# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WHERE ARE YOU FROM? | Storytime with Yamile Saied Méndez

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.johnowensmusicathome.com/post/5-kid-friendly-songs-that-teach-about-social-justice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Music is an excellent way to look at and discuss social justice in our society with your kids. In fact, during just about every movement that challenges societal injustices there has been music that connects with it. Think about it, the song Yankee Doodle was originally written to mock Colonists, then it was used at the final battles of the American Revolution by Americans as a song to rally behind and deride the British. Now it is one of the most important and known tunes in American History.

The list of protest songs is vast and many are not kid friendly, but here are a few songs that can serve as a springboard to talk about social justice that you may not have known were protest songs. As you take the time to listen to these tunes with your kids, consider the message, historical context, lessons being taught, and how it aligns with your families values. Doing this will give the music greater significance and lasting meaning for your child.

The Times They Are A Changin' by Bob Dylan (1964)

This tune resonates with just about every movement that is focused on social justice. Originally, the song was written as an anthem related to the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam War. Of course, the words resonate today as much as they did over fifty years ago. Whatever your cause, you can probably agree with the Dylan's words below.

If your time to you is worth savin'

And you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'

Strange Fruit, recorded by Billie Holliday, lyrics by Abel Meerapol (1939)

If you have not heard this song, it is heavy and may be more appropriate to analyze with eight and up. The lyrics (originally a poem) look at the horrors of lynching in the Southern United States in the early 1900s. This song is powerful and studying it is a great way to consider and learn from the atrocities that have occurred in society. The carefully constructed poem provides rich and intense lyrics for discussion with your kids.

This Land is Your Land by Woodie Guthrie (1945)

Yep, you read it right. That song that you have probably sang to your kids or learned when you were little is a song of rebellion. Basically, Guthrie's tune was an alternative to God Bless America. Please note that Guthrie loved the United States, but he wanted a tune that was focused on the everyday blue collared hard working American and if you study the lyrics with your kids, you can see the country from that lens.

Get Up, Stand Up by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh (1973)

Okay, this one you probably knew as a protest song, if you're familiar with it. What makes this song unique, is that it is timeless and again can be applied to a variety of contexts. Historically, Marley and Tosh wrote the song as a cry of harsh conditions that Haitians were living in, which was similar to their overall message of displaying the poor neighborhoods in Jamaica that tourists were never meant to see.

This tune is great because its crazy catchy and it has significant meaning. During the 1979 Islamic Revolution Western music was banned in Iran. Of course, music has always been linked to culture, society, and identity. So, this tune became an anthem focus on the rebellion of repressive ideas that targeted music. Please note this is not the only time in history that music has been banned, there are many instances. In Iran alone, after this ban music bans were relaxed, but reintroduced as late as 2005.

These tunes are a great way to discuss protests, social justice, and history of democracy with your kids. Simply listen to the tune, dance along, and then have a meaningful discussion with your kids, which will make the music have greater significance and lasting impact. Of course, this should all align with your beliefs and what you want to teach your kids.

If you need to know more about a tune, a quick Internet search will provide all the answers you need.

It is important to consider the meaning of these tunes, as music is informed by society; likewise, society is informed by music. This means that music will remind us of actions from the past and current music will illustrate what is happening today.

Like this article? Follow on Facebook at John Owens Music at Home

John Owens, Ph.D. is the author of Music at Home: A Parent's Guide to Raising Musically Insightful Kids. Check out his upcoming books, articles, and courses at johnowensmusic. com.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Kid Friendly Songs that Teach About Social Justice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Music is an excellent way to look at and discuss social justice in our society with your kids. In fact, during just about every movement that challenges societal injustices there has been music that connects with it.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/ways-to-improve-retention-in-your-students/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by TeachThought Staff

How you can help students retain what they learn? What sort of teaching strategies, curriculum mapping techniques, or other changes can you use to help them remember and apply information?

Most broadly, this is a matter of understanding and transfer. The more complete a student's understanding, the less likely they are to 'forget.' One way to think about understanding is to think of it like a tent-or rather the stakes used to anchor a tent into the ground on a windy day. If the understanding is 'deep,' the stakes are less likely to come out of the ground when the wind blows, whereas topical 'understanding' can become unanchored more easily. It's not driven as deeply.

Transfer matters as well-more so than the more general idea of 'practice.' Can a student use knowledge in a new and unfamiliar context, and more importantly, will they do so unprompted?

In an attempt to create a more specific taxonomy to help you measure understanding, we developed our TeachThought Taxonomy for Understanding, 36 ways to help students wrestle with, rethink, and explore "how they get it.' That taxonomy, however, is complex (we need to release a 2.0 version, and we plan to).

For something a bit more grab-and-go, there is the following infographic from Mia MacMeekin. It offers 27 ways to enhance student retention of understanding. Its strength lies in the diversity of the ideas, from painting and singing, to focusing on the big idea, to using games and even visual cues like different fonts and typography.

Have any you'd like to add? Add yours in the comments below.
27 Ways To Enhance Retention In Your Students

27 Ways To Improve Retention In Your Students 27 Ways To Improve Retention In Your Students; image attribution flickr user miamcmeekin

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
27 Ways To Improve Retention In Your Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by TeachThought Staff How you can help students retain what they learn? What sort of teaching strategies, curriculum mapping techniques, or other changes can you use to help them remember and apply information? Most broadly, this is a matter of understanding and transfer. The more complete a student's understanding, the less likely they are to 'forget.'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
27 Habits That Produce 21st Century Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The ability to ‘rethink’ as well as effectively question what you read and see and hear are two of the most powerful ideas in 21st-century teaching.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Have you ever taken a moment to step back and think, "Why did I just do that?" Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.

With a profession as challenging as teaching, self-reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think about what works and what doesn't in their classroom. We teachers can use reflective teaching as a way to analyze and evaluate our own practices so we can focus on what works.

Why is Self-Reflection So Important?

Effective teachers are first to admit that no matter how good a lesson is, our teaching strategies can always be improved-oftentimes it's why we seek out our colleagues' opinions. However, we run the risk of our audience making snap judgments about our instruction without truly having the context to support it. Self-reflection is important because it's a process that makes you collect, record, and analyze everything that happened in the lesson so you can make improvements in your teaching strategies where necessary.

The Process of Reflection

Connecting self-reflection to effective teaching is a process. The first step is to figure out what you want to reflect upon-are you looking at a particular feature of your teaching or is this reflection in response to a specific problem in your classroom? Whatever the case may be, you should start by collecting information. Here are a few ways that you can do this:

Self-Reflective Journal

A journal is an easy way to reflect upon what just happened during your instruction. After each lesson, simply jot down a few notes describing your reactions and feelings, and then follow up with any observations you have about your students. If it helps, you can break up your journal into concrete sections, such lesson objectives, materials, classroom management, students, teacher, etc. In this way, you can be consistent with how you measure your assessments time after time. You can find specific questions to ask yourself below.

Video Recording

A video recording of your teaching is valuable because it provides an unaltered and unbiased vantage point for how effective your lesson may be from both a teacher and student perspective. Additionally, a video may act as an additional set of eyes to catch errant behavior that you hadn't spotted at the time. Many colleges actually use this method to teach up-and-coming teachers the value of self-reflection.

Student Observation

Students are very observant and love to give feedback. You can hand out a simple survey or questionnaire after your lesson to get students' perspectives about how the lesson went. Think critically about what questions you'd like to ask, and encourage your children to express their thoughts thoroughly. It'll not only be a learning experience for you, but also an indirect exercise in writing for them.

Peer Observation

Invite a colleague to come into your classroom and observe your teaching. Now this is much different and more relaxed than when you have your principal come in and watch you. As a result, you'll be able to teach more naturally and give your colleague an honest perspective of your instruction methods. To help them frame your lesson critique more clearly, create a questionnaire (you can use some of the questions below) for your colleague to fill out as they observe. Afterward, make some time to sit down with them so they can more accurately convey what they saw.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Whether you're using a self-reflective journal or trying to get feedback from your students and peers, perhaps the hardest part is actually coming up with the right questions to ask. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

Lesson Objectives

Was the lesson too easy or too difficult for the students?

Did the students understand what was being taught?

What problems arose?

Materials

Did the materials keep the students engaged in the lesson?

What materials did we use that worked in the lesson?

What materials did we use that didn't work in the lesson?

Are there any resources or techniques that you'd like to see used instead?

Students

Were students on task?

With what parts of the lesson did the students seem most engaged?

With what parts of the lesson did students seem least engaged?

Classroom Management

Where my instructions clear?

Was the lesson taught at a reasonable pace?

Did all students participate in the lesson?

Teacher

How effective was the overall lesson?

How can I do it better next time?

Did I meet all of my objectives?

How did I deal with any problems that came up during instruction?

Was I perceptive and sensitive to each student's needs?

How was my overall attitude and delivery throughout class?

Analyze and Implement Effective Techniques

Now that you have collected the information and student data, it's time to analyze it. The first thing you should look for is any recurring patterns. If you video recorded your lesson, did you find anything that kept happening over and over? Look at your student feedback forms. Is there anything that students kept talking about?

Now that you have figured out what needs to be changed, you need to find solutions. There are a few avenues I would encourage you to explore:

Talk to your colleagues about your findings and ask them for advice. They may have the same issue in their classroom and can offer you some ideas on how do things differently.

Go online and read up on effective techniques that can help remedy your situation. As an age-old profession, there are bound to be resources that exist for the problems you're experiencing.

Interact with other teachers on blogs and on social media sites. Posting questions on popular forums and blogs may open up new perspectives and techniques that you hadn't considered before. These avenues may also have insight for any new questions that you should include on future surveys.

The ultimate goal of self-reflection is to improve the way you teach. Through the findings you gather, you may gain the insight you need to take your instruction to the proverbial next level, or you may find that you're already doing a stellar job. In either case, self-reflection is a technique that can gauge your standing honestly and you should strive to implement it throughout the year. By the time the next new class rolls around, you'll have a much better, comprehensive toolkit to pull from when it's time to teach that lesson once again.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Strategies: The Value of Self-Reflection - TeachHUB

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Have you ever taken a moment to step back and think, "Why did I just do that?" Self-reflection is a simple way to dig deeper into your feelings and find out why you were doing something or feeling a certain way.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Kids to Thrive: Ch. 8 - EMPATHY

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Kids to Thrive: Ch. 8 - EMPATHY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Test a person’s ability to understand a mood by looking at black-and-white photos (referenced on pg 191). See the two links below: Take the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test” Body...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad READ ALOUD ~RING AROUND RONINA~

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Wisconsin School District Rejects Universal Free Lunches So Kids Won’t Get ‘Spoiled’

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
But parents and teachers are clamoring to get the federally funded program back as families continue to financially struggle during the coronavirus pandemic.

# data[].attributes.headline
Creating A Welcoming Classroom for  Children with Special Needs

# data[].attributes.subject
Creating A Welcoming Classroom for  Children with Special Needs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I can remember the first time I taught students with disabilities. I was teaching sixth grade, and twelve students with IEPs had been placed in a single class period with me. Despite the fact that I'd had one whole 3-credit college course devoted entirely to special education, I was absolutely clueless. I mean, I had seen the students' IEPs, but I didn't really know how to interpret them. I was introduced to Kathy, the resource teacher who would accompany these students to class every day, but I wasn't sure what her role was or what shape our relationship was supposed to take.

And needless to say, that year was an absolute train wreck. I know I didn't serve those twelve kids well, and the remaining students also suffered, because I knew nothing about how to manage a class with such a wide range of abilities and needs.

I can only imagine how different things could have been if I'd known someone like Jam Gamble. I just discovered Jam-short for Jahmeelah-on Periscope a few weeks ago. She was talking about how she dealt with a student's misbehavior one particular day, and just listening to the love in her voice and the careful way she handled this student's feelings told me she was the kind of teacher I wanted to know. Once I realized her work focused primarily on special ed, an area I haven't given nearly enough attention to on this site, I knew I had to have her on the podcast.

Jam Gamble

Ms. Jam is a developmental services worker in Toronto, Ontario. She supports students with disabilities, holds workshops, consults, and hosts her own TV show called A Voice for All, which focuses on promoting disability awareness within the greater Toronto community.

When discussing possible topics for our interview, Jam and I talked about how many general ed teachers feel inadequately prepared to serve the needs of students with disabilities. Despite this lack of preparation, every year more teachers are likely to have these students in their classrooms. Because Jam spends every day doing this kind of work, we decided to have her share some ways general ed teachers could make their classrooms more welcoming for students with IEPs.

1. Express your fears and concerns.

When we think about making our classrooms more accessible, we tend to think primarily in terms of the physical space. "You could have the most accessible classroom in terms of space and lighting," Gamble says, "but if you don't have an accessible attitude, your classroom's not accessible."

She believes "inaccessible" attitudes stem from fear, from the discomfort of being assigned to work with a child with a disability and feeling ill-equipped to do so. She says the key to breaking through this is to admit your fears and talk to someone who can help. "You have to admit if you're nervous. You have to admit if you have worries. Then you can find the right people who could help you get over those fears."

And who are those people? "First and foremost," Gamble says, "talk to the parents. Ask them about their child. How was their summer? How was school last year? What were goals that you wanted to see manifest last year but didn't manifest that we could focus on this year? What are things they're doing outside the school that we could incorporate into their lessons? Questions like that give you so much information that you can take and run with."

The other person to confide in is the support specialist at your school. This was something I didn't really do as a general ed classroom teacher, and now I can't even imagine why. "This is someone who is there for the sole purpose of that student, and they understand a lot about inclusion and integration and program planning for this child," Gamble says. "Why wouldn't you talk to that person to get that juicy information that you need?"

2. Consult with your specialists. Regularly.

In my own experience as a classroom teacher, I rarely met with the support specialists unless I was having a problem. I didn't meet with them proactively. That was a mistake; I didn't fully understand what they had to offer.

Gamble says classroom teachers who make this effort, who reach out to the specialists in their building, get a lot in return. "I absolutely love some of the past teachers I've worked with who have come to me to like, 'I'll be honest with you. I don't know where to begin. Can we talk? Tell me what your skills are.' And I'm like, 'Yes. Oh my goodness, yes.'"

Because special ed teachers' resumes are not on display, classroom teachers may underestimate their skills and expertise. "Unless you ask me," Gamble says, "you wouldn't know I have supported people with disabilities from birth to seniors. I have a wide range of experience in terms of who I've supported, whether they're lower functioning or higher functioning, someone who's dependent or independent. I have a wide range of experience when it comes to seizures. I've worked with children who are nonverbal. I've worked with children who are verbal. I've worked with people who have echolalia. I've worked with children who have fears and phobias. I've worked with all these different people that I've taken all my personal experiences from them, and I've put it into this one big recipe book that a child could come in, and I could go, boom. I know exactly what to do."

3. Design activities that challenge everyone.

Much of the time, classroom work will need to be modified for the student with an IEP. But if we occasionally flip this-creating activities that truly level the playing field-we can give that student access while also letting others experience the world the way that student does.

"Once I had a student with a visual impairment," Gamble says, "and we created a sensory challenge where everyone had to be blindfolded, and you had to touch different objects and try to guess what they were. We did a scavenger hunt around the classroom-'Four steps to the left. Three to the right. Stop. Put your arm in front of you.'-so they could experience what it was like to move around the world with a visual impairment."

4. Recognize that parents struggle with their own discomfort and fear.

Teachers will be more successful in partnering with parents if they're aware that parents may need emotional support. "Some of these parents just received a diagnosis," Gamble explains, "so they're going through their own guilt and denial and embarrassment and shame, and all those types of emotions."

These emotions can manifest as behaviors that teachers might misinterpret. "I've had parents who are very silent. They don't want to come to the meetings. When you do get them in for a meeting, they don't have much to say...there's a wall that's up. They don't seem like they want to engage."

When encountering parents who present with challenging attitudes or behaviors, Gamble urges teachers to withhold judgment. "You have to look at the background story before you judge these parents," she says. "And unfortunately, I'm seeing too much judging happening. We're looking at their external behavior, and we're not looking at why their behavior may be happening."

She also recommends helping parents see how vital their role is. When Gamble talks with parents, she explicitly asks them for their help. "I go, 'I need you. I need you to meet me halfway. I want you to be invested in this, because I'm invested in your child...if you really want me to do the magic I'm capable of doing, I need you in on this with me, and if there's things that you're scared about, if there's things you're unsure about, let's get through this together.'"

5. Read books with students that promote diversity and inclusion.

Books are a powerful tool for building an inclusive classroom culture. Teachers should seek books for their classroom libraries that have characters with disabilities. They should also read and discuss them regularly as a class.

"We don't have to wait until Autism Awareness Month or Down Syndrome Awareness Month," Gamble says. "This needs to be a weekly thing that we talk about being different and promoting differences and celebrating it as a uniqueness and not something that we have to be cautious about."

Below are two of Gamble's favorite books for sharing with younger students, along with some other highly acclaimed books for a range of age groups.
This section contains Amazon Affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these, Cult of Pedagogy receives a small commission at no extra cost to you. Other highly-rated books that promote inclusive thinking:
Share Your Thoughts

The posts on this site get better over time because of all the insightful comments shared by readers. If you are a general ed or special ed teacher, tell us what you've learned about making your classrooms more inclusive. Parents, share your stories about teachers that have made your child feel welcome. ♦

Where to Find Jam Gamble

Website: www.msjam.ca

Twitter: twitter.com/Iamjamgamble

Instagram: instagram.com/iamjamgamble

Learn something new every week.
Join my mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration all geared toward making your teaching more effective and fun. You'll also get access to my members-only library of free resources, including my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, which has helped thousands of teachers spend less time grading!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creating a Welcoming Classroom for Students with Special Needs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many regular ed teachers feel inadequately prepared to serve the needs of students with special needs. Here are some ideas.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A COVID lesson: Students need ‘too nice’ teachers now more than ever

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Children deserve our compassion and grace — and not just during a pandemic, Cara Schiavone writes.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Boy Who Grew A Forest | Jadav Payeng | Measure | Sequoia | Read Aloud | Story

# data[].attributes.headline
JUST ASK! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

# data[].attributes.subject
JUST ASK! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
JUST ASK! BE DIFFERENT, BE BRAVE, BE YOU, READ ALOUD BY MS. CECE

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In order to check in and make sure that educators feel that they can do all they need to do within the hours of the work week, she advises that school leaders provide space for teachers to ask questions, ideate and reflect with their principal or school counselor. "We have a cultural expectation that people aren't working after hours. And if you are finding that you can't keep up with your job expectations in the 40-hour work week, you're talking to your supervisor about getting support in a non-shaming way," said Alison Putnam, a school leader at Centerpoint School in Vermont. Her school leaders prioritized getting rid of unnecessary, extra meetings and giving teachers more opportunities to connect with each other.

"We do a monthly wellness group where teachers from across the school get together in small groups to talk about our wellness, and how we're feeling at work. We talk about goals we have for ourselves and what is supportive of those goals," said Putnam.

Another way to support teachers' working conditions and workload is " tap in, tap out," a self care strategy from Fall-Hamilton Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee. In this technique, educators form a text message group to contact whoever is available to temporarily fill in for them whenever they need to take a moment to step out and regroup during class.

"It's just so simple, but it can be so powerful in acknowledging that you don't have to carry this stress by yourself," said Venet. "It's more than saying, 'We're a community.' It's actually finding a way to put a structure around that."

Trauma happens inside schools

It's not uncommon for educators to think of students as "bringing their trauma to school" as if it's packed in their backpacks somewhere between their bag lunch and homework folders.

"Too often, teachers perceive trauma as something that comes from 'outside of school,'" said Venet. "Much of the research and writing on trauma frames it as resulting from factors schools cannot control." When effectively applied, trauma-informed education means critically examining how oppression at schools causes trauma in students. Oppression can happen outside of schools as well as within schools, caused by peers in situations, individual teachers and curriculum.

"Trauma is a lens, not a label," advises Venet in her book, pushing teachers to look beyond labeling trauma-affected students to understanding how structures may cause trauma.

Schools are not equitable for trauma-affected students and numerous studies show that children experiencing trauma have greater difficulty learning . On top of that, student responses to trauma, such as disengagement or misbehavior, are often unknowingly disciplined.

Venet recommends a universal approach to trauma-informed education so that schools are centering students' humanity, whether their trauma is apparent or not. She advocates for making responsive, social-emotional supports accessible to all students with as few barriers as possible. That means making sure students know what is available to them when they are struggling whether it's having flyers on the wall, information on the school websites, or informed teachers that can point them in the right direction.

A universal approach ensures that all students, including students who are unwilling to ask or have cultivated coping mechanisms that allow them to go unnoticed, get support. High achievers affected by trauma are especially at risk for being overlooked, and adults often misinterpret their coping for resilience.

Cultivate relationships rooted in equity

"Take whatever timeline you have in your mind for how soon you're going to have that strong relationship and multiply it by two, three or four because it just takes people so much longer to build that trusting relationship," said Venet about cultivating connections with students.

She cautions that students' capacity to trust will be lower as a result of the instability and uncertainty of the pandemic. When children go through trauma, they have some mistrust in authority figures and in systems, because often during trauma, those people and systems weren't there for them.

"I think we have a lot of work to do to rebuild and prove that schools can be places of safety and community," she said.

To do this, Venet urges teachers to take a stance of unconditional positive regard for students, a concept developed by psychologist Carl Rogers, that emphasizes removing conditions - such as compliance or achievement - for accepting another person. In schools, Venet sees unconditional positive regard as communicating to the student, "I care about you. You have value. You don't have to do anything to prove it to me, and nothing's going to change my mind."

She encourages teachers to build positive relationships during everyday moments like how students are greeted when they enter class or when they make a mistake.

"Any opportunity you have to affirm the student's inherent worth is a moment for unconditional positive regard," she said.

Establishing good relationships can be a long process. And just because students are not openly responding to relationship-building efforts, it does not necessarily mean that the care and support they've received are unappreciated.

Make sure to note students' progress and focus on their strengths. "Recognize that even though you might not see a shift right away, it doesn't mean the shift isn't happening," said Venet. Additionally, it's helpful to remember what is developmentally appropriate for students, so don't take it personally when a highschooler rolls their eyes or a kindergartener has trouble following directions.

Trauma-informed education is not going to look the same for every educator. In the same way that Venet encourages teachers to pay attention to what is going right when working with students, teachers can expand upon what they do well when it comes to their own practice.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
'Trauma Is A Lens, Not A Label': How Schools Can Support All Students - MindShift

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In order to check in and make sure that educators feel that they can do all they need to do within the hours of the work week, she advises that school leaders provide space for teachers to ask questions, ideate and reflect with their principal or school counselor.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Newsela | Instructional Content Platform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Narrated by LeVar Burton and illustrated by artist Loveis Wise, the poem Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson powers this Google Doodle in celebration of the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth. From Google Creative Director Angelica McKinley:

Short for "June Nineteenth," Juneteenth marks the true end of chattel slavery across the United States- which didn't actually occur until 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. Specifically, it marks the day when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas (one of the westernmost points in the Confederate South) finally received news of their liberation by Union Major General Gordon Granger. He arrived with 1,800 federal troops in order to ensure compliance in Confederate states, many of which continued to defy the executive order years after it was mandated...

Though widely celebrated by the community in its first years, Juneteenth's absence in the mainstream U.S. historical narrative has made it an unknown holiday to many for decades. The 1960s Civil Rights Era saw a resurgence in Juneteenth awareness, leading to the creation of today's two largest Juneteenth celebrations in Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Later in 1979, U.S. Representative Al Edwards introduced legislation in Texas to officially recognize the holiday, making it a state holiday the following year.

Over time, this growing awareness of Juneteenth has led to an exponential growth of events in cities across the nation. These celebrations have included rodeos featuring black cowboys, parades with gorgeous floats, readings of the Proclamation, songs like "Lift Every Voice and Sing," and much more.

Go behind the scenes of this Juneteenth Google Doodle with McKinley as she describes the process of its creation, as well as Lift Every Voice and Sing, considered to be The Black National Anthem. Wise and Burton are also featured:

Read more about The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth with the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

Then watch more Google Doodles and videos about history:
* The breathtaking courage of Harriet Tubman
* Lives Bound Together: Slavery at George Washington's Mount Vernon
* Territorial History of the USA: Every Month for 400 Years
* Amanda Crowe, Eastern Band Cherokee Indian woodcarver

This Webby award-winning video collection exists to help teachers, librarians, and families spark kid wonder and curiosity. TKSST features smarter, more meaningful content than what's usually served up by YouTube's algorithms, and amplifies the creators who make that content.

Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Juneteenth, the 155th anniversary Google Doodle narrated by LeVar Burton | The Kid Should See This

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Narrated by LeVar Burton and illustrated by artist Loveis Wise, the poem Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson powers this Google Doodle in celebration of the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth.

# data[].attributes.body
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:22114bbc-12ca-4700-84bf-116b8da4ccea#pageNum=2

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Bill Withers with Stevie Wonder & John Legend - "Lean On Me" | 2015 Induction

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This is a story of a little boy name Theo, who woke up one morning and asked his mother, "Mom, what if there were no Black people in the world?" Well, his mother thought about that for a moment, and then said, "Son, follow me around today and let's just see what it would be like if there were no Black people in the world." Mom said, "Now go get dressed, and we will get started."

Theo ran to his room to put on his clothes and shoes. His mother took one look at him and said, "Theo, where are your shoes? And those clothes are all wrinkled, son. I must iron them." However, when she reached for the ironing board, it was no longer there.

You see Sarah Boone, a black woman, invented the ironing board, and Jan E. Matzelinger, a black man, invented the shoe lasting machine.

"Oh well," she said, "please go and do something to your hair." Theo ran in his room to comb his hair, but the comb was not there. You see, Walter Sammons, a black man, invented the comb.

Theo decided to just brush his hair, but the brush was gone. You see Lydia O. Newman, a black female, invented the brush.

Well, this was a sight: no shoes, wrinkled clothes, hair a mess. Even Mom's hair, without the hair care inventions of Madam C. Walker, well, you get the picture.

Mom told Theo, "Let's do our chores around the house and then take a trip to the grocery store." Theo's job was to sweep the floor. He swept and swept and swept. When he reached for the dustpan, it was not there. You see, Lloyd P. Ray, a black man, invented the dustpan.

So he swept his pile of dirt over in the corner and left it there. He then decided to mop the floor, but the mop was gone. You see, Thomas W. Stewart, a black man, invented the mop. Theo yelled to his Mom, "Mom, I'm not having any luck."

"Well, son," she said, "Let me finish washing these clothes, and we will prepare a list for the grocery store." When the wash finished, she went to place the clothes in the dryer, but it was not there. You see, George T. Samon, a black man, invented the clothes dryer.

Mom asked Theo to go get a pencil and some paper to prepare their list for the market. So, Theo ran for the paper and pencil but noticed the pencil lead was broken. Well, he was out of luck because John Love, a black man, invented the pencil sharpener.

Mom reached for a pen, but it was not there because William Purvis, a black man, invented the fountain pen.

As a matter of fact, Lee Burridge invented the typewriting machine and W. A. Lovette the advanced printing press. Theo and his mother decided just to head out to the market.

Well, when Theo opened the door, he noticed the grass was as high as he was tall. You see, John Burr, a black man, invented the lawn mower. They made their way over to the car and found that it just wouldn't go. You see, Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift, and Joseph Gammel invented the supercharge system for internal combustion engines. They also noticed that the few cars that were moving were running into each other and having wrecks because there were no traffic signals. You see, Garrett A. Morgan, a black man invented the traffic light.

Well, it was getting late, so they walked to the market, got their groceries, and returned home. Just when they were about to put away the milk, eggs, and butter, they noticed the refrigerator was gone. You see John Standard, a black man, invented the refrigerator. So, they just left the food on the counter.

By this time, Theo noticed he was getting mighty cold. Mom went to turn up the heat, and what do you know? Alice Parker, a black female, invented the heating furnace. Even in the summertime, they would have been out of luck because Frederick Jones, a black man, invented the air conditioner.

It was almost time for Theo's father to arrive home. He usually takes the bus, but there was no bus, because its precursor was the electric trolley, invented by another black man, Elbert R. Robinson.

He usually takes the elevator from his office on the 20th floor, but there was no elevator because Alexander Miles, a black man, invented the elevator.

He also usually dropped off the office mail at a near by mailbox, but it was no longer there because Philip Downing, a black man, invented the letter drop mailbox, and William Barry invented the postmarking and canceling machine.

Theo and his mother sat at the kitchen table with their heads in their hands. When the father arrived, he asked, "Why are you sitting in the dark?" Why? Because Lewis Howard Latimer, a black man, invented the filament within the light bulb.

Theo quickly learned more about what it would be like if there were no black people in the world, especially if he were ever sick and needed blood. Dr. Charles Drew, a black scientist, found a way to preserve and store blood, which led to his starting the world's first blood bank.

Well, what if a family member had to have heart surgery? This would not have been possible without Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a black doctor, who performed the first open-heart surgery.

So, if you ever wonder, like Theo, where would we be without black people? Well, it's pretty plain to see. We would still be in the DARK!

Click on emeagwali.com for more information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This is a story of a little boy name Theo, who woke up one morning and asked his mother, "Mom, what if there were no Black people in the world?" Well, his mother thought about that for a moment, and then said, "Son, follow me around today and let's just see what it would be like if there were no Black people in the world."

# data[].attributes.headline
Project Based Learning & Social Emotional Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Project Based Learning & Social Emotional Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Social-emotional learning has become a bit trendy lately. However, it's more than merely a trend. SEL is a critical part of student soft skill development. In my latest article, I explore the relationship between project-based learning (PBL) and social-emotional learning (SEL). It's an idea that Matinga Ragatz and Mike Kaechele explore in their upcoming book The Pulse of PBL and their thinking on this subject has definitely shaped my thinking on this powerful overlap as well. In fact, before you dive into this piece, you might want to check out Mike Kaechele's articles on the Marriage of SEL and PBL as well as how to combine SEL and PBL in your classroom.

Listen to the Podcast

If you enjoy this blog but you'd like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) or Google Play and Stitcher (ideal for Android users).

https://spencerauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/PBL-and-SEL.mp3

Student Soft Skill Development

Ricardo was a shy student. By "shy," I don't mean he didn't enjoy talking in front of the class or he rarely raised his hand. It was more than that. If I called on him, he would freeze up entirely. On several occasions, I would see that he had the right answer and I would even give him the heads-up that I would be calling on him. However, when I pointed to him, he would stutter and stammer or merely shrug his shoulders and say, "I don't know."

It was easy for me to relate to Ricardo. When I took public speaking as an elective my freshman year, I froze up entirely and had to quit ten seconds into my first speech. My teacher let me try a second time and I scripted out the entire speech. However, two sentences into it, my voice cracked and I simply couldn't get the words out. I tried a third time. It was rocky but I managed to complete the four minute speech.

I wanted Ricardo to find his voice and build confidence. I wanted him to develop the critical skill of communication. However, it wasn't working during direct instruction and guided practice. Instead, he had a breakthrough during an independent project. Each student completed a Geek Out Blog and Ricardo chose engineering and robotics as his topic. At the end of the project, students had to share their geeky interests with the class over the course of a week. I offered students the chance to record and edit videos instead of doing a synchronous presentation. All they would have to do would be to press "play" and let the projector do its job. This prerecorded process blended together a high-stakes element of launching to an audience with the low-stakes opportunity to make mistakes and revise their work.

Ricardo's video was well-produced, with creativity and humor infused through the entire thing. When it was finished, I asked him if he would be willing to answer questions and he came alive during this question and answer process. This moment was a reminder for me of the valuable soft skills that students develop in project-based learning.

Project-based learning provides an authentic opportunity for students to develop critical soft skills.

The Critical Need for Soft Skills

When Google began Project Oxygen, they assumed the best predictor of employee success would be university program and grades. Instead, the top of their list was, "being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one's colleagues." In other words, the most critical factors for success involved soft skills.

Later, when they studied their teams in Project Aristotle, they found the top skills were, "equality, generosity, curiosity toward the ideas of your teammates, empathy, and emotional intelligence." Some would call these "soft skills," but as classroom teachers, we know that there's nothing soft at all about these skills. If anything, these critical skills are could be called "hard skills," because of the inherent challenge in mastering them. You can call these critical skills, timeless skills, and vital skills but they aren't soft by any means.

Project-based learning provides an excellent context for having students develop these soft skills. I saw this with Ricardo, who emerged as a leader in small group STEAM projects. In fact, he was a STEAM punk! He was an excellent problem-solver and a great listener. He was humble and empathetic. And yet, PBL alone doesn't guarantee soft skill development. I learned that lesson the hard way with a specific collaborative project that very same year.

Halfway through the first semester, a new student arrived. Miguel had failed out of the eighth grade once already and he had spent time at a juvenile detention center. He arrived to class with his arms crossed and rarely looked up at all. He had an expression on his face that said, "I don't want to be here and I'm not even sure you want me to be here, either." I remember placing him in a group with Ricardo on a highly engaging roller coaster project. However, he never engaged. Instead, he'd stare out the window or occasionally stare at his phone. This continues for days and days as the project progressed.

At one point, though, he leaned forward and said, "What if . . ."

"Go on," Ricardo said.

"It's nothing," he answered.

"Just say it," Ricardo said.

"What if we had a gap at the top of the loop?"

"The car would fly off," another student said.

"I just thought maybe the circle force . . ."

"Centrifugal force?" Ricardo asked.

"Yeah, that. I thought it would keep the car on the track," he answered.

"There's not enough time to change the roller coaster," Ricardo pointed out. Other group members agreed. That afternoon, Miguel came by to ask if he could work on the roller coaster project by himself. For the next two weeks, he came in before school and worked on his own project. The truth is, he had great ideas but his group hadn't given him a chance. It was a reminder that PBL alone won't lead to soft skill development. For that, we need specific strategies that develop social-emotional learning.

The Relationship Between PBL and SEL

About a year ago, my friend Mike Kaechele approached me with a book idea about the relationship between SEL and PBL. Mike is a true expert on this overlap. I've known Mike for years and his ideas around PBL helped me reshape my practice as a teacher who used PBL. I had the honor of observing his classroom for two years in a row and I was amazed at his focus on SEL within PBL. At the time, I didn't know what SEL was. I preferred the term "soft skill development," but I immediately noticed how well his students interacted with one another and how they were developing these critical soft skills through the intentional way that Mike crafted the learning experiences.

Mike eventually partnered with PBL and SEL expert Matinga Ragatz. Matinga is a renowned PBL expert who worked in so many different contexts helping teachers make PBL a reality. They built their upcoming book The Pulse of PBL on the following framework provided by CASEL. Full disclosure, I am the co-owner of Blend Education, who will be publishing their book. I am so excited about it. Look for a podcast episode and webinars on this topic in the future!

If you're not familiar with the CASEL Framework, here's how it works:

As a refresher of project-based learning, check out this video:

Project-based learning can help facilitate soft skill development and create the context for students to engage in social-emotional learning. At the same time, when students also engage in social-emotional learning, they develop critical soft skills that help them create better projects. This leads to a reciprocal relationship, where PBL leads to SEL and SEL improves student performance in PBL tasks.

Project-based learning provides the perfect context for students to engage in social-emotional learning and SEL provides a chance for students to learn about the key soft skills that will allow students to thrive in collaborative projects. So, I'd like to explore how PBL can work within an SEL framework. I'm borrowing from Mike's idea of using CASEL as a framework but I'm sharing my own strategies that I developed in teaching PBL. I don't want to give away too much of their book but Matinga and Mike have fleshed these ideas out in-depth and provided some amazing resources in The Pulse of PBL.

Self-Awareness

PBL is a great way to teach students self-awareness. It begins by empowering students with voice and choice. They might choose the topics in a Geek Out Project or Genius Hour project and in the process, they are "integrating personal and social identities." They might tackle a particular problem that relates to their community and thus they are "identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets." In design thinking projects, students can become "aware of their personal biases and prejudices" while also "linking feelings, values, and thoughts."

Furthermore, the revision phase provides students with the opportunity to engage in self-assessment and peer assessment. Here, students find an authentic context to reflect on their learning in a way that can boost metacognition:

This revision phase allows students to rehearse and revise in a low-stakes environment before ultimately launching it later. This iterative process helps students internalize the notion that mistakes are a part of the process. They learn how to "fail forward." Students should feel the permission to make mistakes. It's the notion that you can't have grit unless you have slack. But as they move through this iterative process, students begin to develop a growth mindset and experience a boost in self-efficacy (two components of the CASEL framework).

When students finish various projects, they can reflect on their work with a portfolio project. When portfolios are an everyday part of the learning process, students can showcase their best work, reflect on their growth, and set new goals for learning targets. Here, students improve their metacognition as they determine where they are in their mastery and what steps they need to take in the future. Ultimately, this leads to deeper thinking and better learning and, yes, more self-awareness.

Notice that students grow self-aware as they create their portfolios. However, SEL mini-lessons about self-awareness can help improve student reflections as tey work on these projects. As a teacher, you might do a short 10-15 minute lesson about self-awareness and self-reflection before students write their reflections on their work and on their learning. So, again, there is this reciprocal relationship between SEL and PBL.

Self-Management

I recently wrote about how to design collaborative projects that build student self-direction. Self-directed learning involves being a self-starter and a self-manager.

In the CASEL framework, this includes, "exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation" and "demonstrating personal and collective agency." I created the following continuum for student agency, with empowerment as the most student-centered.

Here, they own every part of the process. In project-based learning, student ownership includes every phase of the project:

Students ask their own questions

Students pursue their own sources and engage in authentic research

Students analyze data and come to their own conclusions

Students generate their own ideas as they engage in brainstorming and ideation

Students revise their work

Students clarify their audience and find ways to launch their work to an authentic audience

Self-management also includes project management. Project management begins with goal-setting based on the big picture idea of what you want to accomplish. Here, you need to have a clear sense of where you are going and what it will look like when you are finished. It also involves breaking the project down into tasks and subtasks with clear setting deadlines. Here, you often visualize each part of a task, creating a bridge between the abstract ideas with the concrete actions. In this phase, you also develop a plan of action and select your tools and materials. If you're working collaboratively, you often divide up roles and responsibilities. Next, you choose and implement specific strategies. As this occurs, you will begin to monitor your progress. You'll likely run into barriers, which will force you to problem-solve, experiment. You might even need to pivot and re-examine your original goals. When students learn the project management process, they grow into self-directed learners, capable of being self-starters and self-managers.

Early on in the PBL journey, I managed every group project. I quickly found myself acting as the project manager for 30 different projects. Eventually, I taught students how to own the process. Students divided up roles, tasks, and deadlines. Some groups used a single spreadsheet to manage project progress while others used an app such as Trello. Notice, again, how the project management process provides a context for students to practice self-management. This aligns with the CASEL goals of "setting personal and collective goals" and "using planning and organizational skills." As a teacher, you might create SEL mini-lessons on self-management that help students learn key skills they will practice as they engage in project management.

If you'd like to check out the project management process for students, please fill out the form below and I'll email it to you

Responsible Decision-Making

Projects provide an excellent context for responsible decision-making. For example, consider the CASEL goals of "demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness" and "learning how to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts." These align perfectly with an inquiry-based learning project.

You might integrate these SEL skills into the Wonder Day or Wonder Week projects:

In the case of a service learning project or a design thinking project, students might engage in a project centered around community issues. For years, my students did a project called Project Social Voice, where they researched an issue (including doing needs assessments), engaged in community service, and presented a solution to that particular issue. This aligned with the CASEL goals of "identifying solutions for personal and social problems" as well as "anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one's actions." They also engaged in deeper systems thinking at the personal and community levels.

Regardless of the project, students will likely engage in critical thinking and data analysis in the research phase of a project. Here's an example of the 5 C's of Critical Consuming that I've used with students:

As they engage in this research, students are "recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school." There is a natural overlap here between the critical thinking in a project and the type of critical thinking students develop through SEL. But as they work collaboratively, they also learn key relationship skills.

Relationship Skills

Collaborative projects provide the ideal context for students to develop relationship skills. However, this requires intentionality in the design of our projects. The mistake I made with Miguel was that his group didn't work interdependently.

Interdependence is the overlap between autonomy and group cohesion. It's what happens when each student has voice, choice, and personal accountability while also depending on one another to accomplish their tasks. In these moments, they create something better together than what they would have created on their own.

In SEL, this involves, "practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving" and "seeking or offering support and help when needed."

Take, for example, this brainstorming strategy. Students actually benefit from listening to one another depending on each other for new ideas. Even the "low" student has something valuable to add to the group.

Another key aspect is trust. As teachers, we can create structures and protocols that will help students develop trust and group cohesion. This fits within the idea of "developing positive relationships." You might build trust through doing group trust building activities (like mini maker projects, divergent thinking challenges, and get-to-know-you activities) but you might also take it to the next level by having students develop their own team norms or group commitments. Here, they can clarify what it will look like to build on student trust. Even so, there will be moments of conflict. This is why it helps to teach specific SEL lessons on conflict resolution and to use conflict resolution protocols within group projects. CASEL uses the phrase, "resolving conflicts constructively," which can work well in the context of PBL; where groups inevitably must navigate conflict.

Social Awareness

Students can develop social awareness in every phase of a project. As they work collaboratively, they will need to learn how to value their group members' perspectives and recognize the strengths in others. However, design thinking projects provide a great opportunity to become more socially aware at a larger level. This fits within the SEL goal of "demonstrating empathy and compassion." As teachers, we can create structures that help facilitate empathy. It might involve community interviews, observations, doing a Day in the Life activity, or taking a more quantitative approach with a community needs assessment.

Empathy and social awareness also include the need to identify your own biases. For example, students might do this design sprint:

Afterward, they can debrief with questions like, "who can play this game?" and "who might not have access to this game?" That becomes an entry point for thinking about empathy in design and questioning what ableist assumptions students might have. Next, they might talk to someone with limited mobility and hear about how to make games more universally accessible.

Making It Happen

Note that PBL and SEL are not new things that you need to add to an already crowded plate. Instead, it's about re-arranging your plate in a way that allow sstudents to engage in meaningful projects while they develop vital soft skills. Ultimately, PBL provides a great context for students to learn and practice critical SEL skills. There's a natural overlap between the two:

We can integrate social-emotional learning lessons into our PBL units in a way that helps facilitate metacogntion. Meanwhile, they can practice these SEL skills as they engage in project-based learning. Ultimately, when both PBL and SEL work together in tandem, students develop critical soft skills and grow into the critical thinking, life-long learners we know they can be.

If you're interested in getting started with PBL, you might want to download this toolkit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Social-emotional learning has become a bit trendy lately. However, it's more than merely a trend. SEL is a critical part of student soft skill development. In my latest article, I explore the relationship between project-based learning (PBL) and social-emotional learning (SEL).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People (Official Video)

# data[].attributes.body
SEL, Reading, Writing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
There are so many different ways we can empower students to own the learning; from owning the assessment process to doing choice menus and choice board s to having students engage in project-based learning. In this article, we explore how Geek Out Blogs allow students to own their learning by choosing the topics for reading and writing. It's an approach that's authentic and project-based but also structured and aligned to the content standards.

Listen to the Podcast

If you enjoy this blog but you'd like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) or Google Play and Stitcher (ideal for Android users).

https://spencerauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Geek-Out-Blogs.mp3

Five Reasons to Have Students Pursue Their Interests in Class

A few years ago, I co-wrote the book Empower with the driving question, "What happens when students own their learning?" As a middle school teacher, I had seen how the biggest challenges I faced with student engagement were actually challenges with student self-direction and self-management. I worked with some amazing colleagues who helped redesign the learning experiences with a focus on student-centered approaches, including project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and service learning. We ran a co-curricular program called Project IMPACT and launched Social Voice, where students created blogs, podcasts, and documentaries. We took on the mindset of "PBL for all" and I got to participate in a STEM Camp for English Language Learners.

As a professor, I've gotten to observe teachers at every level, including early elementary teachers who launched student-centered lab experiments and social studies projects. But they also found subtle ways to incorporate voice and choice, like the way their students would compare and contrast math strategies or the times the way they incorporated choice boards into their learning. Over and over again, I have noticed that something powerful happens when students own the learning:

One of easiest ways for students to own their learning is by choosing the topics they pursue in the ELA classroom. In other words, instead of making the subject interesting, we empower students to pursue their own interests within the content area. The following are five reasons students should have opportunities to pursue their interests in class.

1. Starting with student interests can help build student confidence. Certain students might struggle with a particular skill or concept. They might arrive to your class feeling like they are behind. However, when they pursue their interests, they build on their own expertise and gain greater confidence in your classroom.

2. Starting with student interests sends the message that we are all experts in something. This creates a culture where students are able to learn from one another from day one. It's also a chance to be humble and model the learning process for your students.

3. Starting with student interests affirms their agency. As the instructor, you are saying, "I want you to share your expertise. I don't care if people think it's shallow or insignificant. Who you are matters to me. So, if you geek out about Hello Kitty or limericks or super spicy pepper jams, I want you to share it."

4. Starting with student interests can be a safe way to get to know one another. Not every student feels safe sharing their story. Starting with a personal biography or a comprehensive get-to-know-you activity can create situations where students re-live trauma. While vulnerability has a place in the classroom, it can take months to develop trust as a community, and students should have a sense of control over how much they are sharing. Furthermore, some students don't feel safe sharing aspects of their identity. This is especially true for certain members of the LGBT+ community. However, everyone has geeky interests and sharing geeky interests allows students to share something personal without centering it on their story or their identity.

5. By starting with student interests, you are able to create a bridge between the subject area you teach and each student's world. As a result, they are able to see the subject area matter as inherently relevant to their lives.

In other words, when students are able to pursue their own interests, they have more agency in their learning. They are shifting from compliance and engagement into a place of true empowerment, where they have voice and choice in their learning.

Getting Started with Geek Out Blogs

Geek Out Blogs are based on the concept of a Genius Hour, where students get to chase their curiosity while they create something entirely new.

Genius Hour (or 20% Time) projects begin with a simple idea: give students a dedicated period of time to pursue their passions, interests, and questions in a creative way. It's an idea popularized by Google but one that has existed for years in the technology industry. Here's how it works:

With Genius Hour, students own the entire journey: They choose the topics based upon their own geeky interests. It doesn't have to be a traditionally academic area. They might like fashion or food or sports or Legos or Minecraft or deep sea creatures. They can then match these topics with topic-neutral standards. Students ask the questions and engage in their own research to find the answers. Along the way, they design their own plan of instruction. They decide on the resources and activities. Each student sets goals and engages in self-assessment. They work at their own pace and set their own deadlines. Students decide on the grouping. Some work alone. Others work in pairs or small groups. In the end, students figure out what they will make and how they will share their learning with the world. A word of caution: It's not a free-for-all. The best Genius Hour projects have systems and structures that empower students to reach their full potential.

This is why I created Geek Out Blogs when I was a middle school teacher. With Geek Out Blogs, students pursue their own topics but they do so in a more structured way that supports reading, writing, and multimedia composition. Along the way, students learn information literacy, media literacy, and digital citizenship. They're also developing vital soft skills, like communication, curation, collaboration, and critical thinking.

Geek Out Blogs work well as a get-to-know-you activity at the start of the year. However, they also work well as project you can do at the end of the year, where students get the chance to apply reading and writing skills they've learned in a way that ties into their personal interests. I've seen some teachers run Geek Out Blog Projects as a once-a-week activity that students do for an entire year. Here, they gradually add key ideas to their blog throughout the year. Others prefer to to take 2-3 weeks once or twice a year to run the project and then let students add to their blogs as an enrichment activity throughout the year. While Geek Out Blogs are generally an individual project, some students might choose to create partner or small group blogs with multiple posts from multiple authors. So, a small group might do a fashion blog or a gamer blog and that's totally fine. I find that it helps to give students flexibility in grouping.

Phase One: Choosing Your Geek Out Topic

In many cases, students struggle with blogging because they haven't actually read many blogs. They might have read some articles online and they might have access to magazines but they haven't really seen how the blogging process works. For this reason, it can help to expose students to all types of blogs. As a teacher, you might curate a set of blogs relating to all kinds of interests. This list could include gamer blogs, sports blogs, fashion blogs, music blogs, foodie blogs, etc. I began my curation by reaching out to people in my own network who nerded out on different topics and I specifically asked for references that were inclusive and diverse.

Once you have your curation of blogs, you can place students in pairs and have them explore examples. During this phase, students can come up with a general definition of a blog and list the key features that they notice (a date, visuals, a catchy title, ideas that are broken up by headers, a first-person voice). From there, they can pair up again and compare their lists. Next, students can pair up one more time to analyze and evaluate the blog examples. You might have students grade the examples using a blogging rubric or do a t-chart with best practices and worst practices. They might select a group of blogs and rank them from worst to first using their own criteria. However, for a more open-ended and analytical approach, students could fill out a see-think-wonder chart where they select blogs that caught their attention and jot down what they see, what they think about the blog, and what they wonder.

I realize that analyzing examples of blogs might be time-consuming but the goal is to build their prior knowledge before launching into the project. From there, students can start to explore their own geeky interests. The following questions can help guide students along the way:

1. What do you really care about? Why?

2. What is something that you're passionate about?

3. What is something you know inside and out?

4. What are some things you believe deeply in? What are some convictions you have about life?

5. What do you love to do?

6. What do you know a lot about?

7. If you could invent your own course, what would it be?

I also created this Genius Hour prompt that provides students with a general sense of how the Geek Out Blog / Genius Hour approach works:

As a middle school teacher, I loved watching how diverse their interests were. In one class, students were all over the place. A girl chose Korean pop music while the girl next to her delved into issues of immigration. A boy across the room chose Minecraft while the kid next to him chose zombies (and immediately began writing about the seven amazing reasons why zombies would make great pets). A few kids wrote about their lives, their families or their cultures. Some students have even focused on the intersection between multiple interests.

During this phase, it can help to have students identify their potential audience. This is a great chance to have a conversation about privacy:

It's also a chance to have students to build empathy as they explore who their audience is, what their audience needs, what questions their audience has, and how they will reach their potential audience.

Once they have a sense of their blog topic and their audience, students can create their blog. As a teacher, you will likely choose the platform students will use. However, they can create the blog name, the color scheme, their profile picture, and other blogging features. I love the way KidBlog works in terms of the layers of privacy and the management of the blogs from the teacher profile. However, I also like the way Edublogs for the rich features that mirror the WordPress platform. If you want students to publish their work to specific interest-oriented communities, you might check out Write About (which I helped co-design) which focuses on students publishing to an authentic audience within the platform.

Phase Two: Generate Ideas

Once students have created their blog, they can begin brainstorming ideas for blog posts they would like to write. The following activities can help students generate ideas:

Create a list of questions people might have about your topic. You might even pair students up and have them ask as many questions as they can come up with about the topic. This process will help students create an initial list of blog post ideas.

Have students engage in a quick research of existing blogs in that domain (i.e. sports blogs, fashion blogs, maker blogs, gamer blogs) and see what information hasn't been written about before. What ideas haven't been explored? What perspectives haven't been considered? What groups have been left out of the conversation? This can help students clarify their audience and find their creative voice.

Ask students to find connections between their topic and larger trends. They might look at social, cultural, economic, environmental, or technological trends. For example, a student might explore fast fashion and its environmental impact or another student might look at the social and economic effects of the growing esports industry.

Encourage students to go back to the curation of blogs and explore what types of blog posts exist in different domains. Some of the most creative ideas happen when we borrow ideas from one domain and apply it to another. For example, you might take a "makeover" idea from a home improvement blog and use that approach with a gaming blog to reconsider how gameplay could be improved.

After students have generated a list of initial blog post ideas, you can provide them with a set of ideas that they can customize. I find that it helps to create sentence frames that they can use as their initial blog post title. This can help with students who need additional language support:

1. Research your topic and find seven random things that you find fascinating. Create a post called "Seven Things You Might Not Know About _________" or "Seven Fascinating Facts About ________."

2. Think about a strong opinion you have about your "geek out" topic. Write a persuasive post on the topic.

3. Write the story behind how you got into your particular "geek out" topic. What is it that you find so fascinating? Create a post called "The Surprising Story of ______"

4. Write a "how-to" post showing how to do something connected to your topic (i.e. how to do a kick flip in skateboarding, how to make a TikTok video, etc.). Write "How to _______ in _______ Easy Steps"

5. Create a Q+A post on your "geek out" topic. Include questions that people would typically have. Write "Common Questions and Practical Answers About ______"

6. Do an interview with an expert on your topic. Write "(Expert Name) on ________, ________, and _______"

7. Write an introductory blog post for people who are new to the topic. Share the key entry-level information people would need to know. Write "How to Get Started with _______"

8. Write a history of your topic and include a timeline. Write "The History of _______ from _______ Until Now"

9. Compare and contrast two aspects of your topic. It could be two bands and their respective styles, two approaches to a skill, two opinions, two brands (Marvel versus DC). Write, "________ Versus _________" or "How _______ Compares to ________"

10. Do a Best of / Worst of blog post with the sentence frame "The Seven Best _______ in _________" or "The Seven Worst ________ in ________"

In this phase, some students will choose to work in isolation as they plan out all of their blog posts. Others will want to brainstorm with a partner or in a small group. They'll bounce ideas back and forth and add to their brainstorm. Some students will map out an entire blogging calendar while others will keep a massive brainstorm and choose what they'll write in a more spontaneous way.

Phase Three: Start Blogging

In this phase, you can blend together shorter pieces and longer pieces. For example, a student might do a 2-paragraph shorter blog post and then spend a longer time engaging in research, outlining, writing, and revision. Here, you can integrate direct instruction into the Geek Out Blog process. For example, you might provide students with sentence frames for questions and have them practice asking research questions. You can then do direct instruction and guided practice on the research process while allowing students to determine how they want to organize their research (a table, a spreadsheet, notecards, sketchnote). I developed the following structured research process for students:

This is also a chance to integrate mini-lessons and discussions about digital citizenship and digital ethics. Students can learn about copyright and Creative Commons as they select visuals. They can create digital ethics that they use as their norms for engaging online. You can also teach some smaller mini-lessons on visual design and cover the basics on how to create and edit audio, how to make slides / visuals that grab the reader's attention, and how to edit videos. If you missed my recent interview with Clement Townsend, you should check out his ideas for how we can incorporate video and audio composition into our content areas. I really think there is value in having students design and embed multimedia elements in student blogs. In the past, I've even had students create anchor charts with design dos and don'ts.

In this phase, it can help to use a simple checklist that students use for each blog post:

My post has a title that is interesting and compelling

The title at the top and the heading titles are capitalized

My posts at least one visual (picture) that is Creative Commons compliant

I have broken my blog post down using headings

I used labels and/or tags that relate to my topic

My post is proof-read for errors in spelling, grammar, and any other mistakes that will potentially drive my teacher bonkers

I have shared my post with my teacher and my classmates. (Optional: I have shared my posts on social media)

It also helps to build in time for students to leave feedback on one another's blog posts. Generally, I broke the feedback up into two areas. The first was the writer's workshop, where students might use something like a 3-2-1 structure (3 strengths, two weaknesses, one suggestion) or a more in-depth 20-minute feedback process:

The second type of feedback is the feedback on student ideas. This is the public feedback students give to one another when reading their blog posts. The goal here is to engage in a deeper conversation in the comment section of the blog. I developed the following sentence stems for students who need additional support in leaving blog comments:
COMMENTS AS QUESTIONS

Why did you _______________?

What made you think of writing _____________________?

Have you considered ______________________?

Is it possible that ________________?

Have you considered the possibility that ____________?

I was wondering why _________________?

COMMENTS AS STATEMENTS Agree / Disagree

I agree that _______________ because _______________.

I disagree with your thought that _______________ because _______________.

While I agree that ________ I'm wondering __________.

Clarifying

I was a little confused about _______________. Could you explain _______________?

I noticed that __________. I was wondering if you could explain how _________?

Adding Your Thoughts

I really enjoyed _______________ about your post. (Add thoughts afterward)

You mentioned that _______________. This had me thinking _______________,

You bring up the problem _______________. I think a solution might be _______________.

COMMENTS AS PARAGRAPHS Paragraph #1 - Agree / Disagree
I agree with _____________ but I'm wondering if __________________ is also true. I feel this way about ________________, because __________________. What do you think about that?
Paragraph #2 - Questioning / Adding Additional Thoughts
I feel ___________ about your thoughts on_______________. What you said about __________ had me wondering about ______________. Have you considered ________?
Paragraph #3 - Quoting the Post
You mentioned, "quote the post." I agree/disagree with this, because _______________.
Paragraph #4 - Adding Your Own Thoughts
I agree with _______________. I also think (give your own thoughts).

Phase Four: Reflect on the Process

The Geek Out Blog project allows students to iterate on their work because they continually add newer blog posts. Many students will choose to edit and update previous blog posts. However, when it's all done, they can also reflect on their process using the following questions:

1. How did the blogging process go? Were you able to engage with a real audience?

2. What did you learn about yourself based upon this experience?

3. What part was the hardest for you? Why?

4. What part was the easiest for you? Why?

5. Will you continue to post to your blog? Why or why not?

What About the Standards?

Whenever I mention Geek Out Projects or Genius Hour, people ask, "How do you get away with teaching whatever topics you want? Don't you have a ton of standards you need to teach?" People assume we have added an additional project to an already packed plate. But that's not how it works. We aren't adding anything. We're re-arranging the plate in a way that honors student voice and choice.
The key is to tap into content-neutral standards. For example, in our Geek Out Blogs, my middle school students had to make sure that their blogs included persuasive and explanatory texts. Here are the two main standards we used.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.1: Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Students also engaged in research:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.8: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.9: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

They moved through the entire writing process:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.5: With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 8 here.)

They also published their work to the world, both in writing shorter and longer posts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.6: Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.8.10: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

This project included nearly every single Common Core Writing Standard in the first few weeks of school. Notice, also, how none of those standards mention specific topics. These were all topic-neutral standards, which meant students could choose skateboarding or fashion or history or video games and they're still learning the same standards. As long as they were practicing discreet skills in reading and writing, they could choose their own topics.
Note: This is a highly updated version of an article I originally posted on August 19, 2013.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Geek Out Projects: My Approach to Genius Hour and 20% Time in the Language Arts Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are so many different ways we can empower students to own the learning; from owning the assessment process to doing choice menus and choice board s to having students engage in project-based learning. In this article, we explore how Geek Out Blogs allow students to own their learning by choosing the topics for reading and writing.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TeachingBooks | Author & Book Resources to Support Reading Education

# data[].attributes.body
https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/i-dont-like-china-or-chinese-people-because-they-started-this-quarantine/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The History of Anti-Chinese Racism and Disease in the United States

By Wayne Au

Honolulu Chinatown fire of 1900

On April 20, 2020, blogger LittleGrayThread made a Facebook post of a note her daughter had written. She reported that in a Zoom class meeting, one of her daughter's 2nd-grade classmates said, "I don't like China or Chinese people because they started this quarantine." The racist statement rightfully upset the blogger's Chinese American daughter, who wrote a response, which read:

When we did the Zoom meeting, someone said that he doesn't like China and Chinese people. This made me feel sad because he was my friend and I'm Chinese. I hope he will stop telling people that because it's mean and wrong. It's wrong because he doesn't know what he is saying. No one knows how the virus started for sure. When you say that you don't like Chinese people you're saying that you do not like me. I did not start this virus. Thank you for being my friend.

I love her written response to the racism she experienced. But as an educator and parent of a 4th grader, reading about what happened to LittleGrayThread's daughter was disheartening and maddening, yet sadly unsurprising.

This winter, as the coronavirus made its way from China to the United States, many of us knew what would happen: Racists in this country would confuse the coronavirus's origins in China with Chinese people around the world. Then they would turn their racist vitriol toward anyone who "looked" Asian to them, because to them we all look alike.

This winter, as the coronavirus made its way from China to the United States, many of us knew what would happen: Racists in this country would confuse the coronavirus's origins in China with Chinese people around the world. Then they would turn their racist vitriol toward anyone who "looked" Asian to them, because to them we all look alike.

Fear of the virus soon translated into patrons avoiding Chinese and Asian American restaurants before the virus took hold in the United States. As it spread, so did racist attacks. Reports of Asian Americans being spat upon, screamed at, told to "go back to China," being avoided by non-Asians, and told "don't bring that Chink virus here" started to appear across social media and in the news.

In an April 23 report, the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center documented almost 1,500 incidents of anti-Asian American harassment and assault since March 19. Asian American women were 2.3 times more likely to be harassed than Asian American men.

All this came on the heels of racist dog whistling by President Trump, who has regularly referred to the coronavirus as the "Chinese virus."

We have to oppose this anti-Asian American racism, but we also have to teach our students how we got here. Trump's "Chinese Virus" and other attacks on Asian Americans recall similar attacks from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Then, too, viruses were conflated with the humans who were afflicted by them, and then used to attack those people already suffering from racist discrimination. When students look historically at the intersection of race and disease they can better understand the white supremacy that has been revealed by the COVID-19 response.

Orientalism and Anti-Asian American Racism

To understand today's anti-Chinese American and anti-Asian American racism, we need to look at "Orientalism." Historically, European colonizers framed much of their world in terms of the West - the Occident - versus the East - the Orient. For them, the Occident was cultured, civilized, trustworthy, pure, and godly, while the Orient was barbaric, uncivilized, heathen, untrustworthy, and culturally and morally depraved - providing justification for European rulers' imperial ambitions. Orientalists viewed Chinese as "Mongolian hordes" who threatened European culture and values.

As "Orientals" entering U.S. territories colonized by white settlers, Chinese and other Asian American communities were never trusted as legitimate members of society. Whites often saw them as interlopers, temporary labor, outsiders, and a cultural "other." This is the ideological basis of the "Yellow Peril": In response to economic or political crisis, Asian and Asian American communities are framed as a non-Western threat to "American" values and supremacy.

In 1848, there were about 325 Chinese immigrants in the continental United States; by 1880, 300,000 Chinese had immigrated to the country. Although some came in response to the California gold rush, most worked on the transcontinental railroad. White railroad barons paid Chinese railroad workers lower wages and often gave them the most dangerous jobs (like dynamiting mountains in preparation for tracks).

White racism deeply influenced the living conditions in the Chinatown neighborhoods where immigrants were forced to settle. White landlords often mistreated Chinese American tenants and kept their housing in disrepair with no fear of reprisal. Coupled with inconsistent city infrastructure for sewage systems and clean water, this contributed to the substandard living conditions and general squalor that helped spread disease.

White racism deeply influenced the living conditions in the Chinatown neighborhoods where immigrants were forced to settle.

Popular media painted Chinatowns as seedy, dirty, heathen, dangerous, full of "vices" like gambling, drugs, and prostitution, and full of similarly dirty and dangerous people. Likewise, whites saw Chinatown neighborhoods as uncivilized, "foreign" spaces to be controlled by Western authorities.

These racist tropes laid the groundwork for equating Chinese Americans with disease - which first happened more than 100 years ago, and continues today.

The 1899-1900 Quarantines and Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown

On Dec. 12, 1899, health officials confirmed a single case of bubonic plague in Honolulu's Chinatown. The so-called President Dole - who came to power when a gang of white businessmen and missionaries overthrew Queen Liliuokalani, Hawai'i's Indigenous sovereign - declared a state of emergency. Honolulu's Chinatown - 14 square blocks, around 10,000 people - was quarantined the next day. Officials painted lines around Chinatown and placed guardsmen on 24-hour patrol.

White authorities subjected Honolulu's Chinatown population - mostly Chinese* but also roughly 1,500 Japanese and 1,000 Native Hawaiians - to daily inspections of their homes and bodies to check for signs of plague. Residents felt the intrusion of invasive bodily inspections by white inspectors of the "Citizens' Sanitary Commission," raising concerns about petty theft, racial harassment, and even attempted rape by inspectors.

(*Note: I refer to the Chinese in Hawai'i at this time as "Chinese" as opposed to "Chinese American" because, even though the white businessmen and missionaries had forcibly taken control of the Hawaiian government with the aid of the U.S. Marines, technically Hawai'i had not yet become a territory of the United States. So, the term "Chinese American" would be historically incorrect.)

Honolulu Chinese also pointed out the racist boundaries of the quarantine zone. The Chinese-owned City Mill was included in the quarantine, but the white-owned Honolulu Iron Works next door was excluded - forming a white quarantine-free peninsula extending into Chinatown.

A native Hawaiian newspaper, Ke Aloha Aina, pointed out that the Chinatown residents weren't to blame for the conditions there:

The Japanese and Chinese are not the unclean ones who are spreading the plague in the city. . . . Instead, it is the large land owners who rent units on a large-scale profit. These are people such as Samuel Damon, Dillingham, Keoni Kolopana, and some others who sit and collect huge monthly and annual profits.

White officials lifted the first Honolulu Chinatown quarantine after several days. However, when several more people died of plague, officials placed Chinatown under quarantine again and proposed a controlled burning of individual plague-infected buildings.

The Honolulu Chinese protested the burning plans, posting fliers and making death threats against the Board of Health and any Chinese officials who cooperated. Chinese property owners wrote letters, and community leaders petitioned authorities.

Then, on Jan. 14, 1900, a white woman who lived in a wealthy Honolulu suburb came down with the plague. Her death shocked the white community - who mistakenly thought whites couldn't catch the plague, and several white newspapers began to advocate for leaders to burn down Chinatown.

The wholesale burning of Honolulu's Chinatown never became policy, but whites who advocated its eradication soon got their wish.

Honolulu Chinatown fire of 1900.

On Jan. 20, 1900, during a controlled burn of an infected Chinatown building, the winds picked up, spreading the fire. The community of Chinese, Japanese, and Hawaiians worked together with the fire department to regain control, but the inferno spread through Chinatown. The fire wiped out 25 city blocks and displaced at least 6,000 residents - most of whom were relocated to detention camps.

Less than three months later, bubonic plague was found in San Francisco's Chinatown, and the response there was as racist as it was draconian.

The Quarantines of San Francisco Chinatown

On March 6, 1900, there was a suspected death from bubonic plague in San Francisco's Chinatown, and the Board of Health cordoned off Chinatown. More than 35 police officers were posted around 12 square blocks. White authorities blocked traffic, limiting the movement of the 25,000 residents - mostly Chinese American, but also more than 1,000 Japanese Americans.

However, whites were allowed to leave because, like in Hawai'i, whites believed they couldn't get the disease.

The San Francisco Chinese Americans resisted this selective quarantine. Members of the community gathered to protest, and the Chinese Consul-General of San Francisco called the "Blockade of Chinatown" racist.

Mayor James D. Phelan countered that the quarantine was necessary because Chinese people were a "constant threat to public health."

The Chinese American community protests overwhelmed white officials, and less than three days after it began, the Board of Health ended the quarantine.

The Chinese American community protests overwhelmed white officials, and less than three days after it began, the Board of Health ended the quarantine.

With a cluster of plague deaths near the end of April, the federal government directed local officials to administer an experimental vaccine, one known to have severe side effects, to the Chinatown population.

By mid-May, large crowds of Chinese Americans protested, noting the vaccine's harsh effects. On the night before the forced vaccinations, fliers posted around San Francisco's Chinatown announced resistance:

It is hard to go against an angry mass of people. The doctors are about to compel our Chinese people to be inoculated. This action will involve the lives of us all who live in the city. Tomorrow . . . all business houses large or small must be closed and wait until this unjust action settled before anyone be allowed to resume their business. If any disobey this we will unite and put an everlasting boycott on them. Don't say that you have not been warned at first.

When the mostly white doctors and health officials came to Chinatown to begin the forced vaccination program, they found businesses closed and residents leaving the area. In the days that followed, Chinese American protesters rallied against those Chinese Americans who they believed were cooperating with the vaccination program.

Health officials also directed the railroad companies to deny Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans passage on trains leaving the city if they could not prove vaccination.

A Chinese American merchant filed a complaint with the federal court. Federal Judge William W. Morrow invalidated the travel ban, saying that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. He ruled that the travel restrictions were "boldly directed against the Asiatic or Mongolian race as a class, without regard to the previous condition, habits, exposure to disease, or residence of the individual."

White health officials quarantined San Francisco's Chinatown again after more Chinese Americans died of plague. On May 30, 53 police officers patrolled the lines of this new racial quarantine. A San Francisco Chronicle reporter observed that in the "careful discrimination in fixing the line of embargo, not one Caucasian doing business on the outer rim of the alleged infected district is affected. . . . Their Asiatic neighbors, however, are imprisoned within the lines."

The editors of San Francisco Call demanded that Chinatown be burned:

In no city in the civilized world is there a slum more foul or more menacing than that which now threatens us with the Asiatic plague. . . . So long as it stands so long will there be a menace of the appearance in San Francisco of every form of disease, plague and pestilence which Asiatic filth and vice generate. The only way to get rid of that menace is to eradicate Chinatown from the city. . . . Clear the foul spot from San Francisco and give the debris to the flames.

The Board of Health added barbed wire to the cordon and doubled the patrolling police force.

In court, Chinese American leaders again complained about their treatment. Judge Morrow called the Chinatown quarantine the "administration of a law 'with an evil eye and an unequal hand.'" Again, drawing upon the 14th Amendment, he issued an injunction lifting the second quarantine of San Francisco's Chinatown.

A Moment to Teach About Racism

Given our country's history of racist Orientalism and anti-Asian American violence, it is easy to see how here in the United States the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been so effortlessly and predictably mapped onto the Chinese and other Asian American communities. As students reflect on the myriad effects of the pandemic, let's help them see how agendas of racism and xenophobia have happened throughout our history. No doubt, fear of infection - whether from bubonic plague or COVID-19 - is legitimate. But time and again, epidemics have been used to attack Chinese, Chinese Americans, and immigrant communities more broadly. In early May the New York Times reported that long before the COVID-19 outbreak, Stephen Miller, Trump's chief immigration advisor, was looking to link various diseases to immigrants as an excuse to seal borders and increase deportations. When students study the historical antecedents to these efforts, they are better equipped to resist white supremacist attempts to equate disease with communities of color now.

In this moment, teachers building online social justice curriculum and parents assisting with distance learning are in a position to teach our children about historical injustices such as those visited upon the Chinese American community at the turn of the 20th century, as well as share historical victories won through resistance and protestations. And we can make connections to this history as we organize to resist Anti-Asian racism during the coronavirus crisis.

Historical Resources

"American Racism in the Time of Plagues," by Andrew Lanham. Boston Review.

Contagious Divides: Epidemics and Race in San Francisco's Chinatown, by Nayan Shah. UC Press.

"The 'Chinese Flu' Is Part of a Long History of Racializing Disease," by Carl Abbott. Citylab.

"The Disastrous Cordon Sanitaire Used on Honolulu's Chinatown in 1900," by Rebecca Onion. Slate.

"Mike Davis on Coronavirus Politics," interview by Daniel Denvir. The Dig podcast, March 20, 2020.

Orientalism by Edward Said. Pantheon Books.

"Of Medicine, Race, and American Law: The Bubonic Plague Outbreak of 1900," by Charles McClain, Law & Social Inquiry, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Summer 1988), pp. 447-513.

Plague and Fire: Battling Black Death and the 1900 Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown, by James C. Mohr. Oxford University Press.

"Review: American Orientalism," by Mae M. Ngai. Reviews in American History, Vol. 28, No. 3 (September 2000), pp. 408-415.

"Topics in Chronicling America - Bubonic Plague in Chinatown." Original historic documents from the Library of Congress.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
"I Don't Like China or Chinese People Because They Started This Quarantine" by Wayne Au

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Wayne Au On April 20, 2020, blogger LittleGrayThread made a Facebook post of a note her daughter had written. She reported that in a Zoom class meeting, one of her daughter's 2nd-grade classmates said, "I don't like China or Chinese people because they started this quarantine."