Hope Teague Bowling  and Nathan Bowling are such great adds to the OER group! A lot resonated with me in this video, so thanks Eric Schulz for prompting me to watch it! I realize now that one thing I've done unconsciously that Hope highlights is to be transparent with where things come from (i.e. I've always prefaced current events or any new lesson/project, etc., with honest and upfront messaging). An example of this from last year was an examination of public support of BLM and Anti-Police Violence protests. I knew many in my mostly-white suburban paradise would be resistant to examining any of these sorts of topics, but I prefaced it with "I was really struck once by some poll numbers related to public opinion of MLK" (referring to his unpopularity at the time he won the Noble Peace Prize) and how this epiphany (that he was not popular with most whites in his time) helped me to contextualize how hard it can be to examine something in real-time. So we looked at the MLK polling and then polling about current protests, etc. We theorized other historical events where this might be found (a great one was women's rights at the time of the French Revolution vs. Now) as well as other "things we might get judged on down the road" (something I commonly ask students to consider). We had really cool conversations and some of my more conservative students (of whom I was worried might protest to their parents and get me called onto the carpet once again at the DO, my Principal's Office, or on Social Media) stated that they would have been uncomfortable and resistant had they not been exposed to where it all came from, how it helped me and showed my journey on such topics. I rarely get push back from students when I am flatly honest about where the intent is coming from (as well as when standards are connected...mostly this is for adults).

Now to be even more intentional this year about that as I expand the process of connecting current events to the history we are learning!