To Be Brave [S1 E1]
Bravery, to us, is all about seeking discomfort.
Bravery. It’s something that all teachers need in the classroom, whether it’s facing hundreds of teenagers every day or questioning something that you’re supposed to teach with an administrator. In this episode, Amanda and Marie dig into what it means to be a BRAVE teacher and preview the kinds of things that this podcast will dig into more in the future.
Being brave in your teaching practice can be terrifying, but having a community of likeminded educators around you can make all the difference. That’s exactly what we’re here to do with the Brave New Teaching podcast.
The namesake
Let’s talk about Brave New World, the namesake of the podcast. The Savage is questioning why people would want to live without danger and the Controller responds with the careful plans that have been arranged to administer VPS (Violent Passion Surrogate) once a month and prevent any “inconvenient” feelings of rage or pain. The Savage, however, craves these feelings and wants to be inconvenienced. When we think about this passage, we think about the bravery needed to abandon comfort once in a while and to challenge the status quo - especially in education. Read it with your students and see what they think!
…we think about the bravery needed to abandon comfort once in a while and challenge the status quo
Elizabeth told us this is what it means to be a brave teacher…and we wholeheartedly agree with her!
Adapting & avoiding complacency
Bravery also comes in the form of having difficult conversations with colleagues. Standards control so much of what we’re supposed to teach, but we have to be so careful to not let those things cloud us from our own judgement, from building relationships with kids, and asking questions about the books that we teach and why things haven’t changed.
Whether you’re looking for ways to update your curriculum or find support in your efforts to change your approach, we’re here for you! Be sure to follow us on Instagram and join our email list for updates, freebies, and inspo!
SHOW LINKS:
Check out the #disrupttexts movement for ideas in trying new texts in your classroom.
Amanda has some adventurous teaching ideas and even a teacher bucket list that might inspire you.
Here are some of Marie’s thoughts on discussing tough subjects in the classroom.
Check out Amanda’s To Kill a Mockingbird unit.
Get more ideas to your inbox with the Brave New Teaching Newsletter
And let’s remember that the work we do TEACHING every single day is important, no matter how little it seems like anyone seems to care.
To check out what Amanda’s up to outside of Brave New Teaching, head over to her website or Instagram pages to fill up on some clever teaching ideas. Amanda also has a Teachers Pay Teachers online store with lots of ready-to-teach products for you.
And to check out Marie’s busy teacher life, be sure to check out her YouTube channel where she vlogs and posts videos about all the teacher things, her Instagram, and her Teachers Pay Teachers store!