“. . . invisible children can see things others can’t.” ― Ana Pez, My Invisible Little Brother
Using Ana Pez’s children’s book My Invisible Little Brother as a jumping off point, Tommaso orchestrated a series of interactive “stations” for us to work through to allow us to become invisible children ourselves. In designing our experience, Tommaso intentionally invited us to build upon the work we had already done – reVisiting, reThinking, reSeeding.
Our Hidden Secret Skills: We began by sharing “hidden talents”
Hello I am _____ and I can _____. Hola yo soy _____ y puedo _____.
Active, Rotating Brainstorming: We were given a limited time to write responses to prompts at four different tables, rotating between tables in order to respond to them all.
“This approach works really well to help kids put their ideas down on paper and then skim through them. It helps when you’re entering a text, which we’ll do now.” – Tommaso
“I was wondering if I should write something negative or positive, an advantage or disadvantage.” – Samuel
“Me encantó la idea de ser invisible como superpoder. Un niño quizás lo vería así.” – Ana
“During the process, I first put something new but then later I was just connecting ideas.” – Luis
“I really liked, ‘I don’t like to feel invisible when I’m telling a really good joke.’” – Nany
D.I.Y. “X-Ray” Glasses: We created our own “X-Ray” glasses with red cellophane filters to reveal the unseen in our own illustrations
Pink Marker Portraits: We traced with a pink marker our self-portraits photographed the previous day
Symbol Inventory: We created a little inventory of icons with personal meaning
The Green Unseen: We added our icons with green markers to our pink self portraits.
Then we became our own invisible little brothers. Our self-portraits now revealed our secret unseen selves when seen through the red filters of our D.I.Y. “X-Ray” glasses, just like the book revealed the little brother’s secret visions when seen through red filters.
Tommaso concluded with slides of other strategies for revealing secret selves, such as using day-glo face paint under black light.
“We in higher education can learn a lot from early childhood education. We don’t play, we don’t use centers or stations, and sometimes we don’t even create art. In Reggio Emilia, they call the wall the third teacher. So we in higher education need to use our walls more to display student art.” Kurt Wootton
In front of everyone’s seen/unseen portraits, everyone put on their invisible glass and shared their responses to, “I like to be unseen when… (me gusta ser no visto cuando…)”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando estoy con un amigo.”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando estoy pintando.”
“Me gusta ser no visto no me siento agusto y segura.”
“I like to be unseen when I am tired.”
“I like to be unseen when I am focused.”
“I like to be unseen when don’t feel confident.”
“I like to be unseen when feel lost.”
“I like to be unseen when I am listening to audiobooks.”
“I like to be unseen when I am deep in thought.”
“I like to be unseen when my thoughts aren’t complete yet.”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando estoy trabajando en algo abrumador.”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando simplemente quiero estar sola.”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando estoy harto.”
“I like to be unseen when I daydream.”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando reflexiono y medito.”
“I like to be unseen when I’m ignorant.”
“I like to be unseen when I am looking for words.”
“Me gusta ser no visto cuando estoy triste.”
Next, everyone took their glasses off and shared their responses to, “I like to be seen when… (me gusta ser visto cuando…)”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando me pongo más guapa.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando bailo.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando bebo con mis amigos.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando tenga la confianza de hablar en público.”
“I like to be seen when I am sure.”
“I like to be seen when I am with people I love.”
“I like to be seen when I want to be understood.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando estoy triste.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando quiero compartir algo.”
“I like to be seen when my heart is smiling.”
“I like to be seen when I have a solution.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando necesito ayuda.”
“I like to be seen when I am protesting for change.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando comparto la pasión.”
“I like to be seen when I have something to say.”
“I like to be seen when with my family.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando puedo ayudar otros.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando convivo con los demás.”
“I like to be seen when I am fighting for my rights.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando me siento orgullosa.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando comparto.”
“I like to be seen when I want to see myself.”
“I like to be seen when I am playing with words.”
“I like to be seen when I am going out of my comfort zone.”
“Me gusta ser visto cuando estoy con mi sobrina.”
“I like to be seen when someone is talking and when I am talking.”
Effective learning communities honor peer-to-peer learning as much as teacher-to-student learning. Out of respect for this value, and to recognize the expertise of the institute participants, Habla has instituted a practice called “The Power of the Room” in which those of us who wish to reflect upon their own practice at their home sites are invited to make presentations of their work-in-progress in small reflection groups that act as critical friends, using a time structured, facilitated protocol that makes it safe and exciting for practitioners to explore their own teaching with colleagues.
These are the steps and stages in the process:
1. Presenter Shares
2. Clarifying Questions
3. Pause for Reflection
4. Insights and Questions
5. Presenter Reflects
6. Appreciation!
Here is an overview of the presentations from participants of the institute this year:
Lisa and Candice from High Tech High modeled the activity with their presentation called Global Defenders and then we worked in small groups of 3 presenters, 1 facilitator, and between 2 and 4 respondents, giving each presenter a half hour to work through the protocol. The relevance of this institute’s over-riding theme of SEEN/UNSEEN – addressing whose voices get heard and whose voices get silenced during this turbulent political era – informed our presentations, and amplified the resonance of every discussion.
Here is the list of this year’s presentations:
Lee Ceh: Círculos de Lenguaje: Aprendizaje vivo enfocado en les estudiantes
Escola L’Horitzó: El texto libre
María de Jesús Pat Chulim: Maya en el colegio
Arnie Aprill – Incarcerated Youth in Chicago
Nany Guerrerx – LGBTQ+ Projects
Melanie Manuel – Masks as Identity
Chris Sidner – Immersion Classrooms with Project-Based Learning
Sarah Leibel – Writing Analytically About Literature
Priscilla Kwok – Ceramics: Identity Vessels
Óscar Díaz – Incorporating Arts & Literature in the Classroom
Ian Wiggins – World Building
Luis Mayorga – Technology in Education
Create pages for your book reflection on yesterday.
Cut, doodle, draw, list, sketch, graph your response.
“Yesterday in my reflection I wrote down some questions and all throughout the day I was finding answers in the activities. I realized the important thing is to just ask questions because you will always find the answers.” – Lindsay
“Antes de ayer las relaciones que hacía con visibilidad/invisibilidad la relacionaba con opresión, discriminación y falta de voz, pero con el taller de Tommaso, descubrí una nueva relación: las cosas que normalmente no ves.” – Alejo
“I’ve been fixed on this idea of ReSeen. I see the idea of UnSeen as something fixed that I can’t change and ReSeen as something I can change and work with.” – Candice