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EDUCATE TEACHERS NEWS
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September 2020
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"People are not born prejudiced but learn the behavior. And if it can be learned, it can be unlearned."
Jane Elliott |
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“I don't fancy colors of the face, I'm always attracted to colors of the brain.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson |
“The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.” ― Frederick Douglass |
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Heroes of the American Revolution
Around 9,000 African Americans became Black Patriots. Between 200,000 and 250,000 Black soldiers and militia served the American cause during the revolution in total, that would mean black soldiers made up approximately four percent of the Patriots' numbers. Of the 9,000 Black soldiers, 5,000 were combat dedicated troops.
Because every month is Black History month! 
Black Heroes of the American Revolution (Odyssey Books) Paperback – January 2, 1992
by Burke Davis (Author)
Black Heroes of the American Revolution (Odyssey Books) Paperback – January 2, 1992
by Burke Davis (Author) The lives of Crispus Attucks who escaped slavery and was killed in the Boston Massacre; Edward Hector the wagoner of Brandywine; Austin Dabney, sharp shooter; William Lee, confidant to George Washington and others are examined in the great book. 
Juneteenth
Juneteenth...an American Holiday What is it and why is it so important to all Americans and all people everywhere. January 1, 1863, "Freedom's Eve," African American slaves heard the news that the Emancipation Proclamation had been placed in force. Readings of the proclamation took place all over the south. Black people were legally free. At least some Black people. The Emancipation Proclamation could not be enacted in places under confederate rule. Consequently, Texas, the confederate state most western, did not free African Americans until June 19, 1865. Union troops rode into Galveston Bay, Texas and declared that slavery had been abolished freeing more than 250,000 Black people in that state. The day was named Juneteenth by the people who had been emancipated from slavery. The History of Juneteenth National Registry of Juneteenth Celebrations www.juneteenth.com/history.htm Recharge & De-stress with Our Educators' Self-Care Series!
Recharge your batteries this summer with our new Educators' Self Care series
Express: I'm So Vulnerable!
How to Be Resilient in a Chaotic World (3 credit hour Iowa license renewal) Part of the Educators' Self-Care Series
As adults, we deal with the aging process in ourselves and our parents. We deal with each developmental level our children go through and hold on for the long ride through their adolescence. It’s tough enough when things go right, when we are healthy, our children are healthy and our parents are healthy. It is a real balancing act when things go wrong and we are caught in the cross fire of dual or even triple tragedies.
How do resilient people, adults and children, make it through? Why do some people get through trauma relatively unscathed and others end up with a life time of debilitating mental and physical problems? We will explore these questions and more in this class. I’m So Vulnerable: How to Become Resilient in a Chaotic World is a class designed to help participants define what it means to be vulnerable and how to achieve resiliency. The class will explore: Basic brain functioning and how neurons and synapses work to form our habits, as well as the neuroscience behind our thoughts.
* The key elements for building a healthy self-image and creating a resilient and strong self. * Managing anger, calming our minds and bodies, and using the red zone vs green zone strategy to understand how to control defensiveness. * How to fine tune and enhance our emotions for the positive with special attention given to how to deal with our negative thoughts and our inner critic. * How to build on the characteristics of compassion, mindfulness, grit, gratitude, confidence, motivation, intimacy, courage, aspiration and generosity within ourselves.
Express: I'm So Stressed!
Mindfulness & Meditation for Teachers & Students (3 credit hour Iowa license renewal) Part of the Educators' Self-Care Series
Anyone in education is under a huge amount of stress in their school life. Added to that, most educators have family commitments and are squeezed in the sandwich generation raising kids and dealing with aging parents. As educators, we need now, more than ever, to practice mindfulness for ourselves, our families and our students. Mindfulness is a practice that can transform us, bring us peace, heal our bodies and our minds and allow us to enjoy our lives.
Express: I’m So Stressed! Mindfulness & Meditation for Teachers & Students explores the many facets of mindfulness and how to integrate it into our daily lives. It provides information for teachers, students and parents and gives examples and practices. Educators will understand the importance of mindfulness for themselves and for their students. The question is not “do we have time for mindfulness?” The question is “can we afford not to make the time for mindfulness?”
Express: I’m So Stressed! Mindfulness & Meditation for Teachers & Students is a class designed to bring into alignment the mental and physical self by promoting calm, self-discipline and patience through mindfulness practices and meditation exercises. This class will provide a look at the nature of mindfulness, the benefits of mindfulness and the how-tos of mindfulness.
Part of the Educators' Self-Care Series
It takes its toll on our quality of life and our performance. We need to take time for ourselves and to learn how to be healthy emotionally and physically; we need an action-plan.
I’m So Tired! An Educator’s Guide to Self-Care, provides realistic ways to become healthier and take care of ourselves. This class explains the issues, identifies the problems and helps to remediate and treat those issues that keep educators sick and stressed out.
Start the new year out right and make a plan for YOU! Class starts February 19th.
July Featured Class of the Month
EXPRESS CLASS
A Spoonful of Sugar: Restorative Practices in the Classroom Starts July 15th...Ends August 28th (3 credit hour IA license renewal) ____________ 
Mary Poppins was right; a spoon full of sugar does make the medicine go down. Let’s face it, learning isn’t always easy for students to lap up or teachers to impart. Thrown into the mix, is the ever present spectrum of behavior issues ranging from distraction and moving to all out acts of aggression. Very few teachers today have problem free classes and all too many have students who display behavior that is totally inconsistent with learning.
What research and our own experience has told us is that punishment, alienation, isolation and pushing students away doesn’t work in the long run…and sometimes it doesn’t work even in the short run. It’s time to rethink the way we manage behavior in our schools and classrooms and provide a framework for restorative practices that empowers our students to change and eliminate destructive behavior for good. A Spoonful of Sugar…Restorative Practices in the Classroom is a 3 credit Iowa license renewal course that will show educators why punitive practices are ineffective, lead to disaffected and underachieving students and play a role in the school-to-prison-pipeline. Participants will learn how to implement restorative practices from communication techniques and structures and supports to peace-building and peacemaking strategies in order to establish classrooms built on collective respect developing students with the tools and understanding to self-regulate and self-manage. It’s all about sugar and little about vinegar. STOP THE CYCLE OF UNPRODUCTIVE AND INEFFECTIVE PUNISHMENT
All courses are accredited. Choose from: EXPRESS Courses: 6 week Iowa License Renewal Courses Examining Courses: 8-9 week courses that can be taken for Iowa License Renewal or EDMA Graduate Credit Visit our website to learn more and register for upcoming classes https://www.educateteachers.org/ 
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Reader's Corner Is it time we talk to our children and each other about race and racism?
Children's books to start the conversation on race. Recommended for adults too! Not Quite Snow White Hardcover – July 9, 2019
by Ashley Franklin (Author), Ebony Glenn (Illustrator) None of us are Snow White but we are wonderful beings with our own unique and valuable talents. A darling, talented little girl learns that she can be Snow White even if she isn't white. 
I Am Enough Hardcover – March 6, 2018
by Grace Byers (Author), Keturah A. Bobo (Illustrator) A beautiful lyrical ode about loving and respecting ourselves and each other. 
Sulwe Hardcover – Picture Book, October 15, 2019
by Lupita Nyong'o (Author), Vashti Harrison (Illustrator) Beauty comes from within as this beautiful picture books tells us. Our value is not based on our skin color, it is based on the goodness of our hearts.
Did You Know? In our courts, Black male offenders continue to receive longer sentences than
similarly situated White male offenders. Black male offenders receive sentences on average 19.1 percent longer than similarly situated White male offenders. How just
is our justice system? 
The school-to-prison pipeline provides a step-by-step look at a system in which students, many minority and poor, are sent from schools to juvenile detention facilities and then to prison. Many of these students do not commit any crimes. They are the marginalized members of our society and they are criminalized as youth. Policies and practices that put these students at risk are called Zero Tolerance and schools enacted the Zero Tolerance stance to "get tough." Instead, what it did was get rid of the very people that needed the schools the most-the disenfranchised. |
