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New Rethinking Schools Online Resource

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

Below is a letter from Rethinking Schools editor Bob Peterson about a new (and free) online resource from Rethinking Schools.

Please pass it on to friends and colleagues.

Thanks.

Bill Bigelow


Dear Friend of Rethinking Schools,

We're pleased to offer Keeping Quality Teachers Teaching, a special online collection of 17 articles published in Rethinking Schools that attempts to address the difficult issues of teacher recruitment, retention, and quality.

You can download a free PDF of the full collection of articles or view individual articles by visiting our website at www.rethinkingschools.org.

For many years, schools in the United States have faced a teacher shortage, especially in areas such as special education, bilingual education, math and science. This shortage has been exacerbated by an alarming failure on the part of school districts to retain teachers—up to 50 percent of new teachers leave after five years. Moreover, studies have shown an inequitable distribution of veteran and newer teachers within and across districts, often reinforcing other institutional inequities based on race and class.

Addressing this situation is complicated and requires us to confront fundamental problems that face our public schools: inadequate and unequal funding, lack of planning and collaboration time for teachers, large class sizes and difficult working conditions, faulty mentoring and evaluation systems, archaic salary systems, inadequate preservice and in-service professional development, and so on.

We would like to thank the Ford Foundation for financial support in underwriting the research and writing of several of these Keeping Quality Teachers Teaching articles and in the assembly of this special web collection. We encourage you to share this collection with colleagues, parents, legislators, and the media.

Sincerely,

Bob Peterson
for the editors of Rethinking Schools

Rethinking Schools sale: 25% off all publications

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

Rethinking Schools is in the midst of a holiday sale: 25% off of all publications -- including subscriptions. Here's a chance to replenish your stock of Rethinking Schools books, give some subscriptions to friends and colleagues -- and support the social justice education movement.

Thanks for your important work and for your support of Rethinking Schools.

Bill Bigelow
(bbpdx@aol.com)

________________________________________________

Dear friends,

With the holidays approaching, we at Rethinking Schools want to extend a special offer to you: a savings of 25% off all of our publications—including subscriptions to Rethinking Schools magazine. Take advantage of this limited-time offer to purchase resources for friends, family members, or colleagues. Check us out at www.rethinkingschools.org or call toll-free at 800-669-4192. Use this discount code: 5BHL09. Offer expires on December 31, 2009.

And, remember, our subscription rates will be going up after the first of the year, so take this opportunity to subscribe to the most important grassroots education publication in the country: Rethinking Schools magazine. Get a three-year subscription for the price of two. http://www.rethinkingschools.org/orderform/new_subscribe.shtml

Some suggested holiday packages:

We've bundled Linda Christensen's bestseller Reading, Writing and Rising Up with her brand new Teaching for Joy and Justice for just $27.95. With our special holiday offer, you can take another 25% off that price. What a great gift for a new—or veteran—teacher.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/tfjj/lcset.shtml

One of our most popular gift offers is a two-year subscription to Rethinking Schools magazine, bundled with a copy of The New Teacher Book, for just $29.95. With our holiday offer, that comes out to less than $22.50! 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/orderform/new_teacher.shtml

The best two-volume introduction to social justice teaching is still Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice, Vols. 1 and 2. This set is bundled for only $24.95, but this holiday season, you can take 25% off! 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/roc2/bothsale.shtml

Stocking stuffer:

Our DVD Unlearning "Indian" Stereotypes engagingly teaches about racial stereotypes and provides an introduction to Native American history through the eyes of children. Useful for elementary through adult education. Take 25% off the regular price of $19.95. 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/uis-dvd/

And save 25% off other recent Rethinking Schools titles:

Rethinking Early Childhood Education collects inspiring stories about social justice teaching with young children.Foreword Magazine said, "This book is an invaluable resource for educators and policy makers, as well as parents concerned with the early childhood years. An extensive overview of what early childhood education can really accomplish." 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/rece/rece.shtml

A People's History for the Classroom is filled with exemplary teaching activities that emphasize the roles of working people, women, people of color, and social movements in shaping history. What better time to introduce students to a people's history of our country! 
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/aphc/

Order these or any of our other outstanding publications with this special discount code 5BHL09. 

Order online atwww.rethinkingschools.org or call toll-free: 800-669-4192. This offer expires on December 31, 2009, so take advantage of it now.

With thanks for your support,
Bob Peterson,
for Rethinking Schools

Thanks and James Loewen workshop

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

Thanks to all of you who attended and led workshops at yesterday's 2nd Annual Northwest Teaching for Social Justice conference in Olympia. It was a joyous, thought-provoking, and inspiring gathering -- with over 400 people in attendance and 30 plus workshops throughout the day. Next year's conference will be in Portland and we'll be starting to plan for this later in the fall. This is a collective effort, so we'll be sending out "please join the planning" notices as soon as we catch our breath.

In the meantime, Portland Area Rethinking Schools has endorsed James Loewen's workshop at Lewis and Clark College on Friday, Oct. 16th, 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.: "Teaching What Really Happened." Loewen is author of the valuable book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me," about biases in corporate-produced U.S. History textbooks. It should be a lively and informative event.

For details, please go to the website: http://www.lclark.edu/graduate/programs/continuing_education/news/story/...

Bill Bigelow
for the Portland Area Rethinking Schools steering committee

Reminder: NW Teaching for Social Justice Conference, Saturday

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

Remember that this Saturday, October 3rd, is the 2nd Annual Northwest Teaching for Social Justice conference: "Rethinking Our Classrooms -- Organizing for Change." Washington Middle School, Olympia, Wash.

All the details are at www.nwtsj.org. Please register in advance.

Extraordinary workshops. Resources for social justice teaching. Inspiration. Networking. And lots more.

Keynoter: Ira Shor, author with Paulo Freire of "A Pedagogy for Liberation."

Sponsored by Olympia Educators for Social Justice, Puget Sound Rethinking Schools, Coalition X (Tacoma), Portland Area Rethinking Schools, and Rethinking Schools magazine.

Directions, a full listing of workshops, conference schedule, and registration information: www.nwtsj.org

I hope you can make it.

Bill Bigelow
for the Portland Area Rethinking Schools steering committee

Northwest Teaching for Social Justice conference/Oct. 3

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

The 2nd Annual Northwest Teaching for Social Justice conference is Saturday, Oct. 3 in Olympia, Wash. Details at www.nwtsj.org. Come for inspiration, come for new ideas, come for community, come to make a difference in the world. Register now.

Keynote speaker is Ira Shor, who wrote one of the first books on social justice teaching: "Critical Teaching and Everyday Life," and co-authored the excellent "A Pedagogy for Liberation" with Paulo Freire. This is a rare west coast appearance for Ira Shor.

And there will be three sessions of outstanding workshops by educators from around the Northwest. The full listing of workshops is at www.nwtsj.org.

Workshops include:

"A Pedagogy of Ecology: Nurturing Children's Relationship to Place," with Ann Pelo

"Black Student/White School," with Nathan Bowling

"Can't Buy Me Love: Teaching About Clothes, Class, and Consumption," with Linda Christensen

"Right to Math, Right to Water," with Jana Dean and Lorri DeFloor

"Connecting Primary Children to the World," with Katie Johnson

and many, many more.

There will also be a Resource Fair with materials from social justice groups from around the region, and a full display of Rethinking Schools books (at conference discount rates.)

Come

Interested in car-pooling? Have a ride to offer? Contact Bill Bigelow at bbpdx@aol.com.

The NWTSJ conference is sponsored by Olympia Educators for Social Justice, Puget Sound Rethinking Schools, Coalition X (Tacoma), Portland Area Rethinking Schools, and Rethinking Schools magazine.

Book Celebration: Teaching for Joy and Justice

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

Reminder:

Please join the Oregon Writing Project, the Center for Community Engagement/Lewis & Clark, and Portland Area Rethinking Schools as we co-host a celebration and book signing for Linda Christensen's newly published book, *Teaching for Joy and Justice.*

Check out the book's homepage for more details: www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/tfjj

Friday, September 18
4 - 6 p.m.
Great Hall, Westminster Presbyterian Church
1624 NE Hancock, Portland
(Two blocks north of NE Broadway, between 16th and 17th)
Lots of parking across the street in the church parking lot.
Beverages and light snacks provided. Books will be available at a discount.

At 4:30 Linda will talk about *Teaching for Joy and Justice.* She will introduce a number of her students who will read their from work that appears in the book.

Linda Christensen, author of *Reading, Writing, and Rising Up,* is an editor of Rethinking Schools magazine and the director of the Oregon Writing Project at Lewis and Clark College. In Portland she spent 24 years as a language arts teacher at Jefferson High School where she learned "to construct curriculum around ideas that connect students to their community and world." She is a nationally
known keynote speaker at education conferences for language arts, social justice, and writing.

Comments about *Teaching for Joy and Justice:*

"In these pages, Linda Christensen--consummate teacher and brilliant
writer--shows us that, in the end, teaching well is about awakening and
transformation. Thoroughly lively vignettes and stirring writing by both
teacher and students, this book exudes hope and possibility." -- Sonia
Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"Linda Christensen gets it. She understands writing is a medium
through which human beings convey their passions, hopes, and dreams.
Christensen provides practical advice to teachers with an understanding
that when our students learn to write they experience a sense of joy and
fulfillment." -- Pedro A. Noguera, professor, Dept. of Teaching &
Learning, NYU

Book Celebration: Teaching for Joy and Justice

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

Oh, boy: Time for a party.

Please join the Oregon Writing Project, the Center for Community Engagement/Lewis & Clark, and Portland Area Rethinking Schools as we co-host a celebration and book signing for Linda Christensen's newly published book, *Teaching for Joy and Justice.*

Check out the book's homepage for more details: www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/tfjj

Friday, September 18
4 - 6 p.m.
Great Hall, Westminster Presbyterian Church
1624 NE Hancock, Portland
(Two blocks north of NE Broadway, between 16th and 17th)
Lots of parking across the street in the church parking lot.
Beverages and light snacks provided. Books will be available at a discount.

At 4:30 Linda will talk about *Teaching for Joy and Justice.* She will introduce a number of her students who will read their from work that appears in the book.

Linda Christensen, author of *Reading, Writing, and Rising Up,* is an editor of Rethinking Schools magazine and the director of the Oregon Writing Project at Lewis and Clark College. In Portland she spent 24 years as a language arts teacher at Jefferson High School where she learned "to construct curriculum around ideas that connect students to their community and world." She is a nationally
known keynote speaker at education conferences for language arts, social justice, and writing. 

Comments about *Teaching for Joy and Justice:*

"In these pages, Linda Christensen--consummate teacher and brilliant 
writer--shows us that, in the end, teaching well is about awakening and
transformation. Thoroughly lively vignettes and stirring writing by both
teacher and students, this book exudes hope and possibility." -- Sonia
Nieto, Professor Emerita, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"Linda Christensen gets it. She understands writing is a medium
through which human beings convey their passions, hopes, and dreams.
Christensen provides practical advice to teachers with an understanding
that when our students learn to write they experience a sense of joy and
fulfillment." -- Pedro A. Noguera, professor, Dept. of Teaching &
Learning, NYU


Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference: Registration Open

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

It's still hot. It's still summer. But it's not too early to begin thinking about this fall's exciting 2nd Annual Northwest Teaching for Social Justice conference, to be held in Olympia, Wash. on Saturday, Oct. 3. Registration is now open at the www.nwtsj.org website.

Keynote speaker is Ira Shor, who has written such wonderful books on social justice teaching, including one of the first: "Critical Teaching and Everyday Life." Ira is also co-author with Paulo Freire of the excellent "A Pedagogy for Liberation."

Workshops are being finalized, but there will be a diverse offering of sessions from educators around the northwest.

Again: www.nwtsj.org.

Also, if you didn't get the summer special issue of Rethinking Schools magazine in the mail, then your subscription has lapsed. Time to renew, and time to go to Powell's downtown, Concordia New Seasons, Broadway Books, People's Food Store, or Alberta St. Cooperative Grocery and buy a copy. It's a special issue: "Teaching for Environmental Justice," and also includes the introduction from Linda Christensen's fantastic (I'm not biased) new book, "Teaching for Joy and Justice."

Have a good rest of your summer.

Bill Bigelow
bbpdx@aol.com
for the Portland Area Rethinking Schools steering committee

New from Rethinking Schools: Teaching for Joy and Justice

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Save $5.00 off Linda Christensen's new book!

Rethinking Schools Press is excited to announce the publication of a new book by nationally renowned teacher and writer Linda Christensen — Teaching for Joy and Justice: Re-imagining the Language Arts Classroom.


If you have read her bestselling Reading, Writing and Rising Up, or followed her articles in Rethinking Schools magazine, you know why she has achieved legendary status among classroom teachers and university-based educators alike.

By using this special promo code 5BTEFO5, you can purchase copies of Teaching for Joy and Justice for $14.95 - that's $5.00 off the list price. Call 800-669-4192 or visitwww.rethinkingschools.org/publication/tfjj/tfjj.shtml. Remember to use the promo code 5BTEFO5

Teaching for Joy and Justice combines concrete, hands-on advice with inspiration, hope, and joy. As Christensen writes in her introduction, the book begins "with the non-negotiable belief that all students are capable of brilliance."

Christensen's 287-page book covers all aspects of the language arts curriculum, from reading and understanding literature, to writing poetry, narratives, and essays. She also helps her students understand the relationship between language and power, and provides guidance for teachers on complicated topics such as grading student work.

Part curriculum guide, part autobiography, part critique of standardized mandates, Teaching for Joy and Justice is based on Christensen's more than 30 years experience as a classroom teacher, language arts specialist, and teacher educator. It combines examples of how to teach for social justice with heart-stopping excerpts from student writing.

Some of the many accolades for Teaching for Joy and Justice:

• "Linda Christensen gets it," says Pedro Noguera, a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at New York University. "Christensen provides practical advice to teachers with an understanding that when our students learn to write, they experience a sense of joy and fulfillment."

• "Linda Christensen — consummate teacher and brilliant writer — shows us that, in the end, teaching well is about awakening and transformation," says Sonia Nieto, a Professor Emerita at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

• "Teaching for Joy and Justice gives teachers the inspiration and 'how to' nitty-gritty that we crave," says Fay Peitzman, director of the UCLA Writing Project.

Remember, save $5.00 for each copy of Teaching for Joy and Justice you buy by calling 800-669-4192 or visiting www.rethinkingschools.org/publication/tfjj/tfjj.shtml and using the promo code 5BTEFO5.

Thanks for your support.

Michael Trokan 
Rethinking Schools

 

July 12 Deadline for Workshop Proposals: Northwest Teachers for Social Justice Conference

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Dear Portland Area Rethinking Schools friends,

The deadline for submitting a workshop proposal for the 2nd annual Nortwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference -- to be held in Olympia, Saturday Oct. 3 -- has been extended to July 12. You can download a workshop proposal form at the Portland Area Rethinking Schools website (www.portlandrethinkingschools.org) or at the NW Teaching for Social Justice site, www.nwtsj.org.

Please consider submitting a proposal. And, of course, I hope you'll put it on your calendar to attend the conference. Ira Shor will be the keynoter. Ira has written numerous wonderful books including the groundbreaking "Critical Teaching and Everyday Life," and the excellent "A Pedagogy for Liberation," with Paulo Freire, undoubtedly the most accessible introduction to Freire's work. There will be engaging workshops, displays from numerous social justice education groups, including Rethinking Schools, and a chance to network with caring and committed educators from around the region.

Best, Bill Bigelow
for the Portland Area Rethinking Schools steering committee

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