Next General Meeting to Launch ItAGs and Take Action
Welcome to the beginning of another school year. Unfortunately, the attacks on our profession have not ceased, we’ll treat that like we do every other chip stacked against our students and us; double down, deal with it and move forward. We place our bets on our students, notwithstanding the odds, because our faith is in them-not the pundits. Knowing that no matter what issues are debated, what modern-trend is presented, what brand-new model is acclaimed- we have to teach tomorrow, and TAGBoston is focused on THAT.
Our next meeting will be on October 21st, 2011 at the Young Achievers Pilot K-8 located at 20 Outlook Road, Mattapan, MA from 6:00 P.M.-8:00 P.M. We hope to see you there.
Moving forward TAG Boston meetings will do two things:
1. Provide Policy Education and
2. Facilitate Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs) The policy education piece will address issues that are having profound effects on our practice. The ItAGs are similar to a study group, but the goal is that after the group inquires into a particular topic, its members will together create action around their area of study, making it a true community of praxis. The goal is for teachers to emerge more informed about their profession and have, in-hand, resources to enhance their practice.
In the first part of our October 21st meeting we will discuss recent legislative bills that effect education in the Commonwealth. The second portion will be a work session for the current ItAGs teachers are pursuing. Some examples and blurbs of current ItAGs are listed below.
Teacher’s Union ItAG
Our goal is to advocate for a social justice program in our union. We see our work as reinvigorating and empowering our membership, creating proactive opportunities for educators to engage with others in schools and communities who are working to create democratic schools that meet the needs of people.
Curriculum ItAG
Our ITAG will be working on creating social justice curriculum across all disciplines.  We will work on gathering and creating curricular resources that we can use in our own classrooms, and we will publish these resources so that other teachers can use them.  We may also explore various forms of social justice pedagogy, including critical pedagogy, Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), and critical exploration.  Finally, we will support each other in our attempts to implement social justice curriculum and practice, perhaps through school visits, videos, blogs, etc.  Again, all disciplines (incl. the arts, phys ed, music, etc.) and level of experience are encouraged to join.
MCAS ItAG
As the high stakes testing that is the MCAS continues, we must continue to work to expose the use of high stakes testing that destroys authentic learning and thinking in our schools. As we all know, every child deserves an opportunity to think creatively, talk about ideas, and have time in their day devoted to art, music and other enriching electives. Increasingly, in the state of MA and across the nation, high stakes testing disproportionately affects students whose first language is not English.
In addition, we are outraged that these tests are then used to shut down schools and dismantle pillars of the community, with the goal of privatizing education in mind. This is a practice that is without question impacting communities of color more than others. This ItAG seeks to expose these practices, equip educators with the tools to quell the “teach to the test†craze in their own schools and empower communities to take action against the high stakes environment.
MA Teacher Grade In
Calling all teachers, students, activists and anyone who cares about the public education of the children of America. TAG Boston will be holding a Flash Mob Grade-In at the food court in South Station on Sunday, October 16th from 11am-1pm. The focus is to show the public how dedicated we are to our students and our profession as well as build alliances with teachers from all over Massachusetts.
Wear RED to show your support and solidarity.
This event is inspired by similar grade-in events being held by teachers nationwide recently to call attention to all the hard work teachers do. Check out these links to similar events in: LA, New York, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee
How It Works:
Show up anytime between 11am and 12:45pm at the South Station food court for an opportunity to grade, do homework, plan lessons and collaborate with teachers and students.
At 12:45pm we will begin to convene in preparation for an optional march from South Station to Dewey Sq. to support the Occupy Boston Movement.
Wear RED to show your support and solidarity.
Screening of “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman”
On July 19th, 2011 almost 100 teachers, parents, students and stakeholders attended a community viewing of “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman” – a response to the film “Waiting for Superman.” We held the screening backyard-theater-BBQ style on Wakullah Street in Roxbury, MA and everybody pitched in to bring food, blankets, a projector, speakers, and good vibes. Bree Picower from NYCoRE made the trip up from New York in order to give a talk before the movie and moderate a discussion afterwards.
If you would like to help us organize another screening in your neighborhood please email us at info@tagboston.org
Notes from Radical PD at Free Minds Free People
The following is by no means a complete representation of the days goals or agenda, but are solely some impressions that I took away from the radical professional development at the Free Minds Free People conference today. FMFP also has an official blog.
– Teachers and schools are under attack and this is the logic of the attackers:Â Public schools are failing because we have too many bad teachers and this is because the unions have too much power; funding, class size, and poverty don’t matter. Teachers (and no one else, not anyone else, period!) are responsible for student achievement. Get rid of the unions, fire the teachers, and privatize.
– What is neoliberalism? The neoliberal model of education is a human capital model – preparing workers (differentially) for the new economy. This is education in the private interest. (Pauline Lipman, 2005). “Your path is a GED, Your path is medical school, and your path is prison. You are now human capital so don’t stray from your path!”
– Curtis Acosta updated us on the situation in Tucson, Arizona: Teaching ethnic studies is now illegal in Arizona (WHAT?!) A law requires teachers to treat students as individuals and forbids the teaching of ethnic solidarity. If we sit back and accept this as teachers it will come to our districts next.
-Teachers from Milwaukee, Wisconsin updated us on the struggle there. I was so engaged in their stories that I forgot to take notes. It was truly inspiring.
– There were also breakout sessions on ways to fight back and fight forward with our curriculum, mixed media, our unions and with our youth.
Again, these are some of my take aways from the days events and are by no means a full representation. Hopefully, these take aways will spark further discussion so please add a comment below. FMFP also has an official blog.
Looking for teachers’ voices in publication
- Describe a specific, recent, personal experience related to teacher assessment and evaluation.
- What are your hopes and/or your concerns related to the current debates and policies regarding measuring teacher effectiveness?
- Based on your experiences, what do you feel would be important considerations when measuring your effectiveness as a teacher?
Brief responses from some current teachers and other school leaders need to be submitted by the end of July at the latest.
Send an email to info@tagboston.org or contact Chris or Jenny via the google or facebook groups if you’re interested.
Conference Slideshow Video
Thank you to all of the workshop facilitators, speakers, volunteers and participants from this year’s conference. More than 200 participants attended the first conference for social justice educators held at the Curley K-8 School in Jamaica Plain on May 21, 2011. See the video below.
How Can You Participate as a Member of TAG Boston?
One of the ways you can contribute as a member of Teacher Activist Group Boston is to be a part of or facilitate an Inquiry to Action Group or ItAG. These will be kicking off during our June 15th meeting, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about a topic for an ItAG that might interest you (email info@tagboston.org to get involved). We are going to use a similar format to the ItAGs that are run by NYCoRE. You can read more about what an ItAG is and how NYCoRE makes it happen below.
Summary Written by NYCoRE (Re-Posted from education for liberation network)
An ItAG is similar to a study group, but the goal is that after the group inquires into a particular topic, its members will together create action around their area of study, making it a true community of praxis. The topics and themes are always consistent with our points of unity. Educators and allies such as teaching artists, organizers, high school students and activists participate in ItAGs, linking social justice issues with classroom practice.
Step 1
In the fall NYCoRE core leaders brainstorm potential topics for ItAGs and consult with members at open events, narrowing the list to about four or five topics. Sometimes these topics arise from issues raised in ongoing NYCoRE events, such as teachers voicing their concern about discipline policies in schools. Other times we identify powerful and dynamic members of the network and ask them if there is a topic they would like to facilitate. Now that we have many years of experience with ItAGs, we have several popular topics, such as integrating social justice into the mainstream curriculum, that we are able to offer every year.
To read about steps 2 – 6 click HERE
Contribute to a Publication on a Day in the Life of a Teacher
TAGBoston is supporting, and contributing to, the efforts of a group of active and retired Boston Public Schools (BPS) teachers who are concerned about the current attacks on our profession, from President Obama’s support of charter schools and merit pay to Wisconsin’s attempts to limit collective bargaining to the media-driven impression that “bad teachers†are to blame for the achievement gap. Public perception matters. In order to counteract the current “narrative†they believe, and we agree, that teachers must speak out about the complexity of our work, the commitment we bring to it, and the daily challenges we experience.
They propose to gather the stories of active teachers in public schools throughout the city, from many different levels and disciplines, during a single day: Tuesday, May 3, 2011. Please consider participating in this project! You will need to document your school-related activities for a full day in detail.
* Do you wake up at 5:30 AM to correct papers or worrying about a student?
* Do you arrive at school an hour early to prepare materials or tutor students?
* Do you spend your lunch period calling families or sharing ideas with colleagues?
* Do you monitor bathroom use or resolve student conflicts during your “free†time?
* Do you conference with students during class time while monitoring independent work?
* Do you stay after school for meetings or lead extracurricular activities?
* Do you take a graduate class in the evening?
* Do you stay up past midnight reading student essays or revising lesson plans?
We know that these and many other activities fill our days and make it difficult to find time to write, but consider the possibilities for this ONE day. Use a camera, cell phone, or laptop computer if writing in a notebook is not your style. Write in list or narrative form; set a timer for every 15 minutes throughout the day and jot a note to yourself about what’s happening and what you’re doing at that moment. Record conversations with students, questions asked of yourself, decisions made, ideas shared, joys and frustrations experienced. Reflect, but avoid editorializing – leave that up to the reader. Names and schools will not be identified in any publication without your permission.
If this appeals to you, please send us your contribution to the May 3rd “Writing Our Day†Project via e-mail to info@TAGBoston.org by May 10th. Include your name, school, grade, subject area, and contact information (email + phone). We will bring your writing to our next meeting (Wednesday, May 4th, 3:30PM at the Bowditch School in JP) and invite all participants to join us for a discussion of next steps! Those of us not currently in the classroom will take on the task of organizing materials, editing, and exploring options for publication.
NYCore Keynote Performance by Bill Ayers and Ryan Alexander-Tanner
The NYCore keynote performance from their recent conference in New York is up on the NYCore webiste. Take 25 minutes of your day and watch the performance above. It’s wonderful, moving, and just what any teacher needs at the end of a long day. The bottom version has better audio.
Protect Children Not Guns
The 2010 report from the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) entitled Protect Children Not Guns describes in detail the impact of gun violence on the young people of America. 3,042 children and teens died from gun violence in 2007. 2,161 were homicide victims and 397 were under the age of 15.
The report also discusses non-fatal injuries- “Another 17,523 children and teens suffered non-fatal gun injuries in 2007 and the emotional aftermath that follows. Dr. John Rich a primary care physician in a busy Boston hospital realized that although little research had been done on trauma among young Black victims of violence, their stories were echoing research on responses to trauma in other groups like rape survivors and soldiers returning from combat. These responses include hyper-vigilance and the constant feeling of being in danger; being unable to feel at all and exposing themselves to more danger in an attempt to feel something; returning to danger to prove to themselves they had mastered their fears; or using alcohol or drugs to try to ease pain. It became easy to connect the dots and see how these common responses to trauma play out in the lives of many survivors of inner-city violence, and why, in many cases, they lead to more violence. When many survivors are concentrated in a single area, it’s also clear how these cycles of trauma and violence repeat themselves and infect that entire community.”
How many educators have received training on working with students who have experienced trauma? How many schools are equipped to protect our young people and stop these cycles of trauma and violence? How many effective programs in and outside of our schools are being cut as schools close and funding stops?
As the weather warms up and the violence in Boston increases we must be more aware of these issues.
