Investing in Teachers to Transform Schools

Building on their commitment to be changemakers in the classroom, Inspired Teachers incorporated Black Lives Matter curriculum into their classrooms. This article in The Afro highlights how Inspired Teachers engaged their students in important lessons and dialogue about racial justice.

Inspired Teaching Fellow Brittney Henderson (‘13) One Read Aloud

For the DC Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools, Inspired Teaching Fellow Brittney Henderson (‘13) and her kindergarten students at West Education Campus (DCPS) read One by Kathryn Otoshi, a book that addresses the importance of inclusion in a diverse community. Afterwards, the class discussed why everyone must be kind to each other even when people aren’t kind to them, and created posters to demonstrate how to be kind.

One is a favorite book among parents participating in Teaching for Change’s Roving Readers program. Parent readers act out the book with students and emphasize standing together in solidarity against a bully, while also showing compassion for that person.

Brittney incorporates Black Lives Matter into her classroom “to teach her students how to value every person and help them understand that being a good citizen means respecting all voices and valuing all people, regardless of their identities.”

Inspired Teaching Fellow Jay Banks (‘15) Crossing Bok Chitto Read Aloud

Inspired Teaching Fellow Jay Banks’ 2nd grade classroom at DC Scholars PCS focused on Black Lives Matter by discussing resistance and advocacy. The class read Crossing Bok Chitto by Tim Tingle, the fictional story of the friendship between a young Choctaw girl and and enslaved African boy. The students attentively listened and asked questions about how members of different cultures persevere in the face of discrimination and oppression. After the read aloud, students had the opportunity to write their own stories of time they helped somebody or sparked change in their community.

Through addressing Black Lives Matter in the classroom, Jay has learned that the students have so much to say and giving them the opportunity to discuss these critical topics invigorates them and helps them develop into well-rounded people. Jay chooses to be a part of this movement to help students recognize their agency and help them understand that can make change, even as a young person. Jay believes that engaging students in conversations about Black Lives Matter build empathy and shows each student that “no matter how they identify, they are included.”

Humanities Hub Teacher Topher Kandick #Last Words Lesson

As a part of Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools, SEED Public Charter School educator Topher Kandik did a powerful lesson on the last words of victims of police brutality. Students started out the class by reading the poem “Bell Canto” about Sean Bell by Derrick Weston Brown. Students took turns reading the poem and stopped after each stanza to discuss imagery, tone and meaning of the poem. A student stated that the poem make them think “about exhaustion because [police brutality] is something that happens so often in so many places and people are beyond tired, they are exhausted.”  Next, students were given a paper that had the following quotes in boxes:

“Mom, I’m going to college.”

“I don’t want to die young”

“I love you, too”

“I didn’t do nothing.”

“Please don’t let me die”

“What are you following me for?”

“Officers why do you have your guns out?”

“This isn’t real.”

As Mr. Kandik discussed the quotes, he asked students to draw pictures to represent the quotes but didn’t give context as to what the quotes were about. Students were enjoying drawing images and coming up with creative ways to convey the messages of the quotes. When students finished drawing pictures for every quote, Mr. Kandik revealed that those quotes were actually the last words said by people before they were killed. There was a heavy sigh among students, realizing what these images and quotes represented. A student stated he wanted to “redraw the pictures” now that he knew what the quotes meant. The students had a discussion about how they felt re-reading the quotes and expressed reactions of frustration, anger and disappointment thinking about the stories of the victims. Students then looked at the Last Words Project by Shirin Barghi and matched the quotes with the actual victims. Students asked questions and discussed the different scenarios each victim was in when they said their last words. After going through the project a student stated “every person that is victim of police brutality is another chapter in the sad book that is American history.”  This was a powerful activity in imagery and poetry. Next, students will write their own poems.

Links:

• Powerful BLM Week of Action in Schools