During a presidential election year, it’s always difficult to navigate productive class discussions when politics are involved. Though it can be a volatile topic where emotions run high, as teachers we must also recognize that a sense of civic engagement can and should be nurtured in the classroom. If we want the next generation of citizens to be critical thinkers, school can and should be a place where we have those tough, sometimes uncomfortable conversations with our students.
Join our hosts Frank Baker and Kaitlin Popielarz this Sunday at 8 PM ET on Twitter for #nctechat to discuss Politics and Language: Teaching Critical Literacy in an Election Year.
Here is a preview of the questions for the chat:
- How do you plan to incorporate the election process & political issues in your subject area?
- What standards are you hoping to meet by incorporating the election process/political issues in your classroom ?
- How can you use media in the classroom to teach and discuss political issues?
- How can we encourage students to critically examine media and political rhetoric?
- How can you provide opportunities for students to be active in local issues and elections in their own communities?
- In what ways can we empower our students to speak up on political issues that matter to them?
- How do we prepare ourselves and our students for discussing important but sometimes volatile issues in the classroom?