When catastrophic, traumatic or otherwise historic events occur in our communities or our nation, educators need to make space in their classrooms for students to process and understand what is happening. Since the attack on the U. S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, teachers have been reaching out to one another for support and quality resources that will help them facilitate conversation and otherwise create the safe space students need.
An excellent starting point is this educator blog post written by scholar Dr. Alyssa Hadley-Dunn, Associate Professor of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Dr. Hadley-Dunn offers practical guidelines for having difficult discussions in the classroom, as well as ways to support the well-being of both students and colleagues, particularly in the BIPOC community. She also generously shares a professional development module on Teaching Days After that is an excellent resource for sharing with colleagues and staff.
Other helpful resources to consider:
- Teaching Tolerance’s article When Bad Things are Happening and guide to teaching about civil disobedience
- How to talk to kids about the riots at the U.S. Capital – articles from NPR and the Washington Post
- Scholastic News offers student readings and discussion guides about the January 6th event
English
Hmong
Español