November 10, 2016

My first year teaching I had the bright-eyed innocence of a recent college grad sent to change the world. I had 3 ELA classes ranging in size from 12 to 32.  My first block class was a diverse group but most of whom were on the lower end of the socio-economic scale.
I began a lesson one day on parts of speech by writing a (random) sentence on the board.

The big brown dog barked angrily at the old man.

"Can anyone tell me the adjectives in this sentence?" I asked, trying to gauge what prior knowledge they might hopefully have.*

I called on some student (I don't remember who) who began, "uh, big... brown-"
"THAT'S RACIST!" another student yelled.
I was blown away and super confused. "Wait. What is racist?" Maybe he was yelling at/about someone else that I had missed.
"Brown! He said brown! That's racist!" the student (who was Hispanic) continued to shout.

I remember trying very hard in that moment to convey that in general, colors were not racist. I tried to explain what racist meant and that it was a serious accusation, not one to throw around lightly.  I remember feeling unsuccessful at explaining racism (and parts of speech) by the end of that class.  (I also used a different sentence in my lesson the rest of the day.)

A few weeks later Obama was elected. I was still getting used to my student population and my role as a teacher. That morning when the students were released from the gym, where they were held before homeroom, they came down the hallway completely different than ever before.  There was a lot of chanting "OBAMA" and a lot of almost fights (mostly between white and black students). I later discovered just how little the average middle school understood about politics and elections in America as a boy explained to me how his "mama's getting a job today cause Obama is the president- hope and change!" When I tried to explain that the inauguration wouldn't be for several weeks and that this change would be a slow one, he wrote me off. Nope- Obama won!

Source

Eight years later I sat in my house the day after an election and tried to make sense of it on my own (my 11 month old wasn't much help). I voted for Hillary. I'm pretty moderate in my politics and try to do my research before voting. This year I couldn't rationalize Donald Trump.  I couldn't support his blatantly offensive and inflammatory rhetoric so, for me there was little to no choice. I couldn't bring myself to vote 3rd party, so despite my reservations about Clinton, she got my vote.

Yesterday I had a hard time. I was very surprised that Trump won.  Generally I don't have a huge issue with Republican leadership.  I do however, have a great concern for what his election means.

I have been following Shaun King's twitter account today. (If you haven't looked at it, I encourage you to do so.) It is filled with story after story of how people are using this election to justify and exercise their hate. Many of these stories are from schools around the country. It is heart breaking.  But just like I had students 8 years ago excited by the promise of hope and change, I know there are just as many students excited by the new prospect of change.  I spoke to several of my former colleagues last night who told me "today was hard." I didn't get specifics, but I can imagine that they had students confused and afraid. They also had students like the one who (actually) said on Tuesday, "Trump better win because then that's a Christian on the board of politics and not a Muslim worshipper like Hillary."



Right now, we are stuck with the results.  I do agree that whining is unproductive.
Moving forward, this is what I would like to see us focus on: 

1.  LISTEN

I saw this tweet Tuesday night and it made me pause.

Source

We need to really start listening to each other. I don't care who you voted for or didn't for that matter, but if you have something you want or need to say, I want to listen.  I may not agree with you.  But I don't want to make assumptions or accusations.  I think we could all benefit from more listening.  True communication happens when both sides listen.  Right now there are people who don't care, who are happy, who are confused, who are angry, who are sad, and who are afraid. Find out directly from the people in your life how they are feeling and work to really listen to them.  Fill your social media feed with voices that provide a window into how others different from you feel, not just those who mirror your own views.

2.    DON'T TOLERATE, ACCEPT, PARTICIPATE IN, CONDONE, OR IGNORE HATE. 

This one is hard.  Especially if you are trying to listen.  Calling people racists isn't going to solve anything. But allowing bigotry and hatred to win isn't going to solve anything either. Its sometimes a very fine line.  If in doubt, don't post it. If in doubt, aim to treat others how you want to be treated.


3. Remember that THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE IN NEED.

People recovering from Hurricane Matthew. People in Aleppo.  People.  If you can help, do so.

4.     If you are a teacher or a parent, remember that YOU ARE PREPARING THE NEXT GENERATION OF VOTERS and take that responsibility seriously.

Read as much as you can.  Provide children with books that empower, encourage, and educate.  Do not be afraid of history.  Educate yourself and the children entrusted to you about the history of our country, especially the ugly stuff.  We truly cannot move forward if we do not understand where we have been.


I still have a lot of emotions about this election. 

If you want to talk, I will listen.




*Teaching parts of speech is garbage and pretty useless in this way.