Lit classroom

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

This is the space where a book comes to light — the classroom. Years in the teaching profession trained me to think alongside the minds of others, mostly youth and immigrant adults. They are processing, making, questioning, and sometimes lapping up the American Dream. No doubt, The Compromise is written for them. 

Teachers are conductors and keen to the shifts in the classroom. The best shift is towards a dialogue with multiple directions and layers, and that casts its light on everything. It works through the usual means: reading, conversation, and reporting.  A recent Edutopia acticle, National Conversations are Classroom Conversations by Andrew Simmons says this very well:

National conversations need to be classroom conversations. In the often invisible experiences brought by students, the real world is already in the classroom. In acknowledging this, a teacher tries to model educated adulthood. Critical thinking, discussions about literature, and communication skills prepare a member of society for these moments. The national conversation is not an accessory to the lesson: It’s why we learn, the final exam of a lifetime.

Edutopia, Andrew Simmons, Oct. 11, 2018
Amid a national controversy, a teacher leans on literature to help students make sense of events.