Dear Governor DeSantis, you can't study Women's History without studying Sexism and Race.

 

Imagine if Governors, Think Tanks, and Politicians, just let teachers teach.

We have these Read-A-Thons at our CCSU Literacy Center. We read, we ware our pajamas, eat tons of popcorn, are not allowed to sit on chairs. We take Gold Medal Reading Challenges, where we earn Gold Medals for reading and sharing what we are learning. We have them every month. Don't tell the children, but are pushers of SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) and choice. Don't tell any policymakers either, they have a hard time with the idea of choice and SSR. 

The above image to the untrained eye, may look like children having fun dropping parachutes off the balcony in our Henry Bernard Annex right outside our CCSU Literacy Center. Some find it difficult to see how parachutes fit into administrative SROs (Strategic Learning Objectives). We did not count words read correctly last night, there was no test, we were having too much fun reading. But, trust mw everyone was learning some very important lessons about real life. 

As in Hamlet “there is a method in my madness”. Everything we do in our Literacy has purpose and reason just beyond reading. March is Women's History Month, we are discovering role models of nobility, integrity, and honor in the lives of famous women in history. Our girls are seeing possibilities of their own futures, our young boys are learning to value and respect the lives of women. Of course we are building a love of reading and reading stamina. Again, don't tell the policy makers or legislators, because they sometimes struggle with the idea that free reading improves reading. At least they always leave it off their PowerPoint Presentations at PDs. Sometimes I wonder if they understand that the readers who love to read do better on those high-stakes assessments they love. It is just to hard to put love of reading into their SLOs. Why how we you test it? You could observe it of course, but that would qualitative data, Every Policymaker knows that qualitative data can't be measured on standardized test, or their PowerPoints.

Back to our Read-A-Thon, we started reading about great women in aviation in the fall, (you don’t have to wait for women's history month to learn about famous women. We have continue learning about women all year long. We read about Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman, Hazel Ying Lee, and Olga Custodio female aviators who broke new glass ceilings. We are not done yet; we discover others every day. American History is everyone’s story, and we celebrate all stories.   

The fact we were studying female aviators, might be might call this being WOKE Education to some people. I just call it good teaching. Now, Governor Ron DeSantis probably disapproves because each of these women had to overcome obstacles of sexism and racism, that sounds like being WOKE. Word is the Governor thinks that kind of learning might upset some children. After decades of teaching, I find learning about how people overcame sexism and racism motivates and lifts them. Children like the idea of people breaking barriers. 

Back to the parachutes, there is a learning theory called; "Hot cognition" a hypothesis on motivated reasoning in which a person's thinking is influenced by their emotional state." What we learn during positive emotional learning, stays with learners. The parachutes are just a door to build healthy respect for each other. I wager 20 years from now our children will remember Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman, Hazel Ying Lee, and Olga Custodio. BIG HINT Governor DeSantis, you can study Women's History without studying Sexism and Racism.  

I am an old schoolteacher unafraid of being WOKE,                                                                                   Dr. Jesse P. Turner                                                                                                                                     Uniting to Save Our Schools                                                                                                                         Badass Teacher  

Here is a link to some great books celebrating Women's History Month. > https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.readingrockets.org%2Fbooklists%2Fcelebrating-women-s-history-month-picture-book-biographies%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1j53zR6zvr7nzNWeGbZUbRJcfWWv3ZZDdQfemGJljAoPstT3mb3ZfBB4o&h=AT1WqsxQOTqI0xICTEJ2XjrtyAfXbc5SmVTW8Y8TKS7ZRltN43DJym4BJwmsCMXXkkhAerbiiPKm2nTtG_EJvsSVky3wG9f2-Fw_A6HOGhO41ykVnyhnOX76IQM8hILoM7u9un8TPyVrpA2F2g6yr2d4ILbBL_9Vc6k&__tn__=R*F 

If you want to listen to the song that inspire my morning walk this morning its Sam Cook cover of Blowing in the wind" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBDdLgBO0Nw