That is what "they" want you to think... Until you educate yourself enough to know that there are more complex dynamics surrounding the issue. That is when change happens.

Whenever you focus on "home" you are able to advocate for change. It needs to be directly related to our students' lives in order for them to recognize how they are the ones who are the experts.

This is why it is so important to apply critical literacy skills and realize who is telling the story. Outside perspectives are just that, outside perspectives. It is only fair to listen to stories told by the true experts, the ones who live it, not the ones who learn about it.

They are the experts and should be named as such! What a powerful way to invite students to contribute.

After reading this article I wonder about how I can change the narrative in the school I work in. It would be beneficial for teachers to attend a PD about unlearning these stereotypes and reminding them that it lives all year around, not just during November.

Sadly, this is an eye opener for many students. The idea of being a "person of the present day".

Just by implementing this in itself demonstrates the importance of Native people. I know far too many teachers who take out their "Native books" during November and then put them right back in their "Thanksgiving Activities" box.

Another big issue in many aspects. This is why it is so important to pay attention to who is telling the story.

1. Whose story is this?
2. Who benefits from this story?
3. Whose voices are not being heard? These three questions can be transferred to almost anything in literature or in the media. It is important to be constantly aware of what we are reading and watching in order to challenge the narratives being taught and presented. If we do not pay attention and apply these skills, we are vulnerable to believing whatever is being taught.

Such a powerful word in any given context, but especially in this one. The idea of learning how to unlearn something that has already been taught.

I admire the teacher's stance as a "hacker". Teachers have to admit the standards exist in classrooms, but at the same time, teachers need to select appropriate text wisely to meet standards.

Students are surrounded by the institutions where their family members are imprisoned. It's easy for them to feel hopeless. They are forced to believe that they may follow the same route as their family members. However, the institutions are fundamentally unequal. How could they resist this kind of psychological implication and make changes?

As an Southeast Asian, what is described as "saga of cultural and linguistic assault... devastating effects on the access, achievement, and well-being of students of color in public schools" is something I can personally relate to. As the terms sweep and dirt are described in this article, it almost reminds me of the not so little jokes/comments/etc. people would make towards students of color and the sad reality that we would not recognize as being harmful and to keep harmony we would just laugh along with them. All relating back to the feeling of voicelessness and loss of freedom, opportunity, and self as a student.

This poem was powerful, just as powerful as the freedom writers movement. Not to mention the classic movie, Freedom Writers, I cry every time I watch it. I think this poem truly honored their labor, critical thinking, resilience, and action research in the way that they deserved, because I do think sweeping cleanses and they made a movement powerful enough to sweep this into something that meant something to them as students.

Like stated in The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy, using literature is a way to extend the invitation to have challenging conversations or having testimony and witness.

I agree with this statement, as we should be open to our students having their own voices in our classrooms. How does this idea of "professional" work with younger students, such as lower elementary?

It is unfortunate that the students have already lost hope, which can carry on throughout their lives if they are never given a platform where they feel their voices are heard enough to produce change.

Being vulnerable in the classroom is essential.

Demonstrates the importance of knowing your students in order to select texts that fit what you're teaching and what they are interested in.

The power of learning! Once you learn enough about how systems work, you are able to take action.

This is interesting. The high school I went to did something similar, and so does the high school I work at now. They call it 'hall sweeps'. If a student is tardy / caught in the hall after the bell rings, they have to go downstairs for a 'tardy pass' and detention. This is meant to hold students accountable and improve tardies. However, going through that process they continue to loose out on class instruction. I also don't know if I see a decrease in tardies as a result of hall sweeps.

This is sad. A lot of the systems put in place are not allowing any type of growth or equity for everyone.

I think this is an important distinction. Students may feel passionate about an issue and it is important to turn that passion into tangible action that they can use to further empower themselves.

This is an interesting observation. I experience similar responses to students when I try to make them civically engaged or have them combat against a rule that they deem as unjust. They talk a lot but when it comes to actions there is almost a type of indoctrinated helplessness.

This is just one way where media and news first hand have an impact on the community they are speaking on. People do actually listen to what is being said which is why it is crucial to change the way the media sees people of color and people of color neighborhoods. #CI45021

I have learned about spacial justice especially regarding creating a physical division between low and high income communities which means access is limited to those in lower income communities because "traveling there" requires one or two forms of transportation. #CI45021

Building from their own funds of knowledge!

This reminds me of the article "when school is not enough" and also Gholdy Muhammad's idea of teaching the 'whole child'

Adolescents go to school with their funds of knowledge, and they are willing to talk about their neighborhood. Teachers should create a chance to adolescents to discuss the local community. They will have a better understanding of what happened around them and why that happened?

Spacial justice offers me a new way to understand social justice. It talks about social resources are disproportionally distributed. It includes more than the physical space but all of the relations in this space, environment, quality food, and so on.

I believe this is the first step any educator should take is to acknowledge and be self-aware of what actually is, so I applaud Kara for acknowledging the reality of her students instead of trying to place a reality on their experiences and their lives. It is not an easy process, but cultivating that space and inviting students to grow in that space is what will open the opportunities to becoming change agents in and outside of the classroom.

Throughout the handful of articles we have read through the past few weeks, I truly enjoy reading the actual work of the students. As a Chicago Native, it's sad because I know where Malcolm is from, and that is not saying anything about Malcolm but the actual city itself. The description of his city accounting negative characteristics is enough to empower his ability to change that description. I think Kara's use of spatial justice is extremely eye-opening, in terms of being able to construct an entirely different perspective from what the students originally thought of.

I wonder what other contexts would work to help students think critically about social issues.

I thought food was in interesting angle to work with, but this quote helped my perspective. I think that when students bring in their own funds of knowledge, they can critically analyze these systems through different lens', such as this one.

I like this idea of making the students the "experts". Even though it's such a simple term, students feel more empowered in their learning and work when they are identified as experts, and who wouldn't be an expert of their own neighborhood?

I like this quote here because it shows the intersectionality of issues. Very rarely is it only a race, health, or class issues but it can be a mixture of all of these things put together! Having students understand these power dynamics is extremely valuable.

I like this idea in particular because it is creating counter narratives that can combat stereotypes. In addition, it draws on funds of knowledges that the students may have. This is a great way to take ownership over their education.

We need to be able to show the individual as a "whole" not only as deficits. Successes should be celebrated and written about just as anything else.

Culturally relevant texts is a must in all classrooms. Selecting texts that relate to our students lives are critical in creating a space where they feel welcome and vulnerable to share their voice.

How do we support young Black girls in this healing process? In addition to not seeing themselves in stereotypes, their beauty and lifestyles are so heavily policed by dominant culture.

I think counterstorytelling is important, especially for People of the Global Majority to be able to share their stories authentically and challenge racist stereotypes and assumptions. However, where I'm feeling a lot of tension with media representation is when People of the Global Majority are given roles that have historically been done by white folx. Counterstorytelling is not the same thing as rewriting narratives. It's frustrating that students have to see themselves in "other versions" instead of having nuance roles or roles that were specifically made for them OR even roles that are not centered around tropes of a culture but instead are actually about People of the Global Majority having normal lives with universal experiences. A good example of this is "Never Have I Ever." But also nuanced roles like Shang-Chi are important as well!

Creating culturally relevant classrooms is vital to creating a safe space for students to share their experiences and be able to make connections.

The idea of invitation!

Not only do I feel like literacy instruction should be responsive to our students' identities, but it can help build their identities too. Just to make a connection, I feel that I would have been more invested in my own Asian culture had my teachers provided me and made me feel comfortable with engaging all students in other texts of Asian culture.

Psychological slavery is more harmful. In the white-dominant culture, the role of black people are marginalized and their contributions are neglected. So the black people will devalue themselves which constraint their gifts in every perspective.

Racism happens between different racial groups, but sexism can happen in the same racial group. Black women bear the tag"black" and "women", so they may encounter more discrimination than other groups.

Schools have employed many form of exclusionary practices, for example, office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions. However, the zero tolerance theory escalated the situation of drop-out rate. Poor Children of color are more likely to be punished strictly for minor noncriminal violations of school rules. This also called "The School to Prison Pipeline".

Before this I had never heard of CFT. I think this is a great and valuable tool to use in the classroom and I can see myself using this in the future.

Incorporating texts that are by BIPOC, about BIPOC is a way of conveying the message to students that their lives, experiences and ideas matter and are important.

Yes, yes, yes. I completely agree with this. Curriculums, 'cannonical literature', etc. need to be updated if we truly want to have equity in the classroom.

This is why it is so important to be extremely intentional and critical about the texts we choose to include in our classroom learning. There is so much value in students being able to directly connect and relate to a text.

This is a really important point as it relates to the importance of counternarratives and why representation matters. In recent years you will hear artists say that they created their story, movie or hero because they did not see themselves represented and wanted young kids to have someone to look up to.

I think an important point of this is that it's not only in English classes that there is a Eurocentric focus but in history classes as well. I think the fact that there is an AP Us History and an AP European History speak to how Eurocentric the education system is.

As teachers we acknowledge that we can only have so much of an impact on students. It is up to society as a whole to be able to eliminate these systemic structures in place.

Black students are disappointed by the schooling, in which black culture is not valued. So they want to get out of school to find the truth. Finally, they may find more misinformation against black people. The worst thing is that they make the stereotype come true.

I didn't learn about counternarratives until this semester in my MEd program, which I'm surprised about. When I reflect on my early education through high school, I don't ever recall my teachers asking me or any other students to write counternarratives.

This part being the first part we really start to hear their voices and listen to their stories was moving, but it was sad to read this specific statement because these students are speaking for themselves and to what we know, for all the other students out there for feel like their struggles don't matter as well. To conclude no one cares is to have lost hope in the systems, processes, education that continues to fail them.

It took me a while to read this article, the entirety was overwhelmingly filled with information that I kept reading over and over again, it was a read that included dialogue and that made it feel as if I were talking to both Khaleeq and Rendell. There is a lot to unpack here, but I think it is important to take the time to unpack it and our own pace that won't deter students from tak(ing) risks, fall(ing) down, get(ting) back up, and do(ing) it again. That is the process and it takes a village to get this accomplished. From a personal standpoint, I stray away from hope to, it often leads to disappointment in whatever context, but to be reminded that everyone is in a process, it's empowering and to read the narratives of these students, gave hope that change is possible.

"overrepresentation of Black males in special education classes" should be problematic. I read an article, which stated that black students are put in special education disproportionally. Since schools are incapable of providing language classes. Some black students are regarded as retard because they only have language problems. Black youth should not bear on criticism.

Education is their chance to change a life. But, ironically, they are still trapped in the same social status as their parents and grandparents, who have not received an education. It is because their schools are underfunded and lack enough educational service.

This can explain why the crime rate is high in some areas, because education related to identity development and future careers. Deprive people's right of education equals to take away their opportunity for better life. Thus, there would be more social problems.

Most of the PDs I attend, and sometimes school / staff meetings, always focus on such great ideas, but no concrete plan with how to follow through. We cannot continue to be all talk, no action.

This is powerful. Khaleeq continued to say that he should feel the way he feels in the community, in school. Schools should cultivate and embrace the 'whole child'.

Wow.. this really spoke to me. Education as a great equalizer for whom? It can be hard for students to prioritize their learning, or assignments or quizzes when they have an extreme lack of resources available to them. For example, we see many schools with 2-3 police officers in the building every day, yet they may have a nurse that comes in once a week. Where are the priorities?

From this first paragraph, I am completely hooked on what the rest of this paper will be about. I think about this all the time. Our Black and Brown students are brilliant and have so many different ways of showing their learning and skills, many of those ways are outside of what is considered "traditional" in a school setting

This is shows how impactful a simple project can be for a school. That by giving students these opportunities they might start to develop a new identity and develop counter narratives.

I think this is an important point. That you can be the most educated person in the world but you can still encounter racism. Education may help with economic status but that doesn't fix the prejudice embedded in society.

I think this is a very valid point. What happens when public education does not accurately prepare students for the real world. Students often feel like they are being prepared for prison because the conditions in the classroom or school often emulate those of prison conditions.

First hand accounts allow for accurate depiction of real life events. Some stories are told in different lights and from various perspectives.

This made me think of the HRL model and how important it is to choose authors that students can assimilate with. Not only will they connect with the writer but they will also allow for deeper discussions.

In the video, there was a statement that concluded students aren't ever learning the truth about Native lives or Thanksgiving because they introduce it and then they leave for break. There is importance in allowing literature to be read yearly, which brings their stories and history into the present and away from this holiday "break" as most students might only see Thanksgiving as time off of school.

This is the first time coming across this this terminology, "Critical Indigenous Literacies", but this is encouraging to see a term like this that gives voice to the stories and history being told. Although I think these are difficult questions to ask, I think educators need to be the first to ask themselves these questions of whose story is this, benefits from this story, and whose voices are not being heard so if they are able to read between the lines and open the floor for their students to do the same.

I just wanted to highlight the author of this article. In the video, she introduced herself with a back story of her teacher correcting her name from Debbie to Deborah. To my own story, I have had my name mispronounced, misspelled, and so on for my entire life, so it made me proud to hear her story and to have her parents stand up for her in that situation.

Teachers need to tell the truth which is important, also students have to recognize that native nation's existence.

Paolo Freire's banking model also pointed that schooling contributes to dehumanization and oppression, because teachers can decide which knowledge is valuable, and students are treated as passive learners.

CL encourages students read beyond the text, and begin to consider who are privileged and underrepresented?

This is a skill that we need to teach our students. They should be able to decode the text and beyond the text: what was the author's purpose for writing this text? What areas was the author successful and/or not successful?.

Teachers need to pose their values and reflect that in their teaching. In order for students to have better understanding of the Native American tribes' cultures students should be exposed to an array of books that provide them with information and allow them to critically think about the history. This should be the case for all marginalized communities. This also supports the idea that students should see their teachers as writers. Students can also become writers and share their experiments though different ways of writing.

I think that this is important because a lot of students don't actually know the history behind Thanksgiving. Taking this as a lead into centering Native people would be a good objective to obtain. Not only do we need to discuss Natives lives in the past, but also bring them to the present.

This brings in the idea of authenticity. I am working on a project that revolves around children's literature and their climate, and a big part of this project is discussing the racial/cultural background of the author, illustrator, and even audience.

Although a story may be told, it is also important to dissect how they are being told and by who.

Creating a diverse learning environment / material is not only sometimes, during specific times, or holidays. Creating a diverse classroom is something that should be actively worked at every day.

Being critical of the authors of our chosen texts is important in order to assure that our students are reading culturally accurate stories.

This is why critical literacy is important. We can and should question why only certain narratives are considered 'dominant'

I think this is an important point along with the rest of the paragraph. That the language we uses softens the blow of what happens. That this was another nation we took over and we act like they disappeared and treat them as a monolith when these people exist are some of the marginalized people in this nation. Marginalized to the point that they are often left out of discussions of people of color.

I think this is a very important point to dehumanizing Native Americans or depicting them as "savages". They had university, school, made complex calendars, and had advanced farming techniques. The idea of Native Americans as one monolith who never had a real civilization is propaganda.

Yes! It is so messed up to see the difference in how the media labels different ethnic groups. Despite the fact that a similar crime was made, the labels will always target the marginalized groups and place them in a negative light.

And not just Black Americans but any and all members of the marginalized community. It is devastating to accept that the media portrays people a certain way yet it is even more devastating to see people believing the false information being spread.

This is one of my biggest struggles working in education. In my spaces with white educators specifically, I'm constantly finding myself in conversations where they both infantilize AND adultify our Black students. In academic settings, these specific educators have such deficit thinking about what our students can and cannot do -- all based on negative assumptions about our students capabilities. However, in events with "behavior management," our students are adultified and are punished accordingly. It cannot be both, and it really shouldn't be either of those options. We should be treating our students as full humans with a wide range of capabilities while also recognizing that they are still children who need our guidance and support through love and high expectations -- not punitive reactions to disobedience of white supremacy.

I have noticed that on the news they usually always use pictures off of social media for black victims in comparison to a family or professional photo (school picture) for white victims.

This is incredibly frustrating because on top of students, specifically Black and Brown students, experiencing racial policing in the real world, many students also experience it in schools, a place that is supposed to be a inviting and inclusive and a place for them to let their guard down. We cannot build safe and brave spaces for students to have meaningful learning experiences if they aren't allowed to make mistakes or are always met with punitive measures for their mistakes. The same way that we judge "Karens" for calling police on BIPOC folx, teachers need to assess how they do the same thing when they call admin and SROs on students of color as a defense mechanism for their white discomfort.

What is a typical American boy?

Which is why it is so important to teach our youth to use their critical thinking skills and do their own research. That way, they can come up with their own opinions by taking other perspectives into consideration.

I was going to highlight a sentence earlier and question if there was going to be any learning and advocacy among the White student population. I think it is just as important to implement these tools with White students so that they can be conscious and play a role in getting rid of White supremacy.

"Invite" is the KEY word! Of course we want all of our students to partake in these discussions, but it should never be forced.

Reading this line, as an educator, made me feel at ease for just a second. Often times, I find it difficult to see that both students and educators face our own disparities and it is a constant battle, but we continue doing it, for the good of our students, ourselves, and society.

Twitter has been around for so long, but I barely started using Twitter only a couple of years ago. Twitter is one of the only platforms where I feel individuals are allowed to post anything in their interest, which a powerful movement of others who share the same interest standing behind them. Although news channels and etc. are still around, younger generations are starting to use spaces like Twitter, Instagram, etc. to get the attention they deserve.

When hearing stories like these, I am always in disbelief that people in the world will still defend actions with excuses such as "she had no respect". I have read a book by Dr. Kendi called How to Be an Antiracist and I believe media is a core part of society that needs to reframe how they tell stories especially for communities of color.

Critical media literacy plays an important role in shaping youth's world view. Youth learns to break up the stereotypes manipulated by mainstream media. Youth has to build rightness and justice by themselves.

Mainstream media often mislead people and ignore minorities. Critical media literacies is a good platform for people of color and other minorities to have a voice.

This is an example of Tenet Two in *The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Critical Witness and Testimony. As we engage students in witnessing their peers' testimonies, we can provide opportunities for them to be critical witnesses in rewriting these damaging narratives.

This reminds me of the Adam Toledo case. I felt like people was more coverage on why the officer did it and the pressure that got put on him to make a decision in a split-second, versus the young boy.

I think that it is crazy that Malcolm X is the one who said this because it is SO relevant right now. It is all over social media.

A lot of the times these ideas are thrown out but there is not a direct clear way to incorporate into our practice. I appreciate the concrete, detailed lesson plans that demonstrated how we can work toward racial justice in the classroom. I will definitely be using these with my students.

Now more than ever, social media is such a big part of the daily lives of the youth, which is why incorporating critical consumption in the classroom can be so important. I also agree that bringing up the idea of creating youth-produced media is equally if not, more, important.

I would be so interested to learn more about these, especially hip-hop based pedagogy

I think we have started to see this a lot within the last couple of years, especially with social medias like twitter, youtube, instagram, etc.

The production part of counter narratives is really important to shifting dominant narratives and countering white supremacist practices. By allowing our students to do this we get them to question the status quo and realize that they can be products of change which can be invaluable in the future.

I think one thing that is not brought up here is the deliberate altering of photos as well. In the OJ Simpsons case Time Magazine deliberately altered photos of OJ Simpson to seem darker and more menacing. This is in contrast to Newsweek which just used a photo of him unaltered. So there is the addition of deliberate choices by the media to negatively stereotype African Americans. Time Magazine also changed the image in response to backlash stating they had no racial agenda. Which may further bemoan the point they may even be participating in white supremacist practices unconsciously

This explains why addressing trauma in the classroom is not done as often as it should be. It is expected that we do it, but not mandated like Common Core is.

I was a senior in high school when Donald Trump was elected into office. Many teachers had very strong opinions about this, and many had different opinions about what should and should not be allowed to share with students. I distinctly remember one teacher, who had given her opinion specifically once (as to not center herself in the conversation), but gave all of us the space to listen, speak, cry, and work through our emotions about such a controversial election the day after the election. I understand the pressure that teachers have to remain neutral in political conversations with students, especially due to legality issues but also families who heavily condemn this. However, when students are experiencing trauma from current events and are turning to schools and trusted teachers for comfort, it needs to be our responsibility to publicly condemn bigotry, white supremacy, Anti-Blackness, racism, Islamophobia, and homophobia for our students. Especially when we are active members in a system that historically has harmed students from these marginalized communities.

Trauma is the first thing that we should be focusing on in the classroom but in order to do that we must first be able to recognize the trauma that we carry and that others carry.

This is very interesting because during my teacher preparation program here at UIC, we often were covering SEL and trauma-informed lessons, but I don't think anything can truly prepare teachers for the way our society is built on trauma of BIPOC folx. For example, many of our trauma-informed pedagogies are centered around student wellness and trauma they experience on a personal level, and while we may beat around the bush that the real problem are social oppressive systems and their impact on students, it feels very rare that we are examining how trauma is ingrained in every aspect of our society for Black and Brown children. For example, none of us were prepared to support students through the trauma of Covid-19, but the trauma that Black and Brown students are experiencing from Covid-19 is very different from the experience of many white families, and that is, again, because of the oppressive systems that we know of but don't fully examine as being the reason why students have so much trauma.

I've definitely seen SEL be more apparent in curriculum or pedagogy nowadays, but it is interesting to think of the certain role SEL plays in the classrooms. To put in perspective that we live in a broken world, and how should we matter in that world is an overwhelming statement, but crucial in order to get students to think critically about what that truly means today.

Even though its been more than a year, I still remember that initial feeling of when the news spread across the nation and tears, fears, and emotions were rushing through my body scared for those around me and the lives of those I cared so much for, it was a fear of their lives being taken away and it was something I was not sure how to confront.

Most teachers come into the profession with the intention of helping students emotionally (and academically). The harsh reality is that we are not always given the tools, time, materials, or resources to address these concerns in the classroom. Especially with all of the other demands put on us. To say that we are not prepared is a bit disappointing.

It regards the classroom as a supportive community. Traumas are not individually after being brought into the classroom, but a "collective imperative" that matters to many people.

Different people share different opinions of trauma, during this pandemic, some people gain more support from their communities, but others suffer more from pandemic. However, addressing these issues in classroom will help students build an understanding of the underprivileged and empathy with others.

I thought this was interesting. Is there tension because teachers do not know how to address trauma and healing in classrooms? Or are there tensions because it is done without purpose and intention? Or are there tensions because it is a difficult concept to address in classrooms?

In this time where technology, social media has become so valued in our students' lives, they are engaging in their own learning a lot outside of our classrooms. Some of these students are walking into my classroom teaching me something.

I think it is important to remember that educators should remain unbiased. We don't want to impose our own opinions (if any) on our students, as we are trying to teach them to have an open-mind in their learning.

It's true. Healing cannot be ended since we live in a society with so much uncertainties. We don't know when the pandemic will come to an end, we don't know when the racial equality will realize, but we can make sure that if we create a safety context for our students to share their fears and pains, that will help them to have a promising future, instead of falling into a precarious situation.

Reciprocating that vulnerability is extremely important, as well as always providing that invitation for students to share. I see so many connections in this paragraph to the Vulnerable Heart of Literacy

Although this is very different, I think that we can connect this to how it is returning to the classroom in person after being remote. A lot of students and teachers have experienced so much trauma since the pandemic began

I was in undergrad during this time and I remember professors sending emails addressing this and some even cancelled class

This should be a priority when it comes to creating professional development for teachers

I think this is an important reminder to ourselves and to our students. That it is important to be hopeful to our students but it is important to not lie to them. We need to have them engage with the world in order to make the world a better place.

This is an interesting idea. It very much reminds me of the TED talk video "Every Kid Needs a Champion.". The idea being that Kids don't learn from someone the don't like. It reminds me very much of a parent and child relationship or a mentorship. It just makes me realize just how important being a teacher is to a person. That we see kids so frequently that we can have a profound impact on them.

This is an important point for helping our students and people generally become more politically active and avoid indoctrination. Have them realize that maybe they are just repeating lines or ideas that they have heard. Are they engaging with the discourse that is happening or are they passively accepting it. This could also relate to the banking model of education. Remember education does not just happen in school.

This reminds me of Dutro's idea of Witness and Critical Witness. We are witnesses to our students testimonies, but a critical witness is one who takes action and advocates.

This is the power of literature!! We all share similar experiences with people who we think are different. We just need to dedicate the time to find those similarities.

This demonstrates one of the biggest challenges (in my opinion) as teachers. Every class is different, every year is different, and every student is different. Teaching is not "one size fits all". What works now, may not work in the future. What did not work before, may not work in the future. We are always growing and evolving, as are the students we teach.

This activity supports the sociocultural historical theory because the teacher provides students an opportunity from each other experiences and relate to meaningful topics of conversation.

Christensen poses her lessons/units around the topic of gentrification. She selects this topic because it is impacting her students lives in several ways. The way poses her lesson makes it appealing to her students and this lesson provides students an opportunity to be civically involved. This section reminds of Pose, Wobble, Flow: how to be a culturally proactive teacher in literature.

When teachers take the time know their students and select text that they can mirror themselves in they can engage in meaningful discussions as students as more likely to make connections and think beyond the text.

This reminds me of the book The Vulnerable Heart of Teaching because in order for meaningful discussions to take place students need to feel that they are in safe space to share. The same applies with writing.

Yessss! I love the way this educator organized her unit. It definitely allows for student centered discussion. Students need to feel seen, heard and valued first before they focus on their learning.

I can relate to this. My high school experience was completely filled with literature by BIPOC but not necessarily "traditional" literature.

This!! A lot of the times it can be so easy to focus on the flaws and not all the assets. Focusing on the 'brilliance' of the student, I think is similar to focusing on the 'whole child'

I stirve to be a teacher like this but I know it takes time and plenty of trial and error. I hope to be able to achieve the HRL model into my teaching one day.

I wonder what test scores she is referring to, whether it is standardized or just coming from the school. If it is standardized, I wonder how accurate the scores aligned to the students' skills.

Reading this, I was super surprised. To start off, I can't believe a title such as the "US West Outstanding Teacher of the Western United States" was given solely off a resume and answered questions, and not even an observation. I wonder if this award still exists? I also wonder what exactly they meant by disadvantaged, and if this was communicated to the teacher before the local paper published it.

This has to be the worst label to give to students. It leaves me feeling outraged at how the media can portray students who need support.

I feel as if often times, educators lose the sight of creating community for their students instead of forcing them into a community where they might not belong, which furthers the gap of the community we should be creating. This also highlights the quote where Christensen states "I moved in the right direction when I stopped believing that I was the one who knew and they were the ones who need to know". The students we work with hold funds of knowledge that can create the community they will thrive in the most.

I would highlight this entire paragraph and the one below, but this has spoke volume to me as an Asian American. I recall this past year as the world experienced traumatic events, one specific event being the incident in Atlanta, my professor prompted some time in his class for anyone to share their thoughts, emotions, etc., and I spoke to be heard. It was shocking to hear some of my peers did not even hear about this and weren't aware of the actual impact it had on our community. So I agree 100% with Christensen, in essence that students will connected to the experiences shared with them, they just need to opportunity of being exposed to those stories.

In the most recent book I read, similarly quoted that there remains a large gap between what we know or should know and what we actually do in classrooms and schools, so I am shocked, but not as shocked as I thought I would be reading this quote from Christensen. There is such a difference to those who have created theories/frameworks/models and those who actually have to practice/teach/approach in the classroom.

This part reminds me of the book "pose, wobble, flow"by Antero Garcia and Cindy O'Donnell-Allen, which suggests the "pose" or role of teachers as culturally proactive teacher, who will "wobble" over uncertainties despite the frustration, the "flow" to the right direction.

There is no "disadvantaged" students, but the "disadvantaged narratives and mandates". It's unfair to define our students just based on test scores which should not be the only evaluation criterion of teaching skills. This article centered on students as independent and equal individuals with great potential to success.

I think this is an important point. Though we may certain experiences because of our racial or ethnic history that does not mean that other people could not experience similar things. There are stories and experiences that are universal amongst the human experience.

I think this is an important paragraph because it points out that academic English can often times act as a barrier to acknowledging the true ability of our students. We may focus on the grammar or misspellings and mistake that for a lack of intelligence or ability when it's simply the hegemonic norm we continue to enforce.

I appreciate this so much. It is viewed as "radical" when really it is something that we should have doing all along. It is "radical" because now people are showing the importance of free write, when these students have been doing it behind closed doors all along. It is not "radical" for the people doing it, it is "radical" because we never paid attention to it.

Please check out the book "The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy: Centering Trauma as Powerful Pedagogy" by Elizabeth Dutro. This book gives insight on how to incorporate trauma through our everyday literacy practices.

So powerful! I think this sums up exactly what this whole initiative is about. It does not always have to be for a grade or for data, it is simply for students to be seen as writers.

How can we as educators advocate for more mentors in our schools? How can we implement more opportunities for parent involvement through a systematic approach?

I think this is so important! As teachers we have a habit of saying there is not enough time. The students are already practicing writing in different ways, it is up to us to support what is already being done.

My mind immediately goes to poetry and lyrics! SO many students are blessed with this talent and it never goes noticed in school!

Love this! Reminds me of the Freedom Writers. It is important for us as educators to take in consideration that all writing is writing!! Just because it isn't "academic" does not mean it is not important. It is important for us to highlight and honor all types of writing in the classroom.

This shows the importance in how our opinions as teachers are just that, opinions. Opinions are subjective and can truly harm a students overall academic success. We may view a student a certain way, but we only see part of the student. We do not see them outside of school and if we come up with our own conclusions, we may never even get the chance to allow them to open up. If this student felt comfortable enough to open up, his teachers would have known what he did instead of labeling him according to their opinions.

What a strong way to hook the audience. Such a thought provoking sentence. It is almost upsetting to think that even the students are aware of how they feel that they need to cover up who they truly are. As educators we know that school should be a place of authenticity, yet students are admitting that they can't be themselves.

What can we as teachers do to persuade our students to write for "themselves" and break that skill measuring narrative?

What are some ways teachers can create this classroom community at the beginning of the school year and main it through out year while addressing CCSS standards?

There are many different takes into what writing can look like. The multimodal opportunities that writing allows for is much more than paper and pencil.

The way teachers pose writing projects often lead students to writingcide (the loss of interest in writing) due to the standards they are trying to meet. What teachers should ask themselves is how can they foster student engagement, based on their students funds of knowledge, through writing in meaningful ways?

How the teacher perceives the student has a great impact on student's performance. The teacher has the option to view their students assets and build from them to make them successful or view them from a deficit perspective and not help them grow.

What does the child mean by "writing is like breathing"? Why is writing very important to them?

This reminds me of the idea of consistently providing students with invitations to voice their trauma and experiences, as seen in *The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy

Writing for Our Lives reminds me of Louder than a Bomb because it allows students to see the power in writing and using your own voice

Parent and community involvement can make such a huge difference in the school culture

I think this is a prime example of how beneficial it can be to allow students to present their writing and skills through different mediums

The reality is that violence and trauma has been a part of the lives of our young people for a very, very long time and it is sad to see it be normalized, so it is important to recognize that these experiences become apart of their identity, impact how they learn, how they retain, and especially how they will write.

The point of allowing a student to identify themselves as a writer, regardless if they see themselves as something negative, that is a starting point and that allows them to begin thinking of themselves as a writer alone, I highlight "from there, we move forward", because the process does not stop there and it's empowering to see educators understand how important this process is to students and their success.

This question is more reasonable. The way we encourage our students to become writers cannot only be evaluated by students' writing achievement, instead school should reconsider how to value our students as writers and help them with their writing potential.

Writing is not limited to classroom settings. It can happen at any circumstances with functions of healing people and demanding social justice. Aa educators, we should encouraged our students perform their roles as writers which will make our society become better.

Schools set boundaries for students' writing. Some works that meet the requirement are regarded as excellent, while the others are dismissed. What is the essence of writing? Is it functional? Schools plan to help students develop their writing skills but limit their potential. It is not the way to create good writers but good students.

This very much reminds me of Pose, Wobble, Flow where it was stated one should assume the pose of a writer in order to teaching writing and said similar things about cultivating a space where students have opportunities to write. It is similar in the considering the context of the students as well. I wonder if the author would include social media in this new form of writing.

I think this shows the practice of just doing actions daily and encouraging one to become a writer instead of just writing. By becoming a writer they are likely to increase in skill every day. However, in school we can often discourage this type of behavior by having students write in only set spaces.