You know when sometimes you just feel at a loss? You feel like what is happening in the world doesn’t really make sense to you, and you’re not quite sure what to do about it… I’m having one of those times right now.

Lisa Corbett wrote about some things that are happening here in Ontario on her blog. I thought this might be a good opportunity to try out the “Moving Beyond Our Initial Thinking” lesson… So here I go (I focused on only one story at the moment, but the sex ed. curriculum changes are also deeply troubling!):

My News	My Thinking (questions, opinions, emotions)	My Identity	My Ideas for Action
Ontario government cancels curriculum writing to update curriculum to include Indigenous perspectives	Angered, disappointed, worried about the future of Ontario education and the loss of an opportunity to include different perspectives directly into the curriculum What can I do to support the work of reconciliation? How can I work with my colleagues around the province that want to include indigenous perspectives? How will the students and community I work with react to this news? What plan IS in place to “‘move ahead with’ the curriculum revisions related to the TRC?”	Teaching FN students Work in FN community affected by residential schools Educator Ontario voter mother	Write a letter to my representative and the Education Minister (which I have never done before, but why not start now?) Read more articles from various sources. Talk to other educators and people affected by this to hear their stories. Continue to collaborate with colleagues from across the province (and country) to work on projects like #CraftReconciliation to help students find their voice

Doing this activity was eye-opening for me – it gave me time to think and reflect on the news this week.  As I continue through this book, I look forward to doing more of the work. It gives me a much clearer sense of the struggles, tensions, and roadblocks that students may face – and I feel that if I am going to ask teachers or students to do this, then I first have to dive in myself. Having the opportunity to learn from Ahmed’s Being the Change and from others in the #CyberPD group is a great way to think about how to deal with tough conversations that I might otherwise avoid.

One thing that adds to my feelings of loss is not having a classroom next year. Don’t get me wrong, I have some amazing colleagues that are doing this work, but I miss designing the kind of learning opportunities Sara Amhed talks about on a regular basis. I hope that in my coaching role, I can support teachers to incorporate social comprehension!

If we value identify and honor kids’ news, then strategize with them on how to muddle through the self-exploration and collaborative dialogue the incidentally occurs with all the questions they have, we will grow a generation the honors a range of perspectives and flexibility of thought (Ahmed 77).

This is the work.