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Equity

Building a Community of Educators of Colour

January 22, 2018

Growing up in a community where I could count the number of people of colour at my high school, I didn’t celebrate my racial background but kept it as a separate part of me. I always felt awkward inviting friends over to my house because my home was different from theirs. Different smells? Probably dinner being prepared in the kitchen. Different sounds? Probably my mom talking loudly in Teochow (my native tongue) to an auntie on the phone. Different house rules? Yes, we take our shoes off at the door. Growing up this way, with my race and cultural identity subdued, I fell into the same routine at my workplace, as a teacher not incorporating the full me into my classroom or with my colleagues.

This past summer, I spend a week with some of the most amazing educators at the Google Innovator Academy in Washington DC, having some of the best conversations about identity, race, power, and privilege. When I arrived back at my school, I wondered why I wasn’t having those rich conversations here in Canada? Understanding that the landscape here in Canada is different than in the US, I didn’t know how to start until inspiration came in the form of a tweet.

This fall, Jennie Magiera (Chief Program Officer EdTechTeam) and the Chicagoland Google Educator Group hosted a networking event bringing educators of colour together (Click for previous post). Inspired by this work, I reached out to Jennie for all the details and started the work in my community by reaching out to other awesome educators of colour in my network (Left to right in photo: Mahfuza Rahman, Iniyal Inparajah Hryhorczuk, Jason Trinh, Amit Mehrotra, Arianna Lambert, Jason To, Nicole James) Together we formed a group called the Racialized Educators for Action & Leadership (#RE4AL), where our mission was to build community among educators of colour in Canada and to catalyze conversation into action.

With the help of EdTechTeam Canada, we brought 30 educators of colour together where we were hosted by Les McBeth from Future Design School in downtown Toronto. We started the night by creating our six-word story, six words that represent our identity and shared that within our small groups. We moved into an open flow activity where conversations prompts were found on the walls where educators could leave a post-it with their thoughts or engage with another educator in dialogue. We asked:

  • How do you define your identity as an educator?
  • What are some actionable ways we can invite racialized educators to this group?
  • What kind of events would you like to attend in the future?
  • What are some root causes that lead to the lack of diverse representation in educational spaces?
  • How do you incorporate your identity into the classroom/school with your students/colleagues?
  • What is your next move after today?

The positive energy in the room was maintained throughout the event and the conversations were inspiring! Many of the attendees left eager to continue the conversation and to begin to define what the challenges racialized educators face in Canada. Although a small step, we all agreed that making time to talk and build community is an important first step.

This is only the beginning as we begin to go through the shared stories and numerous post-its to identify the barriers and pain points that face the community. For our the next meeting, we will continue to grow the community and start the process of catalyzing all the conversations into an actionable outcome. We ended the night with a photo to document the start of something new, a fresh perspective and initiative to amplify all our voices. Here, among these new friends, I was able to embrace my racial identity among educators, brought it to the forefront and easily shared my six-word story: First Generation with Education, Unlimited Potential.  

 

Jason Trinh
High School Teacher
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Google Certified Innovator
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Equity Tagged: #RE4AL 1 Comment

Our Voice Academy- The Entire Story

December 18, 2017

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

-Maya Angelou

This quote, by Maya Angelou, is what set the tone for a life-changing weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Jennie Magiera brought together 20 different, but like-minded minority educational technology leaders from across the country (and Canada) to engage in an intense 2 days of growth, laughs, smiles, and tons of tears.  It was an emotional weekend as we learned to tell our stories and share our voices.  We all have something to say and we deserve to be heard.  Jennie led the weekend with a phenomenal crew of EdTech leaders: Ken Shelton, Monica Martinez, and Sarah Thomas.   

Receiving an email inviting you to be a part of the first ever Our Voice Academy from THE Jennie Magiera was just about enough to make me freak out!  After examining the list of the other 19 minority EdTech leaders that were included, I just about passed out!  The experiences that this particular group of people were able to share will never be repeated again.  And I can proudly say that I am both honored and humbled to have been a part of history.  The weekend kicked off with inspiration from Justice Alan Page, a former Minnesota Vikings football player (The Purple People Eaters-Google it!), now Minnesota Supreme Court Justice and author.  He shared his story of the power that education had on his life and encouraged us to continue to pour into the lives of the students and teachers that we interact with each and every day.  We each shared a 2-minute story during dinner to get to know each other and to become comfortable with one another.  I think it was in this moment that I truly realized that I was in the presence of some outstanding EdTech leaders.

Flipgrid, graciously hosted our Academy at their headquarters which was perfect as the environment fostered innovation and creativity!  The rest of the weekend’s activities included some movement activities, examining the 6 parts of a keynote, professional headshots, training and time to prepare to deliver a keynote that would be delivered to the Academy before closing out the weekend.  To hear the stories that everyone had to tell, left me absolutely speechless.  Some of the training that our leaders delivered included:

 

Jennie:  Stage presence, how to develop a memorable keynote, storytelling.

Ken:  Slide design, image format, how to use fonts effectively.

Monica:  Slide design, all about graphics and fonts, how to appeal to the 5 senses.

Sarah:  Branding (blogging, podcasting, chats, and live streams).

The keynote that I delivered focused on using your why to drive your intention.  I shared the story of my “1 in 5.” This was a group of African American male students that I taught during my second year of teaching.  Two of the 5 are deceased, 2 of the 5 are in jail, and the fifth is a part of the 17% of African American males in the United States to earn a bachelor’s degree.  He currently serves as a police officer in a major city and is doing well!  This keynote is still a work in progress, as we only delivered a snippet of it during the Academy.  Click HERE to view the presentation that I delivered.  The story of my “1 in 5” will become a part of my larger keynote.

My top three takeaways from this whirlwind weekend were:

  1. Everyone has a story to tell that deserves to be told.
  2. “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.”  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  Tell the ENTIRE story!!!
  3. You only see the outside of what people present to the world.  You don’t know their daily struggle.  

This was the most inspiring time that I’ve ever spent in a professional development environment in my life! Each and every second left me hanging on the edge of my seat wanting more!  The time that I spent with the other cohort members and the 4 leaders from all different walks of life has truly made me feel like I have found my tribe.  A tribe of passionate educators that want better for this world and the students and teachers that we are able to interact with each and every day.  I can say that I have made some lifetime friendships, more of a family, that I know I can lean on and depend on for anything that I may need.  I absolutely cannot wait to see each and every one of these individuals again!  I owe a HUGE thank you to EdTechTeam, Jennie, Ken, Monica and Sarah for seeing the need to bring together this group of educators and helping us find our voices and share our stories. I am forever grateful.

To other minority EdTech teachers and leaders, I would challenge you to get active.  Tweet more, blog more, expand your professional learning network, read…. A LOT, engulf yourself in inspirational Ted Talks and attend conferences.  There is a whole world out there bigger than your classroom, your school, your cubicle and your office just waiting to hear your story.  My hiring principal, Margie Smith, always used to say, “To whom much is given, much is required.”  I have been given a HUGE opportunity in being selected as a part of the first cohort of the Our Voice Academy and I have committed to pulling up others that are inspired to grow and advance within the educational technology arena.



 

 

Natasha Rachell, Ed.S.
Our Voice Academy-Cohort 1
Digital Learning Specialist
Google Certified Trainer
Atlanta, Georgia
@apsitnatasha
#OVAcademy

Equity, Our Voice Academy Tagged: #OVAcademy 1 Comment

AT and UDL: Acronyms for Equity

November 21, 2017

When I first began my job as an Assistive Technology Coordinator in my district back in 2008, the lines between educational tech and assistive tech were pretty crisp. I worked exclusively with students in special education classrooms who needed a way to access the curriculum or a way to communicate effectively in the classroom. I worked with my teams to match the correct tools to help close the existing barrier for identified students. Over the subsequent years, I have seen these lines become a little blurrier in my district, for a few different reasons. First, many of our special education parents were asking that their students be educated alongside their peers in a more inclusive setting. Second, as we moved into using the Chromebook as a 1:1 universal tool in our district, students had access to technology resources that were typically reserved only for students with a demonstrated need. Finally, I had the great opportunity to attend the UDL Summer Institute at Harvard University in 2015. I guess you can say this is where I had my “Aha” moment (to quote the great Oprah Winfrey). I had the opportunity to hear directly from my mentors Dr. David Rose and Dr. Thomas Hehir; champions of UDL and inclusive education. But what is UDL and what role does it play in creating access for all students?

Put simply, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that is designed around making changes at the curriculum level so that all students have an opportunity to learn. Instead of a “one size fits all” mentality, UDL asks educators  to consider three guiding principles when designing lessons:

  1. Multiple Means of Representation-we know that there are many types of learners in a classroom. If you assign a novel to students, some students may choose the printed book, others may choose an auditory or text to speech version, Still, others may decide to watch a movie version.
  2. Multiple Means of Action and Expression-we know diverse learners also need a way to demonstrate they know. Again, some students do just fine with one type of assessment, but what about the learner who is visually impaired, or has severe motor disabilities? Could students have a choice in how they are assessed?
  3. Multiple Means of Engagement– we know diverse learners differ greatly on how they show engagement. Some students love to work in groups with their peers, others like to work alone. In other words, the internal motivation and interests of the students are considered.

Lucky for us, many technology tools are available to all of our students so that they can take a much more active part in their learning; making all of us gradually release some of the responsibility we play in teaching students and giving more control to our students. I see my job evolving as well. Assistive Technology will always be around. Special education law mandates it; however, I can now lend some of my background knowledge in closing barriers for all students with the help of a dizzying array of technology tools; and by keeping the UDL principles in mind. I’m working alongside my EdTech peers more and more and personally, I love that the lines are blurry. Our goals are the same; using technology to create learning environments where all students have equal access, actively participate in the process and experience success.

 Anne JacobsonAssistive Technology Coordinator
Speech-Language Pathologist
Maine Township High School District 207
Park Ridge, IL
Twitter: @annejslp      
Check out our next Teaching and Learning Webinar Accessibility for All!

 

Equity, Pedagogy Tagged: #assistivetech Leave a Comment

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