Promising Practices Multicultural Conference: November 3, 2012

I arrived at my first teaching conference with enough time to sign up for the last few open slots in the workshops.  I had forgotten to register for the conference and was apprehensive about these workshops.  Luckily, my anxieties would be put to bed later in the day.  Meanwhile, I ate my Coffee Exchange bagel and waited for the keynote speaker, Dana Fusco, to get started. 

Dana Fusco spoke about finding after school programs that connected with students.  She had found in her research that students in elementary and middle school had connected to both the curriculum and after school activities, but when high school hit, students were having more trouble finding activities to relate to.  She spoke about teachers being ‘active agents of change’ in this attempt to help our students connect to the world.   

Dana also spoke about a book called “The Having of Wonderful Ideas,” by Eleanor Duckworth.  Apparently the book has many lesson plans that are useful for modern teaching.

After the keynote speaker, I went to my first workshop: “Wake up and Smell the Environmental Racism.”  The workshop was run by ECO Youth, the Environmental Justice League of Rhode Island.  The students in this group explained how environmental problems in the city of Providence are connected to inequalities.  Typically, environmental hazards, such as industrial complexes and highways, are primarily found near low-income Latino and Black communities, especially in Providence. 

There is a disproportionate impact of environmental hazard on people of color, the students told us.  These hazards add to a higher risk for people to have breathing problems, especially asthma.  The students told us of some alarming statistics: in comparison to white people, there are twice as many Latinos with asthma in Providence.  Also, in comparison to white people, there triple the amount of black people with asthma.  Again, these breathing problems are directly connected to the lack of good air in the city and the industrialized parts of the poorer neighborhoods.

I was impressed with the presentation, especially because it came from a group of high school students.  I didn’t realize they were that age until the end of the presentation!

The second workshop I went to was called “Promoting Diversity via Media Production – Community Outreach in RI”.  The presenter, Jonathan Friesem, is a professor at URI in the media education lab.  He provided the group with great resources on technology use in education.  He guided us to the website www.kidblog.org, which is a kid-friendly blogging website.  He also gave a cool presentation on commercials and propaganda, which I am planning on borrowing for my upcoming section on George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 

Friesem recommended the book Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action, by Renee Hobbs.  The book provides lesson planning for using technology in the classroom.

Overall, the day was an interesting experience.  I gained knowledge both in culture and for practical teaching purposes.  I had never been to a teaching conference before and now I have a better feel for what to expect when I go to them in the future.  I enjoyed the food that was provided and even helped myself to seconds!  I hope everyone else had a nice time at their conferences, too.