Connect with Cornelius Minor

Website: kassandcorn.com | Twitter: @MisterMinor | Book: We Got This

Connect with Vrain Waves

Twitter: @VrainWaves | Becky Twitter: @BeckyEPeters | Ben Twitter: @mrkalb

Links & Show Notes

• Cornelius’ Introduction & Background (02:05)
  • Working through and reflecting on failure; teacher imagination (03:45)
• We Got This, the book, and the Teacher-as-Hero Narrative (05:59)
  • Jamal Eigel, illustrator
• Why is the Teacher-as-hero narrative problematic? (07:40)
  • People as humans not heroes; allies, not saviors
  • Heinemann Podcast w/ Mr. Minor - Building Better Heroes
• We all want better (09:52)
  • Teaching in the contemporary political moment
  • We are pro-kid - to help them create opportunities for themselves
  • “Anything that abridges opportunity is my enemy.”
  • Challenge: How do we actualize ‘better’
• How do we navigate the contemporary political moment? (12:05)
  • Everything is iterative
  • Story about Cornelius & his soccer team
  • Bringing it back to the classroom - what it means to be a member of a community - advocacy & activism (16:10)
  • The world hands you a curriculum - if you’re observant & you listen, you can do really powerful things
  • How can we all help surface and solve those stories? (17:55)
  • Racism, ableism, classism - Who should be working to solve it?
  • Empathy is a really powerful tool
  • Decolonize school by trying to understand each other
• Get to know our students better by listening - “Where is the poetry in this person?” (21:04)
  • Spend our time observing (22:35)
  • Labels are necessary shorthand but we have to avoid getting trapped in those (23:08)
  • Disability spread - the spread effect (23:57)
• Hip Hop Ed (24:31)

  • hiphoped

  • Art vs. product (25:08)
  • At the heart of hip hop is innovation / engineering / iterative design
  • Fearless around the act of creation
  • Hip hop came out of the Bronx
  • Can’t teach without the crowd
• How can we be more fearless in our creation? (28:36)
  • What is school?
  • True creation is messy & noisy - where are we leaving space for that during the school day?
  • Embrace approximation (instead of perfection) (30:12)
• How do we create space for learning from each other? (31:45)
  • Be deliberate about it
  • Ms. Disbrow as Cornelius’ mentor
  • Watching specific teaching moves, going into each other’s classrooms at least once a week - specific, scheduled time to watch, then specific, scheduled time to practice the learning
• Practices in literacy instruction (35:49)
  • Students and book selection - craft independence
  • “We’re here to create book culture.”
  • Independent reading time in class (37:51)
  • Agency for students (39:05)
• Modeling in writing (39:52)
  • Lucy Calkins / Reading & Writing Project
  • Readers Workshop / Writers Workshop
  • Writing essays - “Essay is a journey of thought.” (39:50)
  • Is our own ability a ceiling on our kids’ progress?
• Letting go of power without letting go of control (44:27)
  • Physics of human relationships
  • Create multiple points of investment / sharing power
  • “How can I raise a kid’s status in front of their peers?”
• How to teach with deep community engagement (48:18)
  • Parents & teachers need to see each other as experts
  • How can I labor to understand each student in order to give them the best possible experience?
• To learn more from Cornelius Minor:
  • Kassandcorn.com
  • Heinemann.com - We Got This
  • Loads of Free Resources from the Book!! Graphic organizers for your own Action Research to support your reflection & iteration
  • @MisterMinor on Twitter
  • @CorneliusMinor on Instagram
• Wrap Ups & Take Aways (52:21)