#RuralEdChat is a chat that focuses on the needs of the rural educator. This chat has been revised by Tammy Neil (@MathNeil), John Martin (@edventures) and Natalee Stotz (@nataleestotz).
Good evening, #RuralEdChat friends. Kicking things off here from Wisconsin. Let us know if you are joining us tonight to talk about supporting student initiatives & encouraging agency.
Hey #RuralEdChat! I'm Matt, a volunteer teacher and teacher trainer for computer science, partner with a school in central WA. Super excited to talk about supporting student agency tonight!
Special thanks to @try_rebooting who sparked our topic during last week's chat and to @bivey for a post he wrote about supporting his students' advocacy in the aftermath of the tragedy at Parkland. #RuralEdChat
Hi, #RuralEdChat! I'm actually in Cambridge tonight, having been at a (superb) PD Day on diversity/equity/inclusion. One of my students inspired me with this, written the same day as the #Parkland tragedy:
https://t.co/khxVnBzZXL
Good evening, #RuralEdChat friends. Kicking things off here from Wisconsin. Let us know if you are joining us tonight to talk about supporting student initiatives & encouraging agency.
Thanks so much for being here, everyone. I want to honor the students and teachers of #Parkland & every school that has experienced violence. Could we just share some thoughts on this before we dive in? #RuralEdChat
Did everyone see the video of their principal's message to the school community? So moving.
And, as everyone is saying (because it is true), the kids are stepping up like professionals.
This are points that give me strength...
#RuralEdChat
... but I do need strength, because my heart is broken for them and for all of us. I see Sandy Hook parents turning their grief into amazing work, but what they are still going through and will for the rest of their lives ... #tears
We. Must. Do. Better.
#RuralEdChat
I want to thank the student survivors of #Parkland for helping change my view about keeping grief and politics separate. This grief is political, and it should be motivating. #RuralEdChat
How are all y'all's kids dealing with it? Honestly, my seventh graders were *sooooooooooo* focused on finishing and performing their Spirit Week Colour Wars script, it never actually came up in my class.
#ruraledchat
... but I do need strength, because my heart is broken for them and for all of us. I see Sandy Hook parents turning their grief into amazing work, but what they are still going through and will for the rest of their lives ... #tears
We. Must. Do. Better.
#RuralEdChat
This is really relevant to our work as educators. At what point are we allowed to be human in the face of things that happen in the spaces we show up to every day? #ruraledchat
Beautiful and heartbreaking. I have these moments where I can't believe this is happening in our schools. Thank you for sharing these, Christian. #RuralEdChat
It hasn't really in ours either. Not sure if it was because it was across the country from us, or because there was a shooting at a school about 2 hours away earlier this year, so Ss don't feel there's much new to discuss #RuralEdChat
And of course, some #Parkland students are being more private, if that's what *they* need. My main concerns are that they are each getting what they need, and that the ones going public stay safe online - and, I suppose, off.
#RuralEdChat
1. I teach 2nd grade.
2. We're on a weeklong break.
3. I usually just have to address students w/ inappropriate older siblings &, sadly, inappropriate parents who overshare & spook.
4. We do lockdown & active shooter trainings & drills, but don't we all?
#ruraledchat
So many people give the message that teachers shouldn't be political and have to always put the kids ahead of ourselves. But all teaching *is* political one way or another, and our showing our humanity actually helps them, I think.
#RuralEdChat
I think it takes time to understand how to move thru things as humans as educators.I remember wanting to ask during ALICE training in my last district if we could at least spend some time advocating for things outside of just reacting. I sensed the room &stayed quiet #ruraledchat
I am deeply unhappy, but not surprised, to see people attempting to invalidate #Parkland and #SandyHook survivors. This is the world we live in. But it's also the world in which both groups of survivors reach out to each other. Good happens. So does change. #RuralEdChat
Since I'm sensing more of a conversational style to our #ruraledchat tonight, I want to encourage us to keep going with the threads that move us. I may throw out a few general Qs.
So, granting that different age groups have radically differing needs, how could #Parkland connect back to student agency in different ways (directly and/or by creating a context fort later in life)?
#ruraledchat
So, granting that different age groups have radically differing needs, how could #Parkland connect back to student agency in different ways (directly and/or by creating a context fort later in life)?
#ruraledchat
I'm networked with a Sandy Hook mom who forever reaches out to parents at new tragedies. While I'm an agnostic, I know no other way to put it but that she is doing God's work.
#RuralEdChat
Probably. But one of the things I've learned about politics in the past year is that we cannot become complacent about the abnormal. And this is where I'm starting. #RuralEdChat
So, granting that different age groups have radically differing needs, how could #Parkland connect back to student agency in different ways (directly and/or by creating a context fort later in life)?
#ruraledchat
I think Bill's Q is really https://t.co/Cn6iE05TdU do we support agency in our youngest students?It really does involve key qualities in the teacher. Listening to what's important to Ss even if it's not on our radar as adults builds cultures of true respect. #ruraledchat
That's an interesting thought. I try to deliberately cultivate advocacy in my kids (I once literally said in class that "Sometimes, authority needs to be challenged."), as do others, but you're talking a generational trend. That is indeed a good thing.
#RuralEdChat
In reply to
@Dale_Chu, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting, @robinhosemann
So, granting that different age groups have radically differing needs, how could #Parkland connect back to student agency in different ways (directly and/or by creating a context fort later in life)?
#ruraledchat
I think taking it a step further is important too. More than just listening, we have to prompt for dissent and discontentment, we have to encourage them to challenge us and the system we exist in. That's the first step tothem getting there on their own. #RuralEdChat
Oh, goodness, yes! I've also told kids I want them to challenge me if they see a reason to, that what's best for all should be our guiding principle. I've become pretty good at being challenged, so I guess it's working.
#RuralEdChat
Absolutely. I appreciate how you framed this. If we are uncomfortable with dissent, then do we belong in the leadership of learning communities, especially in this nation? #ruraledchat
I think taking it a step further is important too. More than just listening, we have to prompt for dissent and discontentment, we have to encourage them to challenge us and the system we exist in. That's the first step tothem getting there on their own. #RuralEdChat
I'm the advisor of our elementary school newspaper. It gives the students a venue & a voice. Right now they R asking & writing about why Ts get 2 decide winners of door deco contests & songs 4 morning exercise. #RuralEdChat
When Columbine happened, many thought it was a one-off event. As more shootings happened, we slowly became desensitized. This generation, on the other hand, has never known otherwise and are now fed up with it. Makes me feel that our future is in great hands. #ruraledchat
In reply to
@bivey, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting, @robinhosemann
I think we have to be willing to live with the messiness of a group process. Once you've done it and seen it through to the end, you see how and why it works and learn to trust the process (and increase trust in the kids). But that first jump can feel verrrrry scary.
#RuralEdChat
Every day I aspire to get more like this, and more comfortable with it.
It's been helpful to look up and see others (you) being a good example for me #RuralEdChat
Indeed. On some level, I'm ashamed that teenagers had to be the ones to finally move us forward. And that children lost their lives in places that should be sanctuaries. #ruraledchat
In reply to
@Dale_Chu, @bivey, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting
Ah, yes. And in so doing, teaching that democracy is never neat and tidy. Rarely comfortable. Always dependent on continuing to advocate and articulate positions. #ruraledchat
It's helpful to all of us to network and support each other. Without Mark Springer's kind support, I don't know for sure if I would have taken the first step. And helping each other grow in the process, as with all teachers, is fundamentally important.
#RuralEdChat
I think we have to be willing to live with the messiness of a group process. Once you've done it and seen it through to the end, you see how and why it works and learn to trust the process (and increase trust in the kids). But that first jump can feel verrrrry scary.
#RuralEdChat
Only with a few kids, and even then, mostly at the beginning of the year. Kids who excel at "doing (traditional) school" - "tell me what to do and I'll do it" and "What would my grade be if we had them?" - take the longest to come around.
#RuralEdChat
Totally agree. What is incredible is that the national debate is not about whether or not schools should be sanctuaries, but whether or not we should be arming teachers. I mean, I remember not being trusted with the code to the copier, but hey, here's a handgun. #ruraledchat
In reply to
@robinhosemann, @bivey, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting
I am too. And like my grief, I'm trying to embrace my shame. I'm ashamed because I should have been acting differently. I won't hope this shame goes away, I will do my best to make sure it can't come back. #RuralEdChat
In reply to
@robinhosemann, @Dale_Chu, @bivey, @SJ_Grubb
Oh, Dale. Yes. All the incongruencies in this idea...I’m seeing posts and messages from friends and family members suggesting this. Absolutely no detailed understanding of what militarizing our teaching community would look like or entail. Unbelievable. #ruraledchat
In reply to
@Dale_Chu, @bivey, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting
I take a teeny tiny bit of solace in that some people are finally acknowledging it would take military training to respond well in this kind of crisis. But digging in on armed adults, even veterans, as the only viable solution - I so disagree, for so many reasons.
#RuralEdChat
In reply to
@Dale_Chu, @robinhosemann, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting
Exactly those are the students who trouble me the most some days. Trying to fix that in the classroom. So we don’t end up with a generation of bystanders and robots. #ruraledchat
I mean this to be a comfort - what's done is done, but what's yet to be is a choice. We need more teachers like you, who are human and imperfect and, grounded in empathy, work to grow.
#RuralEdChat
In reply to
@try_rebooting, @robinhosemann, @Dale_Chu, @SJ_Grubb
I tell them research (backed with the weight of @AMLE), experience, and positive feedback from HS teachers tell me what I'm doing leads to the greatest growth. And I acknowledge and don't try to minimize their discomfort.
That our HS has grades complicates things.
#RuralEdChat
1. Was teaching a Washington-Lincoln unit 2 my 2nd graders. HS aides kept blurting wrong answers. Example: Q-Who killed Lincoln. A1-JFK. A2-John Adams. I flipped the class. HS as students. 2nders as aides. HSers looked in wonder as I used Google Maps directions... #ruraledchat
In WI, the last teacher evaluation framework allowed teachers to only reach the highest level if students were taking initiative in classes & leadership roles in determining directions for content & skills development. I think it was based off Danielson, but not sure #ruraledchat
In reply to
@bivey, @try_rebooting, @ajonesmesd, @AMLE
Someone compared it to post 9/11: when we put air marshals on planes. We haven’t had a successful attack since. While there is a crisis, I don’t think we as a country believe the solution to the underlying problem is a weapon in every school. We’re better than this. #ruraledchat
In reply to
@robinhosemann, @bivey, @SJ_Grubb, @try_rebooting
I’ve noticed that 20% time has been a big help in letting them show their creativity and self directed learning. But I still get the “can’t we do the DOK1 workbook?” No!!! #ruraledchat. How do we get away from that?
2. to show difference between Washington State & Washington D.C. Told them they were going 2 get remedial civics lessons in my class because I want them 2B informed when they choose not to vote soon. #ruraledchat
This is common. The path of least resistance, the easiest hoop to jump through for "credit." I'm hopeful that persistence in swinging the pendulum away from industrial models of "sit and get" will prevail. Slowly but surely! #ruraledchat
I think it took a few years - maybe as many as three - for student choice/agency in our program to get nearly universal student buy-in. I refused to budge, they eventually gave up on me, and then they gradually realized not only did they like it, it worked!
#RuralEdChat
I'm deeply grateful for your presence here tonight for #ruraledchat and for your work out there in the world with young people. I feel like we barely scratched the surface of this topic and should revisit, yes?
I told them they had Presidents killing Presidents across centuries and, therefore, the basis of some potentially good fiction, but not the basis for my confidence in their citizenship. #RuralEdChat
I think the framework for evaluation was being revisited but I remember several sections where student initiative was indicated on the rubrics.I think teacher eval is in flux again in our state,but I've stepped away fr formal classroom work so I'm a bit out of touch! #ruraledchat
In reply to
@ajonesmesd, @bivey, @try_rebooting, @AMLE
