[RSCT] New Year, New NYCoRE ItAG's! Register now! NYC

Thu Jan 1 10:29:10 CST 2009

>
> NYCoRE Inquiry to Action Groups (ItAGs 2009)
>
> The New York Collective of Radical Educators is pleased to offer an  
> opportunity for teachers to build community and develop as  
> activists. Educators will participate in Inquiry to Action Groups  
> linking social justice issues with classroom practice. Small groups  
> will meet weekly (for a total of six, two-hour sessions plus a kick- 
> off and finale) between January and March to share experiences,  
> respond to readings, exchange ideas and develop plans of action. For  
> more information, email bree at nycore.org.
>
> Offered ItAGs:
> -Social Justice in Teacher Education
> -Learning About Labor
> -Revolutionizing the Classroom: Transforming Mainstream Curriculum  
> into Social Justice Teaching
> -What does it Mean to be a Radical Educator? A Space for Beginning  
> Teachers to Explore and Learn
> -Combating the Banking Mentality: Integrating Media and Youth  
> Culture into the Classroom
> -Rethinking Discipline/Building Community
>
> Kick Off Meeting:
> A general kick-off meeting for all ItAG participants will be held  
> Friday, January 16th, 6:00– 8:00 p.m. at NYU, 3rd floor Pless  
> Lounge, 82 Washington Sq. East between Greene and Washington Square  
> Park. Dinner provided. A closing ceremony will be held 3/13 at the  
> same location.
>
> Registration
> The registration fee is $30. Multiple teachers from the same school  
> can register together for the same ItAG for a reduced rate of $25  
> each. This will cover the cost of materials and support NYCoRE's  
> ongoing work. Payment must be received at the kick-off event.
>
>
> http://www.nycore.org/itags.htm
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> 1. Social Justice in Teacher Education
>
> In an era where NCATE standards are narrowing teacher education to  
> mechanistic dispositions and have eliminated the social justice  
> language from its conceptual framework, this group will come  
> together to share how teacher educators can navigate the space  
> within radical teaching practices that promote social justice in the  
> world of NCATE requirements. We will explore the different ways  
> teacher educators can include issues of Social Justice in their  
> curricula and we will discuss pedagogical approaches that can  
> enhance student’s critical consciousness and empower them to  
> activism. Participants are encouraged to bring their course(s)  
> syllabi to share ideas on how issues of discrimination and privilege  
> can be included in any teacher education course. Facilitators:  
> Shelly Chin is Assistant Director of the Peace Corps Fellows Program  
> at Teachers College, an alternative teacher certification program  
> preparing teachers to serve in low-income schools. Jolie Medina is  
> an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Borough of Manhattan  
> Community College/City University of New York where she teaches  
> Social Foundations of Education.
>
> Location: Teachers College, 525 West 120th St Room TBA
>
> Dates: Tuesdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10,  
> 2/24*, 3/3, and the finale on 3/13. *tentative date may change  
> depending on group availability.
>
>
>
> 2. Learning about Labor
>
> This inquiry to action group will provide a setting for educators to  
> reflect on and discuss how we teach about labor and our own position  
> as teachers within the labor movement.  As the voice of organized  
> labor is pushed further and further outside of circles of power and  
> our collective consciousness, it is a crucial time to educate others  
> and ourselves about the role the labor movement has played in the  
> struggle for social justice throughout history to the present. We  
> will share readings, ideas, materials, to help us find new ways to  
> bring these ideas into our classrooms and connect our students to  
> current movements.  It is equally important for progressive and  
> radical educators to reflect on our own role within the labor  
> movement. We will explore some turning points in the history of the  
> UFT and challenge ourselves to reflect on our own orientation to the  
> union as individuals and as part of a collective of social justice  
> educators. Facilitators: Rosie Frascella is a former labor  
> organizer, a teacher at the High School for International Business  
> and Finance and a member of NYCoRE working group NYQueer.  Seth  
> Rader is a teacher at the James Baldwin School and a core member of  
> NYCoRE.
>
>  Location: James Baldwin Academy, 351 West 18th St between
>
> Dates: Thursdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12,  
> 2/26, 3/5, and the finale on 3/13.
>
>
>
> 3. Revolutionizing the Classroom: Transforming Mainstream Curriculum  
> into Social Justice Teaching
>
> In this study group, participants will explore what social justice  
> in teaching means to them and how to achieve this in the current  
> standards crazed context of NYC. Participants will examine mandated  
> curriculum for opportunities to incorporate cultural relevance and  
> social action. Teachers will work together to transform their own  
> curriculum while still reaching the required standards.  
> Facilitators: Natalia Ortiz is a born and raised New York City  
> Latina. She currently teaches Social Studies to 16-20 year old  
> students at West Brooklyn Community High School. From Boston to  
> Brown to Brooklyn, Adam Manson Weinstock is in his 6th year at  
> Tompkins Square Middle School, now as co-Dean of Students, exploring  
> restorative justice models of discipline, and formerly as a 7th  
> grade Humanities teacher and Advisory coordinator.
>
>  Location:  Tompkin Square Middle School: 600 East 6th street
>
> Dates: Mondays 5:30-7:30 PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2,  
> 2/9, 2/23, 3/2, and the finale on 3/13.
>
>
>
>
>
> 4) What does it Mean to be a Radical Educator? A Space for Beginning  
> Teachers to Explore and Learn
>
> This ITAG is designed to explore and extend the definition of what  
> it means to be a “radical educator” through the perspective of new  
> teachers (yrs 1 – 3).  The goal of this ITAG is to empower new  
> teachers with the language, skills, and mindset that it takes to  
> transform classrooms into communities for change. Radical teaching  
> happens not only in the content of our curriculum, but also in the  
> way we speak about, view, and interact with the world, our  
> community, and the students in our classroom. In both theory and  
> practice, we wish to radically re-write the stories that our  
> students hear about the world and tell about themselves.   
> Facilitators:  Marissa Torres works with Elementary students at the  
> Hamilton Heights Academy in Harlem.  Annie Schmutz works with Middle  
> and High School students at the Henry Street School for  
> International Studies in LES, as well as being a part-time  
> instructor at City College of New York.
>
>  Dates: Thursdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, 2/12,  
> 2/26, 3/5, and the finale on 3/13.
>
> Location: Teachers College, Columbia University, 525 W. 120th st. –  
> Room TBA
>
>
>
> 5) Combating the Banking Mentality: Integrating Media and Youth  
> Culture into the Classroom
>
> This ItAG, so-sponsored by Urban Word, explores the integration of  
> media and youth culture in the classroom to provide educators and  
> activists the tools to create interactive spaces for engaged  
> critical thinking.  Participants will create a vision of the kinds  
> of classroom environments they hope to create through the  
> integration of youth culture and will be introduced to a variety of  
> strategies and methods.  Participants will gain a better  
> understanding of what resources and strategies they can use to  
> create interactive classrooms that build on students’ interests.  
> Facilitators: kahlil almustafa is a performance poet currently  
> developing a Multimedia Performance to promote his collection of  
> poetry Growing Up Hip-Hop. www.kahlilalmustafa.com.  Charan P.  
> Morris is a poet/performer/educator transplanted from Chicago to New  
> York. She has taught race, class & politics through literature in  
> New York City public schools for the past 5 years.  www.charanp.com
>
>  Dates: Tuesdays 6-8PM. Kick off on 1/16th, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10,  
> 2/24, 3/3, and the finale on 3/13.
>
> Location: Urban Word, 242 W. 27th Street, Suite 3B btwn 7th and 8th http://www.urbanwordnyc.org
>
>
>
> 6) Rethinking Discipline/Building Community
>
> How can we create truly democratic schools that empower young people  
> and give them opportunities to collaborate in making just  
> communities? How do we do this in the face of a reactionary school  
> system that too all too often suspends or criminalizes young people?  
> We can do it but we must rethink our core understanding of  
> discipline.  Much evidence shows that suspensions lead students on a  
> downward spiral that forces many to get left back and drop out. This  
> first step often introduces them to the criminal justice system.  
> This ITAG will be to look at the theory and philosophy behind  
> alternative systems of discipline. We will examine whole school  
> systems of discipline that shift the question of what did the  
> student do to what does the student need and consider the value of  
> restorative justice approaches, drawing on examples from schools in  
> or near New York City. These approaches teach moral development, a  
> missing ingredient from most schools. They offer opportunities for  
> students to take responsibility for misbehavior and allow them to  
> address the needs of those harmed. And depending on the interest of  
> the participants, we hope to investigate student centered classroom  
> practices as well. Facilitators: Daniel Jerome is the Dean at the  
> Banana Kelly School in the Bronx, is a founding member of NYCoRE and  
> board member of Teachers Unite.  Josh Heisler teaches at Vanguard  
> High School and is also a board member of Teachers Unite.
>
>  Dates: Wednesday (and two Fridays*) 5:30-7:30. Kick off on 1/16th.  
> Fri.1/23*, 1/28, 2/4, Fri. 2/13*, 2/25, 3/4 and finale on 3/13.
>
> Location: Vanguard High School 317 East 67th Street
>
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