Have you ever been confronted by someone with a question about a topic that you feel deeply about and want to be supportive of, but you just can't find the right words to say when confronted with an opposing view?
This exact thing happened to me a few weeks ago after we had a student check a book out of our library that was called This Day in June. If you haven't read it, it's a beautifully illustrated book about PRIDE and in particular the Pride Parade. The parent of the student who checked it out was not happy with us. Jim and I talked to her, Hilary Sloat talked to her, and Central Office talked to her. I just couldn't understand her anger. To me, we were just teaching kids about a real event in our world that celebrates love. Now, I'm not naive, I do know that many people are very uncomfortable with the idea of discussing LGBTQ topics at all, especially with children. And, boy did Jim and I find that parent who was really uncomfortable. In all honesty we both tried to rationalize and talk to the mom about her concerns and we really missed the mark. It was a learning experience for sure. Today, I was able to participate in a PD at CO from a presenter from the Kaleidoscope Youth Center. Check out their website here! I had so many take-aways and a-ha moments today. The biggest one was this: When talking to children about LGBTQ identities we are not teaching sex-ed. We are talking about love, acceptance, identities and families. We say LOVE is an INTERVENTION and this is just another meaning of that saying. We cannot be afraid to read books about LGBTQ people and their families in our schools! We must be inclusive of all students' lived experiences without fear of offending those who are not yet educated enough to be okay with it. Want to learn more? Check out the notes (you will need to be logged in with your HCSD google account to see the notes) that a principal colleague of mine shared with me after the meeting!
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YOU HAVE READ THE FIRST PART OF THIS STORY, BUT BE SURE TO READ THE REST BECAUSE THIS STORY CONTINUED WHEN OUR SWEET FRIEND WHEN BACK TO MISS KERR'S CLASSROOM!
Mr. Williams to a first grader---"Stand up and own it, tell Dolly what you did" Student--(looking at Dolly) "I don't know how I got this marker on my arm" Mr. Williams and Mrs. Prati ---"Oh no, stop...you better try again" Mr. Williams--"Not telling the truth will break Dolly's heart..." Mrs. Prati---"Into a million..." Mrs. Williams--"A zillion, billion" Mrs. Prati'--"pieces!" Student--"Dolly, I wrote on my arms with marker it was below the line" Mrs. Prati--"Why didn't you stand up and own it to Dolly the first time?" Student--LONG PAUSE Mr. William--"Why didn't you stand up and own it?" Student--" (long pause again) "Because I didn't know her heart would break into a zillion pieces." HERE IS THE REST OF THE STORY: Miss Kerr: “so how did that go?” Student: “well… not that good.” Miss Kerr: “oh no.” Student: “first of all.. Mrs. Prati was in there????” (seriously confused- he thought he was just talking to dolly) Miss Kerr: “oh, that’s weird.” Student: “yeah. and I broke Dolly’s heart.” Miss Kerr: “oh my.” Student: “into a zillion pieces.” Miss Kerr: “wow.” Student: “Miss Kerr, can I ask you something?” Miss Kerr: “sure” Student: “is a zillion a lot?” I don't know about you but sometimes I can just FEEL it when we're all in a good groove around here. And, right now, I feel like we are rockin' and rollin'! Title groups are running, we have 4 noon aides, we just did tons of data teams, the xSEL room is firing on all cylinders and we are working together so well as a team! After a crazy start to the school year, it feels good to feel like we are all moving forward in a positive way!
Thank you for your hard work, your commitment and your willingness to try new things! Please take a minute to reflect on the things going well right now! I love JW! |
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