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PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CONFERENCE FOR EDUCATORS BY EDUCATORS
SPONSORED BY
EDxEDNYC SESSIONS 2019
Attendees at EDxEDNYC can choose to attend whatever sessions they want during the day.
STUDENT VOICE-THEMED SESSIONS
Turner
Vivett Dukes + Whitney Hollins
Hidden Among Us: Identifying and Supporting
Children With Incarcerated Parents
SESSION OVERVIEW
2.7 million kids in the US have an incarcerated parent. As educators, we need to learn how to best support this "invisible" population. Many educators are unaware that they have students with an incarcerated parent in their classroom. When we as educators become more knowledgable in area of mass incarceration and it's collateral damage, we become better pedagogues. Two educators who have direct experience with familial incarceration, will lead a discussion which provides insight into how mass incarceration intersects and affects with the classroom and how we can best service all our students.
HOST BIO
Vivett Dukes (nèe Hemans) is in her eighth year as a middle and high school English Language Arts teacher. For her first four years in the DOE, she taught in an all-male, all minority, urban public school in Southside Jamaica, Queens erected for the express purpose of counteracting the pervasive school-to-prison pipeline that disproportionately impacts Black and Brown boys. Currently, she is teaching in a College Board middle and high school also in Jamaica, Queens where the population of students she serves is diversified on cultural, religious, and socio-economic planes. During her time as a teacher within the New York City Department of Education she has served as a member of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Teacher Advisory Council 2014-2016 cohort, a classroom lab facilitator with Chancellor Carmen Fariña's Learning Partners Program, grade team leader, inquiry team leader, English Department Chairperson and Bethune Teaching Fellow for the New York Urban League. Currently, in additional to teaching seventh-grade English Language Arts, she serves as a Lead Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI) Reading Across All Disciplines (RAAD) Literacy Teacher, Advisor for the New York Times' Upfront magazine and Scholastic Inc., educational blogger for New York School Talk, and Co-CEO/Co-Founder of SpeakYaTruth.org and One Voice Online Blog Magazine. She also hosts a bi-weekly #SafeSpaceConvos Twitter chat about issues as the forefront of education. ​
Whitney Hollins, Ph.D., is a special education teacher. She has experience working with students who have been classified as learning disabled, intellectually disabled, emotionally/behaviorally disabled and speech/language impaired. Hollins is also an adjunct instructor in the special education department at Hunter College, where she instructs graduate-level students. She has a doctorate in the Urban Education program from the CUNY Graduate Center.
Marla A. Sole, Tashana Samuel, Laura Fritz +
Iliana Calderon
Building Resilience: Empower Students to
Overcome Setbacks with a Growth Mindset
SESSION OVERVIEW
Students are often prematurely ready to give up faced with an academic challenge. Learn how to foster a growth mindset to help your students overcome obstacles and excel. Some students believe that intelligence is fixed and that academic skills cannot be developed. However, students who have a growth mindset believe that their abilities can be strengthened, leading them to work harder and become more resilient to setbacks. Given the benefits of having a growth mindset, in this presentation, we will discuss how teachers can encourage students to adopt a growth mindset making them more persistent problem-solvers and, ultimately, with greater persistence, more successful. Faculty and a Student Success Advocate will share strategies they have used to encourage a growth mindset including how the topic was introduced and reinforced in class. Attendees will also gain insight into the student perspective, describing the shift in attitude and how confidence was boosted. It is challenging to adopt any new habit, but seeing how habits connect to performance, students reflected on how beneficial their old habits were. Students gradually came to realize that believing one had the ability to master a challenging academic subject was tremendously helpful.
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HOST BIO
Dr. Marla A. Sole is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Her research interest include STEM persistence and diversity, statistics education and financial literacy. Dr. Tashana Samuel is an Assistant Professor of Psychology. Laura Fritz is a Student Success Advocate. Ilinan Calderon is a community college student. All presenters are interested in growth mindset as a way to foster student success.
A to Zine: Using Zines in Your Classroom
SESSION OVERVIEW
Have you heard of a zine but have no idea what it is or why it exists? Come to A to Zine, a practical, hands-on workshop where participants will be introduced to a variety of zines, learn about their history, and how to facilitate zine-making in the classroom. Participants will create their own one-sheet zine. Teachers are thoughtful creators; they are constantly constructing their curriculum and reflecting on their teaching practice. Despite this, teachers are given few opportunities to reflect and collaborate. In this zine workshop, teachers will have the opportunity to create an 8.5 by 11 zine that is accessible to students of all backgrounds.
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HOST BIO
I am the Librarian at Blue School. My project-based learning pedagogy - on topics such as feminism and podcasting - has been featured on EdWeek, WNYC, and the New York Times’ Learning Network.
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ONLINE
@lalawinn
Laura Winnick
Christina Roberts
+ Athena Fliakos
Body Talks: Culturally Responsive Teaching
Using the Common Language of the Body
SESSION OVERVIEW
Our investigation begins with the beating of the heart, notices the shape of the breath, and ends in a clarification of not just culturally responsive teaching, but totally responsive teaching. Come discuss the most obvious and often overlooked common language, the language of the body!
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HOST BIO
Christina is an English teacher turned three-time former Principal who has served high needs and underserved students in East New York, Canarsie, The Bronx, and most recently, in the Capital Region of New York. She is passionate and persistent in developing instructional models that connect every part of the human to her/his deepest wisdom by connecting and applying learning through the improved body awareness, greater mindfulness, and unfettered confidence to achieve high personal standards through service to others.
Athena is an English Teacher turned three-time Teacher Talent Developer and Instructional coach committed to re-imagining the business of teaching and learning by building totally responsive environments that celebrate and empower students and teachers to become their own champions through a series of frameworks built on the connection between mind, body, spirit, and service to others.
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ONLINE
@thegoodbrain
Low Floor, High Ceiling: Teaching Math for All
SESSION OVERVIEW
In this session, we will explore teacher moves that encourage all students to participate. The goal is to set up questions that all students can discuss (low floor) and then take it as far as the students can go (high ceiling). Participants will get to play with and discuss problems from elementary through the high school level. Math rules! All students deserve the chance to feel excited about mathematics. This session is focused on the ways in which we can structure our classes and discussions toward that end.
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HOST BIO
I have been teaching middle and high school math for over 13 years and am still excited about it! I am currently teaching high school in Ithaca, New York.
ONLINE
@shaunteaches
Shaun Errichiello
Who's Classroom is it Anyway?
Let's Get to Know Our Students to Optimize Learning
SESSION OVERVIEW
How hard do we try and know our students? Optimal classroom experiences occur when students feel empowered and seen. When we work at fostering relationships while still setting boundaries, students become even more open to learning. In this session we will share beliefs and best practices when it comes to the role of relationships in student learning.
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HOST BIO
To come.
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ONLINE
@DanaFerraro
Dana Ferraro
Tiffany Michael, Wanda Hercules, Savina Henry
The Power of Their Questions
SESSION OVERVIEW
During this interactive session, participants will engage in the Question Formulation Technique process which fosters the opportunity for authentic student learning through the inquiry process. If educators are ready to take a leap, this session is sure to push them beyond their zones of comfort by arming them with a greater sense of confidence in their own pedagogical practices. This session is for bold, daring and risk-taking educators who are ready to relinquish the need to control all the learning which takes place within their classroom by using a strategy which is proven to cultivate equity, and excellence through increased student engagement for all learners. .
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HOST BIO
Tiffany Michael began her teaching career as a New York City Teaching Fellow 15 years ago. Tiffany has a deep commitment to ensuring that all students have access to quality educational opportunities that equip them for success in the world as lifelong learners. This passion had lead her to her life's calling to support students with diverse learning needs as a Special Educator. Tiffany's journey has afforded her the opportunity to work with children from elementary through High School in both the public school and charter school sectors. During her tenure she has served in numerous leadership capacities. She currently works as a 4th grade ICT and SETSS teacher as well as the Special Education Liaison and new teacher mentor at the George E. Wibecan Prepatory Academy in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She aspires to continue to grow as an educational leader and is committed to championing the cause of ensuring equity and excellence in all schools and for all children.
My name is Wanda Hercules. My Journey with NYCDOE began in February 2014. I am a Special Education Teacher, currently teaching a fifth grade self-contained class. I am also a model teacher, a position I have had for two years. In addition it is my first year as a mentor for new teachers. I am a firm believer that all students can learn despite their individuality. To ensure that each student is given equal opportunities to realize their academic potential, their instruction should include: differentiation to appeal to different modalities and scaffolding. As an educator, I have many goals that I aspire to achieve. In addition to molding the impressionable young minds that are entrusted to me each year, I am committed to developing myself as a leader in education, one who supports: pedagogues, students, and their families.
Savina Henry, an IEP and SETSS Teacher at Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School in Bedford Stuyvesant Brooklyn, has been a Special Needs Educator for the past 16 years. Savina, with a passion for teaching and learning as a classroom teacher, grade leader, new teacher mentor and teacher leader has supported students and colleagues in achieving successful academic and professional gains. As an IEP Teacher she has also been afforded the opportunity to support parents during IEP meetings by explaining placement recommendations based on academic, behavioral, and social emotional needs. Savina recently completing her advanced certificate in School Building and District Leader hopes to use her achievements to continue to support students, teachers and parents in fostering equity and excellence for ALL.
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Work-Based Learning: Student Perspectives
SESSION OVERVIEW
Work-based learning is a term we use all the time but what does it mean for students? Interact with students with a variety of experiences and share your own efforts to create real-world work experiences for students.
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HOST BIO
Ms. Groebner is a teacher at Hudson High School of Learning Technologies.
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Ruth Groebner, Corey Carter, Anthony Brens
Celebrating Linguistic Diversity in ELA Classrooms
SESSION OVERVIEW
Do you speak more than one language? Do you ever use slang? Do you code switch depending on your environment? Our students do, too. There are as many dialects, accents, and languages as there are students in your classroom. Despite the linguistic variation in school environments, Standard English remains the default in most academic settings. The expectation that all students will speak, read, and write in Standard English one hundred percent of the time results in language-based prejudice that lowers students' confidence in their ELA skills. In this session, we will discuss and develop strategies to honor our students' unique language abilities. Our activities will be geared towards ELA teachers, but teachers of any subject area are encouraged to attend if the topics interest you.
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HOST BIO
Stephanie Manaster is an English/Humanities teacher who is passionate about celebrating language, encouraging social justice, and keeping a sense of humor in the classroom. She is a Southern California ex-pat and her favorite book to teach (so far) is The Handmaid's Tale. She also loves cheese.
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Stephanie
Manaster
Cultivating Student Racial Equity Leaders
The Coalition On Racial Equity at RepCo HS
SESSION OVERVIEW
Want your students to engage in courageous conversations about race? Want your students lead these conversations and have racial equity permeate their daily existence? Join our CORE (Coalition On Racial Equity) advisor and student representatives in an engaging discussion about the work we have done in our school community and ways to implement this work in yours. Your students are waiting: leave this conversation with more tools to lead students and build capacity in your students to work toward disrupting racism in your school, community and the world.
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HOST BIO
Keeshon Morrow is the Assistant Principal and Director of Theatre at the Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts and the advisory for CORE (Coalition of Racial Equity). Keeshon has been at Repertory since 2011 where he has helped to shape the school culture, academic and artistic excellence for students. He is an experienced teacher and facilitator having worked extensively with the NYC DOE Office of Arts and Special Projects planning and presenting professional development for theatre teachers across this city. Most recently he has worked with the District 2 High School Superintendents team as a member of the Equity Think Tank and ally for the Student Equity Leaders. Keeshon is a proud graduate of the Leaders in Education Apprenticeship Program (LEAP), The City College of NY Program in Educational Theatre and Otterbein University. Jedidah Pacheco is a sophomore in Repertory Company High School and an founding member in CORE (Coalition of Racial Equity). Dorothy Maskara is a sophomore at Repertory Company High School and is an active member of CORE (Coalition Of Racial Equity) and Girl Scouts of Greater New York. Jordan Hampton is a senior at Repertory Company High School for Theater Arts. He is one of the founders of CORE (Coalition Of Racial Equity) at Repertory and is a strong advocate for racial equity and the disruption of racism. Jordan has spoken about CORE to numerous school principals at the District Principals Conference, and students at various other schools at CORE summits. He is very thankful for this opportunity to be able to share one of his many passions with more educators.
Keeshon Morrow, Jedidah Pacheco, Dorothy Maskara
Brandon Corley
SESSION OVERVIEW
When our kids said "we won't use this in real life" we challenged them to take over and determine what they need to learn! As school becomes more and more detached from the real world (Even our airplanes now all have wifi, but schools are still often tech free or tech limited), the student experience prepares them less for the skills they need to be successful in college and careers. At South Bronx Community, we do the most to make the student experience feel real. Our Think Tank Challenge positions students as curriculum designers. They take the syllabus for each course and design their own learning projects that they present in a Shark Tank style pitch event to start the school year.
HOST BIO
Brandon Corley is the Academic Director of South Bronx Community Charter High School. Before joining SBC he served as Program Manager for NYC Men Teach, an initiative to recruit and retain male teachers of color for NYC public schools. Brandon is a founder and former co-leader of EPIC South High School in South Ozone Park, Queens. Previously he was a mathematics teacher in New York City, Philadelphia, and Chicago. He is a graduate of Chicago State University with a BS in Mathematics/Secondary Education and Baruch College, earning a MA in Educational Leadership. Brandon is an established leader, teacher, and child advocate. He was born and raised in Chicago and represents the Englewood community of Chicago’s Southside with great pride.
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Learning IRL
Scott Fowler
+ Sue Foote
SESSION OVERVIEW
Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School will be discussing and displaying their cross-curricular project that culminated in a transportable 32-foot interactive art installation based on the African American Illustrators. After students asked why all of the artists they studied in school were white, the project unfolded. The result was the unfolding of an amazing story of how the Civil Rights movement came to be, and started with the birth of the Black Press in 1827 with the publication of the first African American newspaper that was published literally steps from the Chelsea CTEHS school.
HOST BIO
Scott Fowler is an art teacher at Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School.
Sue Foote is an English teacher at Chelsea Career and Technical Education High School. ​
LOCATION:
AUDITORIUM
Illustrating Black: Student Project Celebrating
The African American Illustrator
Christopher
De La Cruz,
Delvon Glover, Sarah Bowen, Jeannette Bautista, Christipher Fleming
SESSION OVERVIEW
Find out what happens when you focus entirely on fostering a sense of belonging amongst students and staff in the first week of school. The first year of high school is a “make or break” year. A growing body of research indicates that passing ninth grade courses is a better predictor of graduation than test scores, family income and race. Most high schools have responded by focusing on heavy academic support for their ninth-grade students. However, at South Bronx Community Charter High School, we have chosen a different approach based on research that demonstrates the link between sustained academic achievement and a student’s sense of belonging. SBC, a start-up school completing its third year, is reimagining ninth grade orientation by holding off on academics in the first week and focusing entirely on building community through socio-emotional support. SBC’s one-week Summer Bridge Orientation fosters a sense of belonging amongst all students and staff through daily activities leading to a final project that promotes shared vulnerability and self-expression with a trauma-informed lens. This workshop is an interactive simulation of our first-year orientation where you will personally experience the impact of belonging, by walking through specific activities you can use to foster community at your school. Plus, you’ll have a self-portrait to take home! Experience how you can build the bridge for belonging at your school this year.
HOST BIO
Chris De La Cruz is a social justice educator, storyteller, and comedian originally from Dayton, Ohio. He received his MA in English Education from New York University and currently works as a Founding Youth Development Specialist at South Bronx Community Charter High School. Most recently he has been featured on Refinery29 (in a Know Your Rights game show), The Food Network (accidentally slicing his finger on a cooking competition), and SXSWedu (as the 2018 Keynote Speaker with The Moth). You can catch all of his antics on IG @chris_dlc_
LOCATION:
AUDITORIUM
The Bridge! Fostering Belonging in the South Bronx
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