CORTNIE BELSER'S MSED PORTFOLIO
Black History Month Living Museum Project
Students, families, and the wider school community are exposed to prominent
Black educators, politicians, and leaders who are from or have impacted the city of Baltimore
Table of Contents
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Introduction to BHM Living Museum Project
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Access through Planning of Black History Month Living Museum Project
Introduction
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While Black History Month (BHM)is often a time to celebrate the national heroes and sheroes who have contributed to the advancement of people of color in this country, I wanted to build upon supplemental units and instruction in my classroom that focus on voices of Black Baltimoreans. By focusing on the historical and contemporary leaders from Baltimore, I expose students to a breath and depth of knowledge and experiences about the communities and institutions they interact with on a daily basis. To further this exploration, students' research and biographical essays culminated into a living museum, in which students dressed as their historical figure and delivered a self-crafted speech. In total, about 50 students participated in the BHM Living Museum Project (LMP), with only 2 pairs of students with a double portrayal (Jada Pinkett-Smith and Monique Hicks), which spanned from politicians to educators to scientists to athletes and entertainers. As the artifacts and evidence will show, guests of the Living Museum ranged from other middle and high school students and teachers, school staff, parents and families, community members such as local pastors and practitioners, as well as a surprise visit from district staff leaders. As my students reflect on the process of this 2-month long project, it is evident that they were not only impacted by the exposure to people and programs in Baltimore, but they also were equally inspired by the impact they made in the community and begin to consider how they, too, can be agents of change.
Access through Planning BHM LMP
Since this project was not a part of my district's curriculum, the majority of instruction was done out of the classroom. To prepare students and families for the workload and time commitment, I created a PowerPoint to house the resources, assignments, and key deadlines and information necessary to be successful.
The PowerPoint above is evidence of how I structured the introduction and planning of this access project. As shown in Slide 5, I provided students with 5 key websites that would expose them directly to influential leaders of the past and present from Baltimore who they could utilize for the project. On the right side of this same slide, I provide 3 guiding questions for a pre-work assignment for students to conduct preliminary research on 2-3 people they were interested in portraying. To support this pre-work, I planned an exemplar response as shown in Slide 6, using a famous TV personality from Baltimore as a demonstration of how I utilized the websites and social media to research and construct the pre-work. This explicit instruction served as an entry point of access for students as it demonstrates the caliber of research and outside resources that will be necessary for them to be successful on the project.
The document to the left is the parent letter I sent home to families at the beginning of our project. Not only foes the parent letter provide key information about the project's theme, organization, and key details, but it is meant to serve as an invitation for parents and families to be active participants in the research, design, and final presentation. As noted by the red box, students and parents were aware ahead of time that a significant portion of this project must be research and supported outside of the classroom. Additionally, since the research outline recommended that students utilize online and print sources, students and families were tasked with going beyond the 5 online resources I provided in class to learn more about their historical figure. Lastly, I wanted the parent letter to serve as an early invitation to our LMP, providing the tentative dates of the Living Museum so that parents and families could also take advantage of this learning experience.
The two student samples to the left are the Pre-Work assignments completed in class by two students. As shown by my quick checkmark grade and reflections, I wanted to push students to research and expose themselves to prominent people and places in the city that they may not be familiar with. Although the purpose of the BHM LMP is to celebrate and analyze the life's work and significance of those who have made an impact on the city, I wanted to challenge Student A to move beyond well-known young adults such as rapper Lor Scoota and the late Freddie Gray. For this student, For this student, he understood the lasting impact of their murders on city youth, but I wanted to push him towards access by suggesting he research Baltimore's founding Black Panther member, Eddie Conway, or Chick Webb, as they both faced injustices and violence in Baltimore but utilized community resources to make a greater impact. Alternatively, Student B represents an exemplar Pre-Work selection by focusing on an impactful historical Baltimorean who they can access greater knowledge about.
The student samples above are the first-person speeches student created in preparation for the presentation component of the LMP. This checklist I provided to students reinforced the key points and details they were expected to research and recite on the day of the Living Museum. As evidence of access, this student takes advantage of the online resource outside of class to further their research and preparation for the LMP.
The audio recording and image above highlights a student in the planning stages of her portrayal of Verda Welcome. In the honors class, this student felt that her extensive research and resources lead her to not need to write a draft of her speech, but rather she wanted to deliver it as first-person naturally. As heard around the 30-second mark, the student does stumble on a few of her words, but as evidenced in the image, she also does not have a handout in her hand to read from, which shows how she has been engaged and thorough in her preparation.
Student BHM LMP Display Boards
The last point of access through my planning of the BHM LMP is students' display board needed for the presentation. As outlined in the parent letter and overview PowerPoint, all performing students were required to bring their display board to school on the day of our prep rehearsal. For many of my students, this was their first middle school project that required a tri-fold display and a multitude of resources to effectively prepare. While not all students were able to get the tri-fold display board, by staggering the deadlines and presenting an organized schedule, many students were able to bring in their drafted display boards on its first due date.
2018 BHM Living Museum Day ​
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At the end of February, I invited students, parents, staff, and the wider community to engage in a learning experience cultivated and lead by my students. I did not only want expose the outside community to the people, places, and resources that my students would share, but also have them be a part of the evaluation and reflection of the Living Museum.
The screenshot above is one of the ways I contacted families to invite them to the Living Museum. While schools send home a number of fliers and updates through students, I was intentional about personally reaching out to parents. Since much of this project was completed out of the classroom, I felt it was integral to provide those who supported these students with access to experiencing the culminating work. Every parent that I was able to directly reach were able to attend the Living Museum as well as other family and community members that were informed by the flier and word-of-mouth.
Although students' parents were communicative about their interest in attending the Living Museum, I knew many would not be able to stay all day. In addition to these guests, I also invited my entire middle and high school students and staff to bring their classes or simply stop by during their planning. Similar to the community guests' participation in the Living Museum, I invited teachers and administrators to evaluate student performances. As the red box indicates, I also designed a student handout to accompany classes so that teachers would not feel that they must plan instruction to support my students.
Click on each of the images and videos above to learn more about how students provided access to the school community through their LMP.
Student Participants and Guests Reflections
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The impact of this access opportunity is evidenced through the voices of students, parents, and community members who were able to be exposed to local people, places, and resources that they can now take advantage of across the city. While this research project was heavily focused on the historical celebration of prominent figures, it also ignited a sense of awareness, engagement, and action for students and families. The outpouring of admiration and encouragement from adults helped my students better understand how knowledge has the ability to open doors to opportunity simply through conversation. An example of this is the district leader who attended the Living Museum with my principal has invited two student participants to work at the district in their summer educational access program. My hope is that the peers who witnessed my 7th and 8th grade honors students dedicate themselves to this rigorous and engaging access project, also feel ignited to be a part of learning that stems from the classroom into community.
The PowerPoint above represents how I provided time in class for students to reflect on the BHM LMP experience. Slide 2 and 3 are a few of the scoring rubrics I graded on the day of the Living Museum that students received for self-reflection.
The samples above represent student reflection responses to the prompt displayed on the PowerPoint.
Student Reflections on Access of BHM LMP
The two student videos above demonstrate evidence of the impact this access project could have for my students. As Student 1 (portrayed Eddie Conway) describes the project as inspiring, he also wants to be an actor when he is older, and it was evident through his Living Museum costume and guest reflections that he was captivating the audience well. Likewise, Student 2 (portrayed Ta-Nehisi Coates) is exposed to their award-winning author and his literature through the research-based access of this project. In addition to his explanation, I can attest to how enthusiastic he was about this experience, even texting me immediately when it occurred in the library.
The voicemail above is from a 7th grade parent who called me the next day to inform me that she enjoyed attending the Living Museum and that she was inspired to continue the momentum with her son by taking him to the National Blacks in Wax Museum that is here in Baltimore. The document to the top right are 3 sample voting and feedback responses from various adult guests from parents to administrators to district leaders. Both the parent voicemail and the guest reflections highlight how a lasting impact of the BHM LMP is not only through the students but also the adults who learned more about the people and places of historical importance in Black Baltimore and the resources to access further access points of learning in our community.