Spring 2024!
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It’s a weird time to become a teacher. Racial injustices and the global pandemic still swirl around us causing anxieties and fear for ourselves and loved ones and stir our passions for equity and justice. And you. You want to become a teacher right now at this point in history.
I admire you. You’re my kind of people.
The experience of trauma and racial injustices we are witnessing are a regular occurrence for many of us and are frequent topics of discussions in our homes. We must continue to have honest, frank, and respectful dialogue with one another about the inequalities and injustices that many of us face or witness. Now, not only will you be negotiating racial trauma and injustice in your lives, your families, and communities, but you will also be the caring and nuanced adult in the classroom fielding these questions and having discussions with groups of children of all ages. Children need nuanced adults who can appropriately navigate these issues.
COVID-19 has also thrown us all for a loop too, hasn’t it? It’s a frightening time in that regard as well. Everytime we think it is over, it raises its ugly head again just like it is right now with recent higher rates of infection. I can only hope that sickness has not come to your door. Like some of you, we have experienced unimaginable losses because of this pandemic. My husband and I both lost our fathers - and many other family members - because of COVID. These are tragic and trauma-producing times for so many of us. Some of us are still wearing masks and still caring for family members who are immune-compromised. Even in early 2024, the threat to life is still real to so many of us.
Please know that I believe that health and family come first. You can always rely on me for that.
Let’s begin. Take a breath. Click on the course above that you have with me. And, as we begin anew together, just know this one thing.
I admire you. You’re my kind of people.
Find out more about me at www.jeffsapp.com. But, honestly, my 14-year-old kid is way more impressive than I am, so check her out too: www.helenalourdes.com.