Erasing Niceness

How's that for a click-bait-worthy title?

Traditionally, my "first week back at school" blog posts are about topics such as how to properly address students, designing my learning space (including hall displays), and creating caring environments. What on earth would possess me to suggest I should be "erasing niceness" for September 2019?

This is probably doubly confusing because last week's blog post dealt with my worry about being intimidating. In that post, I specifically mentioned my Twitter profile. In that particular social media biography, I refrain from discussing any qualifications, credentials or awards and dedicate a large part of it to a quote that highlights my disdain for Edu-Celebrities.

Write-up says "(she/her) TDSB TL, ICT & PLC fan & user of many short forms!
It's nice to be important but more important to be nice. See mzmollyTLsharespace.pbworks.com"

It just so happened that I finally got around to finishing the book White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. It was part of a book club I joined but due to hectic schedules around the end of the school year, the group was unable to meet to finish our discussions. The final chapters dealt with strategies for white people to address the wrongs they commit against POCs (people of colour). I don't have my book here at home with me right now as I am writing, so I can't quote the section that prompted this train of thought, but it related to the idea that "safe spaces" or "being nice" meant that challenging conversations around race get swept away or buried. Naming behaviour as racist makes people uncomfortable, and that's "not nice", so in the interest of keeping peace in a group, learning about and dealing with racism loses priority or power. The book goes on at length about how Western society has unfortunately created this idea that only "bad people" are racist and explains why this is not a useful way to think.

So this led me to re-examine my Twitter quote and a few other things related to my teaching. In my AQ course this summer, we co-created group norms and we had a debate about the idea of a "safe space". In the end, we chose to describe it as a "safe/brave space". You can read more about safe spaces and brave spaces here.

Copy of our posted norms from our Summer 2019 Library AQ

Another example: I use an abridged/adapted version of the Tribes TLC agreements for my Early Years learners (and before you ask about the name of this program/process, I am aware of and uncomfortable with the appropriation of a term belonging to many First Nations communities used for it). The shortened and simplified version of these agreements are

• Be Nice
• Listen
• Try Your Best To Do Your Job

Can we challenge discrimination effectively if one of our goals is to be nice? Maybe instead of rephrasing this (because after all, they are 4- and 5-year-olds), I'll focus on "try your best to do your job" and state that part of the goal of school is to help ALL students "do well" and that can't happen if some students are treated unjustly because of some part of their identity. After all, the mission statement of the TDSB is 

"to enable all students to reach high levels of achievement and well-being and to acquire the knowledge, skills, and values they need to become responsible, contributing members of a democratic and sustainable society"

I just need to figure out a different quote that encapsulates my philosophy to use for my email signature file and/or my Twitter bio.

Photo of the book give-away area in the crater

In case you were wondering, my first week back was actually quite ... nice ... or I should say pleasant? The new students at our school seem happy to be in our building, I'm really excited about working with our new principal, and most of the classes (despite the large sizes and variety of emotional and academic needs) feel manageable, at least right now. We began with a book giveaway - only the weeded books that were deselected due to excessive numbers of copies or worn condition, not ones that were removed due to outdated or biased content - and students seemed to like the freebies. I'm teaching STEAM as a prep subject in addition to my regular load of primary SERT, library, and media, and that looks like it will be fun. Here's to a "not-nice" year!

Tracking how many times the marble went L vs R