Bending The Arc December 2024

A Social Justice Newsletter for Educators

The Practice Factory

It happens sometimes when I’m leading a line of students down the hall, 1st grade or 4th or perhaps 3rd, I stop. The line is especially noisy. I turn around and wait. The group quiets. We resume walking and immediately the chatter picks up again. I face them again with that raised eyebrow teacher face that says, “Really?” Maybe I talk about why we bother trying to be quiet as we walk the halls, maybe I don’t. It might be that I let the group keep walking and then lead us on a second lap - back up the stairs. This usually gets their attention. By the time we’re walking down again, the line is relatively quiet and we reach the gym, where students may run shrieking into the space. That part is allowed.

Worth running into the gym for. (Spelic)

Practice is about purpose.

I often say to students, “we’re a school, we practice.” Practice involves repetition. Over time we develop routines and habits that become, if not automatic, at least familiar. In an ideal world these habits and routines are building towards something. At the elementary level I consider it scaffolding for self-control and self-regulation. While the process can at times feel like nitpicking, there is a method behind it. Practice does not require perfection. It does, however, foster the conditions for improvement, growth and eventual ease.

I share this example as a reminder to you and myself that even as my thoughts may travel across vast terrains of earthly problems, it’s these mountains of interactions with students and colleagues across days, weeks and years that both anchor me in community and push me to keep seeing the world as it is. Schools are sites of ongoing rehearsal. Education is the business of practice, practice, practice.

As educators, it makes sense that we would ask ourselves periodically: “What is it we are rehearsing? Which kinds of ease are we practicing towards?”

This year of our Lord 2024 has certainly tested all those of us who gather in the name of social justice of any kind. The larger forces of concentrated wealth, power and violence have seized center stage in ways that confound even the most hearty of activists. Fighting the good fight becomes an increasingly difficult proposition when you feel like you are fighting all the time and the margins of good seem slimmer. What can we observe about our “Rehearsals for Living” (Maynard and Simpson 2022) under these circumstances?

For this final edition of 2024 I invite you to have a look at some of these offerings. Not everything may appeal and that’s OK. There are no gift guides, countdowns or ‘best of’ lists. Rather, you’ll find a mixed bag of options which I hope will provide sustenance and comfort at the end of yet another trying year.

December’s Travel Bag of Incentives

To listen: Zach Stafford interviews Chase Strangio, the first transgender person to argue before the Supreme Court of the United States. In this interview, Strangio explains the case in clear layperson’s terms. He also describes how recent legislative attempts to remove trans people from public life translate to preliminary steps for rolling back all of our rights to bodily autonomy. Remember, trans rights are being challenged, stripped or denied across many parts of the world. Our vigilance in protecting trans and non-binary rights needs to be wherever we are. Trans rights are human rights. Period.

To watch: An oral history of Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, the scholar credited with the development of the mirrors, window and sliding glass doors metaphor for representation in children’s literature. If you were not yet aware of her tremendous influence in the field, you can remedy that right now!

To practice: Accessibility habits. Whether writing alt text for your images or considering the font size and form on your presentations, “Designing for Diverse Learners” offers suggestions that will enhance the likelihood that all readers, viewers, listeners will be able to receive your message.

To sit with: “Watching the AI Hype Bubble Deflate” by David Gray Widder and Mar Hicks. I cannot in good conscience allow us to step into a New Year of gen AI promises that cannot be kept without steering us towards thoughtful, well researched critique. I’ll also add that the data centers used to power gen AI have an outsized negative impact on the earth’s resources.

To put things into perspective: Savvy data visualization can make abstract topics comprehensible. This interactive illustration of extreme wealth is both impressive in its execution and infuriating in its implications. (Excellent discussion fuel for class, btw.)

To try: Darebee workouts. Staying physically fit presents challenges for most of us. We know we need movement and that it doesn’t have to hurt to make a positive difference and still, it can be a struggle. Check this:

“The Darebee Resource is an independent fitness resource run and maintained by a small group of volunteers and fitness professionals. Here we make fitness accessible, make training fun and make a healthy lifestyle easier to start and maintain – on a budget. We believe that fitness is not a privilege, it should be made this accessible for everyone - not just people who can pay for it.”

To appreciate: Black women making music. There are so many top artists to enjoy and recently the NPR Tiny Desk of Doechii dropped. She’s a rapper, so prepare for the expletives AND let yourself be wowed as I was by her all Black women band and their phenomenal range and musicianship. Last summer I was drawing strength from Janelle Monet’s Age of Pleasure. Looks like Doechii is about to change my tune for 2025. (Pay attention to “Black Girl Memoir”.)

Friends,

However you spend the last weeks of 2024, I hope that you find joy, rest and wellbeing. Happy Holidays, if you celebrate. All the best for the New Year 2025! I’m rooting for you!

Take good care,

Sherri