I'm two weeks into teaching Stamped by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, and I won't lie, it's some of the most invigorating work of my career. Now for some transparency before we move on: I do teach at an affluent school district with a largely white population, and I have exactly zero students who are Black. That said, I still have quite a few BIPOC students. It's for this, and so many other reasons, my 9th grade team decided to utilized Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, and it's nothing short of some of the most important work of my career.
I'll start with the biggest challenge: slowing it down. Whole class texts are not my strong suit. In a given year, I might have 4 or 5 whole class texts, 4 or 5 book club units and countless amount of independent books. And when I get into whole class texts, I try not to labor them. The days of 5 or 6 weeks in a book seems antiquated. And yet (YET!), Stamped deserves our time. We need to take it slow to unpack ourselves. Of course, students still start with 10 minutes of independent reading, but the rest of class is largely focused on unpacking Stamped and unpacking ourselves.
Quick Writes:
Nearly every day we start with a quick write of some sort, and most of these are about unpacking our own preconceived thoughts. On the first day, we spent time going through The Undefeated 44 and talking about Black people we admire. Another day we spent time unpacking microaggressions. Today, before the chapter on Uplift Suasion, we spent time watching a video on Code Switching, reflected on our own daily Code Switching and asked if it is possible for those who frequently Code Switch to ever stop.
Preparing Stamped
For each class, the reading is small and focused. We've prepared a number of different protocols for examining Stamped including the four As protocol, sentence-phrase-word and asking questions. We've also used excerpts from Jewell's This Book is Antiracist which is limitless in its usefulness. All that's to say, students are reflecting about Stamped as they read it and coming to class prepared. So far, there's near 100% buy-in, which leads to the next important part.
Tough Conversations and How to Prepare Them
What I want to avoid while teaching Stamped is lecture. It's too easy for me to say, "But don't you see!?" I want to amplify student voice, and I also want students to have a safe space for conversations.
My ground rules are clear. At my school district, our Superintendent and Board of Ed made it very clear: Black Lives Matter. I echo that sentiment in my classroom, and alternatives to that sentiment are not appropriate for discussion (you may instead choose to write about it if you so wish (and even this I'm not sure if I should be allowing room for)).
In each group, I pick a leader. The leader's job is to help keep the conversation going. Because every class starts with a quick write, when it comes to discussion time, students begin speaking about the quick write and then navigate towards Stamped. The leader's only job is to help transition when the first conversation starts to wane. That said, as I choose different leaders, it's clear some of them take that role very seriously--making sure that every voice is heard. They act as a moderator of sorts. What I inadvertently created was accountability in discussion. While I hear many teachers talking about how strained conversations are on Zoom, my 9th graders consistently engage in lively conversations. Currently, conversations are hovering around the 10 minute mark, and that doesn't even marginally feel like enough time to unpack everything they have to say.
Creating a Safe Space; Helping and Giving an Out
I like to think I've created a safe space and the ground rules are clear. That said, before we break into our group discussions I make it clear about the following: if someone says something that feels "off" or if any questions arise, they should immediately press the "help" button, and I will swoop in for a check in. No one has called for "help" just yet, but I do feel that it's only a matter of time.
The other thing is, these conversations are extremely sensitive. As a BIPOC person myself, some of the material does feel "triggering." I made it clear, if students need a little bit of breathing time, they should immediately drop to the main room.
Establishing ways for students to find an out is essential before embarking on this work. Students need space and when unpacking emotions, breathing room is essential.
Building Ethos
We've found different ways to talk about Stamped, and I'm trying to make sure conversations stay lively and relevant. What I love about Stamped is how Kendi says in his introduction that "it's important to remember that racist ideas are ideas. Anyone can produce them or consume them" (XIV-XV). Kendi goes on to acknowledge that he had them. We talked about ethos in class, and the importance of this acknowledgement. I acknowledged my shortcomings as well. As the class has continued, several students are voicing their shortcomings. We talked about the importance of "calling-in" and the importance of "calling out." As a teacher, for Stamped, you need to be vulnerable. This isn't your soapbox moment (and it's certainly not mine). Acknowledging that you might make mistakes is essential in this work. And when those mistakes happen, I told my students, "I hope you call me out on it. I want to learn too."
Daniel Valentin teaches English 9 and Ethics at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr and is listening to Outlawed by Anna North. He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter @DanielJValentin
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