{"data":{"ID":839,"Class":"Conversation","Created":1540041561,"CreatorID":4735,"RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"Opening Our Eyes to What We Can\u2019t Imagine: Storytelling","Handle":"opening_our_eyes_to_what_we_can-t_imagine--storytelling","ShortDescription":"Truly dynamic educational experiences help students break out of the boxes society puts them in; as teachers, we can help by empowering them to tell their stories. You\u2019ll leave this session with some ideas about how to help your students tap into and share their most powerful memories and experiences.","Description":"In several past iterations of a public speaking class I teach, the topics students have chosen to write about (race\/ethnicity, gender\/sexuality, religion) have tended to diminish their own unique experiences in favor of a broader identity. This has, ironically, tended to move them further away from, rather than closer to, acknowledging the kinds of shared experiences that connect us all. This past fall I took a different approach, asking students to write about events in their lives that have helped to define who they are, now. Fortuitously, this altered direction coincides with the broader questions being raised by my school and district; specifically, what does it mean for a teacher to be responsive and sensitive to the specific experiences of the students in their classroom?\r\n\r\nIn this session, I will recount the evolution of my approach to student speech writing, noting in particular the shifts I\u2019ve made over time in an effort to encourage passion and authenticity in the presentations. I will also explain why the objective has evolved from wanting simply to build confidence within my students to using the speeches themselves as a way to communicate something important about how each student sees and experiences the world. We\u2019ll take a look at the writing assignments and classroom activities I\u2019ve developed with this aim in mind. I\u2019ll show participants examples of the student work that has come out of these assignments and activities, highlighting both successes and opportunities for continued growth. Participants will walk away with tools that they can use in their own classrooms to provide students with the opportunity to share their stories.","Link":["http:\/\/www.nycischool.org\/"],"Audience":["High School"],"Practice":"We will adapt two NSRF protocols (Last Word and Multiple Perspectives) so that teachers can grapple with and respond to an excerpt from Zaretta Hammond\u2019s Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain.\r\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\r\nThe Last Word protocol will be used after each participant reads the Hammond text. When they\u2019re ready, participants at each table will take turns sharing one quote from the text and why the quote made a strong impression on them (in no more than 2 minutes). Then, each of the other participants will get up to 1 minute to respond to the quote and what the presenter said, the purpose of the response being\r\n\r\nTo expand on the presenter\u2019s thinking about the quote and the issues raised by the quote,\r\nTo provide a different look at the quote,\r\nTo clarify the presenter\u2019s thinking about the quote, and\/or\r\nTo question the presenter\u2019s assumptions about the quote and the issues raised (although at this time there is no response from the presenter).\r\n\r\nFinally, the presenter has one more minute to have the \u201cfinal word.\u201d Now what are they thinking? What is their reaction to what they heard?\r\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\r\nThe Multiple Perspectives protocol will be used to encourage participants to think about what it looks like to build community and arrive at shared understanding in a classroom.\r\n\r\nParticipants will introduce themselves\u2014name, point of view. The facilitator points out that point of view can be broadly defined\u2014\u201dwoman\u201d or \u201cAfrican American\u201d or, more narrowly, \u201cfirst-year teacher\u201d or \u201csecond-year teacher.\u201d \r\n\r\nParticipants are encouraged (and helped) to select their identifying perspectives according to the group\u2019s purpose. Clearly this involves judgment, but no one\u2019s self-selected perspective should be argued with; however, all should be willing to negotiate. It must be stressed that we all have multiple ways we could describe ourselves and, for the purposes of the protocol, we will settle on one or two. E.g. \u201cI am a principal who is committed to the 10 Common Principles.\u201d (7 minutes)\r\n\r\nThe facilitator then presents a question which has emerged from the work of the group or which has emerged as an important one to the group. E.g. \u201cWhat does it mean to understand the world from another person\u2019s perspective?\u201d (3 minutes)\r\n\r\nAll write their first thoughts (5 minutes)\r\n\r\nEach participant, in turn, gives their preliminary thinking on the question, prefaced with their point of view: \u201cFrom the point of view of a first-year teacher, I think\u2026\u201d (10 minutes)\r\n\r\nThen there is a second round, with each person giving their thinking based upon what they heard from the other participants: \u201cHaving heard all of the other points of view, I now think\u2026\u201d (10 minutes)\r\n\r\nA final round to reflect on the quality of the responses: \u201cI noticed that my\/our responses\u2026\u201d (15 minutes)\r\n\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\r\nAfter the initial presentation and the two protocols, the group will come together as a whole and share their final thoughts on the role storytelling can play in the classroom.","Presenter":["Tom Jones"],"PresenterAffiliation":["NYC iSchool (H.S. 376)"],"PresenterEmail":["tjones@nycischool.org"],"ScheduleSlotID":110,"ScheduleLocationID":12,"SubmitterID":4735,"AdditionalComments":"I would like to present during Session 1 on Saturday to accommodate my travel plans.","LiveChannel":null,"Hashtag":null,"VokleID":null,"RecordingURL":null,"ConferenceID":8}}