Reach And Teach is pleased to help promote Teaching Tolerance's Summer of Social Justice ideas for professional development this Summer. After their full article (used with permission from Teaching Tolerance) we'd also like to offer some Reach And Teach resources you might want to consider.
From Tolerance.org
Use This Summer for Social Justice
Web Exclusive!
Teaching Tolerance offers five suggestions for self-guided professional development as summer break gets underway.
by Jennifer Holladay
Take time to renew and reflect. A great place to honor your inner teacher — and your inner self — is with the Center for Courage and Renewal; its programs are based on Parker J. Palmer's path-breaking work, The Courage to Teach. The Center offers retreats for educators, as well as free, downloadable articles and podcasts.
Visit or learn more about a site of conscience. Find other destinations using this map of civil rights sites from the National Park Service, as well as its catalogs of sites in Latino history and Asian American history. If you can make it to Alabama, come visit us at the Civil Rights Memorial Center; bring a copy of this article to receive free admission for yourself and a guest. After visiting a site, identify three ways to integrate your experience into classes next school year.
Broaden your perspective with books and blogs. Consider the selections from our 2004 Summer Reading Series, or head on over to Voices from the Gaps, which uplifts works by women artists and writers of color. Its index allows you to search by state or location and by "axes," such as "Filipina American." And be sure to check out Change.org's listing of essential readings on LGBT rights, as well as our "must reads" on disability rights.
Bookmark or subscribe to the RSS feeds for progressive blogs. Five that top our personal lists: The Root, Change.org's Gay Rights, the unfortunately titled blog, Damn Mexicans, which seeks to debunk myths about immigration, Social Justice from IdentityTheory.com and Anti-Racist Parent. Our colleagues in the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project also offer the top-notch, and often disturbing, Hatewatch, which chronicles happenings in the radical right.
Connect with a social justice group near you. Use our map to find organizations in your community. Attend an event or volunteer. Build a relationship that can bolster a service-learning project in your classroom next year, one that supports real social change and prejudice reduction.
