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Recap: Teaching for Social Justice Curriculum Fair 2008

November 10, 2007

Click HERE to view photos from the 2007 Curriculum Fair

The Seventh Annual Teaching for Social Justice Curriculum Fair was held Saturday, November 10, 2007 at Orozco School (thank you Orozco!!) and was a rousing success! Thanks to the many dozens (literally) of people who contributed, from getting food donations, to making copies, to setting and cleaning up, to doing workshops and presenting, to spreading the word...

TSJ is an organization of the people, and the people make it work!

Workshop descriptions

Pulling Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps: The Myth of Reconstruction Frances Cox and Tiosha Cox George Leland School, 5th and 6th grade. This workshop will help teachers to explore ways in which to connect history (judicial and social) with the opportunities and possibilities available to African Americans after reconstruction. It will present an overview that teachers can use to help students make connections between the Reconstruction period and the Post Civil-Right period.

Becoming better social justice educators using a teacher-guided critical inquiry group model Uplift Social Justice Inquiry Group. Our presentation will include a brief description of how we came to start a critical inquiry group and what we’ve gained from it, both in our own development and in furthering a social justice direction in our school. We believe that our experience can inspire other groups of teachers to engage in a similar process of study, analysis and critique of our practice—or to do like we did and adapt the idea to something that better fits their situation.

Cycle of Social Justice Learning and Action, CYIC- Chicago Youth Initiating Change. Organizers of the annual Social Justice Student Expo, bring student activism, social justice curriculum, and teacher / student / community collaborations alive. Join us in learning about this year's Cycle of Social Justice Learning and Action with a brief student / teacher panel, question and answer period, and ways to bring your social justice education to higher levels.

Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers Bob Peterson La Escuela Fratney, Milwaukee, WI, 5th Grade. Veteran teacher Bob Peterson will share stories and lessons from his quarter of a century of teaching 5th grade in inner city Milwaukee Public Schools. Peterson, who co-edited with Rico Gutstein, Rethinking Mathematics: Teaching Social Justice by the Numbers, will explore the power and importance of connecting the teaching of mathematics with issues of social justice. The session will include sample lessons, sharing by participants, and discussion of dilemmas faced by teachers engaging in this kind of work.

Creating a Gentrification Teachers Manual, Pilsen Alliance. We will facilitate an interactive workshop on creating a teachers manual about gentrification. We will be asking participants to share their curriculum expertise, best practices on engaging youth in social causes, ideas on layout, and related academic exercises.
Post Forum Discussion Facilitated by members of TSJ. This will be an opportunity to further the Teacher as Activist conversation and think about how to turn our conversation into action.

Why we should strengthen the critical links between teachers and local school councils. Jitu Brown (Koco), Brenda Perry (LSC member) Julie Woestehoff (PURE). This workshop will engage the audience in a discussion of the purpose of local school councils and how they can be an invaluable resource in addressing student needs. Panelists will share the struggle to strengthen LSCs and what a school system without meaningful parent and community input would look like.

Teaching for Change: Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching. Participants will compare the traditional vs. accurate narrative on the Civil Rights Movement and then consider ways to introduce the accurate, people’s history in elementary classrooms.

Fighting the Military Presence in Schools. Bill Lamme, Brian Roa, & Sheena Martin
Kelly and Senn High Schools. This workshop will be a discussion of ongoing projects against militarization in the schools with a focus on drawing out workshop participants and developing further strategy and networking with the goal of widening the campaign!

Teachers for Social Justice: An Introduction to its past, present and future work
Members of TSJ. For those interested in what the group has been and is doing, as well as becoming a part of what it does in the future, please join us for this introduction & conversation about Teachers for Social Justice.

Connecting Our Activist and Teacher Selves. Liesl Buechler, Angy Folkes, Meredith Labadle, Ora Lewis-Clark, Cris Mann, Alina Slapac, & Rebecca Rogers Literacy for Social Justice Teacher Research Group, St. Louis. In this interactive workshop led by core members of the Literacy for Social Justice Teacher Research Group participants will explore the complexity of being an educator/activist. We will share our experiences working as educators/activists through the use of “story circles” – a cultural organizing tool useful for the community and the classroom. Together, we will share strategies and resources for working more effectively in our roles as educators/activists.


Using a Thematic Approach to incorporate Social Justice in a Social Studies curriculum. North Lawndale College Prep Charter H.S. North Lawndale College Prep Charter H.S. has implemented a thematic approach to studying Social Studies. Core courses at NLCP include Origins for Freshman and Revolutions and Resistance (within the United States and globally) for Sophomores. The workshop will discuss the NCLP curriculum, the essential questions we try to address in each course and how elements can be applied to your work.

Keynote Address:
Barbara Ransby
Associate Professor of African-American Studies and History, University of Illinois-Chicago

Panel:
Mariame Kaba
(Education for Liberation Network)
Becky Rogers
(Literacy for Social Justice, St. Louis)
Xian Barrett
(Chicago Youth Initiating Change)
Katie Flowers
(Chicago Freedom School)
Allison Epstein
(Teachers for Social Justice)
Bob Peterson
(Rethinking Schools)

Curriculum Presenters/Exhibitors
Morgan Halstead (Maestros sin Fronteras) Topic: Bilingual Ed/Parent Involvement [K-8]
Allie Epstein (Whittier School) Topic: Social Justice in Primary Grades [K-3]
Laura Ramirez (Whitney Young School) Topic: Spanish Language [9-12]
Craig Segal (Whittier School) Topic: Social Studies/Language Arts [5-6]
Joyce Sia, Rico Gutstein, Nikki Blunt, Veronica Gonzalez, Darnisha Hill, Maxine Granja (Greater Lawndale/Little Village School for Social Justice) Topic: Free the Jena 6 – A social justice mathematics unit involving probability, combinatoirics, & permutations [9-12]
Stephanie Katele (Prescott School) Topic: Art [K-8]
Lindsay Smith (Lincoln School) Topic: Social justice action project for elementary grades [3]
CYIC Group (CYIC) Topic: Gender Studies
Xian Barrett (Julian High School) Topic: Julian Students CYIC Chapter Activity [9-12]
Liz Goss (Legacy Charter School) Topic: Underground Railroad [1-5]
Amina Chaudhri (Alexander Graham Bell Elementary)
Topic: Every Drop Counts: Water Usage and Conservation Project [4]
Rouston Broussard & Kevin Mistrik (Loyola Academy) Topic: Algebra I and II: Ratio, Slope, Systems of Equations, Percentages, and Exponential Growth [9-11]
Gail Tang (UIC) Topic: Math [7-8]
Veronica Cresp-Rich (Dr. Pedro Albisu Campos HS) Topic: Cross-curricular [9-12]
Liz Shulman & Jim Haberl (Niles North)
Topic: Peace and Non-violence / Globalization [9-12]
Cynthis Brawner (Paderewski Elementary) Topic: Cross-curricular [3]
Pankaj Sharma (Niles North) Topic: History / Service Projects [9-12]
David Segura (School for Social Justice / GLLVHS) Topic: Public Health / Biology [9-11]
Shaka Rawls, Elana Fitch, Adam Fisher, Rebecca Crouch, & students (Perspectives) Topic: Healthy Lifestyles and Social Justice [7-12]
Matthew Schultz (Tilden Achievement Academy) Topic: English / Language Arts [9s]
Daniel Morales-Doyle (GLLV School for Social Justice) Topic: Chemistry: The Science of Bling [9-12]
Jim Bywater & Danny Newman (Jones College Prep & Niles North) Topic: Mathematics: Student health & fast food advertising [9-12]
Deborah (Ashay) Day (San Francisco) Topic: Mindful Messages: Africentric Curriculum that focuses on Health, Culture, and Life Skills [7-12]
Marisa Heilman (Bartolome De Las Casas) Topic: Beyond Superheroes and Villains [7-12]

Resource Tables
AREA-Chicago
Just Seeds-Celebrate People’s History Teacher Education
Literacy for Social Justice Teacher Accreditation: Students and Resource Group Teachers
American Friends Service Committee
Changing Worlds
Substance Newspaper
DonorsChoose
Access Living Global Exchange
Southwest Youth Collaborative
Zocalo Urbano
Alliance of Charter Teachers & Staff
Bike Educators for the People
Julian HS students Read the Full Story