WSRA's Voices for Justice October 14 and October 28, 2020

Raising Our Voices: Voices for Justice

October 14 and October 28, 2020

WSRA’s October VOICES FOR JUSTICE Academy will be presented in both live and pre-recorded sessions.

This month’s professional learning will focus on our role as educators and community members to demand and fight for an educational system where all students thrive.

We’ll explore using literature to honor our humanity and that of others and to empower students to embrace their destiny and raise their voices against hate and injustice as literate citizens.

Leading our Voices for Justice Academy will be Bettina Love, Janet Wong, Liz Kleinrock, and Aeriale Johnson. Joining them will be educators Crystal Ballard, Karen Biggs-Tucker, and authors Baptiste Paul and Liza Wiemer. The live sessions will be recorded and accessible for ten days following the live presentation unless marked as *live only. The pre-recorded sessions will be available to the October Academy registrants throughout the school year.

OCTOBER 14, 2020 9:00 AM: BETTINA LOVE *Live webinar only Keynote:

We Gon’ Be Alright, But That Ain’t Alright: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom Audience

Dr. Love’s talk will discuss the struggles and the possibilities of committing ourselves to an abolitionist goal of educational freedom, as opposed to reform, and moving beyond what she calls the educational survival complex. Abolitionist Teaching is built on the creativity, imagination, boldness, ingenuity, and rebellious spirit and methods of abolitionists to demand and fight for an educational system where all students are thriving, not simply surviving.

OCTOBER 14, 2020 10:45 AM: JANET WONG

Building a Poetry Suitcase

How can we make lifelong learners? The extra time spent at home during the social distancing of the past year highlights the importance of finding inspiration for learning in everyday objects. Building a Poetry Suitcase as a class—and then guiding students to build one at home—is a terrific way to encourage at-home learning. Objects in the Poetry Suitcase can be as personally meaningful or as simple as a favorite stuffed animal, a potato, a marshmallow, or a twig. In this session Janet Wong will share her own Poetry Suitcase—and inspire us to make our own suitcases, with our own poems and stories inside, too.

OCTOBER 14, 2020 2:45 PM: Bettina Love * live webinar only Information coming soon

OCTOBER 14, 2020 4:15 PM: Liz Kleinrock

Putting Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism Theory Into Practice

In this session, participants will receive an overview of ABAR principles, and identify ways to cultivate this lens to lesson plan and develop classroom facilitation and discussion. We will discuss how to identify diverse and culturally responsive literature, as well as how to utilize it in the classroom without perpetuating stereotypes or deficit-based beliefs.

OCTOBER 14, 2020 *pre-recorded 7:00 PM: Aeriale Johnson

After Diverse Books: Empowering All Learners With Inclusive Libraries and Instructional Practices

You've purchased the books. You've carefully curated a classroom library that is more inclusive. What now? In this session, we will explore ways elementary teachers can nurture young minds to read with criticality and embrace their destiny to change the world.

OCTOBER 28, 2020 10:45 AM: Janet Wong

Hop To It!

Poems that incorporate movement can help younger children “get the wiggles out” and can ease the stress that older children feel—preparing everyone for a better learning experience. Poet Janet Wong will share a wide variety of poems that make us feel more joyful and alive, while also touching on topics across the curriculum, from science and math to social studies and language arts instruction. Learn more about Janet's work at janetwong.com and pomelobooks.com.

OCTOBER 28, 2020 4:15 PM: Liz Kleinrock Information coming soon

OCTOBER 28, 2020 *pre-recorded 7:00 PM: Aeriale Johnson

Still We Rise Up: Using Poetry in the Early Childhood Classroom to Heal and to Hope

Teaching children to read with deep comprehension is of the utmost importance. Teaching children to prioritize and manage their social-emotional well-being is of the utmost importance. Too often these two truths are perceived as mutually exclusive. Poetry offers us innumerable opportunities to engage in close reading and to do so for the purpose of honoring our humanity and that of others. In this session, we will explore resources and strategies for using poetry to teach children to read and to live.

PRE-RECORDED SESSIONS available to October Academy registrants:

Crystal Ballard and Mary Ellen Graf

Authors' Stories and Diverse Perspectives

Tap into diverse perspectives from authors and illustrators. Shape conversations on diverse experiences with this primary source collection of resources. Add to your reader's advisory bag of tricks with tools on TeachingBooks. Explore more ideas to connect readers with diverse titles and engage them in the process. Discover resources to use as a hook so they will open the book. Use advanced searching techniques to locate similar reads.

Karen Biggs-Tucker

Inside an Integrated Literacy Workshop: Where Interest Drives Learners‚ Reading, Writing, and Research

Are you looking for classroom-tested ideas to re-energize your literacy instruction? If so, this session is for you! We will take you inside an integrated workshop where learners read, write, research, and converse about their world. During this independent learning time, students apply the strategies, skills, habits, and behaviors of literate citizens. Leave with a collection of mentor texts and literacy workshop demonstration lessons that will spark your students’ interest in literacy learning.

Baptiste Paul and Liza Wiemer

Upstanders: Helping Students Speak Up Against Injustice And Hate

It is widely known that students fear peer alienation more than they fear death. Sometimes, they join the wrong crowd or participate in activities that don't align with their values. They learn quickly when they don't belong. Alienation, bullying, and feeling different are strong barriers to speaking up against injustice and hate. Utilizing literature that provides positive examples and role models to foster discussion, kindness, and respect is a critical part in helping students become aware of ingrained attitudes and can help foster change. We will examine bias and provide guidelines for an inclusive classroom. We'll share our own books as well as others to promote respect, celebrate differences, promote tolerance, and create a safe environment for upstanders.

Registration link:

https://wsra.memberclicks.net/oct-wsra-academy

For details about the full conference to go:

https://wsraconf.memberclicks.net