Ed Talk Reflection

The Ed talk discussions created very interesting topics to talk about and what we may not often talk or think about within a classroom setting. Many of the topics we talked about were childhood trauma and common experiences a child might experience. In the ed talks, we discussed how to approach these subjects as an educator. By talking within a group we can better understand how we can support and meet children where they are so that their education may be better. One of the most common topics we discussed was bullying. We all brought real-life examples as a way to connect to the text and also provide ways on how we as teachers can help these children affected by bullying. We came to solutions such as being there for the affected student and making sure they don’t feel alone in their struggles. Many of these books overlapped in themes such as the bullying aspect but it also showed that children experience a lot of things that can negatively affect them within their learning space. By understanding that these things happen, we can better adapt within the classroom and approach these situations in order so that children can actually learn instead of being held back by these situations. Discussing these tough topics of bullying, trauma, bias, etc… shows that these things are a universal experience within schools too. This was proven in our discussions and it was really interesting because almost everyone in the discussion provided a story that paralleled the book which I thought was very interesting. The ed talk discussions really put these experiences that children might experience into perspective and how it can easily affect their life and my life as a teacher.

For my part of the project specifically, we discussed the idea of generational trauma and overall traumatic experiences within a child’s life. The book really appealed to me because these are serious things that a child shouldn’t have to deal with in life and the book especially expressed the idea of growing up too fast based on his surroundings. In our book, the main character is falling under a cycle that has transferred through generations within his culture/ society and he ends up breaking this cycle within the book. This applies to us as educators because how do you deal with a student who has gone through all these things an average child would not experience. While I was not part of the discussion within class due to illness, I was able to understand through the book how I might be able to help this child advance educationally.

Throughout life in the educational system, we are going to have to deal with many different and unique experiences within the classroom and it is up to us to adapt to their needs. This will overall benefit the future of our children and our ability as a teacher. These discussions gave us plenty of perspectives and ways how to approach these different situations in life.