Marvelous Monday!

This week, we are discussing Chapter Seven from Gholdy Muhammad’s book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. In this chapter, Dr. Muhammad speaks about choosing historically responsive texts.

Consider this quote from page 137, “Books mattered. In literary societies, literature and reading various texts were at the heart of all their pursuits and literacy learning goals. They read diverse literature to enrich their minds and also to cultivate their identities, skills, intellect, and criticality. When they had funds, they put all their money into the establishment of libraries and their book collections.” 

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Marvelous Monday!

This week, we are discussing Chapter Six from Gholdy Muhammad’s book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. In this chapter, Dr. Muhammad speaks to the importance of teaching Criticality.

Consider this quote from page 120, “Criticality calls for teachers and students to understand the ideologies and perspectives of marginalized communities (especially Black populations all over the world) and their ways of knowing and experiencing the world. Without this knowledge and anti-oppressive beliefs of their own, it becomes impossible to teach criticality in the classroom because it calls for a direct interruption of the things that disturb the peace in the world and in communities.” 

Marvelous Monday!

Hopefully, you’ve had an opportunity for some rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation! Now is the perfect time to renew our thinking and inspire our professional practice. It’s not too late to begin reading Gholdy Muhammad’s compelling book, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.

This week, we are discussing Chapter Five which explains the need to develop all students’ intellect and scholarship. Dr. Muhammad described intellectualism as developing students’ mental culture. This means that intelligence isn’t just about academics, but also emotional intelligence and self and social awareness (Muhammad, 2020). 

Marvelous Monday!

Next month, the WSRA leadership will gather virtually and have the opportunity to continue our book conversations in real time! Until then, we are continuing our weekly posts to share our thinking and stimulate deeper levels of understanding. 

Marvelous Monday! 

Spring is in the air and it's the perfect time to plant the seeds for new ideas and inspiration.

This week, we are continuing our discussion with Chapter Three from Gholdy Muhammad’s thought-provoking book Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy.

Marvelous Monday!

Have you started reading, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy? You don’t want to miss out on this book! 

Hello WSRA!

Welcome and First RIF Conversation on Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad

I hope you are having a Marvelous Monday! On behalf of the Read it Forward Committee, I want to welcome you to our first RIF book conversation. This year, we are beginning our conversations over the Keeping in Touch blog. We hope to spark thinking and conversations that can be continued at the April Leadership meeting and beyond. If you’re like me, the only thing I enjoy more than reading a great book is talking about that great book with a friend or colleague! 

Each Marvelous Monday, check out the Keeping in Touch blog for a new conversation starter. Consider your own values, perspectives, classroom experiences, and knowledge of research and best practice. Share your response to the conversation starter or extend a discussion started by another member. These are our norms to help guide our discussions on the blog.

Read It Forward 2021. COMMITTEE AND COUNCIL BOOK DISCUSSIONS

 We Want To Do More Than Survive by Bettina Love

"Bettina Love persuasively argues that educators must teach students about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in their communities through racial civic initiatives and movements. Love shows that to achieve educational freedom -- not merely reform-- teachers, parents, and community leaders must approach education with the imagination, determination, boldness, and urgency of an abolitionist. Following in the tradition of activists like Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin, and Fannie Lou Hamer, WE WANT TO DO MORE THAN SURVIVE introduces an alternative to traditional modes of educational reform and expands our ideas of civic engagement and intersectional justice." Bettina Love is an award-winning author and an associate professor of educational theory and practice at the University of Georgia.