Addressing Holidays in the Classroom with an Anti-Bias Lens

By Makai Kellogg and Sara Beshawred
On Saturday, November 18th, the Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group met at the Teaching for Change office. The group focused on addressing holidays in the classroom with an anti-bias lens.

Hair Representation in Children’s Literature

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice, Communities for Just Schools Fund, and the Early Childhood Initiative at the National Museum of African American History and Culture offered a workshop on hair representation in children’s books on November 2, 2019.

Teaching Stories, Anti-BiasMykella PalmerDecember 2, 2019SY19, Cierra Kaler-Jones, Children's Books, Smithsonian, NMAAHC

Launch of Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group 2019-2020 Cohort

We are excited to announce the launch of the DC Area Educators for Social Justice network's second annual Anti-Bias Early Childhood Working Group, a collection of classroom educators, librarians, social-emotional specialists, non-profit directors, teachers trainers, and arts educators experienced and committed to anti-bias education.

Talking to Young Children About Disabilities

Last May, Teaching for Change’s D.C. Area Educator’s for Social Justice, hosted a session for early childhood educators on teaching about disability. There was a variety of educators and specialists in attendance including therapists and teachers of inclusive and self-contained classrooms. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerOctober 8, 2019SY19, Teacher Author, Professional Development, NMAAHC, Makai Kellogg, Smithsonian

Educators Reflect on Anti-Bias Early Childhood Education Working Group

On the morning of Saturday, June 1, members of the Anti-Bias Early Childhood Education Working Group met at the offices of Teaching for Change for the final session of the year. The working group met monthly throughout the school year to provide feedback on children’s literature, support teacher growth and development, and collectively create new curricular resources.To culminate the year together, they gathered for a final workshop focused on Teaching About Family Structures and Fairness. Read more >>

Powerful Day at the Antiracist Book Festival at American University

On Saturday, April 27, 2019, the Antiracist Research and Policy Center held the First Annual National Antiracist Book Festival at American University in Washington, D.C. Among the hundreds of attendees were Teaching for Change staff and a board member. In addition to being mesmerized by the panel presentations throughout the day, we had the honor of offering a teacher workshop in the afternoon. Read more >>

Teaching How to Combat Hate: Drawing Lessons from Stories of Survivors

“The mainstream news media often covers the perpetrators of hate crimes, but seldom do we hear the voices of survivors,” Arjun Sethi explained to the close to 20 educators gathered for a workshop on his book, American Hate: Survivors Speak Out (The New Press, 2018). The workshop was held on the evening of May 9, 2019 at the historic Thurgood Marshall YMCA. Teachers arrived to a beautiful spread of humus, grape leaves, baklava, and more delicious food donated by the Virginia based Mediterranean Bakery and Café. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerMay 13, 2019SY19, Challenge Islamophobia, Author Events, DC, MD, VA

Middle School Gender Neutral Alliance and Youth-Led Gender Sensitivity Training

Middle school students at Capital City Public Charter School and educators Lapeta Solomon and Mrs. Amanda Yeager have formed the school's first Gender Neutral Alliance. Lapeta Solomon is the 8th Grade Inclusion Humanities teacher at Capital City Public Charter School and a 2018 Education First, SEL Innovation Award winner for her work in founding the MS Gender Neutral Alliance and Gender Sensitivity Training for teachers and staff. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerMay 7, 2019SY19, DC, Professional Development, Middle School

The Struggle Continues: How the Endings of Children’s Literature Create False Narratives of Social Movements

We all know what “The End” means when reading a children’s book. The story has concluded. The last sentence of a book can also indicate to a reader that there is closure. But what are the consequences of that closure when it comes to books about ongoing social movements? Isn’t there always more to the story? Or is the struggle for justice over? Read more >>

NMAAHC Family Day

The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Early Childhood Education Initiative hosted a Family Day on Saturday, April 13th inspired by the the museum’s first children’s book, A is for All the Things You Are: A Joyful ABC Book, written by Anna Forgerson Hindley and illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo. Each child in attendance received their very own copy of the book to take home! Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerApril 17, 2019SY19, Children's Books, Event, Smithsonian, NMAAHC

Exploring the Black Lives Matter Principles in an Early Childhood Classroom

Over the course of two weeks, an early childhood teacher explores each of the 13 Black Lives Matter Movement guiding principles with her students through discussion and read alouds.

Books Spark Discussion of Hair in a 5th Grade Classroom

In my 5th grade ELA class at Munda Verde Bilingual PCS, each day during the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, a family member from our class came in and described what Black Lives Matter means to them. With gallery walks and dialogues, students became experts on the 13 guiding principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Students Read "This Is the Rope"

Ashley Chu read This Is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson in her Kindergarten class in D.C. for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.

Julian is a Mermaid

Preschool students in Makai Kellogg's class at School for Friends explored the guiding principles of queer and trans-affirming during a story-time reading of Jessica Love’s Julian is a Mermaid .

"Black is Beautiful" Theme for Early Childhood

Maureen Ingram’s early childhood PK3 class at Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS launched the Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action with activities around the theme “Black is Beautiful.”

Early Childhood Teachers Prepare for Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action

We hosted two sessions for D.C. area early childhood teachers in January to prepare for the 2019 Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action. Read more >>

Exploring Representation of Native Americans in Children’s Literature

During Native American Heritage Month, more than 25 teachers and librarians from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia spent the morning of Saturday, November 10 reading and critiquing children’s literature about Native Americans. The event was hosted by Project Unlearn and Teaching for Change's D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice at Eaton Hotel. Read more >>

Anti-BiasMykella PalmerNovember 15, 2018SY18, Professional Development, Children's Books, NMAI

Exploring Gender, Bias, and Stereotypes in Children's Literature

On Saturday, June 2nd at the beautiful Halcyon Arts Lab fifteen early childhood educators gathered to discuss gender, bias, and stereotypes in children’s literature. The session began with a community building activity through storytelling. Read more >>

Educators Explore Race and Representation in Early Childhood Literature

On Saturday, May 19th at the beautiful Halcyon Arts Lab, forty D.C. area educators met to discuss how to address issues of race, representation, and history in developmentally appropriate ways. Read more >>

Pre-Schoolers Learn to Be Allies

My three and four-year-old pre-school students and I read the book One by Katherine Otoshi and discussed what it means to be a bystander and ally as well as addressing restorative justice in the story. The children drew pictures inspired by the book. The text is their words describing what they drew.