Diverse Literature: Mirrors & Windows

As I stated in the beginning, I am focused on diverse literature. As noted, it’s an uphill battle. Finding quality is difficult. Finding quality diverse literature is a monumental task.

In my day-to-day conversations, in my daily social media feeds and conversations, in my personal interactions, I have been confronted with confusion, defensiveness, and dismissal.

People are confused. They tell me that children’s books are good–fine as they are, good enough, and mostly feature animals anyway. People are defensive. They have attachments to their own upbringing, their own learning, or just their routine. Re-evaluating their classroom experiences or their teaching practices requires acknowledging a deficit, challenging the status quo, and expanding their worldview. These are emotional endeavors. All of this leads to dismissal. The passion behind the task, the commitment to diversity is relegated to my individual soapbox rather than a collective project for every teacher.

It is easy to be discouraged. It is easy to feel alone. In my research, however, I found my words–my words of rebuttal and my words of personal encouragement: mirrors & windows.

Children are provided a lens in their learning, this lens can either be a mirror or a window. The mirrors are just as important as the windows. Mirrors allow them to be seen and heard, to realize their potential and reaffirm their value. Windows allow them to see others, to realize the potential and reaffirm the value of every person they encounter–whether that is now or in the future, in the classroom or somewhere else.

So, if you need a little encouragement or a reminder on why diverse literature is critical or important; remember, every child needs mirrors and windows, everyone benefits from being seen and seeing others.

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The language of mirrors and windows comes from my original post, the image had a caption that led to researching the concept and finding several articles on it, including one on We are Teachers.

books, diversity, featured, literacy, literature

End of the School Year . . .

Photo by Isabella and Zsa Fischer on Unsplash

There are some school years that make being an educator easy, exciting, fulfilling. The classroom and all its requirements, and all the personality in it, fall into place. As a teacher, as an educator, the craft goes through exponential growth as all the cogs in procedural, administrative, and professional development work seamlessly together, as so much of the support necessary to succeed is present and powerful. It’s just that good of a year–that year when undoubtedly made for learning, for growth, for teaching.

And then there are other years . . . where it feels like all you can do is stay afloat, and hope to make it to the end.

This year fell more into the latter. It’s been a whirlwind year–multiple detours, multiple junctures, multiple opportunities, all of which that didn’t lead me where I needed to be, where I wanted to be, where I could be the best version of me. But I made it.

As the school year comes to a close for so many of us, whether it was the best year, or the worst year, I want to congratulate everyone on making it another. As for next year, let’s take a break before we start planning and thinking about what comes next, okay? 😉

Publication!

As previously shared, I enjoy writing, and I write–from time to time–on Medium. I have been included on Educate before, a publication on Medium, and I am thrilled to share I have been featured again!

In this short article, I discuss the possibility of a calendar change to accommodate and/or respond to our changing times. Let me know what you think!

Monthly Advice–March 2022

It may be too soon for some, but hiring season for the start of next school year (August 2022/September 2022) is here.

My advice for this month: think about next year, now.

Whether you decide to stay at your school, your school network/charter/district, or the profession altogether is a conversation and critical conversation at that.

I think staying at a school is arguably easiest. The routine, community, expectations are known. Moving classrooms or grade levels can be done in a day, maybe two. It is arguably the safest route–safest in the sense of the known, the continuity of it all.

The hardest, without a doubt, is leaving the profession altogether–and this is a relatively recent choice, conversation, and common-enough occurrence of late to be a much more serious option for a lot more people.

Wherever you land on the spectrum of what to do, or what you’re considering, it’s time to think about next year . . . now.

Talk to colleagues, look at your contract papers/letters of intent, discuss it with family and/or friends, do what’s best for you and make a plan for next year . . .

Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplash

February 24, 2022: Quote of the Day

“When One teachers, Two learn.”

-Robert Heinlein

February 22, 2022: “2” Activities

What an amazing day for math, fun, learning!

Primary Activities:

Count by 2s (practice)
Find the number 2
Name things that come best in pairs/groups of 2
Say everything twice today!

Intermediate Acitivities:

Create paired reading lists (i.e. fiction and nonfiction sets for the same topic)
Discover the significance of the number two (i.e research mathematical significance, cultural references, symbolism, etc.)

Seconday Activities:

Compare and contrast 2-22-22 with other similar dates (i.e. 7-7-7, 11-11-11)–What do people do? Are there rituals associated with such dates?
Design a marketing campaign for a business based on today’s date, or the next big date (date can be based in astrology, math, pop culture, etc.)
REPEAT: Discover the significance of the number two (i.e research mathematical significance, cultural references, symbolism, etc.)

Whatever you do, however you commemorate today, I hope you have a wonderful “Twos”day! 😉