So if you’re still with me after part 1, I’m still recapping day 1 of the T&L 2016 conference. If you’d like to read part 1, click here.
Read Across America, #1000BlackGirlBooks
The first part of the second plenary was an interview with Marley Dias, known for her 
social media campaign of #1000blackgirlbooks. Only in 5th grade, Marley realized that all the books her very diverse class was reading were about ‘white boys and their dogs’. She started the campaign because people need to see themselves in book. A reader needs someone to connect with, so they can draw on the character’s experiences. She also sees the importance of the culture and experiences of others, as it gives a class all kinds of voices. So when she went to find books that represent black girls in a positive light, she had a hard time. They were all slave narratives, not about leaders, scientists and other greats of their day. She believes reading is important because it allows you to express your thoughts and allows others to understand how you feel. It shouldn’t be a surprise she enjoys writing, especially about pop culture and current events. She had a few words of wisdom to encourage a love of reading:
- Don’t use reading as a punishment; it should be a reward
- Give kids books as gifts
- Put libraries closer to schools and make them more accessible
- Teachers should change genres more frequently
- Teachers should also put more diversity in the curriculum
Education, Arts and Activism
This part of the plenary focused largely on the importance of the arts in education. Malcolm-Jamal Warn
er, better known as Theo on the Cosby show, conversed with Lil Eskelsen Garcia of the NEA. Following Marley, he also discussed race, especially how the Cosby Show addressed black upper middle class families in a way that most of America had never seen. He still thinks that part of the show’s appeal was the fact that it isn’t real unless it’s on tv, and it served as a validation of the upward mobility of some black families. He discussed the importance of parents who believe in their child, support them, but also expose them to the real world. As far as arts in education, the consensus seems to be to educate the ‘whole child’, because that whole experience is the practical application of living.
Share My Lesson 2.0
The next breakout session I attended was all about AFT’s revamp of Share My Lesson. We went over the new search engine and layout, as well as how they’re trying to vet for state standards now. Overall an informative and interactive session.
Educators Rising
Only 6% of students taking the ACT last year indicated they would go into education. How do we fill the gap of teachers needed? Dan Brown, Co-Director of Educators Rising introduced his program to create homegrown teachers. Over 60% of teachers teach within 20 miles of where they attended high school. Essentially, he wants to create a track within the school to allow highschoolers with an aptitude for teaching to work in consultation with teachers and get hands on practice. The first step is to show them the power inherent in teaching. Schools are implementing his program, and it appears to be worthwhile. Educators Rising is now seeking comments on developing a curriculum and hopes to have that out in a few months.
What’s Next for the Teaching Profession
Dana Goldstein moderated a conversation between John King, acting Secretary of 
Education, and Randi Weingarten, President of AFT. John King began with what school should be: a place where students feel nurtured and challenged. He related his life story, where school probably saved his life. He reiterated that education is in fact, a civil right. Randi was irate with how little say teachers are given in demands on them and some of the buildings they were working in (more than likely places like Detroit with crumbling buildings). She was quite happy with ESSA, but more work is needed. She saw the Common Core as a good idea, but the rush to test it poisoned it. Essentially, she wanted teachers to be given the respect they deserve. Dana asked about misbehavior int he classroom, especially the discrepancies between races. Some solutions proposed by both speakers included restorative justice, identifying cultural bias, classroom management, creating a mentorship for newbies, and that it takes a village to take care of the children–sometimes you need counselors, nurses, psychologists, etc. The last question elicited quite a few laughs, because it forced both speakers to acknowledge what they’ll do to help each other throughout the rest of this administration. Both gave overall generalities, but it was good to see some common ground.
Live Life Science and Connection with Kids from Madagascar and the World
Erik Callendar, aka the Reptile Guy, had a great fact-filled session. He’s not the only reptile guy out there that can put on a show, but he is the only one who really participates in cross cultural science. He has partnerships in several exotic locales, primarily in Madagascar. During your session, he will Skype with the kids there, introduce some of the animals around them, and promote a virtual pen pal situation. We Skyped with Madagascar, and to the left you can see a Parsons Chameleon and Emile. Or he can reverse it and Skype from the exotic locales, showing off the local fauna there. He also tries to make everything relevant. For instance, frogs are important everywhere and in many areas they don’t use pesticides which can hurt them because they eat the mosquitoes and head off malaria, West Nile, and other mosquito-borne infections. He’s planning a teacher trip to Madagascar this summer, and hopes to continue it if interest is high. His website is also full of great educational videos all about creepy crawlies.
Computer Science for All
The second plenary on Saturday had Hadi Partovi of code.org talk about the importance of computer science. (I know I missed the first plenary-it was incredibly in depth and will be in part 3!) Hadi created code.org a couple years ago, and every year they promote an Hour of Code during computer science week (December 5-11 this year!). The premise is that classes, especially maths and sciences, take a class and let the kids code. There are so many tutorials, and some of the activities involve Frozen and Star Wars characters. Kids don’t need any experience, and generally just need to know how to read and know some numbers. When they’re finished with their coded creations, they can even send it to their phones and play their very own games! All of this is to teach logic and problem solving skills, as well as getting them involved. Only 1 in 4 schools offer computer science, but most parents and kids want to see it in their schools. Furthermore, they’ve noticed the huge gap (only 20% of computer scientists are female) disappears during the Hour of Code, and it helps girls get into a previously male dominated field. They also offer PD courses, and have sample curriculums to get schools started.
Excellence Through Equity: 5 Principles of Courageous Leadership that Guide Achievement for Every Student
Alan Blankstein of the Hope Foundation took the time to not only dance to Aretha’s Respect, but to talk about equity. As a kid in a group home and kicked out of high school before graduation, he came upon a second chance in a scholarship that allowed him to attend university, provided he get a GED. Because of this experience, he takes the time to go around to schools and address equity issues. First of all, equity does not mean equality. It means every child gets what they need to succeed. He brought up the fact that the fasted growing cohort of students is the homeless, at 1.258 million right now. He also asked every one of us to acknowledge our implicit association biases. Everyone has them, it is in acknowledging them that we can rise above them. Essentially, his message was one of humanity and positivity. Instead of locking the doors on late students, let them in and ask them why. Sometimes there’s a problem that needs to be fixed for the situation to be rectified. Empathy is the most important skill an educator can harness.
Check back for Part 3-it’ll be a doozy!
ange has to happen for the experience to mean anything. Steve expressed the futility of asking about hypotheses when the kids have no background knowledge. They have no reference point and can’t relate, rendering even the coolest experiment just a show. We got to see how Bernoulli’s principle worked using long plastic bags. This built upon a principle we learned with the toilet paper. Eventually there was a room full of teachers blowing up plastic bags, attempting to use only one breath.
simonssayslearn 