Candidates and Classroom Ethics: a VIDEO message

Thanks to your feedback, we’re going to make the video messages a little more regular. This week’s question is both tenuous and timely!

 Dear Sarah,

One of my students asked me the other day who I would be voting for in the election. Specifically, if I would be supporting a specific candidate. I understand that my role as a teacher is to stay neutral and not to use my position to persuade students one way or another. But this is what made it more difficult. The student who asked me is Muslim. What he really wanted to know was whether or not I was going to support a candidate who was saying hateful things about his religion, about him. I didn’t know how to respond in front of the class. My question is whether or not I have an ethical duty to respond plainly and honestly to this student.

Sincerely,

Candidates and Classroom Ethics

Why Conflict (in Sarah Speak)

Why Conflict (in Sarah Speak)

Most of my students intrinsically understand conflict; after all, it's an essential reality in all of our lives. But they don't always remember how to think about it's function in literature. After a series of conversations with some of my students, I made this video...

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The Two-Cents Discussion

The Two-Cents Discussion

I call it the “Two Cents Worth” discussion and I really like to use it when I need to encourage everyone to use their voices. The concept is pretty easy: we put our chairs in a circle, a basket in the middle of it and everyone gets two pennies. When they contribute to...

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