On this fifth year of Teaching for Change’s partnership with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival, we brought five of the films to D.C. classrooms in April of 2016. Here are brief descriptions of the films and the filmmakers’ school visits. Read more >>

In the 2014-2015 school year, Brian Juarez* was a second grader at Thomson Elementary (DCPS), a fourth-year Tellin’ Stories partner school. He spoke Spanish at home and had already become the interpreter between his parents and his teachers. When there were forms to send home, he filled them out during class with his teacher’s help. Emily Prater, his second grade teacher noted... Read more >>

Fourteen D.C. area teachers gathered on Sunday afternoon (October 25) to write stories from their classrooms. This was the first session in a year-long course launched by Teaching for Change. As a result of writing and reflecting together, teacher participants will deepen their own practice, build community among D.C. area social justice educators, and contribute to the all-too-scarce collection of published descriptions of classroom practice by teachers themselves. Read more >>

Fifth graders at Randle Highlands Elementary School enjoyed a hands-on go-go workshop taught by legendary drummer, William ‘JuJu’ House. With JuJu’s guidance, students excitedly took to the assorted drums, tambourines, and other percussion instruments and played basic go-go beats to the delight of their classmates, teachers, and JuJu himself. Vocalist Staci Payne (currently of Be’la Dona) also joined the session, and the visit quickly became a boisterous ‘in-the-pocket’ battle between the boys and the girls. Read more >>

A spaceship representing the United States and El Salvador. The church from a small pueblo (village). The “Birthday Party Express” bus. These are a few of the family projects proudly on display in the hallways of Thomson Elementary (DCPS) this spring. The first graders at Thomson Elementary (DCPS) are learning all about shapes, so in April 2014, the first-grade team held a Parent-Teacher Grade Level Dialogue to show parents what their children... Read more >>

It was a hot day in early June, but the 11th graders inside of Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, DC never seemed to sweat. They were cool, put together, looking more like policy advocates in front of congress instead of soon-to-be seniors in high school. Their task: pick a problem facing the community, develop a proposal to fix it and sell it to an audience. Read more >>