DKG California Support Team for Emerging Professionals

It has come to the attention of the Support Team for Emerging Professionals that there   are many “new” books on Black History and Awareness.   We would like to share the website linked below which has a list of some of these titles and authors. Our  hope is that these books will be added to classroom libraries or used for educators to increase their own knowledge and understanding.     https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Black-Lives-Matter-Booklists.html?soid=1101431245776&aid=CMzYxYSQyiI

  It has been a rewarding and totally interesting experience to be part of a Middle School classroom. There have been many changes that have occurred since the Covid-19 Pandemic. Our students have begun to us their laptops as “second nature”. Many of us were using Google Classroom before, it is now expanded and more user friendly for teachers and students. Our students are doing many multi-media presentations using their laptops. There is a plethora of sites available where they can find graphics and photos in order to complete their projects. Students can also evaluate and score their lessons in Google Classroom. Yes, each district may limit availability of some sites for student protection, but most students have what they would need. Some things have not changed. Some students forget their laptops, some forget their chargers. Others may state they cannot find their lessons! We are in the classroom after all. I implore you to visit a classroom. Students from grade 1 to 12 are effecti

 Books have always been a central part of my life. I experienced so much through books as a child and as a young adult. I learned of many places in the world through books, feeling as though I had experienced them in real life. When I finally did get to experience them, I felt a familiarity. Books also helped me to focus on my topics of curiosity. How others lived at the turn of the century, how religions grew in society, who the Maori are, which countries speak French, I found all the answers in books. As educators, we must be careful of the books we choose to ban. There may be a life inspiring or life changing event for your students in a certain book. We never know until the magic happens. Think of your favorite book. Think how it made you feel. Think about how it made you THINK! -Gloria Brown Brooks For more information about banned books, please visit the ALA website at: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

School is starting in the next few weeks in California. There are many undertakings at the present time to address class size, curriculum coverage and teacher availability.  Prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic, California began losing teachers at a higher rate than in previous years. At the present time fifty percent of teachers are leaving the profession within the first five years. There is also another statistic that is equally alarming. There were 100,000 less students enrolled in the public school system in our state last year. Where are these students? How can we return them to the educational system? If they were in High School, how do we graduate those that have not been in school? What effects does this have on the Community College and the four year Colleges? The shortage of teachers + the shortage of students does not = quality educational experience. What happens if one third of the missing students show up? Will we have the ability to educate them given the teacher statistics?

 Please read and enjoy this reflection on the DKG International 2022 Convention by our STEP chair Gloria Brown Brooks: I was honored to be a greeter on the first day of our Delta Kappa Gamma (DKG) 2022 convention. Although tired from their travels the majority of the participants had warm greetings and friendly hellos. One particularly enthusiastic greeting was “Alpha Alpha in the house!” The greetings carried throughout the lobby, as many sisters had not seen each other in a few years due to Covid-19. As soon as my volunteer time in the lobby was done, I went to a “NEWBEE” meeting. The NEWBEEs were first time International convention attendees. There were approximately 200 of us in attendance. There was also a room set aside for us to ask questions. My greeting partner was also a NEWBEE and we go to see each other again. I also met many new sisters in that room. I particularly enjoyed the Parliamentary procedures and the interactions and different points of view different states. It r

 Over 1 million people in America have passed in the last few years from Sars Covid-19 and or complications from the disease. We are a nation in grief.  Not just grief from the Covid situation, but many of us are grieving the changes that occurred in our lives during that time. Not being able to see our loved ones or going about our daily habits, such as going to the supermarket or going to work and or to worship.  Educators across our country had an extremely challenging time with the readjustments to their jobs. Some areas of the country chose to have no school at all. In California we had to instantly adjust to online learning. This was a hard problem for many, causing another grievous situation.  Babysitting while teaching, cooking while teaching, learning all the latest programs and how to deliver the curriculum caused grief for many others as well.  Families suffered as well. I will save that for another time.  Covid is not gone. We are still working hard as a state and nation to