A Social Justice Newsletter for Educators

It’s in this spirit of controlling our own narratives and creating a community of our voices that we’ve launched #31DaysIBPOC. It is our hope that we can write in solidarity about the ways we define ourselves, our practices, and our lives.” – Tricia Ebarvia and Dr. Kim Parker

The good news is: It’s May! 

Which means you are just in time for one of the greatest collection of educators’ writing appearing every single day this month. #31DaysIBPOC was initiated last year by two women of #DisruptTexts fame, Tricia Ebarvia and Dr. Kim Parker. Through this action, they invite Indigenous, Black and People of Color (IBPOC) educators to share a blog post one day in May. This year there are more than 31 authors, so please browse the website, follow the links and fill your teacher soul with this remarkable potpourri of voices, styles and stories.

May also marks the launch of a new project in teaching middle grades Black History. Decolonized will be hosted by Erica Buddington of the langstonleague.org. Watch her awesome trailer video to get a taste of what’s ahead. I cannot wait to share episodes with my own tween!

I want to share one more resource that I hope you’ll hold onto for a while. During her deeply informative workshop on working with athletes with learning differences, Special Education expert, Molly Berwager introduced a website that I think can be a real game changer for teachers, families and students coping in one way or another with learning differences. Understoood.org  offers a remarkable wealth of practical tips as well as needed perspectives that are often missing when we are working with students who do not fit the mold for learning that we have so carefully crafted.
While investigating the site, I discovered their podcast, In It, which looks at the experiences of learners and families navigating school systems, resources and daily life. I listened to an episode about why we cry in IEP meetings and they were, in fact, in it. 

When we talk about building more equitable classrooms, tapping into resources like understood.org can go a long way towards putting our best intentions into action.

That’s all for this month. I hope this newsletter finds you well and making progress wherever you can and need to. 

Take care,
Sherri