Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen

One Page Take-away

For our one page take-away, we decided to share our notes
from the readings.
Discussion One:
Good assignments ask students to write about
important events in their lives. pg. 61
Students need to feel safe enough to ask for help,
but a safe community is also essential if students are
going to take academic risks. pg. 15
Students need opportunities to write about the tough
issues in their lives that rarely surface in schools. pg.35
Discussion Two:
My most successful teaching stems from long-term exploration of topics that ask big
questions. pg.120
When students write for the teacher instead of writing out of a compelling need to speak
out the writing is often tedious, not worth writing, and not worth reading. pg.123
I dont assign specific essay topics. pg.123
Discussion Three:
Its a foolish culture that entrusts the education of its children to corporate textbooks.
pg.164
When we honor where our students come from, we honor who they are. We tell them
that they matter. And then, the learning can begin. pg.152
The pause to go deeper into the book, to slow it down, benefits all students. pg. 177
Our curriculum choices say who counts and who doesnt- whose stories are important
and whose stories arent. pg. 155

 Students of all backgrounds should see themselves represented in the school

curriculum. pg. 147
Through engagement, I want students to find places that ignite their passion for learning
while I bring students who have fallen behind back to class. pg.175
Discussion Four:
We nurture students in their writing by telling them what theyre doing right. pg. 264
Students need to feel that their work is important, relevant and meaningful. pg.272

Works Cited
Christensen, Linda. Teaching for Joy and Justice. Milwaukee: Rethinking Schools, 2009. Print.
Image comes from: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/ProdDetails.asp?ID=9780942961430

Diverse Student Profiles:

1. Kelly is a new student from Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is the middle of the first
semester. She has recently moved to Fort Collins because her parents got divorced and
while her parents have joint custody, she now lives with her mother. Kellys family is
Catholic, and Kelly is having a hard time adjusting to being a public school for the first
time as she had gone to a parochial school for her whole life.
2. Jamal is a Fort Collins native. He has an anxiety disorder called Selective Mutism, and
therefore cannot speak. Jamals condition prevents him from making friends and
participating in class much at all. He has a paralegal that helps him function otherwise as
a student.
3. Jeewon is a transfer student from South Korea. She speaks limited English, but manages
so that she maintains a social life at school. She does not participate in class frequently,
and actually spends most of her time sleeping. This is due to the fact that she stays up all
night Skyping her Korean friends back home, and because the time difference is so
severe, she rarely has time to get any rest.
4. Gabriela is a twin, and her sister also attends the same school. Gabriela is currently
pregnant, and is recently single. She plays viola in the school orchestra, but is missing
more and more class given her current situation. Her baby is due in March, and so she is
working with counselors to develop a maternity plan so that she can continue her
school work while she is away taking care of her baby.
5. Justin is going through a lot of life changes. He has recently entered the foster care
system as his parents are both incarcerated. He has three siblings and they are currently
living with him as well, but there is no guarantee that the four will be able to stay
together. Justin is struggling, and so he is taking his stress out on himself, and has started
to experiment with drugs and alcohol recently.
6. Sarah is a Fort Collins Native. She lives South of Old Town, in a fairly large house in a
safe neighborhood. She has a dog named Oscar, and two little brothers. She is on Rocky
Mountain High Schools softball team, and made JV as a freshman. She is on a
gluten-free, dairy-free diet and resents her mother for making her family be on said diet.
7. Juan lives with his parents in Timnath, Fort Collins. His family owns horses, and lives in
a rural area, but there is an apartment complex being built that he can see from his
backyard. Juan worries about the overdevelopment of Fort Collins, and misses his mother

frequently, as she works night shifts at Poudre Valley Hospital. He and his father have a
very close bond.
8. Aiden is from Hawaii but moved to Fort Collins when he was five, and barely remembers
his old home. He has four sisters, and his parents breed Dachshunds. Aidens father
works for HP, and his little sister just got an iphone. This bothers Aiden given the fact
that his sister is in fifth grade.
9. Myra lives with Mr. and Mrs. Garrett in Northern Fort Collins, near CSUs campus. Myra
was in the foster care system as a child, but not for very long, as Mr. and Mrs. Garrett
adopted her at age two. As far back as she can remember, Mr. and Mrs. Garrett have been
her parents, and she calls them Mom and Dad. Her little sister, Karen is from the
Phillipines and was also adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Garrett at a young age.
10. Colton struggles with school. Because of a social anxiety disorder that he has, he
frequently seeks attention in class by being a distraction and shouting out during
inappropriate times. He often refuses to do what teachers ask him to do, and will often to
the exact opposite of what they ask of him. He is barely passing his junior year of high
school, and just wants to leave as soon as he can.
11. Rachel is having a tough time at school because she is depressed and distracted by her
recent breakup with her boyfriend. She has trouble focusing in class, and has even been
approached by her teachers, who are concerned that she hasnt been maintaining her
normal standard of academic excellence. When her teachers ask her if everything is okay,
she always says yes, because she doesnt want anyone to think she has problems.
12. Ian lives, loves, and breathes lacrosse. All he can think about is when the next lacrosse
season will start. He cant wait for practice, games, and tryouts to start. While Ian is
doing well in all of his STEM classes, he is struggling with English and French. His
parents have told him that if he doesnt get at least Bs in both of the classes, he will not
be permitted to play lacrosse this coming spring. Ian feels that his parents always treat
him unfairly, and expresses his anger by punching holes in the walls in his basement.
Ians parents suspect that he needs therapy for his anger problems, but he refuses to go.

13. Skylar is happy with her school life. She has great friends, good grades and a fantastic
boyfriend that recently asked her to prom. However, the second Skylar arrives at home
each day, she becomes a different person. She and her mother are both still dealing with

the death of her father that occurred two years ago. Skylar feels like going to school is her
only escape from her depression, and wishes she could be at school all the time.
14. Oliver does not like his fathers new girlfriend. His father raised him and his sister as a
single parent up until now, and Oliver is not comfortable with the thought of his father
being in a relationship. Dads girlfriend is really nice and she seems like she would make
a good mother, but Oliver feels as if his father is betraying him and his sister by adding
someone else to their family. Oliver feels that maybe his father thinks that Oliver and his
sister arent enough family for him.
15. Alexis does not enjoy her school experience. All she can think about is how angry she
still is at her best friend for going on a date with Alexiss ex boyfriend. Alexis is almost
consumed by the rage she feels for her best friend, and lives life accordingly. She dresses
her best in case she sees her friend the hallway, and purposefully seeks out mutual friends
to convince them to be on her side of things.

Review

This book is definitely one that we will use beyond this class, and would also suggest to
colleagues. It not only contains a copious amount of activity ideas that would fit well in any
English classroom (middle or high school) but it also contains suggestions on how to inform
students of what social justice is. In her book, Teaching For Joy and Justice Linda Christensen
highlights many American social injustices, brings them to light, and gives suggestions on how
to teach said injustices. The book ranges in topics, from family struggles to Ebonics and the
plight of Native Americans. In doing so, Christensen gives many suggestions on how to teach
students about justice.
We have chosen to do an activity from Christensens book called the Tea Party.
Typically, the way that this activity would be run is that students would become different
characters from a book or other literary work, and then walk around a room while discussing
their roles with one another. The way that our group is choosing to run our Tea Party activity is
by assigning each person in the class (including the instructor) a profile that is that of a diverse
student. The reason that we chose to execute our activity in this manner is because as a class, we
have not all been reading a similar book, and it is beneficial for future educators to think from
the perspectives of a diverse student body. Our goal for teaching the Tea Party activity in a
writing class is to give our peers an idea of an activity they might use in a creative writing class.
The Tea Party specifically teaches its participants how to get inside the mind of another person,
thus directly teaching them about perspective and point of view in a hands-on manner.
As a group, we agreed that the main highlight of the book was Christensens meaningful
quotes that are sprinkled throughout the book. In fact, we felt that these quotes were so important
that we used them as the foundation for all of our book notes. We collaborated and wrote down

quotes we all liked on sticky notes. What we loved most about all of Christensens quotes is that
they are all student-centered. All of the quotes ultimately show a fierce love for student learning
and justice. That being said, we found this whole book to be very inspiring, love Christensen as
an author, and are inspired by her.
One of the cons of the teaching approaches in this text is that they may touch upon
sensitive topics that students are not comfortable reading about. Topics of social justice are
always tricky to teach, and the topics mentioned in Christensens book are no exception. Being
an experienced teacher, Christensen makes teaching tough topics seem easy, but I think that as
new teachers, we would have to tread lightly if we were to cover some of the topics Christensen
suggests teaching. Another teaching approach from this book that may not work for every
teacher is Christensens method of not grading papers. While this concept may seem ideal, it
may go against a district or schools policy, and is probably not a good method to be used by
new teachers that are on thin ice for their first few years.
The pros of of the teaching approaches in this text are many. The entire concept of
teaching for joy is phenomenal. Teachers need to be reminded of why we are choosing to enter
this profession, and Christensens is perfect for being that reminder. Her stories about touching
individual students lives are inspirational and helpful in learning how to teach for joy. The
methods included in the book for teaching for justice are just as inspirational, and provide a
foundation for a goal that many teachers aspire to achieve.

Template for In-Class Activity

NAME OF
ACTIVITY

Character Analysis Tea Party

FEATURED
STANDARD

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse
partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others'
ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development,
organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience

DESCRIPTION
OF THE CLASS

This activity is designed for a 9-12th grade "Creative Writing"

classroom at Rocky Mountain High School. The demographics are
as follows: 15 total students in our classroom; 6 girls and 9 boys;
90% of our student population is Caucasian and 10% are
minorities; and 40% of students are on free and reduced lunch.

WRITING
LESSON FOCUS

This activity will help students identify and analyze point-of-view

and character. It will also help students review the relationships
between characters and practice writing summaries.

MATERIALS

Copies of Tea Party biographies, copies of Tea Party Worksheet,

pens/pencils

PROCEDURES
50 Minute Class
Period

1)
Welcome students and write autobiography on the board
(1 min)
2)
Ask students, as a whole-class, what they think an
autobiography is. Record their responses on the board. (5 mins)
3)
Explain that an important part of autobiographies is being
able to clearly define and illustrate who a person is: what is their
personality like? What characteristics make them unique? (5 mins)
4)
Introduce the Character Analysis Tea Party activity and
handout the different Tea Party Student Profiles (5 mins)
5)
Allow students some time to read through and get into
character (5 mins)
6) Once students have had a chance to review their character,

start the Tea Party. Students have the freedom to mill about the
room wherever they would like and can pick up any food/drinks
they want BUT they must talk to at least 4 of their peers and take
notes on their worksheet about the person that others are
portraying.**Make sure that students are clear about the fact that
they have to take notes and THEN write a short
summary/description about the person that they talked to.**(20
mins)
7)
Come back together as a class and ask students what they
learned about character analysis or how to accurately portray a
character either in written or verbal mediums. For homework have
students conduct a character analysis on someone that lives in their
house (brother, sister, mom, dad) and ask them to write a reflection
on how their character analysis changes when they actually know
the person that they are analyzing. (10 minutes)
ONGOING
ASSESSMENT

Students will be assessed informally as I circulate around the room

to monitor their conversations and the accuracy with which they are
portraying their character. Written feedback will be provided to
students after they turn in their Tea Party worksheet, for which they
will be graded on completion. Students will be formally assessed
on character analysis when they have to write a compare/contrast
essay about the protagonist and antagonist once we finish our class
novel.

REFERENCES

Activities adapted from Linda Christensen in Teaching for Joy and

Justice on pages 186-187

Tea Party Worksheet:

Instructions: For this Tea Party you will be given ONE student profile which you are
responsible for portraying as accurately as possible during this activity. During our Tea Party

you will be required to talk to at least 4 different people and record what you find out about them
in the space provided below. **Make sure that you take notes on the person you're talking to and
then translate those notes into a short summary/description about that person**
Character Name:________________
Notes:

Description:

Character Name:__________________
Notes:

Description:

Character Name:__________________

Notes:

Description:

Character Name:__________________
Notes:

Description:

Offer notes regarding each of the following to demonstrate that you have plans in place.
To Do

By when will this be

Who is responsible?

Done?

completed?
Plan content for book review (~5
min.)

Wednesday

Lizz

done

Plan interactive teaching

demonstration (20 min.)

Wednesday

Laura/Lizz/Morgan

done

Create one-page take-away

Wednesday

Morgan

done

Complete in-class activity

template (lesson plan) for Tiffany

Wednesday

Laura

done

Create any materials your group

will need for the demonstration

Thursday

Lizz (food) /Laura

done

Make copies of materials for class will do right before

(15, minus the number of people
class on Thursday!
in your group)

Laura

Reflection on your and your

group members contributions

ALL

First class day after

you present