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Story Matters: An Interview with Author Liz Prather Apr 30, 2020

Show notes

Join us for an interview with Liz Prather, teacher-consultant at the Morehead State Writing Project, and author of Story Matters. We’ll talk about why narrative matters, how it works in informational and argumentative writing, and how to support students to write it better.

Trauma Informed Literacy Instruction Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

Join us for a conversation with Richard Koch and Elizabethe Dutro, to discuss their recent publications, The Mindful Writing Workshop and The Vulnerable Heart of Literacy. We will discuss literacy teaching that is informed by and mindful of the stress and trauma in all of our lives.

Guests

Elizabeth Dutro, Professor and Chair of Literacy Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder
Richard Koch, Professor of English Emeritus, Adrian College, Michigan

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LEARN Marginal Syllabus (March)—“Untold Stories”: Cultivating Consequential Writing with a Black Male Student through Metaphor Mar 09, 2020

Show notes

This author discussion features Sakeena Everett, Andrea Zellner, Anna Smith, Sam Reed, Joe Dillon, and Remi Kalir. The piece being discussed, "'Untold Stories': Cultivating Consequential Writing with a Black Male Student through a Critical Approach to Metaphor," shares Sakeena Everett’s work learning alongside a student in a summer program called “We Choose to Learn.” This university-based program was designed to prepare high school students of color—like her student Shawn—for college, and to engage them in learning opportunities that also drew upon their career interests in education. This rich ethnographic account calls attention to the way in which Everett supported Shawn to develop writing that lead him toward action against inequity.

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LEARN Marginal Syllabus (February)—Praisesongs of Place: Youth Envisioning Space and Place Feb 12, 2020

Show notes

Our February reading for the 2019-20 Literacy, Equity + Remarkable Notes = LEARN Marginal Syllabus explores the multiliteracies among youth of color who constructed tributes to the city of Detroit and envisioned strengths in their communities. Researchers Vaughn W. M. Watson and Alecia Beymer write about the after-school Verses Project at Detroit’s Community Music School. This article describes the multimodal processes of young writers as they compose in a genre the authors describe as “praisesongs of place.”

Guests

Vaughn W. M. Watson, Assistant Professor; Michigan State University
Alecia Beymer, Doctoral Candidate; Michigan State University
Charise McBride, Doctoral Candidate; University of California, Berkeley
Nobuko Fujita, Learning Specialist; University of Windsor
Christina Cantrill, Associate Director, Programs; National Writing Project
Remi Kalir, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado; Co-Founder, Marginal Syllabus

LEARN Marginal Syllabus (January)—Revising Resistance: A Step Toward Student-Centered Activism Jan 06, 2020

Show notes

Our January reading for LEARN Marginal Syllabus recounts how Alex Corbitt, the author and former middle school educator, employed “radically student-centered” pedagogy as part of a teen activism course. In his Voices from the Middle article, Corbitt describes how he reimagined an elective course in order to situate and support students as activists. Assigned to teach a documentary film class, he proposed to his students that they focus on teen activism, and invited them to co-design the class with him as the year unfolded. This inspirational article describes the ways in which Corbitt helped students design their own learning, study issues of critical importance like racism, and engage in activism.

Guests

Joe Dillon (Host), Humanities Teacher; Co-Founder, Marginal Syllabus
Alex Corbitt, Educator; Writer; PhD Candidate, Boston College
Christina Cantrill, Associate Director, National Writing Project
Remi Kalir, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado; Co-Founder, Marginal Syllabus

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Planning Powerful Instruction Dec 19, 2019

Show notes

Planning Powerful Instruction is a guide for transforming student outcomes through instructional planning. Its a seven-step framework that gives teachers techniques proven to help students develop insight and understanding. Join host Tanya Baker for a conversation with authors Jeff Wilhelm, Rachel Bear, and Adam Fachler.

Guests

Jeff Wilhelm, Professor of English Education, Boise State University
Rachel Bear, Senior Program Associate, National Writing Project
Adam Fachler, Education Consultant

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Science in the Park Dec 09, 2019

Show notes

Join host Christina Cantrill for a discussion with participants of Science in the Park, a project that brought NWP teachers and NPS park rangers together to plan and implement programming that welcomes young people and their families into national parks to play with and learn science together. Science in the Park was funded through one-year spark grant from the Joan Ganz Cooney Foundation and is part of their Families Learning Across Boundaries work.

Guests

Cris Constantine, Education Program Manager with the National Park Service, Interior Region 1, North Atlantic - Appalachian
Jan Gebert, Teacher-Consultant, Pocono Writing Project
Darshna Katwala, Director, Long Island Writing Project
Stephanie West-Puckett, Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island; Teacher-Consultant, Tar River Writing Project

Related Resources

"From Lines to Networks: Connecting with National Parks for Place-based Science Learning" by Stephanie West-Puckett, University of Rhode Island
"Science Sundays in the Park: People are the Best" by Jan Gebert, Pocono Writing Project
"Kicking Off Science in the Park" by Christina Cantrill, National Writing Project

Playlists for Parents

Designed to support parents and/or youth to lead their own learning experience, these playlists were created from Science in the Park work and will be tested at National Park Service sites this fall.

Become a Junior Ranger at the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park Playlist, created by BLRV rangers for use at the park.
Science Sundays Think Like a Scientist Playlist, created by Pocono Writing Project teachers and DEWA Rangers for use at the park and in regional parks.

Marginal Syllabus 2019-20 (December)—Miles Morales: Spider-Man and Reimagining the Canon for Racial Justice Dec 02, 2019

Show notes

As part of our close study of "Miles Morales: Spider-Man and Reimagining the Canon for Racial Justice," guest readers Latrice Ferguson and Christopher Rogers joined the Marginal Syllabus team to talk about the article with this month’s partner authors, Mario Worlds and Henry “Cody” Miller. Worlds’ and Millers’ writing surfaces the importance of rethinking text selection as a means of critiquing racial hierarchy in the curricular canon and dismantling white supremacy.

This discussion is part of LEARN 2019-20, a Marginal Syllabus co-developed with the National Writing Project (NWP) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Each month of the 2019-2020 academic year, we’ll collaboratively read and discuss an article, published in four different NCTE journals, that investigates the intersection of literacy and equity.

Marginal Syllabus 2019-20 (November)—Whiteness is a White Problem: Whiteness in English Education Nov 04, 2019

Show notes

Author Samuel Jaye Tanner joins us to talk about his article, "Whiteness is a White Problem: Whiteness in English Education." Our guests discuss how white people in an American context have problems with race that are distinct from the racism people of color experience, and how white English educators can rethink their roles in dismantling white supremacy.

This discussion launches the second iteration of LEARN, a Marginal Syllabus co-developed with the National Writing Project (NWP) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). During each month, from November to June during the 2019-20 academic year, we will collaboratively read and discuss an article, published in four different NCTE journals, that investigates the intersection of literacy and equity. Refer to the 2019-20 syllabus for information on all the annotatable readings; these will go “live” on the first Monday of each month, along with related events hosted by the National Writing Project.

Guests

Sam Tanner, Assistant Professor, PennState
Andrea Zellner, Literacy Consultant, Oakland Schools (MI)
Christina Cantrill, Associate Director of National Programs, National Writing Project
Joe Dillon, Co-Founder, Marginal Syllabus; Teacher, Rangeview High School in Aurora Public Schools in Colorado; Denver Writing Project Teacher-Consultant
Remi Kalir, Co-Founder, Marginal Syllabus; Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver School of Education and Human Development

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