This article will not have an admin option. It will address a group I left out last time instead: librarians. Guiding students in book choices is not an administrator’s role, as I understand it; we trust the mentors directly speaking into students’ lives for that.

This article is about book choice as well, but it’s about the choice to say no (how to say no, how to tell when you should say no, what are the ramifications of saying no, what to do when you maybe should have said no but said yes instead, and how to turn a no into a consenting yes). I hope to offer you, teachers, tools for discussions about abstaining from certain books and tools for guiding students to choose books for themselves; I hope to offer you, students, with tools for discernment as well as tools for defense of your right to read. I will structure this post similarly to the aforementioned article with suggestions for action and research embedded for each group so that you could, feasibly, only read the section referring to you and be enabled to face your context. I also repeat certain parts of research across multiple sections but not every source is copied to other sections.

I want to preface again that my context is different from many of the writers of teacher blogs because I work at a private Christian international school with an American curriculum in Asia. The problems we are facing look different from those faced by public school teachers in Arkansas or Charter school teachers in Illinois. I’m also limited by my experience as a secondary teacher; these conversations have less controversy in lower elementary, though discussions about appropriateness do surface more commonly in the upper elementary/middle school transition. May you take what you need and may it be useful to you.

By this point, you teachers, students, parents, and librarians have entered the room of this conversation and taken your seats somewhere in the audience. Maybe you’re ready to verbally spar because of genuine concerns you have about the content being pushed to young children in the wide range of media accessible to them. Maybe you’re angry about book bans. Maybe you’re fed up with trigger warnings or content warnings. Maybe you think removing upsetting books from school libraries is the best thing for your child.

Regardless, I hope that you can take a step back and examine certain questions that have been previously unaddressed in certain contexts surrounding this conversation.

Teachers: curate, investigate/communicate, equip, compromise, and do not ban.

Curate.

Your classroom libraries, core texts, optional reading, and on-the-fly suggestions have great power in developing your students’ love of reading, leading them to new understanding, and nurturing their empathy. That is encouraging but it also carries some weight. For your classroom libraries and your optional reading list, there should be more flexibility for challenging or more mature books. I have my own system of leveling and genre sorting that works for my students and I with some flexibility, and I have yet to have a parent or student protest my choices (fingers crossed).

As I mentioned in my book choice article, I served on our school’s taskforce last year for choosing the English curriculum for the next 6 years. Our book choices were based on three bits of accountability:

1. At least two taskforce members had to read the book proposed.
2. They both had to agree that the book worked for the grade in which it was being proposed.
3. The book couldn’t be used in another grade.

These are straightforward considerations, but when we discussed the grade level matching for certain books, inevitably, conversations of “appropriateness” came up. Is 8th grade too young to look at police brutality? Is 12th grade too young to see certain swear words or innuendos in print (I say “certain” because many longstanding classics for secondary have slurs, innuendo, and swear words- see To Kill a Mockingbird, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and any Shakespearean play, to name a few)? Now, these conversations are in seemingly every school district in the US and many make it into the news.

In a perfect world, teachers would be able to make choices for their students in perfect harmony, but I recognize that is not the case in every school or even most schools. Nevertheless, let’s assume that you have some measure of guidance over what your students read both for fun from your resources and for your class. Under that assumption, our teacher profession has a spectrum of options about what a student should read and when. Whether you are in the “all the books for all the students” camp or “reading inappropriate content is harmful for minors” camp or somewhere in between, you should know that the research is mixed for a few reasons:

1. Studies on the effects of media on adolescents’ social, emotional, moral, or sexual behaviors often don’t examine books, and there are more variables to measure when examining books’ effects.

They sometimes specify only graphic novels under books rather than all books. They sometimes only focus on social media or TV. The Collaborative Trust for Research and Training in Youth Health & Development released a report in 2019 for the Broadcast Standards Authority of New Zealand. It mentioned books only in the context of media in China being more likely to be controlled by the government. Even though it uses the term “media” throughout the study, it specifies “traditional media” including books and only in the aforementioned passage.

A more famous example would be a study conducted in 2019 with the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio. It found that watching the controversial Netflix show Thirteen Reasons Why caused in uptick in suicide for teens in the US (more on that in the next section). However, it excluded purposefully “focus on other exposures (e.g., having read the book on which [Thirteen Reasons Why] is based)” (Inclusion And Exclusion Criteria).

Most of the research on suicidal behavior after consuming certain types of media are looking at two trends: the “Werther effect” (“i.e. that media coverage of suicide can trigger actual suicidal behavior in vulnerable individuals in the audiences”) or the “papageno effect” (“whether media recommendations on responsible reporting suicide cases have a protective influence”). According to researchers with the British Journal of Psychiatry, that protective influence had only been previously discussed on a theoretical basis but was confirmed empirically by the study.

“Books and films may act as sources of social support or mental health literacy and thus reduce the suicide risk constituted by low sense of belonging” according to that NHI study, but they conclude that, because “motivations for the students to engage in reading” could change the outcome (“was the motivator a form of avoidance/escape, or a desire to ‘belong’”?), more research must be done to “specify the target of belonging.”

2. Some studies about media and behavior find mixed results (or correlation rather than causation).

The NCAC noted that some evidence has been presented for “harm for minors” in consuming certain content but with mostly correlational studies (see subpoint 14). The aforementioned NHI-sponsored study on Netflix’s Thirteen Reasons Why TV show needed to be revisited.

Even though the results claimed to have “[accounted] for seasonal effects and an underlying increasing trend in monthly suicide rates,” Data Curator Daniel Romer, with the Annenberg Public Policy Center at UPenn, recognized a potential need for data reaggregation. He found in a 2020 study that there was a natural (though this word seems callous to use here) uptick in suicide rates worldwide because of the many external factors about which we hopefully are all aware. The study recognized that where they saw causation before, they should have seen it as correlation with even possible benefits for students who are contemplating suicide, such as this study found:

“Unexpectedly, current students who watched the entire second season reported declines in suicide ideation and self-harm relative to those who did not watch the show at all (ps < .01). Moreover, those who watched the entire second season were also more likely to express interest in helping a suicidal person, especially compared to those who stopped watching.”

This isn’t about the book, but it is about a narrative that came from the book, and that might make a difference in how the show was arranged. The book had staying power on bestseller lists for years after its release for a reason: it spoke to the ones who needed it. “Reading books… may compensate for lacking social support if, for instance, the reader can in some way identify with the narrative, situational factors or protagonists in the stories.” (NHI)

When studies do examine books with content that could cause a behavior change– the overall fear behind reading controversial or mature books from certain parents, according to a featured article with the International Literacy Association –  they find that the “forbidden fruit” isn’t the focus for students. There’s not an obsession with the behavior.

Here’s the research:

“This finding supports what other research has shown in relation to young adult literature: Adults focus on potential controversy, whereas students see literary elements and draw connections to social themes (Freedman & Johnson, 2000). What it also illustrates, however, is that the stance from which the actual reading of a book occurs is key to understanding these clashes [emphasis added]. Adults might benefit from consciously attempting to read and understand from the perspective of youths so they can better empathize with adolescent populations and entertain discussions related to tough topics.”

3. Using the term “harm for minors” has more to do with parent perception and cultural norms than it has to do with psychological, emotional, or sexual consequences.

There is a broader spectrum than you may think for what is perceived as “harmful” behavior for adolescents. A study conducted in 1998 interviewed men and women and found that even their gender altered their perceptions for certain sexual behaviors in adolescents compared to judgments of the facilitators such as sex abuse experts, therapists, etc. Marjory Heinz with the NCAC said this of using the term:

“… ‘harm to minors’ is at bottom not a scientific, but a moral and ideological concept.”

The Broadcasting Standards Authority of NZ report noted the following:

“The empirical literature is divided as to whether exposure to [sexualised] media content leads to harmful impacts for children and young people. Some studies found no causal link between exposure to [sexualised] media content and risky sexual behaviours in children and young people. Other variables, such as the influence of peers and parents, rather than media, had more impact on the sexual attitudes and beliefs of adolescents.”

Another article from researcher Yuval Gozansky discussing the exposure of puberty on children’s television explained this:

“The contradiction between the moralistic ‘protective discourse’ promoted largely by adults, and children’s rights to sexuality education and information, raises the question of children’s television’s ability to address the subject of puberty without being accused of immorality or inappropriateness for children.”

In other words, the cultural piece of expectations from parents is both more effective on child behavior and more “wronged” by a violation of the sexual attitudes and beliefs of a person being outside of their expected level. Cultural and parental expectations can complicate efforts to offer healthy discourse or exploration of ideas. There’s no need to drop the evidence for this point because of not discussing books because the conversation still stands.

Consider how fiction changes your perceptions positively. Another potential benefit of reading fiction is also “perspective taking,” a development of understanding from someone else’s experience. What possibilities open up when empathy can develop in tandem with open discussions about hard topics?

Many of you may know teachers who were fired for merely the presence of a book with certain themes, characters, words, or scenes depicted. That must have given many of you pause the next time you were in a bookstore holding a potential classroom library purchase. It can also feel unfair considering how widely books get rated in “appropriateness” for age level or grade based on what metric or leveling system you use. For example, Edutopia notes that the popular Twilight books are rated differently across 3 main leveling scales: Fountas and Pinnell (for high school students), Accelerated Reader (for fifth-grade readers), and Lexile (for early elementary readers).

The history of book bans and censorship spans millennia with the Comstock Act of 1873 (later creating a noun similar to “crusader”) and the Obscenity trials. Supreme Court Case such as Roth v. United States (1957) propelled the conversation on defining obscenity which has still not been fully defined today, though questions about prurient interests, intent of consumption, and the dominance of specific themes appealing to those prurient interests continue.The Court ruled in Miller v. California (1973) that the [first amendment] should not protect “obscene” works “which, taken as a whole, do not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”

In Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), it was ruled that students and teachers do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” a conclusion which should be freeing to you as educators. When choosing what books should go into your library, remember that you are defended in your choices on the grounds of the first amendment to the Constitution and “literary merit” from Pope v. Illinois (1987).

Yet, this only applies if you’re in a US public school; private schools are not protected by the first amendment and thus need to make choices based on “ethical principles”, says the ALA. There are some holes in your defense if you teach in this context and you can equip your students to face censorship. Nevertheless, the NCAC says “students in private schools should be accorded the same intellectual freedoms and civil liberties as their peers in public schools. Free speech is not just a legal imperative; it is a core educational principle.”

If you can defend the book’s cultural or literary value, it should hold up against scrutiny.

Investigate/Communicate.

If a parent raises concern about a particular book in your library, you should already have a procedure in place that is approved by your administrator for your classroom library. Check your school policy on classroom libraries, choice reading, and parent approval for book lists. Build your policy based on what your school has in place already, but formally challenge portions of the policy if they do not offer accountability or review processes that include voices of the school staff outside of the administration.

Your policies might include…

• Sending home a letter to parents before beginning a core text with the proviso that they have to sign and return the form to opt out of their child reading the book.
• Putting a policy about book choice into your school syllabus
• Emailing parents before giving students access to your classroom library with your sorting options (ex. If a middle schooler wants to read books you have marked as “HS Only”, parents can write you back with permission for them to have access for the year)

If you are at a school where there is little-to-no freedom of choice in what goes into your students’ reading lists, work with what you can to ensure that your students have some choice baked into your class. We know that choice helps engage students and if your particular combination of student body needs and locked-in canon doesn’t afford that on its own, you’ll need more support to get their buy-in. The other way to get student buy-in without alienating parents is to…

Equip.

I currently teach 8th-12th students with many language backgrounds and cultural experiences having access to my classroom library. For the sake of clarity, I’ll focus on my 8th grade practices;I teach my 8th graders to choose books that they might enjoy, to recommend books they like to friends, and to try to challenge themselves in their reading level.

My bare minimum rule is this: “open to the first page, and if there’s at least one word that you’re not entirely sure you know what it means by the end of the first page, it’s a good challenge for you.” This rule is dangerously close to the more outdated practice of leveling, but I’ll get to how I help that later.

These encouragements and suggestions don’t address when a student doesn’t like what they’re reading, though. I use a version of book reviews (thanks to Kelly Gallagher’s “Book of the Month” resources) as one way for my 8th graders to tell me when a book has made them uncomfortable or helped them grow (and often it is with the exact same aspect of the book).

In the book reviews, I ask, “What are some things that made this book a good choice?” and “What are some things that made this book a not-so-good choice?” Even though these questions aren’t directly asking about maturity level or “appropriateness”, they often give me a window into any opinions or concerns students may have about content that might not match what they are thinking about. They also get honest about the vocabulary level being too easy for them while telling me that there was a scene or character that made them uncomfortable. We have a conversation about how they can read books that aren’t challenging in vocabulary on their own but not for their book reviews, and I follow up about the scene or character with them.

If they have content concerns, I ask them, “Do you think other 8th graders should be able to read this book?” No matter their answer, I ask for their reasons why. If they say yes even though they were uncomfortable, how they answer shows their understanding that books don’t have to be everyone’s favorite in order for everyone to have a chance with them.

I use the word “everyone” loosely here, though, as “common sense” is still a voiced expectation from some anti-censorship voices. Even the NCAC (“We believe in freedom of choice for all people but we also believe in common sense, and common sense will tell you that it is extremely unusual for a young child to check out adult material.”) suggested that there is a “common sense” line to draw.

Giving students permission to exercise their common sense shows them that they are people, too. The whole point of my classroom library is to give them choice in what they read so that there’s buy-in for exercising their reading muscles. If they can’t choose to walk away from a book, their choice is more limited. They are less likely to make riskier reading choices such as trying a long nonfiction book when they usually read shorter fantasy novels. On the subject of trying new genres, note also that students can find a book challenging even if it’s not challenging in the same way they’d find a classic novel challenging. I ask my students to try at least 1 new genre per quarter because new genres afford new vocabulary. It also helps them get variety in their “training” away from basic leveling, as literacy expert Tim Shanahan notes:

“Top runners don’t train at one level: They take long runs, fast but shorter runs, and also can lift weights to build specific muscles… Kids should read a wide range of texts, and libraries can help. They should read easy books to things that kick their butts. The variation of difficulty does matter.”

That difficulty can be found both in the usual areas of syntax and vocabulary as well as content and theme. However, I also ask for student trust by encouraging them to finish a book if I know it can be growing for them even with some challenging content. For example, you secondary teachers know that Orwell’s 1984 is a staple for classic dystopian lit in secondary (usually high school). There’s a wealth of personal growth possible in those pages. It does have more mature relational content toward the end. However, it has a mature dialogue throughout with its government policing the thoughts and actions of its people, its philosophical points about security versus freedom, and its warnings about surveillance. It’s a book that forces you to think through hard topics. That is its goal, anyway. If a student gets over halfway with 1984 on their own and starts to grow weary, I would encourage them to finish it.

I equip students to dig through my classroom library by teaching them the following:

1. “Read books that are challenging for you. How you can tell is by reading the first page. If there’s just one word you’re not entirely sure you know, it’s the right level of challenge.
2. “Ask yourself, ‘What are some things that made this book a good choice?’ and ‘What are some things that made this book a not so good choice?’”
3. “Do you think this book should be ready by others in your grade or not? Why did you answer that way?”
4. You should try to finish a book that you know is going to be good for you, but you do not have to finish every book you start.

Compromise.

You might be all too familiar with this idea already when it comes to your classroom library. I hope that your school has protected your ability to offer choice reading that is relatable to your students. If you face backlash for a book in your curriculum, library, or optional reading list (even after following your school’s guidelines for curriculum choices or free reading, especially in secondary), the course of action could go something like this:

1. Schedule a meeting with the parties involved.
2. Before you meet with the involved parties, meet with your librarian, administrator, learning specialist, etc. to discuss options for the conversation and for possible alternatives. Ask for their support at the other meeting, if possible.
3. Meet with the involved parties. Remember that you could note precedent with classics having much of the same controversy in their wake while still carrying literary merit.
4. If the involved parties do not consent even by the end of the meeting, compromise with a book that meets similar learning goals as best you can.

I recognize that some school policies do not allow for this kind of dialogue, especially in 2023 as more districts are subject to state scrutiny of their school libraries. Remember that the goal at the end of the day is for your students to learn. That learning is going to be defined differently in the minds of everyone involved in these kinds of decisions. You as the teacher have a clearer path for those end targets, but the “how” does have to involve some level of consent along the way.

I am not suggesting that you get parental approval for every poem, short story, novel, worksheet, or activity in your course plan; I am suggesting that you continue letting your “common sense” go in tandem with transparency with the people who have the most to gain or lose with your students’ growth: their parents. The National Council of Teachers of English’s Guidelines for Dealing with Censorship of Instructional Materials says similarly:

“In considering the role of teachers and the possibilities of young people, it is clear that decisions as to the aesthetic and pedagogical value and developmental appropriateness of instructional materials must be entrusted [emphasis added] to teachers and librarians, working in concert with school administrators, school boards, and parents. In all cases, the primary concerns must be fostering student growth and understanding while protecting intellectual freedom in our schools.”

You shouldn’t have to hide what your students study, and you shouldn’t have to hide the world from them, either.

Do not ban. Practice discernment instead.

Consider yourselves bastions of civilization, teachers. You are ensuring that your students have a safe environment to wrestle with tough conversations, philosophical dilemmas, and more mature ideas as they navigate becoming adults. Should murder be punishable by death? Shakespeare tiptoes to this question’s answer in Hamlet. What happens when society’s norms fall away in the wake of desperation and survival? Read Lord of the Flies. How can we develop empathy in middle schoolers? Refugee by Alan Gratz might be a good start. All of these stories have been banned in some form or other in the United States. Teachers, if any of you think that all books that include political messages (Refugee), sexual content (Hamlet), or violence (Lord of the Flies), note that you will have to ban a text that holds greater weight for many in the US: the Bible.

Note that there are different forms of censorship that you might already be using. Trigger warnings, age-leveling for content, and cutting books from your classroom library are all forms of soft censorship or indirect censorship (though calling trigger warnings soft censorship is still up for debate). I wonder if changing my “HS Only” section to say “HS Only (Ask)” would be more fitting with the research and my concerns about the validity of age cut-offs for secondary school-level content. If I have a 19-year-old senior, should they be allowed to read books that I might have only recommended for college students? If my school’s policy allows 8th graders in Quarter 4 to read “HS Only” books, where’s the actual age-leveling line? Changing my labels also ensures that if there’s a student who is not in HS and is interested in checking out one of my books, I can have a conversation with that student about why they are interested and follow up with parental permission.

Trigger warnings have been found to not work, anyway (or, at least, to help in the ways that they could help); trigger warnings have been found to modestly increase anxiety in readers rather than decrease it, put a particular trauma at the center of a person’s life if they have experienced it, and “[increase] in the severity of one’s Post-traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms” if one has the condition, according to Richard McNally, Psychology Professor and Director of Clinical Training at Harvard.

Banning books for all in a certain population limits them from the discourse surrounding that book, inhibits their training for the real world, and removes an opportunity for students to understand harder topics in one of the safest places in the world: the written word. Justin Azevedo, the youth materials selector at the Sacramento Public Library and co-chair of the American Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Committee, says it this way: “Reading is a safe place to experience things ­secondhand,” and, I hope, reading as a safe place also includes your classroom space).

Teachers, remember your burdens. As often as we want to forget them, we have a duty to our students that is complex and ever-evolving. Here’s what the NCTE says about our duty:

“Regardless of setting and cultural context, classroom instruction will require teachers to introduce potentially controversial materials into classroom discussion. These are complex challenges that require recognizing the needs of students, the responsibilities that educators hold in day-to-day contexts, and the considerations of power and positionality of adults working with historically marginalized students of diverse cultures and creeds. Despite these challenges, the ability to resist both direct and indirect forms of censorship is a necessary aspect of teachers’ practices if they are to support the civic agency of young people. Consequently, educators must ensure that all instructional materials and resources are available for classroom study and discussion and that these materials are equally accessible to students of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Protect books as best as you can.

Students: learn, discern, and don’t hide.

Learn.

Students, you are the ones at stake in book censorship conversations. I’m sorry if you have been limited by your school’s book bans from accessing text that might have helped you grow. I trust that you are still trying to access books in any way that you can because reading can change the world. Now that I’ve gotten my proselytizing bit out of the way, let’s talk about your brain and what reading certain stories can do to it.

If you are a student who has grown to believe no one in your school community should have access to a book you find uncomfortable, you should know “risk” to students has little evidence as long as you can choose your own books and “reject ones [you find] problematic”.

More “mature” books often offer “different perspectives” than your own precisely because they are working with a different context than your possible day-to-day life. On the other hand, some more “mature” books deal with conversations that are very much a part of your day-to-day life, such as anorexia. Concerns about Laura Halse Anderson’s book Wintergirls point to the book’s seeming “handbook for anorexia”. The NCAC points this out about the book:

“… [The] critics of Wintergirls may in some ways be right: some people who read the book will also develop anorexia. Readers at risk may well do so even without reading the book. The most significant variable is not the literature someone reads, but the human factor: the medical history (physical and mental) and life experience of the reader.

…The objections to Wintergirls also fail to deal with the reality of eating disorders as both psychological and physical diseases. Whether or not you think the book serves as an instructional manual for readers at risk for developing anorexia, banning the book from school libraries or otherwise keeping it from teens in many ways ignores a problem young people are struggling with. It makes the subject taboo, and it demonstrates the lack of trust we often have in young adults to think critically about what they read.”

In other words, if you don’t want to read things because you are worried about the effect they may have on you, remember that reading is the safest place for you to honestly think through and consider difficult topics. We as adults have to trust you more to make those decisions for yourself, whether it’s a book we want you to read or a book we don’t want you to read. You would be well within your normative bounds to fight back against book bans as well. If you’re currently fighting against book bans in your school, look at resources with the Kids Right to Read Project through the NCAC. On the subject of choosing to read or avoid a book…

Discern.

Recognize the difference between being stretched by what you’re reading and being offended or even traumatized by what you’re reading. Are you uncomfortable with a trauma-filled novel because it depicts a scene of abuse or violence that you have experienced? If so, try not to walk away from it.

“It can be really hard to feel difficult emotions,” says Torres-Mackie, psychologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City and head of research at the Mental Health Coalition. “But if you can experience them through somebody else, like a character in one of these books, it allows you to feel your own dark feelings.” (Times)

The Times also interviewed San Francisco psychologist Juli Fraga. She had this to say about those who might have experienced abuse who read books like Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us:

“They’re looking for themselves in the story…Hearing that somebody’s experiences were similar to yours, or even worse than yours, can help you feel less alone—even if it’s merely in a book of fiction.”

There’s potential healing in those more mature books. Consider giving them a try, but remember that you should be able to walk away from any book you chose! Give yourself permission not to finish books, but if you’re just uncomfortable with a harder book, try to hang on. It could have something particularly helpful for you to read. Torres-Mackie suggests using this question to guide your decision, especially if you’re having nightmares or starting to feel unsafe in your usual routine:

“Does it fill you up, or does it deplete you?”

If you’re being asked to read something in class that makes you too uncomfortable to face it head-on and you do not think you have a choice in reading it, consider talking to your teacher directly, especially if you prefer not to read certain kinds of content such as mentions of bulimia, anorexia, suicide, sexual abuse, etc. They might have a suggestion for skipping certain pages (i.e. paperclipping those pages) or reading a summary for a particular scene rather than reading it directly.

Director of Communications at the National Coalition Against Censorship Nora Pelizzari notes that kids can and do self-censor which often results in “bring[ing] the book to their parents.”

It is harmful when “personal discomfort turns into an attempt to censor what others have access to read, view and think,” she notes. For you, you can choose to simply put the book down like other students do…

… But don’t hide (from hard topics, from hard books, from your parents, or from trusted mentors).

You can’t hide from hard topics in the real world (and nor should you). Andrea Burns, a recently retired teacher who taught 4th grade for the last 8 years in Kansas City, Kansas, was interviewed by Good Morning America about the 6 books she used in her classroom to talk about more mature topics that 4th graders alive today absolutely have to face, from grief to hard feelings. One children’s book published by the National Center for Youth Issues is about School Shootings: I’m Not Scared… I’m Prepared! A Picture Book to Help Kids Navigate School Safety Threats. It would be laughable to say that you won’t face shooting scares, know someone affected by shootings, or see them in the news, and schools are a safer place to have conversations about them.

Books that push you to consider other viewpoints aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Know that you are better preparing yourself to face situations in the real world by seeing a book that has a difficult passage, and you will not necessarily be affected negatively in your values by reading it. “Simple exposure to sexual content in the media will not make teens deny or ignore values and information they have absorbed from families, school, religious teachings, and other respected adults.” (NHI)

Bring your parents into the conversations from your books. It might seem scary or painfully awkward to involve them, but it might just show you that they are people who lived through similar life stages as you and care about who you are growing to be.

Parents: discuss/engage, trust, and don’t block for others.

Discuss/engage with your child and their learning.

Parents, it may seem that you have become major players in school curriculum and library choices across the country in recent years, but that negates your own parenting. You have been involved in your own child’s education since before they said their first word. What we’re seeing now is a greater focus on what other students read, sometimes ignited by what your child is reading. Let’s back up to the relationship that matters most to you in all the parties involved with you and your child’s education: your relationship with your child.

By the end of one lower elementary year, I had fallen behind in reading speed and stamina. My mom took immediate action. She took me to my local library all summer long and we both participated in a summer reading challenge. She read to my sister and I before bed every night, books that included death (I remember sobbing at that part in Where the Red Fern Grows) and conversations about good and evil (The Chronicles of Narnia).

At the end of the summer, we had read enough that I had earned a water bottle and a drawstring bag. I now realize that my mom was intervening to ensure my growth as a reader. She engaged with my learning, held me accountable, and spent time talking with me about the books I was reading, partially because she often was reading them to me.

Your direct involvement in your child’s learning shouldn’t start with a book you hear has swear words in it. It should start with an involved relationship with your child’s all-around reading.

Curator of the University of Minnesota’s Literature Research Collections Lisa Von Drasek, says that “although there are no flashing signs of maturity to watch out for, simply paying attention to our kids may be enough.” (Washington Post) “Think about who your child is in the world before you think about the books you don’t want to hand them. Knowing the child is way more important than knowing the book,” she says.

“Knowing [your] child is way more important than knowing the book.”- Lisa Von Drasek, University of Minnesota’s Literature Research Collections Curator.

Here’s what it could look like to be involved in your child’s all-around reading:

• Going to the library with your child to see what kinds of books they check out
• Taking your child to the bookstore and looking at books with them
• Giving your child money for the school book fair with the proviso that they must use the money to purchase books
• Asking them about what they’re reading when you drive them home or while having dinner
• Have a family book that you read a chapter of each day together after dinner or that you listen to in the car when all of you are present
• Having a book that is just for you and one child to read or listen to together
• Enforcing a daily or weekly reading time/place for your household (i.e. no tech before bed, only books allowed in bedrooms, a “reading chair”, etc.) that you yourself follow.

You should also know that reading the book in question is eye-opening, not because of the content inherently but because of your probable reaction to it. Take, for example, an article I mentioned in the Teachers section about student and parent perceptions of the novel Thirteen Reasons Why which deals with suicide, bullying, and rape:

“The conflicts that we documented and analyzed in the dialogue and the rejection of student perspectives are also unique. Students and preservice teachers asserted the reality of the issues presented, such as bullying and suicide, and affirmed the capacity of youths to brainstorm solutions. Yet, in the conversation, the adults seemed to ignore the ability of teenagers to know what sorts of education or resources might best address the topics that parents feel are important from their perspective, even though the students shared the ineffectiveness of the types of programming they received thus far.”

Your denial of access to a book could be seen as a denial of the experience of your children which could disconnect you from them. The researchers suggest that,

“Adults might benefit from consciously attempting to read and understand from the perspective of youths so they can better empathize with adolescent populations and entertain discussions related to tough topics.”

It is possible that trust between you and your child can grow with discussions around books. Those discussions must be handled carefully and with authentic engagement/ accountability on your part. If they are there, you will learn about what makes your child uncomfortable in books and how you can be apart of their wrestling with hard topics. Gary Ivey and Peter Johnston explain what happens when students read disturbing-yet-engaging books in “Emerging Adolescence in Engaged Reading Communities”:

“We have documented countless instances of students recruiting others to their reading (Ivey & Johnston, 2013) because they wanted friends, teachers, and parents to work through points of confusion with them, to offer their perspectives, or just to share the intensity of the experience… Within a trusting community, intermediate and middle grades readers do not have to negotiate on their own unsettling information they encounter, and in our experience, they are not inclined to do so. This should make us less nervous about children who are choosing to read more mature subject matter and, frankly, more realistic, because rest assured, others will be talking with them about what they read.”

Students involve their community in their processing of the stories. There isn’t solo processing happening. They will work through what information is presented to them with the people that they trust which I hope includes you. You can help guide them in how to know when to walk away from a book; you can reexamine your own boundaries with reading to think of what constitutes a good reason.

Can a book have even a “closed door” sex scene for your child while still carrying literary value?

Can it have violence? Torture?

Can it have religious themes?

Can it include swearing?

Can it include relationship violence?

Can it include sexual abuse?

Speaking of sexual content (which is a terrible way to start a new thought but it’s the best I can do), parents of younger children, you should know that it is normal behavior for a 5-9-year-old to ask you questions about what sex is, how babies are made, same-sex relationships, and where babies come from (Government of Canada, 2012; NCTSN, 2009; Stop It Now, 2007; Stop It Now, 2020; Virtual Lab School, 2021). That is different from what the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (a UK non-profit) says is unhealthy behavior for a 5-9-year-old: to “have adult-like sexual interactions [or] discuss specific sexual acts”. What is healthy for each stage of development might be a good filter for you if you are trying to find a line that works for your parental judgment.

As I explained in the Teacher section, the research is unclear about any negative effects of reading mature stories due to “the long-term nature of reading” (Washington Post) and the nuanced influence of media; “Our research found that reading certain things does influence behavior,” says Brigham Young University researcher Sarah Coyne who studied swearing in adolescent literature but “you bring your personality to the situation… if you’re already a hostile or violent kid, the short-term effect may be to act out later.”

Worries about a book making your average child swear all the time should be assuaged. Stetson University psychologist Christopher Ferguson notes that “People’s fear of fictional media is greater than the actual threat, and parents often worry that kids will read and imitate, but I don’t think there is any good evidence for that.” Ferguson notes one exception in a small study he conducted in Texas: adolescents who have been struggling already. He “advises… parents to check in with their teens to determine whether they’re depressed or anxious and to ask why they’re drawn to the books they’re reading. In such cases, he says it’s likely that ‘the problem is not the book, but something preexisting.’”

Note the pattern: you connecting with your child has way more importance than you protecting them from books with “age-inappropriate” content.

Note the pattern: you connecting with your child has way more importance than you protecting them from books with “age-inappropriate” content. 

Author and parent Melissa Scholes Young offered her perspective; she reads books with her children, researches them ahead of time, and attempts to be present with her children’s reading. She also offers this: “I’ve never censored [my children’s] reading. I’d rather watch them stumble on their own reading discoveries than limit their exposure… the safest place for them to stretch their experiences is on the page.”

Don’t block.

Making the choice for your own child is a very different conversation than banning a book from an entire community. A June 2023 Edweek article interviewing librarians puts it this way:

“Librarians largely want to work with parents to accommodate their concerns and requests about what books their child should have access to…

The part that stresses out librarians is when a community member or parent asks for a book to be entirely removed from schools, as opposed to just restricting access for their child…”

Even partial censorship for a whole-school body isn’t the answer to keep content “away” from your child.

I posit that your level of comfort in having hard conversations about book topics should rise to normalcy before you suggest school-wide, grade-wide, or district-wide book bans. More than likely, parts of books you are concerned about are often not what a student will grow from or remember in a more mature book, according to researchers Ivey and Johnston: … students who chose to read disturbing texts were drawn to the moral complexities of the narratives more than any graphic detail.”

You should also know that certain things confound our ability to decide what is “appropriate” for all students who are the age of your student, the first being that “appropriateness” isn’t an agreed-upon standard. It appears that cultural norms, parental expectations, peer expectations and moral principles are what gets the most concern for “harm” rather than the actual effect of students reading “mature” content (see Teacher section).

In fact, rather than the more mature books showing a harm for students in their morals or their psychological health, Ivey and Johnston found that “The books reduced [students’] self-absorption, diminishing personal concerns that might otherwise overwhelm them. Bad words and disturbing scenes simply fed bigger conversations about life and relationships.” The very things that most parents probably want in their child’s growth (empathy for others and deeper conversations about what matters) came from reading books with “inappropriate” elements.

In their 2014 article “The Social Side of Engaged Reading for Young Adolescents,” Ivey and Johnston explain other findings:

“Reading engaging narratives about characters with complicated lives, they reported, helped them become more empathetic, less judgmental, more likely to seek multiple viewpoints, morally stronger, and happier. Yes, happier. They reported improved self-control, and building more and stronger friendships and family relationships…

Central to these changes, they explained, were conversations about the books with peers, teachers, or family members—whoever they could recruit for different perspectives on provocative or confusing parts. They pestered others, including parents, to read the books.”

If you are genuinely uncomfortable with your child reading a certain book, your first step is to talk to your child. If you are still uncomfortable after talking with your child (or attempting to read it yourself), consider contacting the teacher or librarian involved. If the book came from a classroom library, suggest to your child that they simply return it. If it’s a core novel that each student needs to read, consider the following:

• Read the book alongside your child (or, if they’re young enough, read the book to them!). You might find that a review you read about the book pulled a sentence out of context and isn’t as jarring or memorable as you suspected.
• Even if you read the book a long time ago, consider rereading it.
• Ask the teacher for suggestions on how to navigate the story. As I mentioned in the Students section, teachers might have a suggestion for skipping certain pages (i.e. paperclipping those pages) or reading a summary for a particular scene rather than reading it directly, both forms of chosen self-censorship or soft censorship.
• Talk to your student about the story as you go. Working through discomfort affords great opportunities for deep conversations that might otherwise have not happened.
• If you try all of the above and still think a student should stop reading the story, contact the teacher about potential alternatives (preferably in person). Setting up a meeting with the teacher to explain your concerns would not be ideal if you had not read the book yourself, though.

However, you should consider that self-censorship is a choice you might be asking your child to make rather than one you are making for yourself. Any choice of action you take should recognize that a) while you are their parent, b) you might be choosing to remove your student’s ability to grow and engage with a hard topic in a safe context they might not have again in school. Again, do not limit access to a book for everyone in your child’s age bracket or community.

HB 900, or the READER Act, passed in Texas in 2023. It mandates every book vendor label any book with sexual content being sold to schools with either “sexually relevant” or “sexually explicit,” blacklisting any vendor that does not comply under Sec.35.0003.c. (or doesn’t meet the deadline for labeling all of their books, which has since passed). One parent in a Texas school reacted this way: “I am tired of people saying ‘parent choice’ and not giving me a choice as a parent. You can’t choose for all the students.”

Instead, trust (your librarians, your teachers, and your children).

If you have a healthy relationship with your school-aged child, you’ll know at least some of what they are facing, but if you have a reading relationship with your child, you’ll see how they’re growing in exploration of ideas in real time.

Your school staff have systems built in place to help them make wise choices concerning curriculum and free choice. If you’re involved, there will be no break between you being a part of their learning and you finding out about a hard topic in a book.

The Ivey and Johnston’s 2018 research published in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy noted this:

“Parents reported welcoming opportunities for conversations, conveniently through book characters, about drugs, sex, relationships, and depression. The image of young people reading “dangerous” books alone, in secret, and in distress, was neither what we observed nor what the students described…The image of young people reading “dangerous” books alone, in secret, and in distress, was neither what we observed nor what the students described.”

Again, if you push for a book challenge that removes the book from your school’s curriculum, there are other implications. The NCAC’s open letter to Common Sense Media in 2010 explained it this way:

Unlike requests for alternative assignments, which most schools offer to parents who object to a particular reading assignment, most book challenges seek to have a book removed from the curriculum, library, or reading list, limiting access by all students. When they succeed, these challenges impose one set of views and values on everyone, including parents who don’t want to have the book removed. More importantly, the students are deprived of the opportunity to read important literature under the guidance of a teacher.

Isn’t it better to think of your child reading mature books knowing that they can process what they’ve ready with you?

Librarians: provide, know, and don’t be afraid or self-censor.

We already know that librarians across the US are tending towards not putting books in displays that have controversial topics. This is a dangerously slippery slope because it can lead to books being hidden from the readers that might enjoy them or even need them. Even something as innocuous as content ratings (on sites such as Common Sense Media) can have potential censorship implications. The National Coalition Against Censorship partnered with other non-profits and published a letter to Common Sense Media in 2010 detailing concerns in 3 main areas against content ratings:

1) the implication that certain kinds of content are inherently problematic,

2) the negative attitude towards books, and

3) the potential that the ratings will be used to remove valuable literature from schools and libraries.”

They also decry that by reducing a book to “a few emoticons that focus on only a small part of the content of the book, the ratings take material out of context and deny the message, intent, and value of the book as a whole.” It removes the ability for parents to make an informed decision about the book relative to the relationship they have with their child, let alone the self-censorship potential for a child. The letter goes on to say that “[parents] can make better and more informed decisions if they have information about the age appeal of a book, its literary merit, topical interest, thought-provoking potential, and entertainment value.” At least a few of those points are what you can speak to by virtue of your training as a librarian. Speak to their concerns rather than letting only rating services speak for you.

Provide.

Do what you do! Keep looking for books that are well-received by critics and other patrons, have literary awards, and/or are relatable to students.

We know that books representing the experience of our students are important, and censoring out books purely for a character having a particular experience can be negative; Azevedo says “I want every kid to see themselves in a book, and by taking a reductive view of a certain story, you are diminishing their lived experience.” Consider using the American Library Association’s Toolkit for choosing books “appropriate” for age level. However, you should not rely on one metric for checking book “appropriateness”, as slippery of a term as that is, for a few reasons:

1. Appropriateness isn’t an agreed-upon standard.

The National Coalition Against Censorship explains it this way in The Free Expression Educators Handbook:

“Some school officials conflate their duty to provide a safe learning environment with an obligation to suppress any material deemed “inappropriate.” The problem with using subjective standards such as “appropriateness” to evaluate learning materials is that they may conceal underlying ideological biases.”

When librarians have to decide what is inappropriate, they have to start by defining inappropriate; the American Library Association has guidelines for what variables should be a part of that equation, but it’s not a cut-and-dry answer. If the equation has only a “parent complaint” variable, each community’s “appropriateness” would be defined by the school’s demographics and biases.

The Free Expression Education Handbook, created in conjunction with the National Council of Teachers of English, also explains that red-flagging or labeling content as “inappropriate… encourages complaints and often leads to censorship”.

The Davis School District near Salt Lake City, Utah, banned the Bible from its elementary and middle school libraries after a parent filed a complaint in December of 2022. The outcry since shows that the intended target was not every book that had the objectionable topics.

2. Marking books as inappropriate for certain readers often slides to action rather than honest review.

PEN America released a Banned Books Week statement in 2016 explaining the situation another way:

In most cases, the complaint is reviewed by a school board or a special committee to determine the book’s future availability. In other cases, books are immediately removed from shelves or reading lists by teachers, librarians, or school administrators eager to avoid complaints and criticism. Even if a particular book challenge fails, teachers and librarians fearful for their jobs can sometimes avoid increased scrutiny by simply not assigning potentially controversial books or keeping them out of circulation or off displays. [Emphasis added]

PEN points out that book challenges are often aimed at works that “address race and sexual orientation, or that portray diverse characters;” that limits the availability to students to read about the “ full range of human experience.”

In 2016, a children’s book called A Birthday Cake for George Washington was stopped from further distribution because of public outcry against the portrayals of “happy slaves” (the author’s statement quoted elsewhere has since been removed). PEN America and the National Coalition Against Censorship wrote a joint statement recognizing the problematic portrayal while decrying its removal:

“There are books that can—and should—generate controversy. But those who value free speech as an essential human right and a necessary precondition for social change should be alarmed whenever books are removed from circulation because they are controversial.”

Know your books, your patrons, and your system.

Consider a system of “ask a librarian” rather than “MS or HS Only” because it can inform students if they could access books that might be cut off to them by school policy as long as they have parental permission and/or have a check-in with a librarian. Librarians, ask students if they have experience with particular topics, if they’re willing to talk about their experiences, and why they want to read the book if you’re concerned. Talking about it doesn’t increase their likelihood of doing the thing or a negative step in their health journey; sometimes, it’s exactly what they need to do (Suicidal Ideation or eating disorders, for example).

This isn’t a perfect solution and is still a form of soft censorship; I am aware. We don’t live in a perfect world, and this seems to help with that conundrum.

Don’t simply buy a book to stock your shelves because you’ve heard it’s good; this could reinforce your purchaser bias, according to researchers at the Cato Institute, an American Libertarian think tank. Use your 5 variables from the American Library Association to determine literary merit:

1. Authenticity
2. Public demand
3. General interest
4. Content
5. Circumstances of use.

The ALA also suggests “Be appropriate for the subject area and for the age, emotional development, ability level, learning styles, and social, emotional, and intellectual development of the students for whom the materials are selected.” (I know there is wide room for professional judgment here, but that’s hopefully the point). Here are some other guidelines from the NCAC’s “Adopt and Follow Book Selection Procedures” section of the Educator Handbook:

“School officials, including teachers and librarians, generally have broad discretion to select and review materials. However, this discretion is balanced by a professional responsibility to prioritize educational objectives and a legal and professional responsibility to maintain a viewpoint-neutral stance. Without clear objective criteria for the selection and review of instructional materials, schools are more likely to suppress educationally rich content in response to complaints. In schools, such pressure can come from parents, students, staff or members of the broader community.

Remember:

1. All decisions concerning instructional materials should be based on

sound educational criteria.

2. Decisions that are motivated by hostility to controversial ideas or by the

desire to conform to a particular ideological, political or religious viewpoint

violate the First Amendment.

By adopting and following clear policies for material selection and review, schools can make the resolution of challenges easier.”

If you’re being asked to swap out books, try to replace them with books that are still intellectually matched. There are some authors who are beloved because their novel templates are familiar, not because they encourage growth or engagement. I once tutored an ESL student who would only read Roald Dahl books because they could figure out what was going on partially from Quentin Blake’s iconic illustrations. Strive not to lower the level of the library overall if you are being required to swap out certain more mature texts.

The American Library Association presents another aspect that makes this work more important: sexuality and young adult patrons.

“For this age range, a greater range of sexuality is both more marketable and more widely accepted than ever before. Teens are faced with both family and community expectations for their sexual orientation and activities, yet they can and should reflect on their own feelings in the matter, as well as their peers’ activities and expectations. What can young adult librarians do to better serve this population? Know your community, know your collection, and aim to provide truthful and accurately written materials on your shelves in order to promote healthy sexuality in young adult patrons and a healthy environment for our young adult patrons to learn more about themselves.” [Emphasis added]

You should already understand your school’s policy for challenging books; if you need resources for that, the ALA has a guide for challenge support. Above all, look to help your patrons grow.

Don’t self-censor.

Librarians have already been asked to block books with soft censorship systems. Practices such as “leveling” books and reviewing books for “age-appropriateness” are already normal practice libraries. Some librarians have, as PEN America mentioned, stopped displaying books with certain themes, character experiences, etc.

If you are afraid of losing your job, I understand how you would adjust your expectations for yourself and the library space. I cannot judge the choice of librarians worried about being fired, especially knowing that many have been fired for far less. However, about ⅔ of school librarians in the US say that no book should be fully banned from a school library, according to a survey conducted by the Edweek Research Center in April 2023. You are backed by precedent to say that books belong in libraries, but context is key. It’s important for you to already know your school’s system for external parties challenging library books. It has been happening around the US from political groups who do not necessarily represent all parents in a particular district (or do not even have children in that district’s school system).

In Conclusion…

Regardless of whether you love book bans or hate them, I suggest to you that we should each practice book discernment rather than book banning. We should each make choices for what to read for ourselves and our own families but not for the families of others. We should each work to better understand what actually happens when students read challenging books. Here’s what Amande Mellili, head of the University of Nevada Las Vegas’s Teacher Development and Resource Library, has to say:

• Books help students “feel less alone, to help us make sense of a confusing world, and to help us understand the lived experiences of others.”
• “[Diverse] stories… feed our complex imaginations and allow us to develop empathy for people who are different from us, and this ultimately leads to communities built on foundations of decency.”
• “Not every book will appeal to every reader, but that doesn’t mean those stories shouldn’t exist or shouldn’t be made accessible. We would all love to live in a society where traumatic issues don’t exist, but ignoring the stories does not make the issues go away; it just makes people feel more isolated.”

Parents, at the end of the day, we teachers have to trust you to make the choices that are right for your child and your child alone. The NCAC says that “Ultimately, we believe parents know what’s best for their children, and each parent is responsible for supervising his or her child.”

At the end of the day, we all want to grow to be better people. Hopefully, we all see the value and power of reading as a gift, a weapon to tear down walls, a foundation on which to lay knowledge, a skill protected by book-curating educators everywhere, the last stronghold of civilization.

Privately, discern books. Publicly, protect books.

May they be read widely.

If you’d like more resources, visit the links below:

The History and Present of Banning Books in America (lithub)

United Against Book Bans

Sign ALA’s “Freedom to Read” Statement

Elementary Teachers, this blog post has some thoughts for how to guide student book choice.

Illinois Passes a Ban on Book Bans

Guidelines for Dealing with Censorship from the NCTE

The post What role should a teacher play in choosing books kids read? appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

Join me for a free online training to help you teach productivity practices to students by finding flow.

Teach your students how to be more productive

I’ve really enjoyed the time I’ve spent in schools training teachers on the Finding Flow Solutions curriculum, and helping teachers reimagine student engagement in their classrooms. Productivity practices and mindsets CAN be taught, and Finding Flow makes that process super simple (read: no-prep!) for teachers.

Because not every school has the funds to bring me in to conduct professional development in person, I thought it would be fun to offer an online event.

This hour-long online event is free for ALL secondary educators to attend, whether you’ve never heard of Finding Flow Solutions, just have the free unit, or your school has purchased the entire curriculum bundle.

Join us to explore:

• A radical re-imagination of student engagement: what could be possible in your classroom?
• How to use the Finding Flow resources to bring your classroom vision into reality
• An introduction to flow theory for the classroom
• Teaching students about time management, energy management, and attention management
• FAQ / QA

You can interact with other secondary teachers in the live chat, asking questions and sharing ideas. 

This is a laid-back, enjoyable time for you to think, dream, imagine, and plan for what could be possible in your classroom. I’d love for you to try some of the Finding Flow strategies this school year, just experimenting to see what resonates with your students. I’ll stick around after the training to answer all your questions.

Angela

P.S. Elementary teachers: resources for your students are going to begin releasing this spring! You are more than welcome to attend the middle school training if you’d like to learn some strategies now that you can apply in the upper elementary grades.

The post Join me for free online professional development: Finding flow and student engagement in the classroom appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

It was December of 2022, and I walked into a staff room to talk to a colleague, Kate, about an assignment. What I found instead were my colleagues Kate and James playing with magic: ChatGPT, an AI playground in its first stages.

Kate showed James this otherworldly site, and James tested how the AI was answering questions with intriguing bias depending on the type of question (“What’s the best way to stop terrorists?” vs. “How to bring peace to the Middle East”). Kate started explaining to me with startling calm how you could write an entire essay on ChatGPT with sources. She showed me. I curled into a ball on the staff room couch in an existential crisis.

She had a day ahead of me in thinking this through, and she attempted to assuage my fears. All I could see in my head was the play-by-play of every dystopian novel and movie I knew. You might still be there.

I hope that, by the end of this article, you will be less afraid of the apocalyptic implications (which I will still attempt to address). Instead, I hope that you will feel more prepared with how to address AI in your classroom. I also hope that you will have a healthy awareness of its presence in your students’ lives already rather than turning a blind eye.

Reasons not to ban GPT in the classroom

#1 AI is everywhere already

Arguably, as of early 2023 (which might be too broad considering how quickly things are changing), the most prominent version of artificial intelligence that our students have heard about is Tesla’s self-driving car tech (which has been in the news for both ethical considerations and car wrecks). The most prominent AI program used by students might be ChatGPT, but also might be SnapChat’s “My AI” chatbot (embedded into the app), Chat AI (advertised as an AI Chatbot and Essay Writer Bot), or Wonder (an AI Art Generator competing with the popular WOMBO Dream AI Art Generator app).

These are just the top apps in the Apple App Store. This doesn’t include Google Chrome independent extensions like Quillbot, described in its overview as a “Grammar Checker, Paraphrasing Tool & Summarizer.” The more popular Grammarly announced the launch of GrammarlyGo, an “on-demand, contextually aware assistant powered by generative AI,” in March of 2023.

#2 The positive potential is staggering

Initially, I reacted to ChatGPT with trepidation. My students don’t need to know how to write now. Writing and research standards need to get rewritten overnight. The entire white-collar workforce is in jeopardy. English teachers may as well quit. *insert dramatics here* 

However, after talking with Kate, reading about AI, and considering the implications with my staff and our English Task Force for 2023, I’m leaning on the side of hope, landing somewhere in the zone of curiosity.

The potential of AI is staggering. Several staff members at my school have likened it to the introduction of the internet as a research tool for high school students in the 90s. Initially, teachers entrenched in traditional teaching were outraged at the prospect of students skipping library day in favor of a few searches on a computer; journalists predicted that computers would never replace aspects of the traditional classroom (such as this Newsweek article from 1995). It appears that computers are not only alive and well; they are also, seemingly, alive.

However, AI has tremendous potential to reflect the darkness in humanity much like the internet. Microsoft’s Tay was taken down after only a day on Twitter as other Twitter users taught it to be racist and xenophobic in March of 2016.

AI can do a bit more than simply find your sources, though; it can search for them, filter them by any number of considerations (without paywalls), and write a full essay using all the sources with MLA in-text citations. That may sound terrifying, but it’s only as terrifying as our lack of guidance for our students. If they see AI as not only a tool with transparency but as a source, it changes how AI fits into school. I’ll explain more on this later but for now…

#3 You can “protect” your classroom (kind of…)

If you’re still in the camp of “No AI in my class” (whether by choice or by your school’s policy for the next school year), you can somewhat do that.

First, you will have to define AI and explain your AI policy in your class syllabi and in the first weeks of school. Have documentation of your policy but also announce flexibility in your policy based on AI developments.

Our English task force drafted a statement that supported a) teacher’s right to decide AI use in their classroom, b) seeing AI as a tool, c) using certain standards under Common Core to support expectations of students using their own writing only if we are assessing it traditionally, and d) using the process-of-writing standard in CC to support students learning how to use AI (i.e. ChatGPT) well. We also noted that, at the time of writing it, ChatGPT was only available legally for ages 18 and up (it was lowered to 13 on March 14 2023), so at the time, we couldn’t use it as a classroom tool. Now, we can (with parent permission), but this is a fast-evolving situation that requires vigilance.

Second, you can try to clean up on the assessment end if you’re still concerned that AI-generated content is in your students’ papers (which might be clear simply because of our usual teacher check-ins, drafting, etc.). Your usual teacher extensions that have helped you see plagiarism or cheating on Google docs are still helpful pieces to the puzzle (like the Docs extension Draftback or checking a document’s edit history). Certain tools have been created specifically to help people identify AI-generated content. The plagiarism checker Turnitin has developed a filter in its similarity report that notes the percentage of AI-generated phrases with 99% accuracy. Another colleague, P, recommended Copyleaks which doesn’t require a login like Turnitin.

However, there are limitations to using AI detectors. Google Translated material, for example, flags as AI-generated content. A student at my school once submitted a paper they initially wrote in another language for another class; the teacher’s AI checker flagged it as 100% AI-generated because of the translation.

This should be a larger theme of AI use but also tech in general: take it as a tool in conjunction with your judgment, not as gospel. Human bias is interwoven into AI with our coding, word processing, and even search results.

Another option is to switch your writing back to paper as well as changing your assessment parameters, but I caution you to consider the following:

• Does switching back to paper remove a layer of potential learning or skill display that you were previously assessing? Consider your learning goals, standards, etc.
• What are you teaching your students about how to navigate the world by removing the option for “safe” interaction with a new tool under a teacher’s supervision? (This might sound pointed but unintentionally so.)

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program released a statement on AI that was later published in The NY Times. Dr Matthew Glanville, Head of Assessment Principles and Practice at IB, explains that IB would not be banning AI because “that is the wrong way to deal with innovation.” He also explains that “Like spell-checkers, translation software, and calculators, we must accept that it is going to become part of our everyday lives, and so we must adapt and transform education so students can use these new AI tools ethically and effectively.”

#4 You can teach your students to use it and to use it well

If you are open to using AI in your classroom but don’t know where to start, Glanville has some pointers. He turns his attention to the kinds of learning we should be teaching our students these three things in regard to AI:

Teach how to ask the right questions and refine requests

We should be reinforcing what we teach with internet searches (like using Boolean operators, for example) but with a focus on mode (AI format of requests that can build on each other in full sentences) and learning from data that doesn’t match the request.

Teach how to identify and respond to bias in writing

As previously mentioned, AI is programmed using human input, from human coding to the internet (note that some AI programs don’t use the internet past a certain time, ChatGPT being an example- it stops around 2021 in its accuracy, according to the home page). Our students should be taught how to learn about material and text well enough that they can catch when authorial bias (or even downright false data) gets included.

For example, a colleague and I tested ChatGPT’s ability to find nuance in its explanations by asking it about our school’s history. Our school has multiple campuses, and ChatGPT combined the facts of each campus’s founding into one contradictory paragraph. It was easy to see that we would have to refine the request in a few more steps to get it to note the difference.

Teach how to “think around” problems with creativity and critical thinking

Figuring out how to get ChatGPT to note the differences between each campus’s founding in my request from the previous paragraph might be tricky, but it’s very similar to what teachers already do with Boolean phrases in internet searches as well as sources in general. Get your students to consider the following:

• What is wrong about this answer?
• What is this answer not including?
• What perspective is missing in this text?
• How can I widen or narrow my inquiry to include what I am missing?

One school policy key from Dr. Glanville’s statement is this: the IB program is considering AI a source as well as a tool. If a Math teacher has a calculator section and a “no calculator” section on their test, they are assessing how students do when other tools are enabling deeper or faster work. We can do the same with AI; we can have assessments where students can draft with AI (an “Open-to-AI” assignment rather than a “No-AI” one). We can have students create outlines for research papers using AI but require different parts of the critical thinking work without it, suggests my colleague Kate. Teachers are already aware that assessments don’t always invite learning but rather can skip over some of the critical thinking process. Brett Vogelsinger, a member of The National Council of Teachers of English, posed a few questions teachers should consider in teaching their students how to use AI in his article ”Inviting Artificial Intelligence with Curiosity”:

• What is valuable about human writing–both for the reader and the writer–that AI cannot replicate? How will I express and demonstrate this to students?
• How might AI be used as an insightful, knowledgeable, and blazingly efficient conference partner or tutor?
• When is it important for a first draft to be exclusively human-created, and when is it valuable to jumpstart a draft with AI assistance?
• How can this technology help students acquire more practice in the interesting, difficult, and meaningful work of revision by streamlining first drafts?

You should also consider adopting your own AI citing method (there is not a standardized version yet). Some teachers have suggested highlighting AI-generated phrases or going with MLA citation of AI-generated material as a source; however, the Modern Language Association says not to treat AI as an author and to simply note the use of AI with how you use it in a template structure. Keep updated on whether or not the MLA creates a different set if you choose that route.

#5 It can save you time as a teacher

Remember Teachers Pay Teachers? It’s a wonderful resource for detailed unit plans, cool explanatory posters, and detailed lessons with hyperlinks and sources to boot. However, AI is your best friend if you’re just looking for some discussion starters for your US History Vietnam War unit (guilty as charged).

Schools don’t seem to be banning AI-generated lesson plans because that’s not where bad teaching comes from. Education is a notoriously open-to-sharing-what-works community, and TPT rightfully offers teachers who create detailed work a platform to sell that work if they so choose. We can ask AI to generate parent emails, write report card comments with our comment banks, even create abridged reading schedules for that one classic novel that we know has slow parts (I’m looking at you, Frankenstein…).

Material for the purpose of education does have some freedom with it as opposed to commercial material, and we should see that freedom as a gift ready to use.

Here are a few more examples for how you can use AI in your classroom:

• Draft fake examples of student work to have students practice identifying concepts and research flaws
• Write fake mentor texts for students to proofread (which, Dr. Glanville notes, removes some of the ethical issues with using actual student work examples).
• Create draft test questions (with caution…)
• Create activities for reviewing concepts
• Practice asking AI programs questions together to show thought processes in refining requests
• Have students use AI to reteach themselves concepts in class before you have time to reteach (which could be a game-changer for students who prefer asking questions to learn material)
• Use AI-powered search engines such as Semantic Scholar in research. Semantic Scholar was created by the Allen Institute which is named after the co-founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen.
• People drafted horror stories using Shelley, “the world’s first collaborative AI Horror Writer” in 2016 which has since gone defunct. In the same way, consider using AI to help your students draft other genres of stories and have them practice identifying parts of each story’s arc.

Free teacher resource on using ChatGPT

#6: GPT provides an opportunity to learn alongside your students and model how to approach new technology

One more thing: when you use AI, strongly consider telling your students that you’re using it. It will help reinforce transparency around AI rather than secrecy. Modeling works!

I wrote this article while coming back from a vacation with my family, and we discussed AI as I researched. My brother is studying to become a graphic designer, and the prospect of AI invading my brother’s future job feels all too familiar to my mom’s story. My mom’s illustration-based graphic design degree was impractical the day she graduated because her university wasn’t teaching students how to use computer-based design, an already prominent trend. While I don’t argue that students who aren’t taught AI skills will have defunct high school degrees, I do want to prepare my students for an uncertain future to the best of my knowledge. I do not want to shy away from innovation.

Brett Vogelsinger puts it beautifully: “Encountering a new technology alongside our students puts us in a beautiful position to learn beside them. We can leverage our maturity and insight to guide them on using AI ethically, even as we strive to find our own way through the woods.”

There’s one more side to this that I haven’t addressed: the radical, near-utopian help for students with learning needs that AI can bring. For students who already have learning plans, students who know they need resources without the ability to test for learning needs, and for those who don’t even know that have learning needs, imagine the possibilities. Imagine teaching a student who would have needed a push-in aide to guide them through creating an essay outline for your very specific thesis question. Imagine that they can do that work on their own and get to the more difficult pieces with their push-in aide in half the time. That does not sound dystopian to me. That’s possible right now.

As for the apocalyptic fears of AI taking over the world, I think that every generation has had some piece of technology that radically changed their lives.  The Gutenberg Press provided knowledge to masses previously locked out from learning. Electricity provided light in the darkness. Yes, Mein Kampf was published and electricity powered the production of atomic bombs, but all technology is simply a tool. AI is the first tool that can almost look back at us, but for now, let’s teach our students how to open a book, bring light to darkness, and walk into an unknown future with curiosity and hope.

Additional resources

The AI Index: It “tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data relating to artificial intelligence” and is sponsored by Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.

The American Library Association’s page on AI: You can find it under Center for the Future of Libraries —> Trends. They list links and sources for almost every sentence. The implications’ focus is on how AI might affect library goals but it is a valuable resource for anyone interested.

The Urban Libraries Council’s Press Release on AI: this notes the potential inequities with privacy and data protection for at-risk communities.

The post Why teachers don’t need to ban ChatGPT or AI tools in the classroom (and what to do instead) appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

This is partly because of my own professional development around different classroom management philosophies, partly from my own mental adjustment in response to student misbehavior, and also partly from listening to the way other teachers and myself talk to students. I feel enormously blessed to work at the school I do, and I think teachers in general have the best interest of students at heart. There are phrases, however, that I’ve heard both uttered from myself and other teachers that have made me wince. It’s not that any of these phrases below are inherently bad, rude, or would only be said by a teacher who is out of touch. These are just phrases that have left me questioning after I’ve heard or said them.

As I turn these phrases over in my mind, I want to think about the impact of our language as teachers. There is a lot of gray area when it comes to things like jokes and sarcasm, but more and more, I think about how something might be misinterpreted or remembered in a way that doesn’t put me in a positive light. I don’t want that to be my legacy in a student’s mind. I want to leave behind a positive, professional impression. I also don’t know what my off-handed comment might lead a student to think, either positively — in that they never saw themselves as a writer or good at math — or negatively — in that now they think I don’t believe they are capable or happy.

For these reasons, the phrases below are ones I try to actively avoid. Below I will also offer the replacement phrases that I have tried to use in my interactions with students. I believe that this is a work in progress, not just professionally but personally for me. Our language should be flexible and mindful. One of the most uncomfortable things I’ve done is record myself teaching and watch it back, but it really helps me reflect on what I’m doing and what I’m saying. This is the power of reflection, and I hope that this article, even if you don’t agree with everything I say, helps you reflect on your own teacher language.

#1 You must say yes if someone asks you to play.

Replacement: Is it possible to include them? What is your choice: play the game with ____ or play a different game? Is there a reason you don’t want them to play (talk to the student off to the side)?

As an elementary school teacher, this phrase is actually an expectation within my school that has been stated by the assistant principal and counselor, and it has bugged me for a long time. The intention behind it is that no student is purposely excluded from a game or bullied. The way this is often phrased to students is: “What do you say when someone asks you to play?” “Yes!” I think it is important to make space for students in a game, teach them to compromise, and work out our differences; however, I have found that when students don’t want to play with someone, it might be for a reason that’s more complicated. This is a chance for problem solving which requires nuance and not merely a command: you must play. Here are some problems I’ve come across:

• They just spent 10 minutes sorting out groups and don’t want to renegotiate teams
• That person was mean to them the last time they joined
• The group is getting too big for the game to work effectively
• That person tends to cheat, and they are tired of dealing with it

In these instances, saying “yes” and letting the person join in does not solve the problem. Instead, maybe consider these solutions to talk through with students:

• Let’s discuss what’s important and not important. Since this is just a game at recess, anyone can join in anywhere, and it’s okay if the teams are not perfectly balanced.
• Share your feelings with an “I statement.” I feel worried that you will be mean to me when you play this game. Can you be nice? If you are not nice to us, I will not want to play with you and will leave the game.
• Can we split the group into 2 separate games? Is there another game we can play instead that’s better suited to a large group?
• If you don’t want to play with them, you can leave and play a different game.

I personally think it’s helpful to teach students that if they are mean, if they cheat, if they are physically rough, others will not want to play with you. That is a logical consequence. As an adult, I love to play board games, but if I pitch a fit over rules, try to cheat, or brag about winning, others will not want to play with me. As a result, I will not be invited to play at other people’s houses. Perhaps we should be more open with that information with one another. If my behavior is inappropriate, I should not expect others to just include me because I want to play.

This whole scenario of being forced to say yes just because someone else asks is also an issue of consent. There is mutual consent going on when people are playing together. I do not think that consent is something that can only be taught as students get older. In fact, the earlier we can teach the idea of consent, the easier it can be applied to situations where it is more harmful if not followed. If someone asks you to do something, do we want to teach students that you have to say yes? Is that the message we want to send?

I think I have been taught that I have to say yes to someone’s request if someone asks me nicely, but I now believe that I can say no, even when someone asks nicely. I think there is a difference between bullying and targeting someone, telling them no repeatedly, and just being able to tell someone no in an isolated instance. So many teachers (women) were trained as children (girls) to say yes and be helpful and include someone regardless of how it made them feel. I think forcing a “yes” out of someone is a consent issue, and it’s one we can address better.

#2 “Friends”, “Boys/Girls,” “Gentlemen/Ladies” for students

Replacement: Scholars, Writers, Mathematicians, Scientists, Readers, Students, [4th…] Graders, Everyone, Caring/Kind/etc Students

There are many names we use for “students” and “class.” I personally have always told students that they were not my friends. A friend is a dynamic where the two participants are equal. They do not have to be the same age, but a teacher/student dynamic is not equal. As a teacher, even when I feel powerless in the school system at large, I have power in my classroom and authority over students. I determine many things about our space and time together. Therefore, I do not call students “friend” or “buddy”.

While this is arguably more important when teaching older students, younger students also need that professional line to be drawn. I have noticed that teachers or adults who use “friends” to address students tend to be more personally affected by misbehavior and students and they tend to experience a lot of disrespect from students in small ways (calling out, talking back, etc.)

One trend that is fading out is naming student genders (boys/girls, gentlemen/ladies). This approach varies widely where some teachers feel it is respectful, some teachers feel it is harmful to our LGBTQ+ students, some parents are upset when it is said, some parents are upset when it is not said. When I moved grade levels to teach younger students, I often felt that they were more obsessed with gender and more vocal about it than older students. They see things in black and white and want to know if an ambiguous character or video persona is a boy or girl.

I do not think we need to reiterate gender separation with constant reminders that this is who you are – a boy or a girl. With our language, we can give students an identity. If a student is unsure of their gender identity, then I am reminding them of that all day long if I use gentlemen/ladies. If a student easily identifies as a girl but feels like they are different from other girls, we might be reminding them of that feeling all day long without knowing it. Instead of making students feel respected and included, we are likely alienating certain students.

However you feel about pronouns, one small shift you can make is to not use gender-specific naming for your whole class. According to the Trevor Project, “having at least one accepting adult can reduce the risk of a suicide attempt among LGBTQ young people by 40 percent.” We as teachers are constantly informing the identity of students and their role socially. I believe this gender-neutral language is important at all levels of education. You can read more about LGBTQ-Inclusive and Supportive Teaching Practices here. 

#3 Sit down. Be quiet. 

Replacement: Show me how we listen to our classmates. How can you show respect to your classmates? What are the options for sitting on the carpet? Think about what you need to start class. Show me how to sit at your desk. What are the expectations for ____?

When we redirect behavior, we do not want to get into a power struggle or debate over our choices as educators. Since we do not want to linger and have to explain a myriad of reasons why a student should just be following the rules, we can clip our language to statements such as “sit down” or “be quiet.” I have heard these words come out of my own mouth when I was frustrated, but I did not like the way it made me feel even if everyone started behaving afterwards.

I’ve been trained in Responsive Classroom which is a classroom management philosophy. The teacher language I’ve learned through that course and their books has revolutionized my practice, and it’s something I continually try to improve. There are 3 types of teacher language: Reinforcing, Reminding, and Redirecting. Reinforcing language is positive, and I’ll talk about that next. Reminding language is a chance for you to help students adjust their own behavior. This is the difference between telling a student what to do and helping them recall a procedure they’ve already been taught.

Phrases such as “Show me…”, “What did we…”, “How can we…”, and “Think about…” are great sentence starters. I will force myself to just say “Show me…” and try to finish the sentence with an expectation so that I’m training myself to not just tell students what to do but help them be more successful in the long term by thinking about the consequences of their actions and how to participate in the classroom more fully. If you’d like to learn more, The Power of Our Words by Paula Denton and The Power of Our Words for Middle School are great resources.

#4 I like how….is doing it

Replacement: I notice…Did you notice…I see…You _____

Something I heard stated over and over again in classrooms when I was first in practicums by other pre-service teachers and younger teachers whom I felt I wanted to emulate was “I like how the class is getting started. I like how John is starting his work. I like how Bella is working quietly.” I heard these affirmations and thought they sounded like cheap praise which felt a little gross, but it also seemed to work. I was confused by what I didn’t like exactly. I never picked up the practice because it just didn’t work for my personality, but I wanted to provide encouragement to students and let them know when they did something well.

The solution I needed but didn’t know I wanted was reinforcing language. As I mentioned above, Responsive Classroom names 3 types of teacher language. Reinforcing Language should be the majority of our language with students. As most teachers will quickly tell you, some students need a large amount of attention and positive language. It is often those students that we end up reminding about behaviors so often that also need the most positive language reinforcement. We need to balance all of that redirection and reminding with reinforcing language about when they are meeting expectations.

These are not shallow statements meant to just praise following rules; these should be statements that specifically identify a strength in what the student is doing in the moment:

• I noticed you picked up those pens that fell out of Aidan’s bag.
• I see that you have checked your work for capital letters and periods.
• Did you notice how everyone in the room was so focused during writing class today?
• You made sure everyone was included in the math game today.

Here are more examples. This takes more effort than just stating “Good job!” but it’s more helpful to students when you specifically state what they’re doing well. What we notice and name is what students will pay attention to, also. If I slip up and say a generic comment or I’m starting to just say something like, “Nice work!” I will just tag on an “I notice” statement afterwards. Again, these are sometimes patterns that are quite ingrained, so it takes time to develop new patterns of behavior in ourselves. I will force myself to just start with “I notice…” when I come up to a student and look for something nice to say.

#5 Wow! You did that so fast! You’re so smart! 

Replacement: That seemed to be easy for you since you did it quickly. What can we do to challenge you a little more? Was there a part that was more challenging for you so we can work on that? Wow! You worked hard on that. I see your brain growing while you’re working on this. That mistake is helping you learn. 

The initial comments of “You’re so smart!” and “Good job!” might feel like positive praise that a student needs to hear. Again, when we are thinking about reinforcing language, we do not want it to sound empty and vague. We want to be specific and praise students for sticking with a problem. Since learning and reading about growth mindset, I have strongly steered away from praising speed. I explain to students that fast reading does not necessarily mean it was good reading, and I discuss the different paces of reading. I talk with my slowest readers about how sometimes they are the deepest thinkers (which is true; students with dyslexia tend to make deeper connections and are more global thinkers even though their fluency is slow). I talk with students about how being able to come up with multiple strategies in math and being able to think flexibly is more important than getting the right answer quickly.

Now, my reinforcing language is often about recognizing when students are sticking with the same math worksheet and focused instead of getting frustrated about why they haven’t moved on. Or I’m glad they’re reaching for a difficult text and working through the words instead of giving up. Believing that students can achieve difficult things, trying to find appropriate challenges for them, and encouraging challenge is all part of having a growth mindset focus in your classroom. I have found this to be particularly important in math class where students, parents, and teachers all have held onto the belief that some people are capable of doing math or have a “math brain” and others don’t.

Here are some resources specifically around growth mindset in math from the fantastic website youcubed started by Jo Boaler. One resource that I have personally used in my classroom is her Week of Inspirational Math. You can select videos and resources to share with students that set up your classroom at the start of the year (or restart your math classroom midyear) with challenges. The lessons include such mindset shifts as “Brains Grow and Change,” “The Importance of Struggle,” and “Speed is not important.”

I have also worked to not get too excited when a student makes zero mistakes. I might instead point out to a student that they are ready for a more challenging page in their packet. When I select worksheets for students, I put together a variety of pages that have varying levels of difficulty. I can then direct students towards different pages and allow students to self-select their differentiation. If a student is choosing the easiest pages to complete and then is bored, I can have a conversation with them about their focus in class and how they should be persisting through a more difficult page instead of completing whatever they can the fastest. This also helps my conversations with parents because I can refer to their work in a way that shows if their child is on grade level and achieving or reaching for challenges or needing remediation.

Similarly, if a student is reading 3 books in their 15-minute independent reading station, I can have a conversation with them about “just right” books. It’s okay to read easy books, sometimes; we all enjoy a treat every once in a while, but it’s not helping you grow. I can point out to students that it seemed too easy for them because it was so fast, so they should try to slow down and read a more challenging book.

#6 You must write before you draw. 

Replacement: Do you need to draw before you write to get into a flow? Use a sentence frame to get started. Could you draw out the word problem first?

I don’t remember where I first heard this phrase, but I think even when I was supporting in classrooms doing pre-service hours I noticed that there was a push towards focusing on the finished product. I’ve become more open to the idea of a thinking classroom where I want students to explore ideas and use thinking routines. I am less focused on the “correct” answer or final product when we are learning a new concept or in the beginning or middle of a unit of study. I realized that student writing tended to be better after they took time to think and draw. I also realized that student work in math tended to be deeper when students took time to draw or use manipulatives first. The way I feel I was trained to think was that drawing was something you did afterwards to explain what you wrote, add on if you had time, and make your work “prettier.”

I have almost gone the opposite way and tell students they should typically draw to get going and thinking or they should use manipulatives first. I noticed that most students benefit from the freeform thinking first; however, I think it should still be the student’s choice. We can present both starting with writing in sentences or in math, starting with numbers, or starting with pictures or manipulatives as valid options. Our brains work in different ways and the more we can share with students how to work WITH their own strengths, the better off they are. I have loved hearing students over time, share with confidence how they approached a problem. I also loved hearing how students might change their strategy day to day. “Today I felt like writing first because I had a great idea…” or “I wasn’t sure what to do first so I started with counters.” I love that the different approaches help students feel more confident in their own learning choices. It is empowering.

#7 We don’t need to talk about that at school.

Replacement: What makes you say that?

When a kid says “That’s gay” or brings up a high-tension subject or mentions someone’s race, I think many educators worry about saying the wrong thing or getting in trouble with a parent or an administrator. While not everyone has the privilege that I do as a white woman in society, since so many teachers are white women, I think it’s important for teachers in particular to take on the challenge of addressing these topics in the classroom. If a student says something that might feel uncomfortable for you to address, instead of shutting it down with “We don’t talk about that at school” or “Talk about that at home, please”, maybe try asking, “What makes you say that?” Your genuine curiosity might help a student reflect on their own word choice. What did they mean when they made that comment?

Help them reflect on whether it was truly kind or whether it comes from a place of knowledge or ignorance. In certain cases, it may help to define a word for a child, The word, ______ means _____. Is that what you mean right now? Can you see how using ____ word does not match what is going on here? If a child is pointing out a race, you can address an assumption head-on on such as, “What makes you say they come from Mexico?” or “What makes you think they are poor?” I can explain to students where someone was born and offer another perspective they might not have considered.

Almost every year I’ve taught I’ve had a student come in as an English learner with little to no English. These students have often gone to school in a home country where it was a very different experience of schooling for them there as it is here. My 2nd graders are particularly excited for new students and love the prospect of teaching someone English, but the lack of English often means in their mind that someone is uneducated.

They will tell me something like, “Wow! ____ did the math game with us and he understood how to add the numbers together!” They were genuinely happy, so maybe my first instinct would not be to chastise them saying, “That’s not nice” which it could be if they were saying he couldn’t play the game at all. I can still approach this interaction with curiosity, though. “Why might he still be able to play the game?” If they can’t answer me, I can explain, “He went to school before and he understands math. Do you think you can help him make more connections to math even without fully understanding English?” This type of dialogue can help students see their classmates as fully human with rich, complex lives they might not always see or understand. These types of conversations also remind me as the teacher of the language I’m using and how I want to talk about students and our classroom community.

#8 Always do your best

Replacement: What is your best today? Is this the best you could do with the time you had? How much time did you work on this? How focused were you during that time? Is this meeting expectations? Let’s look at the rubric/checklist together.

I brought this idea of avoiding the phrase “always do your best” up in a podcast interview I did with Angela a couple of years ago, and she ended up doing a full podcast episode around this idea. As a child, I was extremely perfectionistic. I loved pleasing teachers and doing the right thing. I enjoyed doing work well (and I still do!). I truly appreciate something done to a high standard; however, this can also get me into trouble.

In middle school, I was shifted from all general education classes to “extended” classes (aka advanced/gifted classes). I was quite stressed out by the changes in courses I had; the whole environment of 6th grade was a lot for me as an introverted, fairly shy student. I got an ulcer that year from the anxiety and stress of my school day and had to take medicine for it for a while. In fact, even when I felt better, I remember being anxious about going off of the medication. I would not have let this show to my teachers. I kept it all inside, and there was no way they would have known because my grades were exceptional, and it appeared as if I did all of my work without issues.

Also, I liked challenges so there were times when I was bored of the work I was doing and it would not have looked like I was stressed out over it. The messages I received from teachers were to do my best no matter what, to always raise my standards, to do more than was expected. Considering I naturally have this tendency, I could kick it into hyperdrive if a teacher focused on “doing your best” which to me translated as “do it perfectly and be THE best.” Since I became a teacher, I knew I didn’t want students to have this mindset reinforced by me. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

Instead of asking students for a generic “best,” have them compare their work with the standard. The standard might be a rubric or checklist you have provided. One thing I like to do in class is have students assess mentor papers or projects. They can use the rubric to grade a piece of work I’ve saved from previous years or one I’ve created. Often, students are quite critical of this work so it can help to clarify for them how I graded it. Their views and my views need to be in alignment in order for those evaluative grades to make sense. I would have appreciated this as a student instead of just imagining what I thought the teacher might want.

Some teachers worry this will stifle creativity, but I have not found that to be true. It helps students know where they should focus their effort and energy. Similarly, if I was stuck on something and would not stop my work, I can’t tell you the relief I would have had if someone had talked to me and said, “This is great work for 30 minutes. If you have more time, maybe you could have done more, but I only gave you 30 minutes.” As a student, I was expecting my absolute best at every moment. I panicked over timed writing assessments and timed work in general. If we can remind students that time affects our quality, I think that would be helpful in training students to focus on what matters most in each assignment. This is not just helpful for the classroom but helpful for life. We need to know as adults where to put our time and energy, what to prioritize, and how much time we have to spend on something.

#9 Okay? Right?

Replacement: Make your directions into statements and drop the questions.

One thing I’ve heard teachers say is adding “okay” or “right” onto the end of their directions. For instance, they might say, “It’s time to get out your notebooks, okay?” “You’re going to put that aside, right?” “We need to be nice, okay?” “First, you’ll open up a new Google doc, okay?” I think there are a few reasons why this might be a tendency. Foremost, it might be because teachers are actually looking for affirmation that students are paying attention and following along. I think it projects to students, however, a level of insecurity. It sounds like teachers are always asking for permission. If you’re asking students questions, they actually can say no to you.

When you add okay or right to a command, you’ll lift your voice up in tone and pitch because natural English speakers know this is how you ask questions and show you’re interested in an answer. The problem is when you’re giving a direction, you are not actually that interested in hearing a response. Even if you’re seeking confirmation that students are listening, no is not an answer you want. If you’re not genuinely asking a question, make it a direction and drop your pitch. When giving directions, we want to use a falling intonation where our tone of voice descends towards the end. If you’re not sure what I mean by this, here’s an article with examples of falling intonation.

#10 Silence

Replacement: What makes you say that? Does anyone else see it differently? What else could I say about that? What else might be true? Do you think that’s what _____ thought about it? (Introduce a hidden perspective)

It happens to me fairly frequently that I will hear a student say something or notice a student doing something that truly surprises me or makes me take a second glance or wonder if I actually heard them correctly. It might be easier to just brush these weird instances aside or tell other students, “Don’t worry about it” or just ignore it with silence, but there might be some great moments for conversation in these statements. For example, I was sharing some images with my class this year of American Indian artifacts. One of the images was of a doll. A student called out in the moment, “That’s creepy!” I could have handled this in a variety of ways.

First, I could have reminded the student to not call out and to raise their hand. I could have nodded or made some complicit gesture that showed I understood what they meant. I could have stated, “That is not nice” or “That is a rude comment” which likely would have shut down the comment and conversation altogether. To be honest, with many of these types of comments, I want to jump in and say, “That is not kind.”

A very common solution, though, is to just be silent. If I don’t know what to say, I might just dismiss it. I was extremely tempted to do this, but I asked instead, “What makes you say that?” and then “Does anyone else see it differently?” In fact, several students DID see it differently. They shared connections that it reminded them of other dolls they’d seen, they shared how they made connections between this doll and their doll at home, they explained how it was more difficult to find materials to make those dolls so they thought it was really creative how the American Indians used natural materials to make toys. I didn’t have to have the solution. I didn’t have to defend the ideas I wanted to present; I could let my students speak and allow that discourse to happen. Was this a bit of a divergent topic from my original lesson? Yes. Was it meaningful? Absolutely! It was even something I came back to when we worked on creating our own dioramas of American Indian homes.

“What makes you say that?” has become one of my all-time favorite phrases. I first learned about it through Project Zero as a thinking routine. I use it all day long for responses to correct answers, incorrect answers, puzzling comments, and unkind phrases. I love that it gets students to pause and think. It’s not a command to explain their thinking or justify an answer; it comes from genuine curiosity. It helps me stay focused on the student and where their thinking is because that helps me be a better teacher.

I hope that this article has given you some food for thought and reflection in your teaching practice. I believe this type of reflection on our words is ongoing, and I hope that this is something I continue to practice in my own growth as an educator.

The post 10 things I no longer say to my students appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

The Parents’ Bill of Rights Act is a highly complex topic, with information and legislation changing by the day, and tons of variance between states. Additionally, the language of most of these bills are vague, which leads to uneven enforcement and tremendous disparities in how the bills are implemented.

Our goal at Truth for Teachers is to advocate for educators and students, and it’s our position that the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act has the potential to be detrimental to both groups, as well as to parents themselves.

Additionally, we believe this kind of legislation creates an artificial rift between schools and the families they serve, when the goal for all stakeholders is to do what’s best for kids.

Furthermore, we know that public schools are designed to support the collective public good of our nation. They cannot tailor curriculum to every individual family’s worldview and preferences. It is the job of educators (rather than parents) to adapt the curriculum to be relevant and appropriate for the individuals in their classrooms, and educators deserve that autonomy and decision-making power.

Schools must be transparent with families and consider their input, and we support aspects of these bills that facilitate that goal. Therefore, we’re working to ensure the Parents’ Bill of Rights is legislated and implemented in a way that includes parent voice in decisions about curriculum, instruction, safety, and more. 

We want to build communication and trust between schools and the community, so that parents understand how decisions are made, have their input included, and feel comfortable relying on the expertise of trained educators in the classroom.

-Angela Watson

Currently in the United States, there’s a lot of discussion about creating a federal Parents’ Bill of Rights.

In March 2023, the Parents’ Bill of Rights Act was reintroduced in Congress, with 73 Republican representatives signing on.

There’s also work happening at the state level in many places. For example, Florida has already passed its Parental Rights in Education Act and is working to expand its reach.

Read on to learn how the Parents’ Bill of Rights will affect classroom teachers, and how teachers can advocate for themselves and their students in today’s educational climate.

What is being proposed in the national Parents’ Bill of Rights Act?

The Parents’ Bill of Rights requires teachers to provide parents with information about school policies, practices, and procedures that might affect their children’s education, such as student assessment results, attendance records, course syllabi, and more.

Additionally, schools and teachers must keep parents informed on how their child is doing in class by sending out progress reports or report cards regularly. So in essence, we as teachers are doing the same thing we’ve always been doing – keeping parents abreast of what is going on in the classroom.

At best, the Parents’ Bill of Rights can help foster strong communication between teacher and parent—something that is vital in order for children to succeed academically.

However, the Parents’ Bill of Rights can make teachers feel like they’re being micromanaged on what they teach, and create situations in which they’re unsupported with students who have needs they cannot accommodate.

In addition, with individual states also proposing their own unique version of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, it’s important to recognize how some may focus more on specific aspects than others. This will determine which priorities and demands are placed upon teachers.

How the national Parents’ Bill of Rights affects classroom teachers

There are 5 primary rights that are outlined in the bill:

• to know what children are being taught,
• to be heard by school leaders,
• to see school budgets and spending,
• to protect their child’s privacy, and
• to keep their children safe.

All of these things sound reasonable and positive. However, the vague and broad nature of the bill allows states to take a wide range of approaches as to how to protect these rights.

For example, the right to “keep their children safe” may be interpreted as parents having the right to be informed of violence or weapons at the school, or it may not.

And, this could be a positive protection for students and teachers, or not.

A requirement for schools to openly communicate any violent or criminal activity which occurs on school grounds could foster a transparent relationship between students, parents, and teachers. It seems especially important during this time when we are seeing an unfortunate increase in school fights, shootings within schools, and drug use and weapons being brought into schools. By providing relevant information regarding these issues, the Parents Bill of Rights enables a sense of trust and assurance for those who look to ensure their safety within school grounds.

However, the act could also be used to justify increased police presence in schools and carceral policies that create an uncomfortable or even dangerous learning environment. It could also be used to scapegoat and defame specific students and families if personal details are released along with incident reports.

It’s extremely important to consider potential applications of this bill even around something that seems as innocuous and undeniable as the importance of student safety.

Parents increasingly have the right to see the curriculum and teaching materials you are using

Both the national bill and all current state bills include this right, and it’s the one that has proved most problematic and controversial. This aspect of the bill ensures that parents have insight into what kind of material and activities their kids experience in school each day.

While this sounds like a good thing, it means in practice that parents can demand access to curriculum, lesson plans, classroom libraries, and more (depending on how the state/district interprets the bill.)

You’ll need to follow your districts’ lead here. If you plan to do an activity or text that does not appear on the education department website for a specific district, it may be necessary to run ideas for texts or lesson plans by an administrator or department head to protect themselves. This will require additional advanced planning and allow for less spontaneity and “teachable moments” that follow the lead of students’ interests.

What’s happening in individual states?

The Parents’ Bill of Rights is becoming increasingly politicized and unequally implemented around the country.

Some of the state-level bills do not allow teachers to address gender identity or sexuality in K-4 classrooms

For example, while it requires transparency in what is being taught to kids, some states — predominantly Southern ones — are pushing a backward agenda by refusing to teach any information related to gender identity or LGBT issues. They prioritize censorship over providing students with an accurate education about contemporary topics that should be discussed within our classrooms. The focus is on removing social issues that they don’t want discussed, as opposed to focusing on how historically accurate or relevant the curricula are.

Decisions about how to implement the Parents’ Bills of Rights Act are often made at the district level, with some districts making few or no changes, and others making radical, sudden changes. In some districts in Florida, all books have been removed from classrooms until they can be evaluated for compliance.

Teachers may have more autonomy on what they teach at the middle school and high school levels, but the legislation has had its intended chilling effect which is designed to make teachers highly cautious.

Some of the state-level bills do not require parents to immunize their children

This is true in Florida and raises health concerns for other students as well as staff. Vaccinations for various diseases have been required for enrollment in public schools for decades for the good of public health, but this is no longer something we can depend on.

Some of the state-level bills allow parents the right to deny certain services for the students

At the school where I work, there has been a recent push to eliminate self-contained special education classrooms. After doing some research, I realized that this is related to the Parents’ Bill of Rights, which our state has already put in place.

Due to this legislation, parents of students with special needs can say they want their students in general education classrooms, and the school must comply. Parents can deny the special education services that are offered and instead make unreasonable accommodation requests. This makes it more likely that general education teachers will have students that have intense behavioral or academic challenges, and have even less support in meeting those needs.

This “displacement” of students may have a bigger impact on secondary education, since many elementary schools still provide separate accommodations that allow students more access without completely removing them from a regular classroom setting. However, the bill could impact students who are in a co-taught, ESOL, or self-contained classroom setting, but whose parents deny services. Displaced students result in stress not just on the teacher, but on the student as well.

This aspect of the Act raises a difficult question: If parents can deny practical interventions that would improve educational outcomes, who should be responsible when those needs go unmet?

Currently, it seems as though the blame will fall on the teacher or school, which is highly problematic.

Furthermore, how do we prevent teacher burnout and attrition due to a lack of support with students’ behavioral and academic challenges?

How teachers can advocate for themselves and students

Get familiar with your state’s legislation and proposals around the Parents’ Bill of Rights

In general, northern districts (especially large districts) are prone to displacement and security concerns, while southern districts seem to prioritize curriculum with a focus on social and political matters. However, this is not universally true, and it’s important to understand what’s happening at your local level.

If you are in a unionized state, you are protected against any potential retaliation for airing grievances or discussing sensitive topics, making it a sort of ‘safe space’ when needed. Furthermore, joining the union is an effective way to learn more about Parents’ Bills and how they might affect your individual school district contextually.

If your state has made unions illegal, vote to change that. Unions are powerful forces for collective bargaining, which is why they’ve been suppressed in many Republican-led states where the goal is to preserve the status quo.

Make your voice heard if you have students that you believe are displaced

The Parents’ Bill of Rights presents challenges for teachers when it comes to student accommodations. Since the bill gives parents unprecedented rights in terms of declining or requesting services that might be inappropriate — and these requests are more likely to be approved than before — dealing with such situations can create a lot of additional stress for teachers.

Be aware that parents may be able to abruptly deny emotional and behavioral support services for their children, even if this is not in the best interest of those students that are suddenly taken from a more appropriate environment. It could leave students deprived of essential support that they still need, despite any perceived improvements by parental judgment alone.

For example, if a student has had a past history of being in a self-contained environment due to emotional or behavioral concerns, the Parents’ Bill of Rights would allow the parents to suddenly deny these services without any justification. The parent may feel that the student doesn’t need these accommodations or has improved enough to be taken out of these environments, but that may not always be true.

It is important to be aware of the consequences and challenges that displacement can bring for teachers and students. If you as a teacher feel that you have a student that is displaced, the most important thing to do is to reach out to the appropriate administrators and let them know about possible displacements.

It is not guaranteed that this will be adjusted quickly (or at all), but the Parents’ Bill of Rights requires there to be a different procedure for putting displaced students in the appropriate setting. This varies by state and district, but it usually involves all teachers, counselors, and other related educators to compile data and incident reports to justify why the student needs to be put in a more appropriate setting. While it doesn’t guarantee anything, the best thing to do as a teacher is to document everything to explain what you are experiencing if you have a displaced student.

Send out regular updates (even if it’s just an email) to let parents know of student struggles or progression

The most important action that a teacher needs to take to better protect themselves is to communicate with families about any struggles that their child is having in the classroom, whether this is related to behavior or academics.

One big component of the Parents’ Bill of Rights is that in order for students to get the appropriate interventions (whether it is related to consequences for behavior, academic support, or support related to mental health), the teacher will need to show proof that they have voiced their concerns. This includes actively communicating any student behavior or academic issues with parents and school administrators in a timely manner — an essential component of the Parents’ Bill of Rights ensuring that appropriate interventions are taken as soon as possible.

Even if this communication is not acknowledged, it is still an essential action that teachers need to take in order to make it clear what they are experiencing in the classroom. Teachers must take initiative to express their classroom experience in order that students may receive the essential support they need. This can be especially important when a student needs to move classrooms or is being denied assistance from parents.

So is The Parents’ Bill of Rights a good thing or a bad thing for teachers and students?

I think some of both outcomes are likely.

The good: Parents’ Bill of Rights has enabled a much-needed transformation in our schools, empowering parents to become more informed and involved decision-makers. It encourages transparency by ensuring that any criminal or violent activities occurring within school grounds are revealed, while providing parents with the control they need over their children’s education — from class selection to accommodations.

The bad: Parents’ Bill of Rights has caused numerous problems for teachers, such as displacement and high-risk behaviors in classrooms in which teachers and students are not well-supported. It’s also putting extreme pressure on teachers to make their curriculum and lesson plans accessible for parents (something that was not typically required until recent years and creates a lot of additional work.) The enhanced scrutiny this allows can also create problems, including changing what’s taught to thousands of students based on the opinion of a handful of folks with no curriculum training or experience.

However, none of this is written in stone. It’s not too late to mitigate the bad and enhance the good.

The only way to have a full understanding and transparency of the Parents’ Bill of Rights is if teachers are aware of how it impacts the district where they work. Staying connected with your school about student progress and joining together with other teachers in the district’s union can help you stay informed on how important legislation like the Parents Bill of Rights affects classrooms. With this knowledge, it will be easier to make smart decisions that ensure success for both students and educators alike.

The post What teachers need to know about the national Parents’ Bill of Rights Act appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

Chemaly writes that “Anger is a boundary.” In the 2020-21 school year, and even more so, the 2021-22 school year, anger alerted me to where my boundaries were being crossed.

I pitched the idea for this article to Angela in the spring, when the anger was still palpable for me. I had a theory that perhaps other teachers felt the same, quite a few metaphorically saying, “take this job and shove it.” (Angela wrote posts here and here to help guide teachers making this decision). I had a hunch that I was not the only one who was fed up.

This theory — that teachers are more angry than usual — requires some contextualizing, though. Was it just me? Was it just because I read the book and let myself feel that anger?

By the time this is published, we will be at a new moment in society. I may process anger differently from when I first pitched this article, but anger will still be a part of me — a part of all of us — because it is part of the human experience. Chemaly calls us to learn from our anger, to have a plan to navigate this emotion whenever it floods our nervous systems.

Practice anger consciousness

Society as a whole looks negatively upon anger because it can lead to irreversible harm through impulsive actions and words, but Chemally argues that anger is neutral. It is what we do with anger that determines if there is harm.

What Chemaly asks us to do first is to raise our “anger consciousness.” This is our self-awareness that the emotion we are feeling is anger (women in particular may mislabel it as sad, frustrated, etc.). The physical manifestation of anger may vary widely as well, because of socialization. For example, someone may cry or laugh, but they are not sad or happy. They are angry. So much of the harm comes from people trying to get rid of the anger quickly before it’s even fully understood.

Making space to be anger-conscious may be extremely difficult at school. There are usually 35 pairs of eyes on you while you navigate your emotions. You may have an involuntary physical response (or be using all your resources to subdue that response). If you’re not in class at the time, you may vacillate between “keeping it professional” in front of administrators and “just venting” with other teachers–neither of which fully acknowledge the anger.

We’ll talk about what external actions to take, but right now, focus just on what anger feels like to you. Where do you feel it in your body? How are you likely to react? Think about it now, then take some time to practice just naming it in the moment.

I spent months doing this after reading Rage Becomes Her. Something would happen, and I would get this burning feeling from my cheeks to my stomach–I’m feeling it now as I write.

I would feel that feeling, and to myself, I would say, “Anger! There you are! I’m really angry right now.”

When I had the space to reflect, I would even send a little thank-you to it. “You are a big emotion–you clearly have an important message for me. Thank you so much.”

Interpret and act

Sometimes the cause of your anger may seem obvious; other times, not so much, but either way, try to pause for interpretation.

Chemaly writes, “Anger does not, in and of itself, ‘make you right.’” Examine what you’re angry about to figure out what’s your work. Sometimes it’s our thinking.

There can certainly be irritants piling up every day that can lead to anger:

• The student who doesn’t come to class until the last week of the quarter. If you’re thinking, “This kid doesn’t care the whole time and now she wants me to bend over backwards?!” you will likely feel anger in this situation. If you are thinking, “Oh wow, she’s finally here. I’m excited to get to know her. We will take this a day at a time,” you probably aren’t going to feel as angry. I know both are possible, because I’ve seen the same student get radically different reactions across the school day, depending on the teacher, and that teacher’s thoughts. My question becomes, what kind of thoughts will lead to the actions that will create the best results for this student?
• The student who takes things from your desk without asking. Some people see this as a sign of the student’s comfort; others as a boundary violation. If it feels like a boundary violation, it’s important to communicate that calmly and clearly. Pretending that it isn’t a boundary violation will only lead to more anger or an unintentional response. Treating it as a boundary violation when that boundary hasn’t been communicated will also lead to anger.
• The student making passive-aggressive comments in class. This might be interpreted as a threat to the safety of the community you are building or a sign that this student is unsure of how to healthily relate to his classmates. Your interpretation will inform your next steps.

In any situation, it’s important to explore all the ways something can be interpreted before acting so you can choose the best action for your situation.

And what about in the moment when you are angry? This is your opportunity to teach students what to do. A swift, clear response is what is needed in the case of a safety or boundary violation. Anything else can wait, but you can take a minute to regroup. Normalize this so students know how to do it. Here are some possible things to say, depending on your situation:

• “Let’s pause. I’m going to grab a quick drink.”
• “I am going to take a few breaths and let’s start again.”
• “Please wait, I need to write something down real quick.” You can jot down how you’re feeling or anything you need to get out.
• If you have a preset dance party or brain break routine, this is also a good time to use that.

Before any of these actions, you may or may not choose to disclose that you are angry, depending on the situation, but if you want to highlight that you are navigating anger and not suppressing it, you can say, “I think I’m getting angry right now, I will need some time to think about it, but I’m going to reset so I can focus on being your teacher.”

Other times, it may be super clear that the anger is justified. Something like, “I feel angry because it’s important to me that…and…” could be helpful.

I know this modeling might seem kind of cheesy, and not feel like what we want to do in the moment, but this is exactly what we need students to practice. They don’t have to follow the road of anger wherever it leads. They can interrupt the moment and show themselves some care.

I worked with a student last year who engaged in physical fighting when she was angry. Through our consistent practice, she was able to stop fighting and find other ways to articulate her anger. I am so proud of her.

What about the adults?

Even though I think it’s totally okay to admit that sometimes we have class situations that make us angry, I imagine that the majority of the anger at school has to do with colleagues, administrators, and even forces and people outside the school.

Like in the situations above, after you’ve identified the feeling as anger, it’s time to interpret and act. There may be times when it’s really how you’re choosing to look at a situation that is causing your anger.

For example, is your colleague’s email really implying something negative about you? Once I’ve set aside my interpretation of a snarky-seeming email, my action is always to talk with the person face-to-face. This is the best way to clear the air and disrupt any inaccurate perceptions.

“Boundaries” have become the newest buzzword. Here’s how to actually create them as a teacher.

Other times, boundaries may be in order. The important thing to remember is that boundaries are not about changing other people’s behavior. We can’t change others, and we shouldn’t threaten them with our boundaries to make them change. Boundaries are about you and what you will or won’t do.

Let’s say you have a colleague who never has prepped what they are supposed to prep for the PLC. It’s become such a pattern that it seems they are benefiting from your shared preparations without contributing their own. You can state that you will not share what you’ve prepared unless all group members are ready to share. This protects you, and ultimately, the other person doesn’t have to change; they just won’t benefit from your work without reciprocity.

These actions can be more difficult with administrators because of the power deferential. Again, check your thoughts. Our thoughts and perspectives are often limited to the classroom. While we have a valuable lens, there are so many pieces to running a school that we thankfully don’t have to think about. In other situations, your anger may be completely warranted. If it’s a union violation, your union representative is the best person to discuss it with you–rather than venting in the teacher’s lounge (and taking no action).

Radical imagination

In the Rage Becomes Her book, Chemaly writes, “Anger is an act of radical imagination.” This is the true power and possibility when we make space for anger. Without it, we lose the opportunity to imagine outside of the way things are and into what they could be.

If your anger is related to a clear systemic issue, there are many ways to take action: organize, donate money, or connect small daily actions to disrupting the system “out there.”

Completing the stress cycle

While this structure, where you identify, interpret, and act on anger is strong and harnesses the best potential of this informative emotion, you must also attend to your body.

Emotions are a form of stress on the body, and in Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, Emily and Amerlia Nagoski argue that you need to deal with both the stressor and the actual stress. The former process from Chemaly is about dealing with the stressor. The actual stress, the physical sensation, in this case of anger, also needs to be released.

The Nagoskis call this “completing the cycle.” On a primitive level, it’s a way of signaling to your body that the danger has passed. Without it, our bodies begin to think we are constantly under attack. In the modern age, our bodies are stressed daily, so we need daily ways to release built-up stress.

The best way is through physical exercise, though only you know what kinds of physical movement give you that release. Other releases can be positive social interaction, laughter, physical affection, crying, or creative expression. Dialing in to which ones work specifically to release anger will help your body move forward with your mind.

Rage Becomes Her: Supporting students (and ourselves) in expressing our full range of emotions

The post Teachers are angry. Here’s how to channel that anger productively. appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

This is what I imagine “Book Choice” looks like, from curricular choices to which books grace the shelves of our classrooms. This tension comes from students, parents, teachers, and administration/leaders outside of the classroom.

Students want to see themselves in stories.

Parents desire to be in control of what their children learn about the world and when.

Teachers want to advocate for the learning needs of their students.

Our administrations are answering to outside voices as well as concerns among themselves with reason.

The rubber band pulls tight.

My experience with the school library and book choice tension

I have over 1,000 books in my American international Christian school classroom in southern Taiwan where I teach English Language Arts (8th), Yearbook (10th-12th), US History (11th), and British Literature (12th).

My sociocultural context is probably quite different from my colleagues in America, but similarities remain. I feel the tensions I described above with one more “palimpsested” over it all: me being a Christian. The Christian community of the world has a vast spectrum of ideas concerning what we should or should not allow into our minds; because I teach at a Christian school whose purpose is to support the children of missionaries, I see the ends of this spectrum in many interactions.

Of my 1,000+ books, more than a few are on the Banned Books lists of the last century, from Life of Pi & Lord of the Flies to Maus & Pride of Baghdad. I have had students tell me that a book should be moved to my “High School Only” section (which I have honored). I have had parents request for me not to show versions of Shakespearean plays in movies because of concerns about sexual content or violence. I have removed books from my shelves entirely because of concerns about content.

I have also removed books because the author’s character was called into question, such as books by Ravi Zacharias. After an investigation of Zacharias in 2021 found him guilty of extensive sexual abuse with misuse of ministry funds, the school librarian at the time alerted me to the allegations; we agreed to remove his work from both my classroom library and our campus library.

Additionally, I’m on a team of English teachers across our school in charge of reexamining our English curriculum for the 2022-2023 school year.

This team gathers every 6 years and makes any changes to standards, policy, curriculum, etc. We are also coordinating efforts to read as many different books proposed as additions to the curriculum as possible amongst the English staff of all of our campuses.

At our last meeting, I advocated for a classroom library budget to be allocated to every English teacher’s classroom, similar to our school’s annual stipend for replacing pieces of classroom furniture.

I quoted The National Council of Teachers of English’s “Statement on Classroom Libraries” as it “supports efforts to provide teachers with the ability to exercise their professional judgment in developing and maintaining classroom libraries and to support them with financial resources to do so.”

You might think I’m firmly in the camp of “let teachers put whatever books they want on their shelves.” You’re right, but we do not live in a world where people trust each other freely and completely (with sometimes valid reasons).

Maybe you’ll share this article with parents, students, admin, or other teachers. Instead of telling you all to agree with my perspective, my hope is to equip you with the tools to build this conversation wherever you are having it, a conversation taking in multiple views and coming back to the table with empathy rather than weaponized statistics.

While we do this, I hope you understand that my faith is inextricably meshed into this conversation, both because of my perspective and my experience working at a Christian school for the last six years. With that understanding, I hope you have grace for me, too.

Why the tension is so high right now

You might be tempted to pick your spot in that metaphorical rubber band tug-of-war and dig in your heels; I caution you to hold off. First, let’s explore why that tension has become so passionate, complicated, and seemingly insurmountable.

1. Student representation and voice are being taken more seriously.

A September of 2022 article from Edweek included an interview with Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. She said the following:

“The students are telling us that when a book that reflects their life and experience is removed from the shelf, it’s an act of erasure… And particularly gay, queer, and transgender teens, black teens, teens of color are stepping up at board meetings to say that having these books is important, that to take them away is a real message to them that they are not part of the school community, that they don’t belong.”

When certain students are experiencing something that others are not, it can be challenging to translate that experience– for empathy, for connection, even for basic understanding– outside of books. I’m aware that the quote above includes references to experiences that some parents do not want their students to know about, so it feels right to address parent desires next.

2. Parents are speaking up more often and in more highly-charged ways.

Many parents want to decide when and how their children learn about the deeper matters of the world. Interestingly, their freedom to choose when their children learn about concepts is predicated on their own freedom. Does that freedom come with adulthood? With having children? The American Library Association’s April 2022 press release recognizes this tension: “We support individual parents’ choices concerning their child’s reading and believe that parents should not have those choices dictated by others. [However] Young people need to have access to a variety of books from which they can learn about different perspectives. So, despite this organized effort to ban books, libraries remain ready to do what we always have: make knowledge and ideas available so people are free to choose what to read.” Parents are largely okay with this. The ALA commissioned a poll that found

“[three] quarters of parents of public school children (74%) express a high degree of confidence in school librarians to make good decisions about which books to make available to children, and when asked about specific types of books that have been a focus of local debates, large majorities say for each that they should be available in school libraries on an age-appropriate basis.”

However, parents are not unjustified in wanting to decide for themselves, either. That “age-appropriate” adjective has some gray area. A 2020 NIH study found that “Exposure to sexually explicit media in early adolescence is related to risky sexual behavior in emerging adulthood.” While the study’s only book-related media were comic books and magazines, the results are sobering… with one caveat: strict parental control also seems to have a link to perceived inappropriate sexual behavior for adolescents.

“For example, several family-related factors, such as harsh parenting [10–11], low parental control [12], and family cohesion [13] have been identified as risk factors for sexual risk-taking behavior and the underlying mechanisms are also presented (e.g., low parental control→low impulsive control→risky behavior or early maltreatment→negative emotions→risky behavior).”

That’s a startling thought for me as a teacher, knowing that what I put on my shelf has a part to play in a student’s maturing into adulthood. Yet, when I remember the many reasons that schools exist– to grow students into critical thinkers, to train them to be stewards of the world, to guide them into good citizenship, to prepare them for the workplace, etc.– that’s not all that startling, really.

3. Teachers are advocating for autonomy and the ability to provide the books students want.

I feel I can confidently say that teachers want the best for their students. They want students to have all the opportunities they can to grow and achieve what they want. They want students to learn about the world and what their place in it could look like. They want students to have imagination, creative problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and something that seems sorely lacking in today’s polarized political climate: empathy. Lastly, teachers want their students to… well, read.

If teachers are to get their students from the classroom through standards or benchmarks and come out the other side with those goals met, they need books that will grab student attention while also cultivating markers toward those goals. They need books that are high interest (or even hi-lo) mixed with more challenging texts that may not be high-lo but low-high or low-low or high-high). Students need a mix. If you only have vegetables with no mashed potatoes, it gets harder to convince a student that “If [they] don’t like to read, [they] haven’t found the right book yet” (attributed to J.K. Rowling). Even a lack of a specific book could drive someone to action. Toni Morrison once said, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

Teachers also know that, sometimes, students’ willingness to dive deeply into a story depends on whether or not they relate to the book; this connection seems straightforward, but merely relating to a book opens more opportunities to develop an understanding of differing experiences, like a window in Rudine Sims Biship’s “Mirrors, Windows, & Sliding Glass Doors” pedagogical framework (though there are alternate perspectives about the roles of stories as well). If teachers’ hands are tied away from stories that are timeless (even classics from the Bible to Diary of a Young Girl were banned in 2022 from a school in North Texas), we have to shift to different texts to teach critical thinking and empathy. If teachers can’t touch modern texts either because of protests from other places, their job gets more difficult with each school year.

4. School administration is facing increased scrutiny and requirements.

Even if you are not an administrator in a school today, you know the daunting task ahead of many school boards, principals, professional development coaches, curriculum coaches, and librarians, especially those in states like Texas (it’s starting to sound like I’m targeting Texas but it’s unintentional. Much happened in The Lone Star State). From being told to refer to enslaved African Americans as “workers” to a proposal to describe slavery as “involuntary relocation” in the 2nd-grade Social Studies curriculum, administrators receive directives from state education boards and have to filter through the implications (or, at the bare minimum, pass the consequences on to teachers). When school boards make changes or receive law changes from the government,

“These censorship efforts require tens of thousands of hours from teachers, librarians, and administrators to review the books and implement a system of censorship—all at a time when school resources are already stretched thin, and states across the country are facing teacher and staff shortages.” (CAP)

Granted, not every school has been dealing with book ban requests (or the sheer flood of book bans from their state — I’m looking at you, Florida) from parents or school boards. Some schools, by virtue of being private, have more freedom in the complexity of texts they offer in the curriculum as well as the interest level of books available for students. I must say this is the area where I feel most out of my depth in describing the tensions, but from what I understand of the news, it can’t be easy for the administration to make hard calls, either.

How to ease some of the tension between stakeholders

Here are some possible steps you can take, no matter what category you relate to most of the above “tension causes” in that rubber band.

Administrators: Support teachers in selecting diverse texts and teaching history with critical thinking and balanced understanding.

I know your hands are tied by other factors, but insofar as you have the choice to do so, put teachers in charge of selecting diverse texts. I’m grateful that my school allowed my English Literature colleagues and I to have a part in adding books to our curriculum rather than taking any away. It puts the choice of what to teach in the hands of the teacher, a person who will already be surrounding stories with context and questioning. A report from The Center for American Progress found that:

“A majority of Americans oppose the anti-public-education movement, which involves policy decisions that perpetuate discrimination and inequity in education by cutting or reallocating funding dedicated to public schools toward private or alternative schooling structures that tend to benefit the wealthy; want teachers and students to play a more active role in determining school curricula; and want schools to embrace diversity and inclusion. But this is not evident from many media headlines, which often sensationalize popular political talking points, even those with no basis in truth.”

You are not swimming upstream to defend the rights of students to read freely.

Parents: Participate in your student’s learning! Also, trust that teachers aren’t trying to indoctrinate (necessarily) but to guide.

Common Sense Media, a reviewing site used by many conservatives to check for content warnings in the media, says students should read banned books!

Remember that the reasons books get banned are varied. Ask your student about what they’ve been reading lately. Start a conversation! Who knows what you’ll find out about where they are in their learning journey?

At the risk of sounding passive-aggressive, I’d like to define indoctrination; indoctrination, as searched in the Oxford dictionary via Google, is “the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of beliefs uncritically.”

Most secondary schools, teaching philosophies, pedagogies, teacher certification programs, and universities would balk at a goal to have students not thinking critically about what they’re learning. It doesn’t compute with the aims of learning. Students thinking uncritically about what they’re learning would be an end goal worthy of teaching practice change.

We, teachers, are trying our best. I can say confidently that most of us do not want them to leave our classrooms as robots, programmed to think like we do. We want your children to learn and grow.

Teachers: Recognize your power and choose wisely.

Although this part may alienate some, I’d like to quote a book recently presented at my school’s professional learning conference this semester: Theology as a Way of Life by Adam Neder:

“The moment we begin to operate as quasi-omniscient gurus, experts with the solution to every problem, we exchange teaching for propaganda, instruction for demagoguery, the Word of God for our words about God. God does not call us to offer definitive counsel to our students, … Nor does God instruct us to deposit definitive theological formulations into their minds. … We are responsible for thinking with our students, not for them. To do otherwise is to confuse education with indoctrination.” (emphasis added)

We have great power to affect the lives of those who walk into our classrooms (and, as Uncle Ben says, “With great power comes great responsibility). This is a reminder for me as well as anyone listening.

One book on the shelf in my Speech teacher’s classroom became the catalyst for me becoming a teacher (I carry two copies of it in my classroom at all times). Bring on the books! Book floods rock! Just remember that you should look for books in places with differing lenses rather than just ones you agree with.

Here are some places to find book recommendations:

1. Edutopia — their suggestions are usually on-point in both student interest and in level of reading skills.
2. Common Sense Media — this is an excellent reviewing source for newer books. While you may disagree with the age levels recommended for each book or movie, the site includes detailed explanations for its ratings (down to the frequency of swear words). They also have an Educator’s page with resources for teaching digital citizenship, the best apps and websites, and professional development (in November, they had resources for teaching Native American Heritage Month).
3. Goodreads — Even though this brainchild of Amazon shows its bent, it’s an excellent resource for detailed, thorough explanations of books without a unified bias. You’ll see ratings and discussions of books that completely differ.
4. Coworkers — I ask my coworkers to give me book recommendations if I’m running low on books in my Amazon cart (Taiwan offers free shipping for qualifying purchases above 60 USD, so we pad our carts to qualify). Colleagues in education are invaluable resources! Use them.
5. Students — This seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how little students get asked what kind of books they’d like to see. My school’s library has a program where students can request books and they get ordered with the school library’s next book order.
6. Be willing to read — Time for professional development for teachers is already limited, but when you get the chance, read something your students are reading. Look for books that are popular right now and read them yourself. Better yet, get a colleague to read with you in a mini book club! That way, if your school bans a book, you are more likely to know it and know why it was banned.

Lastly, sometimes bans can be challenged. If you have the freedom and security to do so, do it! Support your students’ rights to read freely. They are fighting for it already.

John 8:32 says, “Then, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” No matter what part of the “Book Choice” rubber band you are pulling, recognize that there are people on the other side of that tension.

Brene Brown says in her book Dare to Lead, “I know my life is better when I work from the assumption that everyone is doing the best they can.”

Let’s work from that assumption about others and in ourselves as we seek truth and look for ways to set others free.

The post How can we ease tensions around book choice and school libraries? appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

That makes me so happy!  Podcasts have been instrumental in my growth as an educator (and as a human), and I love to see other people fall in love with podcasts, too.

I frequently listen to podcasts when going for walks, driving, running errands, preparing meals, cleaning, making art, exercising, stretching, and doing stuff around the house. That’s a pretty big proportion of my day, so I consume a LOT of audio content and have found some incredible shows.

I’ll admit that I’ve been hesitant to release a list like this, because there’s no way I could name all the great education podcasts in existence and I’m leaving some great folks out for sure. This is not a definitive list of the “best” podcasts, but rather, a curated collection of shows that I find simpatico with my own and help push my thinking.

My top education podcast recommendations for Truth for Teachers listeners

If you like my Truth for Teachers podcast, I think you’ll enjoy these, too.

1. Leading Equity Podcast

Hosted by the incredible Dr. Sheldon L. Eakins, The Leading Equity Podcast is all about empowering educators with the tools and resources they need to create equitable schools. Each episode is jam-packed with inspiring interviews and stories from the most influential voices in equity in education today. As a listener, you’ll come away with a wealth of practical tips and strategies that you can put into action right away to make a real difference in your school.

2. Cult of Pedagogy

A must-listen for any educator looking to stay ahead of the curve in their teaching practice! Hosted by seasoned educator Jennifer Gonzalez, this podcast explores the latest trends, strategies, and technologies in education (she comes up with an annual Ed Tech Guide). From classroom management to assessment techniques, Cult of Pedagogy covers a wide range of topics designed to help educators improve their craft and meet the needs of their students. With engaging interviews, real-world examples, and actionable advice, this podcast is the ultimate resource for teachers looking to stay inspired, informed, and connected with the education community.

3. The Bright Morning Podcast

Hosted by Elena Aguilar, a coaching expert and author, the Bright Morning podcast presents weekly guidance to educators aimed at fostering their success. The majority of the episodes focus on coaching but she also talks about equity and combatting racism in the education space. If you like the tone and mindset/resilience/communication topics covered on Truth for Teachers, I think you’ll really enjoy Elena’s work.

4. Too Dope Teachers and a Mic

Too Dope Teachers and a Mic is a podcast hosted by the only black and brown teachers in their school: Kevin Adams and Gerardo Munoz. Together, they deliver a refreshing take on important topics like equity, social justice, teacher wellness, and more. A lot of their episodes feature various educators and thought leaders who are making a difference in the world of education. This podcast pushes me to be a better, more empathetic educator (and person) by highlighting perspectives often missing in K-12 conversations. It’s light-hearted and very informal, but also incredibly insightful.

5. TED Talks Education

If you want to be inspired or challenged about what education can and should be, you’ll love TED Talks Education. This podcast features a diverse range of voices, all of whom are dedicated to exploring the latest trends and ideas in the field. The episodes are available either as a podcast or as a video. They’re quite short but very meaty–perfect if you don’t have a lot of time.

6. Burned-In Teacher Podcast

The Burned-In Teacher Podcast is a weekly show for educators who are looking for ways to rekindle their love for teaching. Hosted by veteran teacher, Amber Harper, this podcast explores the challenges and triumphs of the teaching profession, offering practical tips and strategies for staying motivated and engaged in the classroom. If you’re feeling teacher tired, you can get started with her episode on how to combat teacher fatigue and keep yourself energized. Whether you’re a new teacher just starting out, or a seasoned veteran looking for fresh inspiration, Amber and her guests are the perfect resource for anyone who wants to keep their teaching fire burning bright.

7. The Balance with Catlin Tucker

Dr. Catlin Tucker is a veteran educator and authority on technology, blended learning, and balance. In this podcast, she uses her expertise to help teachers find more sustainable approaches to teaching (I interviewed her on my Truth for Teachers podcast to talk about that exact topic). The Balance with Catlin Tucker is packed with solid strategies and inspiring advice. This mini episode on self-management is only 10 minutes long but is super helpful for teachers who want to incorporate their SEL skills when working with students. Catlin frequently talks with thought leaders to explore the question, “How do we empower ourselves to create and implement boundaries both inside and outside of the classroom?”

8. The Creative Classroom with John Spencer

The Creative Classroom with John Spencer is a podcast for educators looking to infuse creativity and innovation into their teaching practices. It’s hosted by John Spencer, a former middle school teacher and now a professor and best-selling author. From discussions on project-based learning and design thinking to tips on how to foster a culture of innovation in the classroom, this show focuses on making learning more impactful for students. John also offers insights into how teachers can tap into their own creativity and bring new energy to their classrooms.

9. Always a Lesson

This is the podcast I recommend most for people who are looking for a podcast similar to Truth for Teachers in topic, format, and tone, because its host and I think so much alike. The Always a Lesson podcast has a single goal: to empower educators to reach their full potential. Hosted by Gretchen Bridgers (formerly Schultek), a seasoned teacher, teacher coach, and trainer, the show focuses on supporting teacher leaders such as peer mentors, cooperating teachers for student teachers, and instructional coaches. Through expert guidance, Gretchen helps these educators develop and implement effective, empowering support models that drive student success and teacher satisfaction. Whether you’re looking for support and guidance as you grow in your career, or seeking inspiration and new ideas, the Always a Lesson podcast is the perfect resource for any educator who is committed to always finding the lesson.

10. The Transformed Teacher

The Transformed Teacher is an uplifting weekly podcast that centers on finding balance and happiness in both teachers’ professional and personal lives. Hosted by Meredith Newlin, the episodes focus on topics like reducing stress, increasing organization, and making a comeback from burnout. From discussions on self-care, to insights on how to get through to students more effectively, The Transformed Teacher is a supportive and empowering resource for anyone looking to find more joy in their teaching.

11. The Resilient Teacher Podcast

The Resilient Teacher podcast with Brittany Blackwell, M.Ed., provides educators with the resources and mindset needed to combat burnout and maintain a sustainable teaching career. With a new episode every Tuesday, this podcast can help personalize your self-care, prioritize your well-being, and have a greater impact on your classroom and community.

12. Teachers Need Teachers

Teachers Need Teachers is a podcast that’s focused on providing support to new and beginning teachers as they navigate their initial years in the profession, helping them thrive instead of just surviving. It is hosted by Kim Lepre, a 40 Hour Teacher Workweek alumni, experienced educator, and instructional coach. In the episodes, she shared her insights and best practices on a variety of topics relevant to the teaching profession.

13. The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast

Betsy Potash shares so many practical, relatable teaching ideas in this show. Though topics are geared toward middle and high school English teachers, there are tons of episodes that will help any K-12 educator stay creative. Betsy is thoughtful, intentional, and embodies thinking outside of the box, and I especially appreciate her equity-focused lens.

Want more? Check out the dozens of excellent K-12 podcasts available on the BAM radio network for educators. You’ll find high-quality, professionally produced shows on every education topic imaginable.  Seriously–if you love podcasts, don’t miss this site!

Also, I personally don’t listen to ed tech podcasts very often, but if that’s an area of interest for you, check out Dr. Monica Burns’ Easy EdTech podcast and The Shake Up Learning Show with Kasey Bell. Both are extremely informative and share lots of great practical classroom tips. They’re great resources for folks who want to stay current with trends in education and make new ed tech innovations work for them.

Limited series education podcasts

Although no longer producing new episodes, these limited series podcasts are still definitely worth your time and will push you to think more deeply about how K-12 education functions.

Nice White Parents

“Nice White Parents” is a podcast produced by Serial and The New York Times that examines the ways in which well-intentioned white parents can perpetuate systemic racism in the American education system. The show dives into the 60-year history of a New York City public school, PS 45, and follows the experiences of Black and Latino students, families, and educators as they navigate the challenges posed by well-intentioned white parents and a history of school segregation. The podcast provides a unique and thought-provoking look at the ways in which race and class intersect to shape the American education system.

Southlake

Southlake is a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of race and class in America and how that impacts education. In Southlake, Texas, on the surface, everything appears to be perfect – beautiful homes, strong community spirit, and top-notch schools. But when a video emerged showing high school students using a racial slur, the town was rocked to its core. Black residents came forward to share stories of racist bullying and harassment, leading the school board to take action. Yet, the unveiling of the Cultural Competence Action Plan sparked a heated debate that divided the community. Hosted by NBC News national reporter Mike Hixenbaugh and correspondent Antonia Hylton as they delve into the depths of Southlake to uncover the truth behind this seemingly idyllic town.

Sold a Story

In Sold a Story, the investigative journalist Emily Hanford delves into the reading crisis affecting millions of children. Despite decades of research on how children learn to read, many schools are disregarding the findings and instead investing in training and materials based on a discredited theory. This six-part podcast exposes the authors and a publishing company profiting from this flawed approach. Anyone who’s taught reading will find this relatable, and it’s a good listen for any educator who wonders how certain understandings in education become canon.

Crash Course Black American History

This limited series podcast has 50 episodes that cover the full spectrum of Black American History. Hosted by Clint Smith, he talks about key events and personalities — from the first enslaved Black people to touch American soil at Jamestown to the current Black Lives Matter movement. More than a history lesson, the podcast is an opportunity to deepen our understanding and appreciation for the vital role Black Americans have played in shaping our country and its culture.

Teaching Hard History

Teaching Hard History is a podcast that explores difficult and often neglected aspects of American history. Though it’s technically not a limited series and IS producing new episodes, they are organized by topic/season in a way that makes it easier to consume the content like a limited series. It’s produced by Learning for Justice (formerly Teaching Tolerance) which has tons of great educator resources. Through discussions with experts and educators, the podcast delves into topics around systemic injustice, with the aim of promoting a deeper understanding of the past and its ongoing impact on society today.

Non-education podcasts I enjoy

In addition to the list above, here are some of the podcasts not specifically related to K-12 teaching that I often listen to. I don’t necessarily agree with or endorse everything on these shows, but folks ask me a lot what non-education-related shows I enjoy. Here’s a partial list of the ones I listen to most frequently:

• The Daily
• The Ezra Klein Show
• Why Is This Happening? The Chris Hayes Podcast
• Pantsuit Politics
• We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle
• You’re Wrong About
• Consider This from NPR
• Hidden Brain
• The One You Feed
• Into America
• TED Radio Hour
• Undistracted with Brittany Packnett Cunningham
• Work in Progress with Sophia Bush
• Lectures in American History
• Throughline
• Citations Needed
• Oprah’s SuperSoul
• The Argument
• The Backwards Podcast

What K-12 education podcasts do you listen to?

There’s no way that I could name all the great education podcasts that are out there, but I hope this list is enough to get you started! Please share your favorites in the comments, and if you’re an educator who recently started a podcast, let us know that, too, so we can follow you!

The post My favorite podcasts for teachers and K-12 educators appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

One student calling another an ugly name? “Hey, now, give dignity.” A contentious tone erupting at a team meeting? “Teachers, let’s not forget to give one another dignity.”

I was brand new to the school and not at all familiar with its culture and traditions. Since I’d recently moved from out of state, I didn’t ask about “give dignity” or anything else that confused me. I didn’t want to look dumb. So I stayed quiet and worked hard. And hoped I’d eventually get it.

Eventually, I did.

Most of the kids at this school lived in poverty or gang-troubled neighborhoods. A majority were not U.S. citizens, and most did not speak English as their first language.

If ever there was a group of people used to not being on the receiving end of dignity, this was it.

Everything about their lived experiences shouted indignity. Were they treated as humans as they crossed the border and were ushered into detention centers? Did they feel worthwhile packed into tiny apartments with many folks sharing one bathroom? How dignifying an experience was it to walk through a sea of concrete and litter on their way to school?

As you might imagine, quite a few of our students struggled to speak to each other with kind words. And yet, the faculty worked hard — really hard — to be gentle and respectful to those children and to each other at every turn.

I saw the effects. Even though students rolled their eyes and said, “Yah, yah, I gotta give dignity, miss, whatever,” they did.

They learned to use uplifting language, kind words, and compassion. They saw they could offer respect and a second chance to an offending neighbor, and in so doing they came to believe they were worthy of respect and dignity themselves.

The majority of them went on to attend colleges and universities. Some of the kids I taught became social workers, computer scientists, engineers, and yes, teachers.

I no longer teach at that school, but in the years since, I’ve thought a lot about this idea of giving dignity. I’ve come to see it as a kind of recognition of the inherent worth of the occupants of the desks in front of me and of my colleagues down the hall.

To be honest, though, most days, I’m pretty terrible at it.

I no longer work in a school system that elevates humanity, so, frankly, I forget to.

It’s become easy for me to prioritize looming tests over really listening to my students. The pressures of my calendar constantly win over compassion. I miss linking arms with colleagues who emphatically insisted on giving dignity as emphatically as they insisted on anything else.

Seeing my students and my fellow teachers as a blurry sea of tasks has robbed me of the joy of my work. Worse, so much worse, is that this kind of thinking dehumanizes, well … humans.

And isn’t it precisely the dehumanizing of each other that has landed us in this unprecedentedly polarizing time?

I want to suggest that the necessity of giving dignity has never been more urgent. I also want to suggest there is no better place to begin practicing and teaching dignity than in our schools.

Giving dignity to our colleagues

I believe before we can encourage our students to show dignity to one another, we teachers have to be willing to do same. This looks like listening more than speaking, asking questions instead of jumping to judgment.

I was recently in a meeting with my fellow coaches, plus a couple of other folks on our team. We were on a very cordial, education-focused footing until someone used a phrase that included the word patriotism. Someone else hotly responded with a phrase that included the word oppression.

In less than 60 seconds, we’d flown from collegiality to red-faced anger.

While it is so tempting to take sides and engage in whispered, “Can you believe …” conversations, this disregards the worth of people.

What if, instead, we listened and asked questions? How might that meeting have gone differently if someone had said, “I can see you feel strongly about this. Tell me more.”

To be honest, I agreed with one of my co-workers in that quick exchange … and disagreed with the other. I would have loved to jump on the eye-rolling bandwagon.

But because I know the person whose politics annoy me, it was a lot harder for me to dismiss him. I know about his exceptionally traumatic childhood and his beloved veteran grandfather. I know how much he cares about our students and works hard to help them. We have a relationship based on respect, so reducing him to a political stance was impossible.

I do not mean to suggest we should ever acquiesce to belief systems that in and of themselves are dehumanizing. But we will never move towards understanding on the big issues if we constantly shut down and shut out during every disagreement.

So let’s listen. Let’s ask questions. Let’s avoid gossip. Let’s seek to create a workplace that celebrates the goodness of all of us by attempting to give dignity wherever we find the chance.

How to humanize your classroom so kids are known, valued, respected, & safe

Giving dignity to students

In the same way it can feel nearly impossible to find harmony in our adult work relationships, the same is true with our students. Perhaps even more so when the student population is challenging.

One of the schools I support takes place inside a residential detention center. The youths there have been sentenced to serve time for crimes they were convicted of. Most are not contrite and ready to be rehabilitated. Nope. They are angry and hurt.

Have you heard the phrase that hurt people hurt people? I can confirm it’s true (and I bet you can, too). It’s extremely difficult to respond to their coarse and bitter words with kindness and compassion. But it’s possible … and worth it.

Here are a few suggestions to help you think about ways to give dignity in your classroom.

• Teach to students’ interests. This can feel like a herculean task in this age where teachers have less and less input on content. Yet nothing says “I see you” more than giving students content that piques their curiosity and speaks to their interests. Let make it relevant become the backbone of your lesson planning. At that detention center I mentioned, some of the most angry, volitive young men began treating me like a much-beloved aunt because I brought them books I thought they’d like. It was just that simple.
• Differentiate the heck out of your lessons. You have students sitting in the desks in your classroom who are academically lost. Erect every ladder you can find to help them climb up to their grade level. (There are outstanding resources for easy differentiation right here at Truth for Teachers.) Offer your kids dignity by refusing to let them fall even further behind while on your watch.
• Attend professional development related to childhood trauma. You’ll pick up loads of ideas, not to mention a generous amount of understanding that will help you see difficult students in a whole new light. Google “trauma-informed teaching” for an avalanche of information and strategies.
• Read your students’ IEPs and student files. Call home. In other words, seek to understand who they are and where they’ve come from. All of this will transform your thinking about your students, so you can see them as people rather than problems.

An example: a few months ago, as part of a research project, I reached out to the parents of a young man who had already graduated to talk to them about their experiences in our school system. By the end of our interview, I was stunned.

This mom told me about her son’s early childhood, the years when he didn’t speak or make eye contact, the physical harm he’d caused himself. I’d known none of that when I taught her child. I was ashamed. More importantly, I was convicted.

Recognize the dignity in your students by listening to their caregivers and reading their files. This may sound like a ton of work, but it doesn’t have to be. Once a month, skip grading one whole assignment. Use the time you would have been grading to make a phone call home or to do a little background reading about one of your students.

(By the way, you can file that ungraded assignment as student work samples. You’ll be glad you did when you are invited to a parent-teacher conference and need anecdotal evidence.)

The ultimate guide to authentically creating a secondary classroom where students feel safe, welcome, & whole

Helping students give dignity to one another

Once you are working towards practicing dignity with your colleagues and your students, you are ready to give your students tools to practice dignity with each other.

My number one suggestion? Encourage do-overs.

Here’s what that looks like:

Amanda: Jeez, Jonathan, do you seriously have to keep tapping your pencil like that? You’re driving me insane. Gah, you’re so annoying.

Teacher: (quietly to Amanda) Hey, let’s try that again. How could you more kindly make your request?

Over and over, ask your students to try again. When they’re stumped (and they will be), equip them with sentence starters and replacement phrases.

Together, create “Say this instead of that” word lists. Create scenarios that convey the opposite of dignity, and then have students act them out with kinder revisions.

In other words: practice, practice, and practice some more. As your students get better at using value-giving words in little ways, you can move on to more potentially inflammatory topics.

Will your older kids roll their eyes? Yep.

But I promise you, they will eventually get it. And by eventually, I don’t necessarily mean in your classroom. But someday they will. Someday they will see their own worth and so, the worth of the people around them.

Classroom meetings: Your most powerful tool for creating a respectful, inclusive class culture

Giving dignity to ourselves

One last thing …

Refuse to participate in systems that lack dignity.

Some of you are teaching in environments that do not give you dignity. In whatever way is right for you, say no. You cannot possibly give compassion and kindness to the folks around you if you are not experiencing those things yourself.

In her book This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us, Cole Arthur Riley says, “To be human in an aching world is to know our dignity and become people who safeguard the dignity of everything around us.”

Let’s engender dignity in our schools and in our classrooms. Let’s give it in heaps to our students and our colleagues. Let’s insist on dignity for ourselves.

The post Give dignity: countering a culture of disrespect and dehumanization in school appeared first on Truth For Teachers.

Your thumb is upright? Yeah, same.

This past year was difficult, and to be honest, I almost didn’t make it through. I felt even more pressure, in the face of so many upheavals, to present a very specific front at work and while teaching.

It  took a few months before I remembered a lesson from one of my college professors. Dr. Kelly instilled in us, through the work of Arlie Russell Hochschild, how important it is to be authentic as a teacher.

It’s so vital to bring your full self to work, and actively subvert the expectation that teachers must be performers or craft carefully-controlled personas to be successful.

But what does this look like in practice?

Well … it requires vulnerability. It requires bringing our full selves to the work we do and being courageous enough to be vulnerable with our students.

Vulnerability though brings its own challenges, and vulnerability in the classroom brings its own unique layers of difficulty.

On a recent (amazing, life-changing, unbelievably perfect) teacher group trip to Egypt I experienced, this exact subject came up.

A group of us sat around by the pool late into the night after dinner. We were debriefing the truly life-changing experiences we’d had traveling with each other, leaning on and learning from each other, and collectively healing after this past school year. We’d created a space where each of us on the trip could be vulnerable with each other, but how could we take that back into our classrooms?

How could we take this feeling of authenticity, respect, safety, and joy and pour it into our students?

How could we hold on to these feelings ourselves, and bring this sense of peace back to the adults in our various buildings?

As teachers do, we shared best practices, building off of each others’ stories and experiences to craft the following tips to successfully bring vulnerability to our teaching. Here’s what I took away from the conversation.

1. Work within institutional safety.

This is the big one. Many teachers don’t feel safe to bring their full identities or selves into the classroom, whether that’s for fear for job termination, parent push-back, or even kids taking advantage of those pieces of you that you share.

If you don’t have any institutional support for what identities and sides of yourself you want to share, then please tread carefully, developing a coalition to support you if you get push back.

And if you truly don’t feel safe to do so, continue to do what you need to do to survive in your school setting.

2. Make sure it’s something that is safe for you to share.

Often, vulnerability takes a toll. So, if you’re opening up and digging deep with your students, be sure that you’re sharing what you feel is safe for your own mental health.

Ask yourself if this is something that’s safe and developmentally appropriate for your students to learn about you as well.

3. Focus on sharing something students can relate to.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re only vulnerable in ways, or about things, that are already familiar to your students. It can mean that, but it can also mean that it’s clearly and deeply related to the lesson, a conversation you’re having, or a relevant piece of the shared zeitgeist.

In other words, you want to make sure that what you’re sharing and how you’re sharing it doesn’t “turn the students off” from their learning, or the classroom community.

4. Consider consequences if the information went public.

We live in an era of constant videography, and kids frequently share what their teachers say — with each other, with families, with community members, with other teachers.

Before sharing, pause to make sure that if everyone in your life knew this information, you would be okay.

You don’t want to make your students feel responsible for your safety and security. Rather, we want them to see the power in vulnerability, and model ways to be responsibly vulnerable.

5. Think about how your sharing can push learning forward.

Consider whether you’re going to be sharing and opening up to help your students learn something, whether that’s a standard or something beyond the range of the Common Core’s metrics.

Vulnerability is not something we should use to manipulate anyone, so make sure that what you’re sharing is rooted in the learning, not in leveraging something purely for personal gain.

For white cis-women who teach, please make sure that you’re not weaponizing vulnerability and using it to center your own experiences over those of other community members (students, staff, families, etc.), especially community members of color.

6. Don’t be afraid of the mess.

Vulnerability is messy!

Vulnerability with 20-30 kids at once might be messier. And that’s okay. You might make a mistake, or there might be some unforeseen consequence.

By modeling how to focus on the self-affirming and community-building capacity of vulnerability, you’ll be showing students a radical way of approaching work and life that can ultimately help them feel more connected to themselves and to each other.

And that might just end up helping them (continue) to create the change in our world we know they are capable of.

I stopped being a “polished professional” and started showing up in my classroom as an authentic, messy human. Here’s what happened.

The post What’s it mean to be vulnerable with students (and when/how should teachers do it)? appeared first on Truth For Teachers.