Journeys to Belonging

Victoria Thompson is a STEM Integration Transformation Coach at TAF@Saghalie, a middle school located in Federal Way, WA. In her five years as an anti-racist educator, she began her journey teaching fifth and sixth grade math and science at Cane Bay Middle School in Summerville, SC after graduating from the College of Charleston in 2015. After completing her masters in curriculum and instruction from Western Governors University in 2017 she moved to the Seattle, WA area in 2018 with her wife Kourtney, where her career has pivoted to focusing on K-12 mathematics instruction with research on decolonizing mathematics curriculum for teachers and learners, creating inclusive math environments, and using technology to bridge equity gaps in math education. She is a certified Microsoft Innovative Educator, a National Geographic Educator, an Apple Educator, a Buncee ambassador, an InsPEARational Educator, and an educational technology consultant for tech companies in the Seattle area.

Twitter: @VictoriaTheTech

LinkedIn: @VictoriaRoseThompson

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/victoriathetech/home

Apps mentioned: Peardeck,  Buncee

Janique Caseley grew up in a small town called Truro and left at age 18 for university. She completed an undergraduate degree in sciences, intending to become first a marine biologist, then a school psychologist. I started my BEd to continue the school psychology path but fell in love with teaching my first day of what we call practicum, which is going into a classroom and watching how everything functions. She finished her BEd in 1997 and has been teaching ever since.  Along the way, she got married, had two children, and has moved homes twice. She currently teaches grade six, volunteers at the local animal shelter, and attempts to keep a house with four busy people in it clean and functional.

The book we mentioned that she uses to form classroom community: The Lost Teachings by Michael James Isaac

https://www.strongnations.com/store/item_display.php?i=4599&f=3111,3026,3030 and also available on Amazon.com

Twitter: @6caseley

Evan Whitehead has been an educator for more than 20 years spanning three decades.  Over the course of his career, he has held the following positions: special education paraprofessional, special education high school teacher, Latino parent outreach coordinator, dean of student discipline, community outreach coordinator, director of special services, director of bilingual education and English learners, Title I director, and assistant superintendent of special services.   Currently Evan is the director of special services for a PK–8 school district in Illinois. In his current role, Evan oversees all federal programs (special education, McKinney-Vento,  English learners, and Title I); early childhood education; multi-tiered system of support (MTSS); social emotional learning, equity, diversity, and cultural competency. Evan is also National Consultant, Trainer ,Presenter, Speaker; Frequent Podcast Contributor; Mental Health Advocate ;Mindfulness Practitioner ;and proponent of Equity, Diversity and Intercultural competency. Evan’s 3Bs” Balance, Boundaries, and Breaks” (#BalanceBoundariesandBreaks) promotes self -advocacy in the areas of mental health, self-care, and wellbeing. “It’s OK to be SELFISH about your mental health/wellness in order to be the best version of yourself so that you can be SELFLESS for others you help and serve.”

Twitter: @evanwhitehead00

Hear Us Out, Social Justice Conversations on Belouga: https://belouga.org/series/3e71f3be-ca89-40f1-b4ac-3ef1f927e016

Anna Marie Savino has always loved writing and sharing her passion for making meaningful connections between words and ideas. The two interests fused together in Sparrow’s Well, her first published book. In Sparrow’s Song, she shares single thoughts and poetic epiphanies about life, love, and the pursuit of meaning.   More of her writing can be found on her website, wellculturedperspectives.com, and in Fueled by Coffee and Love: A Brew Perspective, (in addition to a giant bin that contains years worth of journal writing and notebooks from high school).   Although not a writer by trade, after 17 years of teaching English to high-school and junior-high students, she decided to practice what she preaches and be a model of how narrative can positively change lives.

Twitter: @ASMILEwithAnna

Website: https://www.wellculturedperspectives.com

email: [email protected]

A Sparrow's Well from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZTSVBKV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1

Sparrow's Song: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D7WXV8J/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

Justin Nolan is a teacher in Care and Treatment schools (mental health needs) including hospital, jail, homeless, teen parenting, addiction, crisis, mental illness. I am a father to two girls, the oldest adopted from a teen mom who struggled. In every minute outside of teaching and parenting I work on my project to make learning for customized and entertaining on the internet through blog, vlog, and podcast. 

Twitter and other social media: @justtries

#JustKeepLearning

Websites: 

https://www.justkeeplearning.ca

https://www.justtries.ca

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAbjTC5Q9Vg4ZzB9zfN95MA

Tim Needles is an artist, educator and author of STEAM Power: Infusing Art Into Your STEM Curriculum. He teaches art/media at Smithtown School District, is a TEDx Talk speaker, and his work has been featured on NPR, in the New York Times, Columbus Museum of Art, Norman Rockwell Museum, Alexandria Museum of Art, Katonah Museum of Art, and Cape Cod Museum of Art. He’s the recipient of ISTE’s Technology in Action Award and Creativity Award, NAEA’s AET Outstanding Teaching Award, and The Rauschenberg Power of Art Award. He’s a National Geographic Certified Teacher, PBS Digital Innovator, an ISTE Arts & Technology and STEM PLN leader, NAEA ArtEdTech interest Group leader, and Adobe Creative Educator and Education Leader.  

Tim is active on social media including Twitter: @timneedles.

Website: https://www.timneedles.com

Tim's book, STEAM POWER is available on 

ISTE.org: https://id.iste.org/resources/product?id=4744&format=Book&name=STEAM+Power

or

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08574GY2Z/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#ace-g2093936695

Dr. Denise Furlong has been a teacher in New Jersey for over 20 years, spanning grades kindergarten to the university level. She is currently a EL/SIFE Coach for Freehold Borough Schools and an EduMentor for Rutgers University. She earned her Ed.D from Rutgers University in 2009 in Literacy Education with a Concentration in Educating ELLs. I'm a proud mother of three and wife to Tim.

Denise has a book about the Voices of Newcomers in progress, so stay tuned for news of the publishing date once she knows.

Twitter: @denise_furlong

The book she mentions during the podcast that she and her colleagues read for their book club: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35795912-my-family-divided

Rola Tibshirani is a middle school French immersion teacher with the Ottawa Catholic School Board. Passionate about students taking ownership of their learning by creating and innovating through tools and applying Integrative Thinking and Design Thinking processes when embracing thinking challenges. Connecting students with real-world problem solving to take action and make a difference in their communities locally and globally. A co-learner with and from the students by encouraging reflections on all learning tasks.

Find her on Twitter: @rolat

Her blog is: https://learningprogression.blogspot.com

Her podcast: The Missing Link https://soundcloud.com/rola-tibshirani

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

@RotmanIThink 

In this episode, Ilene discusses why belonging is so important for students and offers some suggestions based on her experience and recent research for creating a sense of belonging in your classroom.

Research cited in this episode: http://mindsetscholarsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/What-We-Know-About-Belonging.pdf

My Blog post: https://eddilene.edublogs.org/2020/07/28/the-be-longing-within-us-all

Hedreich Nichols is an educator, equity advocate and retired musician helping to change the world one teacher, one student at a time. Writer and host of Small Bites, the YouTube series on #equity. Hedreich says, "How do you eat an elephant? One small bite at a time." Even if you only have 0-5 minutes, there are ways to increase our knowledge and become advocates for equity.

Website: https://hedreich.com

Small Bites: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIuJbBSmeAo6d98SDC_zanQ

Books: https://amzn.to/3aHM5us 

Reflections episode with Barbara Bray https://barbarabray.net/2020/06/14/where-are-you-on-your-journey-understanding-racism

Twitter: @Hedreich