Category: General

by guest writer, Travis Crowder

It was my third year of teaching. 

The warmth of spring made everyone’s thoughts turn toward the freedom of endless summer days, and although students were anticipating the break, they (thankfully) still engaged in class conversation and reading. We were studying the 1960s, using texts by S.E. Hinton and Walter Dean Myers to anchor our unit of study and further explore the time period through the lens of fiction. As discussion stretched to the Vietnam War, the kids had plenty of questions that our cursory conversation would not touch, so I scoured textbooks and websites for texts that would help us think about the war, and answer many of the questions that piqued their curiosity. 

            I arrived at school rather early the next day with one text in particular in mind. Once in the workroom, I made photocopies of  “Calling Home” from The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and imagined, as the bar of light hummed across the open-face book, the different questions students might ask. We’ll treat it as an inquiry, I thought. I’ll gather their questions and use them to find more texts. Or, better yet, send them out to research the answers themselves. When the final photocopy emerged from the machine, I gathered the stack of papers and ambled to my room, excited at the prospect of what I believed would be an engaging conversation. 

            My excitement was short-lived. 

            I read part of Tim O’Brien’s piece to them, invited them to jot down their thinking, then asked them to read the rest by themselves. “When you’re finished, ask two questions that you really want to know,” I said before sending them to read the rest on their own. Compliantly, heads turned toward the page, but very few students were actually reading. I glanced around the room and recognized an overall detachment and lack of interest. O’Brien’s story is one of longing and emotion, an imaginative exploration of what it means to feel distant, yet connected. There was so much to think about, but once they were finished, most of the class doodled in the margins of the page or put their heads down. And only a few kids wrote something down once they finished. 

            Believing a conversation would bring everyone back together and energize the classroom, I started with an open-ended question: “What did you think of the story?”

            The expected students offered elliptical responses, but even they seemed disengaged. Allen, a student whose insightful comments across the year had deepened class discussion, sat twirling his pencil. Ask him, I thought. He’ll offer something worthwhile. 

            “So Allen, what did you think of the story?”

            “Oh, I didn’t really read it.”

            “Well why not?” 

            His voice was louder when he responded, “Because this was boring!”

            He held my gaze for several seconds, then turned his attention back to twirling the pencil, and I, hurt, frustrated, and embarrassed, moved the class to something else. I don’t even remember what it was. 

            I tiptoed through the rest of that year with Allen, and for fear of the same thing occurring again with successive groups of students, I spent several years opting for easier texts, ones I felt would engage kids and that no one would label boring. But these texts minimized class conversation even more. Students read, but there was little to sink our teeth into. Discussion fizzled after just a few minutes. Time to move on to something else, students’ eyes told me. 

            So we did. 

            It would be several years before I realized how wrong this all was. Anyone who knows me understands the value I now place on professional reading and digging deeper into the craft of teaching, especially the craft of teaching language arts. But it wasn’t always that way. When I discovered that there were people who were answering the questions I had about reading, I devoured a host of books. Leaning into the words of wise educators caused a shift in my practice— I abandoned the tired strategies that did nothing to engage kids and sought methods and ideas that would lift my level of instruction and the enthusiasm in the room. Cris Tovani’s Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? was one of the many books I pored over, and although connected primarily to content-area reading comprehension, I found myself jotting down tons of notes, chapter after chapter, realizing how I could help students unpack texts in class. While I had loved every single professional book I’d read, something about Cris’s writing made me feel as though she had walked into the room I’m sitting in and had joined me for a chat just between friends. I’ve learned so much from other reading specialists, but Cris’s delivery is specific and dependable. She grafts experience with strategy and moves you, the reader, into an imaginative space where you can see yourself engaging kids in the beautiful work of reading and thinking. Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? gave me a way to approach reading with kids, especially in regard to outlining why I’m using a particular text. Defining my instructional purpose first, then exploring how I want students to hold their thinking as they read helps me not to arbitrarily choose a text. It encourages me to select a text with purpose. Cris made me consider my why and understand the barriers I was putting between kids and deep, close reading. My reading instruction evolved. 

            But Cris is always teaching us. When she is inspired by a question or is seeking a more profound understanding of teaching readers, she molds her thinking into a book and gifts it to the world. Her newest book, Why Do I Have to Read This? has stretched my thinking about reading instruction even further. While her other work has challenged my thinking, Why Do I Have to Read This? provides more shape and structure to the literacy work I do. Story drives the work she does in this book. She doesn’t just tell us or show us. She models it. Narrative, rich dialogue and beautiful writing all combine to pull us further and further into her method of teaching. 

            I love how Cris discusses the masks that students wear and how she has learned to recognize them, to understand them. She approaches teaching with such empathy, helping me critically examine the biases I carry with me into the classroom and reflect on how I approach conversations with students. Right now, thinking of Bryan in third period who is a class clown, who loves to voice his opinion, with evidence, during discussions about controversial topics. Cris knows about him. She explains, 

“When I value compliance over controversy, I’m just asking for students to disengage. After a while, vanilla gets boring. Students who wear the mask of the class clown thrive on controversy. They want to argue. They need to argue. Learning reasons why they feel a certain way about an issue and then being able to articulate those reasons is empowering…” (p. 99). 

After reading this part, I walked into class the following day a much different teacher. My lens changed, and although I had given Bryan the space he needed to discuss his thinking, I understood him differently. There was a nuance there that hadn’t existed before. He must have felt the difference, too, because that day, he engaged in holding his thinking in his notebook for the first time all year.

In addition to the mask of the class clown, Cris explores the masks of anger and apathy, minimal effort, and invisibility. Real-world connections give meaning to what we study, she asserts, and when we give students interesting things to read and to consider, those masks start to fade. Engaging, authentic questions move us to press closer to the heart of an answer, and although we may never find a full answer, the journey, and what we learn along the way, are what matter. 

Throughout the book, Cris offers real teaching examples, showcasing how she models close reading and annotations for her students and the feedback she gives to kids. I am in awe of her authenticity. Using her CYA structure (Content You Anticipate) — topic, task, target, text, tend, and time — teachers can better meet the needs of students. Good teachers anticipate what students may already know about a topic, what authentic tasks will help them explore the topic, what students need to know (target), the texts that will help them make sense of the topic, the needs of the students (tend), and how much time learners will need. CYA, coupled with long-term planning, gives our teaching room to breathe. It helps us curate a wide selection of texts that will meet the needs of our students in case our first choices aren’t a good fit. And, it helps us anticipate the students who will ask, “Why do I have to read this?” 

Whenever I read a professional book that speaks to students’ reading engagement, Allen is one of the first students whose face materializes in my mind. His story haunts me each time I sit down to plan a unit of study and search for texts that will move kids to ask more questions and reconsider what they already think. While I have gone to Cris’s other books for several years to guide my teaching, Why Do I Have to Read This? will be close by anytime I attempt to plan an upcoming unit. I’ll also keep it close by as a reminder that all students come to class with unique needs, and it is through understanding and compassion that we begin to unpack what those needs are. 

Cris’s writing has mentored my teaching for several years. When I feel frustrated or isolated, or have no idea what to do next with students, her soothing words build a bridge from where I am to where I need to be. Early in the book, she shares a letter from Sam Bennett (author of That Workshop Book, which is a wonderful text for teachers) that left her angry, but nudged her to reframe the way she taught some of her most vulnerable students. The beautiful thing here is that Cris opens up about how her thinking changed, and the ways she challenged and transformed the way she taught striving readers. Even after years of experience, Cris models for us what it means to confront feedback and use it to move our classrooms forward. 

Several weeks ago, while reading Why Do I Have to Read This?, I laid the book face-down on my desk and stared at a stack of responses to texts we had been reading in class. Students’ writing was lifeless and detached, and even though I believed we were talking about good stuff, their connections were not as deep as mine. And yes, I saw Allen’s face, too.  

As I sat there, I recognized how conversations across the year had proven that students wanted to talk about deep topics, ones that were relevant to their lives. They wanted to talk about controversy. They had been ready for the “hard stuff,” but I had not yet given it to them. So, I recognized my own mask of minimal effort, slid it off my face, and returned to Cris’s book. I generated stronger overarching questions, invited students to evaluate them with me, and gave them a chance to explore their initial thinking before diving into a new collection of texts that would help us press closer to the heart of an answer. 

But like every other teacher, I am still learning. 

Cris’s book is a work of (he)art. It challenges us to rethink our teaching, but most importantly, it reminds us of the humanity of teaching. When we walk into the room with our students, we know them best. We know what they need and the things that will make their hearts sing. In the last part of the book, Cris says, 

“We have a choice. We can stormily enter the room and with a grumpy face look at our students with disappointment and disdain. Or, we can be a ray of light and come to class giving and expecting the best. We can blindly follow a curriculum guide that someone else has made, or we can use it to enhance our own long-term planning to ensure that our content is compelling, accessible, and reflective of all learners. It’s up to us. We decide who we give up on and who we try to re-engage. We hold a lot of power” (p. 178). 

We hold a lot of power. 

            What a beautiful statement. 

In a time when high-stakes tests dominate many district conversations, it’s important to remember that we still have agency. It may not seem that way all the time, but it’s there. Cris explains that it’s important to interrogate the texts we use and to recognize that controversial topics give us a chance to discuss topics that for too long education has ignored. If you’re like me, Cris’s book will remind you of the light that shines inside of you. And while it may be a flickering flame, it still burns and has the power to burst into a roaring fire. 

References

Bennett, S. (2007). That workshop book: New systems and structures for classrooms that read, write, and think. Heinemann.

O’Brien, T. (2009). The things they carried. Mariner Books. 

Tovani, C. (2004). Do I really have to teach reading?: Content comprehension, grades 6-12. Stenhouse. 

Tovani, C. (2021). Why do I have to read this?: Literacy strategies to engage our most reluctant students. Stenhouse.  

Travis Crowder, M.Ed., is a middle school English/Language Arts teacher at East Alexander Middle School in Hiddenite, NC. Travis frequently shares his thinking about teaching on Twitter @teachermantrav and you can read more of his exquisite writing on his blog https://www.teachermantrav.com. Our #g2great chat team is honored that Travis is a guest writer to our blog several times each year.  We are so grateful for his thoughtful contributions.  

by Jenn Hayhurst

#DisruptTexts Website  #DisruptTexts Guides

On 1/28/21, #G2Great was honored to celebrate the remarkable work of #DisruptTexts and co-founders, Tricia Ebarvia, Lorena Germán, Dr. Kim Parker, and Julia Torres. Our #G2Great team steadfastly supports their efforts and are grateful for this opportunity to spotlight the guides they created for all of us so that more teachers can bring them to life in the company of children.

What is #DisruptTexts? I can’t think of a better way to respond to this question than in the words of the founders. In a January 2021 Statement they help us to understand both what #DisruptTexts is and is not:

#DisruptTexts is “a crowdsourced, grassroots effort by teachers for teachers to challenge the traditional canon in order to create a more inclusive, representative, and equitable language arts curriculum that our students deserve.” We believe that education, and literacy in particular, can be transformative. Through a more equitable curriculum and antiracist pedagogy, we believe that we can effect a more just world. All students deserve an education that is inclusive of the rich diversity of the human experience. They deserve one that introduces them to and affirms the voices both inside and outside their individual lives.

#DisruptTexts mission statement 

In addition to helping to spread this important work, we specifically wanted to share their #DisruptTexts Guides that include eight titles. The four Core Principals of these guides are shown in this visual.

You can find more detail about the core principles at #DisruptTexts Guides

Throughout our #G2great chat, we shared their wise words:

A gift for all teachers are the eight guides that are located on the #DisruptTexts website. These guides will spark conversations about the texts that are used in classrooms. Are they representative? Do students see themselves? Can these texts be paired with existing resources? Could/should some texts be replaced with texts that will be more relevant to students in 2021? The existing guides created by the founders offer rich mentor texts that will support thoughtful additions based on your students.

The guides include:

• At the Mountain’s Base by Traci Sorrell
• Frankly in Love by David Yoon
• What Lane by Torrey Maldonado 
• Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
• Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
• Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
• Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
• Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

As I looked at the eight guides above, one thing that immediately struck me is how far removed they are from traditional “lesson plans” riddled with the ‘telling and doing’ that leaves little room for respecting teacher decision making guided by foundational understandings. Rather these powerful “guides” are designed to provoke and support new THINKING through considerations, suggestions, vocabulary, key concepts and questions to ask ourselves as trusted professionals. They explain in the guide description:

“Each principle stands for actions that are culturally sustaining and antiracist. Through each principle, teachers aim to offer a curriculum that is restorative, inclusive, and therefore works toward healing identities and communities. As you read this guide, you’ll see how each of these principles informs the approach recommended …”.

Across each guide, these four remarkable educators keep this promise as they honor those principles within all titles. And through these eight guides, they offer a pathway that will support each of us in embracing instructional practices that are “restorative, inclusive, and therefore works toward healing identities and communities.“

Questioning Curriculum 

It is our shared humanity that quickens the urgency for change. As I reflect upon the collective wisdom of these brilliant educators, I find that more questions are stirring inside me. How can healing and restoration begin? What are the long-standing practices that have gone unchallenged by me? What are my biases, and actions sustaining? What voices are silenced in the texts I am using? What voices are amplified in those texts? Why? When we interrogate our curriculum in this way, we are honoring all students. What better place than school, a public yet intimate space where we can broaden perspective and raise expectations that there are many sides to any story.

Taking Action

Now. Now is the time to take action to change literacy instruction for the better. Right now, we can take steps towards a more responsive curriculum. Find a partner. What can one teacher do without a partner? Begin with the four core principles from #DisruptText and you may well be the spark in your school that ignites a movement towards equity, antiracism, and social justice. 

LINK https://disrupttexts.org/disrupttexts-guides/ 

By Brent Gilson

An archive of the chat can be found here

One thing I think everyone can agree on is that our classrooms are not isolated environments. The events of the world will always bleed their way into our classrooms. The unique identities of our students and their experiences will influence not just how they learn but also what interests them and their peers.

When insurrectionists and terrorist stormed the Capitol building a few weeks ago we almost instantly saw teachers asking how we planned to address the events in our classroom. Reports came in from all over the world that people were watching. Regardless of your politics you have to recognize that this event was one that not only our students, but all of us could learn from.

Starting with our students

I have this reminder from the brilliant Dr. Gholdy Muhammad on the wall behind my desk. At the start of the year, I have my students reflect on this and write out their excellence. We have spent much of the year focused on writing about themselves and different elements of their identities. We structure our writing around their interests. Through this, I have been able to present my students with scenarios that pique their interests while also providing learning opportunities.

Currently, we are looking at Food Insecurity in Canada. This is a current topic and as we explore it my students are working back to how living with this might impact their identities. It has been interesting to see their reactions and questions. I feel strongly that if we didn’t spend time understanding ourselves first that we would have less success in understanding others and ultimately to develop and hold the compassion to be moved to action in this situation.

As part of the chat, teachers shared ways they focus on identity and build community in their classrooms.

From Self to the World

Throughout the chat we discussed how we bring in topics that are happening in the world and how we model respectful conversations about them. Generally it seems that people have forgotten that a conversation requires more than one voice. We need to be open to listening attentively not listening to respond. Our students need that explained and modelled to them.

When I taught third grade we spent time practicing this skill. Funny enough we practiced it talking about ourselves. Then sharing with peers to introduce our partners. The second point to conversations that we often come to is not only listening but respecting that not all people think or see things the same way and that respecting their right to have a different opinion is important.

Where I think the events of the last few years have created a need for change is in students ability to identify truth. Misinformation and half truths are a huge stumbling block when discussing bringing the events of the world into our classrooms. Our students young and old are not only getting the facts as they occur and bringing those with them to our conversations. They are getting a version of those facts often times distorted by political ideology at the very least and hateful rhetoric at its worst.

Because of these changes language matters. Questions matter. I appreciate the work of educators like Bob Probst and Kylene Beers that help us to examine non-fiction texts with their signposts to ask questions about the way information is presented. I appreciate Kelly Gallagher pointing out and asking students to identify what is said and not said. Largely in my own practice, I am asking of my students lately the question I first saw Tricia Ebarvia pose “Who benefits?” When our students are bringing the events of the world into our classrooms to learn we need to teach them how to navigate those waters.

In closing

The world is a classroom for our students whether we acknowledge it or not. It is important that we know our students and they know themselves as they enter the world with the tools to navigate the texts that they will be inundated with. The 24 hour news cycles, the “alternative facts” the politically biased reporting. We can’t just ignore all that is going on and hope that our students will find answers elsewhere. If the world is a classroom then we should be providing our students the tools and strategies to navigate it.

“Both what is taught and how it is taught is shaped by the cultural, social, political, and historical contexts in which a school is situated. We can’t pretend that teachers can leave these contexts at the door.”

Alyssa Hadley Dunn, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University

by Mary Howard

I sit at my computer. With fingers perched joyfully on the keyboard I type. Six-Year Anniversary Chat. I pause to soak in the magnitude of those words. I swell with pride.

Each year on our #G2great anniversary, I linger in the glow of dialogue past as I eagerly anticipate those that are yet to come. These celebrations still feel so unexpected since our 1/8/15 birth was intended as a ten-week study of my book, Good to Great Teaching: Focusing on the Literacy Work that Matters (Heinemann 2012). On our 5th anniversary, I wrote a post about the book that launched #G2great: 10 Lessons Teachers Taught Me About Good to Great Teaching. It seems fitting to share my post for the second time as we celebrate a new year of the chat that carries its name. 

Standing joyfully before the year six gate, I’d like to express my deep gratitude for what has been a collective labor of love among dear friends; co-moderators Jenn Hayhurst, Fran McVeigh, Valinda Kimmel, Brent Gilson and chat advisor, Towanda Harris. It’s a blessing to continue the #G2great chat experience alongside friends committed to our shared learning. I’d also like to express appreciation for every educator who has ever shown up on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. across the year. Your unrelenting dedication for your own learning in the name of children is the perpetual conversational fuel that keeps #G2great thriving into year six.  

As I glance back at the last five years and look ahead to year six, I think about 286 #G2Great chats that have allowed us to take a closer look at authors, students, topics, series, articles, blog posts and podcasts along with 243 blog reflections extending each one. Past chats lovingly reside in our Wakelet home where future collaborations will join them in the coming days. Our celebration for each of our anniversaries is captured in the blog posts and Wakelet artifacts below:

Anniversary Literacy Lenses Blog Reflections

Year 1: 1/5/16 (Blog Post launch)

Year 2: 1/5/17 The Gifts of YOU

Year 3: 1/4/18 (Curiosity Crew collaboration)

Year 4: 1/10/19 (Curiosity Crew collaboration)

Year 5: 1/9/20 WHAT IF?

Year 6 1/7/21 Courageous Conversations

Anniversary Chat Artifacts on Wakelet

1st Anniversary chat

2^nd Anniversary chat

3rd Anniversary chat

4^th Anniversary chat

5th Anniversary chat

6^th Anniversary chat

While our #G2great 2015 maiden chat voyage was based on one book, we have since broadened our vision. Our respect for collegial discourse inspires us to maintain this collaborative space where educators come to share their understandings, curiosities and wonderings in service of professional introspection and inquiry. These collective think partnerships challenge us to put our beliefs on display in a twitter style reflective mirror where we can look beyond ourselves. Our goal has always been to offer a range of topics and texts, but we will continue to expand our selections to those that push us to engage in dialogue that further nudges us out of our respective comfort zones. For this reason, we thought that courageous conversations was a fitting launching for Year Six.

Before I turn my attention to #G2great tweets, I’d like to emphasize what courageous conversations are not. The day before our anniversary chat, the antithesis of courageous conversations reared its ugly head as our democratic process erupted into a mob mentality fueled by social media, conspiracy theory lies and failed leadership. We watched as cowardly confrontations riddled with venomous intent unfolded into real life horror across our TV screens. Compounding the sadness and fear this evoked was the realization that it would have been a very different scene if this mob had not been mostly white. At a time when police brutality and racism run rampant, we cannot ignore this stark distinction of realities. 

Courageous conversations invite us to recognize social injustices and inequities and to speak out against them. Courageous conversations invite us to listen before speaking.  Courageous conversations invite us to stand up and be heard when it matters most. Courageous conversations invite us to step out of our comfort zone even when we fear how our words might be perceived or even acted upon. Courageous conversations are not motivated by hate but by carefully weighing our words. Courageous conversations ask us to look beyond our own reality and see the reality of others. Courageous conversations are thoughtfully responsible and allow us to look within to consider our own biases that may well influence those conversations.

While courage (or the lack of) can happen anywhere including on social media, many have argued that it is impossible to have a “conversation” in a twitter chat. While we do not consider our chat a substitute for face-to-face, back-and-forth real time dialogue that we also hold dear, we do believe that it offers a starting point that affords an opportunity to engage with others even when that may be otherwise unlikely given our wide range of cities, states, and even countries. We also worry that many educators who attend our chat do not have a safe space where they can have these conversations. We would like to think that a twitter chat, while not the traditional kind of conversation that would be far more powerful, offers seeds as a first step along a pathway that could reach far beyond our chat. 

Here are a few tweets that reflect seeds of courageous conversations

Courageous conversations can also reflect the ways in which we stand up for the instructional practices and the impact those practices may have on children for better or for worse if they are not carefully considered and equitable. These conversations implore us to speak out when we recognize that our practices marginalize any child or that those practices ignore the right of all children to receive a responsive, equitable and meaningful education that respects them as unique individuals with unique needs.

Here are a few tweets that reflect seeds of courageous conversations

After looking back at our #G2great chat, I noticed some things to keep in mind as we encourage and support the courageous conversations we hope might begin on this chat and move into our schools and our classrooms and ultimately out into the world. 

Courageous conversations traverse along a journey, not a stopping point

Courageous conversations are not something we schedule into the school calendar and then pat ourselves on the back for holding a ‘courageous conversation event.’ We must, rather, commit to courageous conversations for the long-haul as we create an invitational spirit for conversations as opportunities arise day after day, week after week and year after year. Our journey into courageous conversations is a never-ending proposition with no point of arrival. It is our responsibility to challenge ourselves so that we might begin to find a certain measure of comfort within discomfort.

Courageous conversations can only thrive in a respectful culture of mutual trust

Our schools can either be a breeding grounds for courageous conversations or quell the possibility for conversations with any semblance of courage. But before we can support people in stepping out of their comfort zones, we must first ensure that they know they can do so within a safe space. It’s hard to encourage anyone to speak up in an environment where verbal attacks will likely follow. This begins with the school leader who supports these relationships across time and models the same discomfort asked of teachers. Creating a culture of mutual trust takes substantial time, effort and ongoing collective commitment.

Courageous conversations rise from our awareness of growth opportunities

It’s hard to engage in courageous conversations unless we are aware that those courageous conversations are warranted in the first place. Since life often informs this important dialogue, we must be willing to pay attention so we might notice the real-life experiences that could inform and support conversations that beckon us into courageous action. We can only have courageous conversations with others if we are open to and notice these opportunities. This is then likely to increase the potential that we will be moved to engage in them.

Courageous conversations empower us when they have transformative potential 

Our chat subtitle, transformational action through life, was intentional. We believe that the heart and soul of courageous conversations is that they are informed by life, or what happens around us directly or from a distance. These events can and should elicit conversations that can then spur us into action in transformational ways. In other words, we don’t simply engage in courageous conversations for the sake of wearing courageous conversation badges of honor. Rather, we engage in these conversations because life implores us to have them knowing that the learning that comes from shared conversation can become an invitational springboard to action. 

Courageous conversations can begin with teachers but are meant to transfer to students

Courageous conversations are an important first step, but we can’t stop there. We engage in these conversations for the purpose of making our schools more equitable in honor of students. But what we do in honor students we must do in the company of students as we model courageous conversations in action. If we step out of our comfort zones with students, we show them courageous conversations in technicolor view and invite them into the conversational experience. As we become better humans, we are more likely to offer opportunities for students to do the same. If we see this as a one-way proposition, we do kids a great disservice and alleviate discourse that could transform them into action. Sara Ahmed reminds us that the world hands us a curriculum. We have the choice to turn our backs or welcome that curriculum so that life is for the greater good of all.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

2020 is a year unlike any other we have ever experienced. This pandemic continues to burgeon out of control along with escalating inequities we have seen in and out of our schools whether teaching occurs in face-to-face or virtual settings. We have all watched educators bravely teach in new ways, often with little support, and still they rise to the occasion in ways we could never have anticipated. Couple this with tragic events of the last year and we could have a recipe in disaster. Yet once again, so many teachers have risen to the occasion. We still have a long way to go and I would hope that this pandemic and the fear and loneliness that came with it will inspire us all to take the next steps to bring those courageous conversations to life.

We can just turn our back on a year we may hope to forget or we can use this experience to inform and inspire the courageous conversations we choose to have with each other and with students. These conversations are often fueled by our life experiences, but they only have the potential to be transformational if we are open to thinking that comes from a broader perspective than our own.

Courageous Conversations in Action

Two days before our Six-Year #G2Great anniversary Kathy Collins, Matt Glover, Aeriale Johnson and Vicki Vinton joined Renee Dinnerstein to engage in a video discussion: Supporting and Nurturing Young Readers and Writers during the Pandemic and Beyond. This remarkable group of educators model what courageous conversation looks like, so it seems only fitting to end with their wisdom.

On behalf of my #G2great team, we would like to thank you for five years and counting of dialogue and the many courageous conversations that we are yet to have. Just as we want to venture into uncharted territories in our #G2great chat, we hope that each of you will venture into those territories alongside us – both within and beyond our chat. 

Thank you for helping us to grow side-by-side with you twitter style!

By Fran McVeigh

What a year 2020 has been! Ups and Downs. A pandemic. An election year. And so many conflicts. Oppression. Suppression. Police Brutality. Deaths. Riots. Peaceful Protests. Murder. Teachers feeling stifled because administrators asked them to dial down “political” actions. Matthew Kay’s book, Not Light, But FIRE: How to Lead Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom was the perfect book to end our chat year on our 44th night of gathering together in the Twittersphere.

We have the setting. Now for the context. We ask our authors three questions. The third one is my favorite and seems like the perfect way to begin this post.

3) What is a message from the heart you would like for every teacher to keep in mind?

We don’t have to win the game with one big home run swing. It’s not one big conversation, one big classroom moment. We can take the pressure off of ourselves to change the world with big classroom moments. We just need to make consistent, reliable contact with race conversations that are thoughtfully planned, well executed, and thoroughly reflected upon. It’s a cumulative effort, but at the end, we will see that our efforts have been more than worthwhile. 

Matthew Kay, email.

When we begin “with the end in mind,” I often find it easier to consider the journey. No flashy grand slam home run. No 500 person Zoom meeting. No all school convocation.

“… consistent, reliable contact with race conversations that are thoughtfully planned, well executed and thoroughly reflected upon.” What will our journey look like? Will each journey be different? Will there be common or parallel threads?

Let’s get this journey started with some essentials for our road trip.

Selecting Our Road Map

Where are we right now? Sometimes this is best done with a self-assessment tool. Sometimes a survey or google form can begin to identify starting points. Is there formal leadership for this work or will the leadership be distributed across a variety of levels and be more collaborative in nature? What have we chosen as a collective goal? How will we know when we reach it?

Evaluating Systems for Year Long Study

What big, broad ideas are worthy of study? Sometimes the first topic is one that serves as a “model” for future actions so it is not one that will need intensive, long term study. Identifying these systems in advance helps school communities discern the depth and length of future systems studies.

Some systems identified in our chat that might be worthy of study include:

Who leads the conversations?

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Leadership is tricky as the above tweets share. Everyone needs to work at being a better listener. Everyone can and should improve their conversation skills. This will take time, effort and practice. During a pandemic, all of these are at a premium and will need to outweigh time spent on issues that can be handled in a memo, an email, or a quick conversation. (Or, maybe something ends up in File 123!) What’s the prize? Collegial banter/house talk? Water cooler/Dining room table talk? And in this quote, Matt reminds us that we must “earn our seats.”

OUR GPS

Our navigational system, or North Star, is always set by our students and their needs. The pace may vary, the surfaces may include dips, bumps, and unmarked hazards, but our students and their needs will always be a priority.

Pacing

We don’t have time to wait on you.

Matthew R. Kay, Tweet 8:07 10 Dec 20

The clock is ticking. Time is not infinite for this journey.

Shared Playlist

The journey shared by teachers and students requires communication and discussion. Sharing the role of leadership in planning and implementing the travel plans is another crucial travel essential. Students should have opportunities to lead discussions (topic and time) across the day in all classes. This co-planning of the playlist for each day can be a catalyst to engage students in real-life work. Every day. Every class.

Respect for Differing Opinions

Many conversations in classrooms can be tough. Not just ones about race. Safe communities are necessary so every participant feels valued. Students need practice in taking the lead to share how life truly impacts them. Teachers need to make sure that mechanisms are in place to handle perceived and real problems. Input on ways to show learning and growth are just one example of a way that teachers can amplify student voices and share learning yardsticks. And best of all, there may be multiple choices, multiple opportunities, and multiple goals!

Bonus: Photo Album of the “Roads Taken”

1) What motivated you to write this book? What impact did you hope that it would have in the professional world?

To be honest, I have always loved telling stories, so I was always going to jump at any opportunity to write a book. I think that becomes clear in the classroom stories all throughout the book – I just love putting readers into interesting moments. I certainly had fun writing it, and I hope that folks feel like they are in my classroom as they read or listen to it. As far as impact – I just wanted to write a practical book on race conversations. I did not want to spend any time arguing that we should have race conversations – I wanted to focus on how. Too much time is spent on convincing hard-headed, hard-hearted folks that they should tackle race in the classroom. These folks aren’t going to be convinced anyway. I just want to focus on folks like me that are trying and want to get better.

2) What are your BIG takeaways from your book that you hope teachers will embrace in their teaching practices?

I just want fellow teachers to patiently build the ecosystem that can support healthy race conversations. If they commit to doing that stuff (or their own versions of that stuff) from chapters 1-4, they’ll be able to have conversations like in 5-7 (and even maybe survive pop-up conversations like the one in chapter 8.)

In conclusion, life in 2021 is going to require some changes. We would hope to see a return to increased civility. But at the same time, we would like to amplify voices and choice from our unrepresented and underrepresented students and communities. That means that we need to already be on that journey towards meaningful race conversations. “It’s not one big home run swing.” We need to practice, practice, practice so that our conversations continue to grow and develop. We need to understand the depth of the conversations that are needed to heal society. We need to begin by understanding ourselves, our role in the journey and then making sure that we are equipped with the essential tools to arrive at our destination sucessfully and joyfully. Matthew R Kay’s book provides the HOW to help you on your journey that begins with that first step!

Additional Resources:

Teacher, Teach Me Podcasts Link

Teacher’s Corner Podcast (Stenhouse) Link

Matthew R Kay’s website Link

by Mary Howard

View our #G2Great chat discussion Wakelet here

On 11/12/20 our #G2Great team launched the first podcast chat in our nearly six-year history of weekly twitter chats. We chose this amazing Heinemann podcast as our podcast launch knowing that educators needed to listen and learn from the wisdom of Nell Duke and Colleen Cruz on such an essential topic: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice. We were honored that both Nell and Colleen engaged in our chat.

This podcast was a virtual celebration of the wonderful series, Not This, But That currently edited by Nell Duke and Colleen Cruz. They explain how the series rose from a shared concern of researchers and professionals who agreed that there are certain practices unsupported by research which seem “intractable.” The podcast continues:

“They’re out in the field and they’re frustrating when we see them, but we don’t seem to be successful in uprooting them at a large scale.”

The Not This, But That series strives to bridge this research-practice gap by including the voices of both researchers and practitioners. Each book revolves around three key sections that seem like areas we could highlight when engaging in professional discussions about our practices:

NOT THIS: Intractable Practices

WHY NOT? Research Support

BUT THAT: Shifts in Thinking

Nell Duke and Collen Cruz shared some of their favorite books in the series: 

No More Telling as Teaching

No More Mindless Homework 

No More Culturally Irrelevant Teaching

No More Reading for Junk 

No More Teaching a Letter a Week

No More Math Fact Frenzy

No More Science Kits or Texts in Isolation

Colleen highlighted a favorite newer book in a tweet, No More Teaching Without Positive Relationships:

Adding to her enthusiasm for this book in the podcast, Colleen illustrates why this book is a particularly important read now:

 “I love its focus on anti-racism and practical classroom practices teachers can put into place to create classrooms that welcome and celebrate kids and where they come from and who they are and their identities and build healthy, lasting relationships with their teachers.” 

Inviting our #G2great chat family to suggest other “intractable practices” make it seems fitting to turn our attention to our second chat question. These topics may well be worth exploring in future books or at the very least within conversational explorations in our schools. 

There was no shortage of #G2Great additions as shown below:

In the podcast, Nell Duke and Colleen Cruz bring their wisdom to our current instructional reality in the midst of a global pandemic. Discussing the role of research during this crisis with virtual teaching and learning at the center, they shared an important point:

“Be cautious about people who say “research says…” in this situation. Those studies didn’t address what we’re doing now because they were written PRE COVID.” Colleen

“If people are telling you things like, “Here’s what the research tells us,” they’re probably making it up, because we don’t have research on a lot of these questions.” Nell Duke

They ask us to be thoughtful as we look to what research says but then consider what that might look like as we transfer these practices into a virtual setting. For example, we know that interactive writing is supported by research but we must now contemplate how this research can then be translated into a virtual setting given available technological tools and resources. These conversations could not only draw attention to available research around key practices but also help us to evaluate those practices in light of pandemic-fueled teaching as we keep children at the very center of our thinking and thus our decision-making.

Another critical podcast discussion was focused on the all-too-common instructional battle cry of “learning lost” and the widening gap. Nell Duke implores us to assume an “asset stance” as we focus our attention on what children have gained during this time, stating:

“We don’t bemoan all the things kids didn’t learn while they were/are home. We think about what they did learn.”

I have returned more times than I can count to the story Nell Duke tells so eloquently from Ernest Morrell,

“The kids did nothing wrong here. We don’t need to come at them with all the things you missed and all the things you weren’t doing, and how far behind you’re getting. We need to come at them with look at all that you have been doing, look at what you’re experiencing in this once in a lifetime event and you are enduring, and you are here with me, and you’ve learned things and you’re going to learn things, and we value you, and you’re important to us, and to our work, and to the future of our country.“

How can we then shift our view from our assumption that children come to us somehow lacking and rather celebrate what each of our children bring to the instructional experience? With that in view, how do we then use those assets as a stepping stone to to the teaching and learning choices we make on their behalf?

I’ve enjoyed this podcast on many occasions and with each listen I manage to hear something new that makes me stop and think even more deeply than the time before. I hope that each of you will do yourself a tremendous favor and listen to their eloquent wisdom as well using this LINK.

As I close this post, it seems appropriate to look ahead as we will be pairing this amazing #G2great chat experience with the newest addition to the Not This, But That series. On 12/3/20, we will celebrate a new book written by Erin Brown and Susan L’Allier, No More Random Acts of Literacy Coaching (Heinemann, 2020). We hope that you will considering joining us for this incredible discussion.

This seems like an appropriate segue between the two chats by returning back to #G2Great chat tweets from both Nell Duke and Colleen Cruz.

Nell also supported our thinking about coaching in the podcast by sharing that there is research evidence on the impact of coaching in remote settings where coaches could offer digital learning support through feedback. She also supporting this knowledge by sharing the research references on coaching below:

The Effect of Teacher Coaching on Instruction and Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of the Causal Evidence

Essential Coaching Practices for Elementary Literacy Document

Colleen Cruz piqued much interest with this tweet and “super active coaching with readers.”. We hope to learn more about her ‘experiments’ in the near future.

Your #G2Great team would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Nell Duke and Colleen Cruz for sharing their wisdom in this remarkable podcast, for their commitment to personally support each book in the Not This, But That series, and of course, for taking part in our #G2great chat. We are so inspired by you both and eternally grateful for all that each of you have so generously done to enrich our understandings of research-supported practices and our responsibility to our children.

By Brent Gilson

For a record of the chat check out the Wakelet here and if you are interested in learning more about the work Matt Karlson (@matt_karlsen) and Susan Harris Mackay (@sharrismackay) are doing at Opal School please check the link The #G2Great team are so grateful they were able to join us this week.

It is funny when I think back to my times in school from K-12 I remember the times I was free to have fun, to wonder, to explore to be curious and to pursue the learning I was interested in. Those moments are still so vivid even in some cases 30 years later.

As we started the chat this week participants shared what they felt were the unique gifts of childhood and as teachers how do we honour them. Here are a few of the responses.

All week I have been pondering the times in my life that I was free to do these things as a student. So I wanted to treat this post as my own love letter to playful inquiry and inquiry in general and the teachers that fuelled my most powerful learning experiences.

Grade 2 Mrs. Anderson

I remember in Grade 2 we were studying life cycles and wetlands. We could have just spent our time looking at overhead transparencies of a frog and butterfly life cycle and doing some colouring sheets. However, Mrs. Anderson had different plans. She packed up this group of 2nd graders and we went to the local wetlands armed with nets and buckets and spent the day exploring. We caught bugs and freshwater shrimp, tadpoles and frogs at different stages of development, we brought them back to class and studied changes. I still remember where the tank sat in the classroom and the toad I caught that got out and was found on another students desk after recess.

Grade 5 Mrs. Fast/ Mrs. Ness

Studying plant life was scavenger hunts and exploring nature at a Provincial Park. We did have a booklet to complete but it was more like a field book to collect samples and different leaf rubbings to describe what we were finding and identify different plant life we encountered. We could have done it all with simple worksheets but through allowing us to run, play, explore and wonder our teachers had 30 Grade 5 students engaged for a whole day and I can still remember moments from that learning experience.

Favourite Teacher Mr. Soetaert Grade 8 Science

There is that one teacher for so many that makes school more than just a place but an experience. Mr. Soetaert was that teacher for me. He allowed use to explore our interests. In one instance I had an acquaintance bring me a frog they had caught for me (my frog obsession is real) but in the process of capturing it had broken the poor amphibians leg. I asked my teacher if he thought there was anything we could do and we started researching how to induce hibernation, freeze the frog, amputate the leg, cauterize it and then wake the frog up good as new, well minus a leg. Now of course my teacher was fully aware that we could not do this and that the frog would die but he didn’t shut down my wonder or curiosity. He let me explore and look at the potential ways we could save this frog. He didn’t dismiss me and tell me we had “more important things to learn”. He let me learn. The frog died but my curiosity grew and I will never forget that learning experience.

Play and Democracy

Too often teachers brush off play as just “something fun” or “extra”. As the chat continued participants reflected on the relationship between play and democracy.

These common threads of freedom, collaboration, creation, compromise. They all come from play and are important pieces to reflect on not just as our students make their way through school but also going out into the world. We need our students to be prepared to question, to push back on injustice, to speak out when they think there is a better way. Because without that, when our students just conform and become compliant we end up with something else.

Fostering World-Makers

As I read this quote on playful inquiry I focus on “citizen world-maker” and can’t help but think about these last few years and the youth of the world that have refused to be compliant and how they are being given or just taking the opportunity to question, to challenge, to push back and to lead. They are becoming the leaders of change movements. They are pursuing their goals and fighting to achieve them. As we look at classrooms that are built around playful inquiry I can’t help but notice these qualities our youth activists display are first modelled and nurtured in these settings. The skills our students learn in these playful inquiry classrooms indeed are the skills they will need to make the world a reflection of their values.

What if?

Reflecting on this chat I can’t help but wonder,

What if we shifted our focus? What if we put more value on students exploring learning than we did formally assessing it? What if we allowed our students to create their curriculum? What if their interests guided our teaching and not the other way around?”

How much more engaged would our students be? How much more prepared would they be for the world they are in and one day will be asked to lead?

by Mary Howard

On 10/8/20 we were delighted to welcome first-time guests, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind and Christy Hermann Thompson to our #G2Great chat table. It didn’t take our team long to recognize that their new book, Hands Down, Speak Out: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math (Stenhouse, 2020) deserved a twitter style celebration. Judging by the enthusiastic dialogue and ever so fast-paced conversation, our #G2Great family wholeheartedly agreed.

Having devoted my life to a joyful dive into all things literacy, I was struck by the lovely way that Kassia and Christy created a complementary merger where literacy and math converge into glorious harmony on the talk playing field. Engaging student discourse has always been central to my work, but I had never considered the talk process beyond my own literacy lens. I quickly saw the many commonalities between talk that takes place in literacy and talk that takes place in math. By acknowledging commonalities across varied contexts, I see the potential for transfer of learning as we also contemplate our role in lifting student voices in varied talk opportunities while avoiding pitfalls that may silence those same voices. 

This thought is beautifully verbalized by Kassia and Christy in a quote from their book that we shared during our #G2Great chat: 

With the exception of those who wrongly believe that school is defined by a teacher talking and students listening, I am confident that educators share a deep desire to empower student voices. But empowerment doesn’t happen by chance. Rather, we must assume responsibility for daily decision-making that allows us to approach talk in a way that keeps students at the center of talk experiences. This assumes that we model purposeful talk but are also willing to step out of their way as we begin to relinquish control of the talk process. These choices impact whether students find themselves on a talk path where they feel empowered or one where disempowerment is a dark cloud that silences them. 

In their amazing session for The Educator Collaborative Gathering 9/19/20, Hands Down, Speak Out: Making Space for Student-Led Conversations in the Primary Classroom, K-2 Kassia and Christy illustrated this point through their shared goal, “We want to create a classroom community so that every child who wants to talk will feel comfortable doing so.” To our benefit, Kassia and Christy expertly show us how to do that across their book with student examples, micro lessons, teacher tips, resources and rich advice peppered generously across a vast sea of wisdom.

Before I turn my focus to our #G2great chat, I’d like share insight into Hands Down, Speak Out from our authors. We were so enamored by this talk merger across the curriculum that we were inspired to do what we have never done in nearly six years as a weekly twitter chat. We combined two books over two weeks with our first “Book Pairing” that includes Maria Nichols on 10/15/20 for her wonderful book, Building Bigger Ideas: A Process for Teaching Purposeful Talk (Heinemann, 2019).   

As we discussed the idea of Book Pairing around the topic of TALK, Kassia, Christy and Maria had a wonderful idea to create video conversations about their combined books. This week, I’d like to share two of those captioned videos with the final two videos shared in Maria’s post next week. In these videos, Kassia, Christy and Maria reflect on:

Why did you write your books?

How are the two books similar? 

Since this blog post is an after-chat reflection for Kassia and Christy twitter wisdom, I turned back to the chat for inspiration. First, I gathered several of their tweets looking for insights to extend their book. There were so many amazing points that it was challenging to limit the spotlight tweets, so I opted to share a slightly condensed list with Fifteen Talk Tips from Kassia and Christy with my brief reflections. Their combined tips include both talk moves and cautions that will allow us to make those moves.

Talk Tip #1: What we believe becomes our reality (and theirs)

Kassia gives us the ideal starting point since the beliefs we carry into our learning spaces impact all we do. Well-meaning teachers may maintain control of classroom talk out of concern for student success – a belief that can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we allow shaky beliefs to cloud our view, we see our children from a deficit lens. Believing deeply in their talk potential with needed supports initially builds a culture that nurtures talk. We must question how students can see what is possible if we don’t. 

Talk Tip #2 Avoiding descriptors that limit talk

Schools have long held on to numerical values that often become labels used to define children. Just as this is true from a testing perspective, it is also true when we apply labels in the form of descriptors designed to reflect who we assume them to be. Christy’s reminder to use quiet as a source of curiosity that leads to observations is important as this can gently nudge us to new understandings of what quiet means from a broader perspective. 

Talk Tip #3: Re-envisioning our role in the talk process

It’s not an accident that Christy’s tweet is followed by Kassia’s repetition of the word “curious.” When we assume that is is our job to be the knower of all things, then children will look to us for assistance or confirmation. In the process, we miss the wisdom that may remain underground. This move to “curious inquirer” invites opportunities that are likely to make the invisible visible, and thus teach us much about student thinking.

Talk Tip #4: Learning to break old habits that derail

I’ve never heard the term “revoicing” but I recognize it as something all too common based on Christy’s description. How often to we take students’ words and repeat or restate them, often changing the underlying message in the process. To help students engage in real world talk we must be willing to demonstrate real world listening. That require us to stop coming to the rescue and acknowledge what they say and how they say it.   

Talk Tip #5: Supporting a talk path leading to ownership 

Kassia eloquently worded how this path to ownership begins by setting the stage for talk while leaving room for students to assume ownership of how they express their ideas. Using a reflective talk mirror to listen to students allows for observations as students explore talk options for getting their ideas across. Students are then given time and space to model this process for each other while engaged in talk as we get out of their way.

Talk Tip #6: Loosening the reins to invite authentic talk

As I read Christy’s words, I thought of the many times I have experienced this talk view. When we create an obligatory TALK BOX, we limit expression and promote talk that is far removed from real-world discourse. We can’t invite students to express their ideas and then refute how they get those ideas across in meaningful ways. This is a great disservice that sends mixed messages about the purpose of turn and talk as a task vs exploring ideas. 

Talk Tip #7: Re-defining talk with a virtual learning space

Kassia illustrates the digital instruction that is a reality for many teachers during this pandemic. In spite of the challenges that have come with our move to a virtual space, it also affords us an opportunity to redefine talk within this new teaching and learning experience. This seems like a worthy discussion for schools to have as they explore viable options and consider powerful ways to embrace, nurture, support and extend those options.

Talk Tip #8: Using small groups as a precursor for talk

Christy continues Kassia’s virtual teaching focus by reminding us that carefully chosen talk tools can elevate small group learning. More than ever before, we have a variety of tools that can maximize these collaborative talk opportunities. This can create space for students to think about their own thinking before sharing their ideas in whole class digital experiences. This rehearsal time offers a scaffold that is sure to enhance any next steps.

Talk Tip #9: Exploring talk from multiple perspectives

Kassia extends Christy’s small group theme by showing us that a wide range of talk experiences in varied groupings will support different “kind of talkers” that can thrive in different kind of groupings. This is a wonderful way to rethink instructional design in any setting so that we can support these conversations across different groups with different purposes.

Talk Tip #10: Turn and Talk as a thinking playground

Christy beautifully illustrates how she shifted her perspective from turn and talk used to prove thinking to others vs. turn and talk that offers an opportunity to explore thinking in small collaborative partnerships. Her view of turn and talk as opportunities to construct ideas is so important and it frees the teacher to become a fly on the wall observer listening to those conversations in action that can take root and grow.

Talk Tip #11: Inviting real world talk into our schools

I’ve always found it fascinating to listen to how young people communicate beyond the school setting. Listening to these authentic exchanges can teach us so much about students and how they use talk within their every day surroundings. Kassia reminds us to use what students do naturally in their own lives. Listening to conversations that aren’t bound by contradictory rules and directives can help us to elevate school talk by celebrating the home-school connection.

Talk Tip #12: Dismantling the existing social power systems

Christy asks us to acknowledge the imbalance of power that can exist in the talk students engage in within our schools. She helps us to consider how we might shift that imbalance using tools that will support collective ways we might “critique, dismantle, and redesign those systems”. I love her reminder to stand beside students and support them within this rebalancing process.

Talk Tip #13: Creating an equitable talk landscape

Kassia extends Christy’s point as we begin to notice the inevitable ‘social hierarchies and inequitable power distributions’. This requires our honesty but it also demand that we have a sense of awareness about both individual students and the collective culture of classroom structures that we may be inadvertently perpetuating. ‘More just’ classrooms is a collaborative effort fueled by talk that can either invalidate or support new understandings.

Talk Tip #14: Knowing where digging deeper counts

Christy’s tweet is a critical point any time but especially during a pandemic. If we want to create classroom communities where talk makes room for students to explore topics at greater depth, we must avoid viewing the day as a never-ending instructional obligatory distraction. Highlighting “juicy” bits across the curriculum that matter most will create experiences with huge payoff that matters in the lives of students.  

Talk Tip #15: Looking for what is already there

I purposely saved this tweet from Kassia for last since it allowed our tips to move full circle. We start by believing that every student has great potential for leading meaningful discussions and then take ample time to admire the brilliance that beckons us to listen carefully. This also extends Christy’s last tweet to honor the precious limited time we have available so that we can open a door to opportunities where deeper talk experiences await us.

My Final Thoughts

These fifteen talk tips and more are written in great detail in Hands Down, Speak Out so I hope this entices you to take a closer look. You can start by checking out these two wonderful resources including their Stenhouse podcast, Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math and website/blog.

As I come to the end of this post, I return to The Educator Collaborative Gathering on 9/19/20 with a guiding question from Kassia and Christy we should all be asking if we truly desire to move toward more powerful talk: 

“What are students ALREADY doing in their talk and where can we start to help them grow?”  

This essential starting point is wonderful advice. Too often school start from the outside-in by making decisions based on curricular obligations. What if we followed this wise advice and approached talk from the inside-out as we begin with students and what they bring to the talk experience now? In this way, we could use the curriculum to enrich what they already bring to the learning table rather than inviting them to a table that has already been set according to a school induced agenda. I think that this could dramatically alter our efforts to create a “hands down, speak out’ talk culture.  

In closing, we’d like to thank Kassia and Christy for sharing their knowledge and passion for listening and talking across literacy and math. I know that many of us will return to this chat and their book again and again.

Please join the second half of our pairing next week when Maria Nichols is our #G2Great guest. To whet your talk appetite for week two, here are four tweets Maria shared during our chat this week for a tantalizing preview. It’s our hope that you will bring what you learned from Hands Down, Speak Out and notice the many intersections that lead to Building Bigger Ideas.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT KASSIA AND CHRISTY

Stenhouse Podcast: Listening and Talking Across Literacy and Math

Kassia and Christi website/blog: https://handsdownspeakout.wordpress.com

Kassia and Christi’s session on The Educator Collaborative Gathering 9/19/20