Nora Flanagan is a sophomore English teacher in the Chicago public schools system. In this 'TED Talk' delivered last summer at Wrigley Field during that phase of the global pandemic, she identifies some ongoing problems with the public schools there were present before the pandemic.
Much of what Ms. Flanagan describes are also challenges for Fresno public schools, and so her talk is highly-relevant to what we have experienced and continue to experience as teachers, students or parents in the midst of a global pandemic.
She makes four specific recommendations: "We can and we must engage parents, demand equity, support the whole student and rethink assessment."
The full text of Ms. Flanagan's remarks are available on-line, HERE. As your instructor, I want to encourage all of my students to reflect on her remarks, particularly her comments on how we support the whole student, and whether we consider the student's voice:
"IF WE ARE HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ANY OF THIS, AND NOT AUTHENTICALLY INCLUDING AND EMPOWERING STUDENTS EVERY STEP OF THE WAY, WE'RE NOT HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ANY OF THIS."
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