My first Monday Musings of each month will include links to all the pieces I wrote during the previous month and my reflections about a few of those pieces.
Currently, I am a writer for two publications, Indy/Ed and The Educator’s Room.
Indy/Ed is an education blog that is part of the Citizen Education network. This network includes blogs in L.A., D.C., NOLA and Memphis.
The Educator’s Room is a publication where teachers are empowered as the experts in education.
I am humbled to be part of a two great education publications.
Featured Indy/Ed blog post and my reflection
We Need Wakandan Principles in Our Society 2/20/2018
Even though I don’t like going to the movie theater, there is a myriad of reasons why I, as a black woman, loved this movie. There were gems of wisdom dropped throughout the film and I believe we, as a society, could learn plenty of lessons from this movie.
Before you even start flapping your gums to say, “It’s a fictional story,” let me remind you if fiction wasn’t that powerful, we wouldn’t have had book burnings as part of our history or books that are banned now. Below are the lessons we can learn from Black Panther.
We need more of this! We need more representation. I remember as a girl being excited about the Disney movie Aladdin and then a few years later Pocahontas. I was excited to see female characters that didn’t have white skin even though it wasn’t my race represented. There is a spark that lights up on the inside when you feel included; it makes you feel as if you are important and that you matter. This is why representation is important.
Beyond the representation, Black Panther was a really good movie. There were valuable lessons included in the plot. It makes you think critically about the damage of colonization. It also makes you think, “Where do we go from here?”
We can’t change the past, but we can change our future. Erik Killmonger represented perfectly the disconnect many African Americans feel towards Africa and King T’Challa/Black Panther perfectly represented the lack of understanding some Africans have about the struggles faced by descendants of American slaves. We have to learn more about each other and get back to our roots. From the lessons shown in the movie, it would benefit us to do so.
Indy/Ed February blog posts
Featured article from The Educator’s Room and my reflection
Where’s Waldo? The Case of the Missing Principal 2/4/2018
The problem comes when no one knows where the principal is or can get access to him or her. Just as teachers must learn how to manage the tasks of their positions, administrators must do the same or they become lost in task completion and respect from their staff decreases.
“Shawnta, this sounds exactly like my principal.” I heard that a lot after this article was published. We have ‘missing principals’ in many schools across our nation and this needs to change. Just like I believe teachers can benefit from coaching, principals could also benefit from coaching. I’m not saying this will help every ‘missing principal,’ but it will certainly help some. You have educators that should be principals that just need help learning how to balance the various requirements of the role and you have some educators who should have never become principals and who were only trying to escape the classroom. The principal is the leader and teachers don’t have time to play hide and seek to find the principal.
The Educator’s Room February Articles
| 2/4/2018 | Reflection: World Hijab Day and Teaching |
| 2/4/2018 | Where’s Waldo? The Case of the Missing Principal |
I appreciate your readership. If there is something you would like me to write about, let me know.
Haven’t seen the movie yet, but will probably go. Not a big movie goer.
Me either. I like watching movies at home where the snacks are cheap! I did enjoy viewing this movie in the theater.
I haven’t seen the movie either. I am waiting to see it at home so I can talk back and not bother anyone.
I hate when people talk back to the movie in the theater. That is another reason I prefer to watch movies at home. When I went to see The Hunger Games in the theater, there was a group of teenagers talking back to the screen about the differences between the book and the movie. I leaned over and asked them to stop talking because it was disruptive to other people in the theater. They were respectful and stopped talking. Jermaine said, “The movie theater is not your classroom.”