@chriswasup.bsky.social
Language and Literacy Ph.D. Student at UT Austin
Hey Longhorns, Welcome back to the 2025-2026 school year. 📚📝We are so thrilled that you are starting another year with us here at UT Urban Teachers! Have a successful and productive school year, everyone! 🥳👏
25.08.2025 15:38 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Today, we pause to honor the extraordinary life and legacy of Dr. Kylene Beers — a brilliant educator, fearless advocate, and longtime supporter of TCTELA and NCTE. Her work changed how we teach reading and how we see readers.
With gratitude, we carry her light forward. 🕯️
Thinking about working with students in urban middle and high schools? 🚀✨ Hear what our students have to say about their inspiring experiences—and why YOU should join us! 📚🔥🙌
02.04.2025 18:00 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
A picture of a Toy Joy bad with 6 green figurines named Smiski and 1 figurine called a cherry blossom Sonny Angels beside it on a green table.
A sign that says “Toy Joy: Keeping Austin Weird & Fun Since 1987”
A photograph of a dusty sky in San Antonio, Texas, illuminated by the sun’s radiant glow.
A photograph of the full moon.
Glimpses of my life, captured through four images from the past week.
22.03.2025 01:47 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Meet Jessica Mejia. The University of Texas at Austin, College of Education.
"ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING PARTS OF MY JOURNEY IN THE UT URBAN TEACHERS PROGRAM HAS BEEN THE CONNECTIONS I HAVE MADE WITH STUDENTS, MY COHORT, AND EXPERIENCED EDUCATORS. MEETING NEW STUDENTS AND LEARNING ABOUT THEIR PERSPECTIVES HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY REWARDING. I HAVE ALSO VALUED THE SUPPORT AND COLLABORATION WITHIN MY COHORT, WHICH HAS HELPED ME GROW AS A TEACHER. MOST IMPORTANTLY, BEING TAUGHT BY EXPERIENCED VETERAN TEACHERS HAS GIVEN ME INVALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THE REALITIES OF THE CLASSROOM. LEARNING FROM THEIR WISDOM, STRATEGIES, AND STORIES HAS BEEN INSPIRING AND HAS DEEPENED MY COMMITMENT TO BECOMING A REFLECTIVE, STUDENT CENTERED EDUCATOR."
"A MEANINGFUL LESSON I HAVE LEARNED IN THE UT URBAN TEACHERS PROGRAM IS THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING AND VALUING STUDENTS' DIVERSE LITERACIES. BEYOND TRADITIONAL READING AND WRITING, STUDENTS ENGAGE WITH THE WORLD THROUGH DIGITAL, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL LITERACIES THAT SHAPE THEIR UNDERSTANDING. THIS PROGRAM HAS REINFORCED THAT EFFECTIVE TEACHING MEANS HONORING THESE LITERACIES AND USING THEM TO EMPOWER STUDENTS. LEARNING FROM VETERAN TEACHERS HAS ALSO SHOWN ME HOW TO INTEGRATE THESE LITERACIES IN MEANINGFUL WAYS, MAKING LEARNING MORE RELEVANT AND ENGAGING. THIS UNDERSTANDING HAS STRENGTHENED MY BELIEF IN STUDENT CENTERED, EQUITY DRIVEN EDUCATION AND SHAPED THE KIND OF TEACHER I WANT TO BE." The University of Texas at Austin, Urban Teachers, College of Education.
✨STUDENT SPOTLIGHT✨ Meet Jessica Mejia, a senior from El Campo, Texas, enrolled in our Undergraduate Urban Teachers program for Literacy Education. Discover what Jessica finds most meaningful about being an Urban Teacher.
14.03.2025 13:41 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Inquiring MInds Podcast Poetry & Literacies with Special Guests Drs. Stephanie Abraham, Sarah Donovan, Victoria Gill & Darius Phelps.
Check out our latest Inquiring Minds Podcast Episode! It’s all about poetry and literacies, and we’ve got some amazing guests joining us. Drs. Stephanie Abrahams, Sarah Donovan, Victoria Gill, and Darius Phelps are all there to share their expertise ✨.
17.03.2025 16:11 — 👍 5 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 1
Would you like to be certified to teach English Language Arts or Social Studies? Would you like to earn a Master’s Degree while getting certified? Apply to UT Urban Teachers! Deadline: March 2025 You will earn, A Master’s Degree (M.Ed.), A Texas Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts or Social Studies, grades 7-12, English as a Second Language (ESL) Endorsement. OUR PROGRAM WILL, Support you in developing research-based and practical knowledge of teaching. Help you develop knowledge, skills, and dispositions to support teaching and learning in linguistically and culturally diverse urban settings. Offer you hands-on experience with master teachers in urban secondary schools. TO LEARN MORE, PLEASE EMAIL utut@utexas.edu or scan the QR code.
UT Urban Teachers has a multitude of certification paths! If you're interested in teaching English Language Arts OR Social Studies -- and you'd like to get a Master's Degree as you get certified -- please apply to our Urban Teachers Master's Plus Program!!
06.03.2025 22:13 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Meet Fernanda Lucia Lopez The University of Texas at Austin College of Education
“Meeting other UT students in the English Urban Teachers cohort whose teaching values align with mine has provided support for me beyond my student teaching semester. We consistently make space for discussions that allows for us to better ourselves as future educators.”
“During my full time student teaching semester I have been able to develop strong relationships with students. Being able to see myself in them, and guide them through their journey as readers, has confirmed my vocation in the education field.” The University of Texas at Austin Urban Teachers College of Education
✨STUDENT SPOTLIGHT✨ Introducing Fernanda Lucia Lopez, an outstanding student teacher in our undergraduate English Language Arts Urban Teachers Program.
05.03.2025 16:46 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0All this business I am reading about social security is nonsense. My mom died on 2/18. My dad got a letter yesterday informing him her benefits were ending and he had to repay the February payment because they don’t give a payment in the month someone dies. They know where every dollar is.
05.03.2025 03:01 — 👍 12832 🔁 2351 💬 586 📌 141
Would you like to teach English Language Arts or Social Studies? Would you like to earn a Master's Degree while getting certified? Apply today to UT Urban Teachers! You can be certified to teach English Language Arts or Social Studies to middle and high school students, grades 7-12, and you can earn a Master's Degree in the process!! Deadline: March 2025. To learn more, please email utut@utexas.edu
UT Urban Teachers has a multitude of certification paths! If you're interested in teaching English Language Arts OR Social Studies -- and you'd like to get a Master's Degree as you get certified -- please apply to our Urban Teachers Master's Plus Program!!
28.02.2025 18:50 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Happy Friday Longhorns!
✨Happy Friday Longhorns! ✨ We hope you all had a wonderful week and are eagerly anticipating a relaxing weekend. 🤗
28.02.2025 18:26 — 👍 1 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
An image of a young woman that says "Congratulations Taylor Grinage". The University of Texas at Austin, Urban Teachers, College of Education
✨FORMER STUDENT SPOTLIGHT✨
Meet former student, Taylor Grinage. Taylor has recently won Teacher of Promise at LBJ Early College High School in Austin Independent School District (AISD). Taylor graduated from the Urban Teachers Preparation Program and earned a Master of
Would you like to be certified to teach English Language Arts? Would you like to earn graduate credits while getting certified? Apply to UT Urban Teachers today!! Deadline: March 1, 2025 This unique certification program will prepare you to teach English Language Arts in linguistically and culturally diverse urban settings, and you’ll earn 21-hours of graduate credit and as you become certified! You will earn - A Texas Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts, grades 7-12 - English as a Second Language (ESL) Endorsement - Twenty-one graduate hours that can be applied to a Master’s of - Education in Curriculum and Instruction at UT Austin For more information, please email utut@utexas.edu or dkelt@utexas.edu
✨Have you heard about our new graduate certificate? For further information regarding our Graduate Certificate Program, please refer to the attached document. If you have any inquiries, kindly contact us at the emails linked at the bottom of this page.📄✨
3m
POEM The Sound of Silence Silence was the only sound The day you left us. A sound I never wanted to hear - The sound of losing your voice. Yet on days like today, I find you everywhere. I search for your voice in the signs of this world - In the stars that shine through the darkest of nights, In the morning song of a cardinal's wings, In the voices and faces of those I meet. I see you in the kindness of a stranger, A reminder of the love you gave so freely. Though silence lingers, it cannot erase you. If I stop and listen —truly listen - I will hear you still, Speaking to me through the sounds of life. And when I wonder if you are near, I hear your voice, gentle and certain, Saying just as you always did: "I will see you when I see you".
The poem I wrote to send my grandma’s spirit to rest today. I love you grandma and you’ll always be in my heart.
25.02.2025 04:54 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Life will never be the same. On February 14th, 2025 I found out that my grandma, Esther Torres passed away. I don’t know what to feel other than pure sadness. My sweet, loving, caring grandma, I will carry your memory and love with me for the rest of my life. I love you so much. 🥺
20.02.2025 06:28 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
So I’ve been tutoring my niece (a third grader) and I was so excited to use Minecraft as a tool to help her understand concepts like “area”. This is some of the work we did today.
24.01.2025 04:39 — 👍 4 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Thank you. I’m happy to be here! 🙏
24.01.2025 03:40 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
