How do we talk about issues that matter?
Talking about issues that matter can be tricky in certain situations in a classroom setting. A lot of topics that matter these days can be hard to talk about or controversial, however most issues need to be talked about and addressed in class. We may never know what our students are struggling with unless they reach out to us, and not every student wants their problems to be known.
Looking back on my school experience whenever my teachers would try to talk about issues that matter it would be very uncomfortable or boring. Some of my teachers would either put on a long video for us to watch which no one would pay attention to, or she would ask us to raise our hand to discuss it in front of the class. Both of those tactics never get anyone anywhere. Instead, in my future classroom I might show a short engaging video briefly discussing the topic then having each student write their opinion, question, or experience on a piece of paper that I can anonymously read out loud and discuss with my students. By doing this they can get their concern addressed or get advice on their experience without having to come to me, scared of getting in trouble, or scared of getting embarrassed.
It is important that we can discuss issues that matter in our classrooms in a safe and comforting environment, so the students can feel safe and are getting the help they need while staying anonymous if they so choose.
Rachel Fuggiti
I have to agree, that we do need to address the issues in our students lives, but need to go about it anonymously to make the students feel comfortable to come to us for other questions, concerns, experiences they may have in the future. I love your idea of putting on a short video to catch their attention of the topic, then having them write down their questions, opinions, and experiences. I know the videos I loved watching in the classroom would have to be the one with the robot, I believe it is called BrainPOP. You could maybe have a hat or bucket to collect the papers from your students after they finishing writing their thoughts down, then pull them out randomly and go over each paper if necessary.
ReplyDeleteHi Athen, thank you for giving your insight about my blog. When we had the assignment to find our favorite tiktokers I saw a video on a teacher reading random pieces of paper that her students wrote, some were funny and some were more serious. Whether or not the subject the students decided to write down, each one was discussed with it being anonymous. That is where I got the idea for everyone to write what they are thinking and we can go over it as a class. I would have found that super helpful when I was younger. I also loved watching brain pop in elementary school, maybe we can find videos like that about the issues we need to discuss in class.
DeleteAbout videos, I would say as long as they keep your attention they should be good to use.
DeleteHey Rachel! I really enjoyed reading your blog post! When you mentioned how boring and uncomfortable it was whenever teachers would talk about serious issues and topics, it reminded me heavily of high school.I too had teachers that would just play some type of generic video about said topic and had zero empathy for said topic. One instance, a teacher played a very small video about the Holocaust on Holocaust Remembrance day. The teacher proceeded to rant about how people are so sensitive nowadays and there was no need to talk about the Holocaust. It was so ignorant that many of the students proceeded to argue with the teacher how it is important to learn about history (even the rough parts) so we do not repeat the past mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI think the anonymous questions, opinions, etc. is such a good idea! It gives the chance for everyone to get the knowledge that they may not have on said topic without any judgement.
Hi Julia, thank you so much for your input! I also had a situation similar where we were watching a video about a certain holiday and our teacher was so uninterested in even giving us the history on why it was important because she did not agree with that certain holiday. I feel like a lot of this has to do with certain topics being so controversial which can make it hard for some teachers to see different sides or teach without showing their opinions. Thats why I think it would be good to show an unbiased video and have each student anonymously give their opinions.
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