How to Talk About Issues That Matter While in the Classroom
My golden line this week helps further my point on why talking about important issues is crucial for the classroom. I said, "how we talk about things matters" and the reason it matters is because our words have power. In a classroom we are the most influential person to those kids in that moment. It is our job to properly use our words to educate why things are important. Our kids need a guide to follow and that is us. Our voices are constantly being heard and they soak in everything we say.
Furthermore, these conversations we are supposed to have with children can be uncomfortable for some. In my generation it has become a norm to talk about uncomfortable topics, but for some these topics are difficult to talk about. Personally, I think these conversations just take time and practice so you can support your children and also educate them in with new conversations. For example, Derisa Grant asks in an Inside Higher Ed article "what if these conversations are not actually difficult, but simply unpracticed", and I think this perfectly sums up why it is important to talk about issues that matter while in the classroom.
Hey Ella, I really enjoyed reading your blog it really gave me a lot to think about. Right off the bat I would like to ask you a question. My question is why the conversation has to be uncomfortable? I myself have had plenty of uncomfortable talks with teachers or coaches however, I do think there is a way to have the same conversation without it having to be uncomfortable. My thoughts on this are that as long as you build a connection and relationship with a student most of these "uncomfortable" conversations will not be as uncomfortable because there is mutual respect in how everyone is feeling towards a subject. I am not trying to undermine you in any way, and I love how you go to explain that the more we normalize these types of conversations the more comfortable they become, I am just trying to show my way of thinking. I do agree with the normalization aspect however I do believe that it is a long hardy process to get everyone on the same page to normalize and I think that if we are going to be teachers our relationship with students is most important at least that is what I like to think. I would love to hear your thoughts on what I have to say because I could be incorrect.
ReplyDeleteHi Alex, I love hearing your different point of view. When I was talking about these uncomfortable conversations, I was meaning in the way that talking about serious things can be hard for elementary school aged children to grasp. Personally, I have worked with kids in the past and currently work with kids now and I have had to have difficult conversations about gun violence and ethnicities and backgrounds. To be able to have these conversations, these kids were comfortable to talk to me but uncomfortable with what was coming out of their mouth. I don't know if that made sense, but basically for children to be able to come to me not nervous to talk to me personally but nervous about what topic they're going to speak on is what I was referring to as uncomfortable. Furthermore, I also think the more we are able to normally talk about all topics in life it won't be nerv racking for children to come up to adults and ask these questions whether they are comfortable with the adult or not. I hope that was clear because I think we have the same mind set about this topic. My point of view was dealing with young kids who have difficulties being comfortable with their words.
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