I taught the morning of 9/11, and I remember feeling so helpless and not sure what I should be trying to teach. I ended up just inviting them to spend some time doing in-class writing that day, which they didn’t have to show to anyone. Being together, feeling our feelings. I think it was the right thing for that moment.
I wasn’t sure how to handle things with my students today (I won’t see them again until tomorrow) — this is where I ended up.
Students, I want to be sure that you don’t get confused about assignments, etc., but I also want to make a space for all of us to process the election results, so I’ve made a separate #election channel — please feel free to use that to discuss, vent, etc. Remember that not everyone in class may share your political beliefs, so I’m going to ask you to be respectful in your language. If you wouldn’t say it in class in person, don’t say it in the channel.
That said, I know the world is a darker place today for many of us, and especially for those people whose rights may be further rolled back in the next four years. Trans folks, undocumented folks, people with disabilities — we may lose a good part of our social safety net at the federal level, which is just scary. So hopefully this new channel will be a helpful place for support.