On the final day of the semester I asked students to find or create memes that encapsulated our time together. A thread of some of my favorite. Shout out to Rayan for this gem 👇👇

I'm happy everyone is teaching Amanda Gorman's poetry. But it's also another moment where I wonder, "Are we white teachers ready for this moment?" Whether it's Childish Gambino or The 1619 Project, white teachers always seem to have a pretty slides ready the next day. A thread 👇 Some of my questions are, "What internal work have we done to be ready to teach Black art or Black history? What systemic analysis have we done to put them in context? How have we examined our own biases so we create and implement a quality lesson rather than an immediate lesson?

White folx who've decided it’s time to do antiracism / activism work: Welcome. We’re glad you’re here but we're all out of gold stars. This work isn't about participation trophies; it's about action. Not sure what to do? Here are five steps that can propel you forward. Thread 👇 1. Read “Racism, whiteness, and burnout in antiracism movements: How white racial justice activists elevate burnout in racial justice activists of color in the United States” by @4noura and @pgorski: edchange.org/publications/W…

The world is on fire but I’ve been sick and need to address #AmyCooper. Many have focused on the interpersonal interaction but few have looked at it from a systemic level. Not many white folx have acknowledged that Amy Cooper acted exactly like whiteness wanted her to. Thread 👇 I’ve seen many chastise Amy Cooper, a singular white person, for her actions and her words, isolating her as a bad person and racist. But by pointing a finger solely at her, we miss how she has been intentionally shaped by whiteness (like the rest of us) to uphold the system. 2/

I know that COVID-19 has a lot of us thinking about systems, and the ways they are oppressing and failing so many people in this country. I’ve been thinking how this begins with belief systems, and one in particular is a warped sense of patriotism 1/ The type of patriotism I’m talking about is rooted in whiteness. A sense that this country is—and has always been—the best country in the world. That sentiment exudes whiteness. This country was founded on the mass genocide of one nonwhite group and the enslavement of another 2/

Did you miss the amazing #BuildYourStack session with @juliaerin80 and @JoEllenMcCarthy this morning? Check out all the books they shared. Read these books and then get them in the hands of students. Check them out here 👇👇👇 #NCTE19 #NCTE2019 Building CommUNITY with Story #buildyourstack #NCTE19 #NCTE2019

2018: My Year of Reading. A thread that follows my reading journey from January to December. Every book I've read with a 280 character review. Tagged a few folks who influence the shape of my literary life 📚 #THEBOOKCHAT #DisruptTexts #TeachLivingPoets 📚 1. Never Let Me Go; Kazuo Ishiguro: A supremely crafted narrative begins unassumingly, but quickly reveals a different notion of childhood innocence and coming of age. The conversational tone fooled me into thinking I was walking into a world I understood. Nobel worthy.