Technology can be a bridge to communication and a barrier. Some listeners may not be prepared to jump into a Twitter Chat or Google Video HangOut. But those of us who move a little more slowly through social media can still benefit from these ways of sharing materials and ideas. A great example is the Teachers Teaching Teachers program held last night on what has come to be called “the Ferguson Syllabus.” EdTechTalk is a community of educators discussing educational technology; individuals can participate in several ways during webcast, and the material is then archived for later use by others.
Teacher to Teacher
The EdTechTalk discussion last night included Renee Watson, author and teacher of the arts through the Dream Yard program in New York City, Chris Sloan, a high school English teacher from Salt Lake City, and others.
Sloan mentors students who are part of KQED’s “Do Now” program and the PBS News Hour student reporting labs.
Watson argues that young people need space to learn and practice positive ways to cope with and express powerful emotions. She recently published “Happening Yesterday, Happened Tomorrow: Teaching the ongoing murders of black men,” in Rethinking Schools. Her piece is linked from our website, as is last night’s discussion of #FergusonSyllabus, the student reporting labs, and more. (Here’s “Happening Yesterday, Happened Tomorrow” coming out in the Winter Rethinking Schools.)
Parent to Teacher
Also last night was a Parent Teacher Chat on Twitter with Georgetown Professor Marcia Chatelain who, back in August, published in the Atlantic a crowdsourced syllabus about race, African American history, civil rights, and policing. She is credited with launching the hashtag #FergusonSyllabus which continues to collect more ideas and materials as “Ferguson” has come to stand for a range of issues in the U.S.
Among the rich range of materials available, here are just two available via #FergusonSyllabus:
Melinda D. Anderson’s piece, “What Lessons Were Missing from Darren Wilson’s Classrooms?”
and
Denisha Jones’ article, “The Death of Michael Brown, Teachers, and Racism: Ten Things Every BadAss Teacher Needs to Understand”
For more, check out #FergusonSyllabus on Twitter and visit the homes of two frequent
contributors and friends of the Education Town Hall: Teaching for Change and BadAss Teachers Association.
Education Town Hall Forum 