Testing, Testing….
STAAR testing is beginning this week at many AISD schools. The dates range between now and the first week of April, but many schools are doing testing this week or the week after Spring Break.
All the more reason to give your kids plenty of outside/play time and promote physical exercise and activity as much as possible, since kids may be extra weary of sitting at desks and being stationary. They’ll thank you for it (and you’ll have less behavior challenges)!
Here are a few places to get new ideas for physical games. Get those kids moving! 🙂
Anti-Defamation League Resources
Thanks again to the Austin ADL for coming out on Friday to lead us in their A World of Difference training. As an additional support, they’ve shared the following online resources with us:
Books that Matter: The Best Kid Lit on Bias, Diversity and Social Justice
http://www.adl.org/education-outreach/books-matter/#.VtB_DPkrLIW
Current Events Classroom lessons are timely and assist in teaching about news topics
http://www.adl.org/education-outreach/lesson-plans/#.VtB_nfkrLIU
BULLYING/CYBERBULLYING Resources:
http://www.adl.org/education-outreach/bullying-cyberbullying/
Transition Songs for PreK
Trauma Training for Educators
Here’s an informative video training and facilitator discussion guide from Communities in Schools, Central Texas, on trauma-informed education:
http://www.ciscentraltexas.org/resources/traumatraining/
Animating Autism
This touching video shows how creative project-based learning is making a real impact on students with autism!
http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/412027/creative-expression-autism/
We couldn’t agree more! That’s why we have a creative arts program for young adults on the autism spectrum. Here’s an animation project these artists made last summer:
Want to lead students in mindfulness meditation?
This free program from Australia has everything you need: audio guided meditations, teacher guides, and more! You have to register, but it’s quick and easy. They also have programs for individuals and athletes!
http://smilingmind.com.au/education-program/
Recap: Renee Watson’s October Visit
Teaching Artist Extraordinaire, Dreamyard Alum, Social Justice Advocate, and Author Renee Watson graced us with her presence last October and we came away with some valuable tools and tips, specifically regarding microaggressions:
Strategies for dealing with micro-aggressions from our session, not a complete list but what was recorded in our session:
1) If you made the microaggression, own it and apologize. Renee’s example of someone accidentally stepping on someones foot was great. First time–person who is stepped on says “ouch,” and person who stepped simply and plainly without excuse, just says, “I’m Sorry.” If it continues to happen over and over, the person who stepped needs to ask themselves–why do I keep doing this? What am I not aware of? What is getting in my way? What is keeping me from being conscious of my actions?
2) If you have been micro-agressed against, you could:
a) confront the person who committed the microaggression
b) try to educate them
c) use questions such as ask them if they notice what they did, or ask “What makes you say that?” “Would you say that if…?”
d) you could unpack the language
e) you could ask someone else for support to hear your experience–take time to reflect and practice self care by talking it through
3) As a bystander to a micro-aggression you could :
a) tell the person who was the target that you witnessed the incident and recognize the micro-aggresion
b) confront the person who committed the micro-agression, if the person who was targeted is ok with that
4) As an organization, we can offer more training to help people within every aspect of our organization learn about race, class, gender, sexuality, etc., so that people are less likely to commit microagressions and are more ready to own when they commit them.
A few take-aways from our 3 Teaching Artist Trainings on Social Justice in the classroom:
- Social Justice is enacted in the classroom not just by the content being taught, but can be achieved every day in the way you establish a student centered, inclusive environment. Social Justice does not always mean you have to teach a social justice topic, it is about the approach to teaching, too.
- Creating opportunities for students to explore, reflect and connect emotionally with social justice issues is valuable–it elicits empathy and understanding. Social justice lesson plans don’t have to lead to students taking action, per se.
- A teacher doesn’t have to know all the answers or be an expert on a social justice topic in order to lead a lesson on a social justice topic. With some research and planning you can create a lesson and don’t need to know every answer. Students and teachers can learn together and find answers along the way to questions that arise.
- One of the biggest tools/skills that will help to create a safe environment to explore social justice issues is thoughtful scaffolding. I.E Low risk to high risk, from reading an article to writing a personal poem.
Consider the Walls
Here’s a great article from Patricia Tarr continuing the conversation around the Reggio Emilia approach. How can we invite kids into helping to create our educational and decorative spaces?
https://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/200405/ConsidertheWalls.pdf
What does it mean to be a “good” parent or teacher?
Check out this awesome blog which follows the insights and experiences of a relationship-based approach to parenting/teaching:
http://www.racheous.com/respectful-parenting/society-children/
Creative Action Artist 