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HERSTORY WRITERS WORKSHOPAn introduction to our work in school settings Bilingual/ENL Coordinators’ Meeting Long Island RBERN Western Suffolk BOCES Conference Center Wheatley Heights Oc

HERSTORY WRITERS WORKSHOP

An introduction to our work

in school settings

Bilingual/ENL Coordinators’ Meeting

Long Island RBERN Western Suffolk BOCES Conference Center

Wheatley Heights October 23, 2018

About Herstory

 Founded on Long Island in 1996

by novelist and essayist Erika

Duncan with the aim of giving

voice to women whose stories

have been silenced,

empowering them through

passing along the “dare to

care”– the cornerstone of

Herstory’s philosophy, the

organization has helped

thousands of women and girls –

and more recently men and boys

to use the memoir form to

change hearts, minds and policy

About Herstory

in a variety of formats in

school, community, and

jail-based settings, including day

long retreats in partnership

with school districts,

universities and justice

organizations, while our

webinar program and

publications reach beyond

Long Island’s shores

• In-district/In-class/

After-School Facilitation with Students

 Central Islip

 Patchogue-Medford

Communities

• Incarcerated Women & Girls

• Immigrants &

Dreamers

• Parenting Groups

• Human Rights Groups

Introducing the Herstory Method

The notion of building writing skills is deceptively simple, yet the ramifications are far reaching and profound.

 Where other approaches to writing may not have succeeded in igniting a spark or supporting mastery

 Herstory extends into gains in problem solving in the other

academic disciplines and social and emotional literacy.

 Promoting a sense of community within each classroom or

community engagement setting

 Herstory builds bridges of understanding across the barriers that

keep us from hearing one another.

 Connecting one’s own story with the larger social forces, as an instrument of change

 Herstory supports development of leadership skills.

Reaching Out to High School Students

Through teacher training and mentoring programs

Offering daylong retreats on college

campuses and in high school settings

High school students from all over the country attend an honors retreat at LIU Post

Fostering College Preparedness

for newcomer students who will be the first in their families to pursue higher education

Westbury students tour the campus of

LIU Post where they have been coming

weekly to write

Bringing high school students to write

on college campuses

Working side by side with Public Humanities,

English, Modern Languages, Education,

Criminology, Social Work, Civic Engagement

sociology, English, and Psychology students,

finding commonalities in their tales

Offering student-written anthologies for use in the classroom, along with publication, web-posting and presentation opportunities

 Over the years, authors have spoken of the power of writing in the language of their memories and dreams When students remain connected with their home language rhythms, there is a richness that they bring into language learning that is irreplaceable.

 We have had evidence of this phenomenon, dating back 40 years,

to Jim Cummins’ (1978; 1979) compelling work that demonstrated

 When the connection to the native language is cut off, especially at the moment when so much of what sustained them has been left behind, a part of our students may lose motivation and receptivity

Research supports the Herstory approach

Pedagogy and Practice

The Ramifications of Writing for an

Imaginary “Stranger/Reader”

For young people who have never felt heard…

• Safety in imagining someone who might actually hear you and care.

• Investment in organizing one’s story so that another can walk in your shoes.

• Level playing field in the nature of the task.

Oral Imaging Before Anyone Writes

 Not to worry if you don’t have the technical writing skills, thetrick is to paint a scene vividenough to shock a sleepy orangry listener/reader into coming on your journey

 How to startle people intoattention, while deciding whatfacts you want to reveal andwhat you want to keep secret for

a while, or maybe forever

 Puzzle solving for what shouldcome first and why

Learning to engage your

listeners in painting a

scene a game everyone

can play

Letting your own story brew as you listen

Taking courage from the other images and scenes being shaped

Finding a Dramatic “Page One Moment”

 Learning the elements that keep your audience reading

and make them care about what has happened

particularly to you

 Teasing them into coming for the next workshop to find

out what will happen next

 Looking at those moments that changed it all with new

Once the writing begins…

 The pleasure of

sharing a secret with

someone who has

begun to truly know

you through your

words

 Knowing that your

words helped others

to embrace your

honesty and pain

Sustaining your story:

Developing a new set of writing skills

Leading to…

 Understanding past choices in a way that will free you to make new future choices

 Beginning to see yourself as an actor

in the story of your life, instead of just a passive victim

 Surprising yourself with lost moments of power and beauty

 Learning new compassion for the other players in your drama

 Finding places for your sorrow and rage that others can truly share, as together

Connecting the dots as you set out

how you got from here to there…

offers a variety of programs:

 For training secondary teachers to use the Herstory

method in their classrooms

 For writing intensive and ENL courses with students in public and alternative schools, as well as in universities and colleges.

 For college/school collaborations where college interns and high school students from challenged communities write side by side.

 For summer institutes and orientation programs for a variety of participants

Professional Development Opportunities

 In-School Training Workshops for administrators,

teachers, and school counselors

 Half-day, full-day, and two-to-four day Training

Retreats for administrators, teachers and school counselors

 Facilitator Training Institute at Hofstra and Stony

Brook Universities, offering 13-week practicum followed by 12-week supervised field placements.

Passing Along the Dare to Care:

This collection of readings and exercises—based on what causes a

“Stranger/Reader” to care— fosters dialogues across differences,

diversity studies and a sense of community, as well as enhanced

listening, reading and narrative skills

Originally designed for Stony Brook University’s Education Opportunity Program and

successfully piloted with 350 students from 80 different countries over a three-year period,

this has become the central text book for all of our school programs, used by hundreds of

“The entire process causes the young people to be less self-absorbed and more globally aware They don’t wallow in the pain of their past, but they move forward with other writers to bring awareness of the pitfalls that serve to stifle progression They

graduate as public advocates.”

Felicia Cooper-Prince Hempstead High School

Brave Journeys/Pasos valientes

A High School Initiative in two L.I School Districts

A breathtaking collection of 15 stories by young people, ages

14-17, who risked their lives crossing borders A testimony to the

resilience of the human spirit, which is being incorporated into

the curriculum by an increasing number of school districts

“We are thrilled, and also humbled, to anonymously share the stories of high school newcomer students who agreed to write about their journeys into this land, the land of liberty,”

Dafny Irizarry, founder and president of the Long Island Latino Teachers Association

College and School Partners

 Colleges & Universities

 Hofstra University

 Stony Brook University

 Adelphi University

 SUNY Old Westbury

 Touro Law Center

 Nassau Community College

 Schools

 Baldwin and Uniondale Twilight Program

 Central Islip High School

 Hempstead High School

 Long Beach High School

 Patchogue Medford High School

 Queens High School for Teaching & Learning

 West Hempstead Middle School

 Westbury High School

Recently Received Grants

 The Horace and Amy Hagedorn Fund in New York Community Trust

 Long Island Community Foundation

 New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA)

 National Endowments on the Arts

 Suffolk County Department of Economic Development, Office of Cultural Affairs

 Suffolk County Omnibus

 RTS Family Foundation

 Pritchard Trust Foundation

 NOVO Foundation

 Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

 American Jewish World Service Foundation

 MALKA Fund

With Additional Program Support From

If you are interested in learning more about our trainings, retreats, and ongoing workshops for young people, or our publications and public readings, please…

Complete the “PD Interest Form” in your packets