The holiday season is especially tough for some students and adults, so taking time out to focus on gratitude can really have a positive impact on students and adults in your building or even district. If you’re thinking about doing it, here are some ways you can utilize it with students at every grade level or for yourself.
As a mythology teacher, I love covering the story of Narcissist and Echo. I enjoy the reactions students have, the conversations it leads too, and the humor that the author brings in with the version we read in class. But as fabulous as that story may be, I want us to consider something through a new lens. If we share what we are doing and all the things we know, are we narcissistic? Are we? No, we aren't, but it is getting harder to convince ourselves of that in the current climate of social media.
This post was inspired by the sermon my preacher, Jeff Wofford, gave this morning, which had me thinking of it's applications beyond the church. Jeff's point was that we tend to want our church to be filled with members who are like ourselves, and that should not be the goal. Diversity reaches more people. When I refer to diversity in this post, I am not limiting it to mean racial or cultural diversity. Nope. I'm also referring to personalities, interests, and abilities of my students within my classes and within our schools. Our members are those who enroll in our schools and take our classes. Are we celebrating their differences in order to cultivate unity? Uniformity is not unity. We have to do better for teachers and students.
This may not seem like an educational blog post at first, but bear with me. Though educators are whom I originally intended this post for, it is not limited to them. I think the implications will become clear as you dig in deeper into the post, since that is where I swing the hammer of obviousness...hard. But don't duck the swings. Even though you will see it coming in plenty of time to duck, let it hit. Absorb the blow. Find the beauty.
Be Oppositional Defiant: Status Quo Has Got to Go!
For many of us, the new school year is gearing up, just around the corner, or recently begun. While
#RocknTheBoat 