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Teaching and Writing for Joy in the Anti-Woke Moment
What does it mean to teach and write for joy? Poet Toi Derricotte’s 2008 poem “Joy is an Act of … keep reading
The Bread Loaf Teacher Network Journal, published annually, is edited by Tom McKenna, BLTN Director of Communications. Beverly Moss, BLTN Director, provides the guiding vision for the network and its digital initiatives. Contact Beverly Moss or Tom McKenna for more information or to submit content for upcoming issues.
Learning in Community Spaces
With this, the 12th issue of the BLTN Journal, we invited submissions under BLTN’s year-long theme of “Learning in Community Spaces.” In a year where uncertainty is a constant, BLTN teachers remind us of the critical importance of finding resources and finding resourcefulness in the communities, students, families, and colleagues with whom they work.
In “Learning across Community Spaces: An Urban Exchange,” Monica Rowley of Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School in Philadelphia reflects, “I must note, as a teacher of over twenty years, that this year has been one of the most challenging years of my career—rolling absences, waves of [COVID-19] transmission, concerns around building safety and ventilation, a returning population unsure of what the year will bring or if another shoe is waiting to drop, and all of us not used to classroom environments…” Lauren Jewett, in “Revolutionary Rest: Reflections on Survival and Hope at Year’s End,” reminds us, “There has been no collective breath to fully process every micro-trauma and major-trauma or to recognize that what some may term ‘disenfranchised grief’ is actually grief that needs to be validated and honored. Educators have accumulated a ‘trauma load.’”
And yet…
The pieces in this issue give us much to celebrate. From BLTN teachers’ generous invitations to one another to enter their classrooms— dropping shoes and all—to their steadfast commitment to the intelligence, eloquence, and capabilities of their students, to their tenacious defense of student voice in public discourse, maybe this issue does offer us that collective breath.
Yaneris Collado, BLTN’s new Associate Director, remarks on the value of creating “brave spaces” and “safe spaces” in our work together. As we release this issue, What’s the Story? The Vermont Young People Social Action Team, is hosting Yaneris, her cohort from Chelsea, Massachusetts, along with BLTN NextGen students and mentors from New Mexico and South Carolina in a documentary film showcase which honors the very different community spaces from which the film makers hail. I think you’ll feel BLTNers’ bravery, and their commitment to helping to create safety, across all of the pieces in this issue.
Not to be missed in this issue, too, is Kayla Hostetler’s reminder of the power of BLTN collaborations—which often extend the boundaries of school learning— to foster cross-generational learning. When I visited Kayla’s students in May, I pitched in as a grandfather roto-tilled the ground while BLTN NextGen youth cleared obstructions. A grandmother simultaneously pulled weeds, encouraged everyone, and taught us about what might grow best in the plot the youth were cultivating as a memorial for peers who have lost their lives in Aiken’s recent violence. On the same trip, I marveled at Shaleisa Brewers’ students’ accomplishment in documenting the rich history of Atlanta’s Booker T. Washington high school (interviewing, among many alumni luminaries, a set of centenarian siblings). Meanwhile, I received a text from Ceci Lewis, Site Mentor for La Casa Roja, our NextGen group on the Navajo Nation, as they finished up a set of films capturing survival lessons from Navajo elders.
This year, Middlebury College embarks on a multi-year journey to form a school-wide collaborative in “conflict transformation.” As we begin to take on some of BLTN Director Beverly Moss’s probing questions about “Teaching and Writing for Joy,” we will contribute our ongoing learning from the community spaces to which BLTN teachers show such extraordinary commitment.
As always, we welcome your comments.
-Tom McKenna, Editor
FEATURED
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Teaching and Writing for Joy in the Anti-Woke Moment
What does it mean to teach and write for joy? Poet Toi Derricotte’s 2008 poem “Joy is an Act of … keep reading
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Insight on Sight: Seeing One Another across Difference
Editor’s note: Rabiah Khalil and Lauren Davenport met as neighbors on the shores of Lake Dunmore in Summer 2022, not … keep reading
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Meet the Fellows: BLTN 2023-24
BLTN Fellows come to us from 21 U.S. states, Washington D.C., Egypt, and Scotland. They will study at all three … keep reading
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Some Serious Joy: Notes from BLTN
Last July, working under the theme, “Teaching and Writing for Joy,” BLTN teachers from each campus prompted one another to … keep reading
BLTN TEACHERS
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Seeds of Change: Mini-Grants for Social Change and Conflict Transformation
This fall, my students at J.R.Tucker High School in Henrico, Virginia, received a BLTN Change Action Grant from Middlebury’s Kathryn … keep reading
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Literacy Nights and Languages: Conflict Transformation in South Burlington Libraries
I go to the public library a lot. I search for new books for my classroom and for books to … keep reading
BLTN NEXTGEN
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NextGen Youth Learn, Write, Listen, Share, Act, Love, and Dance across Difference
Here are a few of the school year’s events and highlights from the BLTN’s youth leadership network, BLTN NextGen. To … keep reading
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NextGen Confronts Violence
On May 18, NextGen members and supporters gathered to discuss safety and violence in their communities. The meeting had an … keep reading
CAMPUS NEWS
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“The Work that Found Me”: An Interview with Professor Michelle Bachelor Robinson
On May 4, 2023, BLTN Director Beverly Moss interviewed Spelman and Bread Loaf professor Dr. Michelle Bachelor Robinson. The topics … keep reading
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BLTN News and Announcements
Here are just a few news items from BLTNers over the course of the 2022-23 academic year. Please feel free … keep reading