White Teacher, Black Students

The scene is a fifth-grade classroom in a prosperous Midwestern community. I'm observing a small group of three girls and three boys discussing an article they've read from a news magazine. The group is all white, save for one quiet African-American boy. One of the girls speaks up: "I don't know what this word means. Pre...pre.. is that next part pronounced jew?" Another girl looks over at the text and pipes up - it looks like dice at the end? Some kind of game?"

Finally the black boy speaks up: "The word is prejudice. Prejudice." He pronounces it slowly and perfectly, rolling his eyes. Everyone says, "Oh." After an awkward silence, the discussion continues. They all have heard the word prejudice before, and are a little embarrassed they didn't recognize or pronounce it correctly.

Whenever Martin Luther King Day rolls around this time of year, I feel a bit like the white students in the group. I try to honor the memory of this great man, but I'm never sure of the best way to go about it. I worry my ignorance might cause more offense than insight. I was raised in a rural white community, and while I love many aspects of living in Maine, ethnic diversity is not one of its strengths.

Even language is a test I sometimes fail - I faithfully used the term "African American," till a couple students informed me their ancestors were from the Caribbean and they preferred to be called "black." So I go back and forth between the two terms all the time in my writing and speech, never sure which to use when.

Perhaps it is good that those of us who are white and/or live in mostly white communities feel a little awkward and humbled by this holiday - by how much we don't know and haven't experienced, even as we're charged with helping students use reading and writing to understand the history and experiences of others. Mary Cowhey, first grade teacher and author of Black Ants and Buddhists, describes a way into developing more understanding of historical events:

James Loewen defines history as "furious debate informed by evidence and reason." So how do you begin to get at the truth in history? First, I must begin with humility. This is not to say that I have not studied history; it is to acknowledge that the history I studied may have been inaccurate. I had to begin to study history anew, with a fresh mind and new eyes. Many teachers find it hard to let go of authoritatively knowing, but that is the first step, to model for my students how to ask really big and hard questions. I encourage them to do the same.

(Mary Cowhey in Black Ants and Buddhists Stenhouse, 2006)

One of my teaching heroes is Linda Christensen, who has been asking the "really big and hard questions" about what it means to be a white teacher working with African-American students for years. She has often written about her experiences as a high school teacher and literacy mentor to colleagues in inner-city Portland, Oregon.

This week we feature an interview with Linda, along with an excerpt from her bestselling book Reading, Writing, and Rising Up. We've also got links to some other resources on the web for promoting social justice - maybe one or two of them will be just right for helping your students honor the memory of Dr. King. And as always...we've posted lots more this week at the site on other topics, too. Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

***Free for All***

Linda Christensen shares practical advice for tapping into local resources and history in this interview about her experiences working as a white teacher in inner-city schools. A transcript is included for subscribers using dial-up connections:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/246.cfm

Linda has also provided a favorite "core" teaching activity from her acclaimed book Reading, Writing, and Rising Up for Big Fresh subscribers. The "Read Around" is something that can be used routinely in intermediate and high school classrooms with all students to build community, writing, and reading skills:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/248.cfm

Rethinking Schools has a wealth of energizing, thoughtful advice for supporting and understanding diversity in schools. For Martin Luther King Week,we recommend their "Brown vs. Board of Education" materials, posted here on the web:

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/18_03/18_03.shtml

If you haven't discovered the free magazines and education kits from Teaching Tolerance, you're missing out on wonderful resources for educators that continually feature innovative suggestions for understanding and supporting diversity. Sample magazine issues and information on ordering the complimentary education kits are available here:

http://www.tolerance.org/teach/resources/index.jsp

***For Members Only***

Are you getting a bad case of the JanFebs in your classroom, otherwise known as the winter blahs? Spice things up with Poetry Friday. Franki Sibberson explains how this quick, 15-20 minute weekly ritual builds community and a love of poetry in any classroom. She also includes a booklist to jumpstart your poetry collection for students:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/250.cfm

How young is too young to set a reading goal? In this video of a conference with five-year-old Hailey, Joan Moser (of "The Sisters") demonstrates cross-checking, and helps Hailey post her "accuracy" goal as part of the classroom reading goals chart. This video is part of our ongoing CAFE (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary) series. We've included links to previous topics in the series, if you want to catch up or review before viewing:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/247.cfm

Jennifer Allen posts her January update for the new teachers group in her ongoing series. "When Life Happens" is for any literacy leader who has stuggled to balance family and professional demands, and experienced guilt and feelings of inadequacy in the process. Jen discovers setting up professional development offerings so that they can run even if she isn't present turns out to be especially relevant this month:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/251.cfm

New Site Feature: Wishing you could access an old issue of The Big Fresh with an article or link you've misplaced? We now have an archive of all past issues, organized by date. You can access the newsletter archives here:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/department62.cfm

That's all for this week!