Will you be at the U.S. Social Forum this year? The Social Forum is a gathering of social justice organizations and activists from around the country and around the world—this year the U.S. meeting is in Detroit, June 22-26 (www.ussf2010.org).
If you're planning to attend, we hope to see you at the Rethinking Schools workshop, especially if you're interested in writing for the magazine.
Our workshop is called "Sharing Your Wisdom: Writing for Organizers and Teachers." It will be at the WSU Student Center, Room 283, on Friday, June 25, at 1 pm. Jody Sokolower, RS policy and production editor, will be the facilitator. You can contact her ahead of time or at the conference at jody@rethinkingschools.org.
Other workshops of interest to progressive educators include the People's Movement Assembly cosponsored by EMEAC, the Boggs Center for Nurturing Community Leadership, the Boggs Educational Center, ARC109, and Teachers for Social Justice-Chicago (June 23 at 1 pm) and "Another Education Is Possible," cosponsored by Teachers for Social Justice-Chicago, Teacher Activist Group-Philadelphia, and the Boggs Educational Center (also June 23, 3-5 pm).
Here's the description of the RS workshop:
Have you thought about writing about your experiences as a teacher or political organizer but felt intimidated or suffered flashbacks to English class? Or maybe you have tried and gotten nothing but rejection notices.
Being an effective leader is an incredible skill; sharing that expertise with others, particularly in writing, can be a challenge. The goal of this hands-on workshop is to give popular educators, organizers, and teachers the skills and confidence to write your story—to describe your approaches and insights in writing that will empower and inspire others. This is the beginning of a process that we hope will result in great articles that will reach broad audiences on the web and in print.
We will begin by analyzing excerpts of effective and ineffective writing about social justice teaching and organizing. We'll look at a variety of approaches. Then we'll brainstorm topics and explore ways to reflect and analyze—to write from a deeper place. We'll talk about ways to jumpstart writing and to write collaboratively. By the end of the workshop everyone will have at least a beginning paragraph.
The workshop will be led by Jody Sokolower, coeditor of Rethinking Schools, a progressive grassroots magazine for k-12 teachers. Jody, who has 20 years of experience as a writer/editor and many more as a political activist, is committed to two additional long-distance sessions to support participants through the writing and revision process, and to facilitate a virtual community of writers.
And a reminder: The summer issue of Rethinking Schools magazine is now out. Visit our new website and have a look: www.rethinkingschools.org.
Hoping to see you in Detroit,
Jody Sokolower
Policy and Production Editor
Rethinking Schools
jody@rethinkingschools.org
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