Our class podcast | "Behind the Eyes of Our Youth"

Just call me the producer or maybe the editor, because they do everything else! I'm speaking of our class podcast, Behind the Eyes of Our Youth. This year, I teach a dual-enrollment communications class, Comm101 as we've come to call it. It's one of two dual enrollment classes offered at Martin Luther King High School here in Philly.

The class is a speech class, per our Harrisburg University partnership. But a 16-week course spread over an entire K-12 school year allows me to take a broader approach to the class. In addition to the speech-related assignments, we have and will discuss journalism, message tailoring, Black-centered public relations, script-writing, social media as a communications tool, and podcasting among other topics.

My role: gather suggestions, put them to a class vote (Google Forms), hit record at least every other Friday, edit, publish, promote--primarily in-house until now.

They do everything else. They chose the name for the podcast and choose the topics to discuss at least bi-weekly. They also choose who will moderate the discussion, including reading aloud classmates' input in the chat.

Check out these snippets from our October - December recordings! You'll never hear my voice as it's all about them, the juniors and seniors at Martin Luther King High School!

13th Read-In, a celebration of books-n-chill

For a 13th year now, I'm engaging my students in a pre-winter break Read In.* One student replied, "That's decent" when I first announced it year one! Boom! Onto something! They bring books, comics, and magazines. I bring hot chocolate, cookies, and some years, gifts.

Over the years, we've welcomed journalists from NBC 10 and KYW News Radio. We've also welcomed members of my family including my adult baby brother and my mother, former colleagues, Councilwoman Cindy Bass, and mentees who call me "Unk," two of whom are now teachers themselves.☺ (Black men in Philly's public schools, btw)

This celebration of "books-n-chill" continues in 2020! Yup. 2020. Students will still bring their books, comics, and magazines to our Zoom classroom. They'll all receive Dunkin Donuts gift cards a few days ahead of time for hot chocolate and donuts.

This year we even have a couple of extras planned including taking a class pic. On Zoom. They've had ample notice.📸 Also, this year we are excited to partner with two of Philly's elementary schools. A few of my students will be reading with students at both Pennell Elementary and Gideon Elementary!

On Tuesday, December 22nd, we invite you to grab a book, the paper, or a magazine, some hot chocolate and maybe a little snack and read as well. Our class time is from 10am-11:30. If you feel so inclined to chill with a book during that time, tag me on Twitter, @kellygrade6 with the title. No pressure. Just a thought.

*As a middle grades elementary school ELA teacher, I engaged the students in choice reading daily. Our annual Read-In was/is an extended time to read for enjoyment while sipping our hot chocolate and nibbling on our cookies.

Cereal | A note on student-teacher relationships

I visit classes* most often to sit and watch how my colleagues work their magic, especially with this 100% remote teaching and learning world in which Philly and other schools and districts find ourselves. Recently, a student in one class came off mute to ask for additional time on an assignment. The exact words were, "[Teacher] can we get like five more minutes because I had to go give my niece some cereal?"

So what's the big deal? Why am I writing about a bowl of cereal from an unidentified-for-the-internet uncle to an unidentified-for-the-internet niece?😕😕

That a student felt comfortable enough to come off mute, with about 20 other people on the line, to ask for extra time with the reason being that he had to go feed his niece says a lot! It says a lot about the rapport this teacher built with his students. It says a lot about remote learning space concurrents. It also says a lot about the teacher who understands this and replied, "Sure, no problem" with a facial expression that spoke loudly of "Of course, why would I not give you an extra few minutes."

Teacher-colleagues, understand the realm in which we all find ourselves and let's govern ourselves accordingly.

Administrators at the school and district levels, this applies to you as well. Be kind to us and to yourselves until this whole thing is past us and we're able to look back on this from a different mental, physical, emotional, spiritual , teaching, and learning space.

*My role this year is that of a partially-released School-Based Teacher Leader (SBTL) for English. I also teach, by choice, one section of a dual-enrollment Communications class.