Black Teacher Matters
By Abdel Shakur
Holler at me @misstraknowitall
Black Teacher MattersDec 02, 2020
Black Teacher Shorts: Dr. Sunni Ali on bee protocol in his class.
"I refer to the bee as a small farmer...he's a worker!"
Dr. Ali talks on how he copes with invasive bees, birds, and squirrels come into his spaces.
Trash-talking at the park with a boy who shares my name.
It's rare that I meet anyone with my name, even more rare when it's a little kid that can hoop and talks a ton of trash. He wasn't as impressed. Excerpt from Episode
Black Teacher Shorts: Lacey Robinson on how discovering a hive outside her class became a learning opportunity.
Lacey Robinson, CEO of UnboundEd, talks about how she didn't let her fear of bees keep her from helping her students explore their curiosity. And how teachable moments are a part of an educator's journey. Excerpt from Episode 14
Justin Fields, Pushouts, and Coaching Without Comfort
Justin Fields gets a coach who won't allow comfort to get in the way of teaching.
Black Teacher Shorts: Sunni Ali on keeping it real with students.
"The kids know when something's wrong with you!" Sunni Ali talks about about the importance of listening and being authentic with students.
My class flies farther when I focus less on fuel and more on reducing friction.
When we have problems with people, we tend to see fuel as a solution, but I fly farthest when I reduce friction.
Black Teacher Shorts: Steven Speight on his bee in the classroom protocol.
"How do we encounter the wildnesses that enter our space?" Steven Speight talks about helping students deal with both literal and figurative bees that enter his classroom community. Excerpt from Episode 13.
Hello, my name is Abdel and I'm a correction addict.
How do you get over an addiction to correction in order to create space for students to actually be their best selves?
Episode #16: Be in the Classroom with Kristen Gentry
How do you get a class full of nervous teenagers to write poems and share said poems with the entire class? Also, the brilliant Kristen Gentry, takes some time to talk about her amazing short story collection, Mama Said, and share her teaching wisdom.
Black Teacher Shorts: Alan Miller and the importance of sharing your creative self with students
Alan Miller, my high school English teacher, talks about the importance of maintaining a creative life while in the classroom. An excerpt from my interview in episode #1.
Black Teacher Shorts: Tamie Holmes on Black AP students who take care of each other in her class.
"I'm even more honored by the way they take care of each in their space." Tamie Holmes talks about how her Black AP students make community in her class. Excerpt from Episode 11
Episode 15: Be in the classroom with Dillin Randolph
Passing out papers? Turning out the lights? Running errands? Remember those cool jobs from elementary school? Let me tell you how class roles in my high school class build community and make my job easier. Plus, I talk to a brilliant young educator English teacher, Dillin Randolph, about his Black Teacher journey.
Black Teacher Shorts: My uncle, Bill Jeter, on his father as a positive and negative teacher.
My uncle, Bill Jeter, on his father as a positive and negative teacher.
The story of me getting over my Whiteness to give a Black girl a chance to be innocent in my class.
"The secret to teaching Black girls does not involve solving their mystery like a puzzle. The secret to teaching Black girls is working on your internal puzzle, your internal Whiteness that causes you not to hold space for their Innocence for their questions."
Black Teacher Shorts: Ross Gay on the time his basketball coach told his dad to calm down at a game.
Ross Gay on the time his basketball coach told his dad to calm down at a game. An excerpt from Episode 5
Black Teacher Shorts: Lacey Robinson on helping her grandmother learn to read
Lacey Robinson talks about how helping her grandmother learn to read helped her find her path to teaching. Excerpt from Episode 14
Episode 14: Be in the classroom with Lacey Robinson
When is a seating chart more than a seating chart? I tell a story about internalized seating charts at the beginning of the year. UnboundED President and CEO Lacey Robinson talks about her new book Justice Seekers and the historical connection between Black self-determination and literacy.
Black Teacher Shorts: Matthew Kay on the Black Church as teacher training.
How does Sunday school prepare Black folks to lead children in classrooms? Author and teacher Matthew Kay talks about how it influenced him. Excerpt from Episode 9.
Black Teacher Shorts: Tamie Holmes on Black learning in the community of Maywood
Evanston Township High School teacher Tamie Holmes reflects on the supportive learning community in Maywood, Il that helped her grow.
Black Teacher Shorts: Alexs Pate on Innocence and the liberation of Black Teachers
Alexs Pate talks about how the journey to find a child's innocence can be liberating for Black teachers. "Your freedom is connected to their freedom." Outtake from episode 2: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/abdel-shakur6/episodes/Episode-2-Alexs-Pate--Innocence--and-Getting-to-the-Good-env2gq
Episode 13: Steven Speight be in the classroom
I swear I was about to lose my job, but then a student helped me not lose my purpose. Plus, I talk to my ETHS colleague Steven Speight, a chemistry teacher who talks about an essential element to good science: community.
Black Teacher Shorts: Dr. Sunni Ali on Dr. Frances Cress Welsing and his Black scholar teachers at Howard University.
Dr. Sunni Ali discusses how he was influenced by the Black scholar teachers at Howard University. From episode 10 https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/WAcrvpGOuBb
Black Teacher Shorts: Ross Gay talks about his Aunt Butter and Uncle Bennett
Ross Gay grew up in a family of teachers, some in the classroom, some outside. He shares the lessons he learned in visits to his father's family in Youngstown, OH.
From Episode 5 https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/29Tbi60HaBb
Black Teacher Shorts: Dear Black Child in the Hallway (without a pass)
A poem about what it means to mind your business in the hallway. From episode 11. https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/bg57EwF9TAb
Black Teacher Shorts: My dad, chess, and the constellation of possibility.
My dad, Gilgamesh, taught me how to love chess, but even more importantly how to love possibility.
Episode 12: Be in the classroom with Carlos Thomas
It's the end of the year and I talk about the most important job a Black teacher has around this time: landing the daggone plane. Plus, I talk to Carlos Thomas, a fellow English teacher and phenomenal basketball coach, about the importance of standing on your square and helping students find their own.
Black Teacher Shorts: Crystal Wilkinson on a White student who has a major shift on race.
Crystal Wilkinson talks about using Toni Morrison's Beloved to help a White student in Kentucky shift his view on race.
Black Teacher Shorts: Ganae McAlpin on the meaning of (d)emocratic Classroom Leadership
How do you use your authority to share power with your students so they can grow their own authority? Ganae talks about the Democratic Classroom Leadership philosophy. Find out more here: https://fullcircleleadership.org/democratic-classroom-leadership/
Episode 11: Be in the classroom with Tamie Holmes
Why Black children are our business. In the classroom or in the hallway. And I talk to my colleague Tamie Holmes about creating organic communities of care in her classroom.
Black Teacher Shorts: I got punched by a teacher after I got kicked out of English class.
Exiled from Ms. Agawa's class, I visit on-campus suspension. And get punched by a teacher.
Black Teacher Shorts: The time I got kicked out of English class in high school.
I was a high school junior, getting sent out of English class because I had a "cavalier attitude" towards my education.
Black Teacher Shorts: Alexs Pate on Innocence and his Black List Class Exercise
One of the most profound critical moments I had at the University of Minnesota was Alexs Pate leading us through an exercise around stereotype, threat, and Blackness. He breaks it down in this excerpt. This is an outtake from episode 2.
Black Teacher Shorts: Ganae McAlpin on Being a Black Parent and a Black Educator.
What's it like being a Black educator whose responsible for helping everyone else's kids learn while you're also trying to make sure your kids get the education they deserve. Ganae talks about the lessons she's learned helping her son navigate racism in school.
Episode 10: Be in the classroom with Dr. Sunni Ali
Does mindfulness make you anxious? Do you struggle with perfectionism, correction-ism? Boy do I have a story for you. I also talk to Dr. Sunni Ali, one of my OG educators and author of Lessons Learned: Critical Conversation in Hip Hop.
Black Teacher Shorts: Alan Miller on recruiting Black students and nourishing souls.
A child should know the literary context of their people. Alan Miller talks about recruiting Black students for advanced placement courses and the soul-nourishment he wants to cultivate in these spaces. This is an outtake from Episode 1.
Black Teacher Shorts: Crystal Wilkinson on what White students need from Black teachers.
What do White students need from Black teachers? Crystal Wilkinson talks about the importance of Black teachers on the lives and outlooks of White students. This is an outtake from Episode 3.
Black Teacher Shorts: Bill Jeter on teaching art at a school for the blind.
My uncle talks about lessons he learned from teaching art at a school for the blind. Outtake from Episode 4 (https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/2Kjvr719ywb)
Black Teacher Shorts: Alan Miller on the class where the grief-stricken guest artist meets the ill-timed dismissal bell.
Alan Miller on the class where the grief-stricken guest artist meets the ill-timed dismissal bell.
Episode 9: Be in the classroom with Matthew R. Kay
How do you cut through roast culture to help students see the good in themselves and each other? Here's a story about trying to answer that question with a room full of 6th grade boys on a hot summer day. I also talk Matthew R. Kay, author of Not Light But Fire: Having Meaningful Race Conversations in the Classroom.
Black Teacher Shorts: Alan Miller on June Jordan and Truth in the Classroom
Black Teacher Shorts: Crystal Wilkinson and the Minister of Math
Ever been captivated by a Black teacher? Crystal Wilkinson speaks on her son's math teacher, the Minister of Math. Outtake from Crystal Wilkinson's interview in episode 3.
Episode 8: Be in the classroom with Ganae McAlpin
What's it like teaching on Zoom during the January 6th insurrection? Let me tell you a story about how I learned to listen to my students who wanted to be empowered for justice. I also talk to one of my wisest colleagues at Evanston Township High School, Ganae McAlpin, about the powerful teachers who shaped her and creating democratic classroom communities.
Episode 7: Be in the classroom with Ross Gay, Alexs Pate, Bill Jeter and Alan Miller.
When a bee comes into your classroom, you have to decide how you will be. How we regard the disruption tells us something about ourselves. About the world's we're hoping to create in our classrooms. I tell about the disruption guns made to my class during a lockdown last year. Ross Gay, Alexs Pate, Bill Jeter, and Alan Miller all give sage advice for dealing with bees in the classroom.
Black Teacher Matters Season 2 Trailer
Black Teacher Matters is about exploring what matters to Black teachers. This season, writer and teacher Abdel Shakur explores what happens when the sudden and unexpected appears, the bee in the classroom, the carefully laid plan laid to waste. If you love a good story and love to hear from and about Black teachers, join us. New episode November 1st.
Episode 6: Ross Gay, Nandi Comer, and Playing Games With Students
This episode is about making space for joy in a classroom by playing games and gathering to cultivate imagination. I tell a story about the games I'm playing in my class that help rehumanize the space. Ross talks about letting go of shame as a pedagogical tool and Nandi Comer gives the inside scoop on what it's like to be a student in Ross' class.
Episode 5: Ross Gay, Visionary Elbows, and The Amazing Aunt Butter
This episode is all about the Black teachers, in school, on the court, and at home who make space for us to become our most complete selves. I tell a story about hooping with a kid who shares my name, even if he isn't convinced. Ross talks about why he makes his classroom a place for people to get together so they can get together, a coach who confronted his dad, and the teaching genius of his Aunt Butter.
Episode 4: Bill Jeter and Black Teacher Moves
You can't play your position if you don't know the game. Chess is just one of the legacies I pass down to students. I tell a story about how chess saved my first year of teaching. I also talk to Bill Jeter, who is not only my uncle, but an incredible artist and teacher in his own right about the importance of Black teachers in his life.
Episode 3: Crystal Wilkinson, Making Space, and the Innocence of Black Girls
It's rare that Black girls get a chance at innocence in academic spaces. I tell a story about confronting my own Whiteness to create space for a young woman to engage the questions that really mattered to her. I also sit down with one of my most influential teachers, Crystal Wilkinson, author of The Birds of Opulence. We talk about the life of a Black teachers and how she creates space for students to take control of their own learning. She also helps me come to terms with some petty nonsense I did to her way back when.
What do you think about what you heard? Leave me a message here: https://anchor.fm/abdel-shakur6/message
Episode 2: Alexs Pate, Innocence, and Getting to the Good
Way back in my first year of teaching in 2008, I was having standoffs over handshakes, Barack Obama was just the president-elect, and I swear I saw a boy take innocent flight in my class one day. I also sit down with the novelist and education leader, Alexs Pate, to talk about his newest book, The Innocent Classroom: Dismantling Racial Bias to Support Students of Color, his theory of innocence and how it relates to the power of Black teachers.
Black Teacher Matters Trailer
Black Teacher Matters is a podcast about stories, my own as a mixed Black man in education, and the stories of the Black teachers who shaped me in some kind of way. This podcast is about exploring the narratives I’ve developed for myself as a mixed Black man who works to help young people educate themselves. This podcast is about finding out what I’ve done and why I’m doing it and how we can keep more Black folks in this role. Each episode you’ll hear a story from me and then I’ll introduce you to someone significant in my educational life. I hope you enjoy.