blogging · social justice

Join Us: A Letter

twtcoauthors

Dear Readers,

We are writing today to invite you into a dialogue that many educators, including the co-authors of Two Writing Teachers, have been engaging in.

Much like yours, our conversations begin with the students we teach: How can we know better and do better?

We talk about how students need to see themselves in the books and authors highlighted as mentors. We talk about how students rely on us to lean into, not away from conversations that address racism, inequity, and biases. We talk about the importance of fostering story-seekers and storytellers, so as not to let a single story become the only story (Chimamanda Adichie, Ted Global 2009). Finally, we talk about how this complex and necessary work extends beyond classrooms.

In the same spirit that we write to become better teachers of writing, when we engage wholly in all that is asked of students, we become more authentic, more empathetic, and better equipped to support them in our practice.

This work, which we consider to be heartwork, is as significant in our professional and personal lives as it is in our classrooms.

With that, we share our goals:

  1. To continue to provide high-quality information for the teaching of writing, while broadening our scope to highlight equitable and anti-biased learning environments, English as an Additional Language, and special education in a writing workshop setting. Would you be willing to share your expertise in any of these areas? Click here to find out how.
  2. To include a greater representation of voices in general readership and in the SOLSC community. We invite the community to join us as we reach within and beyond our circles to do so.
  3. Knowing that the former two items rely on a greater representation of voices in authorship, we are growing our team. If you are interested in joining us, please email stacey{at}staceyshubitz{dot}com.

We welcome your thoughts, your ideas, and your own reflections. We hope to continue the dialogue together.

With gratitude,

Beth, Betsy, Deb, Kathleen, Kelsey, Lanny, Melanie, and Stacey

Published by twtcoauthors

4 thoughts on “Join Us: A Letter”

  2. Thank you for this open initiative. On the face of it, it sounds like an easy ask. From my experience in a variety of organizations, however, I recognize that it will take time and focused effort to welcome new membership who are more representative of the our classroom populations and society at large. That said, I applaud the clarity of your goals, the actionable nature of your requests and the realizations that brought you to this public acknowledgement. I wish you every success and look forward to assisting wherever possible.

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