A (delayed) Introduction

Hello and thank you for subscribing to this new project: Bending The Arc – A Social Justice Newsletter for Educators!

Putting out a regular newsletter represents uncharted territory for me and as new sign-ups stream into my mailbox, I’ve been feeling a little odd. First of all, you are entrusting me (and this platform) with a personal or professional e-mail address and while that may seem nominal or basic these days, I feel a great sense of responsibility towards you and your act of trust. Second, although the content of the newsletters strives to be somewhat self-explanatory, I realize that I’ve not yet taken the time to introduce myself to newcomers, so that you know exactly who is curating, compiling and disseminating this information.

Please permit me this extra post to correct that omission.

My name is Sherri Spelic, I teach elementary Physical Education at an international school in Vienna, Austria. In my abundant spare time I read and write extensively on topics related to education and life in general. I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio; attended college in Rhode Island, studied abroad in Vienna, and taught German in Washington, DC before returning to Vienna for good. Initially I planned to develop a newsletter for colleagues at my school to share some of the social justice resources that cross my path. After announcing the idea on Twitter and listening to the overwhelmingly positive response, I decided to create a public version which is what you’ve got here.

If you’re curious about some of my other writing, here are a few options:

• Twitter – you can find me @edifiedlistener

• my personal blog, edifiedlistener.

• Some articles are on Medium.com

• I have an online publication: Identity, Education and Power, which features writing from a variety of authors.

• I wrote a book: Care At The Core – Conversational Essays on Identity, Education and Power.

  (Notice some patterns here?)

In case you were wondering exactly who is behind this thing, now you know for sure. It’s me leaning heavily on all the remarkably astute, generous, scholarly and thoughtful folks whose work I take pride in delivering to your inbox.

Thank you for your trust.

Be well,

Sherri

PS: In honor of #NationalComingOut Day, please read this excellent article by Shea Martin and consider this thread by Bill Ivey.

*Photo by Alexandra Thompson