Appendix 3: Final Reflection Statements

Captured in a zoom chat during the June 9th, 2023 in the final convening

Question:

We’ve been together for two years: what one or two things did you take away and how will that positively affect your relationship with students?

Answers:

“Antiracist collaborative work always need antiracist education AND we have to be continuously self-reflecting to do this work authentically”

“Trust students and give them the power!”

“A true community must be ‘power with'”

“Re-evaluating the way power flows in my classroom and the power of authentic choice.”

“I think maybe to focus on facilitating rather than instructing. We’re guides, not fountains of knowledge.”

“The more I trust my students and share power with them, the more my job begins to align with my values.”

“Trust in community”

“I can trust that students will want to submit the best work they can even in the absence of grades as a ‘motivator.'”

“I so appreciate my colleagues’ willingness to share their good ideas… as well as to be vulnerable and honest about what has worked or not worked.”

“Confidence!”

“Community.”

“When we trust students, we all win.”

“Adapt, adapt, adapt”

“No late penalties”

“Love is essential for antiracist work; Letting go of power is hard but essential”

“Trusting students (not making judgments)!”

“Using a grading contract is only one aspect of disrupting the system; more important is disrupting ideas of what is ‘good’ writing and who decides, and sharing how power influences language”

“Colleagues are brilliant. Collaboration works.”

“Trust and listening”

“Power sharing”

“Respecting and trusting.”

“Stop being afraid to let go and trust what you know”

“Motivated and aligned groups can accomplish great things”

“This work refocuses me on the purpose of education and helps me resist treating the students like products that need to pass a certain quality check to be certified as ready to work and produce for the economy. Students should be driving their own development because it is for them.”

“The second year of our work, particularly, demonstrated for me many examples of culturally responsive moments, and this gave me a lot of material to reflect on in my own teaching–how I can be more responsive to my students’ needs, to my own needs, and to the commitment to vulnerability and activism.”

“Sharing ideas!”

“Be transparent. Let students lead the way.”

“Focus on learning and people – not grades. Trust students to learn what they need to.”

“The focus on linguistic justice combined with ungrading has strengthened the compassion and sense of community in my classes.”

“Educational justice in all ways!”

“Totally reconstructed every aspect of my curriculum. Also, thanks to all of you, I finally feel like I’ve received real training to be a teacher.”

“I learned how to reduce grading in my classes and grew immensely as a teacher from my colleagues.”

“Trust. Students.”

“It is a relief to students and me to not do traditional grading. That palpable relief is enough to keep going forward with this work. I feel like a true collaborator, now, and I’m going to keep nurturing that. There is a lot more I am willing to give up because I TRUST students!”

“Our jobs should be about helping and supporting people; not ranking people.”

“Trust students and yourself, and invite students into the work to co-create powerful ecologies.”

“Love, trust, and care… be whole people in these spaces together (with our students, with each other)”

“It’s great to see how this amazing group of educators are using these strategies to strengthen what they were already doing well!”