Thank you, Sonya

by | Monday, August 03, 2020

Written for my dear friend Sonya-Gunnings Moton, on her retirement from the College of Education at Michigan State University.

Dear Sonya, wishing you all the very best on your retirement. Just want to say how much I have valued having you as a friend and colleague during my stay at MSU. And yes, I totally need to pay you for all the cigarettes I bummed off you during the conversations we had in the “smoking” space in Erickson Hall. All worth it, because it led to one of the most amazing projects I have been part of—the MSU Urban-STEM project. These photos cannot capture just how transformative this project was: 125 teachers working in Chicago Public Schools working with the most awesome instructional and support team ever. We made it happen. A genuine, meaningful and transformative partnership at so many levels. 

Sonya, it has been my privilege to have worked with you over the years. I have learned so much from you, your strength, moral clarity, passion and commitment to education. And most of all, you confirmed something I sort of knew already—that we can be ultra-serious about the work we do, but that does not mean that we need to take ourselves too seriously. You cut through the academic bullshit to focus on what was truly important. You reminded me everyday that one can laugh and have fun even while being passionate and totally committed to the work.

I miss your irreverence, laughter, passion and commitment. You made my world, and that of everyone else who came in touch with you, a better place. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I am a better person for having known you. I wish you all the very best and I do hope our paths will cross in the near future.

A few randomly selected blog posts…

TPACK and new literacies

Over 150 years ago Herbert Spencer wrote an essay titled What Knowledge is of Most Worth in which he bemoaned the fact that most of the discussion around what is worth knowing in his day and age was based not on any rational discussion of the issues and the benefits...

49 Amazing moments of STEM: New article

49 Amazing moments of STEM: New article

The universe is made up of stories not atoms — Muriel Rukyeser (Image © punyamishra) Every educator has had an amazing teaching moment. It is that magical moment, when the topic comes to life and the energy in the classroom is palpable. These are moments that we...

We Have Always Been Rhizomatic

We Have Always Been Rhizomatic

Danah Henriksen and I were recently asked to write a foreword for a book titled New Directions in Rhizomatic Learning: From Poststructural Thinking to Nomadic Pedagogy edited by Myint Swe Khine. This was a fun foreword to write and allowed us to explore a range of...

Mirror, mirror

Imagine you are standing in front of a bathroom mirror; how big do you think the image of your face is on the surface? And what would happen to the size of that image if you were to step steadily backward, away from the glass? A recent article in the NYTimes (Mirrors...

Anthropomorphizing interactive media

A recent blog entry about gender and GPS ties in with some research on people's psychological responses to media I had been involved with a few years ago. This line of research led to a bunch of different theoretical and empirical journal articles, conference...

Creativity in teaching, a workshop

The Office Faculty and Organizational Development at MSU conducts an annual Spring Institute on College Teaching and Learning every summer. The past week was their 15th such event (details here) and I was asked to conduct a workshop on Creative Teaching. I was...

White paper on TPACK

The Commonwealth Educational Media Center for Asia (CEMCA) recently published a report on ICT Integrated Teacher Education Models. One of the pieces in the report was by us. Here it is below: Koehler, M.J., Mishra, P., Akcoaglu, M. Rosenberg, J.M. (2013)....

TPACK at Classroom 2.0

There is an ongoing discussion at Classroom 2.0 on TPACK. You can join the conversation here.

2 Comments

  1. Sonya Gunnings-Moton

    Our paths will cross again…you can count on it my friend. Thank You!

    Reply
    • Yolanda Hood, Ed.S

      Dr. Gunnings-Moton,

      My name is Yolanda Hood (when I met you I was Yolanda Jackson at Holmes Middle School in Flint, MI under the leadership of Cheryl Adkins).

      I have been trying to follow you and your great work ever since you worked with us during an amazing professional development and when you honored me the chance to listen to and speak with Pedro Noguera during a session at MSU.

      As Dr. Angelou said, “People may not remember what you said or did, but they’ll remember how you made them feel”. I’ll never forgot those two moments. Meeting and “sitting at your feet” helped to increase my drive for being a responsible and intentional culturally proficient Teacher-Leader.

      Thank you for what you’ve done in education in Michigan. It is to be commended. I’m interested in knowing what new things are you involved in as an independent consultant and work at MSU. I’m leaving my info here and hope to be able to connect with you.

      Congrats on your retirement and best wishes!
      – Yolanda Hood, Ed.S

      Reply

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