Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Online Tutoring

Recently we were sent a link to this guide by Image result for reviews.com:


While we do not endorse particular services, we do share information that might help!


Wednesday, August 16, 2017

In light of recent events in the U.S., below are some resources to learn and teach about race and equity.  Some of the resources can be borrowed from the SERC Library and the articles can be accessed using your SERC Library membership number and utilizing the EBSCO Discovery Service portal (if you need some help accessing the articles, please either email the SERC Library staff at library@ctserc.org or call the SERC Library staff  at 860.632.1485 x 235.

Resources to borrow from the SERC Library:

The sights and sounds of equitable practices - ASCD - IE 379.26 ASC - Why are achievement gaps so persistent and equity still a contentious issue? Here's a tool to help you reflect on that question and consider your school community's current situation in light of some widely identified best practices for promoting equity. Share this 45-minute DVD with your colleagues' next school climate committee or professional learning community meeting to: see and hear the mindset of equitable practices in classrooms, schools, and districts at the elementary, middle, and high school levels; understand how viewing curriculum and instruction through the lens of equity encourages a willingness to put aside previously held beliefs and misconceptions about students and helps change teaching behaviors; and show examples of behaviors that engage and support student learning while promoting rigor in the classroom.

White awareness:  Handbook for anti-racism training by Judith H. Katz - University of Oklahoma Press - IE 305.800973 KAT - In efforts to deal with the pervasive disease racism, human relations practitioners have become increasingly convinced that the American form of the disease is most effectively treated as a White problem that severely damages its White victims, as well as those against whom it is directed. This 212-page step-by-step training format has been created out of a personal and professional struggle and is designed to help whites understand and come to grips with personal, cultural, and institutional racism. It is lucidly written, clearly organized, and unpretentious.

Matters of race by ROJA - IE 370.117 ROJThis 4 hour DVD set includes 4 parts, including 1. The Divide; 2. Race Is, Race Isn't; 3. We're Still Here; and 4. Tomorrow's America. Using the personal writings of several leading American authors, as well as the voices and stories of Americans of all ages and from all parts of the United States, it addresses the complex issues of our rapidly changing multiracial and multicultural society. Some of the issues addressed include: What makes a race? If we are different, who decides the meaning of the difference? What is the black/white paradigm in our society? , How does race factor into the situation of American Indians and native Hawaiians? and How does the next generation feel about race? Roja Productions is a Harlem-based media company which produces shows on the American experience.

Facilitator's guide to courageous conversations about race:  A field guide to achieving equity in schools by Glenn E. Singleton and Curtis Linton - IE 379.2 SIN This 60 page guide was written to guide facilitators in helping educators construct a language and a process for addressing the relationship between race and achievement. Educators are aware of the statistical gaps in achievement between racial groups. They can increase their understanding of why performance inequity exists and learn how they can develop a curriculum that promotes true academic parity. This companion guide is based on the book by Glenn Singleton and Curtis Linton titled "Courageous Conversations about Race". The book examines the achievement gap through the prism of race and this guide offers chapter-by-chapter explanations, activities and questions for using the book. Discussion and journaling prompts and sources for supplemental reading are included.

The psychology of multiculturalism in the schools:  A primer for practice, training and research edited by Janine M. Jones - PMHP 371.4 JON - This 278-page book provides school professionals the tools necessary to become culturally responsive practitioners. Culturally responsive approaches to teaching and clinical service form the foundation for enhancing student progress, reducing disproportionally in special education, and closing the achievement gap. Written by leading experts in their topic areas, each chapter in this practice-oriented volume also includes chapter objectives and discussion questions to facilitate skill building and case scenarios to elucidate and practice implications.

Toward multiculturalism competence: A practical model for implementation in the schools / Doris Wright Carroll -- Increasing cultural literacy: Historical perspectives and cultural characteristics of minority groups / Elizabeth D. Palacios and Pamala Trivedi -- Social justice and school mental health: Evolution and implications for practice / David Shriberg -- Understanding privilege in America / Antoinette Halsell Miranda, Amy Boland and Megan Hemmeler -- Pathways on a journey of 'Getting It': Multicultural competence training and continuing professional development / Tonika Duren Green, Valerie J. Cook-Morales, Carol Robinson-Zanartu and Colette L. Ingraham -- Multicultural practises and response to intervention / Deborah Peek Crockett and Julie Esparza Brown -- A comprehensive, multidimensional approach to assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse students / Matthew Y. Lau and Lionel A. Blatchley -- Multicultural considerations in school consultation / Kimberly Booker - -Counseling with multicultural intentionality: The process of counseling and integrating client cultural variables / Janine M. Jones -- Multicultural issues in research: Practical implications for school psychologists / Trista M. Huckleberry.

Articles available from the SERC Library EBSCO Discovery Portal:

Auditing inequity:  Teaching aspiring administrators to be social justice leaders, by Frank Hernandez and Joanne Marshall, Education and Urban Society, V 49 N 2 p203-228, Feb 2017 26 pp - While much has been written about preparing educational leaders to lead for social justice, much less has been written about how to do so. This study is one of the first to analyze the reflections and written assignments of aspiring administrators to determine what they are currently thinking about poverty, race/ethnicity, and social justice leadership and how that thinking is shaped throughout one course. Results indicate that students were variable in their individual reflections, but that assignments, which required them to analyze the inequities in their schools and develop an implementation plan, led all of these aspiring administrators to seek to redress those inequities. The article discusses implications for other programs, which prepare educational leaders.

Great teachers are experts at difficult conversations:  Here's their advice on talking about race, by Chalkbeat Staff from Chalkbeat, Education Digest, V 82 Issue 2, p39-42, Oct 2016, 4 p -The article presents the views of teachers on the issue of racial discrimination in schools. Topics discussed include the importance of relationships with students, impact of social media posts on such issues on students, impact of the murder of African American Michael Brown on the students, and mentions that teachers should encourage students to present their views.

Complicated conversations:  Exploring race and ideology in an elementary classroom, by Liz Hollingworth, Urban Education, V 44 N1 p 30-58 2009 29 pp - This is a case study of an elementary teacher's decision to add multicultural children's books to her curriculum and an analysis of how her ideologies about race shaped the classroom discourse. Although the teacher's stated purpose was to teach the pitfalls of racial stereotypes by encouraging conversations about prejudice, often the classroom talk normalized Whiteness in ways that shut down explorations of racial diversity, power, and oppression. This article describes how multicultural literature is used in an upper elementary classroom to supplement the existing curriculum and how a teacher's beliefs about race are present in the resulting discourse.

Tending to the heart of communities of color:  Towards critical race teacher activism, by Cheryl E. Matias and Daniel D. Liou, Urban Education, V 50 N5 p601-625 July 2015 - 25 pp - Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies assert colorblindness flourishes when most urban teachers who are White feel emotionally uncomfortable to engage in dynamics of race in the classroom. Colorblind ideology distorts urban teaching because it presumes (a) many White teachers are missionaries trained to save and (b) urban schools are pathological deficits that need to be "saved." We propose a "community of color epistemological approach" that draws from emotional strengths found inside urban communities of color and supports the pedagogical and emotional investment needed to (a) operate critical race activism inside urban classrooms and (b) disrupt the normalcy of Whiteness in schools. We present a counterstory of how one urban teacher engaged in critical race teacher activism.

From EdWeek - Teaching Now Blog - Teachers share resources for addressing Charlottesville hate rally in the classroom, by Madeline Will, August 14, 2017 - Some educators are using the hashtag #CharlottesvilleCurriulum to share learning resources to help address the recent rally and violence in Charlottesville, Va.  This article features a curated list of potential resources, including websites, videos and other documents.


And finally, The Choices Blog:  History and Current Issues for the Classroom, from Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies, Approaching Race in the Classroom, Actively, February 22, 20-16, Mackenzie Abernethy, Camisia Glasgow, and Llndsay Turchan, has some awesome links to follow, lesson plans, links to other blog posts, videos and more,

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Is there a solar eclipse coming...

 If you live in the United States - yes, there is a solar eclipse coming!

One of the best sites to find information - NASA 

There is a wealth of information at - https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/ with additional information from NASA at https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-prepares-for-aug-21-total-solar-eclipse-with-live-coverage-safety-information  - make sure to check out the related articles along the left side of the page.


SPACE.com offers some additional information on Total Solar Eclipse 2017:  When, Where and How to see it (Safely)https://www.space.com/33797-total-solar-eclipse-2017-guide.html

While this is exciting ---- make sure to be safe!
mage of the moon crossing in front of the sun was captured on Jan. 30, 2014, by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory
This image of the moon crossing in front of the sun was captured on Jan. 30, 2014, by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory observing an eclipse from its vantage point in space.
Credits: NASA