Identity Talk 4 Educators LIVE

For this episode, I welcomed my good friend Denise Manning, who is the Outreach Director for the Boston Chapter of the non-profit organization, Educators For Excellence (E4E). In our conversation, we talked about the national campaigns that E4E has recently launched around the needs of teacher diversity and creating positive school culture in our communities.  To learn more about E4E and/or to donate the organization, please visit the website at www.e4e.org.    

BIO: 

Denise Manning is a Boston native and proud graduate of Boston Public Schools. Witnessing violence in her community growing up, Denise learned the importance of self-advocacy and sought enrichment opportunities. She worked with mentors from Minds Matter Boston on Saturdays to improve her writing skills and was admitted into prestigious summer programs that gave her access to greater educational opportunities. Through these programs, Denise saw the educational inequalities that exist, as well as the power of knowledge.   Denise graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and returned to her community to work in Boston Public Schools as a paraprofessional. While working in BPS, Denise advocated for students and families to have access to information and opportunities to support student growth. Denise then earned her license to teach high school English and early education, as well as her master’s degree. With her hands-on experiences in teaching, she focused on the importance of authentic community and family engagement for student academic and social-emotional support.

In this inaugural episode of #IDTALK4EDLIVE, I had the pleasure of interviewing Stephanie Edmonds, who is a 10th Grade Global Studies Teacher at Bronx Law High School.  She is also the host of the "Class Disruption" podcast, which you can catch every Friday on Instagram and YouTube.  Tune in as we talk about establishing a healthy work-life balance as parents, developing a growth mindset as teachers, "staying foolish" in the process, and much more!

BIO: 

Stephanie Edmonds is a New York City educator currently working at the Bronx High School for Law and Community Service, teaching 10th grade global history and serving as the reading intervention specialist and the Director of the Office of Student Life.  Her approach to the classroom is a reflection of her "stay foolish" philosophy -  the idea that learning happens when you are being your authentic self and having fun with it.  In this way, Stephanie designs authentic learning experiences by pairing the content of the state's curriculum with projects that ask students to use real world skills to apply their knowledge.  Some examples include class debates, writing and acting out plays, creating class newspapers, and making short documentaries.  As Director of the Office of Student Life, Stephanie is able to fully realize her mission of authentic student learning by supporting all of her school's student clubs through leadership development and running school-wide events throughout the year.  Perhaps she is most proud of introducing to her school, its first ever student government.  And yet, the breadth and depth of the work to be done, keeps her humbled and focused on one thing - finding the small cracks between the prescribed state curriculum, the unfunded policy initiatives, the state testing, and the directives of administration to create the space to serve the wide variety of needs of her students.  Remember, "Stay Foolish y'all!"  You can connect with Stephanie on the following social media platforms: Instagram - @class.disruption Twitter - @classdisrupti0n