Ep. 57 - Tamika: Magic in the Middle

It’s back to school time around the country and whether your kids are going back to a physical classroom or are doing NTI, otherwise known as non-traditional instruction, it’s an exciting time of newness; both for students and teachers. Whether it’s the first day of school jitters or teachers having to figure out how to make learning via computer mimic the discussion and projects that would normally happen in an actual classroom, this school year in the age of Covid has an extra layer of uncertainty .

Our guest this week, Tamika, has been a middle school English/Language Arts teacher in Kentucky’s largest school district for 16 years. She is also a vibrant Bookstagrammer at her handle, @Thereadingroom444. Her goal is to make reading come alive to anyone who watches her feed. This summer she not only posted videos of her teaching tactics while reading Ibram X. Kendi’s book Stamped from the Beginning, but she also used her creativity to re-imagine book covers. Tamika is a voracious reader who is eager to share her love of literature and inspire excitement about finding books that you are passionate about.

Tamika talked to us about what the term “decolonizing the classroom” means, how she handles being a poly-reader and juggling 6 books at a time, and how she wants to use books as a way to help her students become our future leaders.

Books Discussed in this Episode:

1- Nancy Drew mystery series by Carolyn Keene
2- The Babysitter's Club series by Ann M. Martin
3- Dear Martin(and other novels) by Nic Stone
4- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
6- The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
7- Pride by Ibi Zoboi
8- Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
9- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Award-winning book by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds
10- Small Favor by Jim Butcher
11- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
12- The Golden Compass/ The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman (Part of the Dark Materials trilogy)
13- The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
14- Black Girls Must Die Exhausted by Jayne Allen
15- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
16- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
17- Passing by Nella Larsen