#vted Reads: Start Here Start Now #vted Reads

Lovely listeners: today is a work day.Now, we all know that talking about anti-bias work is a vital component of the kind of school change that makes our classrooms safer and more engaging for students of color. Doubly so when we are white educators, and when we teach in predominantly white spaces, in predominantly white communities. But sometimes, it feels like all we do is talk, and then assure ourselves that the work is done. It’s not. It's really, really not.Real change in dismantling bias in our classrooms can only come about when talk turns to walk. When we are serious about change, we share our own journeys, with all their missteps, rocks in the shoes, and joy-filled leaps and bounds. We share, and we listen, and only when we see what the work takes can we make the change we want to see in the world. On this episode, we welcome Emma Vastola and Emily Gilmore to the show, as they share their own journeys and all the work they take on, that they do each day to dismantle bias — and before we go any further I ask that you take a moment and hold these two Vermont educators in gratitude with me. 
Now, we’re going to be using Liz Kleinrock’s “Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antiracist and AntiBias Work in Your Community” to guide our conversation, and as you listen, I want you to consider — reeeeeeeally consider — these two questions: one, how can YOU share your own work in this way? and two, what’s stopping you?I’m Jeanie Phillips. Welcome to another episode of vted Reads: a podcast about books by, for, and with Vermont educators. Let’s chat.  









https://soundcloud.com/innovativeed/start-here-start-now-with-emily-gilmore-and-emma-vastola?si=237070727d1c401eb7d164d96613dce7&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

















Jeanie: I'm Jeanie Phillips and welcome to #vted Reads. We're here to talk books for educators, by educators, and with educators. Today I'm with two fabulous educators, Emma Vastola and Emily Gilmore, and we'll be talking about Liz Kleinrock’s Start Here Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community. Thank you so much for joining me, Emily and Emma. Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.















Emily: I'll start off. This is Emily Gilmore. I use she/her pronouns. I am a cis, white, former social studies teacher, now working for Great Schools Partnership, as of this year. I was in the classroom for nine years. I live in Winooski, Vermont, land of Abenaki and I’m really excited to be continuing conversations with Jeanie and Emma.















Emma: Thank you, Emily. So my name is Emma Vastola. I am a cis white female. I am currently teaching a multi-age fifth and sixth-grade classroom at a preK - six school in Mount Holly, Vermont. I am really excited to be here to talk with Jeanie and Emily today.







Jeanie: Thank you both so much for joining me. As you know I love to read and I love to expand my to-be-read pile even though it's practically toppling over now. What's on your bedside table? What are you both reading right now? Emma, why don't you go first?







Emma: Okay, so let's see. I, like you Jeanie, have a topple-like bedside table with lots of books on it. And so I'd have to say the one at the top is Dr. Wayne Dyer's Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life. That is one I go back to repeatedly that's always there. Another one that I have been reading is Adam Grant’s ...