[Music]
you
[Applause]
if your parents don’t care and can’t
respect our time and come to a
parent-teacher conference then I cannot
help you this is what my high school
teachers said to me I am going to tell
you about one of my parents who my high
school teacher assumed did not care
about my education but in fact it had
always been my mother’s dream for my
sisters and I to attend college my
mother grew up in a small town in the
eastern mountains of Ghana in the early
60s she was one of six children of some
self-made man in Co Fareed Riya my
grandfather worked hard and was proud of
all his accomplishments he built this
beautiful pink multi-story home at the
foothills of the mountains and he on
apologetically named it uncle Nam Lodge
which loosely translates to I am a loner
and I did it all by myself my
grandfather loved all his children and
his grandchildren and as a child I
witnessed this when we gathered around
his house around the holidays he beamed
with joy as he served as chocolate
drinks and those Danish butter cookies
the ones that came in the blue metal
cans but about the age of nine I began
to notice and wonder why all my uncle’s
had an excellent education my mother did
not I was shocked when my mother told me
why my mother was terrified to tell her
father that she wanted to become a nurse
she said you know girls like me we’re
told that we were not intelligent to go
past middle school and from everything I
saw around me I believed it I had no one
to advocate for me when I dared ask my
father that I wanted to take the exam
that will allow me to attend high school
and become a nurse he said Nursing is
not a good profession you’re going to
contract a disease you know you should
become a sim stris
I see that you’re very good at mending
clothes and you know in a few years
you’re gonna get married anyway my
mother knew her father loved her and she
knew he had the money to pay for her her
education he just didn’t believe that
she deserved on education my grandfather
was an well-meaning man and he believed
he was given all his children the
appropriate education that he needed he
just didn’t understand the message of
dr. Krueger II agree a gunny an educator
who was a strong advocate for the
education of girls in Ghana I’m sure
many of you have heard one of his famous
quotes says if you educate a man you
educate an individual but if you educate
a woman you educate a nation
growing up my mother used to say you
know God has a good sense of humor
because he blessed me with three
daughters so that I can empower them to
pursue what was taken from me my mother
taught us how to be kind appreciative
and pathetic she taught us how to
persevere when before we fell short of
our goals although sometimes she was a
little optimistic like when I told her
I’d been accepted into the ph.d program
at curry she quickly changed my contact
information and her phone to say dr.
Kaiser talked about pressure one of the
lessons that my mother taught me that
stayed with me was about equality and
fairness when we were younger and ma us
was so affectionately called her will
give us something to share often it was
treat like food
she rocks one of like one of us to share
and she would say your child you know no
future II the person who devised picks
lost the sibling who was in charge of
dividing up the treat had to carefully
consider how they would feel if they got
the last treat and as a child it was
easy to vie treats up this way but as I
got older I began to see that dividing
up treats this way was a good way for
food but equality was actually a very
complicated issue that it was a good
start but not enough my mother’s lessons
was also about empathy the ability to
see the perspectives of others growing
up in a house with two sisters there was
always some kind of commotion in the
house whenever we fought or wronged each
other
my mother will call us over have a sit
down and she will look as all three of
us hear our stories and she would say
walk near deals on cable day whoa the
ideal Csonka veil there if you are in
that person shoes will you’ll be happy
with that outcome
my mother’s lesson of lessons about
empathy helped me understand why that
high school teachers remarks were
totally mistaken see well that’s high
school teacher lacked was knowledge
about my family and our history she
didn’t know the sacrifices my parents
had made in Ghana and in the u.s. to
meet our most basic needs my father was
the custodian a bellhop and a dishwasher
my mother was a meat slicer at a grocery
store and she was a cashier at a
sandwich shop there were anything but
disengaged but she’s stereotyped them
often as a teacher I get stereotyped
sometimes parents and visitors will walk
in my classroom and walk past me and
walk straight to my white teaching
assistant assuming that she’s the
teacher Carson your minds there’s no way
that I a black woman could be the
teacher when they realized that I’m the
teacher
i’m often drilled on my credentials
these conversations start with so how
long have you been teaching – where did
you go to school when I say UVA they say
oh ah when a bachelor’s and I add and a
master’s some even push a bit further
and say I sense an accents form and I
sense an accent where are you from and
I’ll say Ghana and they’ll say oh wow
you speak very good English to be from
Africa or you’re very articulate through
all all these stereotypes and
microaggressions I continue to hear my
mother’s voice telling me to persevere
and because of this I continue to
advocate for all families and children
especially the ones who resent
immigrants in the u.s. here are some
things I do to support my family’s home
visits work wanders pairs of teachers
visit the homes of students and we
listen to families share the aspirations
for your children we share about our
personal and professional backgrounds
and sometimes we begin to form goals for
students these home visits
serve as a springboard to invite
families into my classroom
once a month parents come in to
celebrate their children’s growth I also
hold student-led conferences and with
these conferences students sit at the
head of the table and I said next to the
parents and this subtle shift in our
seat and reinforces my idea that parents
and teachers should be seen as partners
on Fridays I have my students draw and
write letters home and share with your
families what you’re doing and they
bring it back on Mondays during our
morning meetings to share with your
classmates and for students who learn
about each other and finally when
parents want to volunteer in my class I
do not limit them to times that work for
me rather allow them to pick times that
work for them because I want them to
understand that your voices matter and
that they can make a contribution to my
classroom I have colleagues who address
biases in your classroom as well one
fourth grade teacher noticed that in the
fourth grade science SLO all the
inventors that were listed we’re white
men nestled well stated Benjamin
Franklin Michael Faraday and Thomas
Edison made important contributions to
electricity which is true but she also
knew about the story of the story of an
african-american man Lewis Latimer and
how his patented carbon filament made
the incandescent light bulb more
practical and affordable for the average
household she shared us with her
students and together they wrote a
letter to the library and accent for
more books on inventors of color see
what that teacher did was reshaped the
standards in the curriculum and what it
did for her student was that it expanded
their understanding of who inventors
could be and she taught them how to take
social action by writing that letter
after the events of August 12 in
Charlottesville
a nother teacher noticed that her kids
playing at recess but playing tag but
this time it was different the students
were saying the KKK has come in to get
you this teacher knew
how to do something about it and had to
be done now when her kids were still
young she had a discussion in class
about identity and differences one boy
said well if I think I’m better than
somebody in my head and I don’t share
with anyone then I’m not hurting anyone
this teacher knew the duck could be a
little problematic so she addressed it
she read Julius Lester’s book on let’s
talk about race and had an open
conversation with her students about
differences and that it was okay to be
different but we have to remember that
just being different doesn’t mean that
you’re better than one person is better
than the other and I invite family’s
into my classroom
it helps me address my biases and the
stereotypes and I may have four families
because I get to learn about who they
are and learn how they can contribute to
my classroom community my mother
addressed stereotypes on our behalf and
as I leave the stage I want to share
with you that my font my grandfather at
the end of his life he realized his
mistaken bias my mother said he never
outright came out to apologize when he
was sick she took care of him and he
said you know if I knew you were gonna
be the one taking care of me I would
have never stopped you from becoming a
nurse
my mother addressed actively addressed
stereotypes and biases on our behalf she
changed a narrative for her daughters
because of her actions and beliefs and
as I teach her I try to implement the
lessons you taught me as I leave the
stage
I want you to consider the lessons on
empathy and an unfairness I will always
accept her challenge and I hope you will
too ma madoski thank you mom and thank
you all
you
you
[Applause]
if your parents don’t care and can’t
respect our time and come to a
parent-teacher conference then I cannot
help you this is what my high school
teachers said to me I am going to tell
you about one of my parents who my high
school teacher assumed did not care
about my education but in fact it had
always been my mother’s dream for my
sisters and I to attend college my
mother grew up in a small town in the
eastern mountains of Ghana in the early
60s she was one of six children of some
self-made man in Co Fareed Riya my
grandfather worked hard and was proud of
all his accomplishments he built this
beautiful pink multi-story home at the
foothills of the mountains and he on
apologetically named it uncle Nam Lodge
which loosely translates to I am a loner
and I did it all by myself my
grandfather loved all his children and
his grandchildren and as a child I
witnessed this when we gathered around
his house around the holidays he beamed
with joy as he served as chocolate
drinks and those Danish butter cookies
the ones that came in the blue metal
cans but about the age of nine I began
to notice and wonder why all my uncle’s
had an excellent education my mother did
not I was shocked when my mother told me
why my mother was terrified to tell her
father that she wanted to become a nurse
she said you know girls like me we’re
told that we were not intelligent to go
past middle school and from everything I
saw around me I believed it I had no one
to advocate for me when I dared ask my
father that I wanted to take the exam
that will allow me to attend high school
and become a nurse he said Nursing is
not a good profession you’re going to
contract a disease you know you should
become a sim stris
I see that you’re very good at mending
clothes and you know in a few years
you’re gonna get married anyway my
mother knew her father loved her and she
knew he had the money to pay for her her
education he just didn’t believe that
she deserved on education my grandfather
was an well-meaning man and he believed
he was given all his children the
appropriate education that he needed he
just didn’t understand the message of
dr. Krueger II agree a gunny an educator
who was a strong advocate for the
education of girls in Ghana I’m sure
many of you have heard one of his famous
quotes says if you educate a man you
educate an individual but if you educate
a woman you educate a nation
growing up my mother used to say you
know God has a good sense of humor
because he blessed me with three
daughters so that I can empower them to
pursue what was taken from me my mother
taught us how to be kind appreciative
and pathetic she taught us how to
persevere when before we fell short of
our goals although sometimes she was a
little optimistic like when I told her
I’d been accepted into the ph.d program
at curry she quickly changed my contact
information and her phone to say dr.
Kaiser talked about pressure one of the
lessons that my mother taught me that
stayed with me was about equality and
fairness when we were younger and ma us
was so affectionately called her will
give us something to share often it was
treat like food
she rocks one of like one of us to share
and she would say your child you know no
future II the person who devised picks
lost the sibling who was in charge of
dividing up the treat had to carefully
consider how they would feel if they got
the last treat and as a child it was
easy to vie treats up this way but as I
got older I began to see that dividing
up treats this way was a good way for
food but equality was actually a very
complicated issue that it was a good
start but not enough my mother’s lessons
was also about empathy the ability to
see the perspectives of others growing
up in a house with two sisters there was
always some kind of commotion in the
house whenever we fought or wronged each
other
my mother will call us over have a sit
down and she will look as all three of
us hear our stories and she would say
walk near deals on cable day whoa the
ideal Csonka veil there if you are in
that person shoes will you’ll be happy
with that outcome
my mother’s lesson of lessons about
empathy helped me understand why that
high school teachers remarks were
totally mistaken see well that’s high
school teacher lacked was knowledge
about my family and our history she
didn’t know the sacrifices my parents
had made in Ghana and in the u.s. to
meet our most basic needs my father was
the custodian a bellhop and a dishwasher
my mother was a meat slicer at a grocery
store and she was a cashier at a
sandwich shop there were anything but
disengaged but she’s stereotyped them
often as a teacher I get stereotyped
sometimes parents and visitors will walk
in my classroom and walk past me and
walk straight to my white teaching
assistant assuming that she’s the
teacher Carson your minds there’s no way
that I a black woman could be the
teacher when they realized that I’m the
teacher
i’m often drilled on my credentials
these conversations start with so how
long have you been teaching – where did
you go to school when I say UVA they say
oh ah when a bachelor’s and I add and a
master’s some even push a bit further
and say I sense an accents form and I
sense an accent where are you from and
I’ll say Ghana and they’ll say oh wow
you speak very good English to be from
Africa or you’re very articulate through
all all these stereotypes and
microaggressions I continue to hear my
mother’s voice telling me to persevere
and because of this I continue to
advocate for all families and children
especially the ones who resent
immigrants in the u.s. here are some
things I do to support my family’s home
visits work wanders pairs of teachers
visit the homes of students and we
listen to families share the aspirations
for your children we share about our
personal and professional backgrounds
and sometimes we begin to form goals for
students these home visits
serve as a springboard to invite
families into my classroom
once a month parents come in to
celebrate their children’s growth I also
hold student-led conferences and with
these conferences students sit at the
head of the table and I said next to the
parents and this subtle shift in our
seat and reinforces my idea that parents
and teachers should be seen as partners
on Fridays I have my students draw and
write letters home and share with your
families what you’re doing and they
bring it back on Mondays during our
morning meetings to share with your
classmates and for students who learn
about each other and finally when
parents want to volunteer in my class I
do not limit them to times that work for
me rather allow them to pick times that
work for them because I want them to
understand that your voices matter and
that they can make a contribution to my
classroom I have colleagues who address
biases in your classroom as well one
fourth grade teacher noticed that in the
fourth grade science SLO all the
inventors that were listed we’re white
men nestled well stated Benjamin
Franklin Michael Faraday and Thomas
Edison made important contributions to
electricity which is true but she also
knew about the story of the story of an
african-american man Lewis Latimer and
how his patented carbon filament made
the incandescent light bulb more
practical and affordable for the average
household she shared us with her
students and together they wrote a
letter to the library and accent for
more books on inventors of color see
what that teacher did was reshaped the
standards in the curriculum and what it
did for her student was that it expanded
their understanding of who inventors
could be and she taught them how to take
social action by writing that letter
after the events of August 12 in
Charlottesville
a nother teacher noticed that her kids
playing at recess but playing tag but
this time it was different the students
were saying the KKK has come in to get
you this teacher knew
how to do something about it and had to
be done now when her kids were still
young she had a discussion in class
about identity and differences one boy
said well if I think I’m better than
somebody in my head and I don’t share
with anyone then I’m not hurting anyone
this teacher knew the duck could be a
little problematic so she addressed it
she read Julius Lester’s book on let’s
talk about race and had an open
conversation with her students about
differences and that it was okay to be
different but we have to remember that
just being different doesn’t mean that
you’re better than one person is better
than the other and I invite family’s
into my classroom
it helps me address my biases and the
stereotypes and I may have four families
because I get to learn about who they
are and learn how they can contribute to
my classroom community my mother
addressed stereotypes on our behalf and
as I leave the stage I want to share
with you that my font my grandfather at
the end of his life he realized his
mistaken bias my mother said he never
outright came out to apologize when he
was sick she took care of him and he
said you know if I knew you were gonna
be the one taking care of me I would
have never stopped you from becoming a
nurse
my mother addressed actively addressed
stereotypes and biases on our behalf she
changed a narrative for her daughters
because of her actions and beliefs and
as I teach her I try to implement the
lessons you taught me as I leave the
stage
I want you to consider the lessons on
empathy and an unfairness I will always
accept her challenge and I hope you will
too ma madoski thank you mom and thank
you all
you
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