Book Review: Save Me a Seat

Our first chapter book read aloud this year was Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks. It’s an amazing book for so many reasons, and was the perfect first read aloud for our class. While we felt it allowed for natural segues into many of the beginning of the school year discussions and activities, it’s a perfect book for anytime of the year.

There are two narrators which leads to two vastly different perspectives (often on the same event). Our students reflected often on how two people can experience the same events very differently. This helped them brainstorm ways to be understanding and empathic. One of our students referenced part of the book as an explanation of how misunderstandings happen and why assumptions are dangerous.

One of the main characters, Ravi, is a new student (and recent immigrant). His experiences helped us talk about how we want people to feel in our classroom. Joe, the other main character, feels like a target at school, and before we brainstormed agreements (rules) for our class contract, we discussed what we can do to make sure no one has to feel like Joe did  in our community. Students also really identified with Ravi’s frustration when his name was mispronounced and talked seriously about the importance of using names carefully and respectfully. The other day, when a substitute teacher was in our class, the students took it upon themselves to carefully learn her name even after she said it was a hard name and they were welcome to call her Mrs. K instead.

Save Me a Seat also teaches students about the significance of an apology. Sometimes (for kids) it can feel like saying sorry is simply a stepping stone towards moving on or getting out of trouble. But in Save Me a Seat, Joe’s father writes him a moving and heartfelt letter accepting responsibility for how he made Joe feel (instead of saying I didn’t mean to or focusing only on his intent) and acknowledging that it is okay for men (and boys) to have feelings after all. Especially with third graders who can have difficulty genuinely connecting abstract concepts, reading and discussing this part of the book was such an important lesson in apologizing, accepting responsibility, and discounting messages of how you are “supposed to” feel, act, or behave (because of gender, coolness, or something else).

Our students also learned so much and wanted to learn so much from reading this book. They asked questions (and we investigated) about Bangalore, South Indian food, Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), and more. They repeatedly asked us to share the recipes found in the book and poured over the glossaries for each main character in the back. We (teachers) also loved that there was a glossary for each main character as opposed to only one for Ravi.

Including two glossaries makes them a tool for each character to be understood more fully instead of an indication of Ravi’s foreign state. It also made me (as an Indian-American), happy because it means that readers were less likely to ask me (or other South Asian people) to explain or translate words or references in the book. The South Indian food in the book was not portrayed as foreign or weird or (my personal pet peeve) something only “adventurous” people eat. It was simply food, just like the food Joe ate.

Save Me a Seat is also a great mentor text. We will keep coming back to it all year as an example of how to develop characters, use descriptive language, write dialogue and more. The fact that each chapter ends in a cliff hanger makes it an exceptional read aloud.

Our students were so enthralled with the book that we decided to have a mini-celebration at the end complete with South Indian food. We ordered idli and sambar from Pansaari, a local restaurant, and the students were so excited to eat one of Ravi’s favorite foods. We had talked about respecting other people’s likes and dislikes and the students were quick to point out that this applies to food as well. Even students who said they don’t like spicy food or who are very picky about what they eat for lunch were excited to try the idli, sambar, and coconut chutney. While they ate, we (teachers) read aloud and finished the book. We also talked about our favorite parts of the book and looked at different locations from the book on a map.

Since we finished our read aloud, six of our students have eagerly reread Save Me a Seat independently (which works well for their development of comprehension and decoding skills in third grade). Many other students have asked if they can have the book next. They also trust our recommendations so much more! We love all of the enthusiasm around reading (and incorporating food, geography, kindness, and more). We truly couldn’t recommend this book more highly!

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Northwest Teachers for Social Justice: Always Worth the Trip!

We are back in DC and reunited with our 3rd graders, a little wiped, but feeling very grateful. We just returned from the NWTSJ Conference (Northwest Teaching for Social Justice) in Seattle! We were graciously asked to return and do another presentation, and we couldn't pass it up. As we met participants along the way, we frequently got the question, "Wow, DC!? Why did you come all the way here?"  

The answer is simple. We love this conference. The energy is infectious, and we love checking out the hard work of largely West Coast public school educators. The conversations are dynamic and the passion seems neverending.

A few highlights beyond the Seattle fresh air and rain were:

• A workshop about how to teach about the not so distant, painful history of Japanese-American Incarceration. We have been looking for resources for how to make this history more visible and this definitely fueled our thinking.

• A workshop on how to keep Teachers of Color in the profession. Gabby especially enjoyed this workshop and it truly felt like a space to be vulnerable and heal. Longoria (one of the leaders of this workshop) is both brilliant and hilarious. There was a thoughtful conversation about what 'teacher of color' even means and the problems the label perpetuates. There was also a conversation about what 'teacher' means, who we sees as people of knowledge or 'valid' to share and educate our children (many of us receive our first education in our homes/communities/ within our own cultures that are not the dominant one).

• We ran into Bill Bigelow of Rethinking Schools. He was kind and personable and it was exciting to put a face to a name!

• Lunch was also fantastic-- this is just a sidenote, but the two of us really do love food. We were so impressed with how the food line (and entire conference) was run!

As always, we are grateful to the wonderful humans who joined us for a session as well. Participants in our session had many thoughts on their personal reactions to being placed in different groups (representing different amounts of wealth) in our beloved pom pom simulation. After our drawing activity that highlights  Participants also shared about internalized oppressions and where to take a conversation once we've made these stereotypes more tangible. We enjoyed all of the personalities in our group, and want to say another thank you to everyone for rallying with us at the end of a long, but productive day.

We left the conference feeling inspired. We are thinking about how to create this space and energy in DC as we know teachers doing great work here, but we don't have the organization quite yet. We are looking forward to pushing something like this forward with DC Area Educators for Social Justice with Teaching for Change, and potentially other avenues as well. Our brains are also rattling around with questions of what it looks like to organize private school teachers, and in what ways it would be most effective.

If we met you at some point on this quick trip to the West Coast -- thank you and keep on keeping on!

Holiday Inquiry: Columbus Day

Last week, we reconsidered Columbus Day. While our school does not recognize the holiday and remained in session on Monday, it is still a federal holiday and many of our students’ parents had the day off.

To lead up to our inquiry work, we asked students to respond to the question, “If you could create a holiday, what holiday would you create and why?” for their Morning Work. They had predictably fun and silly ideas - Kids’ Day when you get unlimited candy, Pets’ Day when pets can go everywhere, etc. However, the idea emerged that a holiday is about celebrating someone or something POSITIVE.

Later that week, we did a read aloud of Encounter by Jane Yolen and David Shannon, which tells the story of Columbus arriving in San Salvador in 1492 from the perspective of a Taino child. After reading the story, we had students complete an I think/I wonder chart about the the events described in the book.

We then had a whole class discussion about who Christopher Columbus was, with students calling into question the idea that “he discovered America.” We found San Salvador on a world map, and looked at this map showing his Columbus’s four voyages. Students were surprised that he never actually came to the continental United States, and confused by the idea of “discovering” a new place when people already lived there.

One student clarified, “He discovered the Americas for white people in Europe.”

Other students had questions about how Columbus and the other Europeans with him treated the Taino people. In Encounter, the narrator (a Taino child) describes touching a sword and getting “bitten.” We discussed how there will be an imbalance of power between someone who has weapons and someone who does not. Students asked what Columbus did that should be celebrated with a holiday (other than the previously mentioned “discovered the Americas for white people in Europe.”)

Next, we watched Reconsider Columbus Day. Some of our students had heard of Indigenous People’s Day, but most had not. They liked the idea of going back to their original idea of a holiday to celebrate someone or something positive. One student asked, “Why would there be a holiday for someone who was bad?”

We let students reflect and discuss that question, and then had them write responses to what they had learned and what they were still thinking or wondering about. Many of them still had questions and continued to grapple with the idea of a holiday for someone who hurt other people.

One of our student's written responses after our discussion.

On Monday, in honor of Indigenous People’s Day, we watched Indigenous People’s Day and Daunette on Being Native American. We will continue our investigation of holidays, monuments, and whose perspective is heard, valued, and prioritized all year.

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I Wish My Teachers Knew

Inspired by #iwishmyteacherknew, we asked our students to tell us what they wish we knew about them (and in general). We started by asking them what was on their minds now that they are back at school, and then asked them how they are different at school versus at home. These prompts set them up to share insights with us that could help us know and support them as the complex humans they are. Specifically, we asked if there was anything they wished we knew or anything they wanted to share with us. We also asked how to best motivate them or help them if they are feeling stuck. We were impressed with the depth of thought our students revealed in their answers. Many adults won’t be able to tell you what motivates them or helps them when they are feeling stuck (or will give you a cynical answer that doesn’t really help in the moment), as it requires a lot of self awareness and reflection.

Some of our students wrote about how home felt versus school, and shared that they enjoy the predictability and clarity of school. Others shared about feeling like they don’t get enough attention, or being nervous about events in the world or events in their lives. One of our favorites was a student who said he was, “bored at home because I like learning.” We will remind him that he can read, write, think, and investigate at home too!

Other students shared troubles at home, some with more detail than others. These troubles might range from a less than kind older sibling to discord or stress at home. One student said he wished we knew about some things happening at home, but they were (sic) “PRIVET” so he couldn’t share with us. Another student wrote about often feeling excluded or left out among friends. Yet another wrote about the death of a family member. Even without a lot of details, context, or background, knowing that students are dealing with something heavy at home helps us understand better what they bring with them when they come to school everyday.

We are grateful to our students for giving us more context into who they are. We will of course develop a nuanced sense of how to best challenge and support our new crew of learners as the school year continues. Nevertheless, this one survey has given us plenty of food for thought and a level of connection with one another that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to have at this point in the year. Here’s to starting this year by learning about our students by hearing from them!

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Creating Monuments of Our Classroom Rules After Charlottesville Published by Teaching for Change

Gabby's post, Creating Monuments of Our Classroom Rules After Charlottesville, was published on the Teaching for Change website! It details what we did next after writing postcards for Charlottesville and how we eventually developed our class "contract" or rules. Please read and let us know what you think!

Computer tips: How to rollout the great (but challenging) tool!

Congratulations! Your school has just received a gift or made the leap and decided to be a '21st century' school and now all of your students have….. COMPUTERS.

Dun. dun. Dun.

We know. It's exciting because these tools provide access to so much knowledge and so many resources! It's also terrifying because…well, the internet. We are constantly trying to sort out what it looks like to be the best educators we can be while utilizing the computers our students are lucky to have in our classroom. As we searched around to see how other teachers have rolled out computers, we found there really aren't many resources out there to give teachers the skills on how to unleash these tools that can seemingly do almost anything with their students.

We are still learning and will have new ideas for you as we sort out how this can work best with our 3rd graders this year. But for now, here a few tips we have from our past few years of working with our (5th grade) students and computers.

*Note: Most of these steps should happen BEFORE students even get to TOUCH their computers.*

1. Make an agreement before they even get to touch or use their computers.

*For us, this took the shape of a 'Technology Covenant' in which we agreed upon how they were to be used (bringing in our classroom rules as well) and then we had all the students sign the agreement.

*We also (we wanted to be preventative), had a printed version we called the technology contract that we sent home. The contract said that failure to use the tool properly would result in consequences. For us, the consequences usually meant the computer goes and sits on a teacher's desk for the rest of the lesson. We want to be honest and note that this became challenging at times depending on the lesson (we stuck to it anyways) and sometimes with parents. We make sure to check in with other teachers our students have to ensure we are all on the same page-- miscommunication about expectations leads to endless, "Well, in Spanish we get to….etc!" It is also really important to ask administration what they see the escalation of consequences being and how they want to handle different aspects of misconduct so that you aren't figuring it all out as things come up. Naturally, there will always be surprises!

2. Explain 'work' vs. 'personal'.

We showed our students our work computers. We made a point to talk them through how we email colleagues about work and only about work on these computers. We might make a new document for work. We might look on a website for resources about the Pamunkey tribe for work. We do not use our computers to talk to our personal friends (yes, we do actually have friends..) or family etc. Their school computer is also just that: their work computer. That means it is solely for academic purposes. We also made it clear that everything that happens on their computer isn't private: adults at school can see what is done on it (and we don't want to see any of their personal business please and thank you!). We come back to this when we discuss how to properly email a teacher, as well. It is important to note that they will seek the social options with computer use and that, that makes sense, even though it can be frustrating from a teacher's perspective. We try to give them space on Goodreads as the social outlet, or talking about articles they have read online in groups, as well as having group projects that require a computer from time to time… we're still working on harnessing this!

3. Show how you expect them to carry it, put it away, and be closed if someone is talking.

Modeling all of these expectations makes a difference. We have a rule that all computers must be slanted downwards (or closed) when someone is talking and we wait until that is the case (and ask the speaker to wait) if it is taking someone a moment to catch on. There are few things that would degrade a sense of classroom community and conversation as much as some kids clicking around on their screens while others are talking.

4. Be prepared to differentiate for computer familiarity.

Some students will know how to use the computer with ease, others will be brand new to how to open a browser page. Go through whatever steps (in general) you want them to do and then be prepared to have a stream of questions from some less experienced computer users. We project and go through the steps and have kids keep up with us as best they can. The students who are faster, we ask to turn and check in with their friends who aren't there yet. We also prepare a task ( ie: "You can update your Goodreads when you are done") so that as we check in with students who need more support, our faster students aren't aimlessly on their computers.

5. Have a classroom computer expert.

Along the lines of the strategy above, it was a great confidence boost for some of our students to have this position, and they were very helpful in turn with students who needed support. It's nice for both teacher and the student to be able to say, "Go check in with 'fellow awesome kid' first".

6. Ensure that some sites are blocked.

What can we say? Most young people aren't ready for the depth of the world wide web. As adults, we know we aren't even sure what is out there a lot of the time (and we aren't ready either!). This is not being anti-tech, this is understanding there is a ton we do not understand about the internet. Ask your tech person for assistance. All we can say is it is helpful and prevents loads of unnecessary drama. We all push boundaries and computers happen to be a very fun and sly tool to do so. It will happen at some point, and it is much better to have to shut down kids goofing around about a photo of a man with a duck body and a diaper on (we truly don't know, ask our kids!) than the many, many alternatives.. For us,so far, this also means no listening to music while they work. We've tried it as a support for different students, but we have yet to see it be beneficial enough to outweigh the pieces that come with it.

7. Have a countdown / time warning.

If you're like me, (and most of our students!) it is ridiculously hard to snap out of focusing on the computer. It is hard to stop a task you are engrossed in, in general. As annoying as it might sound, even for older students I'd suggest having a countdown. We give our students a 5 minute warning (telling some of our slower to stop humans that, that means right now), along with a 1 minute warning. From there, we usually have a student countdown (it is the classroom 'timer' job) from 10 in which we have all computers closed and away. By the middle of the year, if we've done some coaching and it is still a struggle, we will simply close computers for students if they aren't ready to go on time. This sets the precedent that shifting gears, means shifting gears and we are done with that tool for now.

8. In lessons, explain everything you need them to know first, then let them open computers.

Along the lines of the previous tip, once their computers are open- you've lost them. Sure they are completely engaged in activity, but it will be pointless to try to wrangle everyone back together once computers are open. Making it the expectation that they come to lesson with their computers closed (or leave them on the table and meet you somewhere else in the room), is a great way to have a clear routine.

9. Be clear about what 'writing' on the computer looks like.

Handing students computers and then saying, 'get started with your writing!' during a writing block is overwhelming for a lot of students and will lead to all sorts of unwanted computer use or unproductive forms of writing. You'll see some diligently typing away (but probably not referencing their graphic organizer!) and others who are typing a sentence and then changing the font size, the color, the font size, the color.. You get the idea. Modeling what writing time looks like with a couple different options is very helpful. We had all students fill out graphic organizers on paper first in the beginning of the year before they could go get their computers and start drafting. As the year went on, some students had graphic organizers we emailed to them that they could type into as a form of differentiation, while others needed to still use paper first. We also have a rule that you cannot change font or colors or anything else in your document until you have been approved to do so by a teacher. Especially for our students with focus challenges, the computer can be captivating and distracting in ways that are hard to reset from. We are also fans of having students print out their draft to edit a hard copy-- they catch so many more mistakes and actually learn how to edit!

10. Be patient with yourself/ them-- we're all just trying to figure computers out!

Computers are fantastic tools. The worlds they open up and the resources we get to use are invaluable. We especially love Newsela, Goodreads, BrainPop, Google Docs, NoRedInk, and more. With these great tools, comes a territory of students learning how to use them in school while also taking in content or other skills. Those are a lot of moving pieces. In addition, whole class lessons getting students set up on a new account or something online always requires a ton of calm on our end-- if anyone has tips for that please share!

We're grateful for the computers in our room and hope that some of these tips help you feel a little more prepared as you roll out computers in your room. Onwards!

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Writing Postcards for Charlottesville with 3rd Graders

One of the activities on our (very long) to do list for the first week of school was writing Postcards for Charlottesville through the #DearYoungPerson campaign with our new third graders. On Friday afternoon, we carved out some time and got started.

We started with a read aloud of Painting for Peace in Ferguson by Carol Swartout Klein and used the book as an segue into a conversation about using art and images to help people feel better. Next, we asked students if they had heard of Charlottesville and looked at Charlottesville on a map to see how far it was from our school (less than 3 hours).

We received a variety of responses to our question, from “I’ve heard of it before” or “my family member works there”, to “there was a violent riot there.” We had two students who knew more details and shared longer explanations about white supremacists, torches, and terrorism. We confirmed details and explained to students that there was indeed a violent protest that hurt peaceful protesters and that the violent protesters were against anyone who wasn’t like them, be it a different skin color or race, or different religion.

Next, we shared that this made young people in Charlottesville feel scared and like they weren’t welcome or didn’t belong in their community because of hate. We told the students that we were going to design and write postcards to young people in Charlottesville and asked:

What images and messages could we send them through our postcards to help them heal?

What images and messages of peace could we send them?

How can we communicate that love is more powerful than hate?

At this point, one student expressed anger and the desire to punch people (related to a personal Jewish identity) who were marching in Charlotteville. In response, we reminded our students that love is stronger than hate, and while it’s natural to feel angry, we wanted to fight hate with love and send supportive messages to people who were hurt.

Finally, we gave students blank postcards and quiet time to illustrate and write. The results were wonderful and heartwarming. We wrote some ideas for what to say on the board, but students wrote messages of hope and how all religions should be respected all on their own. They also wrote “you are welcome here” and asked how to spell “community” to write “we’re a community” without any prompting. Some students really focused on the images as a way to convey comfort instead of trying to put messages into words.

While we refuse to act as though nothing is wrong or events in Charlottesville don’t affect us, (because they do and they definitely affect the lives of our students) we wanted to give our students an outlet and constructive action to complete as third graders are still very egocentric and literal so open ended conversations about the news can be anxiety inducing and confusing for them. We were proud and touched to see the images and messages of hope and unity that our students came up with on their own, as well as how inspired they were to lend comfort to others in a negative situation. We know there is so much more work to do and so much more progress needed, but it was a brief moment of hope, light, and respite.

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Using SPLC's 10 Ways to Fight Hate in the Classroom

My first day of school (with students present) is in a little over a week. My co-teacher and I are moving from 5th grade to 3rd grade, and although our students will be younger and more concrete, we will continue to talk about current events. We don’t have a choice. This work is too important to stop because it is scary, uncomfortable, or difficult.

You know your students and what will work best for them, but here are some ideas of how to adapt and use the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)’s 10 Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide in your classroom. The 10 steps below are from their guide’s new edition.

A few reminders: if you are afraid that something is “too scary,” stop and think about students (and their families) who are already scared before they come to school. If you are afraid to be “too political,” remember that teaching is a political act. Everything you say - or don’t say - sends a message to your students about who (and what) really matters. Choosing to ignore hate is prioritizing the comfort of certain students over the safety of others. Tell yourself (and others if necessary): I am doing my best to make sure all students in my classroom feel safe, heard, and valued.

1. Act

We have had students write poems and persuasive essays, draw pictures, create posters, and empower us to sign petitions on behalf of our class (they are too young to take online action on their own). Ask your students what children can do to help and develop a “ways to fight hate” guide for your school, other children, your community - even very young students can think about and take productive action.

2. Join Forces

Ask students how can we join forces with others to fight hate.

This can be done as a class, school, or individual. Students can call on groups they belong to (religious, community, extra-curricular) and join forces with family members. You can also ask local groups that responded to hate event to visit the school/your classroom and help brainstorm how we as a class can act.

3. Support the Victims

A close friend of mine who is also a teacher alerted me to the #DearYoungPerson campaign to “send words of love and encouragement to the youth of Charlottesville through postcards.” In the past, we have had our students make cards, write letters, and create art in support of others.

Again, ask your students - how can we support the victims of hate? They have better ideas than we ever will.

Important reminder here: while there are clear and unequivocal victims of hate, prejudice and discrimination are dehumanizing and hurt all of us. I explain dehumanizing to students as not recognizing someone as a human being or seeing someone as less than a person. They understand.

4. Speak Up

Teach your students critical literacy. Teach your students to be active and discerning consumers of the media. We teach nonfiction critical literacy and how to detect author’s bias. Important questions: whose voice is heard? Who is quoted or legitimized as an expert? Who is producing and publishing the article? How might their perspective be biased? We also analyze language use: which words are repeated? Which words are left out? And of course, if we find a trend we always ask ‘Why?’

Students are not too young to write to the media. Write letters to the editor. Write letters to politicians. Ask to publish something in your school newspaper or newsletter. Create a class podcast. Even very young students can write a class letter or book, create a video, make posters, or more.

5. Educate Yourself

Ask your students what they would still like to know. Encourage them to think about what they know, what they are confused about, what they have questions about, and what they want to learn more about. Learn new vocabulary and practice explaining it to others. As best you can, enjoy the discomfort! There are always incredible humans, events, and movements of resistance to learn about.

One tool we love using as part of this process is a silent conversation. You can use it as described in the linked post, or with quotes or definitions for students to respond to and communicate about.

6. Create An Alternative

Ask your students: how can we create an alternative? Having a photo from an event or moment on the board and having them respond to it with thoughts and questions is an engaging and more tangible way to get the conversation started.  Hold a unity rally or assembly for your school and invite community members and family members to attend. Organize an event with nearby schools.

Listen to your students. They will have ideas about how they want to counter hate. Asking them to brainstorm, plan, and organize is providing practice and opportunities to develop lifelong crucial skills.

7. Pressure Leaders

Ask students to brainstorm a list of leaders you can contact. Start with school leaders, and then continue on to community leaders. If students feel that their leaders acted appropriately, they can write them thank you letters and provide ideas for where to go next. Starting a relationship and opening communication will provide more opportunities for collaboration in the future.

8. Stay Engaged

Ask students: how can we stay engaged? How can we move out of our comfort zone? What networks (or what kinds of networks) can we reach out to or help create?

Starting a network (virtual or on paper or in person) with another school could be a good place to begin. But as always, ask your students and follow their lead.

9. Teach Acceptance

This is something schools and educators should try to do everyday. Don’t have a separate “social justice” or “diversity” day, lesson, class period, or assembly. Incorporate anti-bias education and social justice work into your instruction. Some resources are available below, but there are many more. Remember, other teachers are your best resources (apart from your students and their families). Communicate. Collaborate.

For teachers with less autonomy over their curriculum, critically examine the things you do control. Who is pictured on your walls? Whose voice is heard in your classroom? Whose books do you read? Who is depicted in those books? Even if you are required to use a certain textbook or specific literature, try and counteract biased narratives with quotes, images, video clips, and information.

10. Dig Deeper

We use various simulations to aid our students in confronting their own internal biases and internalized stereotypes. Our students are far more open to this work than most adults. Remember that identifying internalized biases and stereotypes is only the beginning. Next, you need to ask yourself: how did I internalize these messages? Where are they perpetuated and communicated?

Ask students: what do we need to learn about to help us counteract our own intolerance? They will have questions, ideas, and motivation to learn. Start with language in your school community. What hurtful, stereotypical, or dehumanizing words do we use? What else can we do to help our school community be more open and accepting of everyone? How can we practice “image replacement” in our classroom and community to counteract negative stereotypes about groups of people?

Children are much more flexible than adults. Keep their developmental levels in mind, of course, but remember that they can do this. By inviting them to share in finding actions and brainstorming ways to help, we empower them and show them that silence is not an option.

Resources

ILA’s Picks of #CharlottesvilleCurriculum Resources

Teaching for Change Social Justice booklists (helpful for younger students especially!)

Citizenship and Social Justice: Curriculum for White Americans to Educate Themselves on Race and Racism

Washington Post article summarizing best educator resources

ASCD Inservice: Resources for Addressing Racism and Hatred in the Classroom

Facing History: Facing Today Blog

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Looking Back to Look Forward

As the beginning of the new school year approaches (or Teachers’ New Year, as I like to call it), memories and reflections from last year always pop up as we decide what we want to keep, adapt, and get rid of as we start anew. This year, Gabby and I are moving from teaching 5th grade to teaching 3rd grade, so the calculation is even more complex.

The first way we close the year is by literally closing a book. We also finished our class read aloud, Walk Two Moons, on the very last day of school, which felt perfect - Walk Two Moons (if you haven’t read it, RUN and pick it up!) has a complex, multi-faceted ending with lots of emotions, just like the end of the school year. It also reminded me for the umpteenth time how much I love read alouds and how they are an essential teaching and learning tool, but also wonderful for community building because we all grow to care about the characters and wonder what will happen next together. In fifth grade, read aloud is a fun and touching reminder of how young our students are - when they are listening intently and their eyes widen at a cliff-hanger, they forget about being “cool” and almost in middle school and are children again. Multiple students asked for reassurance that we would finish the read aloud before the year ended - even students who tried really hard throughout the year to make it known that they, “don’t like to read.”

Our literal ‘looking’ back together with our class is a photo slideshow. The slideshow we make is comprised of group photos, exciting things we experienced together like field trips, funny moments, photos with visitors, and proud moments (publishing parties, sharing our Social Studies projects, etc). I used kizoa to set it up and the students love the special effects and soundtrack, but really any photo slideshow recapping the year would probably have the desired effect. Students excitedly comment on photos, remember projects they loved (and were challenged by), and laugh at the silly group photos. Thinking back on our students’ reactions, I am reminded how community building in the classroom is so important and is an essential first step of back to school life.

And we end the reflective time together with a class poem that Gabby and I write for them. Each stanza is about one student and has memories, inside jokes, and champions their growth over the school year. We read it together and take turns (we like to think this is very dramatic!) and each year we find it is our best way of sincerely sharing our love for them and sending each student off with our best wishes. This past year, after we read the poem we wrote, we gave the students a break to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. One student came back to report that two other students were in the bathroom crying because the poem made them feel so emotional. I went to check on them, and they hugged me and said this year was amazing and the poem reminded them of everything wonderful about it.

My favorite part of the poem (apart from the slightly ridiculous rhymes we manage to pull off) is watching students react to it. When they hear their name and personalized stanza, they look amazed (and very young all over again). It is such a satisfying culmination of our time together. In third grade, we will definitely have to keep up this tradition! We also will have to continue to focus on goal setting and reflecting on our learning, as we often reference something students have learned or worked on in their personalized stanza. The specificity of the way we name their actions and hard work really resonates with students and makes it clear how much we honor their efforts.

We are entering another school year after a summer which has been eventful and frequently painful for many. We are gearing up for the lessons on skills, but also the necessary tough conversations. And looking back, we’re reminded that think these touchstones that closed our community with full hearts last year, will probably (most definitely) transfer to being important things we bring to 3rd grade!

As we look forward, we will take with us the excitement of shared community stories, the wonderful fun of documenting and focusing on the process (NOT the product) of the year, and the importance of telling our students that we hear them, we see them, and we care for them.

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Storycorps inspired storytelling project

Storytelling is one of the best units I have ever taught. It seamlessly integrates our Reading and Writing instruction, encourages students to use their voices and consider other perspectives, develops communication, presentation, and persuasive skills, and both pushes and allows students to express themselves in a new way. One of the stories we have our students write and perform is inspired by Storycorps and based on an interview with someone close to them.

The Storycorps inspired story is the 2nd writing project of our storytelling unit. Timing wise, it usually coincides with Grandparents and Special Friends Day (a tradition at our school), where grandparents/special friends come to school with students for a shortened schedule. We use the Homeroom time to watch Q & A, an animated Storycorps interview by a child named Joshua of his mother. After we watch the interview, we have our students interview their grandparents and special friends. Every year, we regret that we run out of time to hear from more of the students after they discover fascinating and unexpected facts about their grandparents/special friends.

Once we are back to regular classes, we introduce the new assignment and project. We ask students:

Whose story would you like to tell?  What does it mean to share someone else’s story?  Why might we want to do this?

Then we watch a Storycorps interview. We find that the animated ones are better for our 5th graders in terms of maintaining attention. Two we love are Facundo the Great and Mario & his daughter. Next, we brainstorm some interview questions and do peer interviews to try them out! Finally, we explain the assignment and hand out a list of questions. We give students a few days to interview someone and record their interview. We’ve found it helps to give them over the weekend in case they want to try and interview someone who doesn’t live near them over the phone.

We created our own list of suggested questions using Storycorps Great Questions. We also ask students to record their interviews and email or share the recording with us. Many students used their parents’ phones or tablets to do so, but we also walked them through how to use Vocaroo which is a free site where you can record audio and easily the files. We also encourage students to take notes either during or after the interview. Students brainstorm who they would like to interview. For many students, it is one of their parents, but we have also had students interview nannies, grandparents, uncles, and siblings. Our only stipulation is that the interviewee is not too young (older siblings work better), as we need them to have enough material to write a story. Storycorps also has an app and resources to make the process easier (and they go on a mobile tour!).

After all the interviews are completed, we start the brainstorming process! We ask students:

What understanding did you gain about your relationship with someone after interviewing them/hearing their stories?

We let them talk this out either with a partner or sometimes use inside/outside circles to let them work with a couple different people.

Next, we have them reflect and get ideas down in their Writer’s Notebooks. We then transition into showing them a graphic organizer so they have an idea how to structure their stories. We created and filled out this graphic organizer based on Felicia Pride’s TEDx talk, We’re all characters in life’s great narrative. We watch this TEDx talk earlier in the unit when we talk about characters in stories and how a “real” character is multi-dimensional. It is a great resource to look back at when students feel stuck.

After filling out the graphic organizers, we let students draft, edit, revise and finally share! They have three minutes to perform their story for half of our class (13 students). We set the room up in a TEDx talk like setting, with a stool to sit on, a “backdrop” (we project an image on our whiteboard!) and the overhead lights off with a lamp “spotlight.”

The stories our students share are truly amazing. We have heard reflections on relationships with parents, including a touching story of a child’s father and his many siblings. She reflected how she always wanted a sibling, but realized she has someone to go on silly adventures with already.. her dad! Another student interviewed her nanny and told the story of getting through an earthquake together and how this made her rethink the concept of “family” to be more inclusive of everyone she loves. We heard stories of love, hope, resilience, immigration, adversity, and relationships. We love witnessing this wonderful exercise in taking someone else’s perspective and learning about yourself in the process.

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Teaching Economics to Counter Bias

As part of our Social Studies curriculum, Gabby and I teach Economics to 5th graders (although next year, we are moving to 3rd grade and are developing a brand new geography curriculum this summer - stay tuned!). We are often asked how we do this and how we expect 10 years olds to understand something so complicated that many adults don’t understand fully. Our response: laying a groundwork in elementary school will help our students understand more as adults. Also, challenging and countering previously held beliefs only gets more difficult as students get older so it is essential that we explore the realities of money, poverty, and class while our students are still in elementary school and remain somewhat open-minded.

    Many of the activities we use in this unit sprang from our students’ misconceptions or desires to learn more. When we start this unit, we often hear variations of “people are poor because they don’t work hard” or “if people want more money, they should get a job.” We use a variety of different simulations and activities to try to dispel these myths. First, we simulate the distribution of wealth with classroom chairs, and then with baked goods. It is a lot of fun until the baked treat comes out, and then we hear about how unfair it is (and sometimes see some real tears).

My favorite part of this simulation is hearing the students’ reflections when they realize that we really are only giving baked goods to the students designated as the “top 10%” of the income bracket (everyone else gets crumbs - use the link above to read more details). At first, they think it is a joke or that we are making a point, but will give treats to everyone eventually. No. We are dividing the doughnuts (or brownies, or cookies) the way wealth is distributed in the United States. No exceptions.

This simulation is also fascinating because it encourages students to share how, why, and when they think or talk about money. Many of them share that it is “rude” to talk about money and they worry it might make people uncomfortable. Once we give them some facts, however, they have SO many questions. They are shocked that a household income of $250k means you are in the top 2% and earn more than 98% of Americans (these statistics are from 2010-13, so they are not up to date). While these numbers are confusing and percents are relatively new to ten year olds, we have found that using the framework of If the United States were a Village of 100 People helps clarify the concepts for them.

Our next simulation is the Sinking Ship simulation. This activity has so many applications and teaches so many skills! Students have to think critically, negotiate, debate, argue, organize and so much more. They also realize their own biases when they think about which professions or roles they inherently value (senator, doctor, lawyer) and which roles they quickly discount (nanny, taxi driver, person who is currently unemployed). This activity helps our students think about power, wealth, status, and value. It’s also a reminder that circumstances can always change and humans should not be defined or limited by their experiences. Again, we often hear that the decision making process is unfair or biased. Our response: how does that relate to the real world?

This past school year, we wrote a new simulation inspired by our visit to Alta Gracia in the Dominican Republic last summer. It required a lot of planning as there were so many details to work out, but the end result was even better than we expected. We call it our Factory simulation and had the students in three groups: non-unionized factory members, unionized factory members, and office workers. You can read more about the details if you follow the link, but we found this experience really helped our students overcome the idea that “hard work” conquers all. They also talked a lot about the constant stress they were under and how not having health insurance meant they had extra unforeseen costs that could take their whole paycheck (if only I could lead some of our senators through this activity)! They also learned the importance of organizing before striking or protesting and how a power imbalance only makes those actions more risky and difficult.

Last, but certainly not least, we engage students in our beloved Pom Pom simulation which simulates privilege. We love this activity for so many reasons and it teaches us so many things about our students. They are always outraged with the process and often angry with each other (and us). I’m always amazed at how quickly the “wealthy and powerful” group moves into a defensive position of their role and how any suggestions of redistribution or helping the other groups are quickly quashed. I also love hearing the real world connections students make when thinking about who has power and privilege in our society (and who doesn’t).

    An important disclaimer for every simulation is that these brief experiences are NOT THE SAME as real life and whatever emotions you feel, it does not mean that you “know what it feels like” to experience poverty, oppression, discrimination etc. However, we find that students’ perceptions change after experiencing frustration and getting a (very) small glimpse into another perspective or experience. Our students frequently relate that our Economics unit taught them “things they never heard before” and we hope they take this knowledge and awareness out into the world with them! At the very least, we hope to encourage their capacity for empathy and ability to see others as human beings regardless of their circumstances.

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Book Review (and read-aloud plug): Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech is our read aloud for the last few months of the school year. Aside from being an incredibly captivating story with beautiful writing, it also fits perfectly with our curriculum as we are studying storytelling (and Sal, the main character, is telling a story) and American Indian studies (Sal has Indigenous ancestors and visits sacred Native sites). We also study Health & Wellness so the budding young romance is perfect for our class to experience as well. There are also many other relevant and significant issues skillfully woven into this story (mental illness and the related stigma, family dynamics, and gender equality, to name a few).

We have a bin full of books by Sharon Creech that we only bring out of the closet (with a lot of fanfare) when we start reading Walk Two Moons. Soon, the books are fought over (especially Absolutely Normal Chaos as it features a character from Walk Two Moons) and students are excitedly announcing book “shout outs” with lots of reminders from their classmates that spoilers are not allowed!

We use Walk Two Moons as a mentor text during Writing instruction, finding examples of how Sharon Creech communicates context without explicitly saying where, when something is taking place. We also find a lot of meaning, action, and character development and dialogue.

It is also a wonderful read aloud with lots of emotions! We felt happy, sad, cried, laughed, and more as we read it together. Many chapters end in cliff hangers, and students have ample opportunities to make predictions, connections, find meaning and theme and more. It’s also a reminder that not all stories have happy endings and events don’t always work out perfectly, and that’s life. But life is also beautiful, unexpected, and hilarious as well.

We always say we don’t have time to do a chapter book read aloud, but somehow we always find the time because reading aloud and experiencing a book together is so powerful. Even our reluctant readers would get excited when it was time for read aloud, and beg us to keep reading even if we were running out of time. We finished the book on the last day of school, which felt appropriately final and anticipatory. Many of us were teary after a sad part (teachers included, to the delight and amazement of our students), and some students had questions about what happened next (to which we replied, what do you think?), but it was best described by one of our students, who said (with a huge smile), “That was so good! And sad. But so good!”

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End of Year Feedback from Students

Well into summer, I finally have some time to sit down and reflect on the school year! One piece I wanted to take a closer look at was the end of year evaluations from students (of us!). Gabby and I created a Google Form with seven required questions and an optional anything else you’d like to add (they are all listed or summarized below in bold font). We then asked our students to give us honest, thoughtful feedback as part of our reflection and planning for next year. We find that using a Google Form and having students respond on their computers often causes them to write more and feel more “anonymous” and empowered to be honest.

There are many reasons why we ask our students for feedback. Primarily, we do want to know what they are taking away, thinking, feeling, and reflecting and student evaluation of teachers is an important and often overlooked resource. We also want to give them an opportunity to practice using their voices and saying what works/doesn’t work for them. Also, we want to model being open to feedback and self-reflective! On top of all of these reasons, 5th graders are hilarious and we wanted to see what they would say.

Our first question was a highlight (something you enjoyed) from 5th grade.

Some trends among the answers were:

Storytelling:

“One of my highlights for fifth grade was the Storytelling unit. I LOVED doing it because A: I love hearing stories and B: because it was really fun to perform and learn about things I never knew about my dad (I interviewed him) and details about things that happened to me when I was little.”

Simulations:

“I enjoyed the simulations like the bead making food eating office working simulation because it showed us how it feels like to be less than or not to give up”

Social Studies/current events

“I loved reading and talking about current events because it was interesting to find out what was happening in the world. Though I didn't enjoy annotating, I think it will help me in middle school.”

Funny/Unexpected:

“Halloween”

“I enjoyed how understanding the teachers were. Like, one time I did all my homework but I forgot my homework folder, and I was so disappointed. Instead of getting mad at me, you guys just said I could borrow someone else's word study sheet since it was Friday and I needed to take the word study test. Even though I was sad, it didn't go as bad as I thought it would go, and that was a highlight of my year.”

“I really liked word study, even though I am not the best speller in the class word study has helped me a lot. Also I loved doing the quizzes at the end of the week and getting are grade back ( even though sometimes it wasn't the best grade. ) Overall word study was a fun part of homework in 5th grade that I enjoyed.”

I love that word study was something that at least one student enjoyed, as it is annoying for us (teachers) to put together and grade and most students complained about the word study homework incessantly.

Next, we asked what was something that didn't feel good (or was a challenging moment) for you?

Trends:

Too much HW

Writing by hand

Virginia Indian Case studies (but felt proud of getting through them)

My personal favorite response:

” I think that the puberty/health and wellness was challenging for me because I would laugh at everything you would say about it.”

I love this because this was how I usually feel when teaching Health & Wellness.

Next question: How did Social Studies feel for you? Was it too hard, too easy, or just right? Which parts? Why?

These are important questions for us to ask because sometimes we think our content is too challenging and intense and wonder if some of our content is more appropriate for middle school.

“Just right. I loved SS this year. It was fascinating [sic], and sometimes scary, but always the truth.”

Good to hear! Most students said just right, or if it was hard at times, they later expanded their understanding.

Is there anything you are still confused about from Social Studies? Is there anything you are still thinking about?

“I am still thinking about The Trail of Tears. This event made me wonder how much of history is covered up, and how much of history do we still have to find?”

“I left SS this year with some questions like "why does the world have to be so cruel\rude\angry when we can all just focus on the good things?" and "why blame other people for things they did not do? As [another teacher’s name] says, 'life is ment to build people up, not break them down.'" But those questions were things that I wanted to strive to answer (and maybe change) when and as I grow up.”

These are issues I continue to think about as well..

What could your teachers have done better to support and/or challenge you?

“call on me more randomly because i don't usually raise my hand”

I love this because at the time you know they resented us for calling on them when they didn’t raise their hands!

“During this school year I have learned that saying "no" and "i don't agree" -- not just exclamation points !!!! -- is totally OK (thanks Ms. Arca) but this time I really don't think there is anything I can add in this column, because this time, there really IS nothing to say!”

What did your teachers do well (to support and/or challenge you)?

“They were willing to help and had really good and helpful advice and if you didn't ask to meet with them they might ask or hover over your work to help and support you and I liked that.”

“The teachers did well in reminding us that if we need help, you need to ask. I liked this because it got us ready for sixth grade, and made us feel independent. It also made us feel supported to know that we have have help if we need it.”

“One out of the many things the teachers did well to support me this year is non-pushy random check ins because I know that I am the kind of person who doesn't come up to a teacher right away if something is bothering me -- though i probably should! -- and so those non-pushy random check ins are really helpfull for me.”

Nice to hear - obviously we will continue to check in with and push our students, but it’s good to know it is appreciated (eventually). I also find the awareness that learning to ask for help is a life skill impressive.

If you could change something about 5th grade, what would it be? Why?

General trend: more simulations, less homework, don’t change anything!

“I would make more simulations! I loved the simulations, they were so fun, and it was cool to be "in the shoes of" the thing/person/religion you guys are trying to teach us about. Also, it was great to learn things in a fun way.”

Any other thoughts or things you think we should know:

We always ask, just in case, but responses were along the lines of no, 5th grade was great, see my earlier answers.

It’s comforting to hear that students don’t feel confused or overwhelmed by the curriculum and appreciate the honesty and reality. We fully expected storytelling to be a highlight, because it is amazing, but also because it is the last literacy unit of the year and our Final Stage show is the culmination of our year together.

I also wasn’t surprised by the positivity around simulations, but the self-awareness and reflectiveness shown when students were able to say that they had moments of empathy or experiencing someone else’s perspective (although, of course, a simulation is NOT THE SAME as real life).

Asking students for feedback is always surprising, amusing, and gratifying. In this age of all kinds of evaluation systems for teachers, I find that I am the most motivated by my observations, student work or growth, and student feedback. It doesn’t have to be formal or written, but I hope to continue to incorporate student feedback and reflection into my teaching next year. How do you ask for and receive student feedback? How does it inform your teaching, learning, and planning? We'd love to hear!

Covenant Usurp Simulation: constructing a glimpse of forced assimilation for our students

When we start teaching Native American studies, students often refer to Native Americans only in past tense or as peoples who “used to live here.” We correct this misconception and learn about American Indians TODAY, but we also ask our students where they got this idea from and why this so often is the dominant narrative about indigenous Americans.

This exploration requires some understanding of history (which remains limited by the literal mindedness of 5th graders) and the reality of extermination, eradication, and (forced) assimilation that native peoples experienced. Before we start learning about boarding schools in detail, we want our students to have an experience they can use as a parallel to forced assimilation.

Another student's reflection showing revised thinking!

An important disclaimer is that this simulation (or any simulation) is NOT the same or even close to the actual experience, which we would never ever want to simulate. Ours is temporary; historical experiences were real and permanent. It’s important to acknowledge that we are only getting a tiny glimpse. We tell our students this constantly and have them reflect upon it as one of their homework questions. But there can never be too many reminders.

    This simulation requires some sixth graders to come in and act out the role of the villains. This year, so many of our former students were interested in being a part of the simulation that we had to hold auditions! They were hilarious to watch and we ended confident that we had chosen strong actors and actresses who wouldn’t crack a smile or break character.

    We gave our 5th graders some work to do and had them reading quietly when the 6th graders stormed in at the agreed upon time. The 6th graders (4 in total) announced that they heard our students were having trouble paying attention, using computers responsibly, and kept fighting over who gets to sit where. They told the 5th graders that this was no way to get ready for 6th grade and since their covenant (our class agreement or rules) was clearly not working, they needed to revamp it.

At this point, we joined in and told the 5th graders that we were going to let the 6th graders take the lead and help them re-think their covenant. The 6th graders took some suggestions. All of the 5th graders’ suggestions were shut down. Next, the 6th graders took down our covenant (which we spend over a month working on at the beginning of the year) and put up a 6th grade covenant which declared:

• Respect ourselves, each other, and the environment

• Assigned seats (no couch)

• All voices heard. You are only allowed to participate once per lesson.

• Take notes on everything the teachers say, follow along

• Use computers only to write essays

• The whole class has to do something right or we start over (we are a team).

• Don’t say the words 'like, well, um'

• Don’t use kudos, high fives

• No games or breaks

Our students were upset. No kudos? No high fives? No computers (except for essays) caused a lot of grumpy faces, and even a few tears. One change would be unsettling, but this was turning everything upside down!

We ignored their complaints and told them we had to keep going and the new rules went into action immediately. We wheeled our computer cart out and away, relocated students to their assigned seats, and passed out a new assignment.

When students asked to get a drink or go to the bathroom, they were told “NO! We have new rules now!” After they finished their assignments, we moved into a discussion. Our more verbal students were very frustrated by the rule that “everyone has to speak” as they had already used up their allotted speaking time and had to wait for everyone else to share first.

The simulation lasted less than two hours, but the students were extremely frustrated and angry at the sixth graders. They also engaged in acts of disobedience like trying to give each other kudos and slyly give high fives. They tried to appeal to other teachers or administrators on behalf of their computer time.

Their homework that night was a reflection about the experience of having their covenant usurped. Many students had to be reminded that as much as they may have felt frustrated, their experience lasted less than two hours and was not permanent. They also only had their class culture critiqued and curtailed, instead of their entire way of life. Upon reflection, they were able to reflect upon this distinction.

Here are some of their thoughts:

• “I used to think that turning around and joining another community would not be hard, but now I am thinking it actually is really hard."

• “We can’t say things like ‘well,’ ‘um,’ and ‘like,’ which is like how the Natives had to speak English. And we had to sit in an assigned spot, like how the US made a reservation for the Natives to live on.”

• “I used to think that most of the discrimination is gone but now I think that we still have a long way to go before everything is fair.”

• “Today made me feel like our ‘tribal sovereignty’ had been taken away because the sixth graders came in and took away our covenant. Without asking! Then, the sixth graders replaced it with their covenant, forcing us to assimilate to their ways.”

Please let us know if you have any questions! We'd love to hear what activities you have tried to help students think critically or from other perspectives.

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Visit from a Storyteller!

We were incredibly fortunate to have the one and only Anne Thomas come in and visit our classroom! Her visit is an annual tradition as part of the introduction to our storytelling unit and it is a day we look forward to all year.

My co-teacher Gabby and I first saw Anne perform at a Story District show in DC, and were immediately impressed. Later that week, we emailed her, casually mentioned we were her biggest fans, and asked her to come visit our class. And so the tradition was born!

Our storytelling unit is an integrated Reading and Writing unit that takes place every spring in our 5th grade class. Students read, write, listen to, and watch amazing stories. Before Anne’s visit, we had read some great stories with the kids (including Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, by Peter Brown) and talked about what components are key to having a great story.

Our "A Good Story Must Have" checklist: an invaluable tool for readers, writers, and performers!

Students brainstorm in pairs and come up with a long list of important attributes of a good story. Then, we introduce our ‘A Good Story Must Have’ checklist. This is a key tool we use as readers and writers throughout the unit. We start finding these elements in our independent reading books. Next, we tell the students that we have a special guest coming in..

And the guest is Anne! She talks to them about storytelling as an art, how we are all storytellers (you’ve never told anyone the story of how your day went?) and then performs a story in the room with us! The story Anne performs is about going to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, but it is also about the danger of imposing limits on yourself.

After Anne performs, students have an opportunity to ask questions (which often has to be limited or they would go on forever) and then we go through our checklist to see if Anne’s story has all of the elements a good story must have. (It does!)

Next, Anne asks students to think of a time when they imposed a limit on themselves. It can be as small as telling yourself you don’t like a vegetable without trying it. Students brainstorm individually and then work in pairs or small groups to tell their stories. Anne works with students too, helping them pull a story out of their memories or experiences.

Finally, we ask for volunteers - does anyone want to get up and try to tell their story to the class? Amazingly, some students always do! This year, we had three students who stood up and told their stories (coached by Anne) with bravery and honesty. They talked about doubting themselves as athletes, writers, and more. They were vulnerable, honest, and brave. Their classmates were impressed and inspired and ready to find their own voices as storytellers.

We cannot wait to see what our students come up with next and we are so grateful that Anne came in and shared her craft with us. Stay tuned to check out some other pieces from our storytelling unit, leave a comment and ask us questions, or check out this piece on how it comes together and why we do it.

 

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Our SOME portrait project: how and why we do service learning

Service Learning

In 5th grade we do a service learning experience that aims to honor what is developmentally appropriate for 5th graders and prioritize maintaining the utmost dignity of the others.

Service Learning is such a complicated realm, as we work to ensure that we don't "otherize" or create complicated (and potentially problematic) narratives about what 'help' is and who helps whom.

Our SOME (So Others Might Eat) project is one of our favorite service learning experiences, because we think it does work towards our ideals of what service learning should look like: meaningful to all, authentic, and a learning experience!

The Process!

Our project starts when 5th grade goes to study portraiture at the National Portrait Gallery- learning about how portraits are about more than just a face, but the stories behind those faces. Those stories are the key aspects that get incorporated into the art you see!

We then prepare questions, how to ask politely about other people's lives, how to work through nerves and awkwardness, speak loudly and enunciate etc.. and we also learn about SOME and they work they have done and are doing in DC.

Then 5th grade goes to SOME's Kuehner House (which provides affordable housing, activities, and other support to seniors in the community). During our visit, each student gets partnered up with a participant and interviews them. We spend about an hour together, sharing stories, taking notes, and taking pictures of one another.

5th then goes back to Sheridan and begins to work on creating portraits that capture aspects of their new friends’ personality and stories. These portraits take us a long time because we work really hard to make them as special as we can!

Excitedly (and with a different type of nerves this time!) we head back to SOME to revisit the senior participants and deliver our artwork to them. This project brings joy, dignity, and stories to both parties, and thus it is a service learning experience we continue every year. Take a look at some of the portraits our students have done -- we are biased, but we think they should be in the National Portrait Gallery, too!

This year, we were thanked with a performance by two of the seniors: beautiful singing accompanied by keyboard playing.

We'd love to hear what service learning experiences work for you all in your schools and programs. What does it look like? How do you think about it?

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Presenting at the Private Schools for Public Purpose Conference

We had the pleasure of visiting GDS High School and attending the Private Schools for Public Purpose (PSPP) conference! We presented some experiential learning activities we do in our 5th grade classroom (two of our favorites, our drawing activity and pom pom simulation, and some new ones like our factory simulation in our Econ 101 unit!), along with how we talk about race and socio-economic status in our classroom. We were privileged to spend our workshop time with thoughtful, justice-oriented educators.

Unlike some other presentations we have done, this space was small and intimate, and we loved getting to hear from everyone and have a dynamic discussion. We heard all about affinity groups, equity work, and innovative programming at other schools.

Our trusty bin of workshop supplies: pom poms, crayons, handouts, and more!

This workshop with awesome, critical thinking educators has left us thinking about:

• How we can avoid students trying to have the “right” answer during our discussion our activity, but not transferring that to their actions outside of the classroom?

• Why do adults consistently ask if we are afraid the white kids will “feel bad”?

  • How do we continue to address the root of this question verbally and through the work we do with students, families, and fellow educators?

• What pushback do we expect from adults?

• The importance of sitting in the discomfort of honest investigation/realization- for example, one question brought up to us by a couple educators in the room was: What do we do with students repeatedly saying they feel "lucky" after an experiential activity or being "grateful" for their circumstances. What does that mean? How do we continue to push them to go beyond the idea of feeling lucky and think more about implications and the structures in place?

• The importance of teaching that race is a construct - in student’s words it means everything and nothing - it’s confusing! Ignoring it won’t make it go away!

Overall thoughts and feelings: It is empowering and rejuvenating to connect with fellow educators at conferences and discuss the complexities of social justice education. While our students were upset (and indignant!) that we would both be gone for the day, they were excited to hear we would be putting adults through some simulations and wanted to know if they get “just as mad” and "how would grown ups act doing the work we do?!" We assured them that adults have even stronger reactions and that adults also have to step up and do this work. They wholeheartedly agreed.

Sending gratitude to everyone we met at PSPP-- Onwards!

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The Message We Send When We Try Not to Talk About Race

We submitted a piece about an experience from our classroom to Embrace Race, a multiracial community of people supporting each other to help nurture kids who are thoughtful and informed about race. It was published recently!  Please read The Message We Send When We Try Not to Talk About Race and let us know what you think.

Pom Pom Simulation

Our pom pom simulation is a personal favorite. It simulates privilege, the cyclical effects of poverty, oppression, and more. Students always make new connections and take their reflections to a level we never could have anticipated. This year was no exception!

There are 3 rounds to the pom pom simulation. Round One consists of collecting pom poms. You have one minute to get as many pom poms as you can. Pom poms, of course, simulate wealth (and power). There is a catch. Students receive slips of paper with “assignments” on them. These instructions make it harder for some people to gather pom poms than others. Some examples:

You can use both of your hands, but you may not move your feet at all.

You may not bend your knees.

You must wear an oven mitt on your non-dominant hand and use that hand to pick up pom poms.

You may only use your two pointer fingers behind your back.

Only two people are allowed to use their hands and move around as they normally would.  We also caution all students that if you touch or bump another body, you lose pom poms. This is a safety requirement more than anything else, but does make it harder for the students who are already limited by their instructions!

Once pom pom collection is over, we put students into three groups based on the number of pom poms they collected.  This year, we had:

Students were very engaged, animatedly talking about how the collection process was “not fair” and how they deserved another chance.  So we told them, ok, here you go - Round Two.

Round Two consists of making “baskets” of crumpled up balls of paper. Each group had different color paper. I told the 3rd group - little wealth and power - that they had an advantage due to their large number of members, as every time one member of the group made a “basket,” every member of the group would earn another pom pom. There were cheers when this was announced, but the celebration was short lived as we soon showed each group where they had to stand to shoot.

Group 1 was right up front, Group 2 was behind them (still too far away to easily make a basket, especially with a ball made of paper), and Group 3 was in the back of the room. Naturally, Group 1 made lots of baskets, while Group 2 and 3 only made one each. During this round, we witnessed some very creative teamwork and division of labor as well as enterprising blocking tactics and questions about whether you were allowed to take paper balls out of the baskets. After Round 2, we heard more frustration about how “unfair” the whole situation was and many requests for a new “fair” round.

So we moved on to Round 3. In Round 3, each group gets to decide what they think is a “fair” system to distribute ALL of the pom poms. We give them five minutes to discuss with their group and come up with a system they support. Each group must choose a spokesperson to present their plan to the class. They have one minute each to make a pitch for their group's plan. What students don’t know until voting happens is that voting is weighted as shown below.

Group 1 members: 5 votes each

Group 2 members: 2 votes each

Group 3 members: ½ vote each

When students saw the unequal voting power, Group 3 was livid. They had planned on winning the vote by virtue of their large number of people. Group 1 was pleased as they planned on retaining their “wealth and power” and now had the votes to do so.

Here are the plans they proposed:

Group 1: Play steal the bacon to earn pom poms. 2 people would go out from each team. Keep doing that until pompoms are gone. There are restrictions- the same as the first ones from the beginning (the slips of paper we handed out).

Group 2: Our plan is everyone gets the same amount of pompoms and if it is an odd number, we cut it up into thirds. We don't want to keep repeating what we did before. We want every group to have the same.

Group 3: Everyone would start off with 5 pompoms to meet needs and then you could work your way up by doing different challenges. No restrictions.

We voted, and Group 1’s proposal got the most votes (once we calculated in the weighting). The other students were FRUSTRATED. Group 1 was pleased - they had started out trying to think of a “fair” system, but soon realized “it doesn’t say it has to be fair.” They also were influenced by two members who repeatedly said “Stay wealthy! We should keep our power!”

At this point, we stopped the simulation and had a debrief. First we asked students to share their reactions and feelings (one sentence per person). Here are some samples:

Student from Group 3:

“When I first saw the amounts each group got, it made me feel like the people in the 3rd group were being treated like they aren't humans… ½ a vote. ½ human! Half not real. Not seen. When the people with more wealth get so many more votes, it feels like just because they have more they also should get more of everything always. We are the people working the hardest but we can’t get the things they have that we want and need.”  (lots of me too’s)

Student from Group 1:

“I do agree with [student’s name] that it wasn’t fair. But our group was trying to make it so that we would still be at the top of the ladder, so it wouldn’t be as fair  - you had to be strategic and life isn’t always fair.”

Once everyone shared, we reminded the students that this was a simulation that lasted less than two hours and therefore is NOT THE SAME as actually experiencing poverty, oppression, lack of privilege, discrimination, etc. This was just an activity about pom poms. We DO NOT suddenly understand how others who are actually in these situations feel, just have a tiny experience we can think about and hopefully learn from. Then we asked them to make connections to real life, both in discussion and then later as a homework reflection.

Here are some of their thoughts:

"I used to think that if you work hard you can get wealth but now I think there is more to it. I think this because If you are born without wealth you will have a disadvantage and you will be stuck behind someone who started with a lot of resources and wealth."

"I used to think that in life everything started out fairly and equally and you get to be a higher class based on what job you have and your choices. But now I know that some people are born with an advantage such as rich parents who can afford to send you to a good college which could result into a better life."

We will be presenting this simulation (among other activities) on Friday, March 10th at the Private Schools for Public Purpose conference and look forward to trying it out with other educators. We’d love to hear your reactions and questions!

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75th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066 (Japanese Incarceration) Resources

Sunday, February 19th is the 75th anniversary of the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 (in 1945) which led to the removal and internment of approximately 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry. Many of them were US citizens. Many of them lost property or were forced to sell at a loss when they were removed and relocated. I personally find “relocation” and “internment” misleading as people were incarcerated and given no choice about their removal from their homes.

Image credit: http://hdjapaneseinternment.weebly.com/uploads/6/8/7/3/6873644/9418554_orig.jpg

While this shameful occurrence in American history is and always will be relevant, it feels especially relevant today with the recent Muslim ban, fears of a Muslim registry, and frequent executive orders. You know your students and school best, so I compiled some resources to potentially use in the classroom. This list is by no means exhaustive, so please comment if you have other resources you’d recommend.

In our class, we will start with a sign in on our front board with images and the writing prompts “I think..” and “I wonder..” We will respond to students’ questions and clarify misconceptions.

Image credit: http://katieyamasaki.com/work/fish-for-jimmy/

Later, we will do a read aloud of A Fish For Jimmy by Katie Yamasaki. It has gorgeous illustrations and is a tale of an older sibling taking care of a younger sibling, so many of our students find the main character relatable.

We will also look as some images from this photo essay: Photo essay with some background information from the Atlantic

We will watch the video below by Frank Chi. This video is poignant and clearly makes the parallel to today without directly saying anything political. It’s worth watching yourself and sharing with others even if you don’t share it with your students.

Muslim Kids Read Heartbreaking Letters From WWII To Show How History Is Repeating Itself

Other resources:

Eight Essential Japanese American History Books for Young Readers

Life in a WWII Japanese American Internment Camp (educator resources from the Smithsonian Museum of American History)

Oral histories from of Japanese Americans from Telling Their Stories (Elders interviewed by students - this is a great resource for Social Studies teachers in general!)

Information about the Supreme Court case, Korematsu v. U.S., which legalized Japanese-American internment.

Zinn Education project related lesson and materials archive

We'd love to hear if you use any of these or have resources you'd recommend of your own!

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