Social Justice in a Digital Age

Dusting of the blog for a student work post I am so excited to share.  For those who aren't familiar I teach at an amazing Chicago Public School, National Teachers Academy, that is unfortunately set for closure in a real-life social justice issue. Learn more here.  The bottom line: my school is a majority low-income, majority Black neighborhood school that is also high achieving.  Even with the facts about my school and its success, there is also a narrative about schools like the one I teach in.  That narrative is that schools in low-income neighborhoods with students of color are factories of drill and kill work, only core or tested subjects are taught and focus is only on test scores. Now, add technology to that mix and you have a common story of kids plugging in to do low level work or more test prep to boost scores in schools that serve students like mine.

In fact, Standford research would agree when it comes to technology implementation:

“Application in low-income schools typically involves a “drill and kill” approach in which computers take over for teachers and students are presented with information they are expected to memorize and are then tested on with multiple choice questions.”

“In more affluent schools, however, students tend to be immersed in more interactive environments in which material is customized based on the students’ learning needs and teachers supplement instruction with technology to explain concepts, coordinate student discussions and simulate high level thinking."

But, I am writing this to tell you, more is possible, more is necessary and our kids deserve the same high-quality experience of their peers regardless of their socioeconomic status or zip code. I am so proud to work in a school that works daily to create a just school and just classrooms. First, I teach a daily full class period to fourth graders with a focus on social studies or science. Although this seems simple, in other schools that teach students like mine, I can tell you this does not happen. In this project, my students had access to a culturally relevant text to read and study from to learn about the civil rights act of lunch counter sit-ins. My students have access not only to technology but use it regularly to create, collaborate and think critically.

I want to share their work, not only because its amazing and powerful, but also so the people who are working to close this school and don't see it as a big deal, I want them to see what they are shutting down. I want others who think kids should focus on test scores and only reading and math that more is necessary. 

This work below is what my students completed as a final project after reading March by John Lewis.  They learned in depth about the death of Emmett Till, the courage of Rosa Parks, the organization and power of SNCC and the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They saw the power of young people who organized against injustice and won.  They were able to determine the event from the text for their movie's topic and then students were able to work together to find images that would be used for the film.  Finally, they used their technology skills to put themselves into the historical events they were teaching about in their movie.  The work took planning, time, discussion and revision. It was a big undertaking. It was well worth it. They now see what is possible from young people, both from the past and in their own classroom.

I hope that you will share this work, but I would ask that you keep in mind this work belongs to my students, they should be credited.  I ask that you share their work on social media to change the narrative about students in urban schools. I ask that if you want to tell their story, please reach out to me personally, here or on Twitter.