Conference Workshops

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All workshop times and rooms subject to change prior to 3/19.

Session One: 11:15-12:45

Word Power: Addressing Microaggressions in the Clasroom

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Microaggressions are often the result of unconscious racial and gender biases in the dominant culture, and frequently cause harm (both intended and unintended) to women and people of color. Effectively addressing microaggressions can help dismantle systems of oppression and support the development of equitable learning spaces. In this session, we will examine different types of microaggressions and use role play exercises to practice addressing racial and gender-based

microaggressions in the classroom using a three-step process. We will provide resources and other take-aways that you can put into action in your schools.
Yesenia Macedo, DY’s Associate Director of School Programs, is committed to building long-term arts partnerships to bring social change. Keith Kaminski, DY’s Director of School Programs, has been working the arts in NYC public schools for over 14 years.

Beyond Survival: Sustainable Teacher Activism for New Educators

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This workshop offers pre-service and untenured teachers an opportunity for reflection on the challenges they have faced in turning radical ideals into concrete action in the classroom and beyond. This workshop will include a panel of experienced teacher activists who will discuss how their teacher activism helped them to both survive and thrive as new teachers and educational justice activists. The goal for this workshop is to get re-energized around our personal and collective visions for sustainable teacher activism.
Rachel Cholst is a history teacher at Humanities Preparatory Academy; co-facilitator of the New Teacher Underground working group at NYCoRE. Wendy Cohen is a fourth grade public school teacher in Queens and a member of NYCORE. Rita Kamani-Renedo is an ESL/ELA teacher at an alternative transfer high school and a member of NYCoRE. Will Russell is a public school teacher of ELLs in NYC and a member of NYCoRE and MORE.

Queer Identities in Elementary Education

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Interested in creating a Gender and Sexuality curriculum in your elementary classroom, but not quite sure how to start? Have you developed some lessons that address queer identities but are not sure where to go next? Want to tackle genderism and gender stereotypes in your classroom? Join members of NYQueer as they share lesson ideas, comprehensive read-alouds, and pertinent discussion-starters to address the LGBTQ-community in elementary classrooms. Participants will have the opportunity to workshop and develop their own curriculum, and leave with resources on this important topic!
Members of NYCoRE’s working group, NYQueer: Rebecca Callahan is an elementary teacher and Equity Coordinator at the IDEAL School, an inclusion school with a social-justice mission. Hector Rivera, a queer afro-latino art activist; currently coordinates the early childhood/childhood and family programs at the DreamYard Art Center.

Rising From The Ashes: A Journey Towards Transformative Pedagogies

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Drawing from our collective 20 years of teaching high school Social Studies and English in Los Angeles, this presentation seeks to provide frameworks by which educators can bridge the gap between critical social theories and transformative classroom teaching. Specifically, this workshop will:

1. Provide teachers with curricular examples of an Ethnic Studies Pedagogy in a social studies class.

2. Explore the effects of practical applications of Black feminist theory in a high school English class

3. Provide educators with concrete methods of applying critical theory to their daily practice in high school Social Studies and English classes.
Dr. Monique Lane, Postdoctoral Fellow at Teachers College; specializations are critical pedagogy, Black Feminist educational praxis and secondary English instruction. Nikhil Laud has taught social studies in urban schools for 13 years, in both Los Angeles and currently in Harlem.

Time to Act: Reflecting, Unpacking, and Confronting Racism Through Theatre

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How does racism manifest in our educational and pedagogical practices? What are ways we can unpack race and racism in our personal, professional and organizational participation? This workshop will explore institutionalized, interpersonal and internalized racism using applied theatre and Theatre of the Oppressed techniques. No prior theatre experience or anti-racism training is necessary.
Members of the NYCoRE Itag: Time to Act.  Marissa Metelica is a queer, white radical theater artist and social justice educator committed to centralizing commonly marginalized histories. Brisa Areli Muñoz is a theatre director and educator who is devoted to making spaces more accessible, inclusive and just for the purposes of social change. Dedunu Suraweera is a social worker, teaching artist, & community organizer. She continually explores the power of theatre for transformative action.

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Using Sociopolitically-Conscious Film to Address Educational Inequity

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This workshop will show how a school of education uses the film, Precious Knowledge, as an organizing tool for critical conversations about racism in public education and then how the use of socio-politically-conscious films are becoming a central feature of rethinking one teacher education program and its relationship with campus and school-community partners. This includes exploring the development of a new course on public education film advocacy, a “conscious conversations” racial justice inquiry group that utilizes short film clips through YouTube, and other socio-politically-conscious films that are being used to address educational inequity in and beyond traditional borders.
Mark Kohan, Mia Hines, Dominique Battle-Lawson, Danielle DeRosa, and Varun Khattar comprise a group of faculty, staff, and students at the University of Connecticut committed to equity and social justice organizing. Josué López is a bilingual teacher and director of the New Arrivals Center at Windham High School in Willimantic, Connecticut, where he enacts culturally sustaining pedagogy.

FOR Teens BY Teens: Creating Empowering Youth Spaces Through Art

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The Whitney Museum believes that access to art is a right, not a privilege, and that the Museum should serve as an essential resource and safe space, where teens can engage with the art and artists of their time through accessible programs that connect them to art, identity, and community. In this interactive workshop co-led by teens and educators, we will examine our free teen drop-in events that are organized BY and FOR teens as a case study for other youth and organizations interested in creating similar programs that provide access and invert traditional models of adult-organized teen programming. 
Sasha Wortzel is Coordinator of Teen Programs at the Whitney Museum where she oversees Youth Insights Leaders. Dyeemah Simmons is the Assistant to Teen Programs. Andrea Resendiz is a Youth Insights Leader and a high school senior. Iga Szlendak is a Youth Insights Leader and a high school junior.

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For White Folks in the Hood: Reality Pedagogy

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In this workshop, the presenter puts forth his theory of Reality Pedagogy, and provides practical tools to unleash the brilliance and eagerness of youth and educators alike. Emdin demonstrates the importance of creating a family structure and building communities within the classroom, using culturally relevant strategies like hip-hop music and call-and-response, and connecting the experiences of urban youth to indigenous populations globally. Merging real stories with theory, research, and practice, Emdin demonstrates how by implementing the “Seven C’s” of reality pedagogy in their own classrooms, urban youth of color benefit from truly transformative education.
Christopher Emdin is Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Associate Director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education.

First Grade Activists: Teaching Social Justice through Drama

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Often it is argued that social justice topics are too complex for students in elementary grades–and especially for early childhood (K-2). In this session, participants will engage in discussion, brainstorming, and collaborative development of social justice-oriented curricula in early childhood grades through a case study of a first grade process drama-based unit on social activism. The facilitators will present various artifacts including videos, lesson plans, and student work to spark ideas and discussion. Participants will gain ideas and tools to tackle tough topics in their own early childhood contexts.
Stefanie Henze is an inclusive educator with a passion for social justice and fostering critical thinking. James Preimesberger is a queer, mixed race first grade ICT teacher passionate about critical pedagogy.

Teaching and Learning about the Prison Industrial Complex

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This workshop will explore the curriculum design for a course examining the history and culture of punishment. Participants will be challenged to design a sketch for a lesson that is grounded in their respective disciplines, is age-appropriate, uses their school and community, and encourages student agency. The takeaways will include a copy of the presenter’s curriculum map and access to the content that individuals developed on-site.
Lavern McDonald is the Upper Division Associate Director & a Social Studies Teacher at the Calhoun School in NYC. 

Understanding and Influencing Education Policy

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The workshop discusses research examining the state of P-16 teacher knowledge on the policy issues affecting our lives and their level of activism.  How to influence policy makers?  Who are they (not just elected officials)? What matters to them?  How we can reach them (where do we find them)?  We consider and practice lobbying, the press, and testimony.  Should educators (P-16) be activists for policy change?  Amazingly, some say “No, teachers are too busy.”  We will argue that as educators, we all must be speaking for the children.  If not us, who?
Nick Michelli, Presidential Professor, Policy analysis, Ph.D. Program in Urban Education, CUNY.  Katherine Entigar is a linguist  and Graduate Assistant in policy studies in the Ph.D. program in Urban Education. Tina Jacobowitz is professor and department chair, Montclair State University.  Melanie Waller, faculty, Hunter High School for Science and graduate Assistant in the Ph.D. program, Urban Education, studying policy analysis.

Kujichagulia: Fostering Self-Determination in African American Students w/ Disabilities

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This interactive presentation is geared toward educators (and stakeholders) who seek to support student achievement within African-American students with learning disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome and emotional

disabilities. This presentation supports students who need to learn self-advocacy skills for secondary and post secondary success. The overrepresentation and identification of African American students in special education contributes to the school to prison pipeline through  effective strategies, we can support  these students and combat the overall impact of being pipelined out of academic settings into the judicial system. Culturally appropriate specialized services are civil right that MUST be provided for students.
Dr. Mullen’s personal mission is to not just put out the fires, but to become the fire. Sharon Igbineweka is a first year special education teacher who has a passion for clinical school psychology and helping students succeed.

Shattering the Myths: Empowerment through Deconstructing State Curriculum

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Every magazine, textbook, movie and curriculum has a frame. Framing is how gatekeepers organize and describe issues and events, impacting the interpretations of students and audiences. Some parts of a given narrative are kept within the frame, while others are kept out. Our education system has been built on dangerously powerful frames like the “American Dream” and Columbus’s “discovery” of America. Dissecting frameworks is crucial to understanding power’s underpinnings. In this session, we examine the goals and functions of state provided teaching standards and identify tools to infuse criticality and integrity into curriculum through deconstruction and demystification of the frame.
Democracy Now!  Engaged with independent media, activism and media literacy Simin Farkhondeh is education director for Democracy Now!. Danielle Archibald taught ninth grade Special Education, Social Studies, is Executive Assistant/Editor at IndyKids and intern for Democracy Now! Education. Sasha White studies Global Studies at The New School, Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts and interns at Democracy Now!

#SayHerName Loudly: Teaching Women of Color Feminisms

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This session will share best practices on teaching women of color feminisms to create young feminist interventions both online and in print. First, we will review student blog posts on a range of issues including hearing bell hooks at the New School and Kimberlé Crenshaw at Columbia Law; white privilege; toxic masculinity; queer gender and sexuality. Then we will examine the ways in which students use intersectionality to write personal stories about structural racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and Islamophobia. Students will read aloud their stories inspired by studying bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and more.
Ileana Jiménez founded the blog, Feminist Teacher, and @feministteacher, both of which make visible the #HSfeminism movement nationally and globally.

Building Anti-Racist Schools: Strategies to Talking About Race and Racism

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How do we actively dismantle patters of race and racism? What are some of the strategies to addressing issues of white supremacy, structural racism and creating more racially equitable spaces? This interactive workshop will include an analysis of systemic racism and practical tools/exercises to apply this analysis in everyday educational settings. We will explore key racial equity concepts and strategies that support an educator’s ability to identify, interrupt and address inequity in educational settings. Educators will leave with a deeper understanding and practical tools for engaging in sense-making conversations about racial equity that lead to productive action.
Border Crossers is a national organization that equips educators to be leaders of racial justice in schools and communities.

NYC Opt Out: This is the Crucial Year! 

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Last spring approximately 20% of NYS families opted out of the Grade 3-8 high stakes tests. Despite all our efforts to stop NYS Education Department’s damaging policies, the only protest the NYSED has noticed is Opt Out. In response, NYSED has recently tried to stifle protest with a combination of threats and superficial changes, while leaving in place the most damaging aspects of high stakes testing, which hit low-income communities hardest. In this practical session we will share strategies and plan together. Those from outside NYC are also welcome. It’s time to finally end high stakes testing!    
Members of Change the Stakes and NYC Opt Out: Charmaine Dixon is a parent activist and member of NYC Opt Out. Janine Sopp is a parent activist with Change the Stakes and NYC Opt Out.

Get ICE Out of Our Schools and Communities

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What should educators know about the recent (and not recent) Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in NY? What are ways educators can support undocumented students and families during these difficult times? We will collaborate and organize together as well as share information from the #ICEFREENYC campaign (that advocates: 1. Department of Corrections and NYPD must end all collaboration with ICE, 2. NYrs should feel safe going to city agencies without the threat of deportation, 3. NYC should use resources to strengthen families, not tear them apart).
Members of NYCoRE’s Teach Dream working group. Jenna Queenan is a member of Teach Dream and teaches 11th ENL in Sunset Park where she co-facilitates the Dream Team. Ariela Rothstein is a member of Teach Dream and teaches history at East Brooklyn Community High School in Brownsville.

Building Equity and Student Voice through Democratic Process

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The democratic meeting process is an essential tool for any educator or youth developer looking to increase student voice and engagement in their classrooms. Through a facilitated group meeting process where all participants are given a vote, students learn how to express their personal experience within a group and develop a stronger community built on equity and collective decision-making. In this interactive workshop participants will learn the rules and procedures of democratic meetings and have the opportunity to role play a community issue or agenda item together and reflect on the process.
Ben Howort is a Middle School teacher and Anyanwu Glanville is the Diversity and Outreach Coordinator at the Brooklyn Free School.

Bread and Rages: Critical Numeracy and Food Systems

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Participants will engage in critical analysis of food systems using critical numeracy as a tool to deconstruct and understand the profit-based political and economic system experienced in our daily lives. Through small group discussions, role play, and real-world mathematizing, we will come to a deeper understanding of the ways in which such activities and lessons can be used to to build solidarity with food justice struggles throughout the world.
Atasi Das is a doctoral student in Urban Education at CUNY and an educator activist in NYC. Karen Saunders, a educator activist, teaches and learns with fifth graders and graduate students in Vermont. Mamadou Cisse is a graduate student in Spark Teacher Education Institute, teaching mathematics in Vermont.

Marxism and Education: Charter Schools = Capitalist Disaster forTeachers, Students

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From NYC boot camp militarization in the “Success Academies,” to New Orleans where profiteers used the disaster of Katrina as a test lab to destroy public education and housing, charter schools have meant capitalist disaster. In Chicago, a teachers’ strike pends as mayor Emanuel shuts down schools on the South Side, and threatens thousands of layoffs. Across the country, black and Latino youth face massive discrimination in school, and murderous repression on the streets. Workshop is part of the series: “What’s Marx Got to Do with It? Capitalism, Racism and Public Education.” Presented by Class Struggle Education Workers.
Mark Lance, CSEW; activist/writer; producer: From Death Row, This Is Mumia Abu Jamal (video); BMCC Continuing Education. Jay Arena teaches at CUNY/CSI, PSC; community activist, author: “Driven from New Orleans: How Nonprofits Betray Public Housing.” Mia Foley, paraprofessional/UFT representative, activist with Class Struggle Education Workers. Speech Therapy student, Lehman College.

Social Justice Mathematics: Sharing Power with Students

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Facilitators (teacher and her former math student) will provide an overview of key concepts when engaging in social justice mathematics, focusing on the importance of fostering a co-constructed classroom community where the teacher shares power and collaborates with students. Participants will experience a social justice mathematics activity, while working in teams. Groups will then be formed for participants to begin developing a social justice mathematics activity for their own classrooms (K-12), through collaboration and co-designing with others. Participants are encouraged to bring computers for lesson design and online research during the session.
Irene Martes is a Vanguard HS graduate, world traveler, new mother, and working professional. Kari Kokka is a doctoral student, math education and social justice conference www.creatingbalanceconference.org co-founder/organizer, and former Vanguard HS math teacher.

Linking Activist Pedagogy: Teacher Activism for Social-Ecological Justice

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This workshop focuses on the concept of “linking activist pedagogy,” a term inspired by the work of Morgan Gardner (2005). In studying the experiences of 30 activists in Ontario connecting social justice issues with their environmental work, she coined the term “linking activism” to describe their “blended social-ecological justice practice.” Extending this concept into education, this workshop intends to highlight and explore the work of teachers as agents of cultural change. This pedagogy situates teachers in connection to various social movements and local activist communities, rather than assuming an “educational” sphere that is assumed essentially separated from other spheres.
Yi Chien Jade Ho, PhD student at Simon Fraser University, Canada. Passions include cultural intersectionality of ecological and social justice.

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Session Two: 2:00-3:30

Take On Hate: Combatting Islamophobia in Our Class Rooms

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Our “Take on Hate” workshop is given to either students or teachers and focuses on how to deal with contemporary social justice issues such as Islamophobia, Muslim students rights, and bullying, etc. The workshop offers information about the origins & media propagation of Islamophobia, recent hate crimes and attacks on Muslims that have taken place, and movements that have combated the hate towards these groups. It allows adults/youth to learn, interact, and create action themselves by teaching them how to join these campaigns.
Aber Kawas is a community organizer in the Arab and Muslim community in New York currently working at AAANY. Mirna Haidar, Lead Organizer and Advocacy trainer at the Arab American Association; works directly with Arab/or Muslim immigrants in Bay Ridge.

Activism as Professional Development

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This workshop aims to reframe activism as central to the development of future and current teachers. By understanding political action as having classroom benefits, educators will better develop a praxis-centered pedagogy. We as educators need to understand our involvement in activism not as a separate pursuit outside the classroom, but as a means for better understanding the world around us, as well as a way of building valuable pedagogical tools. Teachers and students have always been involved in movements and through this workshop, we seek to explore these pedagogical tools and other lessons learned from activism through this workshop.
Members of Young Teachers’ Collective: Jacob Chaffin is a graduate of middle childhood education from Ohio University. Melissa Katz is in the Urban Education Master’s program at The College of New Jersey. Hajra Syed is an elementary education student at Rutgers Graduate School of Education.  Molly Tansey is an MAT candidate in Secondary English Education at the University of Georgia. Stephanie Rivera is a first year social studies middle school teacher in New Jersey.

Sex Education: Sex-Positive and LGBTQ-Supportive

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How do you respond when a child asks: “Can a girl turn into a boy?” How do you teach birth control without excluding lesbian students? How do you help youth know what a healthy sexual relationship looks and sounds like?

Using specific classroom activities, we will explore approaches to sex education rooted in a social justice framework and based on being sex positive and inclusive of all gender identities and sexualities. Included: creating a safe space, laying groundwork, curriculum and activities, dealing with issues as they arise.  Focused on middle and high school, but applicable to all grades.
Jody Sokolower is managing editor of Rethinking Schools, co-editor of Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality, and a longtime activist/educator.

Storytelling to Heal Ourselves and Educate Our Youth

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As people of color, it is important to share our stories, document our experiences, and preserve our own histories. In this workshop, we welcome you to join us in a brief, but engaging sample of what we have done over the course of our itag – explore the purpose and power of storytelling, tell our stories as a way to heal and move ourselves and others to action, and discuss how storytelling can be used as an instructional practice.
Members of NYCoRE’s ItAG: Storytelling to Heal Ourselves and Educate Our Youth

Student Voice Student Choice

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For students to truly be invested in and benefit from their education they need to have voice and choice in that process. The educational experience is less effective when students don’t have the opportunity to see and hear themselves and others who are like them reflected in the classroom. Take part in a transformative open mic experience that seeks to address this issue where students and educators cultivate: Leadership, Community, Empowerment, Positivity. Enjoy a highly interactive session including case study discussions from educators about open Mic Fridays, Struggle to Strengths Studios and student podcasts.
Justis Lopez, Ryan Parker and Matt Delany are all educators, poets and DJs for Manchester public schools, CT.

Coping to Hoping: Teaching to Thrive through Social Trauma

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Workshop will break down a pedagogical lens for how, and discuss ways, to adequately teach students the sensibilities needed to thrive through the socially traumatic stress of everyday, urban life & create classroom learning conditions that foster radical healing & critical hope. This discussion explores the relevance of these approaches to educational leaders & classroom teachers of all subject areas & grade levels.
Patrick Camangian (Cam) is an Associate Professor at the University of San Francisco & a co-founder of the People’s Education Movement.

Using Hip-Hop to Teach Social Justice and Equality

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This workshop and the lesson plans within it are designed to inspire student’s critical thinking skills by utilizing politically conscious hip-hop to inspire youth to learn about and get involved with the struggle for a better world. We will work with educators by giving them the tools to implement hip-hop into their instruction. Our presentation provides music for auditory learners and written lyrics and videos for visual learners. Specific lesson plans where music is utilized to educate the youth on understanding and dismantling inequality, corruption, militarism, and imperialism are focal points. We will “edu-tain” and have fun!
Cee “Why” Hall is an activist, educator, choreographer, and musician who currently teaches in Camden, NJ. Tha Truth is a political rapper, activist, speaker, and former teacher who has released 5 albums.

Literacy for Liberation in K-3 Classrooms

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Join us to explore issues of literacy education in K-3 classrooms. Participants will engage with facilitators and each other in this workshop, which seeks to connect our experiences as teachers with the political economy. Facilitators will provide a framework for analysis that participants will use to examine the ways literacy education oppresses their students, and ways in which literacy education is liberatory. We will map the connections between politics, assessments, programming, and ideology, dissect the fallacy of “the language of the poor,” share our successes, and collaborate to find areas in which we can and will resist.
Karen Saunders, an educator activist, teaches and learns with fifth graders and with grad students in Spark Teacher Education Institute. Cory Sorensen is an educator activist who teaches first grade at Guilford Central School in Guilford, VT. Lauren Perlstein is a Pre-K through 8 School Librarian at Putney Central School in Putney, VT. Maresa Nielson is a former first grade, current fourth grade teacher at Vernon Elementary School in southern Vermont.

Artivism – The Power of Art in Classrooms

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This workshop explores how art, especially poetry, can be used as a tool in classrooms to nurture the activist in each individual. Co-facilitators will walk participants through a hands-on example based on the work they do with their students at PS 33 in the Bronx. They will unpack the DreamYard tenet of artistry which asserts that DreamYard teaching artists, classroom teachers and students: ● use our creative voice to analyze, connect and “talk back” to the world; ● develop technical skills to express our artistic voice; and ● explore personal histories, self-identity and culture to learn how art becomes action.
David Ciminello is an NY-based award winning author and educator. Jessica Diaz is a NYCDOE educator and literacy coach in The Bronx of over 11 years.

Not Just a Suspension Alternative: The Roots of Restorative Justice in Schools

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Teachers Unite members will share ideas and practices learned in our ITAG: Not Just a Suspension Alternative: Tracing the Cultural and Philosophical Roots of Restorative Justice. This winter, our ITAG examined a different text each week, tracing the history and philosophy of RJ in order to ground participants in the theory and particular contexts behind the often challenging practices schools are trying out. Through focusing on the political and cultural roots of restorative justice, we hope to deepen and ground our understanding of our own practice in schools as well as city-wide and national advocacy for RJ in schools.
Teachers Unite, an independent organization of public school educators in NYC collaborating with youth & parents for social & economic justice.

REimagine and REdesign Public Education NOW!

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Participants will engage in the design thinking process to Reimagine and Redesign public education to ignite the brilliance in every child. Participants will begin with intra/interpersonal empathizing, defining a problem through an open ended question to be answered via brainstorming and creating. After creating prototypes, participants will share their ideas with other participants and receive feedback toward revising prototypes. Prototypes can include, lesson plans, unit frameworks, workshop agendas, DOK questions, and artifacts. This workshop will be highly energetic and very hands on. Please come ready to collaborate, move around, sketch, draw, think on your feet, and have some fun!
Jamaal A. Bowman, founding principal of Cornerstone Academy for Social Action (C.A.S.A) Middle School, and an educator for the past 16 years in NYC.

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Radical Co-Teaching: Creating an Accountable Community in the Classroom

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We approach this workshop with the firm belief that integration is crucial in the development of all students. However, the implementation of integration has resulted in power imbalances among students, teachers, and service providers. The goals of this session are to analyze our positionalities, biases, and the spaces we occupy in the classroom in order to create a just learning environment for all students. We will approach this workshop from an intersectional lens, with a focus on the needs of students with disabilities first.
Members of NYCoRE’s Working group, Freedom from Pervasive Ableism in Education (FPA Ed).

Interactive History: Connecting Movements, Media and Ourselves

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See how our personal stories connect to larger histories of social struggle and popular movements for justice and explore the role of media in all our histories. The Media History Timeline workshop introduces educators and students to a free, open source, online tool to explore the relationship between social justice, public policy, and popular culture. Participants will engage with GAP’s popular education curriculum, build a timeline and learn how storytelling and media can be used to teach about social movements. Share your stories, put them on the timeline and recognize a history you won’t find in your standard textbook!
Giselle Bleuz is part of GAP’s outreach and distribution team and has facilitated workshops at schools, organizations and conferences. Adriel Grant, a producer and GAP leader, is studying to be a social worker to continue creating community change.  Carlos Pareja, a media educator, digital storyteller and activist, fights to change narratives, public policy and our world. Yara Barbosa is a GAP youth leader who has produced videos and facilitated workshops on social justice and youth media. Charles Canario, a former GAP youth producer, no works with the Outreach and Distribution team creating and leading workshops.

Sexism and Patriarchy–Youth Artivism Fights the Power!

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In this session, A.C.T.I.O.N. Participants will provide spaces for young people (and adults alike) to identify ways that patriarchy and sexism manifests as male privilege and gender bias, and how those power structures limit our full potential. Using various art making techniques (visual art / theater / poetry), we will collectively explore and create tools to combat interpersonal, institutional and internal patriarchy and gender bias. We will also discuss strategies for building intersectional alliances to fight the power of patriarchy, sexism and gender bias.
The DreamYard A.C.T.I.O.N. Project is a youth social justice/creative arts program that uses various art forms to fight social injustices.

White Identity Caucusing and the Struggle for Racial Justice

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Members of NYCoRE’s Anti-racist White Educators Group (AWE-G) will share about our experiences building community around racial identity and engaging anti-racist tools to be more effective allies in the struggle to undo racism. Participants will get a glimpse into what our meetings look like through the story circle process. Though our meetings are white-identified spaces, this workshop welcomes people of all racial identities into a cross-race space to learn, question, challenge, and engage.  Participants will receive a resource packet related to identity caucusing and white anti-racist work. We will also make time for attendees to share tools and resources.
Members of NYCoRE’s Antiracist White Educators Group (AWE-G):  Margaret Woodman-Russell is a 2nd grade Spanish dual language teacher in Brooklyn and a member of NYCoRE and AWE-G. Michael Madormo is a teacher coach with Teach for America, NJ, and works on summer English programming in Palestine. Margrit Pittman-Polletta is an elementary special education teacher, NYCoRE Core member and founding member of AWEG.

Increasing Culturally Relevant Education for Boys of Color

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The Expanded Success Initiative (ESI), supported by Open Society Foundations, is focused on eliminating achievement and opportunity gaps for Black and Latino young men in NYC Public Schools and increasing the number of males of color who graduate college and career ready. ESI has curated practices and strategies and provided PD to schools, resulting in a culturally relevant framework that highlights CRE practices aligned to the Danielson Framework for teachers and the Framework for Great Schools. Presenters will share information, research, and promising strategies from three years of implementation, particularly culturally responsive school culture, curriculum, and instruction.
Paul Forbes is Director of the Expanded Success Initiative. Richard Haynes is a former teacher and Director of School Support ESI. Ingrid Chung is Assistant Principal and English Teacher at the Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science. Bethany Antonelli is English Teacher and Department Chair at Frederick Douglass Academy III

The Abolitionists: Exploring the Movement that Ended Slavery

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It took one of the biggest social movements in U.S. history to end slavery, yet most students still believe that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. This workshop will engage participants in a mixer activity, part of the newest Zinn Education Project (ZEP) curriculum, that will introduce students to the abolitionist movement. We will also explore various ZEP lessons that engage students in thinking through who deserves credit for ending slavery in the United States.
Adam Sanchez is the Zinn Education Project Organizer, an editor of Rethinking Schools and teaches at Harvest Collegiate High School.

Building a Teacher Movement Through the UFT Elections

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The 2016 UFT Elections this April is an opportunity to organize and mobilize rank and file teachers in NYC. Last election, less than 20% of active members voted. This is indicative of a mass sentiment of disempowerment and lack of voice in our union and profession. Join the Movement of Rank and File educators for a discussion on the nuts and bolts of the election, as well as a historical context. Participants will collaborate around strategies to get out the vote and to spark conversations at their schools around how our working conditions directly impact our students’ learning conditions.
Members of Movement of Rank and File Educators: Megan Moskop, a special education teacher at M.S. 324 in Washington Heights; MORE/UFT candidate for Executive Board at Large. Jia Lee is a special education teacher at The Earth School, Chapter Leader and MORE/UFT candidate for President.

Reclaiming my Power: Expressive Arts to Transform Trauma

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Trauma is an indicator for incarceration and HIV/AIDS among underserved communities. To disrupt this pathway, we’re working to convert distress and pathology into personal/collective agency. We have implemented a traumacentered arts program, which mentors criminal justice involved youth with the intent of cultivating core values of leadership, selfworth, and community building. We are utilizing expressive arts to examine trauma and codify positive/challenging life experiences. These will be formulated into artistic performances. Facilitators will lead an interactive workshop, share preliminary findings/student narratives, and conclude with a synopsis of the efficacy of using a traumacentered arts program to promote healing/resiliency for youth.
Jackie Ramos, public health researcher in disease prevention/health promotion, educator; actress/poet in San Francisco. Roberto Lovato, writer/Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley’s Center for Latino Policy Research; Pulitzer grant recipient.

Defining Teacher Activism

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From the BIG “A” activist to the small “a” activist, teacher activism takes many forms.  This session explores the different ways teachers can be activists at the classroom level and beyond.–pushing participants to take the leap from being a culturally responsive educator to a critical pedagogue who embraces the three commitments of teacher activists (Picower, 2012).  Using media, text, and an experiential activity, participants will explore three different classroom-based examples that fall within the small “a” to BIG “A” activism spectrum.  Folks will walk away with ideas and tools they can bring back to their classrooms tomorrow.
Chemay Morales-James is a NYU-CSS Senior Equity Coach serving as an educator for 15 years.

Active Listening for Social Justice

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While we fight identity-based inequalities by trying to make systemic change, we also need to bring anti-oppression principles into daily interactions. How can we actively live abstract ideas like “respect” or “youth power”? At this workshop, you’ll learn concrete verbal and non-verbal techniques that work immediately to address power differentials within groups and improve one-on-one communication. Whether you are a teacher, student, or activist, you’ll learn how to improve your effectiveness by communicating to others that you value them as human beings, a central task of building strong relationships and equitable communities.
Pippi Kessler is a consultant, speaker, and activist who trains educators across the country to use their power for good.

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Session Three: 3:45-5:15

Fighting Islamophobia and Anti-blackness Through Youth Media

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Global Action Project, a social justice youth media organization, will present a screening and interactive workshop that will offer intersectional perspective from immigrant youth of color on the ways in which they experience Islamophobia and Anti-blackness racism in and out of schools. We also believe that media and storytelling can be an important part of creating solutions to injustice in schools. Using the film Keep Ya Head Up, Global Action Project’s youth producers will lead a workshop exploring root causes for oppressive school policies and practices and then brainstorm solutions that empowers educators and young people to fight back together.
Global Action Project: Misbah Awan is an 18 year old Pakistani American who works with multigenerational, low-income communities. Hatim Mohamad is youth leader and producer at Global Action Project; also community organizer fighting for Palestinian National Liberation. Luce Capco Lincoln is a media eduacator, filmmaker and community organizer, currently Program Director at Global Action Project. Outreach and Distribution Squad is a youth leadership team; connects youth-produced social justice media with organizers, schools and film festivals.

A Transformative Space Where Students Feel Safe

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This workshop will equip teachers with tools to transform their classrooms into spaces where students find their voices. As we contextualize recent events within a broader national discussion on race and #BlackLivesMatter, it becomes imperative that educators engage in the same questions our young people ask. What does justice mean to my life? My body? We will explore the connections of pedagogy and policing, racial bias, gang violence, police brutality, social resistance and state repression. Complete with interactive activities and captivating texts, educators will experience first-hand the dynamic exchange of students in a classroom.
Arianna Talebian is an ELA teacher at El Puente Academy. Her transformative pedagogy creates spaces where students find their voices.

Leadership in Diversity: Finding our Voices

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This workshop examines a student organization, Leadership in Diversity, as a model for increasing supports for students of color in a teacher preparation program.  The session will begin by exploring privilege and resources.  Student leaders will discuss the creation of L.I.D. and its various initiatives in both the campus and local community, and how it has impacted their experiences in the program. Following the panel presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a mock L.I.D meeting to brainstorm ways they can implement L.I.D at their institution. 
Tracey Lafayette and Orlando Valentin are Master’s students in the IB/M program at UCONN. Alexandria Bodick and Symone James are Seniors in the IB/M program. Reuben Pierre-Louis and Lanissa Gardner are Juniors in the IB/M program. Annie Deville is a sophomore pre-teaching major.

STEM Education: Unpacking the Hidden Curriculum

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We will be unpacking the Eurocentric lens, which dominates the teaching and learning of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines. We will examine how this hidden curriculum impacts our students and our relationship to the discipline as social justice educators. We will work to deepen our analysis, strengthen our pedagogy and create a more just STEM classroom. We welcome all teaching levels, from pre-kindergarten to higher education, and all disciplines to join us as we explore these issues.
Members of NYCoRE’s ITaG on STEM: Unpacking the Hidden Curriculum ItAG. LaToya Strong is a science educator and doctoral student in the Urban Education program at the Graduate Center, CUNY. Amber Bennett taught MS/HS science for 7 years, currently teaches 4th-5th grade in a public Montessori in the South Bronx.

Undoing Racism: A Primer

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In this workshop, participants will receive a “taster” of the Undoing Racism workshop.  In acquiring language and politic for anti-racist practice, participants will sow the seeds for movement building.
M. Campbell & Jennie Encalada are community organizers, social workers and movement builders; both involved in Undoing Racism Internship Project.

“Poetry is Not a Luxury” -Audre Lorde

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“Poetry is Not a Luxury” is hands-on poetry workshop. No experience necessary, but come ready to play, laugh, contemplate and build strong ties while putting pen to paper. During this workshop, we will use the tools and techniques of poetry to craft a loving community dedicated to telling our own stories in our voices. You will leave having devoured delicious art, created original masterpieces and supported one another through the sacred act of sharing of one’s voice. Let’s craft our new world together- one phrase at a time!
Karla Robinson, a poet, teaching artist and special educator, bringing creative writing workshops to people in the juvenile justice system.

Can Teacher Unions Fight Racism?

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The 2012 teachers strike in Chicago and the 2015 teachers strike in Seattle showed what a union mobilized to fight for social and racial justice could accomplish. At the same time, teacher unions have all too often been pitted against communities—particularly communities of color. This workshop will draw on current and historical examples to develop a critical consciousness and theoretical understanding that can inform the struggles of the present as we explore both the potential and limitations of unions mobilizing to fight for racial justice.
Chloe Asselin is a CUNY doctoral student in Urban Education and teaching at an early childhood learning center.  Megan Behrent, an Assistant Professor of English at City Tech, CUNY; taught in a Brooklyn public HS for 15 years. Brian Jones, doctoral student in urban education at CUNY; contributor to What’s Race Got to Do With It? Clarence Taylor is professor of history and black and Latino studies at Baruch College and is an author.

Concensus Decision Making in Schools 317
The James Baldwin School was founded on a belief that teachers and administrators would make decisions together. In this workshop, participants will learn about and practice a consensus decision-making process that can help your school increase the level of participation of your staff and increase the accountability to put decisions into action. Participants will reflect on the value and challenges that come with large group consensus based decision making, explore our artifacts and protocols, and apply some of these processes towards coming to consensus around a whole school decision.
Facilitated by Brady Smith, Principal, Josh Heisler, Teacher Co-Director and Seth Radar, teacher at James Baldwin School.

Asking Questions With Kids: Connecting Social Studies and Social Justice in Elementary School

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Presenters will share their experiences designing and enacting curriculum at a social studies based, social justice-focused elementary school in Brooklyn. Descriptions, including photos and videos from second, fourth, and fifth grade curriculum will be provided, followed by interactive discussion about pedagogical methods in elementary social studies.
Harper Keenan, former teacher at Community Roots in Brooklyn; current doctoral student in Curriculum & Teacher Education at Stanford University. Tomi Okuyemi is a second grade teacher at Community Roots, and organizes a job fair for progressive teachers of color. John McCann-Doyle is a fifth grade teacher at Community Roots.

Close Reading for Critical Literacy: Addressing CCSS Progressively

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We argue that in order to upend power structures, even our young students require critical literacy skills. In this session, we bridge the requirements of the Common Core with critical literacy using close reading as the pedagogy. We reject certain understandings of close reading that are too text-centric and marginalize student views, in favor of definitions that allow students to read text broadly. In our session, we will provide participants with pragmatic tools that they can use with students to close read traditional texts with critical lenses. This session will be targeted to elementary-level teachers.
Laurie Rabinowitz, Director of Instruction at a Brooklyn elementary school, studies inclusive schooling as a doctoral student at Teachers College.  Makila Meyers, former NYC teacher, is a doctoral student at Teachers College examining race and literacy. Aly Rumberger, a former teacher from Washington State, studies literacy and identity at TC.

A Hybrid of HipHop Pedagogy & Restorative Justice

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In an effort to dismantle the burgeoning youth control complex that heralds each prong of the school-to-prison nexus, educators have subscribed to hip hop pedagogy and indigenous incarnations of restorative justice as a solution. Combining Tier 1 (community-based) restorative justice with curriculum designed to interface with critical literacy of Hip Hop, affords a holistic hybrid that centers youth culture and social movements, with an apparatus of parallel governance and equitable stakeholdership. Facilitators will provide a research based, illustrative and interactive workshop on the secondary, grassroots, and post-secondary learning communities that endeavor to create radical versions of this space.
Dr. Arash Daneshzadeh, Professor of Education at the University of San Francisco and Director of Education for HipHop Chess Federation. Dr. Ahmad Washington is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at The University of Louisville.

Critical Educational Leadership

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Participants will examine the notion of educational leadership from a critical stance and explore critical inquiry processes that might be applied in their school and organizational settings with the larger purpose of promoting personal, organizational and social transformation.  Facilitators will model inquiry processes used in our schools and in our iTAG.
Members of NYCoRE’s Itag: Critical Educational Leadership.  David R. Rosas, a native New Yorker, works in education to foster critical consciousness and self-determination with young people. Rachel Seher is part of the leadership team at City-As-School; seeking to promote just, humane and democratic schools.

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Examining Disability and Combating Ableism in K-12 Curricula

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Although there is a growing push among social justice educators  to infuse anti-bias curricula in schools, there is a glaring omission of the  topic of disability oppression and ableism in K-12 curricula. Many teachers – even those who genuinely strive toward inclusiveness – may feel concerned or unprepared  to take on discussions about disability within their classrooms.  In this workshop,  we will engage in a dialogue about confronting the silences around disability in schools,  and learn strategies for creating a space for students to critically examine society’s responses to human differences and explore the socioculturally constructed  nature of disability.
Jessica Bacon and Priya Lalvani are professors at Montclair State University.  Their work focuses on disability studies, child development and inclusive education.

The Social Justice Toolkit for Badass Teachers

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Members of the Badass Teachers Association are compiling a Social Justice toolkit for educators to develop lessons, discussions, and activities that foster social justice principles in the classroom. As teachers we typically teach about things that we know and sometimes we struggle to develop lessons from various perspectives. This toolkit will include a diverse set of resources that assist teachers in developing lessons on a variety of social justice issues including: supporting English Language Learners, developing cultural competence, addressing poverty and classism, fighting Islamophobia and anti-black racism, understanding intersectionality, and dealing with child trauma.
Members of Badass Teachers Association: Michel Flanagan, Ed.D. NYC public school teacher, UFT chapter leader, opt-out parent and co-director of BAT Action Steering Committee. Denisha Jones, PhD, an assistant professor in the School of Education at Howard University and a board member for BATs. Marla Kilfoyle, NBCT, has been a public school teacher for 29 years and is the Executive Director of BATs. Steve Burby, D.A. in English from St. John’s University; has taught HS in Brentwood, NY for the twenty years.

Youth Participatory Action Research Training

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We believe that it is critical for oppressed young people to be able to take control of the valuable community knowledge that lives in their experiences. As young people of color training our peers in YPAR (Youth Participatory Action Research), we create space to analyze our communities, systems of power, and our strategies to change the world we live in. This model of research gains data by building relationships and trust with community members, investigating the information through a socially conscious lens, and then using our relationships to break systematic inequalities.
Members of YouthPrise: Neese Parker- Youth Engagement Coordinator and YPAR Facilitator, Irina Barrera- Research and Evaluation Intern, Fayise Abrahim- Research Manager, Arianna Dobins, Tyson Trueblood, Darius Powel, Shantill Ward, Sharia Cook, and Demetrius Compton are all Research Associates and YPAR Facilitators.

#NotOneMore: Kalief Browder, Racial Justice, and Human Rights

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Workshop will provide educators and youth organizers tools on how to build knowledge in their own communities around the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), honoring the life of Kalief Browder as a case study. The workshop will also brainstorm tools and strategies on how to educate and motivate organizers around racial justice from an international human rights framework.
Marissa Gutierrez-Vicario is the Executive Director of Art and Resistance Through Education which engages youth around human rights using art.  

Receivership Schools: Stop the Policy NOW.

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Under recently passed laws, schools that are categorized as falling in the bottom 5% of “low performing” schools can be placed into receivership, where the state will appoint an “independent receiver.” This can be a person or organization, including a charter chain, to run the school.  The receiver has authority to change the calendar, dictate instructional approaches and remove staff. Of the 144 schools on the NYS Receivership list, 62 of them in NYC. Members of the NYS Receivership and NYC Renewal Schools Action Group and Change the Stakes are working together to discredit and end the NYS Receivership policy.
Aixa Rodriguez: Teaches ESL at Foreign Language Academy for Global Studies,in the Bronx. Jane Maisel: Member of Change the Stakes & teaches in School of Education at CCNY.

Sharecroppers Challenge US Apartheid: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party

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Participants will be introduced to an interactive lesson that explores one of the most important events in the fight for true democracy in U.S. history, when a coalition of grassroots activists (MFDP) challenged the Mississippi political system, the federal government and the national Democratic Party that excluded citizens on the basis of race. (Particularly relevant in this election year.) Participants will experience and debrief the role play. They will be introduced to additional films, books, and lessons on the grassroots history of the Civil Rights Movement.  Free copy of Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching for each participant.
Deborah Menkart is the Teaching for Change ED, co-director of Zinn Education Project, and co-editor of Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching.

We Can!  The Community Asset Mapping Game

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Activists will discover their assets.  “Contestants” receive a large list of skills crucial to social action and community service projects.  They identify who in their group has the skills and who else they can call on.  It’s a way to start projects based on what a community DOES have, rather than what it does not.   Instead of asking “How can I help?”, this game allows people to be assertive, and say “I can help by…”.  This is empowering for both organizers and their communities.  Participants will gain techniques for asset-mapping that they can take back and use with their communities.
Kathleen is a special educator with a focus on service learning and theatre at Q300 MS. Twitter/Insta: @kathleencboyle

Resisting Teach for America

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Mounting pressure from disaffected alums and student campaigns calling universities to cut ties with the organization have tarnished the veneer of Teach for America. Grassroots organizing has led to a drastic decline in applicants in recent years, leaving the organization scrambling to respond to numerous critiques. How do we keep pressure on until all children grow up with the emancipatory education and support to build the just world they deserve?
Dissident former Teach for America corps members, with organizers from Students United for Public Education and United Students Against Sweatshops. Jay Saper is a member of NYCoRE and a social justice educator at LREI.

Remastering Digital Tools for the Community

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With the growth of the Internet, New Media, and social networking, Social Justice has evolved in new directions, but how have our tools of engagement changed? In this workshop, we will explore the continued homogeneity of the technology field and how we can change it. Examples of Culturally Relevant Computer Science practices in school and out-of-school settings (Youth Radio – Oakland) with urban youth will be highlighted. Participants will work in teams to create the concepts behind a mobile app that seeks to address inequalities and injustices in their community.
Cliff Lee teaches in the teacher ed program at Saint Mary’s College and is the scholar-in-residence at Youth Radio.

Divided No More: Allies in Classrooms and Beyond

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What happens when, in efforts to ‘fight the power,’ we end up fighting each other and thus squander the power that we need to make a real difference in students’ lives?  Workshop facilitators will share developing insights from their work as part of a broad collaborative effort to end the school-to-prison pipeline and transform school climate in Rochester, NY.  The highly interactive workshop will identify obstacles and conflicts among “natural allies” in school transformation work, and encourage deeper analyses and skills helpful in overcoming sticking points among groups to build solidarity and effectively work together for radical transformation in schools. 
Kaylynn Brown, Teen Empowerment youth organizer and Class of 2013 graduate who struggled with repeated suspensions. Brandon White, Rochester City School District middle school teacher, currently Teacher on Assignment for Restorative Practices. Mary Adams, Rochester City School District school board commissioner and parent of students in a district elementary school.

Nada es Mejor que el Poder Conectarse con la Mente, el Cuerpo y la Movilizacion de la Comunidad! What Better Way than to Connect Mind, Body and Organizing?

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Mujeres en Movimiento, Dance Therapy Group is a women’s collective that gathers at the cultural center IMI Corona in to exercise together. At NYCORE, we will exercise together and then discuss community-building and building stronger partnerships between immigrant families and schools. IMI Corona is a community space in the heavily immigrant neighborhood of Corona, Queens. Many free workshops are hosted, including dance, nutrition,, construction safety, classical music, screen printing, etc. IMI Corona has also served as a hub for cultural organizing initiatives surrounding the social and political representation of immigrants at the local, national, and global level.
Vero Ramirez, leader of Mujeres en Movimiento Dance Therapy Group; on the community council of Immigrant Movement International (IMI) Corona. María Alexandra García is co-creator and on the community council of IMI-C and a doctoral student in geography at Rutgers. Ariela Rothstein is a member of TeachDream/NYCORE, a history teacher in Brooklyn, and a volunteer educator at IMI Corona.

 Register Here

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