Dear White Teachers...

hello everybody my name is Latonya I am an eighth grade social studies language arts teacher in Southern California and if this is your first time visiting my channel just to give you a quick backstory and what this channel is about I typically will upload vlogs on Sunday that just kind of runs the gamut of just reflecting different moments in my life as a teacher and just as a person in general normally this would be one of those books but given the environment that we're in in the country and the things that we've been dealing with it just didn't esses airily feel right for me to upload just like a standard weekly vlog and in all honesty I wasn't really in a mental or emotional place to want to do that and so this video today is going to be a little bit different this is something that is coming straight from my heart and I'm sending it out so those of you that are teachers out there in the world and it is basically an open letter to white teachers and before I share that letter with you guys I want to make sure to make a few things clear number one this letter is specifically geared towards white teachers who have found themselves questioning what they can do what they should do going forward given the situation with the George Floyd case and the black lives matter movement that has picked up quite a bit of traction because of everything that's going on it is in no way or by no means insinuating that every teacher that is white is ill-equipped or not properly equipped or does not know to do some of the things that I mentioned in this letter because I am well aware that there are a lot of white teachers out there that have been putting in this kind of work for a long time and is the driving force and what they do in addition this letter is not specifically just for white teachers I titled it dear white teachers because in my experience I've gotten a lot of white teachers reaching out to me for some level of support encouragement or education but that does not mean that teachers from other backgrounds don't need to be educated in some form or supported in some form as well so I don't want anyone to make any of those some as you're hearing this letter this letter is sparked by the fact that I was getting a lot of questions and a lot of reaching out to me was being done by specifically white teachers so this letter is for them but I honestly believe that this letter and some of the sentiments that I share would be a benefit for any teacher to hear so with that being said I'm going to share my letter with you I hope that you hear it with open ears and open mind and an open heart and at the end of this video in the description box you'll find a few links to articles things that I've watched things that I've been told have been helpful if you're someone that's new to all this as a way of me supporting you in the beginning of this process so I hope that you hear the letter again with an open mind and an open heart and if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them just know that if your comments are negative or dismissive that I will not be responding to those comments in any way dear white teachers as I start this letter the clock is just struck midnight and a new day has begun it is Wednesday June 3rd 2020 the day after wood has been called blackout Tuesday when scrolling through social media throughout the day page after page was marked with some variation of a black square in support of the amplification of black voices in the days prior I saw an increase in white followers on my Instagram account which was coupled by an increase in DMS expressing shock and what you have been faced with and questions asking what can I do what should I say where do I go from here I tried to answer as many of these as possible all while dealing with my own emotions in regards to yet another case of a black life being taken so what happens now here are a few suggestions first always remember this time remember how outraged and saddened you are remember this urgent feeling you have to be better and your practice and pedagogy carry it with you each time you enter the classroom plan a lesson teach a lesson talk to a student or talk with the family seek to understand how the past affects the current and how your actions or lack of action affects the future if you do not understand or recognize the correlation between what does and does not happen in the classroom for students of color and what you are seeing in the news now then you do not understand the true significance of the work that you do second get comfortable with being uncomfortable much of what is missing in our classrooms today is the opportunity for students to engage in open planned and unplanned dialogue that is reflective inquisitive and celebratory of who they are and the experiences that have shaped who they are these opportunities should not be occurring in isolation these opportunities should not be solely based on projects that fall in line with special days or months instead these opportunities should be available at any given moment in the classroom do not maneuver your way around conversations that specifically talk about race culture and ethnicity because you want to give the illusion that you don't see any differences in your students or because you are afraid that you will say the wrong thing or because you want to protect your students from the part of history that is sad or too much for them to bear be honest with yourself and realize you are not protecting your students you are protecting yourself I have watched third and eighth graders engage in both white hearted and heavy conversations about our country's tragic moments in history in relation to equality at both levels they thrived and outshined any expectations I had in these moments they were probably the most gracious toward each other as they shared their questions and perspectives not only that it was these moments and lessons that stuck out to them as one of the highlights of the year third self-reflect really think about what you do how you do it and who you do it to don't get stuck on the personal narrative where you insist that you care for and love all your students rest assured we believe you we know that you care about all your students but is how you care for all your students equitable is the level of patience you show and the expectations you set forth the same for everyone with good intentions have you ever not offered an academic or social opportunity to a student because you didn't think they could handle it if the schooling experience were truly equitable would we see a persistent gap in academic performance as measured by standardized testing if educators as a whole truly exercise the same care and patience for all students would there be a discrepancy in the suspension rates if the level of patience and care was not tied to some biases or misconceptions shouldn't there be more racially balanced special ed populations in our schools now before you blame family dynamics parenting or a lack of effort on the students part when thinking about the aforementioned challenges I would say do some research on the systemic discrimination that has occurred in our country for decades this will show you why placing blame solely on families and the students is deeply flawed lastly just listen I have taught 15 years and I've had my share of difficult students from all racial backgrounds and genders and I know it can be tough to try and teach a lesson and manage a class when you have a student or two or three who just seem to take up more time from you than most what I also know is that these students are simply in search of three things from their teacher to be seen to be valued and to be heard many students of color even the ones that are not the behavior issues are not getting these things from their teachers and I've never gotten it this creates a classroom environment that causes causes a teacher to wonder why do they act like that also listen to what is being set by your colleagues and don't be afraid to challenge the reality they have crafted for themselves oftentimes their reality allows them to shift the blame it is easier to blame the student who is misbehaving as opposed to taking the time to think about how to cultivate and promote positive behaviors within that student it is also easy to let the off-color remarks of colleagues go unaddressed however allowing these microaggressions to be vocalized and acted out without being checked simply because you don't want to be bothered or cause drama is one of the very reasons why we are struggling to find sustainable racial equality and harmony in this country if you can do nothing else in this work love your colleagues and students enough to address these types of comments and behaviors when they occur to close notice that nothing that I mentioned in this letter requires you to attend a training buy a book or pay a fee everything I have mentioned in this letter simply requires you to practice human kindness before anything else teaching eighth graders this year I purposefully thought of them as beings before I allowed myself to think of them as eighth graders doing this help me see ground it in creating a classroom environment where everyone felt seen heard and validated as you start this process of creating a change in your teaching practices and interactions with students be realistic in your expectations of yourself know that you will not be equipped in any capacity to create a revolution in your district at your school and your grade level or even amongst your teammates and that is okay so go ahead and take that burden off your shoulders at this point in time you need to think about you and what you need to do or perhaps what you need to stop doing for many white teachers the assumption is that it's going to be harder for you because of who you are or who you aren't push past that thought yes it may be easier for me to create connections with black students because I am black and we share some common experiences and those common experiences connect us however over the years I have also made just the strong connections with students that are not black and that is because at the forefront of my mind when I am teaching is making sure I see my students for the whole person that they are so white teachers I hope I have encouraged you and giving you comfort and knowing that starting the process is as simple as humanizing your work however I want to be clear and saying that staying persistent and committed to doing the work will not always be easy and it will not always come naturally the protest will dissipate and the new cycle will move on but the relentless desire to be better must remain the fervor in which you are seeking out information right now is the fervor you will need to maintain every time you sit down to plan on a lesson that is grounded and not just inclusion for the sake of inclusion but whose aim is truly to value all students now that you are woke you may not be able to celebrate that author you've celebrated every year do that project you love so much because now you may realize you should have never read that book or ever done that project to begin with if a student points out that the a student in the class that is different from everyone else you will need to pause and allow that organic learning moment to flow you will need to find fellow educators that truly support the new teaching path you are on and in the process you will need to expand your circle of experts I joked with a friend the other day and said there is actually a little bit of black privilege going on in the world right now specifically in the teacher Instagram world simply because I'm a black teacher I have gained followers at a rate I have never seen before the same can be said for other black educators on social media while we are certainly thankful for the new friends I am sure I can speak for the majority of us when I say we want the increase to actually mean something in the grand scheme of the teaching community I want to caution you though please don't just put us in your pocket and feel like you've done something because you follow some black teachers you are largely missing the mark if you think that by following a few black teachers and immersing yourself and books written by people that look just like you has equipped you to be culturally responsive there is more to do as we learn much of what has been said by the white teacher celebrities that other white teachers seem to flock to had already been said by teachers of color but it fell upon deaf ears you have to be willing to listen to the perspective we share because we were all black students in our country school system at some point and many of us chose to teach because we knew what was lacking for students of color as teachers today we are hoping to rectify some of that in our classrooms and through what we share on our social media accounts if you are following me because you want to pat yourself on the back because you've added a few people of color to your feed then I politely welcome you to unfollow on the other hand if you're looking to address what has been lacking in education for a long time and want to effect change then I welcome you with open arms I wish you success and growth through the struggles of this new approach that you are taking know that I will be here for you as you do this work that will enrich the lives of your students hear me when I I'm proud of the steps that you are taking to listen read and educate yourself I pray that you stay committed to the work we are all doing in the name of equality you're here I'm here so let's do this with love support and encouragement Latonya you

Channel: SmartieStyle

Views: 26,255

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Id: eRzlE1qbEj8

Length: 15min 0sec (900 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 07 2020