I think the hardest thing about working on this episode was carefully omitting the stories I could NOT share.
I have been in a few scary scenarios with some students of a particular religious background.
I have heard the most outrageous prejudices pour out of such young mouths.
I stuck to the humorous, the interesting, and the relatively informative.
But it makes me realize how many stories we all have to share--and it frankly makes me even more frustrated with this medium. I ache for a full time job taking ESL teachers and administrators out to coffee to hear their stories.
I got into this job because I love learning about new cultures and the diversity revealed by a quick peek into my classroom. But with that comes the tough parts. I don't want to call it baggage, per se, because I believe that would be an insensitive label to all that has happened to them up to that point. But these students have some real rough edges created by their separate histories. And the truth is, it's amazing what their shared history--in a classroom together-- can do to smooth those edges.
