5 Black English teachers walk into a Zoom

I know the title suggests the beginning of some joke. Nope. Sorry to disappoint. 😊But five Black English teachers did engage in a discussion this past week that ultimately yielded the infographic below. High noon on Wednesdays at Martin Luther King High School, the English department meets for CPT*. The CPT was scheduled for some MTSS** which does not include students who already have an IEP***. 😏

The MTSS portion was canceled just as the meeting began. The professionals we are, we decided to talk pedagogy amongst ourselves, especially given the compounded challenges of teaching 100% online, in a global pandemic, and in the midst of increased visualization of racial injustice and political upheaval. What is shown on the infographic are the quick notes and thoughts of five Black English teachers' impromptu conversation, which I should note, lasted longer than our CPT's allotted time. As we talked, we wanted to frame the solutions around being conscientious and culturally responsive. We also wanted to share some of what we discuss all the time with our other colleagues around the school.

Linked Article: Strategies for implementing online culturally responsive teaching online

Shout out to the team at King! This post may be updated with names, if my colleagues wish to be identified. Check back.

Angela Crawford

Tareen Coston

For the benefit of anyone outside of "edunyms"

*Common Planning Time

**Multi-Tiered System of Supports

***Individualized Education Program

Let Black words marinate | A note on student-teacher relationships

I'm typing this late on a Friday night (into Saturday now) in October after a long week here in Philly. Monday morning I found out one of my students--one of our students at MLK High School was killed; the fifth, I believe, in as many months at our school. Last weekend, while he was at a vigil for his cousin who was taken too soon, someone chose to end Hyneef's life. 

I cried.

Again. 

That was Monday morning.

Monday afternoon, Walter Wallace, a brotha from West Philly, was shot and killed by Philly police. Sadly, angrily, this put Philly into the national and international spotlight as another police department in America chose to serve as police, judge, jury, and executioner for a Black man; an extrajudicial process not afforded to others who aren't in crisis and make multiple attempts on officers' lives. Exhibit A.

Walter Wallace Jr.’s life mattered. He should still be here. Another way is possible. Imagine a world where mental health issues, disabilities, or your race do not make you a target for criminalization & state murder.#WalterWallaceJr#blacklivesmatter#blackdisabledlivesmatter pic.twitter.com/QQOuRC0DdV

— BLM Philly (@BLMPhilly) October 30, 2020

 

https://t.co/f9YwslwCvv

— Dann Cuellar (@DannCuellar) October 21, 2020

Oh and we're still neck-deep in a global pandemic that has disproportionately taken Black lives.

Oh and in Philly we're teaching 100% online, much like many others across the country.

Oh and it's election season, a true-to-form 2020-type election season.

Combine all of these experiences and it quadruple underscores the need for classrooms, virtual or otherwise, to be safe spaces, mentally, physically, and emotionally, for Black students to be. The relationship that we as educators have with our students in large part determines the degree to which our classrooms are those needed safe spaces.

This past week during our common planning time for the English department, my colleagues and I shared examples of how we strive to do just that, build and strengthen relationships and make our classrooms virtual sanctuaries.

During the conversation, the need for teachers to also have these safe spaces was reiterated. We allowed ourselves to become vulnerable; to share our successes and struggles with relationship-building in this virtual space when our students need us most. We allowed ourselves to feel, to empathize, to embrace, to be right, to be wrong, to just be as teachers who are also human and who are also impacted by the aforementioned traumatizing experiences, as most of us are Black educators. To a great extent, we also allowed our students to see us for the humans we are this past week, something we also talked through during our chat.

In church, sometimes the program/bulletin reads at the bottom, the service is subject to the move of the Holy Ghost. If you know, you know. 👀☺There comes a time when the lesson plan needs to be subject to the reality of Black students' lived experiences. Why Black, specifically? If you have to ask, you may be part of the problem in the classroom. Fix it. Fix it by listening to Black students. You have two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen to Black educators. Listen to Black parents. When you listen, that doesn't mean you're thinking of what you're going to say next in either rebuttal or even a compliment. Sometimes just say nothing. Let Black words marinate.

In spite of the challenges that confront us, I am hopeful. I am also prayerful. I have to be! Running through our veins is the blood of royalty, of freedom fighters, of thinkers, inventors, change-makers and agents, and so much more!

Teacher-student relationships matter, especially now! Our students aren't looking for chumbuddies in their teachers, but they sure as the sun rises want someone who's human!

Dear White Colleagues, check yourself!

I'll make this short. Twice today and once late last week did I engage in conversations with Black colleagues from around the school district about how a few of our White colleagues, from around the school district, were showing their tails! Bigoted and racist tails, might I add. In two instances, Black educators were calling out their White counterparts or superiors on positions they held, decisions they made, or statements they uttered. In one instance a student was doing the calling out, going toe-to-toe with a teacher.

Listen here.

Check ya self before you wreck ya self!

It would behoove you to button your lips tight and listen to your Black colleagues and students, especially now! If you choose to say something, let it be supportive of Black lives, followed by actions supportive of Black lives! #BlackLivesMatterAtSchool Period.

Click here for source

"It's so important to feel like [we're] worth something" | A King HS Town Hall

“Our generation is not a setback, it’s a wake-up call!”

Those were the words of one of Martin Luther King High School’s Class of 2020 graduating seniors.

 

With permission from our principal, Keisha Wilkins and moderated by my colleague, Angie Crawford, today we held a school-wide town hall. It was primarily for students, but the vast majority of the staff also joined the call. Although only a handful of students logged on at 10am to join the discussion, the entire event was still a whole Black mood!

 

The goal was to provide a space for students, and perhaps faculty, to express their thoughts and opinions about the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless other Black people at the hands, and knee, of police and the reaction of society to State violence against Black bodies.

 

Together they expressed their collective outrage at the stealing of the lives of these fellow Black Americans from us! Although they completely understood why some chose to destroy property and make off with items from food to toiletries, they didn’t approve. They did, however, celebrate the other nonviolent demonstrations and marches that brought attention, again, to the issue. As one student put it, although she wasn't out there marching, she still had something to say about it, regardless. Her action is to divest from primarily White-owned businesses to support Black-owned businesses.

The conversation, however, didn’t end there. The discussion organically shifted to the pedagogical and inter-relational violence that occurs in schools every day and as experienced by the students participating in the town hall this morning. Well aware that MLK's faculty and staff were on the call, these young people did not hesitate to center their race in the discussion and to relay their experiences with the school and their teachers.

 

One of the biggest themes from the discussion was on the student-teacher relationship. Citing potential barriers between teachers and Black students, one student felt that while we’re (teachers) often concerned about schoolwork “Nobody takes the time out to find out what’s wrong [with us]”; that between home and school, they seem to be “nonstop knocked down.” That while we’re concerned about grades, they’re asking themselves, “How am I going to eat tonight? Where am I going to sleep tonight?” These are direct quotes.

In some cases, our students are de facto caregivers for younger siblings. “I’m the one putting food in the house! That’s the parents’ job, but they too busy getting high.” This same student noted that he’s often the one trying to maintain his siblings and fight [child] protective services.

 

The mental trauma that results from all of these experiences is real. “If they don’t care about me, why should I care about me?” Another student co-signed. “I can’t get no peace. Everybody gives up on me so I give up on myself.” It was at this point that our STEP Clinical Coordinator stepped into the conversation to offer her continued mental health assistance, expertise, and support.

 

The students also offered solutions for us to consider. Sick and tired of trite teaching methods, they told us that we “can’t just give packets and think that I’m gonna do it.” They noted the differences in their learning styles and the necessity for us to adjust our instruction accordingly. They were also quick to note that school is not only about teaching and learning, but about love and compassion. It’s about “letting them (students) know ‘you’re gonna make it, you’re loved, you’re gonna be okay’” One also urged us to “be a parent in a sense to these kids.” She qualified her opinion. “Be a parent to them, then a teacher and a mentor.” “It’s so important to feel like [we’re] worth something," said another.

 

Stop.

Think about that for a moment.

 

As moving and imperative as this town hall was up until that point, it got even more moving. One shy student spoke very briefly in the beginning and then again at the end. In short, she was not okay; and that was okay. But when the seniors spoke directly to this freshmen student, sharing words of encouragement and of faith (quite literally as they referenced prayer and God) and typing into the chat their Instagram names (we used to exchange phone numbers) for her to use to reach out to them, that was a poignant illustration of compassion, empathy, and love for all of us to witness and to emulate!

 

Despite the challenges and exhaustion that often comes with being a Black student in public schools, these young people also took the time to express their love and to appreciate two teachers, in particular, who showed “tough love and pushed me” and who were really “like a mom.” “Y’all really are my superheroes!”

The lesson here is simple. Listen to Black youth! Their words and experiences are not case studies in a book to simply discuss. Their experiences have real implications on how we should approach school. Shrugging off their life’s journey is not an option. To reiterate one young lady’s words, “It’s so important to feel like [we’re] worth something!” Black Lives Matter at school. To some, they always have mattered at school and always will. The problem is that some is not enough. All lives matter when Black lives matter...in society and at school!

“I thought, well since she’s not here anymore, why should I?”

I do not think my sophomore+ students will be totally satisfied until there is a public leak in my tear ducts. Really! “I know it would’ve shown my humanity, but I refuse [to cry]!” That was my response moments ago after a student’s Beautiful Black Faces collage presentation.

The assignment was simple. Turn the classroom into a museum of beautiful Black faces. Create a collage. On the board, affix cut-outs from newspapers/magazines or print-outs from the internet. Be intentional in your approach, whatever and however that might look for you. Be prepared to either write about or discuss your collage.

 

A few Beautiful Black Faces collages

One student, Sahmir (pseudonym) portrayed Black people who, in recent memory, lost or took their own lives. He explained that many of the people on his collage chose to end their lives as the result of cyber bulling, bullying in general, or just decided that life was no longer worth living. He then chose to share with the class that upon the death of his own mother some years ago, he, too, contemplated suicide. He admitted that he was too scared to actually cut himself or make any other attempts but that he struggled with the thoughts. “I thought, well since she’s not here anymore, why should I?”

He credits his overcoming these thoughts to the support and love of his grandmother who conveyed that he would be a coward; that after surviving many other adversities since birth he’d take the easy way out and kill himself. This, he says, woke him up, and caused him to realize that he did have people for whom and reasons to live.

Sahmir's collage

After several spell-bounding seconds…

“Wow! That. Was. Powerful!” was all I could muster. As we all sat and took in the moment, one of my other students raised his hand to comment on Sahmir's presentation. He remarked that he also lost a parent some years ago, his father. He admitted to struggling to come to grips with this new reality, that his rock, his dad was no longer here. Like Sahmir, he also had his grandmother, along with his mother and brother to live for and concluded that suicide was not an option. With that, he shared some words of advice and encouragement from the perspective of one who experienced similar thoughts and feelings.

At this point, the class sat in silent, reflective contemplation. Something was happening in the room. Something organic. Healing? Release? A renewed desire to hold loved ones closer? The raised hand of another classmate temporarily interrupted our thoughts. At this point I was really struggling to keep it together.

This third student shared with the presenter and with the rest of us how she lost her mom five years ago. Cancer. She didn’t know if she’d be with her father, in foster care, or wherever. She expressed how she struggled with what and how to feel; what it would now mean to live in a world where her mom was no longer present. She could relate with her peers in their quest to try and make sense of loss and the uncertainty of what would come next.

As they each shared their experiences, their courage was on full display for all of us to observe and it was a sight to behold. I wrote down as much of this as fast as I could once class was over so that I wouldn’t forget some of the exact words and feelings of the moment. Revisiting this more than a week later, the memory and feelings of that class period are just as palpable and raw now as they were then.

“I just want to say that your strength, each of you, is AMAZING! I admire your courage and your willingness to share some of the most intimate details of your life with us, because you definitely did not have to!” Those were my exact words to them. Later I would reflect on how much I got to know some of them, their lives and their loss, through this art assignment. I would also reflect on how comfortable they felt sharing such very personal, unobservable details of their lives with me, with us. After several more silent seconds, we continued with the rest of class. How? I don’t remember.

Black Lives Mattering and the Abington School District

Just in time for Black History Month...sheesh!!

Recently, Dr. Tamar Klaiman, a school board member with the Abington School District (PA), voiced her concerns with having armed school resource officers in Abington’s schools.

“This may not be the appropriate venue or time to talk about this, but there’s a lot of evidence that anybody carrying a firearm in a district building puts kids at risk, particularly students of color. We know that Black and Brown are much more likely to be shot by police officers, especially school resource officers than other students and I have serious concerns about anybody in the buildings having firearms regardless of whether or not they’re police.” The backlash was swift, as many did not appreciate these and other comments from Dr. Klaiman. She would later apologize. More than once. Many are calling for her resignation. Shocker. (pshh)



I don't know that a blog post or tweets are sufficient enough for me express my....[searching for the word, settles on...] disgust with the backlash. Surprised? Nope. Disgusted. Yup! Maybe perturbed or incensed would work, as well!

While 2015 data from the U.S. Department of Education for Abington do not include information on Black students shot in school by police, it does include discipline information which should alarm us when discussing armed police in schools. I'll leave this here for your perusal and for you to contemplate if it wasn't at all too far fetched for Dr. Klaiman to broach the issue. For the record, Doc, a school board meeting is the EXACT and appropriate place and time to talk about this!