At the February convening of the Stories from Our Classrooms writing course, teacher alumni Ellen Royse and Amy Rothschild and current participant Shayna Tivona shared how they used their teacher voices on behalf of democracy. Earlier this month, our friends and family across the country had trouble reaching their Senators to express their views on Betsy DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education. Those of us living in D.C. don’t have voting senators, but we do have proximity. Read more >>

The Deputy Mayor for Education responded to our proposal for sanctuary schools in D.C. Teaching for Change staff and our allies agreed the response was inadequate. We acknowledged the response and will continue to discuss next steps with immigrant-led groups, students, educators, families, and advocates for sanctuary policies across the District. Read more >>

Teaching for Change partnered with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival for a sixth year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring filmmakers for several films into D.C. classrooms in April.Students gain a lot from viewing the documentaries, preparing questions, and discussing the film with the visitors. (Read about prior year visits.) Read more >>

My daughter asked if we had papers and if we would be kicked out of the country. My kids say they will leave with me when we talked about the election. They said, “That man is a bad man because he doesn’t like Hispanics.” [The election results] make me feel unsafe in this country, because of [Trump’s] comments. I feel rejected, and like all of the advancements and contributions, we as Hispanic... Read more >>

On Sunday, October 16, 2016, twenty D.C. area teachers gathered for the first session of Stories from our Classrooms 2016-2017, an annual course offered by Teaching for Change. The goals for this course are for teacher participants to deepen their own practice, build community among D.C. area social justice educators, and to contribute to the all-too-scarce collection of published descriptions of classroom practice by teachers themselves. Read more >>

On June 12, 2016, Teaching for Change celebrated the work of the teachers from our inaugural Stories from Our Classrooms social justice teacher writing group. Every month on a Sunday, social justice teacher writers came together to write, reflect, and share. The event opened with teachers each reading one of the lines below to highlight what they did and why. Read more >>

This spring my sixth and seventh grade reading students at Gunston Middle School in Arlington, Virginia researched the lack of diversity in children’s and young adult books. After learning about the statistics on diversity in books and the “We Need Diverse Books” and #StepUpScholastic campaigns, students did surveys of our classroom library and a selection of sports books to see which groups of people were under-represented.I started the sports books lesson by asking them... Read more >>

For two months in the spring of 2016, Teaching for Change staff member Julian Hipkins III taught a class in D.C. history at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. The strategies and resources he used for teaching from a bottom-up perspective, described below, could be of use for other teachers of D.C. history. In addition to drawing on archives, key people, and historic sites, his core text was City of Magnificent Intentions by Keith Melder. Read more >>

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 >>

Teaching for Change was pleased to attend and photograph the 2016 Food Justice Youth Summit. See our posts about 2014 and 2015, and view more photographs from 2016 in our Flickr album. On April 7, 2016, 11th graders at Capital City Public Charter School hosted the 2nd Annual Food Justice Youth Summit to build awareness about food justice issues, both nationally and locally, at Friends Meeting House of Washington. This year’s event featured keynote speaker, Lauren Nixon... 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 >>

World famous after her visit to the White House for the 2016 Black History Month reception, Ms. Virginia McLaurin spoke with D.C. history classes at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School on March 16, 2016. McLaurin was born in South Carolina and came to D.C. during the Great Migration. Media outlets from all over the world have interviewed McLaurin about what it was like to meet the the Obamas. Read more >>

Our 11th-grade FOOD JUSTICE EXPEDITION is an interdisciplinary three-part study (past, present, and future) of the impact of food on our community–both locally and globally. The expedition begins with an exploration of our students’ families’ cultural connections to foods; as 99% of our students come from African American and immigrant families, we discuss the significant role of food in dictating cultural identity. Read more >>

Rachel Hull’s fifth graders were studying the founding of the United States from various perspectives in a unit called “Know Your Rights.” Through their analysis of primary sources and research, they began to uncover a version of history that was missing from their textbooks. To deepen their knowledge, they invited Teaching for Change board member Timothy Jenkins as a guest speaker. As a lawyer, lifelong activist, and veteran of the Civil Rights Movement... 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 >>

On September 17, John Buchanan visited two of Kerry Sylvia’s D.C. history classes at School Without Walls (DCPS). In advance of the lesson, students participated in an introductory activity called “Meet the Beat” about go-go. This visit was one of many by noted go-go performers and scholars that took place at schools across Washington, D.C. Here are some reflections from the students about Mr. Buchanan’s visit and their preparation for it. 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 >>

Teaching for Change was pleased to help Filmfest DC 2015 bring filmmakers and students together for the fourth year in a row. In April 2015, students at three high schools in Washington, D.C., had the opportunity to talk with film’s directors about their documentaries. This year’s films were about gay marriage in the U.S. and education in Israel and Palestine. 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 >>

“If you were at the grocery store and saw an apple with one stem and another apple with two stems, which one would you buy?” As much as I would like to say it doesn’t matter, I would probably end up picking the one with one stem because this superficially normal-looking apple was an option. Marquell and Isaiah, the students who asked me this question, confirmed that most buyers would do the same, thereby reinforcing perceptions... Read more >>