180 Days of Gratitude

I've heard alot of people say "Kids these days think they are entitled to everything". I'm sure you've heard it and if you're like me, you've probably said it a time or ten lol. Occassionally, it is the truth. There is indeed this sense of entitlement amongst humans in general. I was raised by a incredibly amazing single mother. My sister and I are 14 years apart, my brother and I are 9 years apart. So as you can imagine, I am a little bit spoiled. (read alot of bit in place of little bit) In my family though; I am not spoiled in a materialistic way. I was raised and reminded DAILY to be thankful for what I have and not just be thankful but to express my gratitude. The church I went to when I was in college; the Pastor always said it this way: "It could always be the other way." When she said "it". She meant life, work, health, finances, friendships, just whatever your "it" is/was. I do my absolute best to provide the very best learning experience for Mrs. Parker's Professors. I am a firm believer that it takes a village. The village surrounding my professors is exemplary. There are opportunities that are afforded to the professors simply for being their amazing selves. All of these opportunities are truly extraordinary. So, it is easy for them to forget humility and gratitude. One of my friends, @msadamsteaches on instagram, created a "180 days of gratitude" challenge. I borrowed it from her and utilize it in my learning community to help my professors remember all the things we must be thankful for on a DAILY basis. Kinda like how we should celebrate being thankful everyday not just at thanksgiving type deal. So; I made it out of a door. In the middle of the door is the "180 Days of Gratitude". When a professor finds something to be thankful or grateful for; they grab an index card. On the side with the lines, we write what we are thankful for. On the other side, we draw a picture describing what we wrote. This also gives us more practice with writing in and out of context. It is now a constant reminder for us to flashback on. This door is also the door to the classroom bathroom and sink, so everytime they go to the bathroom or to the sink; they can be reminded of the little things. It also is a heart warmer for me that maybe I am not doing so bad after all and seeing what they like the most. Am I saying that this solves all our non humble stuff; absolutely not. However; I am also really not a fan of complaining AT ALL. Like it truly truly bothers me. So I can't complain about a problem and not at least do my best to do something about it. We all have so much to be thankful for and again; things could truly be the other way. It is my duty to pass this mindset onto my professors, so that they might do the same. P.S. That door is green and orange, shoutout to all those F.A.M.U. Rattlers :-)

Daily Affirmations

There are tons of challenging aspects of teaching. Scratch that; teaching as a whole is challenging. But as my teacher union president Bryan says : It is the hardest, most important job in the world. It is really challenging to sustain the attention of ALL of my professors. I think in large part to the fact that they are budding little humans and still have a little firstie or second grade or fourth grade in them, whatever grade you teach. So, it is a case by case style of learning and teaching as they progress into full bloom ______ graders. With that being said; they are also being thrusted into the Mrs. Parker's Professors maturation school lol So they are juggling, learning and sustaining multiple tasks right now. I am so proud. However; I am patient with them. I am a hot mess, I need someone to be patient with me. Lord HAVE MERCY, I need it lol So I have to give it back to my babies. For this 2017-2018 school year; I teach second grade. My professors are 7(with a few just turning 8)---They are babies. They need brain breaks, flexible and outlandish learning activities to help them reach all their goals. Each of my babies are all so different and special and unique. It is challenging yet incredible. I do my best to plan high high HIGH engaging, no room for boredom, an agenda for what's next ,what's next and what's next so my early finishers don't get bored and my more vulnerable learners feel protected and safe too. So; if you are that teacher that feels like you are failing your students. Remember this; it is not that you failed. When my professors are teaching me and I am teaching them; I am incredibly flexible. I can't be mad with them. They are doing their absolute best but just like me, they just need a break sometime because life is hard and not to be taken too seriously all the time. I am trying to teach them balance as well. It is my job to grow the whole child. Dear Teacher reading this; You did not fail today. At all. The affirmations/guiding principles of the Parker's Professors Learning Community in place truly guide all of our work. I am a fan of the restorative justice model. Huge Huge Fan actually. It is my job to grow the whole child. 99.9 % of the time; I do not send babies out of my classroom to the office for a not so good choice. When they are out for a not so good choice; their brain is not growing. I need them, they need themselves, their family needs them, their community needs them, our world needs them TO BE IN CLASS. So; like one of my favorite PJ Morton songs; we can work it out. I simply refer back to the affirmations from our morning. If a Professor is not making a good choice; Me: (professor name); your life? Professor: My goals Me: Who do you represent? Professor: My family and my friends Me: I take my education Professor: Seriously Me to the whole class: Who are we? All Professors: We are Leaders, We are Learners, We are a Family, We are Mrs. Parker's Professors Just hitting back to our affirmations, our guiding principles. It is helpful. Now; we've all been reminded and felt welcomed and respected back into our learning community. I'll share more about what I mean when I say "affirmations/ guiding principles" a little later!

How to Change the World!

My Professors have been learning about how to be a responsible citizen.  I turned this into a "How to Change the World" Project!  The project started with the Professirs utilizing the graphic organizer to organize their thoughts and the direction they want to go in.  That graphic organizer then turned into a writing piece telling the reader how they will change the world.  Then they traced each others bodies, cut them out, decorated/described/built the ideal citizen we need to change the world.   Their projects turned out absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  They are on display outside of our classroom and My! My! My!  What a display!!   I am incredibly proud of the hard work they put into this!  There is an immense amount of creativity, passion and intellect in their writing prep, final writing piece and "ideal citizen"!  Mrs. Parker's Professors ROCK!

Mrs. Parker, what books are you reading this summer?

Because I'm crazy; I'm reading three at the same time...

1. For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education
by Christopher Emdin

2. Multiplication Is for White People: Raising Expectations for Other People's Children
by Lisa Delpit

3. The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers
by Jennifer Serravallo


**Also reading this and it's SO GOOD(shoutout to my mommy, she surprised me with it...THANKS MOMMY)**
4. We Are Charleston
(Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel)

by Herb Frazier, Bernard Edward Powers, PhD and Marjory Wentworth


*Blog to come soon about each of these*

Epic! Master Teacher!

I'm SO EXCITED to announce that I have been selected as an epic! Master Teacher!  I received the email tonight that I have been officially selected as a member of the epic! Master Teacher program.  I will let you know the process and how it will go but I am very excited!  If you have never visited epic! before, you've got to check out epic! books  It's pretty amazing.  I like to say, it's Netflix for books and VERY fun for kids!

My husband and I got arrested for the #SchoolsOurStudentsDeserve

WE WERE ARRESTED TOGETHER!

WIFE:  Whenever I realized the action we’d been talking about for months was going to take place on June 14th and June 15th, well honestly, I was actually kind of excited. Donald and I are always sharing our big and small moments with our kids. We aren’t stepping into something new. I mean, our students were guests at our wedding. So, we got up on that Tuesday morning, which was our 3 year wedding anniversary by the way, and set out to do what we always do, take care of our kids.  We marched those grueling, boiling HOT and long 23 miles to the capitol together.

HUSBAND:  And man was it LONG!  My feet still hurt actually but anything to support my wife and the children we teach. I was still kinda like,”DANG, why does this have to be on our anniversary though” lol. I carried that large tree branch, which was described by a writer as a small tree, from Durham to Raleigh not to just symbolize struggle but to show an even greater picture that if Jesus Christ can carry a cross for the sins of the world and defeat sin and death giving us access to eternal life, then I as an educator can carry some large tree branch for the burdens and struggles of our children to win over the governor giving them access to a better and more funded education.

WIFE: Yea, it wasn’t easy. At all. It was so hard but, WE MADE IT!  We really bonded with other educators those 23 miles. We grew to really love, respect and appreciate so many people who we’d never met before that 23 mile journey. Ever since those days, when we drive near any part of our trek, we reminisce.  As we turned the corner and the North Carolina Museum of History was on our right and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science was on our left, we chanted and screamed our affirmations for the future of our public schools. After the “All In for Public Education” rally by the General Assembly, we turned around and set out to complete our mission.  This time the North Carolina Museum of History was on our left, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science was on our right.  I feel like I have walked through and protested loudly right in that same corridor a million times and boy does it get you hype.  It’s something about the buildings, the way sound works, being beside people fueled with passion and a strong desire to not quit until our babies get what they deserve!  We took that left onto Edenton St screaming, then we took that right onto Wilmington St. shouting, “we ready, we coming”(that one gets me hype too).  See just a few weeks before that, and a few days before that very moment, we held press conferences requesting a meeting with the governor.  We are teachers after all, all we know how to do is meet so I was ready and prepared in my mind for what I would say in our meeting. Crystal Scales Rogers, Dawn Amy Wilson and Bryan Proffitt and I looked at each other and said; it’s game time yall.  When we turned onto Wilmington St., I saw the doors of the capitol still open because it wasn’t 5:00pm yet.  When we turned facing that main entrance, the door was being shut.  We called the governor’s aide repeatedly, we went around the building and knocked on all four doors of the capitol hoping for the best.  At that last door, we decided that if our kids can’t get it….SHUT IT DOWN!  

HUSBAND:  To be completely honest, I sat myself down while they walked around the building knocking on the doors because my foot was killing me. Then I heard the police officers walkie talkies going crazy saying,”They are moving to the street”. Then I got up and started walking to the street which included the educators that marched and people that supported educators which totaled at least 100 people.

WIFE:  So, after the police told everyone to move to the side walk, 14 of us North Carolina Public School teachers unlawfully and willfully stood in the 100 Block of E Morgan Street linked arms with signs in our hands that said: “I’D RATHER BE TEACHING” and we SHUT IT DOWN!  

HUSBAND:  At that time, I didn’t really know what was going on when I walked up but all I knew was I saw my wife in the middle of the street locking arms with the other educators. I later found out that the teachers standing in the street already planned to do so and I wasn’t in those plans but basketball, participating in band, and two fraternities have taught me teamwork and brotherhood. I couldn’t have let my NOW teammates and brothers and sisters that I walked with for 23 miles from Durham to Raleigh for our children, stand in the street without me. As a husband, there was also no way I was letting my wife get arrested without me either while I sat on the sidelines, clapped, pulled out my phone to record and wave her on. Man, ‘I’m bout that action boss’. Marshawn Lynch style. ‘You know why I’m here’. ‘I’m thankful’. We doin’ this together.

WIFE:  Locking arms in the middle of a very busy street and refusing to move wasn’t an easy move we made.  It was scary actually. It was very scary until the interaction with the officer began, then it felt like we were definitely doing the right thing.  When the police arrested Donald, that scared me because they put real handcuffs on him, they sat him in the police van alone and I had never imagined I would see him being taken away from me in handcuffs.  

HUSBAND:  See, they arrested me first. "You do know you are now under arrest?" says the officer in a very southern voice. I slowly raised my head and stared into his eyes with shades on. Behind those shades were eyes of a black man whose heart was torn between two dissonant choices. One, supporting his wife, educators locking arms, and the children of NC who are suffering at the hands of poor government calmly and two, rise up against the cops as a black man whose eyes are gouged and ears are punctured with hate from stories of innocent blacks interactions with law enforcement like Walter Scott, Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, and many more.I hadn't answered his question after about 7 seconds of a silent stare so he asks,"Are you going to resist arrest?" I respond “yes” but it was to his first question and Alexa responds,”He means yes to your first question.” Once I answered that I am not resisting arrest, I give him my bookbag and he grabs my right arm to put behind my back. Let me just say that as peaceful protesters with a crowd of people watching, the force he used to put my arms behind my back wasn’t aggressive but it was still painful. I could only imagine the force and effort he would have used for someone who was not as peaceful or if they were alone with just officers. What made me feel isolated, segregated and discriminated against was the fact that out of 14 teachers, the one black male teacher was the only person they used real cuffs on to arrest. Everyone else had zipp cuffs. Man, those things were tight. I hated the metal sound they made and I felt for the first time in my life I had no freedom. While walking to the police van, I had to remind myself that I wasn’t a criminal and that we just did something honorable and the policemen were not aggressive with us at all. So I walked with my head high with no shame. It’s crazy that as a black man, I go my entire life making sure I stay out of trouble that would involve the police and the one time I’m arrested, it displayed one of the highest forms of altruism.

WIFE:  In that moment, I began to squeeze Bryan and Leah’s hand even harder.  It hurt me in a place I don’t know how to explain.  Then everyone started screaming “We love you Donald, We see you Donald”.  I could barely make those words out but I thank God for hearing those words.  As the police began picking the rest of us up, I cried even more.  I cried because I heard Sendolo on the bullhorn saying one of Assata Shakur’s famous quotes:

“It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

It is our duty to win.

We must love each other and support each other.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.”

HUSBAND:  It was hard for me as a black man and a husband to be in handcuffs and see another man, a white male police officer, grab my wife. I hated it. Putting those zipp cuffs on her, standing her up, etc...(smh). It pissed me off really. And this isn’t hate for another race or anything, it’s hate for corruption and for many years policemen have systematically exhibited corrupt ways towards blacks. That viewpoint doesn’t change because the cause is for our students, it’s just placed to the rear and came to the forefront as I sat detained in that police van hearing the crowd chant,”We Love You Turq”.

WIFE:  But I couldn’t hear them saying “We Love you Turq”.  It was like the world turned off for a few seconds.  I could only hear the officer.  I do however, distinctly remember hearing Matt Hickson’s voice saying: “The Professors love you and are proud of you for this.”  That made me smile and feel like this was right.  Although extremely frightened about the care of my husband because of the horrible history of our men and women of color in police custody, I was so extremely proud of him.  I was so happy to be taking such huge steps for our kids together.  Weird, but I fell more in love with him that day lol. The police didn’t know we were husband and wife.  But we got placed right beside each other in the police van only separated by the plexi glass.  I will never ever get the picture out of my mind looking at my husband through that glass in that police van.  All for our students, our babies.  They deserve more.

HUSBAND: Yea. I’ll never forget that either. The heat, the confinement, and seeing her without the freedom to touch was rough. Those real cuffs hurt too man.

WIFE:  What we did that day was for the children.  What about the children?  What about the babies?  They were who I thought about the whole time. Who we all thought about.  Who we all did this for.  These children have dreams, emotions, needs and they are all being choked right now by poor elected leaders.  We walked in that street, formed that line, locked hands, and eventually sat down locking arms because our kids can’t take it anymore.  It’s easy to ignore this ridiculous and embarrassing situation that is happening in our state because its “grown ups” making the decisions but really, the kids are at the center. If we reminisce for any quick moment, we didn’t get where we are as a country(even though we have so very far to go), by just standing on the sidelines and doing nothing about the basic needs and rights of our babies. We got where we are by brave men and women holding hands, singing, chanting, row by row, of what they believe was a possibility for our country and for our future. And look, we’re living in some of what they fought for. Their circumstances were not as gentle as ours. The police officers that dealt with us on June 15th, 2016 were kind and respectful. The police during demonstrations some time ago were disrespectful, disgraceful, and degrading to say the least. But those demonstrators didn’t care. They realized that drastic situations call for drastic demonstrations. I’ve been in the classroom for going on six years, and in that short time, I have seen some things. No one  can make me believe that what the 14 of us did that day was wrong.  Nope, not at all.  I’ll tell you what’s wrong:

-Whats wrong is the teachers having to set go fund me after donors choose after go fund me after donors choose just to get full sets of books, supplies, and other classroom and school necessities.

-Whats wrong is the achievement school district bill

-Whats wrong is the attempt to silence educators

-What’s wrong is elected officials taking personal deals that benefit themselves and throwing our kids under the bus

-Whats wrong is our kids not having enough!

On June 15th, 2016 I was ready for something beyond emails and sitting passively, I was over it.  I am beyond tired of hearing the negative rhetoric around my school and schools like mine all across this great state and nation.  The rhetoric says were failing.  NO!  These elected officials are failing our public schools.  My beloved school is NOT an F school.  Mrs. Parker’s Professors classroom and the many beautiful habitats of learning like mine, ARE NOT FAILING!  We are doing the best we can for our babies with what we have. They deserve more. What about the children?  Remember when you were a child?  Remember how much ambition, drive, excitement you had?  Remember that someone invested in you?  Someone told you you could be anything you wanted to be?  If not for those who loved you and who cared enough to show us.  Where would we be today?  How can we just leave our kids out to dry like this?  Nope, I won’t do it.  Our babies deserve better.  I’ll fight for our babies.

HUSBAND: Can you imagine for a second how frustrating it would be to not have a textbook to take home or the ones you take home are 10 years old and older, ripped, missing pages and are falling apart? Now, in a different context, imagine how frustrating it would be to use a computer from 10 years ago or a phone from 10 years ago? Not the easiest task. Dr. William P. Foster, the late great band director of the Florida A&M University, once said,”Why should we provide 2nd class resources for students and expect 1st class results?” My eyes in my mugshot are saying,"I can't believe all of this has happened to educators that just want to do their job efficiently for our children and we are punished if we fail to do so.” Don't you think if things were the way Pat McCrory and his team are trying to make them out to be, teachers wouldn’t have to lock arms in the street protesting. And what's most ironic, as someone said in the detention center, is that the people that are about following rules are the ones that are breaking them, not even for themselves but for students. Marching and protesting for the love of my wife and the many students in North Carolina was an honor and a privilege. Leading by example is something I would gladly do again because I can. As Jesse Williams said at the B.E.T. Awards,”A system built to divide, impoverish, and destroy us can not stand if we do.” Stand for something or you’ll float with or fall for anything. Stand for our children. Students deserve more.

‪#‎studentsdeservemore‬

#studentsdeservemore

#studentsdeservemore

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The public response has been overwhelming with an outpouring of love and support. Our stories are being shared thousands and thousands of times over. People we don't know are donating to http://www.organize2020.com/donate/. People are joining us.  Please share. Please join. Please donate.

Please tell Governor Pat McCrory: ‪#‎StudentsDeserveMore‬.

Parker's World of Minecraft!

I just love how this one turned out. This was the easiest out of all the themes to decorate for. I really enjoyed this week the most. Our informational texts around video games was sooooo intriguing to the professors. They were all in. We also had our best days during this week, simply because they just love Minecraft lol