[e]nglish Language Arts teachers have the privilege and responsibility of nurturing the reading and writing lives of students, and that means honoring what is in their hearts and on their minds but that also means teachers must nurture their own reading and writing lives so that they know how to ethically do the work; this podcast navigates the being and becoming a teacher of youth who are navigating the language and the art of reading and writing their worlds (shout out to Paulo Freire).
*I deliberately did not capitalize the "e" to welcome all art and language within.
On day 26 of #VerseLove, a celebration of poetry for National Poetry Month with teachers, I invited writers to try the count up or count down framework for spoken word. There are over a dozen on Ethical ELA.com, but a few of the writers accepted by nudge to record their voices by way of acknowledging that many of our students connect better to ideas through their voices rather than their hands, i.e., actual writing or typing. And in this way, but speaking our ideas, we celebrate the benefits of multimodal writing -- text, gesture, audio, video, and space. We become proximate when we put our voices into these spaces and listen to one another. Enjoy.
1 Mar 2020
3. Reciprocity and Agency in Writing with Allison Berryhill
Welcome to Ethical ELA, a podcast about teaching English language arts, emphasis on language and art. I am Sarah Donovan, founder of Ethical ELA, and in this episode I talk to Iowa educator Allison Berryhill about reciprocity in writing and her experience hosting the February 5-day writing challenge. Be sure to listen all the way through to hear two poems that will fill your drive to work this Monday morning with joy and inspiration.
For more poetry ideas from Allison and to read poems written by English teachers across the country, stop by Ethicalela.com. We hope to write with you during the next 5-day challenge with Michigan teacher Jennifer Jowett, which begins March 14th.
And remember what Annie Lamott says:Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life; they feed the soul. And don’t we all need a little soul nourishment today? Be well, teacher friends.
What I Have I Lost by Allison Berryhill
I did not lose a breast.
I lost my passport.
I lost the diamond from my engagement ring.
I lost the photos of the trip to France
The summer I was 16.
The same summer I lost my friendship with Ann.
But I didn’t lose my breast.
The right one
No longer here
Tissue disposed as
Human waste
Burned in the incinerator at the University of Iowa.
It’s gone, to be sure.
But I gave it, willing sacrifice.
Not a loss
My soft and tender cup
Of motherhood,
womanhood
Identity.
Its loss (not loss!)
Is as precious to me
As the breast itself
Ever was.
14 Feb 2020
2. What is the monthly 5-day writing challenge?
In this episode, we will discuss the monthly 5-day writing challenge. This will be our eighth month, and the next 5-day challenge begins tomorrow!
I talk to a valued member of the challenge, Glenda Funk, who hosted our December challenge. Glenda is an NBCT with an MA in English literature. She taught English and speech 38 years and worked as an adjunct instructor for Idaho State University and the College of Southern Idaho before retiring in August 2019. As part of the NEA Better Lesson Master Teacher Project, Glenda developed a full-year curriculum for teaching seniors, which is free on the Better Lesson website. Glenda blogs at https://evolvingenglishteacher.blogspot.com/?m=1
1. How did you get involved?
2. Why do you do it each month?
3. What was unexpected or surprising?
4. Advice for new participants.
I have learned so much from the teachers who join each month, and I learn a lot from the hosts. Glenda introduced me to, among other things, the Fib or the Fibonacci poem. It is all about syllables and rhythm -- 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. This is the one I wrote. 20 syllables, 11 words.
Go to Ethical ELA.com for more information about the 5-day challenge and while you are there, click around for ideas about developing writing workshop in your classroom, a choice reading program, middle grade and young adult book lists, and how to minimize grading and improve feedback-based assessment practices.
Hips
sway.
Beyond
iliac
crest, ilium curves
distend barren. Decanted verse.
6 Feb 2020
1. Library Day with Toni Morrison and Friends
In this episode, I share with you the first page of my to-read book pile.
[e]nglish language arts teachers are generous, selfless people who dedicate all their time and energy to their students, sometimes at the cost of time with family and self-care. So much of that is due to the heavy teaching load and extra curricular expectations of teachers. What, then, happens to our own reading and writing lives? How are we to share new voices in literature and stories from our own writing lives when they are dormant during the school year?
Well, in this podcast, I bring the literature to you. Perhaps you will meet a new author today or be reintroduced to an old friend. In any case, let these words nurture your love of story and celebrate the language and art of these authors' craft.
Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye (1970)
Jasmin Warga's Other Words for Home (2019)
Mariko Tamaki's Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (2019)
Lisa Moore Ramée's A Good Kind of Trouble (2019)
Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House (2019)
5 Feb 2020
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