SY19 — News — D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice is forming a second annual working group for D.C. area early childhood (birth to 8-years-old) teachers experienced in and committed to anti-bias education. Read more >>

Other StoriesMykella PalmerSeptember 1, 2022SY19, Working Groups

People's History Curriculum Group

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice (https://www.dcareaeducators4socialjustice.org/) is forming a working group for D.C. area middle and high school social studies teachers who are committed to teaching with a people's history lens for the 2019-2020 school year. Read more >>

People's HistoryAllison AcostaSeptember 1, 2022SY19, SY20, SY21, SY22

Hair Representation in Children’s Literature

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice, Communities for Just Schools Fund, and the Early Childhood Initiative at the National Museum of African American History and Culture offered a workshop on hair representation in children’s books on November 2, 2019.

Teaching Stories, Anti-BiasMykella PalmerDecember 2, 2019SY19, Cierra Kaler-Jones, Children's Books, Smithsonian, NMAAHC

Dunbar Students Learn about Central American Figures and Politics

To honor Teach Central America Week, Marlena James used the Central America 101 mixer in her classes on Thursday, October 17th as an interactive activity for students to learn about significant figures in Central American history and current events.

Teaching StoriesMykella PalmerNovember 11, 2019Cierra Kaler-Jones, SY19, Central America, DC, DCPS

Author Duncan Tonatiuh Visits Bruce-Monroe ES

Acclaimed children's author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh visited Bruce-Monroe ES at Park View in September 2019 for a powerful conversation with 50 students where he discussed his path to becoming an artist, the creative process, photo editing and much more.

Teaching StoriesAllison AcostaNovember 11, 2019SY19, Author Events, DC, An Open Book, Cesarina Pierre

Launch of Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group 2019-2020 Cohort

We are excited to announce the launch of the DC Area Educators for Social Justice network's second annual Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group, a collection of classroom educators, librarians, social-emotional specialists, non-profit directors, teachers trainers, and arts educators experienced and committed to anti-bias education.

Whose Stories are Silenced and Why? Cardozo High School Students Celebrate Banned Books Week

Can you remember your favorite book growing up? Did it introduce you to a new world, either fictional or real? Did it stir you to think about a topic differently? Did you see yourself and your experiences reflected in it? What if that book was banned? Read more >>

Other StoriesMykella PalmerNovember 5, 2019Cierra Kaler-Jones, SY19, DC, Children's Books, High School

Guilty or Innocent? Hardy Middle School Students Put Columbus on Trial

If you had to put Christopher Columbus on trial for murder, would he be considered guilty? Students in Caneisha Mills’ 8th-grade U.S. History class at Hardy Middle School in Washington, D.C. grappled with this question when they were assigned the task of deciding who would be considered guilty for the deaths of millions of Taínos on the island of Hispaniola in the 1490s. Read more >>

Teaching StoriesMykella PalmerOctober 11, 2019Cierra Kaler-Jones, SY19, ZEP Lesson, Indigenous People, Middle School

Talking to Young Children About Disabilities

Last May, Teaching for Change’s D.C. Area Educator’s for Social Justice, hosted a session for early childhood educators on teaching about disability. There was a variety of educators and specialists in attendance including therapists and teachers of inclusive and self-contained classrooms. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerOctober 8, 2019SY19, Teacher Author, Professional Development, NMAAHC, Makai Kellogg, Smithsonian

Mario Bencastro in the DC Area for Teach Central America Week

The Casa de la Cultura El Salvador is hosting author Mario Bencastro in the D.C. metro area in late September and early October for Teach Central America Week. Read more >>

Mykella PalmerSeptember 25, 2019SY19

A Day of Transformation and Growth: Indigenous Peoples' Day Curriculum Teach-In 2019

For attendees at the 2019 Indigenous People’s Curriculum Day and Teach-in, it was a day centered in learning and development to be able to better teach students about Indigenous People’s history and life today. Read more >>

Educators Reflect on Anti-Bias Early Childhood Education Working Group

On the morning of Saturday, June 1, members of the Anti-Bias Early Childhood Education Working Group met at the offices of Teaching for Change for the final session of the year. The working group met monthly throughout the school year to provide feedback on children’s literature, support teacher growth and development, and collectively create new curricular resources.To culminate the year together, they gathered for a final workshop focused on Teaching About Family Structures and Fairness. Read more >>

Cardozo High School Students Lead Equity Presentations for Their School Community

Beth Barkley, a finalist for the 2020 D.C. Teacher of the Year, encourages students to tackle social justice issues in their community and beyond through creative coursework and hands-on learning. Barkley teaches English at Cardozo Education Campus and spearheaded two elective courses, Global Perspectives and Human Rights and Social Action. Read more >>

James Loewen Introduces YA Edition of Lies My Teacher Told Me

Every seat was full on Tuesday, June 4 for James Loewen’s talk about the new young readers’ edition of Lies My Teacher Told Me. The event, held at Busboys and Poets in Brookland, was co-sponsored by Teaching for Change’s D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice, the Zinn Education Project, and the New Press. Read more >>

Other StoriesMykella PalmerJune 5, 2019SY19, Author Events

“The Ballou I Know is a Place Called Home:” Students’ Book Launch

On Thursday, May 9, high school students at Ballou High School celebrated the launch of their book, The Ballou We Know, a collection of essays and poems as part of The Ballou Story Project with Shout Mouse Press. Each student had a unique story and used their personal narrative to talk back to and counter negative and deficit conversations about their community in the media. Read more >>

Teaching StoriesMykella PalmerMay 22, 2019Cierra Kaler-Jones, SY19, DCPS, DC, Author Events

Un Tren Llamado Esperanza: Mario Bencastro Visits Sacred Heart School with a Message About Hope

As middle school students entered the auditorium at Sacred Heart School on May 8, they beamed when they saw Salvadoran novelist and painter, Mario Bencastro, sitting in the front row. Students diligently prepared for this momentous occasion by studying Bencastro’s work, focusing on his poem, Un Tren Llamado Esperanza. Read more >>

Teaching StoriesMykella PalmerMay 22, 2019Cierra Kaler-Jones, SY19, Central America, DC, Middle School

Powerful Day at the Antiracist Book Festival at American University

On Saturday, April 27, 2019, the Antiracist Research and Policy Center held the First Annual National Antiracist Book Festival at American University in Washington, D.C. Among the hundreds of attendees were Teaching for Change staff and a board member. In addition to being mesmerized by the panel presentations throughout the day, we had the honor of offering a teacher workshop in the afternoon. Read more >>

Teaching How to Combat Hate: Drawing Lessons from Stories of Survivors

“The mainstream news media often covers the perpetrators of hate crimes, but seldom do we hear the voices of survivors,” Arjun Sethi explained to the close to 20 educators gathered for a workshop on his book, American Hate: Survivors Speak Out (The New Press, 2018). The workshop was held on the evening of May 9, 2019 at the historic Thurgood Marshall YMCA. Teachers arrived to a beautiful spread of humus, grape leaves, baklava, and more delicious food donated by the Virginia based Mediterranean Bakery and Café. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerMay 13, 2019SY19, Challenge Islamophobia, Author Events, DC, MD, VA

Strolling Thunder: Advocating for Birth to Three-Year-Olds

On April 30, Teaching for Change staff member Rosalie Reyes, joined families from all 50 states and the District of Columbia as they stormed Capitol Hill for Strolling Thunder to ask Congress to Think Babies! Read more >>

Mykella PalmerMay 9, 2019SY19

Middle School Gender Neutral Alliance and Youth-Led Gender Sensitivity Training

Middle school students at Capital City Public Charter School and educators Lapeta Solomon and Mrs. Amanda Yeager have formed the school's first Gender Neutral Alliance. Lapeta Solomon is the 8th Grade Inclusion Humanities teacher at Capital City Public Charter School and a 2018 Education First, SEL Innovation Award winner for her work in founding the MS Gender Neutral Alliance and Gender Sensitivity Training for teachers and staff. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerMay 7, 2019SY19, DC, Professional Development, Middle School