There is a huge discrepancy between what students thing and what teachers think
The information presented in this course that I found most interesting was the huge discrepancy between what students think and what teachers/school staff think when it comes to bullying in their school. While adults may believe they are doing enough, students do not think we are. That alone should be enough reason to dig deeper into how to better be there for and better help our students. Another aspect I found very interesting was the whole concept of how we are at a turning point in education because it is our duty, using the zone of proximal development, to better equip our students with the tools to navigate not one but TWO worlds – the “dirt” world and the digital world at the same time. This is something that was never really needed before, but became so dominant over the past decade that it can no longer be ignored. And it is our job to help young adults to best handle themselves in both worlds now. The information I found most valuable was all of Jill Brown’s lessons that are available. The eight essential questions, lesson plans, handouts, and videos so that we could see it in action…all are so valuable that I copied and pasted and saved ideas for my own classroom discussion lessons on bullying. I very much appreciated that the text was available, the videos were available, and we can see actual students dealing with hard questions together in a group. This is going to make it that much easier to apply the same lessons and principals in my own room with my students next year. This information will impact my ability to maintain safety, order, and rights in my school by giving me the knowledge and resources I need to better prevent bullying among my students and my school as well as help my students with how to best handle themselves when I or another adult is not around. The real key is that practice and discussion together as a group and with an adult is just one half of it, and the other half is that the tools my students learn with me are going to help them maintain their OWN safety, order, and rights.
Whether you are a school administrator, teacher, parent, mentor or corporation, we can design a program to suit your needs. Let’s make the connection!