Looking Back: A Reflection on Celebration of Writing and Literacy 2013
by Maja Almquist
On Saturday, November 2nd, I attended The Philadelphia Writing Project’s Celebration of Writing and Literacy. The morning began with a powerful introduction given by Anissa Weinraub, a practicing teacher in the School District of Philadelphia district of Philadelphia. Anissa’s speech was articulate, sensitive, and more than anything, a call to action. She detailed the harsh realities that we are facing as educators and asked the audience to question: what is the role of a teacher? The difference between static forces (such as poverty, truancy, and unemployment) and dynamic forces (things teachers can “change”) in regard to student achievement becomes an important factor when answering her question, since basic problems in schools reveal the other crises happening in cities. “Teacher effectiveness,” Anissa said ays, has become a hot topic of conversation, since school officials and policy makers have begun using “effectiveness” as a scapegoat – placing a huge amount of responsibility on teachers by saying that a dynamic teacher who knows his/her content can overcome all odds against them. But, can we? At what point do we begin to confront systems of power collectively to create a world that promotes equity and fairness, true democratic participation, and self- and community-knowledge and actualization? She helped the audience to realize that by working together, we increase the odds of creating a world that we all want to live in.
The first session I attended, titled “Unleashing Digital Poets in Grades K-2,” was helpful in pushing me to consider the various ways in which teachers can (better) incorporate technology in classrooms. Natalia Mykytiuch, also a practicing teacher at Henry C. Lea Elementary school, useds an “I am From” poem to incorporate the digital platform of iMovie in her Kindergarten classroom. Using a social justice lens, adapted from a Linda Christensen model of education, Mykytiuch explained how “I am From” poems can create a space in which all voices are heard despite the flat curriculums ( should this be curricula) and teaching-to-the-test strategies that educators are forced to implement due to increasingly strict standards. This session caused me to reflect upon my own practices and identify various activities (and strategies) that I hope to implement in my classroom someday. Using examples and personal accounts, Mykytiuch helped me to understand the importance of incorporating students voices through stories and poems.
“The Students Out Loud: Sharing Student Writing through Digital Storytelling” session provided a wealth of resources for publishing and sharing student work. To begin, we examined an article about the dangers of digital medias in classrooms; many teachers are unaware of the detrimental impact that media may have if used incorrectly. In many instances, blogs are used in classrooms in a closed way: teachers first post a question and subsequently, all students respond individually without opportunities to collaborate. Similarly, many teachers resort to “counting slides” in PowerPoint presentations as a form of assessment, which actually limits creativity. Although teachers are well-intentioned, uses of technology become about the “cool factor,” since many educators unknowingly use websites and social media solely because it is new and exciting, not because it promotes critical thinking. Overall, this session forced me to think about my own uses of technology and how to use it them in a classroom to promote student achievement and foster relationship.
The Philadelphia Writing Project professional development was a wonderful experience overall. Anissa Weinraub, as well as the sessions that I attended, helped me to put much of what I have been learning in my classes into context. I left the workshops feeling motivated and eager to put theory into practice while also questioning how I can better both myself, the school I work in, and the community I serve.
Maja Almquist is a Graduate Student in the RWL program at the University of Pennsylvania. She attended the 2013 Celebration of Writing and Literacy.