By Jorge Cordoba
At the Free Minds, Free People conference in Baltimore this summer, I stopped by the Teaching for Change table. They graciously donated copies of the book Caribbean Connections: Moving North for my high school ESOL students. This group of students, ranging in age from 14 to 20 years old, attend a large suburban high school in Gambrills, Maryland. They come from many different countries including Thailand, El Salvador, Nigeria… Read more >>

On Wednesday, January 17, Professor Ibram X. Kendi, founder and director of the Anti-Racist Research and Policy Center at American University, will offer a presentation for teachers based on his book Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Read more >>

For the past two years, the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) has invited Teaching for Change to provide educators with a three-part professional development course on teaching about Central America. To our knowledge, Alexandria is the only public-school district in the nation providing educators with a course on Central American history and culture. Read more >>

As part of their community engagement program, every year at Sidwell Friends School, PK-12 students and faculty collaborate with nonprofit organizations that focus on a range of social justice issues. On November 2, 2017, prior to visiting their community partners, Sidwell School faculty provided seventh and eighth grade students with a day to learn more about the organizations they would be placed with for service learning. One of the key tenets for the day was establishing a partnership that works… Read more >>

The majority of Latino students in DC schools have Central American heritage. However, their history and literature is largely absent from the curriculum. Thanks to support from the DCPS Language Acquisition Office, Teaching for Change offered free workshops on Central America during Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month. Faye Colon, coordinator of teacher engagement and professional development, visited classrooms at Ballou High School, Dunbar High School, and Roosevelt Senior High School to lead our popular... Read more >>

More than thirty teachers gathered on October 2, 2017 for an Indigenous People’s Curriculum Night at Busboys and Poets. Hosted by D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice, the event began with a “people bingo” activity that provided educators from various schools and organizations an opportunity to meet and get to know one another. Through a combination of brief presentations and structured discussions, educators shared curriculum ideas and strategies for teaching about Columbus and Indigenous People’s history and life today. Read more >>

This month, all of the 8th grade social studies teachers at Alice Deal Middle School (DCPS) engaged their students in the popular role play, The People vs. Columbus, et al.  The lesson, written in the form of a trial by Bill Bigelow of Rethinking Schools, is available for free download on the Zinn Education Project website. The lesson is a prime example of how to engage students in learning through role play and debate. Read more >>

The news, the news, the news… it hit us all summer. And like most teachers, even when we are taking our time away from school, we think about how things will work or impact our kids—and in happy ingenious moments, maybe a great lesson plan idea. As my co-teacher and I prepared to meet our third grade class, we thought about how to approach all our wonderful young people at... Read more >>

Approximately 20 teachers (and ASL interpreters) from across the D.C. metro area met at the Teaching for Change office on Saturday, September 9 to share teaching and activism strategies in response to the repeal of DACA. The event was organized by the new network, D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice, and facilitated by Faye Colon. The convening began with participants using a tool to explore their personal connections to DACA to meet each other. Read more >>

National History Day projects are a wonderful opportunity for middle and high school students to research and learn about topics and individuals outside the typical textbook. We share here the experiences of D.C. eighth grade middle school teacher Beth Kara. Her students’ completed projects on Queen Liliuokalani, Sophie Scholl and the White Rose, Assata Shakur, Muhammad Ali, and many more people of note who stood fought for social justice. Read more >>

Third-grade teacher Andy Grayson wrote to tell us that he was thrilled to share Wilfredo: Un niño de El Salvador/A Boy from El Salvador with his students. He learned about the free downloadable book in a Teaching for Change workshop sponsored by the Alexandria City Public Schools. Here is what Grayson told us about why Wilfredo is so useful: After reading Wilfredo, I observed increased discourse and engagement from a wider range of students. Students whose families have... Read more >>

When fifth grade Spanish literacy teacher Cesarina Pierre realized that her nearly two decades of teaching Caribbean students in New York City Public Schools would not fully translate to teaching Central American students in Washington D.C., she sought resources from Teaching for Change. Pierre asked Teaching for Change, a longtime partner at the school, to help her understand the unique experiences of Central American families. Read more >>

The theme was “Feed Your Brain: Nourish Your Community” and the session topics included: Food Sourcing, Food Policy and Laws, Food Production, Food Waste and Composting, School Lunches, and Food Access.

At the February convening of the Stories from Our Classrooms writing course, teacher alumni Ellen Royse and Amy Rothschild and current participant Shayna Tivona shared how they used their teacher voices on behalf of democracy. Earlier this month, our friends and family across the country had trouble reaching their Senators to express their views on Betsy DeVos’s nomination for Secretary of Education. Those of us living in D.C. don’t have voting senators, but we do have proximity. Read more >>

The Deputy Mayor for Education responded to our proposal for sanctuary schools in D.C. Teaching for Change staff and our allies agreed the response was inadequate. We acknowledged the response and will continue to discuss next steps with immigrant-led groups, students, educators, families, and advocates for sanctuary policies across the District. Read more >>

Teaching for Change partnered with Filmfest DC: The Washington, DC International Film Festival for a sixth year to spread the word about the international film festival and to bring filmmakers for several films into D.C. classrooms in April.Students gain a lot from viewing the documentaries, preparing questions, and discussing the film with the visitors. (Read about prior year visits.) Read more >>