us to consider robust pathways for engaging in teaching that honors bilingual Latinx students' full identities. En Comunidad offers us powerful lessons for transforming the education of bilingual Latinx students in the pursuit of justice."-Mariana Souto-Manning, Teachers College, Columbia University

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En Comunidad brings bilingual Latinx students' perspectives to the center of our classrooms, and offers classroom-ready lessons that amplify the varied

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Connecting with Students Online Strategies for Remote Teaching and Learning Webinar with Jennifer Serravallo

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Connecting with Students Online Strategies for Remote Teaching and Learning Webinar with Jennifer Serravallo

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If you weren't able to join Jennifer Serravallo live to hear more about her Connecting with Students Online, you don't have to miss out. We recorded her webinar so you can listen or share anytime you'd like. You'll hear Jen talk about why she's writing the book, why the teacher-student relationship needs to be a focal point during remote instruction, and how teachers can be strategic about online teaching.

*Preorder now from Heinemann.com and get special prepublication savings with code CWSO20 (now through 10/06/2020).

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Miss the Connecting with Students Online Webinar with Jennifer Serravallo? Watch it Here!

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If you weren't able to join Jennifer Serravallo live to hear more about her Connecting with Students Online , you don't have to miss out. We recorded her webinar so you can listen or share anytime you'd like.

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Connecting with Students Online Strategies for Remote Teaching & Learning by Jennifer Serravallo

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Connecting with Students Online Strategies for Remote Teaching & Learning by Jennifer Serravallo

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Strategies for Remote Teaching & Learning

The professional development for online teaching and learning that you've been asking for

An unprecedented pandemic may change the definition of classroom, but it doesn't have to change your definition of good teaching. Jennifer Serravallo's Connecting with Students Online gives you concise, doable suggestions based on her own experiences and those of the teachers, administrators, and coaches she has communicated with during the pandemic.

Watch Jen's webinar about the book!

Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more.

The professional development for online teaching and learning that you've been asking for

An unprecedented pandemic may change the definition of classroom, but it doesn't have to change your definition of good teaching. Now that you're making the shift to online teaching, it's time to answer your biggest questions about remote, digitally based instruction:

How do I build and nurture relationships with students and their at-home adults from afar?

How do I adapt my best teaching to an online setting?

How do I keep a focus on students and their needs when they aren't in front of me?

Jennifer Serravallo's Connecting with Students Online gives you concise, doable answers based on her own experiences and those of the teachers, administrators, and coaches she has communicated with during the pandemic. Focusing on the vital importance of the teacher-student connection, Jen guides you to:

effectively prioritize what matters most during remote, online instruction

schedule your day and your students' to maximize teaching and learning (and avoid burnout)

streamline curricular units and roll them out digitally

record highly engaging short lessons that students will enjoy and learn from

confer, working with small groups, and drive learning through independent practice

partner with the adults in a student's home to support your work with their child.

Featuring simplified, commonsense suggestions, 55 step-by-step teaching strategies, and video examples of Jen conferring and working with small groups, Connecting with Students Online helps new teachers, teachers new to technology, or anyone who wants to better understand the essence of effective online instruction. Along the way Jen addresses crucial topics including assessment and progress monitoring, student engagement and accountability, using anchor charts and visuals, getting books into students' hands, teaching subject-area content, and avoiding teacher burnout.
During this pandemic crisis turn to one of education's most trusted teaching voices to help you restart or maintain students' progress. Jennifer Serravallo's Connecting with Students Online is of-the-moment, grounded in important research, informed by experience, and designed to get you teaching well-and confidently-as quickly as possible.

Jen will be donating a portion of the proceeds fromConnecting with Students Online to organizations that help children directly impacted by COVID-19.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Sneak Preview

Contents

Chapter 1: Holding True to Priorities as We Move Online

Connection and Relationships

Emotional Wellbeing

Engagement

Clear, Strategic, and Focused Direct Instruction

Guided Practice

Differentiated Instruction

Assessment

Balance

Chapter 2: Partnering with Adults at Home

Make a Video-or Host a Short Live Workshop-to Welcome Caregivers to Your Online Classroom

Survey Students and Families to Understand Needs

Share the Weekly Schedule

Share Notes on Students' Work and Progress

Record How-To Videos for Using Technology

Offer Advice About Setting up a Learning Space at Home

Encourage Caregivers to Develop a Schedule and Routines

Help Families Know What to Do When Things Get Frustrating

Chapter 3: Planning and Revising Curriculum Units for Online Instruction

Step 1: Identify Goals and Skill Progressions

Step 2: Find Anchor Texts

Step 3: Try Out What You'll Ask Students to Do

Step 4: Design Assessments

Step 5: Map Out Daily Reading Lessons with Goals and Strategies

Step 5: Map Out Daily Writing Lessons with Process and Strategies

Streamline and Simplify: Connect Goals Across Subject Areas

Choose Monthly and Unit Focuses: Genre, Content, Independent Projects, or a Mix

Organize Your Curriculum and Resources in a Learning Management System

Approach Your Teaching with Flexibility and Feedback

Chapter 4: Managing Your Time Across a Day, Across the Week
Chapter 5: Setting Up Students' Independent Practice at Home Chapter 6: Methods and Structures for Teaching Online

Understand the Pros and Cons of Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching

Invite Your Students Online with You for Some Time Each Day

Plan and Record Short Whole Class Lessons

Host "Office Hours" For Student-Initiated Response Time and to Support Adults at Home Who Are Helping Children

Make a Schedule for Conferences and Small Groups

Preserve Space for Professional Learning and Collaboration

Map Out a Weekly Schedule and Set Boundaries

Virtual-Classroom Videos, Featuring Jen and Her Colleagues

Ask Students to Read Every Day

Give Students Access to Paper Books

Adapt Your Teaching to Support Students Who Are Reading E-Books

Adapt Your Teaching to Support Students Who Are Listening to Audiobooks

Create Short Text Packets for Shared Reading Experiences

Rethink What It Means to Match Readers with "Just Right" Texts

Ask Students to Write Every Day

Decide How Your Students Will Compose Their Writing

Give Students Access to Writing Materials and Tools

Set Up a System for Students to Share Some of Their Writing with You

Hold On (Tightly) to Writer's Notebooks

Ask Students to Do Math Every Day

Ask Students to Engage with Content Study Every Day

Develop Community Agreements and Norms for Participating Online

Set Yourself (And Your Students) Up for Videoconferencing

Convert Your Live Mini Lessons to Recorded Micro Lessons

Make Your Micro Lessons More Engaging

Monitor and Guide Independent Practice Time

Read Aloud (Live!) to Build Community

Record Read Aloud to Engage, Support Comprehension, and Collect Data

Study a Mentor Text Together for Writing Craft

Confer with Students Live

Confer with Students When Your Schedules Don't Align

Set Up and Support Reading and Writing Partnerships and Clubs

Engage Reading Partnerships and Clubs with Written "Conversation"

Engage Writing Partnerships and Clubs with Written Feedback

Engage Partnerships and Clubs with Asynchronous Video "Conversation"

Meet with a Small Group of Students with the Same Goal (Strategy Lessons)

Move Your Guided Reading Online

Apply the Tech Tools and Strategies You've Learned to Lead Any Type of Group Online

How to Join Google Meets: Raffaella orients students and their at-home adults to an online environment

How to Check Comments: Raffaella helps students and their at-home adults navigate comments in the online environment

Example Video Lesson: A three-minute writing minilesson video created by Barb on Loom

Example Video Lesson: A three-minute minilesson video about "Unpacking the Facts" created by Jen on Clips

Example Video Lesson: A two-minute minilesson video about setting created by Jen on Clips

Conferring Online with a Kindergartener: One-on-One Video Conference Utilizing Digital Texts and Screensharing

Conferring Online with a Sixth Grader: One-on-One Video Conference without Screensharing

Small Groups Online with Sixth Graders: Coming Up with Ideas

Small Groups Online with Eighth Graders: Mentor Text Study

Related PD Services

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The professional development for online teaching and learning that you've been asking for An unprecedented pandemic may change the definition of classroom, but it doesn't have to change your definition of good teaching. Jennifer Serravallo's Connecting with Students Online gives you concise, doable suggestions based on her own experiences and those of the teachers, administrators, and coaches she has communicated with during the pandemic.

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Social Justice Talks, Strategies for Teaching Critical Awareness by Chris Hass

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Social Justice Talks, Strategies for Teaching Critical Awareness by Chris Hass

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Strategies for Teaching Critical Awareness

Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more.

We all have the intention of using our classroom to envision a better world, but what gets in our way? Our uncertainty about how to discuss implicit and systemic bias in our classrooms is one of the reasons we avoid this necessary work. In Social Justice Talk, Chris Hass, along with his colleagues Nozsa Tinsley, and Tiffany Palmatier, detail how to facilitate rich discussions that disrupt the harmful social beliefs and practices we and our students are immersed in every day.

The first chapter dives into an important first step, knowing yourself, while the third chapter stresses the importance of knowing your students. Other critical topics include:

Classrooms that center on social critique

How children navigate diverse perspectives

Using issue-based literature

Placing social justice at the core of the Morning Meeting

Supporting students to speak up

Helping students move from social justice talk to action.

Each chapter is filled with vignettes, transcripts, and video clips from real classrooms and families that offer realistic expectations and models of what we can expect and hope for when we take on this work.

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Acknowledgments xii
Introduction: Love Is Not Enough xvi
Learning to Read the World xvii
Essential Understandings for Social Justice Work xviii
What We Need to Understand About Self xviii
What We Need to Understand About Society xix
My Classroom, My Positionality xix
Watch xx
Clip: The Value in Teacher Restraint
Clip: Conversations for Mutual Respect

1 Identity: Knowing Ourselves 1
Where Do You Fall in Historically Excluded and Included Groups? 2
Social Identity as a Threat to Discussions of Injustice 4
Who Is Given Voice to Speak to These Matters? Who Is Not? 6
Which Perspectives Are Included? Which Are Left Out? 7
Who Gets to Decide What This All Means? Who Does Not? 7
The Trap of the Good/Bad Binary 8
No Teacher Is Immune 11
Navigating Complex Discussions Despite Our Cultural Blinders 12
Take Stock of Your Own Social Identities 13
Engage in Discussions with a Diversity of Peers 14
Access Texts That Expand Your Cultural Competence 15
Engage in Reflective Thought 16

Watch 17
Clip: Teacher Identity
Clip: The Purpose and Goals of Social Justice Teaching

2 Classrooms That Center Social Critique 19
Qualities of Student-Centered Social Justice Conversations 20
Integrated, Not Compartmentalized Social Justice Instruction 21
Correlating Social Justice Goals with Learning Outcomes 23
Correlation of Social Justice Goals with Skills and Strategies 24
Student-Centered Instruction in Action 27
Framework for Evaluating Beliefs 28
Authority: "I was told by someone I trust." 28
A Priori: "It just sounds right to me." 29
Tenacity: "This is what I've always believed." 30
Inquiry: "I need to work hard to make sure this is true." 30
Setting Our Expectations 31
Watch 33
Clip: Connecting History to Contemporary Media
Clip: "Why Haven't They Fixed It Yet?"

3 Identity: Knowing Our Students 35
Inquiring into Our Students' Social Identities 36
Classroom Practices That Affirm Social Identity 37
Selecting Literature That Reflects the Social Identities of Our Students 38
Celebrating the Contributions of All 38
Inviting Family Members into the Class to Share 38
Using Curriculum to Draw Out Personal Stories 39
Inquiring into Our Students' Funds of Knowledge 39
Developing Intentional Practices to Better Know Our Kids 40
Inquiring into the Histories of Our Names 41
Intake Conferences 44
Intake Conference Questions 44
Family Book Recommendations 45
Watch 48
Clip: Deep Community Building with Students and Families
Clip: Sharing Our Cultural Knowledge

4 How Children Navigate Diverse Perspectives 51
Framework for Analyzing Students' Responses to Oppression 52
Students Accepting Injustices 52
Frames Used for Social Justice Discussions 54
Relationships of Power 55
Socio-economic power 56
Racial power 57
Analysis 57
Maintenance of the Status Quo 58
Analysis 60
Effect of Learned Stereotypes 62
Analysis 63
Students Denying Injustice 64
The World Is a Fair Place 65
It's Exaggerated or Untrue 68
Analysis 70
Watch 72
Clip: Expectations for Our Children Over Time
Clip: Challenges in Homogenous Classrooms

5 Using Issue-Based Literature 75
Goal 1: Using Issue-Based Texts to Build Understanding and Empathy 75
Issues That Can Be Explored Through Children's Literature 78
How to Include Empathy and Understanding in Our Reading Curriculum 79
Correlation Between Reading Standards and Social Justice Work 80
Goal 2: Using Issue-Based Texts to Help Students Gain Historical Context 85
Books That Provide Historical Context 87
How to Integrate Historical Context into Our Curriculum 88
Process for Implementing Social Justice into Social Studies Curriculum 88
A Final Word of Caution About Incorporating Issue-Based Texts 91
Watch 93
Clip: Why Issue-Based Literature Works
Clip: "Reading" a Commercial and the Media's Response

6 Placing Social Justice at the Core of Our Morning Meeting 95
Repurposing Our Morning Meeting to Meet the Needs of Social Justice 96
Establishing Classroom Journals 97
(Re)discovering a sense of wonder 100
Modeling how to question the world 101
Generating questions alongside our students 104
Helping students take notice of the questions they're already wondering about 105
Inviting families and caregivers to help generate questions 106
Starting Social Critique with Gender 108
Elevating the Quality of Discussions 110
Positioning Students as Primary Meaning Makers 112
Gradual Release of Responsibility in Classroom Discussions 113
Teaching Moves for Morning Meeting 114

Supporting Students to Listen Closely 119
Scaffolding Students to Build onto the Ideas of Others 123
Resisting the urge to dominate the discussion 124
Offer stems that promote connections to others' thinking 125
Selectively call on those who want to make connections 125
Learning to Value the Role of Disagreement in Exploratory Discussions 125
Watch 129
Clip: Using Metaphor and Restatement with Kindergartners
Clip: A Science Journal Entry Leads to Discussion of Ways of Knowing
Clip: Examples of Short Classroom Journal Shares

7 Supporting Students to Speak Up 131
Perceived Lack of Knowledge: "I just don't know much about those things." 133
Provide Our Students the Background Knowledge They Require 135
Prompt Our Students to Share What They're Thinking or Wondering About 135
Fear of Upsetting Others: "I was afraid I might say the wrong thing." 136
Help Our Students See Growth and Understanding as One of Our Primary Goals 138
Model How One Might Respond to Something They Find Offensive 139
How to Gently Fold Kids Back In After They've Miscued 141
Discomfort with Hearing Hard Truths: "It's kind of scary." 142
Allow Our Students Space to Decompress and Breathe 144
Carefully Determine What Is Appropriate and What Is Not 144
Lack of Trust in the Teacher: "I don't want to go there with her." 145
Watch 147
Clip: Second Graders Ethan and Kiersten Explain Classroom Journals
Clip: The Slow Process of Learning How to Listen to Each Other
Clip: Valuing Engagement Over Closure

8 When Talk Leads to Action 149
Framework for Supporting Student Action 150
Actions That Get at the Root Cause(s) of Social Injustice 153
Inquiries That Led to Action: A Collection for Inspiration 154
Watch 158
Clip: Students Talk on Local News
Clip: Children Find Their Voices and Solutions
Clip: Respect as Activism

Works Cited 159

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Special Offer: Save 30% off our list price automatically when you buy 15 or more. We all have the intention of using our classroom to envision a better world, but what gets in our way? Our uncertainty about how to discuss implicit and systemic bias in our classrooms is one of the reasons we avoid this necessary work.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond

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From math, literacy, equity, multilingual learners, and SEL, to assessment, school counseling, and education leadership, our books are research-based and authored by experts on topics most relevant to what educators are facing today.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain

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In this book, Zaretta Hammond draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to offer an innovative approach for designing and implementing brain-compatible culturally responsive instruction.

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We Got This. Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be By Cornelius Minor Foreword by Kwame Alexander

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We Got This. Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be By Cornelius Minor Foreword by Kwame Alexander

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Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be

While challenging the teacher as hero trope, We Got This shows how authentically listening to kids is the closest thing to a superpower that we have. Cornelius Minor identifies tools, attributes, and strategies that can augment our listening, allowing us to make powerful moves toward equity by broadening access to learning for all children.

"That's the problem with you, Minor" a student huffed. "You want to make everything about reading or math. It's not always about that. At school, you guys do everything except listen to me. Y'all want to use your essays and vocabulary words to save my future, but none of y'all know anything about saving my now. "

In We Got This Cornelius Minor describes how this conversation moved him toward realizing that listening to children is one of the most powerful things a teacher can do. By listening carefully, Cornelius discovered something that kids find themselves having to communicate far too often. That "my lessons were not, at all, linked to that student's reality."

While challenging the teacher as hero trope, We Got This shows how authentically listening to kids is the closest thing to a superpower that we have. What we hear can spark action that allows us to make powerful moves toward equity by broadening access to learning for all children. A lone teacher can't eliminate inequity, but Cornelius demonstrates that a lone teacher can confront the scholastic manifestations of racism, sexism, ableism and classism by showing:

exactly how he plans and revises lessons to ensure access and equity

ways to look anew at explicit and tacit rules that consistently affect groups of students unequally

suggestions for leaning into classroom community when it feels like the kids are against you

ideas for using universal design that make curriculum relevant and accessible

advocacy strategies for making classroom and schoolwide changes that expand access to opportunity to your students

"We cannot guarantee outcomes, but we can guarantee access" Cornelius writes. "We can ensure that everyone gets a shot. In this book we get to do that. Together. Consider this book a manual for how to begin that brilliantly messy work. We got this."

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Foreword, Kwame Alexander

Acknowledgments
Introduction: PART 1 This Ain't Everybody's Hero Story-It's Yours 1. Begin by Listening We All Want Better
How Listening Can Help

How to Listen to What Students Are Really Communicating
2. You Can Disrupt the Status Quo in Your Class
How to Ensure That Your Lessons Speak to What Students Say They Need

Question the Things That Define Your Classroom Culture

Identify Any Groups That Consistently Benefit Less from the Way Things Are
3. Do Your Homework and Then Go for It
Change the Way You Do School So That Kids Have More Opportunities to Succeed

Identify Why Change Needs to Happen

Do a Little Bit of Research

Decide What to Do and Make a Plan

Execute the Plan
PART 2 Taking Your Dreams off Deferment
Find a Productive Way to Say No

4. Show Kids That You Hear Them

Plan for and Hold Regular Class Meetings to Maintain Community

Designate Specific Kids Who Can Give You Feedback
5. Make Curriculum Work for Your Kids
Shift from a Punitive to an Instructive Mind-Set

Use a Universal-Design-for-Learning Framework to Make Learning Accessible

Understand Exactly What You're Being Asked to Do

Understand What Test Prep Is Really Asking You to Do

6. Being a Good Teacher Versus Being a Good Employee

Engage in Imaginative Mind-Set Work

Gather a PR Team as You Make a Plan to Be Better for Kids
Epilogue: The Gravity of Our Work
Bring It Back to the Classroom

Companion Resources

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While challenging the teacher as hero trope, We Got This shows how authentically listening to kids is the closest thing to a superpower that we have. Cornelius

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Foreword by Terrence J. Roberts, PhD.

A Letter to Readers

Acknowledgments

An Introduction to Social Comprehension and Strategies to Prepare You for the Work Ahead
Chapter 1: Exploring Our Identities
Lesson: Affirming Our Identities: Identity Webs
We introduce the elements of our own identities (such as sister, athlete, bilingual, reader) and look for connections to or wonders about the identities of others.

Lesson: Placing Ourselves in the World: Stories of Our Names
Using a mentor text, we write the stories of how we got our names, how our names make us feel, and our experiences with our names.

Lesson: Journeying into Our Family Histories: "Where I'm From" Poems
We use the structure of a "Where I'm From" poem to share our family histories, storied objects, and moments.

Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 2: Listening with Love
Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 3: Being Candid
Lesson: Seeing Our Own Bias: Drawing Activity
We learn about how bias works, and we use an activity to help us see some of our own bias and brainstorm how we can confront it.

Lesson: Understanding Microaggressions: Poem Analysis
We analyze examples of microaggressions to understand what they are and how they affect people, and we look for microaggressions in our own lives.

Lesson: Refusing to Let Others' Biases Define Us: Identity Statements
We assert who we are with confidence. We recall labels others have tried to put on us, reject those labels, and choose how we define who we are.

Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 4: Becoming Better Informed
Lesson: Understanding How Our Identity Affects Us: Our News
We identify what is happening in our world-personal events, news stories, media-and consider how our identity shapes what we give our attention to.

Lesson: Moving Beyond Our Initial Thinking: Mini-Inquiries
We use a mini-inquiry to learn more about a topic and examine how new information changes our perspective.

Synthesis: Making Thinking Visible
Chapter 5: Finding Humanity in Ourselves and in Others
Lesson: Broadening Our Ideas About Who We Are Responsible To and For: Our Universe of Obligation
We consider who we feel responsibility to and why. We also consider how that responsibility can change in certain situations.

Lesson: Understanding Others' Perspectives: Intent Versus Impact
We work to understand two sides of a divisive issue by listening to both perspectives.
Chapter 6: Facing Crisis Together
Suggested Resource Stacks

References and Inspiration

This book is based on the idea that we can develop skills and habits to help us comprehend social issues and participate in relevant, transparent conversations. Social comprehension, like academic comprehension, is how we make meaning from and mediate our relationship with the world. We understand that the meaning making, or socialization, is learned, not inherited. Each chapter in this book includes lessons and/or practical help for students to learn and engage in a targeted social comprehension concept. Our thinking will change often as we practice being more socially literate citizens of the world, so we allow for and model the same for our students as we construct comprehension and cultivate our empathy together. The "At First I Thought . . . Now I Think" journal page in this introduction gives you and your students a tool to reflect on how the experiences in the lessons are affecting your outlook. In the work of social comprehension, we want to be as transparent as possible and make our thinking visible.

The final chapter of the book addresses how we, as educators, can continually refine our own approach to this work. If we are going to be on the front lines of helping children make sense of the news they bring to school and the curriculum the world keeps handing them, we must have a strong foundation of social comprehension in place. If we can commit to approaching this work as the lead learner, teaching with curiosity and modeling vulnerability rather than rigid certainty, we can build habitats of trust where kids (and adults) participate in a learning discussion, and where expression, identity, and social literacy matter.

- Introduction

A sense of urgency for pedagogy rooted in empathy and humanity is palpable in communities around the world. But how can teachers actualize such instruction and make it accessible to students? Where is the professional development teachers yearn for to facilitate important, and at times, challenging conversations? Being the Change is the resource every educator needs right now! Against a socio-politically charged backdrop where tensions run high, Sara is a beacon of light who offers practical, compassionate guidance that makes it possible to do the work of social comprehension. The journey to accomplishing this isn't linear; it is messy, tangled, circuitous. But Sara provides a pathway for teachers and our students. She offers a sustained, clear voice that reminds us of why this work is necessary and how it can look in our classrooms. Being the Change is invaluable to all educators as we work to empower our students as change-makers who positively influence the world.

- Sonja Cherry-Paul

****

Sara Ahmed is the ultimate upstander; she cares enough to confront. Her gentle and wise voice is a model for how to be in this tumultuous age. She shares text sets that ask big questions and resist simplistic answers. She invites teachers and students to address tensions in today's classrooms and examine bias in their thinking. Being the Change offers practical tools for building a classroom community that is inclusive, candid, and caring. This book is a treasure.

- Penny Kittle

****

What an incredibly powerful, practical, beautiful book. As I read I could not help but think how this book has the potential to radically change conversations in classrooms (and larger communities) around compassion, listening, empathy, and knowing. It is books like these that heal. It is hope and possibility and humanity within these covers.

Perhaps the greatest compliment I could give is that as I read, the teacher in me itched to get out of this room and into the presence of kids- to experience these lessons in real time, to hear children's stories, to dig into this work because for the first time I feel capable. This book is a roadmap with an entry point all of us can access and guidance through the most challenging places we could go. I don't feel afraid of what could happen, I feel energized about what Sara has taught me I can help happen.

I could not help but think of the million and one ways I could use Sara's thinking and teaching, to engage in this work whole heartedly from the moment children step through the doors.

- Kristi Mraz

****

In her book, Being the Change, Sara K. Ahmed offers us not only the roadmap of how to create and maintain components of meaningful social change within our instruction but also the necessary tools for us to navigate the hard conversations we invite in and those we have not had the courage to have...yet. By centering her book on developing the identity of the very children we teach, she gives us invaluable tools to navigate the hard topics that are constantly surrounding our learning community. While she writes in her book that there is no magical formula for making the world a better place, within the pages of this book and in her willingness to help us grow not just as educators but as human beings with her impactful lesson ideas, she has given us something near magic. A resource to be used in every school, this book will leave a trail of change for a better world in its wake if we let it.

- Pernille Ripp

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Being the Change is based on the idea that people can develop skills and habits to serve them in the comprehension of social issues. Sara K. Ahmed identifies

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Provided by Angela Bae

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Provided by Laura and Raul (Alumni Mentors)

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Devin recalls a dream come true at Kennedy Space Center, that promptly is shut down by mother nature. The crew struggles to get through Macbeth without feeling offensive. And lastly Devin stokes the campfire for a special edition Are You Afraid of the Dark episode,...

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Devin recalls a dream come true at Kennedy Space Center, that promptly is shut down by mother nature. The crew struggles to get through Macbeth without feeling offensive. And lastly Devin stokes the campfire for a special edition Are You Afraid of the Dark episode,...

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Provided by Laura and Raul (Alumni Mentors)

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1:09:55 Guest(s): Amanda Morin, Emily Kircher-Morris

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The Cult of Pedagogy Podcast | Cult of Pedagogy

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Teaching strategies, classroom management, education reform, educational technology -- if it has something to do with teaching, we’re talking about it.

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Provided by Laura and Raul (Alumni Mentors)

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In this episode, we describe a resource we plan to develop to help improve students' multiplication fact fluency while working remotely.

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Provided by Clara

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Too Dope Teachers and a Mic - The Most Dangerous Podcast in the Schoolhouse

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Being a Black educator in the American system of schooling will test the faith of the strongest. In this powerful episode, Doctoral candidate Donna Druery (who has her defense the day after this episode!) shares the long journey through education that ultimately ended with her departure.

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Provided by Laura and Raul (Alumni Mentors

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Teacher happy hour in podcast-form!

Teacher happy hour in podcast-form!

Favorite teacher podcast!

Ryan is relatable and shares relevant and comedic classroom experiences. A must listen!

Keepin it real

Great podcast. Perfect length for my commute to work. Ryan does a great job not only making the content relatable to teachers (of all content areas and grade levels) but his podcast is one that my husband (businessman) wants to listen to. Great for a laugh and a picture of some of the realest parts of teaching.

So relatable!

It's amazing how much teachers have in common. Ryan teaches high school and I teach 4th grade but so much of what he experiences are things I've experienced too. The episode about the edTPA was spot on too! #lifeofateacher #edTPAsurvivor

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Teacher happy hour in podcast-form! Teacher happy hour in podcast-form! Ryan is relatable and shares relevant and comedic classroom experiences. A must listen! Great podcast. Perfect length for my commute to work. Ryan does a great job not only making the content relatable to teachers (of all content areas and grade levels) but his podcast is one that my husband (businessman) wants to listen to.

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Provided by Valerie

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Onward tackles the problem of educator stress, and provides a practical framework for taking the burnout out of teaching. Stress is part of the job, but when 70 percent of teachers quit within their first five years because the stress is making them physically and mentally ill, things have gone too far. Unsurprisingly, these effects are highest in difficult-to-fill positions such as math, science, and foreign languages, and in urban areas and secondary classrooms―places where we need our teachers to be especially motivated and engaged. This book offers a path to resiliency to help teachers weather the storms and bounce back―and work toward banishing the rain for good.

This actionable framework gives you concrete steps toward rediscovering yourself, your energy, and your passion for teaching. You'll learn how a simple shift in mindset can affect your outlook, and how taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally is one of the most important things you can do. The companion workbook helps you put the framework into action, streamlining your way toward renewal and strength.

Cultivate resilience with a four-part framework based on 12 key habits

Uncover your true self, understand emotions, and use your energy where it counts

Adopt a mindful, story-telling approach to communication and community building

Keep learning, playing, and creating to create an environment of collective celebration

By cultivating resilience in schools, we help ensure that we are working in, teaching in, and leading organizations where every child thrives, and where the potential of every child is recognized and nurtured. Onward provides a step-by-step plan for reigniting that spark.

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onward: cultivating emotional resilience in educators

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teaching; educators; teaching tips; teacher emotional health; teacher self-care; teacher resiliency; teacher stress; school transformations; teacher retention; happy teachers; teacher stress management; avoiding teacher burnout; mindfulness in teaching; teacher empowerment; education community; schools and community; teacher support; teacher resources; teacher therapy; teacher coaching; personal development; personal growth; bouncing back; teacher training; teacher help programs; stress framework; teacher experience; key teacher habits <

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teaching; educators; teaching tips; teacher emotional health; teacher self-care; teacher resiliency; teacher stress; school transformations; teacher retention; happy teachers; teacher stress management; avoiding teacher burnout; mindfulness in teaching; teacher empowerment; education community; schools and community; teacher support; teacher resources; teacher therapy; teacher coaching; personal development; personal growth; bouncing back; teacher training; teacher help programs; stress framework; teacher experience; key teacher habits

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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teaching; educators; teaching tips; teacher emotional health; teacher self-care; teacher resiliency; teacher stress; school transformations; teacher retention; happy teachers; teacher stress management; avoiding teacher burnout; mindfulness in teaching; teacher empowerment; education community; schools and community; teacher support; teacher resources; teacher therapy; teacher coaching; personal development; personal growth; bouncing back; teacher training; teacher help programs; stress framework; teacher experience; key teacher habits

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators

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Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators [Aguilar, Elena] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators

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Provided by Valerie

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Hands Down Speak Out: Listening and Talking across Math and Literacy

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Hands Down Speak Out: Listening and Talking across Math and Literacy

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Provided by Bernadette

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"I sometimes wonder how the world will survive if children do not experience the sort of teaching presented in this book."
-Peter Johnston, author of Choice Words and Opening Minds

Math coach, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, and literacy coach, Christy Hermann Thompson, have spent years comparing notes on how to build effective classroom communities across the content areas. How, they wondered, can we lay the groundwork for classroom conversations that are less teacher-directed and more conducive to student-to-student dialogue?

Their answers start with Hands Down Conversations, an innovative discourse structure in which students' ideas and voices take the lead while teachers focus on listening and facilitating. In addition to classroom stories and examples, Christy and Kassia provide 28 micro-lessons designed to help K-5 students develop and exercise their speaking and listening muscles.

Inside Hands Down, Speak Out you'll learn how to:

Build talk communities that are accessible to everyone, especially those whose voices are traditionally left out of classroom discourse

Analyze classroom conversations in order to plan next steps for developing the classroom talk community

Plan and facilitate three types of conversation across literacy and math

Christy and Kassia believe that the development of dialogue skills is worth the investment of time not only because it has the power to deepen our understanding of literacy and mathematics, but also to deepen our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and the world.

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speak out: listening and talking across literacy and math

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discussion - study and teaching (elementary)

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education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

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education / teaching methods & materials / mathematics

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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education/teaching methods & materials - mathematics

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language arts - correlation with content subjects

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listening - study and teaching (elementary)

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oral communication - study and teaching (elementary)

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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teaching methods & materials - mathematics

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thought and thinking - study and teaching (elementary)

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education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

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education / teaching methods & materials / mathematics

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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education/teaching methods & materials - mathematics

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Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math

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Amazon.com: Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math (9781625312693): Omohundro Wedekind, Kassia, Hermann Thompson, Christy: Books

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Provided by Dianne

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Provided by Dianne

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Provided by Dianne

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Provided by Dianne

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Provided by Dianne

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3 rules to spark learning | Ramsey Musallam

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Gravity Goldberg: Teach Like Yourself Webinar

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Gravity Goldberg: Teach Like Yourself Webinar

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Provided by Dianne

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Gravity Goldberg: Teach Like Yourself Webinar

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Provided by Dianne

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Every kid needs a champion | Rita Pierson | TED

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Provided by Dianne

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How to escape education's death valley | Sir Ken Robinson | TED

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Provided by Dianne

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Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson | TED

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Provided by Clara

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A podcast from Grounded Teaching, Regenerative Ed explores how thinking about education as a living system can help all of the humans in this system to grow and thrive...from the ground up.

A podcast from Grounded Teaching, Regenerative Ed explores how thinking about education as a living system can help all of the humans in this system to grow and thrive...from the ground up.

OMG. I needed this.

Thank you for creating this beautiful space, here and on Instagram. 💛 This teacher of 12 years has come to the same point; we need everything to change, and nature is the starting point. 🌱

On Point and Full of Passion

A new perspective on moving education forward. So much insight from a true expert in her field. This podcast is equally valuable to educators, parents and anyone looking for a reimagined view of our education system.

Refreshing!

This podcast shares such a refreshing approach to not only education, but also little tips on how we can be better humans and get everything out of life! Give it a listen!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A podcast from Grounded Teaching, Regenerative Ed explores how thinking about education as a living system can help all of the humans in this system to grow and thrive...from the ground up. A podcast from Grounded Teaching, Regenerative Ed explores how thinking about education as a living system can help all of the humans in this system to grow and thrive...from the ground up.

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Provided by Clara

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Heinemann. A division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

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Suggested by MasterClass (BrightMorning)

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The TPH Podcast with Dan Harris - Ten Percent Happier

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Tune in to the Ten Percent Happier podcast with Dan Harris for interviews with meditators, scientists, and authors on meditating, mental health, and much more.

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Provided by Min

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Provided by Min

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How the Brain ‘Grasps’ New Concept‪s‬  EdSurge Podcast

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How the Brain ‘Grasps’ New Concept‪s‬  EdSurge Podcast

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Provided by CaroleAnn

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Forgetting is a feature, not a bug. That's one of the surprising truths about how the brain works in the new book "Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn." We talk with the book's co-author, Sanjay Sarma, a professor and the vice president for open learning at MIT.

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‎EdSurge Podcast: How the Brain 'Grasps' New Concepts on Apple Podcasts

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‎Forgetting is a feature, not a bug. That's one of the surprising truths about how the brain works in the new book "Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn." We talk with the book's co-author, Sanjay Sarma, a professor and the vice president for open learning at MIT.

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Improving our neuroplasticity | Dr. Kelly Lambert

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Improving our neuroplasticity | Dr. Kelly Lambert

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Provided by CaroleAnn

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Improving our neuroplasticity | Dr. Kelly Lambert | TEDxBermuda

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Provided by KJ

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"Dare to Lead": Brené Brown says vulnerability is the "only path to courage"

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Suggested during BrightMorning Masterclass

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Ep062: Join us at our new podcast!

Hello Good Ancestors!
It's me, your host, Laya Saad! And I am back with some really exciting news.
We have a new digital home and a new podcast! But let me back track for a moment to give you some context and let you know what's happening.

Ep061: 2021 End of Year Bonus Episode - Part 2

I'm thrilled to share our final bonus episode of 2021 Good Ancestor conversations.
(You can find our first bonus episode here)
As you listen to these wonderful excerpts from Episodes 50 through 59 you will find all the joyful emotions come to surface. What a glorious way to end our podcast listening year with our special guests who have uplifted our spirits and showed how to continue to live the life of a Good Ancestor.

Ep060: 2021 End of Year Bonus Episode - Part 1

As we close out this year it is my honor and pleasure to bring you the first of two bonus episodes highlighting our memorable episodes this wonderful year.

We wanted to close out this year with a celebration of all of the wonderful guests we've had the pleasure of speaking with this year. Thank you for sharing your time this past year, which as Layla mentioned in the introduction of this episode is the most valuable thing in the world. We are grateful for our Good Ancestor community.

Ep059: #GoodAncestor Valarie Kaur, author of 'See No Stranger'

In this episode, I speak with best-selling author, lawyer, filmmaker, educator, and civil rights leader, Valarie Kaur.
Valarie Kaur's debut book, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love is our Good Ancestor Book Club selection for the month of November 2021.
Valarie Kaur is a renowned civil rights leader, lawyer, best-selling author, award-winning filmmaker, educator, innovator, and celebrated prophetic voice. She leads the Revolutionary Love Project to reclaim love as a force for justice. Valarie burst into American consciousness in the wake of the 2016 election when her Watch Night Service address went viral with 40 million views worldwide. Her question "Is this the darkness of the tomb - or the darkness of the womb?" reframed the political moment and became a mantra for people fighting for change.

In the last twenty years, Valarie has won policy change on multiple fronts - hate crimes, racial profiling, immigration detention, solitary confinement, Internet freedom, and more. She founded Groundswell Movement, Faithful Internet, and the Yale Visual Law Project to inspire and equip advocates at the intersection of spirituality, storytelling, and justice.

Valarie has been a regular TV commentator on MSNBC and contributor to CNN, NPR, PBS, the Hill, Huffington Post, and the Washington Post. A daughter of Sikh farmers in California's heartland, Valarie earned degrees at Stanford University, Harvard Divinity School, and Yale Law School. Valarie's debut book, See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, was released in 2020 and expands on her "blockbuster" TED Talk.

Ep058: #GoodAncestor Jasmine Mans, author of 'Black Girl, Call Home'

In this episode, I speak with Black poet, Jasmine Mans.

Jasmine Mans is a poet from Newark, New Jersey. Her recently published book, Black Girl, Call Home (Penguin Random House) has been named one of Oprah's Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books and a TIME Magazine Must Read, to name a few; and Jasmine herself named as Essence's #1 Contemporary Black Poet to Know.

Jasmine's poetry has gone viral many times over on YouTube. She has opened packed shows for Mos Def and Janelle Monae; and performed at such esteemed venues as the Kennedy Center, Broadway's New Amsterdam Theater, the Wisconsin Governor's Mansion, and the Sundance Film Festival. Mans also participated in "Brave New Voices", an 8-episode poetry documentary on HBO.

Jasmine is a contributor to the 1619 Project and co-hosted the Kennedy Center's Arts Across America series alongside renowned poet Jason Reynolds. Jasmine is also the voice behind Ulta Beauty's MUSE campaign. Jasmine created the company Buy Weed From Women, where she sells her own designs in support of women working in the cannabis industry.

Ep057: #GoodAncestor Thérèse Cator on Embodied Black Girl Liberation

In this episode, I speak with embodiment practitioner and leadership coach, Thérèse Cator.

Thérèse is a mother, a trauma-informed embodiment practitioner, leadership coach, artist, and founder of Embodied Black Girl, a global community that stands for the embodied liberation of Black women and femmes and women of color everywhere. Embodied Black Girl is devoted to creating a safe space for Black women and femmes and women of color to heal from intergenerational trauma, racialized stress, and colonial conditioning in service of our individual and collective liberation and healing.

Her work deeply explores the shadows and gifts of humanity and bridges leadership, spirituality, healing, somatics, mindfulness, decolonization, and social change. Thérèse deeply believes that healing is both personal and political; spiritual and corporeal.

In 2020 alone, Thérèse led many healing circles for the Black community, attended by nearly 5,000 folks. She also led Becoming Human, a series of lessons for white people to dismantle white supremacy, for thousands of people. Thérèse's work has been featured in Forbes, Motherly Magazine, Mind Body Green, and Women's Health Magazine.

Thérèse grew up in Brooklyn, New York. These days you can find her hanging out with her son watching or building trains and tending to her plant babies.

Ep056: #GoodAncestor Savala Nolan - 'Don't Let It Get You Down'

In this episode, I speak with writer, speaker, and lawyer, Savala Nolan.

Savala Nolan is a writer, speaker, and lawyer. Her first book, Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race, Gender and the Body is our Good Ancestor Book Club selection for the month of October 2021.

Savala is executive director of the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. She and her writing have been featured in Vogue, Time, Harper's Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, the Boston Globe, and more. She served as an advisor on the Peabody-winning podcast, The Promise. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

Don't Let It Get You Down is a powerful collection of 12 memoiristic essays - lyrical and magnetic in their cadence - that offer poignant reflections on living between society's most charged, politicized, and intractably polar spaces-between black and white, rich and poor, thin and fat.
Content warning: in the opening of this conversation, Savala shares her connection to her second great grandmother who was murdered at the hands of racist vigilantes in the 1890s.

Ep055: #GoodAncestor​​ ​Leesa Renée Hall on the Inner Field Trip®

In this episode, I speak with the anti-bias facilitator and mental wellness advocate, Leesa Renée Hall.

Leesa Renée Hall is an anti-bias facilitator who has helped over 65,000 leaders with quiet, gentle, and highly sensitive personalities go on an Inner Field Trip® to explore their unconscious biases so they protect their energy, stand on the side of justice, and become better ancestors.

In 2017, Leesa embarked on a personal journey of writing half a million words over 365 consecutive days. Over that year she used questions to help her unpack her own unconscious biases around her race, gender, religion, ancestry, and nationality. This led her to the work that she does today, leading thousands of people through her signature body of work called the Inner Field Trip®, a process of self-reflection using guided questions and reflective writing.

Leesa is also the host of the Inner Field Trip Podcas t where she hosts conversations with those who have advice on how to Stumble Bravely, and the creator of the Inner Field Trip card deck, which includes 40 guided prompts to help people uncover their hidden stereotypes so they can be more courageously on the side of justice and create a future without bias.

Ep054: #GoodAncestor​​ Pragya Agarwal on '(M)otherhood'

In this episode, I speak with author, speaker and behavioural & data scientist, Pragya Agarwal.

Pragya Agarwal is a behavioural and data scientist, who has worked as a consultant and speaker for the United Nations, UNESCO, Environment Agency, NHS, UK Police Commissioners, Cabinet Office, and US Defence Services, and various international universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Columbia, Koblenz, Imperial College and more. Pragya has held a Leverhulme Fellowship and senior academic positions in US and UK Universities for over 12 years. She has also held fellowships at University of California- Santa Barbara, University of Melbourne and Johns Hopkins University.

Pragya is the author of a number of academic books and numerous scholarly articles, and three non-fiction books and many articles for a general audience. Her writing has appeared in Guardian, Prospect, Forbes, Huffington Post, BBC Science Focus, Scientific American, WIRED and New Scientist, Wellcome Collection, as well as magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Stylist, Elle and so on. Her creative non-fiction writing also appears in a number of literary magazines. Besides non-fiction books for adults, she has also recently written her first book for children. She is a two-time TEDx speaker and has appeared as an expert on many international podcasts and shows such as NPR, BBC Women's Hour, BBC Radio 4 'The Spark' and Darren Brown's podcast 'The Bigoted Brain'.

Pragya moved to the UK from India 20 years ago, and now lives in the north of the country, near the sea, with her family. She has three children, a dog and a cat.

Ep053: #GoodAncestors ​Rebecca Walker & Lily Diamond on 'What's Your Story?'

In this episode, I speak with the co-authors of What's your Story?,Rebecca Walker and Lily Diamond.

Rebecca Walker is a bestselling author, editor, and cultural critic who has contributed to the global conversation about race, gender, culture, and power for over two decades. She has spoken at over four hundred universities, conferences, literary festivals, and corporate campuses around the world, and is a co-founder of the Third Wave Fund, an organization that supports women and transgender youth working for social justice. Rebecca has won many awards, and was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential leaders of her generation. She lives in Los Angeles.

Lily Diamond is a writer, educator, and advocate working to democratize wellness through storytelling, accessible practices for inner and outer nourishment, and revolutionary acts of self-care in relationship to our earth and human communities. Lily is the author of the bestselling memoir-cookbook Kale & Caramel: Recipes for Body, Heart, and Table, and her work has been featured in the New York Times, VICE, Healthyish, Women's Review of Books, Refinery29, and more. She lives in Maui, Hawai'i, where she grew up, on occupied native Hawaiian land.

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Interviews with change-makers & culture-shapers exploring what it means to be a good ancestor.

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Author & Speaker

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Provided by Jan

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Mistakes are not the problem. The shame we attach to mistakes and inability to grow from them is.

Mistakes are part of learning. Every educator knows this. But what happens before and after a mistake that facilitates that learning is rarely explored practically. Colleen provides research, examples, and tools that help teachers destigmatize mistake-making so that they and their students can do the real work of growth. In Risk. Fail. Rise. teachers will learn how to address their own teaching mistakes, model with their own mistake-making, and improve their responses to others' mistakes.

The more aware we are of why we make mistakes, what we can do to avoid unnecessary ones, and respond to useful ones, the more our classroom will be a place of risk-taking and growth for all students. Lay the groundwork for a mistake- welcoming school culture and embrace positive risk-taking and productive failure in your classroom. The outcomes for you and your students are worth it.

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Mistakes are not the problem. The shame we attach to mistakes and inability to grow from them is. Mistakes are part of learning. Every educator knows this. But what happens before and after a mistake that facilitates that learning is rarely explored practically.

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16 Hybrid Learning Tips by and for Teachers

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16 Hybrid Learning Tips by and for Teachers

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Provided by Collective Leadership Staff

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16 Hybrid Learning Tips by and for Teachers

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Learn how to design for hybrid learning using ideas from teachers working with students in person and online.

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Effective Instructional Models for a Hybrid Schedule

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Effective Instructional Models for a Hybrid Schedule

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Provided by Collective Leadership Staff

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It can be a challenge to engage students when they're at school only a few days a week-station rotations and flipping the classroom can help.

Geoff Crimmins / The Moscow-Pullman Daily News / Associated Press

How do you plan your class when students are allowed to come to school only a few times a week? That's the question many teachers are facing as they confront the reality of a hybrid model where students attend school in person two or three days a week and spend the rest of their time learning online. It can be a challenge to engage all students in the same classroom activity when half are present virtually.

Blended learning represents an opportunity to personalize learning and reclaim instructional time in a hybrid schedule.

Flip the Classroom

Many teachers know the flipped classroom -where traditional lessons are delivered via video for students to watch at home while class time is reserved for students to collaborate and apply their learning. In a hybrid schedule, flipping the classroom is a great way to maintain instructional momentum. Students watch a lesson on remote days, then come in and apply their new knowledge in the classroom.

As in the classroom, short and direct mini-lessons can be most effective. Chunk longer content into shorter videos. Tools like Screencastify allow you to quickly record audio while talking over slides. Camera-shy teachers can remain present for their students by using the tool to help them find the important links and resources central to the daily work of the class.

Video is not the only tool for flipping the classroom. Try flipping with a text, image, or website for students to learn from at home. For example, the class might be asked to read and annotate an article about a current event and contribute to a group document where students share their thoughts. The next day, students meet in their groups and talk through and further develop the product they began virtually.

Encourage students to use a graphic organizer or something similar to collect and synthesize information. Gathering information in a central place can help students distill information and engage with it meaningfully. Asking students to assess and examine information, through an evaluative blog post for example, prior to live instruction time can improve engagement and help students think critically about the material.

Use in-person class time for students to work through an assignment first modeled online. Circulate in a socially distanced way, and talk with individual students about their work. After six months of remote work, many students are hungry for what English teacher Dave Stuart calls moments of genuine connection -small instances when teachers connect individually with a student. Students need to be respected, seen, and heard. Moving direct instruction online allows time for more connections in class.

Rotation Models

In a traditional blended learning format, students rotate through a series of stations within the classroom, including small group instruction and computer-based applications. In the hybrid schedule, spread these stations out over several days.

Catlin Tucker suggests that stations take several forms, including small group instruction, collaborative challenges, or other group work activities. After checking for understanding, create re-teaching stations for students struggling with a particular concept, while other students pursue enrichment or extension work. During face-to-face days, reserve some time to confer with students on their at-home work.

It might take some practice to envision what this could look like in the hybrid schedule. Consider reducing the total number of stations or splitting stations between online and in person. In school, students rotate through a teacher-led station and a group station; and at home, students work through individual materials at one station and videoconference with their peers in another.

Alternatively, use collaborative stations in class and save remote time for individual practice. Older students can use tools like Jamboard or Padlet to contribute to a collaborative product-either in the classroom or at home.

The Individual Rotation model provides personalization by allowing students to alternate between small group work at school and online learning at home. Students work through digital lessons to move along a skills progression tailored to their individual needs. For example, a teacher might assign a specific series of online math or literacy problems for a student to complete at home. While the learning sequence adheres to the class curriculum, students move through at their own pace and need. In class, students apply their learning through collaborative projects or other tasks. As with other strategies, reserve time to conference with individual students about their learning, hold them accountable, and discuss next steps. Many programs exist to support this work, including mastery-based learning modules on free sites such as Khan Academy.

Don't be afraid to mix the methods. For example, station work in class could include a flipped video explaining a concept. Group rotations could be differentiated such that students completed different adaptive exercises based on their individual needs. Flexibility is key in experimenting with new strategies.

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Effective Instructional Models for a Hybrid Schedule

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It can be a challenge to engage students when they're at school only a few days a week-station rotations and flipping the classroom can help.

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Provided by Lauren

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Truth For Teachers - Truth For Teachers Podcast

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Truth for Teachers is consistently ranked as a top K-12 podcast on iTunes, with over a thousand five star reviews and 9 million downloads. Subscribe below to get a fresh dose of inspiration for the week ahead! You can leave a short voice message to comment on any episode or submit a question for me to answer.

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Provided by Yeon, CaroleAnn, and Lauren

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teach like a pirate: increase student engagement

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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Teach Like a PIRATE: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator

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Teach Like a PIRATE: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator [Burgess, Dave] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Teach Like a PIRATE: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator

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Provided by Donia

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In Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy E. Muhammad presents a four-layered equity framework-one that is grounded in history and restores excellence in literacy education. This framework, which she names, Historically Responsive Literacy, was derived from the study of literacy development within 19th-century Black literacy societies. The framework is essential and universal for all students, especially youth of color, who traditionally have been marginalized in learning standards, school policies, and classroom practices. The equity framework will help educators teach and lead toward the following learning goals or pursuits:

Identity Development-Helping youth to make sense of themselves and others

Skill Development- Developing proficiencies across the academic disciplines

Intellectual Development-Gaining knowledge and becoming smarter

Criticality-Learning and developing the ability to read texts (including print and social contexts) to understand power, equity, and anti-oppression

When these four learning pursuits are taught together-through the Historically Responsive Literacy Framework, all students receive profound opportunities for personal, intellectual, and academic success. Muhammad provides probing, self-reflective questions for teachers, leaders, and teacher educators as well as sample culturally and historically responsive sample plans and text sets across grades and content areas. In this book, Muhammad presents practical approaches to cultivate the genius in students and within teachers.

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cultivating genius: an equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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teaching methods & materials - language arts

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diversity; cultural diversity; professional development; scholastic; responsive literacy; teaching method; teaching strategies; teaching techniques; balanced literacy; critical literacy; early literacy; literacy

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education / teaching methods & materials / language arts

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education/teaching methods & materials - language arts

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Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy

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Amazon.com: Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy (9781338594898): Muhammad, Gholdy: Books

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The Curious Classroom by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels

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The Curious Classroom by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels

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Provided by Alex

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Curious about inquiry? Hundreds of thousands of elementary teachers are. Smokey Daniels travels the country supporting well planned and organized inquiry teaching, and he gets these two questions most often:

Where do I find the time?

What are some simple ways I can try with my kids?

The Curious Classroom answers these questions. It shares a ladder of 10 inquiry structures. Begin with briefly modeling your own curiosity or start on a higher rung as you gradually move toward units driven by kids' own questions.

Ever wonder how to get students genuinely engaged in your curriculum? Or wish you could let them explore those amazing questions they brim with? If so, Smokeyprovides research-based suggestions that help cover the curriculum by connecting what kids wonder about to the wonders you have to teach them. He shares 10 structures, 34 inspiring models from teachers nationwide, full-color photographs and examples of students work, plus specific suggestions for assessment and grading.

Just getting started with inquiry? Looking for your own next step in student-driven inquiry? Or do you just want new teaching ideas to try? Read The Curious Classroom. "By the end of this book," writes Smokey Daniels, "I hope you will say two things:

I never knew my kids were capable of working at this level; and

This is the most fun I have ever had in my teaching life."

Be sure to check out our study guide, complete with infographics, Tanny McGregor's chapter-by-chapter sketchnotes, and space for you to interact with the book.

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the curious classroom: 10 structures for teaching with student-directed inquiry

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teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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teaching methods & materials - reading & phonics

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education / teaching methods & materials / general

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education / teaching methods & materials / reading & phonics

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education/teaching methods & materials - general

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The Curious Classroom: 10 Structures for Teaching with Student-Directed Inquiry

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Amazon.com: The Curious Classroom: 10 Structures for Teaching with Student-Directed Inquiry (9780325089904): Daniels, Harvey "Smokey": Books

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Provided by Vannessa

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Provided by Clara

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Why is it so hard to slow down?

As trauma-informed educators, we know how important it is to be grounded and present in our work with students. Yet our days in schools can pass by us in a blur, even more so when we feel intense stress. Because we are so busy, we can then ignore this stress, trying to push through so we can just get our work done. But stress makes itself known.
You may be familiar with the terms "fight, flight, or freeze." These are all stress responses, and they all share common characteristics: your body diverts all of its resources to survival; for example, sending blood rushing to your muscles so you can run or fight. This also means that your body takes resources away from certain functions that are not essential for your acute survival-the part of your brain that plans ahead and does abstract thinking, for example. Being in survival mode can feel like a blur. When we're in the midst of a stress response, we can feel like we aren't thinking clearly-because we aren't, by design.

Teaching in Survival Mode

What does it look like when teachers are stuck in the rush of survival mode all day? You may find yourself doing some of these things:

Skipping meals or not staying hydrated because you can't slow down to notice you are hungry or thirsty.

Snapping at colleagues, students, or your own friends and family.

Missing important details or feeling that you are not working up to your own standards because things just need to get done quickly.

Simply feeling exhausted when you finally sit down at the end of the day or on the weekends, leaving you frustrated that you can't just enjoy your time off.

Alex recalls a time when she was so busy, she didn't even notice her own stress, but the stress manifested in her health:

When I was a teacher-leader at my small school, one part of my job was supporting other teachers when students were in crisis. My phone would ring and we were off to the races. These calls could be anything: intervening in an escalating student conflict, assessing whether we needed medical help for a sick or injured student, or fixing an overflowing toilet. These situations were often stressful and needed a quick response, so my body's stress response system would kick in as soon as my phone began to vibrate. I never slowed down to reflect on how this was impacting me or what I could do about it. The thing that finally caused me to take notice: I started developing stress hives on my arms. My mind wasn't registering how stressed I was, so my body told me instead.

The Systems Impacting Your System
Right now, teachers may be facing trauma and stress at multiple levels. We are all living through the global community trauma of the pandemic. Teachers in many schools are being asked to teach in new ways, with too few resources and training, while worrying for the safety of themselves and their families. Under these circumstances, many teachers may find themselves going into survival mode throughout the school day, and experiencing the feeling of urgency that goes along with it.

If this all sounds familiar, here are some things to know. First of all, this isn't your fault. These are not normal times, and your body is responding to stress the way it was built to do. On a larger level, you are not responsible for the toxicity of a society that causes trauma. Systems of oppression, like white supremacy, create traumatic environments, and these seep into our institutions like school. This can show up in our everyday work as a sense of urgency which "makes it difficult to take time to be inclusive, encourage democratic and/or thoughtful decision-making, to think long-term, to consider consequences" (Okun 2000). When we collectively act as though we are in a state of emergency, we stay in survival mode as a community, unable to access our full capacities and skills. Recognize that you are not a failure for your mind and body's response to these systemic factors.
The Need to Slow Down: Name it and Claim it
Next, it is essential to stop and reflect when you notice you are stuck in survival mode. If you find yourself saying "I don't have enough time to stop and reflect!" that is a sign that you are very much in need of taking a moment to pause. Take a moment and answer these questions, in conversation with yourself or someone else:

How does your stress response feel in your body?

How is the stress of your job, school, and community impacting you?

How is your stress manifesting in your teaching?

What do you need in order to slow down?

As you do this reflection, remember to balance a "both/and." You are both responsible for your own role in managing your stress, and it is not on you to "self-care" your way out of a toxic system. Beware leaders who attempt to gaslight you into feeling guilty. Teachers have shared with us recently stories of education administrators lecturing their teachers about self-care, mere days after demanding unreasonable tasks or imposing untenable working conditions as teachers juggle face-to-face and virtual students at the same time. When we are rushing, without enough time to even name what we are feeling, it can be all too easy to accept these demands at face value, or start to question ourselves: is it really that bad? Could I be less stressed if I just worked more or faster?

When we allow ourselves to slow down, we create space to name and trust our own experiences. Notice how stress is showing up in your body and in your classroom: those impacts are real, and we have to resist any attempts to minimize them.

Once we are aware of how we are impacted by stress, we can name and claim what we need. For some, this might mean simple changes, like setting up more routines for self-care or using mindful strategies throughout the day. But there may also be larger shifts required, like taking collective action as teachers against unjust working conditions.
Slowing Down for Ourselves and Our Students
Finally, a powerful role we can play as teachers is to disrupt the cycle of urgency and stress before it impacts our students. Stress can cascade like an avalanche from leaders to teachers to students. When we feel overwhelmed, it can be all too easy to attempt to regain a sense of control by controlling our students. This sometimes doesn't even happen consciously, which again speaks to the need to pause and reflect. Arlène recalls a time when this reflection happened in an unexpected moment:
One of the most transformative moments in my teaching was when I recognized that my intentions didn't have the impact I hoped for on my students. I was teaching the first children to come to school post Hurricane Katrina, trying to give them a progressive education despite the trauma they were experiencing personally, collectively, and vicariously. I believed in holding them to high expectations and supporting them to realize their full potential regardless of their circumstances. Any curriculum was bolstered and scaffolded to support their needs. However, it wasn't until we had a guest, one of my teacher educators, come in for support and a visit, that I realized how much I had internalized the notion of urgency at my students' expense. It happened during a writing workshop. My students knew that in our room, we wrote fast and furiously. We didn't waste time, because there was so much to learn. After this guest teacher taught them how to zoom into their feelings in their writing, we sent them off to take up the invitation on beginning the task. Once they began writing, we walked around to see what they were drafting in their journals. They were all writing up a storm with passion. As we admired their quick writes, I leaned over a student's shoulder and read: "There's no air in this cage. I am spinning on a wheel. I just want to breathe. I just want to feel at peace. I don't know why, but being in school is starting to feel like jail. If this is it, I don't want to go to college."His narrative was a mirror, shattering not only my heart but also my beliefs around what I thought I was doing. I was thankful that the presence and prompting of the guest teacher allowed this student to speak his truth. Sometimes the presence of an outsider breaks us out of unhealthy patterns. The guest teacher's lesson took some of my responsibilities off my plate for the day, which allowed me to slow down for the first time in a while. With the space that was created, I was receptive to witnessing what wasn't working for my students. Instead of becoming defensive, I listened and accepted responsibility for the conditions I created. Once she left, I became committed to decolonizing my own [internalized oppressive] way of holding my students to high expectations. I didn't want my classroom to feel like jail, I didn't want my students to be discouraged by the idea of furthering their education because of the oppression they were feeling. I wanted to know how to do better. I wanted to teach in a liberatory way. I wanted my students to feel that literacy is freedom. I learned that the how is so much more important than the what. So first, I apologized to this student. I explained my intention and apologized for the impact. I expressed my commitment to do better and asked what that could be from his perspective. His two words changed me forever: "Slow down," he said. "Slow down." I learned that he didn't mean slow down the curriculum, or slow down the lesson. What he meant was to slow down the frenzy. "Stop putting the pressure they put on you on us." He continued. "We have a purpose right? We create our future right? So create peace. Make our writing time peaceful and fun." He used my own words, the mantras we shared in class each day and dared me to live up to them. This experience helped me to see the power of honesty, reflection, and choice.
Take a moment to reflect on a story from this year in your classroom...

What would a guest teacher witness about how you are managing stress?

How did your students experience your stress in the classroom?

What's one way that you could have slowed down in that moment?

What will you change about the way you manage your stress while teaching moving forward?

How will you have this conversation with your students?

What kind of mantras will guide the way you manage stress as you teach in the upcoming year?

Slowing Down to Reclaim Your Humanity
There's a belief that we have to work twice as hard with students from marginalized communities, that we have to be vigilant and not waste a minute of learning time in effort to "close the achievement gap" and help them compete with their more peers. What we are now calling an "opportunity gap," can be interpreted as the many opportunities we miss, as educators, to foster joy, love, and peace in tumultuous times in our classrooms.

In a system that dehumanizes students and teachers, slowing down is a way of reclaiming our humanity. As Tricia Hersey, the Nap Bishop and creator of The Nap Ministry, wrote, "dreaming and imagining is key to our healing and liberation. Grind culture has stolen it. Resist." ( post from September 2, 2020). When teachers choose to rest, we resist. Our wish for teachers as you reflect on 2020 and plan to navigate this coming year: give yourself and your students the gift of slowing down.
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Want to learn more?
Watch a recent video conversation between Arlène Elizabeth Casimir and Colleen Cruz as they talk about the mistakes we make around trauma and ways to avoid them or fix them.

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Alex Shevrin Venet is an educator, author, and professional development facilitator based in Vermont. She teaches at the Community College of Vermont, Antioch University New England, and Castleton University. Previously, she was a teacher and leader at Centerpoint School, an alternative therapeutic school. Her first book, Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education, will be released from W.W. Norton in Spring 2021. Connect with her on Twitter at @AlexSVenet or Instagram at @UnconditionalLearning.

Arlène Elizabeth Casimir is a Brooklyn-based activist, educator, herbalist, healer, and writer. Her experience teaching middle school and elementary school in New York City and New Orleans awakened her purpose of drawing on culturally relevant pedagogy, social-emotional learning, and trauma-responsive teaching practices to nurture others' inner child, inner genius, and inner teacher for sustainable outer change in communities. She founded, designed, and implemented a healing-centered curriculum for her students post-Hurricane Katrina. As a first generation Haitian American, Arlène recognizes the power of community, literacy, and spiritual resilience to help others live with personal integrity, transcend their circumstances, and author their own lives. She is the co-author of a forthcoming book on trauma responsive teaching, available fall 2021. Follow her on Twitter @ ArleneCasimir.

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Slowing Down for Ourselves and Our Students

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Why is it so hard to slow down? As trauma-informed educators, we know how important it is to be grounded and present in our work with students. Yet our days in schools can pass by us in a blur, even more so when we feel intense stress.