"Why Is That Child So Rude"

Recently I read the article, "Why is that Child so Rude" by Beth Lindsay Templeton. The basis of the article centers around teachers assumptions about the fund of knowledge students have. It is easy to assume that all students should be operating with similar experiences because they are similar age and live in a similar area. But really every student and their experiences are so vast and varied that you cannot assume that any child has the same fund of knowledge as any other student.

This article reminded me a lot of the principals of Culturally Responsive Teaching. Basically CRT challenges teachers to teach students how and why to code switch while at school because everyone's home life and social expectations are different.

Trust

"You have to earn my trust". How many times have you heard or said that phrase? I don't think it's possible for me to count the number of times I have heard that phrase before. I used to say that to my students, but upon reflection, I think that doesn't work well in the classroom. If you tell a kid you have to earn my trust you are basically saying "listen, I don't trust you".  Do you ever actually allow students to earn your trust? But how? How do I know if they will work productively in the hallway if I never give them the opportunity to try? What if it doesn't go well one time? They are just never allowed to work in the hallway again because one time they were a shady cat?

The hard thing about trust is that students have to trust you or they aren't going to learn from you. The burden of trust is really on our shoulders as educators, not the other way around. I need to earn their trust... they already have mine.