Efflorescent Memoirs

I ain’t always been like this. Ain’t finish a full book ‘til I was like 27 and that took me like 6 months. My literary shift occurred a year after that, when I applied for a PhD program and I didn’t get beyond the interview process because they said I didn’t know enough theory. A former professor knew my abilities as an educator and vouched for me but they told her, “Practice and experience is not enough. She needs to know theory.” They believed I would not be able to handle a PhD program’s rigorous reading requirements. So my professor gave me my first copy of a bell hooks book, “Class Matters,” sent me Gloria Ladson-Billings’ articles, some Neil Postman, and even Vygotsky. I devoured the texts and wrote my heart out in reflections and critical analyses. She cried, real ugly emotional tears. She was so proud of me because she was so hurt that the PhD board did not believe in me the way she did. She said, “Valencia, this proves that you can do this.”
Honestly, I knew I could do it. I k…

So many people offered to buy this poster from me after I posted it on Instagram! Of course I can’t sell it for money, instead, I am requesting books! If you send my students a book from the list below, we will send you the poster above! Deal? Our school’s library is currently shut down and so many of them have library fines that are preventing them from checking out a book! With your help, we can build our own class library! 
We are also accepting audiobooks to give my students that are auditory learners as an alternative. E-books are not transferable and we do not have classwide iPad or Kindles, so I do not want to accept funds for ebooks until we are prepared to download them. 
Every Tuesday, on Instagram Live, I will be teaching a literacy course! Until we get enough books, I’ll have to use articles and PDFs of short stories! If you want to learn some of the reading strategies I will be using, be sure to join us! 
Here’s the shipping address:
Ms. Clay’s English Class Baltimore Design S…