Good morning, friends. I have a lot on my mind but I want to share a quick memory of something my mother did when we were young.
She had a habit of directing me and my brother to cold call various stores, agencies, also neighbors to get some kind of information. A thread. 🧵1/ "Sherri, call Heinen's and find out what time they close today."
"Call The Plain Dealer and tell them our paper wasn't delivered this morning."
"Call Mrs. Green and ask her if she needs anything from the grocery store."
Me: 🤷🏾 2/

If you've ever encountered the widely circulated article on White Supremacy Culture Characteristics by Tema Okun, I strongly suggest checking out her collaborative website that expands on and further articulates that work. 🧵1/
whitesupremacyculture.info "I want to be clear that this website is offering one way of understanding white supremacy culture, not *the* way. May this be a small contribution to a larger understanding." -@TemaOkun 2/

I've been thinking a lot about equity and justice with my PE classes and I have to say, it's not necessarily an easy sell. We're just beginning to set up small sided team games where it's possible to win or lose, although I never keep score. #PhysEd A thread.🧵1/ The first hurdle is creating fair teams. It's a huge challenge but it's the lesson I'm prepared to take time for and one that needs loads of practice. There are no captains or picking teams. Still, students are mostly in charge of organizing themselves. 😮😬👍🏾2/

Listen.
"It is wrenching to know that the occasion for the renewed interest in your work is the murders of black people and the subsequent “listening and learning” of white people." - Yaa Gyasi

https://twitter.com/ProfSunnySingh/status/1373214727359377408

"So many of the writers of colour that I know have had white people treat their work as though it were a kind of medicine. Something they have to swallow in order to improve their condition, but they don’t really want it, they don’t really enjoy it, ..." - Yaa Gyasi

Working with a group of upper elementary students today we had an unexpected conversation about equity and justice. We had just run a relay and the students begged to run it over again. One group suggested remixing the teams, the other group was uninterested. #PhysEd 1/ Can you guess who was who?
I spoke with the group that lost the first contest who also wanted to remix the teams. I observed that they were interested in change but the other group was not. I asked them why they thought that was. 2/

This week on faculty of @DigPedLab has been rich. Planning and facilitating a course that participants experience as welcoming, encouraging and worthwhile has led me to some deep thinking about what we mean when we say 'teaching and learning.' #digped 1/ identity.dpl.online Often the folks who decide to become teachers are people who enjoyed largely positive school experiences. Raise your hand, if you were 'good at school', teachers. 🙋🏾‍♀️Given that, we may see many practices (grades, exams, standardized outcomes) as necessary and/or desirable. 2/

And the research shows...
Here's a parallel conversation that's also worth exploring. I have a few extra thoughts.

https://twitter.com/korytellers/status/1286692226656088064

Context is everything. The why, how, what and when of groups convening has everything to do with how the gathering will be structured and which goals will be prioritized. The distinction between chosen and mandated participation cannot be underestimated.

Icebreakers as a source of disdain, annoyance or derision comes up often in my feed and I get it. Folks resent being set up to reveal themselves superficially or to potentially end up as the punchline of a bad joke. This occurs more often than we likely admit.

https://twitter.com/scmaestra/status/1286472289681174528

As a facilitator, my responsibility is to ensure that all participants feel welcomed and respected. Regardless of why we are coming together, my attention must be focused first on participant presence - ensuring that conditions support folks showing up as best possible.

I'm thinking about all the kinds of support people relatively new to 'race talk' actually need.
One of the biggest steps that white people and anyone else new to conversations about racism can do is to examine #whiteness. Of course, it's important to read and hear from Black people. But attention to grasping the comprehensive power and influence of #whiteness on our whole society may often be overlooked.

With all due respect, 'eradicating racism in schools' as a chat?
I understand the urgency, the sudden waking up, and agonizing over what is to be done but I am frustrated at this framing. 1/

https://twitter.com/wkrakower/status/1269247118587375619

It's akin to asking science teachers to rally around solving climate change in a one hour chat. "Eradicating" as in wipe out, demolish and remove?
Gosh, folks, my ancestors, my relatives, my friends, my family, colleagues & me we've been at this for centuries. It's still here. 2

This morning I'm thinking about how privilege distorts our perception and response to a wider crisis. If you're in the fortunate position to be shielded from the worst effects of the pandemic, a push to continue business as usual can take the upper hand. (a mini rant) 1/ If I perceive my own situation as string of inconveniences, then my capacity to see beyond that and recognize the multiple ways others may be suffering (silently) may be impaired. Privilege offers blinders that place the experiences of others conveniently out of view. 2/

Now that I've had a chance to read this article and some others related to children and screen time and the wealthy and the poor, I have some thoughts. 1/ cc: @readywriting @hypervisible @mischelej

https://twitter.com/readywriting/status/1058412270349365253

First, this article on the unexpected digital divide between rich and poor seems entirely incomplete. There is an early reference to racial differences in screen usage but in the article there are no voices of black or brown folks that I could detect. 2/

One change I made this year in my classroom is letting go of all the "Reminder Tickets" that I've used as a management tool. No more red or yellow tickets for not following directions or not listening, no more pink tickets for missing PE clothes. No more "Time out" tickets. 1/8 I have kept the positive tickets for group work, skill development, fitness effort, and caring behaviors and that's where my feedback focus lies. It's still early in the year and I am still questioning if and how I will keep this system at all. 2/8