Earlier this week, we explained the importance of and reason for selecting our next #ILAchat theme, Equity and the Inclusive Classroom. Our Twitter chat will take place on December 14 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Today we want to tell you more about our partner for this chat, Teaching Tolerance, as well as the amazing team of Heinemann Fellows who are cohosting our discussion.
Teaching Tolerance’s mission is to reduce prejudice, improve intergroup relations, and support equitable school experiences for all children. It is the organization’s belief that schools must educate all students for full participation in a diverse democracy.
Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators—teachers, administrators, counselors, and other practitioners—who work with children from kindergarten through high school. From antibullying resources to advice on discussing gender identity to lessons on media literacy and fake news, Teaching Tolerance is an invaluable website for teachers.
Our five cohosts come from a range of backgrounds, but are all members of the current class of Heinemann Fellows. Applications are now being accepted to be a Heinemann Fellow for 2018–2020.
Anna G. Osborn, an ILA member since 2008, is an award-winning reading teacher at Jefferson Middle School in Columbia, MO. Osborn is a National Board Certified Teacher who recently contributed to the September/October issue of ILA’s member magazine, Literacy Today.
Aeriale Johnson serves children and their communities as a kindergarten teacher at Washington Elementary School in San Jose, CA. Prior to moving to California, she taught in rural Alaska for 11 years and Florida for eight years. Johnson’s research focuses on both exploring and eliminating word poverty and the impact of the vestiges of colonialism on public school education in rural and urban settings throughout the world. In 2016, she traveled to India to work in government schools to deepen her understanding of said topics. Johnson is a National Board Certified Teacher. She served on the ILA Rural Diversity Committee from 2012–2014, and has presented at the ILA Conference and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Convention.
Kim Parker supervises preservice teachers at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, MA. Her research explores the literacy practices of young black men. She is currently writing an action research study about her efforts to de-track ELA classes by increasing the numbers of students of color in honors English classes. Parker was named a Literacy Champion by the Massachusetts Literacy Council. She is the cofounder of the annual Educators of Color Conference and has held leadership positions for NCTE and the New England Association of Teachers of English.
Educator, researcher, and advocate Tiana Silvas is a public school teacher in New York City. In addition to her current position at PS 59 Beekman Hill International in Manhattan, she has spent the majority of her career as an upper elementary school teacher and literacy coach in the South Bronx. Her work in the South Bronx helped lay the foundation of critical literacy and culturally responsive teaching that constructed her classroom framework to be inclusive, to be responsive, and to embody an active social justice stance.
Tricia Ebarvia is a high school English teacher in Berwyn, PA. A deep believer in student choice and inquiry, Ebarvia uses a workshop approach to help her students read for freedom and write with purpose. She is codirector of the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project, where she facilitates graduate courses in digital literacy and teacher inquiry. As a Heinemann Fellow, Tricia's action research identified ways in which K–5 literacy practices could be used to further adolescent literacy, and currently, she is studying critical literacy strategies that encourage students to become more socially conscious readers. Tricia has published in English Journal and blogs regularly for movingwriters.org and pawipblog.org. Find her online at triciaebarvia.org.
We’re excited to feature these diverse and knowledgeable educators for our #ILAchat on this important and timely topic. We hope you’ll join us tonight, December 14, at 8:00 p.m. ET for this Twitter chat!
See you there!
Wesley Ford is the Social Media Strategist for the International Literacy Association.