Coffee & Conversations: Navigating Identities and Text

In this Coffee and Conversation, Ms. Sheeba Jacob, Ms. Tamika Peters, and Dr. Kristine Woods joined us to talk about how they navigate questions of identity and representation in text selection. In particular, we dove into the instructional considerations for when students and teachers have identities in common and for when they have different identities.

Ms. Sheeba Jacob is a lifelong educator. She began her career as an elementary English language learner teacher in Washington D.C. and continued teaching middle and high school language arts/humanities in D.C., Brooklyn, and India. After teaching, she became a curriculum designer and now dedicates her work to school leadership. She is currently pursuing her Ed.D at Loyola Marymount University. With a passion for storytelling and songwriting, she believes the stories that we read and tell about ourselves and the stories we listen to and learn from others increase our ability to see each other’s humanity.

Ms. Tamika Peters is a 3rd grade elementary school teacher in Baltimore City. She has been at her school for her entire 17 year teaching career. Ms. Peters is an advocate for youth awareness and voice. She believes that today’s youth has an important role in changing the narrative of the world. She has her BA in Radio Broadcasting and Production from Morgan State University and her Masters in Education from Concordia University with the concentration in Curriculum and Instruction for the Inclusive Classroom. When Ms. Peters is not teaching or advocating for youth voices, she is operating her event coordinating business called Events You Envisioned or soul line dancing with her friends.

Dr. Kristine Woods has been a library media specialist in four schools in three states and supervised district school libraries. Currently, she is a K-5 library media specialist, district library media department head, and serves on the District Equity Leadership team for Bristol Public Schools in CT.

Interested in opportunities to learn from other educators?  Take the Core Advocate survey to learn about upcoming Coffee and Conversations and other free events.

Have a topic in mind for further discussion or feedback about the event?  We want to hear from you! Please reach out to Joy  Delizo-Osborne.