Hello everyone! In part 1 with Selena, we discussed how the war about what schools should look like in a world driven by Covid is still waging, and many have called for “a return to normal.” While this might seem wise on first glance, many educators are asking if returning to normal is what we should be striving for. They ask if normal was good enough. They wonder if we should be pushing for something greater, using the knowledge Covid has brought to us to change schools for the better—forever. In part 2, we dive even deeper into what normal really means, and how we can start to evolve into something better for the communities we serve. In this episode we discuss common core, traditional teaching, and how communities, when under-served for too long, have no choice but to pave their own way.  Selena Carrion, a New York based educator, is a passionate supporter of educators everywhere.     This episode is sponsored by Heinemann—the leading publisher of professional books and resources for educators—and their professional book, Textured Teaching: A Framework for Culturally Sustaining Practices by Lorena Escoto Germán. With Culturally Sustaining Practice as its foundation, Textured Teaching helps secondary teachers stop wondering and guessing how to implement teaching and learning that leads to social justice.  Lorena Germán shares her framework for creating a classroom environment that is highly rigorous and engaging, and that reflects the core traits of Textured Teaching: student-driven and community-centered, interdisciplinary, experiential, and flexible.  The actionable strategies Lorena uses to bring Textured Teaching values to life illuminate what is possible when we welcome all types of texts, all types of voices, and all forms of expression into the classroom. Learn more about how to become a culturally sustaining educator. Visit Heinemann.com to download a sample from Textured Teaching.