Professional Development
English Department Chair
I served as the English Department Chair at Muchin College Prep for three years. I coached two to four teachers each year and provided professional development for the entire team. Each year, the department rallied around a collective vision that informed our practices as English educators. In the 2020-2021 school year, the rally cry for the department was “Language Matters.” This particular vision was important to me and the team given the context of our world at the time. America had been witnessing a series of murders within the Black community at the hands of the police, which resulted in protests across the country. Muchin College Prep primarily serves students who are Black and Latinx, and these events had a significant impact on their lived experiences.
The vision statement was broken down into tangible components that were used to self-assess educational practices and were revisited regularly at department meetings. While I am no longer the department chair of the English department, this rally cry is often referenced throughout the school community because of its continued relevance.
Literacy Conferences
Since 2019, UIC’s College of Education has held a day-long literacy conference in which sessions about culturally responsive and sustaining teaching were offered. Each time I have attended this conference, I have walked away with new techniques for teaching writing that I have been able to implement in my classes and have shared with other teachers in the English Department. I have also invited my team members to join me, and we would attend as a group on a Saturday morning.
Artifacts:
Information into Action (a technique from the conference presented to English teachers at Muchin)
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Learning Group
In 2020, Muchin College Prep hosted a series of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) learning groups to further our work as antiracist educators. I facilitated a group of eight staff members who met once a month to discuss various practices in our teaching that would provide students with an education rooted in equity. Each month, members committed to implementing a practice that stemmed from our group discussions.
Artifacts: