Dr. Samantha Cutrara:        Reshma, thank you so much for agreeing to talk with me. It was so wonderful to connect on Twitter, and I’m really excited to talk about your choices board for Asian Heritage Month. Thank you so much.

Reshma Konstantinova:        Thank you. Hello.

SC:        Hi.

RK:        I’m an elementary school teacher with York Region District School Board. And I work at a school called Discovery Public School which is in Maple. And the school has a diverse student body. We have around I want to say 20 or even more different languages being spoken at our school. Discovery Public School has always excelled in delivering lessons that are inclusive and welcoming environment.

When I talk about my school, it makes me very emotional because it truly is a school that’s — it’s a home away from home for me. I have been a teacher for 17 years, and over those years I’ve built — it’s been a privilege actually to build my teaching skills and I strongly believe in continuously growing as an individual. I’ve taken on leadership roles such as being the primary lead and my teaching assignments happen in the homeroom as a home teacher and I’m also trained as a certified Reading Recovery teacher.

Reading Recovery holds a very special place in my heart because I can see the impact that it makes on my students, on my students’ families, and ultimately me. It’s an incredibly special opportunity to see my little learners seeing themselves as readers and writers. I’m currently teaching grade two homeroom and my focus is literacy and social studies. I’m also the reading recovery teacher for grade one students and an English language learner teacher as well this year.

During this pandemic, I’ve had to adapt my ways of teaching and reestablish and build on connections with my students all online, using technology. Assignments that I post now, I find have to be impactful even more and meaningful because it needs to sustain the interest that I would have had in the classroom, you know. For a while, I would have built on it, but now it’s all through technology. So it needs to make an impact on the other end.

I wanted to share this quote by Marie Clay. Now, Marie Clay is known for her work in global education literacy and she’s the one who developed the Reading Recovery intervention program. She said, “If children are unable to learn, we should assume that we have not as yet found the right way to teach them.” I thought this was just beautiful. I have it everywhere.

RK:        I truly believe this. So I’m always on the hunt to find resources to make my assignment engaging, fun, and purposeful. My partnerships with my colleagues during these times have truly been a blessing. And another tool or you could say friend is Twitter, that I found has sparked my curiosity to learn new ways of engaging my students. And that’s when I came across Ms. Lilly Vijayasekar’s Twitter post about choice boards for Asian Heritage Month. And my motivation to make a choice board that would fit my children’s needs, where my students are, was realized.

Being of Asian descent, I take this task seriously. I’m very proud of my heritage. And I truly believe that if we want our children to appreciate and respect the diversity that we have here in Canada, we need to educate them.

SC:        And I think, like for me, to be able to tie couple things to that statement together, and thank you so much for such an eloquent introduction of yourself in your pedagogy that thinking about the diversity of Canada and combining that with literacy practices is so important because as Paulo Freire says, “You’re not just reading the words, you’re reading the world.” And that is so powerful for young people trying to understand themselves in the world.

RK:        Very true, yes. The connections that they’re making, yes.

SC:        And speaking of connections, I actually went to grade two in Maple.

RK:        Oh! Which school?

SC:        Our Lady of Peace?

RK:        Oh, yeah. Okay.

SC:        Yeah, it was actually just right behind my house, and so — I have a soft spot for Maple, but Maple I think is very different now. Like it was all Italy. We had like Italian courses. And right by now, I see the Canada that I’m more familiar with as being in Toronto too.

RK:        Right. Yeah, it’s a growing, changing world. Maple is beautiful.

SC:        Yeah, yeah. Maple is beautiful. Okay, so I have three questions. I ask everyone these three questions. And I know that rather than think about history, it might be easier for us to talk about social studies, so you can just use those words if you want.

But the first question I’ve asked people is about the present. Have you thought about history or social studies any different because of the COVID pandemic? And I know that I have some people said, “I’m already kind of doing this work.” What do you think? Have you thought of history any different because of this moment?

RK:        I thought this question, it really boggled my mind when you first asked me this —

SC:        In a good way?

RK:        — and I saw it in a very good way.

SC:        Okay, good.

RK:        Really interesting question. And it forced me to be introspective. I believe that every day we’re making history, meaning we all have stories to tell. We need to realize that we are making history and actually slow down and acknowledge that. I’d like to speak within the context of the work that I do with my young children to answer this question. If I thought about history differently because it’s actually a two-part answer. It’s a yes and a no. So no, I have not thought about history differently because I believe it is still relevant regardless of COVID-19, but the way I am currently teaching it is definitely different.

So as teachers, I feel we have a responsibility to acknowledge this moment and time because our young learners are facing a new way of learning. They have had to adapt very quickly to these changing times. So definitely the status quo is not an option with the current limitations that have been brought about by OVID-19. The pandemic has pushed this moment that we’re in into uncertain times. It’s surreal. Its impact is being felt globally. My students are living in these times that one day will be a significant part maybe of the history curriculum.

Speaking of the past being relevant, every year in the month of May, we have always celebrated Asian heritage to appreciate the contributions made by people of Asian descent and to celebrate the diversity we have in Canada. Pre-COVID-19 we’ve had assemblies, read alouds, and artistic interactions with different organization, which has led to knowledge building for our students so they can make those connections. But this year, I have had to adapt. My students have had to adapt. I kept thinking about how can I engage them. How can I be purposeful with my little learners so they can appreciate Asian Heritage Month and celebrate the diversity we have in Canada.

So again, as I mentioned before, when I came across Lily’s Twitter post, it kind of motivated me to design this choice board. Why a choice board? For me, it represents a collection of — a collection actually that you explore on your own terms. And it’s a journey of discovery for my students. I chose a variety of resources that include read alouds, virtual museum tours, music appreciation, and art appreciation. To my choice board, I wanted to showcase these wonderful artists so that my students can appreciate that rich diversity.

The book by Rukhsana Khan, a Big Red Lollipop, is — okay, so she’s down there, a Big Red Lollipop. Yeah, at the bottom. So a Big Red Lollipop is an opportunity for my learners to appreciate the rich art of storytelling and to make connections to her lived experiences. She’s an amazing artist. There she is.

I chose the book Blue Hijab by Ibtihaj Muhammad, which builds on a central theme of being true to oneself. That was very important for me.

SC:        Is this one?

RK:        Yes.

SC:        Can we just pause for one second?

RK:        Sure.

SC:        I want to — I just don’t like the way that this is showing up, so I just want to — we might just —

RK:        Maybe we don’t need to. We could just show the choice board.

SC:        Okay.

RK:        You did not click on the links if it’s — yeah.

SC:        Okay. So maybe could you —

RK:        Back it up?

SC:        Pardon?

RK:        Do you want me to back up?

SC:        Yeah, a little bit.

RK:        Okay. So should I talk about why the choice board was designed again from there?

SC:        Yeah, let’s do that. Yes.

RK:        Okay.

SC:        Okay.

RK:        Okay. So why design a choice board? For me, it represents a collection that you explore on your own terms. It’s a journey of discovery for my students and I choose a variety of resources for that reason. I included read aloud, I’ve included visual museum tours, art appreciation, and music appreciation. To my choice board, I wanted to showcase wonderful artists so that my students can appreciate the rich diversity.

The book by Rukhsana Khan Big Red Lollipop is an opportunity for my learners to appreciate the art of rich storytelling and make connections to her lived experiences. I choose the book Blue Hijab by Ibtihaj  Muhammad, which builds on a central theme of being true to oneself. A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin is a beautiful book with beautiful illustrations which describes the moon cycle and has the underlying theme of love for your family and traditions being passed onto the next generation. I also added a reflection piece, which I think is critical because it will — and my hope is to force my students to critically think about the experiences that they’re having and enhancing that learning experience.

So in the context of teaching history to young audience or social studies to a young audience, it was also very important for me that my students see themselves represented in these stories. I never saw myself as a curator or an archivist of history, but the pandemic actually has provided me with this opportunity.

SC:        I love that. And I would love — there are so many things I want to say to that. So first, I love your choices board. I’m going to put it back up. I love the reflection piece because I think that is so important. I love that you can see the mixed media that you’re up here so that students can still feel that connection and that you ask them about their feelings related to that because —

RK:        Mm. I left that open-ended for them to express their feelings because that’s what this is all about. It evokes a feeling. The choice, what it should. So for now, I’ve observed that they do love me dancing, so I think there’s going to be more animation. And if you do click on that, it takes you to dance tutorial. So some of my students have tried it out and they felt rejuvenated apparently. So it’s fun with a purpose.

SC:        Let’s see if we can — oh, no, we’re just going to have ads.

RK:        Oh, no!

SC:        Yeah, I was going to be sponsored by Quaker Oats and Burt’s Bees. But I guess there could be worse things.

SC:        And I mean, like we know that our students, like even the little learners like you said, are going on YouTube. So to be able to direct them to some heritage-rich videos I think is really excellent. And I love the way you said that like you’ve never thought of yourself as a curator or an archivist, but this moment is allowing you to do that because, of course, you are curating things in your classroom, but like, you wouldn’t use that language —

RK:        Yeah.

SC:        Thank you for bringing that into this conversation. I think it’s really powerful for elementary teachers like yourself to be able to think of themselves so actively in thinking about history and social studies like that.

RK:        Thank you.

SC:        Yeah. So the second question —

RK:        You’re  freezing a little bit, Samantha. I’m not sure if is it — it’s not continuous.

SC:        Don’t worry about me freezing.

RK:        Okay.

SC:        As long as your sound is consistent, that’s all I’m happy about. So your sound has been great. Yeah.

RK:        Okay, okay.

SC:        So why don’t we move to the second question which is about teaching history in the future. So do you think some of these things that you’re thinking about and others like you is going to transform history and social studies teaching after this moment? Do you think it should? What do you think?

RK:        I thought about this for a long time as well. And I thought, wow, it’s really hard actually to even think about how we will teach after this moment because we’re still in the moment and it’s kind of hard to understand the impact it will have because of the situation we’re in. I can only speculate.

I do believe that as educators, we are on this continuous learning journey. So the present moment, if anything it has taught me is that we’re all interconnected and we need to work together. So it’s an exciting time for collaboration, and I hope this momentum doesn’t stop. Collaboration within my school, I found school community now has extended beyond boards and even countries, and maybe even continent. So this will have a lasting effect and will likely continue in the future. The way we’ll be teaching history and any subject for that matter will probably change after this moment passes.

The truth is technology is essential to these changes. In order to keep the learning tasks engaging and meaningful, my colleagues and I have had to learn to be flexible and update our technical skills as well. I see this change in a positive light because it has forced me to be creative and it has accelerated this learning process for me, you know? And I feel at the end of the day, who is it going to benefit? My students. So I do feel like this is all in a positive light. My hope is that we will continue to teach history through collaboration, inquiry, exploration leading to new discoveries perhaps.

SC:        Yeah, thank you for identifying that. Though it is all speculation, but coming in with an optimism or like with a central principle that like, this is for students so let’s figure out what’s going to work for them I think is a really great way to propel us into these uncertain times.

RK:        Smile.

SC:        Yeah.

RK:        Very important.

SC:        Yeah. Yeah, it is.

So my last question is the larger theme of this video series, which is imagining a new ‘we’. Because I argue that it’s important that we engage in practices in our pedagogies, the ideas behind our practices that are more meaningful, transformative, and inclusive for their students so that we don’t create this othering kind of ideas that students feel like they aren’t part of the classroom or they aren’t part of the nation, where they aren’t part of history. Do you have any ideas about whether or not we can imagine a new ‘we’ more or perhaps in different ways during and after this moment?

RK:        I love this question. I may get a little emotional. So I imagine a new ‘we’ actually as a chance to build on relationships and connections. It’s a chance to explore our lived experiences. I could be naive, but I really hope humanity will look at this moment as an opportunity to make positive changes and future generations will see that this was the time that the world worked collaboratively to fight this virus. Decisions that we all make, but especially our leaders will have lasting consequences that will shape the new ‘we’.

As an educator, I have the responsibility to instill that the future is brighter and that the best is yet to come. It’s really important. That has been my goal throughout my teaching career and has taken precedence in the last few weeks. Through the pandemic, I have realized further how important it is for our children to build resilience, flexibility, and adaptability. After all, this generation, which I think they’re called the alpha generation, I had to look that up, will — I know. I didn’t know that. Will one day be the new ‘we’ in the not so distant future. It’s my own daughter actually.

So it brings me back to this theme of Asian Heritage Month, and it’s a beautiful theme. It’s united in diversity, which sums up how I hope the new ‘we’ will be. It will lead to unity and create an inclusive and compassionate society. That’s the goal.

SC:        Yeah, that’s so wonderful. And I think coming into our classrooms with that as a goal helps develop our practices that align with what students are going to need because it isn’t that far from the future, right?

SC:        Yeah. So thank you so much for sharing so much of this wisdom, your choices board. I really, really enjoyed this. I think that like elementary teachers can teach so much to secondary teachers when it comes to like creativity and disciplinarity. And I hope that secondary teachers have really enjoyed this as much as I have.

SC:        But I also hope that secondary teachers can see ways that they can help develop conversations with elementary teachers for other kind of collaboration. So thank you so much.

RK:        Mm-hmm. Oh, thank you. It’s just — this was a really great project for me because as I said, it forces me to be introspective and actually try and understand and clarify my own thought. So how I want the new we to be or, you know, how I think history will be or should be.

RK:        Yeah. So this was a wonderful conversation.

SC:        Oh, that’s so wonderful. I’m so happy. Because something I’ve talked about in another video about like getting teachers to think more about their purpose now that [inaudible 0:22:58.9*they’re in classroom.] Like it’s so easy doing a teacher education program to do all that reflection, but then school just gets so busy and you don’t get a chance to do that introspective work as much as I think a lot of teachers want to. So that’s why it’s really great to engage in this series and to have teachers like you. And if other teachers want to talk with me for this series, just send me an email or direct message me in Twitter because this has been just such a pleasure. Thank you so much.

RK:        Thank you.

SC:        Okay, we’ll say goodbye. Bye.

RK:        Bye.