In this episode, Michelle Coles and I talk about so many things:

• How transactions across different types of places teach us to see and celebrate difference as well as connect through commonality
• The importance of authentic and intersectional stories of rurality
• How we’re essentially in a third cycle of Reconstruction and civil rights
• Her inspiration for writing the book and how Malcom’s story connects to her own lived experiences.

The things we talked about are so important to consider in this current cultural moment and I hope that you (and/or your students) will join us in thinking about it all. If you like what you hear, please like, comment, subscribe, review, and/or tell a friend.

Get the book: https://michellecoles.com/blackwastheink

In this episode, I talk about the possibilities of co-teaching this book with a history teacher and brainstorm projects such as Little Known History: Reconstruction Edition where students could learn about the historical events and people of the novel through research game creation.

Learn more about Michelle Coles and find copies of Black Was the Ink here: https://michellecoles.com

In this episode, I give a brief summary, read the first couple of pages, and do some critical place analysis of Michelle Coles’s Black Was the Ink. Its focus on Reconstruction America provides important connections to and insights for our own current cultural moment. It also importantly depicts Black rural folks – their history, struggles, and joys – which works to disrupt the idea that rural America is a white monolith.

Make sure you stay tuned for some critical rural teaching ideas and Coles’s Author Talk coming soon.

To learn more about Coles and the book visit: https://michellecoles.com/blackwastheink

In this episode, we talk about Monica’s rural connections, rural as cultural identity, code-switching/translanguaging with rural language varieties, and so much more. Another wonderful conversation I’m grateful to have had.

In this episode, I discuss some critical rural pedagogical approaches to teaching AIR, including a reading unit framed by an essential question with suggestions for reader’s notebooks; a PBL writing unit designed to learn about and improve accessibility in students’ school and community.

Learn more about critical rural English pedagogy: https://youtu.be/NFrLzo27-Ek

Resources about equity audits: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23017086?seq=1

Resources about photovoice: https://www.gocolumbia.edu/institutional_research/photovoice_page_documents/Facilitators_Toolkit.pdf

RRYAL Viewer Survey: https://forms.gle/EZ9q2Q7WcTGUbywG7

In this episode, I talk about how rurality shapes accessibility and role that plays in shaping Emmie’s story. I also connect it to my own experiences as a rural student and teacher.

If you haven’t filled out my survey yet, I’d really appreciate it if you could.

Why We Need More Rural Perspectives in Publishing

In this episode, I give a brief overview of Monica Roe’s 2022 debut, AIR. I discuss the inspiration for the book and read the first chapter.

Also… If you haven’t filled out my survey yet, I’d really appreciate it if you could. https://forms.gle/e26yPv8ycMppouPv5

Buy the book: https://bookshop.org/books/air-9781250798268/9780374388652

In this episode, Petrone and Wynhoff Olsen talk about their connections to rural places and the inspiration for their book. We discuss the affordances and challenges of living and teaching in rural places, work to outline what a critical rural English Pedagogy is, and how teachers and teachers educators can use critical rural pedagogy in diverse rural (and non rural) classrooms.

Petrone and Wynhoff Olsen give even more background information on the book, the chapters, and the units designed by their teacher co-authors, as well as discuss steps that rural English teachers could take today to make their curriculum and instruction more critically rural.

I had such a blast and learned so much from doing this talk, and I hope you do to!

In this episode of Reading Rural YAL, I discuss each chapter of Teaching English in Rural Communities in more detail to show you all the theoretical and practical awesomeness contained in this book.

Here’s a link to more resources on using a critical rural lens in teaching reading and writing:

Buy the book here.

In this episode, I embark on a new feature of RRYAL – talking about trade books! Teaching English in Rural Communities is a book I wish I would’ve had when I was a rural English teacher. Here I provide a summary and reading of the first few pages. I hope this is helpful to all the rural ELA teachers out there. Sound off in the comments if you have questions or want to chat.