MN-NAME 2011 Concurrent Sessions
MORNING SESSIONS (10:45 - 12:00)
Patrick Henry High School’s Community Involvement Day!
Presented by Susan Breedlove and Yusuf Abdullah |
|
We believe that community support enhances the educational experiences of all our students. In this session you will discover how two individuals bring to life a vision of “The Ultimate Community School” through commitment, patience, hard work, and collaboration. You will hear the process in which Community Involvement Day deepened the students’ roots in the North-side community, engaged students in discussions that were important to them, showcased student talent, and brought together a diverse community. You will also learn tips and ideas for implementing a community involvement day at your work.
|
What Does It Take?
Creating the Village for
GLBT Students:
Panel of Students and Teachers from the embattled Anoka Hennepin District
Presented by students, teachers, and community activists
|
|
Students and advisors from Gay Straight Alliance groups in Anoka Hennepin will share their thoughts and stories around the treatment of GLBT students in their district and what it will take to create safe environments for all students in their schools. These students and teachers will talk about the policy of “neutrality” that teachers are required to follow around GLBT issues and what this has done, how it has galvanized many to press for change. Johanna Eager of HRC will also talk about what is needed to construct a true village, free of harassment in educational institutions. |
Teaching Cultural Competence: Strategies for connecting predominantly white pre-service teachers to the core values of cultural responsiveness
Presented by Letitia Basford and Rachel Endo |
|
The presenters discuss the need to rethink how cultural competence is taught in order to avoid the mindset that simplistic solutions exist to easily “fix” the complex issues and problems that impact children and youth from culturally diverse backgrounds. The presenters examine cultural competence from an intersections approach, which requires educators to challenge the belief that culture is something that is fixed, static, and only attributable to foreigners and people of color. This approach allows educators to consider how multiple forms of identity- class, ethnicity, gender, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation- shape learning experiences in the classroom, and thus allow teachers a solid basis to truly differentiate instruction and reach all learners.
|
Technology as a Tool for Communities to Dismantle the School
Presented by Vivian Johnson and Anthony Nocella |
|
This workshop begins with the quote from John Dewey, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow,” in arguing the need to integrate technology and the internet into all levels and forms of education. The goal of this session is for participants to critically examine the construction of the school and schooling and to provide a creative method using technology in educating and as a tool for creating equity among all people. The facilitators of this session will provide examples and recommend specific strategies for integrating technology in instruction that create digital equity. |
AFTERNOON SESSIONS (1:05 - 2:20)
A Practical Implementation
Guide for Social Justice Educators
Presented by David Stovall |
This workshop will explore, on a deeper level, the themes of the keynote with more time for questions and answers, as well as guidance and support from Dr. Stovall.
|
Storytelling as a Technique for Teaching and Learning
Presented by Beverly Cottman |
Storytelling is an important part of many cultures and a way to engage all students in teaching and learning. In this workshop, participants will learn how to create a story inspired by an ordinary object. We will also practice basic storytelling techniques of voice dynamics, facial expressions, gestures, movement and identify basic elements of story as a teaching and learning tool. The presenter will share techniques for getting students to create and tell their own stories as well the stories of ideas, concepts, or people across various instructional disciplines.
|
We Can’t Do This Alone: Cultivating Parent/Family Relationship and
Community Resources for
Our Students’ Success
Presented by Alexander Hines, Raul Ramos, Marcellus Davis,
and Kenneth Turner |
Have you ever heard, “those parents don’t value education?” In America today it is commonly believed parents are solely responsible for how their children "turn out." With this kind of expectation and pressure, it's little wonder the normal struggles that occur between parents and their children take on such enormous importance. In the early years of children's lives, parents are the most important figures in their world; however, as maturation occurs it is also imperative that our communities and school systems understand their responsibility and role in the cultivation of these relationships for the achievement and success of our children.
|
Where There’s a Will,
There’s a Way:
How to Work with and Through Resistance to Equity Work
in our Schools
Presented by Heather Hackman |
Understanding that resistance can quickly derail equity and community building work, this workshop is designed for an audience that is already committed to equity and social justice work and is now interested in how to address the typical forms of resistance we inevitably face when doing this work in our schools. The workshop assumes that the participants already have a base knowledge of equity and social justice frameworks and as such will move directly to the topic of resistance and how to address it. |
|