Cornelius Minor WE GOT THIS—Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be
When a teacher you wholeheartedly respect because of their consistent student-focused approach to learning you continue to glean from them has a request...you figure out a way to make it happen. This was how I was introduced to Cornelius Minor, author of We Got This. Minor was featured as the keynote speaker at our state literacy association conference that was to be held virtually as we all continued to navigate the teaching restrictions due to the COVID19 health crises.
After registering this teacher, another enthusiastic teacher, and myself to attend the conference, I found funds to purchase Minor’s book for all three of us. Diving into what draws and interests teachers is a responsibility, in my opinion, of a learning school principal. As I begin to research and discover more about Minor, I found this two-minute youtube introductory video that held my immediate attention. The clip introduced the first chapter in his book, “Begin by Listening.”
Minor’s message on listening to our kids is simple yet incredibly profound and sadly often missing in schools. He outlines in chapter one what to pay attention to and what to listen for to better understanding what students are really communicating to us. His recommendations on how teachers can then respond to what they are saying with tips for creating purposeful lessons that truly speak to your student’s needs. Brilliantly he made a Listening to Kids Organizer template for teachers (and I’ll add leaders) because “how we listen, and what we do with what we hear matter” (p. 22).
Each of his proceeding chapters relentlessly focuses on disrupting the status quo and creating an inclusive classroom culture by thinking deeply about the students in front of you and identifying what’s working for them and what you need to change or approach differently, and how to do your homework to make a plan for that change to come to life. Showing kids, you hear them, and “Creating a space where kids feel safe means that we must create a space where we share power. One can let go of power without letting go of control” (p. 75).
I am excited about the plans the teacher I referenced is already putting into action AND sharing with his grade-level colleagues. In an email, he stated, “I found it very helpful to complete and process figure 2.2: Thinking About the Kids in My Classroom...I plan on sharing figure 2.2 with X and X and start some grade-level work around it.” Later in the ongoing email thread, he wrote, “I just finished chapter 3 and am starting to work on figure 3.1 (Questions That Help Guide Change), then onto figures 3.2 (An Informal Research Template) and 3.3 (A Guide for Planning Change Quickly). A learner, a teacher-leader, an advocate on a “quest” for who his students need him to be. Just beyond inspiring...
In his epilogue, Minor closed with the following that left me feeling optimistic about our work.
“The work can be hard, but the steps are simple.
We set our goals, we learn, and we put that learning to use.
We stop regularly to reflect.
Knowing that big things don’t change overnight, we take inventory of the small things that have changed. We name them, and we celebrate them.
Then we make the necessary adjustments so that the work can continue. This will require effective study and teaching to drive us. This will require imagination to guide us. This will require love to keep us.
We got this.”
Agree, for, with, because of each of our unique, powerful, and courageous students.
