Week 10: Cycling

I want to acknowledge that this has been an extremely challenging week for me in both my personal and professional life. One of my former students passed away suddenly this week, and his passing has led me to think deeply about the kind of teacher that I want to be, and the work I aspire to do with my students. At the end of the day, relationships have always been at the center of what I do, but as a teacher of emergent bilinguals and students from immigrant families, I especially feel a deep responsibility to really KNOW my students inside and out in this moment. The image below, for me, really captures the crux of the work: its cyclical nature.

Educators must be committed to cultivating a deep knowledge of the community at large, and acknowledge that we have an inherent responsibility to push back on harmful systems. The cycle of fill, skill, and will is truly at the heart of our work each day, and I believe that this cycle intersects with the praxis and reflection that Freire has named.