Humanities Q4 Priorities
As we wrap up Quarter 3, we are observing the following trends among students and teachers:
Strengths
Most Students are…
… Articulating how and why the content matters
to them and their experiences and ambitions.
They are relating their personal thinking and lives
to what they learn on an almost daily basis.
…Engaging with content at LEAST a FACTUAL
RECALL level, and often engaging with essential
questions on at least a weekly basis.
… Reading and writing with more confidence and
consistency, basing their thinking on observations
made in encounters with primary documents and
experiential thinking.
Areas for Growth
… Likely to speak about other topics in class, or
put each other down in a manner that is
disruptive and unrelated to learning, often
creating an unsafe psychological environment.
… Unable to articulate in detail where they stand
in relation to their goals for the specific
competencies of their content, how they can
improve, or what makes them exceptional
students.
...Not viewing their education in the content as
an ongoing, life-long experience that will
continue beyond the Humanities classroom.
…because most teachers are…
… Orienting their vision and actions more towards
what Social Justice and Equity means THROUGH
content as well as pedagogy. They are asking
questions that are more open and applicable to
students’ lived experiences.
… Planning with Essential Questions in mind, and
ensuring that students have an opportunity, at
least occasionally, to bring personal experience
and knowledge into the classroom.
… Planning full units in advance of teaching them,
and focusing their units on content AND pedagogy
that closer meets our Social Justice and Equity
priorities.
… Ensuring that, even as we prep for the state test,
our students are reading and writing on a daily
basis, often dealing with primary sources and
artifacts.
… Committing to a rigorous summative that
demands that students think beyond the
factual/recall level, often depending on analysis
and application of knowledge.
… Not being intentional about allowing students to
engage in group-work or academic conversations
with their peers in order to process the
information they are learning and view each other
as collaborative learners. …Building a structure of
power that often creates barriers between
themselves and their students, rather than
creating genuine relationships.
… Not communicating consistently with parents,
colleagues, administrators, and building
relationships in their students’ communities.
… Not committing to being transparent with
students, parents, and administrators about their
progress, not bringing data in the classroom, or not
tracking students along multiple competencies.
… Relating the content to other school-based
contents as well as promising a long-term legacy,
advocating for activism in students, and providing
a beyond-the-year trajectory of learning.
Humanities Q4 Priorities
These trends, while big gains from our Q3 priorities and a clear indication that we are moving in the
right direction, still indicate that we have a long way to go in ensuring we are teaching with social justice
and equity for our students in mind. We therefore want to continue stating that…
We firmly believe that the Humanities are critical contents in the actualization of Social
Justice and Equity in students’ lives. As such, we act with the knowledge that every
Humanities classroom must aggressively pursue the dismantling of systems of oppression
through the offering rigorous content.
Consequently, THE HUMANITIES MUST BE…
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Academically rigorous – Students should be inspired to perform at levels far greater than those
motivated by grades or test-scores, and feel equipped to both change the world and maneuver
in the world that exists.
Culturally sensitive – We, as teachers, need to be prepared to admit that we don’t know it all.
Grounded in the lives of our students – Students should probe the ways their lives connect to
the broader society, and are often limited by that society.
Hopeful, joyful, kind, and visionary – Students should feel significant and cared about by the
teacher and by each other, given the structures of the classroom.
Critical – The curriculum should equip students to “talk back” to the world.
Multi-cultural, anti-racist, pro-justice – The curriculum should engage students in a critique of
the roots of inequality in the larger society: How are we involved? What can we do?
Activist and experiential – Students should see themselves as truth-tellers and change makers,
as challengers and problem-solvers
For more about what we believe are the essential pillars of our Humanities Classrooms for Social Justice
and Equity, please read “Introduction: Creating Classrooms for Equity and Social Justice”.
With this renewed emphasis and focus on Social Justice and Equity within the Humanities classrooms,
we have articulated the following must-have priorities for Quarter 4.
NOTE: You will notice that our priorities for students have remained the same in Quarter 4 as they were
in Quarter 3. Because they were challenging, motivating, and ultimately always the highest bar for our
classrooms, we continue to operate with these ambitious but achievable visions. We have, however,
changed how we are approaching these goals as teachers in order to better fit the trends we are seeing
in the classroom as well as the time of year. These amendments have been marked in blue.
Humanities Q4 Priorities
100% of students…
Because We as Teachers…
We accomplish this by…
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... Believe that Humanities content

is foundational to providing social
justice and equity to our students’
… Believe that learning
lives, and thus commit to

has intrinsic and personal providing academically rigorous,
value, and that the
activist, and experiential content
content they are exposed to our students.
to is critical to their future
as individuals within
…Believe that it is CRITICAL to let

society.
our students know where they
stand in relation to their goals, and
how they can improve on the
competencies of our subject.

… Thinking critically about
content through the lens
of personal experience
and social justice.
… Viewing one another as
collaborative learners
within a visionary
classroom.
... Believe that our students’
personal narratives, multi-cultural 
identities, and critical thinking are
critical components of a classroom 
for social justice and anti-racism.
…know that psychological as well 
as physical safety is necessary prerequisites to real, collaborative

learning. As such, we commit to
ensuring students see each other
and us as respectful, thinking,
learning humans.

… Acting as culturally sensitive,
collaborative learners that
understand the imperative nature 
of students working together to
establish a collective voice.
Re-calibrating our visions towards
Social Justice and Equity.
Knowing why our content matters,
and how to bring that purpose into
the classroom.
Providing rigorous instruction guided
by strong visions, summatives, dataanalysis, and unit plans.
Conferencing (individually or wholegroup) regularly with our students so
they have an opportunity to reflect
and learn from their own progress
towards academic goals.
Providing performance tasks that are
rigorous, driven towards enduring
understanding, and open to students’
personal opinions, ideas, and learning
styles.
Establishing a legacy and future
trajectory of learning beyond our
classrooms and beyond the academic
year.
Bringing student experience into the
classroom.
Asking our students compelling,
complex, and critical Essential
Questions every day.
Grounding our lessons and units in
social justice.
Ensuring our students have multiple
opportunities to genuinely listen to
and collaborate with one another on
a daily basis.
Take action to demonstrate that we
learn alongside our students,
intentionally building relationships
through content.
Build relationships with parents,
administrators, and community
stakeholders in order to
communicate our vision and learn
about our students and their lives.
Humanities Q4 Priorities
In order to promote these priorities, we will commit to the following:

Director of Humanities Instruction
o Further research and orientation of professional development towards Social Justice
and Equity in the Humanities classroom. This will include but not be limited to:
 Critical Race Theory
 Culturally Relevant Teaching
 Academically rigorous pedagogy
o More student-centered classroom interventions and Humanities content development
o Continue designing and delivering sessions
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Learning Team Leaders
o Art: Melanie Bradshaw
 Modifying Creation Rubrics
 Skill-Based Diagnostic for grades 3-12
 Review of Institute Materials
 Sequencing of Elements/Principles
 Potential support of sessions
o
Music: Anna Garcia
 Modifying Performance Rubrics
 Skill-Based Diagnostic for grades 3-12
 Review of Institute Materials
 Scope and Sequence
o
Social Studies: Patrick Newton
 Design/Facilitate a Building Relationships with Students Session
 Design/Facilitate a Primary Sources session
 Help Create a Skill-Based Diagnostic for Social Studies 5th-12th grade
 Potential support/facilitation of other sessions
 Seeking out guest bloggers particularly around student relationships
o
Foreign Language: Claire Wandro
 Design/Facilitate Conferencing with Students, Parents, and Administrators on
specific competencies (ALL HUMANITIES?)
 Unit Plans and LTP edits
 Review of Institute Materials