Putting Anti-Racist Literacy Instruction Into Practice

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Course Description: 

Level up your work to “Disrupt the Canon” in your classroom with this new mini-course designed to shift your practice toward more relevant, representative, and equitable text selection and use! You’ll walk away with an understanding of how the #DisruptTexts principles are applied in preparing for and implementing literacy instruction in your grade-band--as modeled by Lorena Germán, co-founder of #DisruptTexts. By the end of the course, you’ll have an action plan to use tools to bring anti-racist, text-based instruction to life in your classroom that is grounded in the four pillars from #DisruptTexts.

Most widely published, used curriculum and materials do not authentically center Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and multilingual learners. This often leaves both students and teachers feeling frustrated and disconnected despite their desire and efforts to find the relevance that would allow them to thrive. The work of #DisruptTexts offers 4 Pillars for transforming education through literacy that we’ll use in the course to shape your learning and application:

   1.   Continuously interrogate our own biases and how they inform our thinking.
   2.   Center Black, Indigenous, and voices of color in literature.
   3.   Apply a critical literacy lens to our teaching practices.
   4.   Work in community with other antiracist educators, especially Black, Indigenous, and other educators of color.

Your learning will be organized into three “bite size” asynchronous modules (totaling 4 hours), including talks featuring #DisruptTexts co-founders Lorena Germán and Tricia Ebarvia, and content specific to the following grade bands: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. You will have the opportunity to connect with and learn from other course participants, and make a plan to carry this work forward into your ongoing work. The course will culminate in a live Q&A with Lorena Germán. For more information, please see the course brochure. 

Registration for this session is now closed. Please sign up for our emails or follow us on social media for updates about future sessions and related opportunities.

  • Course Details

    Duration:  4 hours self-paced course with a 1-hour live Q&A session

    Course Dates:  03/06/22  - 05/01/22

    Cost:  Free

    Primary Audience:  K-12 Literacy teachers (or those who support them)

    Certificate:  After completing the three modules in this course, participants will receive a professional learning certificate for 4-hours. Participants will also have the opportunity to receive an additional 1-hour certificate for attending the live Q&A session. Please reach out to your school district to ensure they will accept these certificates. See the accordion below to review the requirements, pacing, and syllabus. 

  • Course Requirements

    To earn your certificate showing 4 hours of professional learning, participants must successfully complete the following:

    • Review all course content, including videos and readings.
    • Complete all embedded interactive activities, including discussion boards.
    • Submit a closing survey, including a reflection of your experiences in the course.  
  • Course Pacing

    This course contains three, self-paced asynchronous modules. Modules will be released on the following dates: 

    • Module 1: Sunday, 03/06/22
    • Module 2: Sunday, 03/20/22 
    • Module 3: Sunday, 04/03/22  

    Coursework for all three modules must be completed by the course close date on Sunday, 05/01/22 in order to receive your professional learning certificate. After that time, course content will remain available to you, but certificates will not be offered.

  • Course Syllabus

    Module 1:  The 4 Pillars & Text Complexity
    Overview: In this module, participants will be introduced to the 4 pillars of #DisruptTexts by two of its co-founders, Lorena Germán and Tricia Ebarvia. Participants will draw connections between the 4 pillars and the upholding of grade-level texts to plan relevant and rigorous literacy lessons for students. 

    Objectives: 

    • Identify the 4 pillars of #DisruptTexts, including an understanding of what #DisruptTexts is and is not
    • Reflect on a text you’ve taught for connections to the 4 pillars and the shift of text-complexity
    • Review and critique a text-analysis tool for connections to the 4 pillars and the shift of text complexity

    Module 2: Book Talks - Anti-Racist, Text-Based Instruction
    Overview: In this module, participants will explore grade-band examples (K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) that show how the 4 pillars of #DisruptTexts can be applied to grade-band-specific texts, as modeled by Lorena Germán. Participants will be introduced to a #DisruptTexts planning tool to practice selecting texts and creating lessons based on the 4 pillars.

    Objectives: 

    • Watch at least 1 Book Talk video for the grade-band of your choice and record evidence of the 4 pillars
    • Reflect on your own assets, experiences, biases and/or knowledge gaps that may affect the teaching and learning of chosen text and topic

    Module 3: Application & Community
    Overview: In this module, participants will apply their understanding of the 4 pillars and text complexity to plan a text-based lesson using text(s) of their choice and contribute to a growing bank of resources for the course community.

    Objectives: 

    • Engage in a planning process for your own text(s) in service of planning anti-racist literacy instruction
    • Reflect on your process and connect with other educators to support learning 
    • Add to and explore the course resource bank

    Closing: Live Q&A 
    Overview:  In this live closing, participants will have the opportunity to engage in a Q&A with Lorena Germán from #DisruptTexts. Participants will be entered into a raffle for the possibility of receiving Lorena Germán’s book Textured Teaching: A Framework for Culturally Sustaining Practices.

    Objectives: 

    • Submit questions for Lorena Germán and SAP facilitators based on your experience in these modules
    • Plan for how you will carry this work forward in your own classroom/context and school community 
    • Attend live Q&A Session with Lorena Germán & SAP: April 27, 2022 @ 7:00-8:00pm EST (Recorded video available for participants who are unable to attend live)