Theory in Practice; The Leap!

I think the above image is a pretty fitting description of how I feel as we near the final stretch of this first year in grad school. Imagine that this dog hasn't been fed in days. It's low on energy, running on stomach acid, and can barely inspire itself to stand up and respond to the its master's whistle. If it can only summon the energy for one last heroic leap through the flames, overflowing food dishes, warm fluffy beds, and lots of pats and admiration await it. This is what pushes it through that ring of fire, despite the risk of being burned should it fail.

As anyone who has followed this blog or my teaching saga knows, the word logistics haunts my waking nightmares. Well let me just toot my own horn here for a second and share a LEAP this humble teacher took in this area! Taking to hear the advice of my math coach, I spent some time really thinking about the groupings of my students and the order in which I wanted to introduce them to things in workshop settings. I applied this same logic to a language arts engagement, and observed thrilling results.

Wanting to help the students form a more solid understanding of the slippery definition of "theme" in literature, I decided to use a book that is relevant to our civil rights discussions and contains powerful themes. It was actually recommended by a peer in my cohort! The book was Minty by Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney. Stealing yet again to craft this patchwork that is becoming my practice, I took the Alphabet Box shown to us by Dr.K (or Dr. Fisher??), and had the kids pull what they considered powerful or theme words as we read. I thought carefully about my groupings and decided to go heterogenous in age and literacy development. The first week, I read the book three times over three days to the three different groups. I intentionally left some of my less confident language arts students in the later groups, and the impact was better than I could have hoped for. Naturally as I read the book to the small group, other kids working independently around the room couldn't help but listen in. The next day, when it was their turn, the kids in the second group felt confident about facing the new challenge. Group three was the last group intentionally, and it was perfect. They had TWO eavesdropping experiences to process the story and the activity and what “theme” is about, so they were ready to rock and roll when it was their turn.

If that's not enough to make any teacher proud, get this: the second week I met the same groups in the same order to create Found Poems from their alphabet boxes. I showed them a few mentor poems as examples of freeform poetry, and set them loose. I was actually shocked with how game the students were to take on the found poems, and how beautifully they manipulated their found words with their own and explored the heavy themes of Minty. They BLEW ME AWAY with their poems and I think you will be blown away, too.

My two youngest students produced my two favorite poems (shhh) which are as follows:

The Fire
By I----- M------

Eight ashes go up and down.
When the sun comes out,
fire burns in the valley,
rips the trees souls.
The birds screamed
Hide, Hide!
Minty bites down her
lips with every whip.
Out with the sun,
in with the moon,
and freedom is the
sweet tune.


The Listening River
By C------ S------

The glossy river runs away
South just another feeling
to Minty. “I wonder is the
North Star trapped like me”
And the muskrats “don’t
struggle to escape. Soon you
will be in freedom just like
me.” The quiet river flows
like the cold cold wind.

And while I am proud of them, I am also proud of myself. I not only planned, but followed through in implementing a plan that spanned over two weeks. This is serious growth for me. Not that I am cured of my flighty ways, but this experience proved to me that I can not only do it, but that taking the time to do it can yield exciting results.

Similarly, the in-the-moment responsiveness I excel at has not gone away, proven by a fun and unplanned teaching moment that is probably my favorite one of the year. We had a costume day, and I threw together a last minute Amelia Bedelia outfit. Yes, I have a big floppy black hat and an apron lying around, doesn't everyone? Without even intending to, my impersonation of Amelia Bedelia turned into a fun and lively review of idioms as my students tried to help explain some basic ones to poor baffled Amelia. When I went for my session with the K-1 class, I found they had no idea who Amelia Bedelia was, so I HAD to read them the book. As I was reading, I changed the pronouns around so it sounded like I was telling about my own story. I positioned it as "people get so mad at me and I don't know why. I only follow directions! Maybe you can help explain it to me." They were crawling over each other to look at the pages and set Amelia straight on her many confusions. I think it was an introduction to figurative language they will remember! I certainly will!

I know I sound like I am patting myself on the back, but 30 minutes before I began composing this, that was the last thing I was thinking of doing. Keeping up with all of my responsibilies as a student and a teacher and a human being needed by friends and loved ones has left me feeling defeated and on the brink of giving up. Words like "worthless", "typical", "pointless", and "why bother" were floating through my head as I questioned my right to even be in this profession. Shout out to my fellows in this cohort for helping me turn my attitude around. I am so glad I took the time to read their blogs before starting mine, because their words helped renew my own energy and motivation, and help me realize that seeing myself in deficit will get me no closer to my goals. So like this dog, I am taking one last deep breath, zeroing in on my prize, and leaping.

Response to the Year Two's Sources Conference Presentations

It was very exciting getting to see the year twos present their projects at the conference! I was struck at how legitimate they seemed and how impressive they were up in front of a group like that. It filled me with wonderment about my own trajectory: will I REALLY ever be able to put something like this together, and what's more, present my thinking as a respected, valued voice? It sends a delightful shiver of anticipation, slight nervousness, but also excitement all the way through me. The scope of the projects had me daydreaming on the many paths I would love to explore when it's my turn to think about these things.

All of the presentations under "Taking Action for Change: Kids and Teachers Reshaping Aspects of School Communities" helped me to really envision the directions I might take in elevating my students' thinking about social justice issues. I could tell the presenters were very passionate about the topics and could only imagine the infectious effect this must have on their learning community. It makes me take to heart the importance of finding my voice in this learning experience and making sure to honor what ignites me personally. I am specifically looking more deeply into the U.N. Rights of a Child that Joy Harrison focused on with her students. I think this might fit in very nicely for what I am already contemplating for my curriculum design. I was also really moved by Laura Arce's clear passion for providing her students with a user-friendly and exciting library, and got lots of ideas for how to incorporate the community in kid-centered action plans. I thought it was too bad that we didn't get to see Margaret Dantzler present her project "Working Towards School Wide Happiness and Safety: First Graders Take Action" because she has inspired me in the past when she has spoken to our group, and I think many of us would have benefited from seeing how these critical pedagogical ideas can be implemented in early grades.

All in all I thought the year twos did a fantastic job and held their own at this very professional conference! I can hardly believe I will be standing in that position in a year from now. I have a lot of work to do if I am going to be able to compare with these awesome projects.

The Ripples in a Pond: A Reader's Response to Black Ants and Buddhists (Ch 5, 6, 12)

“Like the rings that ripple around a rock thrown in a pond, rings of successful dialog that begin in the classroom can ripple outward in ever-larger circles into homes and out into the community”

-(Cowhey, 2006, p.98).

I am so grateful for the message in these latest chapters of Black Ants and Buddhists by Mary Cowhey, because I feel like she really addresses the main concerns holding me back from diving headlong into a critical, social justice centered teaching approach. Concerns like, can kids this age really get something out of these lofty ideas and discussions, as important as they are? What will happen when they find out their efforts for peace are unsuccessful? What if parents and administrators don't like what I'm doing and think I am rocking the boat? Cowhey takes the time in Chapter 5 to help me see how valuable these discussions are to developing a classroom of social activists and critical thinkers, simply because of the important conversations it can spark. While not all conversation leads to successful action, it does have the power to get kids, and the wider community, thinking about critical issues. As Cowhey points out, “Critical thinking and dialog go hand in hand” (Cowhey, 2006, p.90). It really resonates with me when Cowhey expands on her definition of dialog, saying “It is one thing to have your most privileged, articulate, and entitled children speak up in a dialog… For me, the real test is to have the least-empowered children, the least articulate, take a leading role in that dialog while the more articulate children thoughtfully listen and consider things from their classmates’ perspectives before they comment or question” (Cowhey, 2006, p.91). I am burning with envy of this idyllic description, and am eager to transform my own practice to help achieve it.

As with previous chapters, the almost too-perfect-to-believe, even saccharine anecdotes that Cowhey shares about what her children supposedly really said and did, had me cringe and raise my eyebrow here and there. But I appreciate the sentiment behind these personal stories, like the one where the students think about how to make their voices heard in protest of the war. Cowhey really cut to the quick of my concerns about the effectiveness and value of exposing this age of kids to social issues when she shares that “Our Children’s March for Peace did not stop the war, but it was important that the children marched anyway. It was important that they wondered if children could go on strike to stop a war, and they tried as hard as they could, marching bravely in the cold until dark” (Cowhey, 2006, p.97). What a lovely way to put the whole objective into perspective, that makes me feel a lot more confident about trying on this style of thinking and teaching myself. I'm reminded that the objective of this teaching style isn't necessarily to create huge waves of change throughout the social issues we explore, but to give kids an authentic and empowering experience of how change is really set into motion: and that it's not often easy or fast. This might be challenging for me, as I know I can get discouraged with results are sluggish or non-existent. I have to remind myself that it's the process, not the product, that really holds the power.

Cowhey makes sure to drive home the point that “Teaching peace takes more than preaching it” (Cowhey, 2006, p.90), and it has pushed me to reexamine my own qualms with these challenges. It is so easy to read some picture books about civil rights leaders and moments in history, but until kids begin applying this learning to a critical look at their own lives, it is merely preaching. I love the way Cowhey seamlessly interweaves the academic learning standards with the authentic goals that have the kids fired up and matter to them, like the contention over the platform on the playground. Cowhey responded to her students' complaints in a thoughtful and impactful way, telling them “I didn’t particularly have jurisdiction over the platform, but that Ms. Agna, our principal, might. I said they would all have an opportunity to write a persuasive letter to Ms. Agna, clearly laying out their arguments in support of their proposed solution” (Cowhey, 2006, p.117). I think I am getting better at this, but being able to instinctively connect these seemingly small moments in student's lives to learning objectives is a huge part of what I want to develop in my practice. This book gives me lots of stepping stones to begin my exploration, particularly the book recommendations, which I have already racked up around $60 in my Amazon cart in my eagerness to add them to my collection. I've also jotted down many of the inspirational quotes she shares, like “If we are to reach real peace in this world, we shall have to begin with the children” (Gandhi via Cowhey, 2006, p.88) and “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed unless it is faced” (James Baldwin via Cowhey, 2006, p.114). I like the way she uses them to propel not just her students, but also her own thinking, and I could see them being put to a similar use in my own classroom context. Sometimes I need these grounding words as much as if not more than my students. And considering the ripple effect I would love for my foray into pedagogical social justice to have, it never hurts to have these words around where other community members might encounter them and reflect on them. I will certainly be trying out the Pocket Poems mentioned on page 87 as another way to let kids explore these big ideas. Cowhey explains that “Pocket poems” are “short poems, which the children cut out, word by word, mixed up, and reassembled, referring to a printed copy of the poem on an envelope as needed” (Cowhey, 2006, p.87). She uses Langston Hughs, but I could envision using all sorts of content related to relevant social studies topics.

It made me feel like the classroom really could be a safe space to experiment with these new ideas when Cowhey shares her own honest less-than-ideal moments, and the way she used them to become teachable moments for the kids or for herself. When she wished she hadn't brought a topic up, like the landmines, she really used it as a think-aloud and modeled her reasoning with the kids and provided them with an important experience for activists. As Cowhey reflects, it was "an important point for activists of all ages. A critically thinking activist doesn’t jump on every bandwagon that rolls into town” (Cowhey, 2006, p.118). I also loved the idea of explicitly teaching "bias-detectin" and the way she used this topic to exercise it. What could have been an awkward teacher misstep to be brushed under the rug became a valuable lesson all in its own. The kids still got a lot out of the engagement as “They learned to use their bias-detection skills to help them think about who is missing, who is talking and who is not, who is providing information and who is not, what information is given and what information is not” (Cowhey, 2006, p.120).

I think Black Ants and Buddhists is an important read for all teachers and school communities seeking to foster social responsibility and empower students. In a beautiful extension of her rippling pond metaphor, Cowhey relates the experience of teachers attempting to try something new to a watery image, saying, “If you teach critically, and if teaching critically is different from the dominant culture in your school, you may feel like you are going against the grain, swimming against the tide” (Cowhey, 2006, p.210). All of us have experienced this in some way or another, either professionally or otherwise. For enthusiastic teachers who may begin to feel burned out from all the unfixable problems our world faces, Cowhey helps put it into perspective by sharing her own attitude towards this conundrum. She writes, “I can’t fight every battle and still have the energy, sanity, and focus to keep teaching positively, keep loving my family, keep having a life. Even with allies among colleagues, families, and administrators, I can’t win every battle. Sometimes, however sadly, I have to let go” (Cowhey, 2006, p.215). Nobody likes to let go of battles they find important, but knowing a superhero teacher like Cowhey finds herself in this emotional predicament too, is encouraging. 

Moving forward, I am filled with inspiration and ideas, and the courage to cast my stone into these waters knowing my job as a teacher is to create ripples with my power, not a tsunami. By cultivating a classroom environment that welcomes and honors students' voices, and celebrates the power of their thinking, I can help set positive change in motion. It's not about fixing the world's problems in a school year, it's about setting tomorrow's leaders on the right path to do so in the future. After all, “The most important skill that can and must be developed through activism is critical thinking” (Cowhey, 2006, p.103).

Princess, Queen, or Nasty: the problematic moments of Dr. Alfred "Coach" Powell's keynote address

Coach Powell was a dynamic and powerful speaker. As soon as he began his talk, I found myself repositioning my body so that I could see him; When selecting my seat 5 minutes earlier, I didn’t think I would care about the huge column obstructing my view. How wrong I was, as Powell began his unusual and attention grabbing talk that I instincitively wanted to be a part of. I appreciated his candidness, and was hooked by his unorthodox interaction with the audience and his promise to offend us and make us mad.

And true to his promise, I actually did find myself feeling at times offended, and yes, even mad. I also felt other strong emotions, like excitement, inspiration, and outrage (the “at society” variety).

While there are plenty of positives, I would like to take a moment to get into some things that made me cock my head: Like Powell's “ghetto sex ed” lesson, where young African American girls are told “you’re either a princess, a queen, or nasty.” My initial reaction to this statement was to lean over to Lindsey and whisper “wow, he is very judgmental of young women’s body choices, isn't he”, but my distaste with Powell’s approach to female sexuality ran even deeper than that. A major source of offense for me was the impression that in this imaginary classroom Powell describes, only heterosexual, gender conforming students exist. Students who identify otherwise are either invisible or unwelcome in Powell’s scenario. I wasn’t sure what to make of this; was it an innocent overlooking of this sub-group of AA young people? Did he simply not find it relevant to mention these ‘others’ in this particular anecdote? Or, my least favorite possibility, did he intentionally silence these children? There were certainly some religious undertones of Powell’s whole talk, and I am pretty sure he implied that women who don’t wait until marriage are “hos.” Can I count this as part of his larger-than-life, outspoken personality that is also so magnetic? I feel so much respect for his entire presence and body of work and the genuine thought-provoking he facilitated, yet I am troubled by the possibility that he is blind to the needs of a tragically overlooked population of kids. Thoughts?

This was all a strange, eyebrow raising tangent to an otherwise impactful presentation that made me reexamine some of my own cultural practices. Consuming hip-hop culture, for instance, is something I do regularly and enthusiastically, without thinking about the impact the images and messaging has on young African Americans. I started to reflect on whether it was appropriate for me to even enjoy this entertainment in the first place. Ultimately, I decided that yes; I have the right to consume whatever media I like, so long as I do it as a discriminating, critically-aware adult. It’s those skills of critically examining the cultural practices and messages that surround us that we need to foster in young people of ALL COLORS, and perhaps is becoming a central conviction of mine. I think hip-hop can be used for good in the classroom under these same guidelines of critical thinking.

I wasn’t sure Powell saw any value in hip hop as a legitimate art form, despite the ‘cypher’ analogy that kicked off the entire conference. Certainly there are cultural ills reflected in the lyrics of contemporary hip hop, but does that mean these artists don’t have the right to speak about these troubling features of their cultural heritage in their music? Beat poets also glorified drug culture and hypersexuality, but beyond that, they were giving voice to a subculture that the establishment was trying desperately to ignore and silence. Today, this subculture is recognized as a legitimate art movement worth studying and applying to our understandings of our country’s cultural and artistic heritage during this time period. Couldn’t you say that hip-hop artists who sing about their cultural contexts AND get paid for it are doing something worthwhile? Perhaps exercising their creative right to explore the issues that consume them? Isn’t there value in that window into an often silenced, marginalized subculture that we can break down and study as a legitimate topic? Can't we bring that question to critically thinking young people and say "what do YOU think is problematic here?"

Ultimately, I feel like Powell is really on to something powerful in terms of reaching this demographic of AA youth, but is too narrow in his scope. In my opinion, kids don’t need to be protected from hip hop lyrics so much as taught to examine the lyrics critically and against the political and cultural backdrop that Powell does such an incredible job helping us emotionally visualize. I truly believe there is a place for flexibly engaging in the hip hop genre, as well as a place to welcome and legitimize gender and hetero non-conforming young people into this conversation as well. I am certain that what I don't know about working with "at-risk" (whatever that even means anymore!) African American youth could fill many books, which, Dr. Coach Powell has written many of. I have a LOT to learn from him, and can't help but feel an acute call to action from his words and wisdom. I was kind of jealous of how he was buddies with Dr. Joyce King, and would only dream to ever speak amongst them on that level. They are the village elders, to use some of Powell's words, and I would need permission from the village to speak. Yet while I feel very small and insignificant compared to Coach Powell's long body of work and experience, I hope that if I ever were seated at the table with him, I could add something to his thinking, and encourage him to hear and speak for even more voices in the young AA community. Even an impressive orator like Powell has room to learn and grow, and I would wager that he feels the same way.

Morning Meeting: Navigating the Murky Middle School Years

One major connection I drew from reading this last section of The Morning Meeting Book was how the Morning Meeting structure builds from early childhood on. This reminds me a lot of how the Common Core is designed. The same concepts are present, but a shift occurs as the students get older and can handle more responsibility and complex objectives. In other words, "many of the details and emphases change to reflet the unique needs of middle school students and the structure of their school day" (Kriete, 1999, p.105).

I think I am in a unique position among my cohort in that I have regular interactions with middle school students. Every Friday I work with the middle schoolers in "Language and Technology", and it has been a challenging and fascinating feat to travel between preschool and 8th grade in the span of a week. I feel I can say with experience giving me authority that our middle schoolers could really benefit from the climate the Circle of Power and Respect (CPR) is designed to provide. Many of my TIP lows focus on how to deal with the hurtfulness and rudeness with which these students treat each other. It's clear these kids need a consistent community building safe space such as the CPR so that they can "learn to treat each other with respect; communicate with power and authority without putting each other down; and listen to each other's stories, hopes, and fears" (Kriete, 1999, p.105).

Middle schoolers intimidate me because their issues become so "real" to me. I often feel like I don't have the authority to help them because my own adolescence was such a messy chaotic time: I don't have any answers to their very authentic pains and angst. Just the other day I was reflecting on a certain middle school boy with his teacher, and we mused over how he can be so delightful in some instances and so out of control and explosive at others. I really feel for these kids going through puberty, where "familiar ten-year-old child bodies become unfamiliar and sometimes scary fourteen-year-old young adult bodies" (Kriete, 1999, p.106). I was saying to my colleague that it seems pretty unfair that just as soon as you start to get the whole "being human" thing down, your brain goes and unleashes a whole bunch of confusing chemicals that make you feel and act like a crazy person. I felt like I was reading my own mind when I came upon the passage, "just when [kids] are becoming capable of abstract, theoretical thinking-- and of higher level moral thinking-- they also become emotionally volatile, preoccupied with physical changes, and immersed in a peer culture that often says it's cool to be 'bad' and uncool to be smart. All these can impede intellectual and personal growth and achievement" (Kriete, 1999, p.109). It must be a world-shattering moment when you learn just how brutal and nonsensical "real life" can be, and I think that is what sometimes intimidates me about working with middle schoolers. I myself am constantly coping with this understanding, and went through my own share of negative backlash while finding my feet at this age. What can I possibly offer to kids going through the same messy transition, other than my sincerest "good luck and call me when you land."

That's why it must be so helpful for these kids to have a consistent and safe place to join with their peers and face the very real trials that face them with the support of their community. It reminds me of the African proverb Dr. K shared with us: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." As the book points out, "planning for CPR does take time. But it's time that pays off in the long run" (Kriete, 1999, p.131). Perhaps the regular CPRs could result in other academic goals not being met as speedily, but that time results in a classroom community that can "go far" together.

I really like the ways the book shows how academic goals can be worked towards in the context of the meetings, like in providing a framework for sharing. According to Kriete, giving them a format such as "one sentence that states the topic and two more sentences that give details about it" (Kriete, 1999, p.115), can make them more comfortable with the process while also providing them "a chance to practice the skills of focusing on and developing a topic-- skills they will need for successful writing and public speaking" (Kriete, 1999, p.115).

Keeping this in mind in my last Language and Technology class, when my original plan had to be thrown out the window, I turned to some of the Group Activities from the book. Even in one small session, I saw students who were often at each other's throats working together and enjoying each other, and it was one of the best lessons I ever had with them. I know that it's really up to their teachers to make CPR a part of their routine, but I was happy to see the small impact I could have. This experience proves to me that if I ever DO find myself at the helm of a middle school group, I will absolutely make CPR a non-negotiable part of our day.