Day 24 of Black History Month and I’m Honoring Arthur Ulysses Craig. He was one of the first African Americans to earn an engineering degree in the United States. After Craig received his undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, he studied abroad, returned to America, pursued graduate courses at two universities, helped to design an automobile, and worked as an educator at three historically black institutions.

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#myasu ☺️

Hello! 

First off, to my followers that are not teachers, I apologize.

 Second…I am looking for teachers/education students to take a survey for a college research project. (I am studying predominantly Finnish and American educators, but others are encouraged to participate).

I am a senior education student as well as an honor student. In order to graduate with honors I must conduct a research study related to my major. I am studying the differences between American and Finnish education systems. For my study I have created an anonymous survey to hear your opinions / experiences as educators….

HERE is the link to the survey.

Please share this with your teacher friends / reblog / participate. I need all the help I can get!

Thanks everyone! 

Arming yourself…

And I am not talking about guns here. I am talking about planning my lessons well enough to arm myself with enough evidence to justify my reasons for giving a student a “0” on an assignment to a parent who sends me an email about the said assignment.

It is currently 6:03am. I spent an 1.5 hours since I woke up dedicating my time to type a thorough email justifying my grade, attaching documents, and redirecting the parent to look at her child’s Google Classroom (bless you, Google Classroom). And I also write the information on the White Board and take a picture of the board so I can attach it to the email.

But if I provided a student all this information to earn them a grade and the conversation goes like this:

ME: Do you have your summary?

STUDENT: No.

ME: Are you going to present?

STUDENT: No.

Then, c'mon Mom, that IS a sure “0” right there!

And so, I am behind on getting ready for the first day of the Final exam. But I am glad I was able to send a parent a copy of the reading schedule, rubric, a detailed explanation of the project (broken down by point value), AND an online copy of the book (unless this kid says he lost his book or something, you never know).

One Educators Torch Song

Classes are starting back up at CCAD, and it’s the 1st time in a little more than 5 years that I won’t be teaching. That’s weird, and I’m going to miss my kids, but there’s just no future in academia. It’s SO FRUSTRATING…

I was once asked by a former student to do an independent study with him. Basically, I had to work with him and come up with a specific curriculum and syllabus for ONE PERSON. That meant coming up with projects, a rubric, and being available for meetings and critiques. I averaged 4 contact hours a week for 16 weeks. I was honored and proud to be someone that this guy admired enough to approach me in the first place. I genuinely like this student and respect his drive, talent, and determination. So obviously, I said yes… Because I’m a good teacher, and love what I do. Hell, I’ve won 3 Teaching Excellence Certificates in the last three years… I must be doing SOMETHING right.

I was paid total of $200. That didn’t even cover gas.

When I complained about that level of professional disrespect, I was shrugged at and told I would get a great reference for another institution.

THAT’S. FUCKED.

If you’ll excuse a little boasting, I am a successful, internationally acclaimed, professional artist with over 30 years of experience. And a master’s degree. It shouldn’t be an absurd notion that I be properly compensated for my time, devotion, and expertise.

There is also the fact that I’ve devoted a lot of personal time to campus mentoring and advocacy. As I say, I care deeply for my students, and strive to help them have as rich and positive an educational experience as possible, because feels and goodness and I was them, once, and GET IT.

I’m not sure what the number is now, but last year - out of a little under 2000 students, 38% of them waved the rainbow flag, with 17% of the whole being somewhere in the transgender spectrum.

I am an out, loud and VERY visible transwoman, who openly came out AND TRANSITIONED at the halfway mark of my time at CCAD. Im a safe, relatable member of my community… someone who actively voices real, gender-related concerns on behalf of my students. Students who, by the way, refer to CCAD as “The Columbus College of Anxiety and Depression.”

I feel I am needed there. And not for nothing, it’s my family.

That’s impossible on $12000 a year… which is less than i earned working at burger king when I was in high school… No guarantee of continuing employment from semester to semester.. No benefits or health care. And yet, the “higher ups” keep insisting they pay their teachers well.

Lies. Systemic, across the board LIES.

But I need to pay rent. To eat. TO LIVE AND TAKE CARE OF MYSELF. To fund art making. To maybe making a difference.

So, I had to find a different job to meet my basic needs, and because I can’t finish my transition and live my best life without healthcare. Which is why I’m not teaching this semester. I do hope to be able to fit one class into my schedule for next semester. Because I feel like I need to be there, but also because I’m a stubborn Guinea b*tch with principles.

See you in the spring, FAM. ✊❤☠

Hi Loves, and Happy new year! 

 Apologies for the all the quite last month. I needed to take a little downtime as the year wrapped up, to figure out my next steps. Currently, I’ve outlined a new body of work addressing Male toxicity. This is a tricky topic to maneuver – CIS (those who line up with the gender they were assigned at birth) men typically deny that there is such a thing, are unaware of it, or simply cannot be objective. 

In the past when CIS women have attempted to address this issue, they have been shut down, as they have “no direct experience with it and therefore cannot speak to it authentically." 

Well, as a Transwoman who was raised in a CIS, hetero-normative male culture, and who lived the majority of her life in that world before coming out and transitioning, I feel I am uniquely qualified to make this series from an authentic and objective place. That said, I am mid way into several sculptural installations, as well as continuing my tonal (subtle, greyscale paintings) portrait series on authenticity, which I will document and share on my patreon page, so stay tuned! 

Things that are happening… In 2017, a student of mine from the Columbus College of Art and Design, had made a small documentary (posted on the patreon page) of me and my then First solo exhibit since transitioning. Well, he has decided to make a feature-length version of his documentary to then shop around at film festivals. As more information of this project comes to light, I’ll be sure to post and update you. 

Additionally, I have gotten some headway on my nonprofit dream. If you don’t know, I have been setting up an art educational nonprofit, that would send artists to schools, and organizations to offer free art education, and community outreach in depressed areas to children grades 6-12. There are a lot of moving parts, so I will spare you the details, save to say that the space would also have a restaurant/cafe combo as a storefront, to help pay a small staff, and financially support the program. (This part is being done in partnership with friends – more info on this as it happens!)

With all the things that happened in 2020, I got stalled, but thankfully, my fiscal sponsor has stepped in to help me get started. Lots of pans in the fire, wooo!!! This is why, BTW, I have a patreon page. I need help, fam. For as little as 3 dollars a month, you can help me help usher in the next generation of creatives, and to help literally feed our community.

Dual Language Learners Deserve Research-Backed Resources

Dual Language Learners Deserve Research-Backed Resources

With more districts and states requiring equity in quality of materials and many are making more funding available, educators serving Dual Language Learners and English Language Learners have incredible opportunities this school year to get students back on track or help students build on the progress they have made.
For a school year like no other, educators, librarians, and caregivers are…

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Teaching Immigration and Migration in the Classroom: An Interview with Abeer Shinnawi of Re-Imagining Migration

Teaching Immigration and Migration in the Classroom: An Interview with Abeer Shinnawi of Re-Imagining Migration

In this blog post, we interviewed Abeer Shinnawi, Program Lead at Re-Imagining Migration, about exploring the topics of migration and immigration in the classroom, how children’s books can be used to guide these discussions, and how this new infographic offers guidance on curating text sets aligned to the Re-Imagining Migration Learning Arc framework. Let’s jump right in!
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Free Upcoming Webinar: AIR’s New Language and Literacy Program for Preschoolers (COLLTS)

Free Upcoming Webinar: AIR’s New Language and Literacy Program for Preschoolers (COLLTS)

Join the Center for English Learners at the American Institutes for Research® for a webinar on Cultivating Oral Language and Literacy Talent in Students (COLLTS), an evidence-based, research-backed, and classroom-tested language and literacy program for preschoolers. The event will be held on Thursday, September 16th at 4:00 PM ET.
Cultivating Oral Language and Literacy Talent in Students…

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