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Celebrate Black History Month!
Taking a month out of the year to celebrate and recognize Black History, does not mean it's not important the other 11 months of the year. February is given to us to truly reach out and learn something new that we hadn’t known before. American and World history is so vast that as Dr. John Henrik Clarke states, “What we call Black history truly is the missing pages of world history.” The fact that many countries celebrate Black History demonstrates the many perspectives that should be honored when sharing pieces of the story in the History books. I always find myself in the habit of reading a historical story and wondering, “I wonder what was happening with the rest of the country during this time? What were the families from other cultures doing during that time? People suddenly don’t disappear when the Great Depression happened, but the schoolbooks certainly omitted a lot of people.”
Black History Month isn’t just for Black People to learn and engage with information. It’s for everyone. Half of the things we interact daily with were and are created by Black People: gas masks, protective mailboxes, the stoplight, automatic elevator doors, blood banks, home security systems, refrigerated trucks, the super soaker, tissue holders, clothes dryer, folding chairs, golf tea…. I could go on, Google can help you finish this exhaustive list. Because of that fact, everyone should take the time to learn about the people and culture behind the inventions.
The one thing I do each year is find an area that I want to learn more about surrounding Black History. The information is so vast, and I always received the Civil Rights information in school that I wanted to learn more beyond the struggle of gaining our alienable rights that were already bestowed upon Americans. Each year, I find a focus: famous Black poets, Black entrepreneurs, eras like the Harlem Renaissance or Motown.. each time I learn something new. I challenge everyone to do this. What do you not know too much about? With the amount of information on Google and YouTube, the possibilities are endless. If it still overwhelms you, simply go through the National Museum of African American History and Cultures website. This national treasure that is seated in DC has a plethora of information. Learn, grow, and know Black History is American History.
Culture Corner Set up a culture consultation!
Contact our Culture, Diversity, and Parent Outreach specialists to set up a consultation for you, your PLC, or your school. The CDO team can support you in the following ways:
- Support for critical conversations (You are planning on a lesson that you anticipate will include critical conversations)
- Training on critical conversation facilitation
- Have the culture and diversity team come teach a lesson
- Small group pull-out (no more than 10)
ELLevation Tips & Tricks
Teachers can easily add Activities to their Favorites folder for future viewing and lesson planning. There are two ways to favorite an Activity:
- While browsing: click the Favorite button located at the bottom left of each Activity card.
- In an Activity: click the Favorite button found on the left of the top bar.
After an Activity has been favored, you can access it by clicking on the left navigation slide-out menu.
ELD Lead Celebration
This month we are highlighting Angie Larson with Kelsey Peak Virtual Middle school! She is in her first year as an ELD lead and has done an excellent job of creating online content accessible to all students. She makes sure every student at the virtual middle school is getting the support they need to find success through their online learning. Thank you, Angie for being such a great example to your students and to our district!
Reflective Questions
- What helps my students feel cared for and appreciated?
- What can I do to show them how they are cared about?
- How are my students represented in my curriculum and classroom?
- How do I celebrate my student's diverse backgrounds?