"Welcome to EdTechAfterDark! Our community was born out of discussions for a rich EdChat type gathering for those of us who are thinking about the digital edu-landscape long after the sun has gone down. For us night owls, when the clock strikes 10PM EST, you’ll find us on Twitter over at #edtechafterdark. All are welcome! Our discussions range from our philosophies about EdTech, digital best practices, and simply sharing our stories." --www.edtechafterdark.com
Welcome to #EdTechAfterDark! Tonight I am joined by my best buds @danvkoch and @MrLeonard8 as we discuss education, race, and what it means to be a "Woke Educator"!
Alex here from Citrus County, FL where I’m an AP @LecantoHigh...my favorite Twitter Chat other than #EdTechAfterDark has to be #BmoreEdChat... it’s a great example of how social media can be leveraged for positive change regionally...(and that’s comin’ from a guy from Pittsburgh)
James joining in from South Texas... Instructional Technology...It's been a minute since I've been on #edtechafterdark 👏🥇🙌 Check out the #urbanedchat on Thursdays with @theignitEDteach
Hey y’all! I’m caitlin, a 4th gr teacher at a @newtechnetwork school in @ManorISD! And here I must be honest...I don’t actually have any other twitter chats I actively participate in consistently. I need suggestions people! #EdTechAfterDark
A1: I think it's listening to all sides of issues, in order to fully understand them. Then making sure you have the facts to back up your own beliefs. #EdTechAfterDark
A1 Woke means no longer ignoring issues that ultimately shape how are social justices and injustices work...They are brought to light... #edtechafterdark
A1: Staying woke for me (a beneficiary of white privilege) means consciously seeking out truth outside of my own culture and context. I lean on the genius of others to shine a light on what I’m missing. This requires the ability/humility to know you don’t know. #EdTechAfterDark
A1: as a white person, “staying woke” means watching & reflecting on my thoughts, words, & actions toward scholars/coworkers of https://t.co/WkWcch4U9G means giving a voice to those who are silenced & amplifying that voice instead of speaking over it. #EdTechAfterDark
I think being "woke" is a state of consciousness about one's own biases and privilege. Constantly troubling and interrogating myself - I can only control me - for how I am contributing to or perpetuating inequity. #EdTechAfterDark
So ... are we talking about social issues that are often taboo? while I want to learn more, I often find issues of race, religion, culture, & economics challenging to discuss b/c of offending others #EdTechAfterDark
So this is how I feel ... I find myself recognizing hidden biases and having conversations with students about them in an effort for us to create solutions #EdTechAfterDark
I agree though I do think we can easily fall into unintentionally perpetuating power differentials by framing our work as "giving voice" to others. I hope to create space for others' voices. I love this quote that really drives home the role of power in wokeness. #EdTechAfterDark
A1: Staying woke means staying alert to injustice, cultural appropriation, and white supremacy and being ready to check some people. #WokeEd#EdTechAfterDark
Great opportunity for vulnerability. No one, no matter where on the woke spectrum, has arrived, though I notice many like to spend time measuring just how woke others are. To show your students where you are growing/struggling, makes it ok for them to do same.#EdTechAfterDark
#Edtechafterdark Q1 - Being 'Woke' is being able to experience cultures other than the one I was raised in with open non-judgmental eyes. Listening rather than talking is big part of it.
Joining late from Connecticut. SUCH an important topic.
A1) "Being woke" means understanding the true structural nature of isms, particularly racism, but "woke" has become overused. It shouldn't be a badge of honor. Most of us still have a lot of learning to do. #EdTechAfterDark
When coming together to discuss issues, we may not always get the meanings, vocabulary, and or norms right because we just don't know them...That cannot be used as an excuse for not having the discussion though #edtechafterdark
Thank you for that reflection on word choice! I often use the term “give a voice” in regards to my scholars. But it’s not mine to give. It’s theirs to proclaim. #EdTechAfterDark
A1: Staying woke for me (a beneficiary of white privilege) means consciously seeking out truth outside of my own culture and context. I lean on the genius of others to shine a light on what I’m missing. This requires the ability/humility to know you don’t know. #EdTechAfterDark
Wow. Powerful. And the reality is when white educators enter this space we must be cognizant to differentiate between being an ally and appropriation. We’re not “giving” anyone a voice. We’re linking arms and entering this fight together. #EdTechAfterDark
I read ahead to @danvkoch ?s coming up. It's a fun concept that illustrates a phenomenon by which people judge other people. I need 100% time to work on me to be authentic and an advocate and a raiser of the questions that need to be raised. I think it's Q4! #EdTechAfterDark
A2 I think it would become a self-fulfilling prophecy ... we should look for the truth and teach all students the appropriate behavior in learning situations #EdTechAfterDark
A2: It quickly grows into the students thinking less of themselves and perpetrates the negative cycle of learning that carries beyond the walls of the classroom #edtechafterdark
When coming together to discuss issues, we may not always get the meanings, vocabulary, and or norms right because we just don't know them...That cannot be used as an excuse for not having the discussion though #edtechafterdark
For me, I have to negotiate time ... my students (some for the social injustices of the past) lack so many skills that I tend to focus on standards & provide the best environment - i use my own flaws to address issues #EdTechAfterDark
A2: Even as a AfAm T, I have to check myself. What is the Asian S or White S doing? If they are doing the same thing, then I need to do a class reminder. #EdTechAfterDark
A2) It can be devastating. And being "woke" (or whatever less trendy term you want to call it) means understanding that entire history. It's not good enough to say "I'm not biased," "I don't see color." The kid has experienced racism and you have to deal with it. #EdTechAfterDark
A2. It’s a big reason that Ts are frustrated when it seems that some of the Black males “have a chip on their shoulder.” Wouldn’t you after 18 years of that mess?! #EdTechAfterDark
#edtechafterdark Q2 Any type of close monitoring will cause the subject to question the situation they are in and/or possibly start to meet the expectations, positive or negative. Basically, students will act the way we 'expect' them to unless we try to remove monitoring/bias.
A2: Here is the full study. Book mark and read (or listen)... the only way to address implicit biases is to first acknowledge their existence.
https://t.co/CA18yHlGuG#EdTechAfterDark
Hi - a little late. Chris Morett. I assign and also help design classrooms at Rutgers Univ. Part of our active learning initiative. This is my first-ever chat! (Hard to break away at night!) #edtechafterdark
Great opportunity for vulnerability. No one, no matter where on the woke spectrum, has arrived, though I notice many like to spend time measuring just how woke others are. To show your students where you are growing/struggling, makes it ok for them to do same.#EdTechAfterDark
A2: Even as a AfAm T, I have to check myself. What is the Asian S or White S doing? If they are doing the same thing, then I need to do a class reminder. #EdTechAfterDark
A2: I can’t even imagine the kind of impact that would have on a student growing up, to know they are not trusted, to live life constantly on alert, defenses ready to protect themselves...life-changing. #EdTechAfterDark
Thank you for that reflection on word choice! I often use the term “give a voice” in regards to my scholars. But it’s not mine to give. It’s theirs to proclaim. #EdTechAfterDark
A2 Ss begin to see themselves as being different from their peers rather than seeing how much they have in common...They become apprehensive and non-trustworthy...The Ts to Ss trust connection is a vital part of how a Ss sees themselves #edtechafterdark
A3. Seattle used to do random busing (with race as a tiebreaker). It was THE ONLY TIME that the opportunity/achievement gap got smaller. Busing matters. #edtechafterdark#educolor
Would you say staying woke is more about awareness or action? What if your awareness exceeds your ability to act (due, say, to test-driven curriculum.) How to overcome the barriers to enacting your woke-ness? #EdTechAfterDark
I’m only one of 2 black teachers in a school of over four hundred students. It will be quite likely that some Ss will graduate from HS never having a minority teacher or only one in their school career. #EdTechAfterDark
A3: My students literally walk the halls of history. Up until the 1990s, my HS was the "black" HS until a court order forced a consolidation. Now my school is the magnet program, which for a number of yrs we were mandated to be racially balanced. #Edtechafterdark
I’m trying to find ways my sts can use words (instead of their fists or anger) to address prejudices. Challenge is great when offense feels grand. This year, I discovered I can’t fight their battles they need a way #EdTechAfterDark
A3:Racial segregation is happening even in classrooms that are (at face value) diverse. Through what @chrisemdin calls “Classroom Colonialism” teachers predetermine what Intelligence looks/sounds like. Students are forced to lose their identity to reach “success” #EdTechAfterDark
And one of the tricky aspects of activism is that we have a vision of a different world, but we cannot by force of will realize that world. We have to invite and create conditions and forgive and make mistakes and keep going and never stop and never lose sight. #EdTechAfterDark
A3) I don't work in a school, but as a child, I was in a very white district; in a class or 296, there might have been a handful of African Americans. So when we had an English lit class called "Cry of the Minority," we brought limited perspectives to it... #EdTechAfterDark
A3.2: Working in rural SC in a high poverty district has made me more aware of the injustices that take place in the classroom. Any one heard of SC's "corridor of shame?" (https://t.co/OXmmX8pWPH)It's a reality that should not be happening in today's schools. #Edtechafterdark
A3 I teach sts with liw literacy - sadly, most are sts of minority bkgds... I wonder if their skills resulted from behavior challenges that “threw them out of class” instead of helping them #EdTechAfterDark ... another reason I do not want to write a referral
A2 perpetuates the negative cycle. Instead of focusing on challenging behavior...how about focusing on positive behavior or a success. There is some in every Ss. #edtechafterdark
My 6 year old white son asked me last week, “Why are there brown students in my class but no brown teachers?” Kids recognize more than we give them credit for. Students should see themselves in the myriad of teachers they have through the years. #edtechafterdark
I’m only one of 2 black teachers in a school of over four hundred students. It will be quite likely that some Ss will graduate from HS never having a minority teacher or only one in their school career. #EdTechAfterDark
This. Is. So. Deep. "They can only be smart when they are not who they are." As we exhort Ts to get to know Ss, in some ways we are fast-tracking this if we don't premeditate how to respond to/understand what they learn about Ss. #EdTechAfterDark
Wasn’t till college that I could talk about race in an educational setting with people who were actually a different race. So my true understanding—my very education about a major sociological construct—came later than it should have. #EdTechAfterDark
A3 I was one of 3 black Ss in my Elem School...My Kinder Teacher would always tell me that I mattered and that she cared...Even if I didn't know what it meant at the time...Shout out to Mrs. Crawford 🙌👏 #edtechafterdark
Yet we are the cause of this (tchrs of middle-class, majority status) ... how many of our minority students (or their parents) are having (had) a positive HS experience that would encourage them to become teachers? 😞 #EdTechAfterDark
Good questions. I do believe it describes awareness, but it doesn't change much without action. But that action is often simply speaking out in the face of intolerance, and being courageous enough to make the case for what you have learned. In school or in life. #EdTechAfterDark
Would you say staying woke is more about awareness or action? What if your awareness exceeds your ability to act (due, say, to test-driven curriculum.) How to overcome the barriers to enacting your woke-ness? #EdTechAfterDark
A4: I’m somewhere between ally and activist... I want to move from merely saying “I got your back” to risking more of my comfort and privilege in the name of fighting for change. #EdTechAfterDark
A3: I have taught only in Title 1 schools, including DAEPs, & in juvenile detention. I’ve seen disparities in furniture, supplies, rigor, & support. #EdTechAfterDark
A4 I don’t know where I am on the scale honestly but not very high but working on it. Just because you’re a minority doesn’t mean you’re woke and that you don’t perpetuate the same beliefs of the those not woke.-if that makes sense #EdTechAfterDark
A3 I was one of 3 black Ss in my Elem School...My Kinder Teacher would always tell me that I mattered and that she cared...Even if I didn't know what it meant at the time...Shout out to Mrs. Crawford 🙌👏 #edtechafterdark
#edtechafterdark Q4 - I am unsure. To be completely honest, I just keep reading and listening as much as I can to as many people of different backgrounds to my own that I can. I think continuing to engage and listen will keep me moving forward.
This is what motivates me every morning. I believe we have to grow leaders who create uplifting liberating learning spaces for adults AND students so they grow up LOVING school and wanting nothing more than to teach and learn and empower. #EdTechAfterDark
It does. In fact, the study of preschool teachers noted that the implicit biases of the teachers were not race-specific. Both white teachers and minority teachers possessed negative implicit biases towards the black male Ss they’ve been called to serve. #edtechafterdark
So... "anger" is a feeling, right? All feelings are what they are, neither bad nor good. If their anger is acknowledged, particularly when justifiable, I wonder if we'd ever even be talking about behavior. They'd have an ally. #EdTechAfterDark
But hopefully our reflective natures are helping us to improve the future as we learn from the past instead of choosing to erase it 💜💜💜 i know I want to become a better human & a better tchr esp in this area #EdTechAfterDark
A4: I would hope somewhere of an "upstander" side of the spectrum, where I am willing to stand up for the injustice and help teach my students to stand up as well. #edtechafterdark
That’s the decision we came to ... be angry, address the issue with people who can do something about it ... use your voice to make change 😍 #EdTechAfterDark
So... "anger" is a feeling, right? All feelings are what they are, neither bad nor good. If their anger is acknowledged, particularly when justifiable, I wonder if we'd ever even be talking about behavior. They'd have an ally. #EdTechAfterDark
A5: Last night @BetsyDeVosED showed us all how NOT to do it. We have to first call institutional racism what it is before we can begin to chip away at its impact. #edtechafterdark
It's not ABOUT you, per se, but I worry about potential for misinterpreting "this isn't about you" as "this has nothing to do with you." Because the story we are writing together about our future should eventually become about US. #EdTechAfterDark
A5 Head on ... I often ask them to explain a new term to “this old, white lady.” They smile at me then tell me ... we laugh together! I ♥️ my students! #EdTechAfterDark
Change begins with ourselves, and if we're lucky, it extends to our children. If everyone changed themselves, there'd be no one left to perpetuate racism. Changing the system (and world) is daunting. But we'd get there by instilling in others the power to change. #EdTechAfterDark
And one of the tricky aspects of activism is that we have a vision of a different world, but we cannot by force of will realize that world. We have to invite and create conditions and forgive and make mistakes and keep going and never stop and never lose sight. #EdTechAfterDark
I’m only one of 2 black teachers in a school of over four hundred students. It will be quite likely that some Ss will graduate from HS never having a minority teacher or only one in their school career. #EdTechAfterDark
A3: My students literally walk the halls of history. Up until the 1990s, my HS was the "black" HS until a court order forced a consolidation. Now my school is the magnet program, which for a number of yrs we were mandated to be racially balanced. #Edtechafterdark
A3 went 2 a HS that had only 3 African American teachers& mostly white Ss. Today, I work at a school with the a very diverse staff of Hispanic, Asian, African American, Indian, and white serving a largely Hispanic Ss body with equal %white & African American. #EdTechAfterDark
A5: Constantly finding ways to bring in varied instructional resources into my classroom. Also I've learned just being honest with the students. We learn from each other and grow together. Be willing to have those tough, honest conversations with each other #edtechafterdark
We must educate individuals; not eradicate them. Love them; not shove them... We’ve got to acknowledge that there’s a wrong way to be right... this is not easy work... #edtechafterdark
And one of the tricky aspects of activism is that we have a vision of a different world, but we cannot by force of will realize that world. We have to invite and create conditions and forgive and make mistakes and keep going and never stop and never lose sight. #EdTechAfterDark
A4: I appropriate a lot. That is the main area I need to work on. It is hard for me to choose silence when I feel “entitled” to speak (white privilege anyone?). I need to be cognizant of those instances & work harder to make choices that stop centering me. #EdTechAfterDark
We are exploring what this means at the leadership level. What does a culturally responsive approach to community engagement look like? What does our language convey to parents abt our hopes/expectations for Ss, for them, for ourselves? #EdTechAfterDark
My 6 year old white son asked me last week, “Why are there brown students in my class but no brown teachers?” Kids recognize more than we give them credit for. Students should see themselves in the myriad of teachers they have through the years. #edtechafterdark
I’m only one of 2 black teachers in a school of over four hundred students. It will be quite likely that some Ss will graduate from HS never having a minority teacher or only one in their school career. #EdTechAfterDark
One of the areas I have addressed is Parent/Teacher Conference Night ... based on the middle class working schedule ... most of my parents work the 2-11 shift not the 8-4 #EdTechAfterDark
A4) The challenge of answering this is it implies there's an end. Through work, I'm more accustomed to the Courageous Conversations "compass" -- not linear, but trying to meet others at the center. I expect to be working toward that center the rest of my life. #EdTechAfterDark
A3 I was one of 3 black Ss in my Elem School...My Kinder Teacher would always tell me that I mattered and that she cared...Even if I didn't know what it meant at the time...Shout out to Mrs. Crawford 🙌👏 #edtechafterdark
A5:I’d like to revisit this blog post I penned nearly 2 years ago... I’ve learned a lot since then and would love your feedback if you have the time...
https://t.co/mK3QAn2YaJ#edtechafterdark
A4 no idea where I fall on the spectrum. But I assume there will always be room for growth. building relationships w/ my Ss so I understand where they are coming from & knowing my Ss r fighting battles I have not experienced would help my wokeness increase. #edtechafterdark
Makes me think of the effective distraction of "white tears." This work is supposed to be hard. It needn't bring sympathy. It's growth. #EdTechAfterDark
It's not ABOUT you, per se, but I worry about potential for misinterpreting "this isn't about you" as "this has nothing to do with you." Because the story we are writing together about our future should eventually become about US. #EdTechAfterDark
