Making Space For Place Jerbrel Bowens, Vicki Harrington, and Ella Hotchkiss

We want to compare place-based literacy implementation strategies across cultural and geographical contexts because they may differ but also may have similar ideas and practices to ensure the success of their students and community.

References:

McPheeters-Neal, K. (2015). Falling through the rabbit hole and teaching through the looking glass: Experiences of a new teacher in a rural school. In L. S. Eckert & J. Alsup (Eds.), Literacy teaching and learning in rural communities: Problematizing stereotypes, challenging myths (pp. 48-59). Routledge.

Spanke, J. (2015). Crossing the tracks, or the bacon of despair: The story of one teacher’s story...of one teacher’s story...of teaching in a rural school. In L. S. Eckert & J. Alsup (Eds.), Literacy teaching and learning in rural communities: Problematizing stereotypes, challenging myths (pp. 33-47). Routledge.

Guests:

Samantha Hirsch- Sam is a special educator in a rural/suburban district, and she currently works with Kindergarteners, 3rd & 4th graders. This is her first year in her current district, which she came to after teaching special education one year in a different rural district.

Charlotte Miller- Charlotte is a reading specialist working at Sodus Central School. She works mostly with middle grade students (5-8), but has experience working with high school students as well. Her past teaching experiences vary widely, from work on the Mohawk reservation, to placements in the Rochester City School District (including the Monroe County Children’s Detention Center), and landing in her current rural district for the past nine years.

We want to compare placed-based literacy implementation strategies, from research compared to lived experiences, across disciplines and cultural contexts because they may differ but also may have similarities which could be used to help teachers problem solve across disciplines.

References:

Bertling, J. G. (2015). The art of empathy: A mixed methods case study of a   critical place-based art education program. International Journal of    Education & the Arts, 16(13), 1-26. Retrieved from      http://www.ijea.org/v16n13/.

Donovan, E. (2016).  Learning the language of home: Using place-based writing practice to help rural students to connect to their communities. The Rural Educator, 37, 1-12. Retrieved from hp/ruraleducator/article/view/334.

Websites:

https://www.tetonscience.org/programs/mountain-academy/

https://www.foxfire.org/about-foxfire/

Guests:

John Gabriele- John worked for over 30 years as a 7-12 music teacher in the City of Rochester. He has retired from this urban teaching context, but still enjoys maintaining contact with his school.

Peggy Lembke- Peggy works as a high school English teacher in Sodus, a rural district. She has taught for nineteen years in this district, and she has instructed grades 7-12.  She has also taught in suburban districts.

We want to investigate how placed-based literacy is perceived and implemented across diverse learning contexts because “place does make a difference to students and teachers” (Eckert & Alsup, 2015, p. 5), but not a lot of educators know about these literacy practices or how to use them effectively across contexts.

References:

Eckert, L. S. & Alsup, J. (Eds.). (2015). Literacy teaching and learning in rural communities: Problematizing stereotypes, challenging myths.   Routledge.

Epstein, J. L., Sanders, M. G., Sheldon, S. B., Simon, B. S., Clark Salinas, K., Rodriguez Jansorn, N., Van Voorhis, F. L., Martin, C. S., Thomas, B. G., Greenfeld, M. D., Hutchins, D. J., & Williams, K. J.  (2019). School, family, and community partnerships: Your handbook for action (4th ed.). Corwin Press.

Guests:

Brenda Wren- Brenda taught 5th grade for 21 years and currently works as the district staff developer (so, teaching teachers) at Sodus Central School. She has spent all of her teaching years in this rural district.

Kelly Reese- Kelly is a K-3 reading specialist with about 15 years of teaching experience. She currently works in an urban district, though has diverse experience, having worked in rural, suburban, and urban districts.