Teaching Matters

No lie, I started writing this blog in 2019. Better late than never?

I received a message on Instagram from a student I taught in Sudan. I take no credit for what a wonderful kid he was then, and I was so grateful to hear from him. He wrote:

I just wanted to write you because the events of the past year have really weighed on me, seeing two places I called home, Palestine (occupied) and Sudan in ruins. This time made me think a lot about what activism is and I’m realising how formative your lessons were to my concept of it. I recall learning about civil rights with you in class, singing Bob Marley, and feeling as though I can take in such heavy topics at such a young age and actually feel hopeful and not hopeless. I see how you speak up now as well and continue to be inspired. We need more teachers like you in the world to root out hate and bigotry, and I see it in all my classmates even today, and that’s beautiful!... I just wanted to thank you for nurturing and encouraging that in my youth, it helped me become who I am today :)

The choices we make matter.

I never allowed my son to have a toy gun. Not even a water gun. He had a water dolphin. My students were not allowed to pretend to shoot each other. They were not allowed to build weapons out of Legos. We didn't play killing. There is nothing joyful or fun about bullets or bombs.

I am not naive. I don’t pretend the world is peaceful. I recognize the world’s ugliness -- especially these past few years -- and its beauty. I talk about and mourn violent acts and celebrate when peace and joy triumph.

As an classroom teacher, I tried build peace within our classroom walls. We learned to sign “I love you” in ASL and my co-teachers and I always made sure kids shared greetings with the security guards and custodians and anyone who entered our room. We showed we cared about each other by making sure every kid got what they needed: a quiet and calm room, a piece of gum, a special seat, some time to dance, a hug, some time on a swing, a little space, some words of encouragement. We sang songs of struggle and love, freedom and friendship -- redemption songs. We read about activists who work to make the world a fairer, more equitable place. We practiced solving problems with our words.

In more than 20 years of teaching, I have taught hundreds of children. Through teaching we change the world. Our lessons may be magnified exponentially. Each child will take something from us into the rest of their lives. We must make sure we are thoughtful about what we are teaching - both explicitly and implicitly:

• Are we modeling kindness? 
• Are we teaching children to be thoughtful and critical consumers of information? 
• Are confronting bias openly and directly? 
• Do we acknowledge the humanity in each member of our community?
• Do we insist that children do? 

Years ago, my co-teacher and I told our kindergarteners that we care so much about the rules of our classroom because they are really rules for the rest of their lives. Even when they are grownups. Maybe especially when they are grownups:

Take care of yourself.

Take care of each other.

Take care of the commons (the spaces we share).

Skills and content are tools, power. They offer possibility and access. Reading must involve thinking, wondering, and seeking evidence. And choice! For the rest of their lives, we want children to be able to read what and how they want to, for the reasons they choose. We must help children to become fluent mathematicians so they cannot be fooled by people who would twist numbers into lies, so they recognize the inequity around them -- like that billionaires shouldn't exist -- and can use evidence to show that it must change. Writing shouldn't be mindlessly responding to insignificant prompts. Purposeful writing is about sharing our important ideas, stories, and information, crafting and revising carefully, adding compelling examples, so our voices cannot be ignored. 

Let's teach the world better.

Love, 

Rasha