Threads and Tweets

I'm wrestling with something here. Bear with me. #PhysEd can be complicated for students for a number of reasons: it's kinda public in that others can observe you performing, it's easy to feel insecure if/when you struggle with a task, and it involves your body. 1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) February 8, 2022

Good morning, friends. I have a lot on my mind but I want to share a quick memory of something my mother did when we were young.
She had a habit of directing me and my brother to cold call various stores, agencies, also neighbors to get some kind of information. A thread. 🧵1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) December 21, 2021

Cultural dominance means giving oneself the benefit of the doubt *as a rule.*
I say this as a cisgender straight person. I say this as an English speaker w/ an American passport. I say this as an adult in a PK-12 institution. I say this as an able-bodied person. #Positionality

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) October 1, 2021

A word I used today that surprised even me: hyperarticulation.
I'm concerned about our current habit of wanting to make everything explicit in education. All the things we put in writing to say what we believe, intend to do and the outcomes that should result. A thread. 🧵1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) September 29, 2021

As educators, we must become far more aware of the ways our entire presence is woven into students' experiences – how we show ourselves in myriad situations and decisions. We are trying our best, light and shadow. At least, let us be honest with ourselves. 6/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) September 29, 2021

A thing I said today: We cannot wordsmith our way to equity.

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) August 30, 2021

We cannot wordsmith our way to equity. We're going to have to walk, push, pull, demand and persist. Power in our hands looks like progress but it has to be more than decorative.

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) August 30, 2021

I was having a conversation with upper elementary students about an activity they were trying in groups of 7 or 8. After sharing general observations about how it was going, I asked to students to tell us what they need. #PhysEd

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) August 27, 2021

At the end, I explained why we were articulating needs. They enable us to make concrete requests: Can everyone please focus a little more? Can someone please explain the order of the tosses to me so I can remember it? Could we please have more time to practice?

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) August 27, 2021

Something I think we consistently struggle with as educators and as humans generally is bridging the knowing-doing gap. We keep talking about equity and justice in the abstract but we often fail to enact practices that make them tangible. Another 🧵1/ https://t.co/dLf8bOgp9d

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) August 5, 2021

You press publish and then you think: I wanted to say something else, or say it differently.
A couple more thoughts on positionality in education spaces (and beyond). A thread. 🧵 https://t.co/FQ5N1KjPiT

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) August 3, 2021

Under the current antiracism market surge, I've been thinking a lot about how sudden interest in 'hiring for diversity' and 'striving for greater equity' often focuses on the future. But I ask you: Who is marginalized right now? Who is here but feels they don't belong? 1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 14, 2021

Without telling all of my business, let me just say that as a BW in PWIs, I have certainly been aware of my thinness and fitness as a form of social capital. I've written before about not being "pretty" but considered "fit" or even "svelte" as a compensating quality. 🙄 2/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) May 27, 2021

Working with a group of upper elementary students today we had an unexpected conversation about equity and justice. We had just run a relay and the students begged to run it over again. One group suggested remixing the teams, the other group was uninterested. #PhysEd 1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) December 14, 2020

Last week @SchleiderJustin & I collaborated on a talk about equity and justice in everyday #PhysEd. For me, equity conversations have become routine when we think about forming fair teams for a game. Two highlights from today: A 🧵1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) April 30, 2021

You know that feeling, that post-conference high after all the amazing speakers, the unbelievable conversations, the bevy of aha moments you are carrying with you…And you're thinking about what's next… pic.twitter.com/eCzWugkuo7

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) December 5, 2020

Icebreakers as a source of disdain, annoyance or derision comes up often in my feed and I get it. Folks resent being set up to reveal themselves superficially or to potentially end up as the punchline of a bad joke. This occurs more often than we likely admit. https://t.co/J8QgKr0KWs

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) July 24, 2020

As I'm planning for #DigitalIdentity online this summer, I find myself thinking and rethinking what that space and time can become. The tendency to "over-architecture" how the group will come together is strong. Fear of doing too little is real. 3/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 25, 2020

July 26 – August 2, 2020 Digital Pedagogy Lab will be happening online. https://t.co/UDmHLANWXO
If you're wondering what that means, please check out the website. I want to say a few words about what I have planned for my course, #DigitalIdentity.

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 11, 2020

I'm thinking about all the kinds of support people relatively new to 'race talk' actually need.
One of the biggest steps that white people and anyone else new to conversations about racism can do is to examine #whiteness.

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 8, 2020

So here's a thread of resources by white and Black folks talking about this very topic! A great starting point is the podcast series #SeeingWhite. It's impossible to go wrong here. https://t.co/ATmbLKxu68

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 8, 2020

Sure there are surprises but the posts that catch eyes, that garner immediate attention tend to: 1) address race/Blackness directly, 2)involve sharing a discomfort or strong (likely negative) emotion, 3) focus on individual experience rather than group or system level. 4/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 17, 2020

With all due respect, 'eradicating racism in schools' as a chat?
I understand the urgency, the sudden waking up, and agonizing over what is to be done but I am frustrated at this framing. 1/ https://t.co/Rlu3ZAgGnF

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 6, 2020

Working for justice – what exactly does that look like for you? Financial support for social justice organizations? Material donations where they are needed? Calling/writing your representatives to demand political action? So far, I have done none of these but will do 1 today. 2/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) May 30, 2020

About this distance learning – I've been reading up and talking with folks who have practiced digital teaching and learning for a while and I'm noticing with the sudden and speedy pivots from f2f, especially for K-12, that the breathlessness of the act seems deadly. 1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) March 18, 2020

We need to talk about the gendered nature of this new work from home while homeschooling your offspring while also keeping house arrangement…
This abrupt smooshing of labor demands – physical, mental, emotional – all within the domestic space… This may not end well… pic.twitter.com/MFfyC9vNcZ

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) March 17, 2020

What I thought might be possible while enacting "stay-at-home" orders:
1. I will read a lot -> I have made my way very slowly through 2 books. That's it.
2. So much writing! -> I can barely tweet coherently let alone put more that a couple of paragraphs together. 1/4

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) April 16, 2020

This morning I'm thinking about how privilege distorts our perception and response to a wider crisis. If you're in the fortunate position to be shielded from the worst effects of the pandemic, a push to continue business as usual can take the upper hand. (a mini rant) 1/

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) April 10, 2020

I had no idea that hiking was likely to become a thing I do. Surprise! In the space of a week I've discovered what I'm capable of. And with these experiences under my belt, I can fashion a different vision of how I might like to walk through the world. pic.twitter.com/eNh20pwnuC

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) July 4, 2020

In German, the word for hike is "wandern". Today we "wandered" deliberately up and down a mountain. There were points at which I really struggled but I also know that once you're up, you have to get yourself back down. #BlackAndOutdoors Always learning. 9/fin pic.twitter.com/UVcaWuQNhx

— Sherri Spelic (@edifiedlistener) June 28, 2020