Sponsored by Studyo.
Watch a video version of this tip on Instagram.
In a scene from the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the main character, Charlie Bucket, is sitting in a classroom. His teacher is giving a math lesson and begins asking students to estimate how many Wonka chocolate bars they have bought in search of a golden ticket. The first student says a hundred. The second says a hundred and fifty.
Then the teacher calls on Charlie, who quietly says two.
Assuming he means two hundred, the teacher proceeds to do the math with that number, but Charlie corrects him, saying he just meant two. When the teacher expresses his disbelief, Charlie explains that he doesn’t really like chocolate. This is a lie: Charlie’s family is living in poverty so extreme that they all live together in one room — his parents, four grandparents (who all share a single bed) and Charlie. Unlike his classmates’ families, they can’t afford luxuries like chocolate bars very often, especially not hundreds of them. But he lies to cover this up.
The teacher moves on with the lesson using the number 200, saying he can’t do the example with a number as small as two, and Charlie withers in shame.
Although most teachers understand in theory that not all students have the same home life, sometimes we forget how big those differences can be, and how humiliating it can be for a student to be asked to publicly share details about their lives outside of school.
One scenario where this comes up often is when your class is coming together after a break, whether it’s the beginning of a new school year or the return after winter or spring break.
Alex Shevrin Venet talks about these times in her book, Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education: “It’s common for teachers to start the school year with some type of writing prompt or project to answer the question, ‘What did you do this summer?’ If I’m a teacher who typically enjoys summer as a time to take off from work, spend time outdoors, and catch up with friends, this might seem like a reasonable question to ask. But we know that not all people experience summer as a positive time. Being out of school can mean increased food insecurity for families, isolation and loneliness for some students, or long hours of work. Some students may have experienced traumatic conditions and events over the summer. (They) may be worried that they will be judged or bullied by peers based on how they answer, ‘What did you do this summer?’ This doesn’t mean we never ask students about their lives, but it does mean we do so with a full understanding of how (they) may experience such questions” (56).
So when you and your students gather after a break, instead of asking everyone to share what they did over that break, you can instead give them a few choices — maybe talking about their break activities is one of the options, but offer other interesting topics along with it. Here is a list of possibilities:
- What is something you’re looking forward to in the upcoming month?
- What is a goal you’ve set for yourself this school year?
- What is something new you learned or experienced over the past few weeks or months?
- How are you different now than you were a year ago?
- What was something memorable you did over the break?
Notice that the last question still gives students the option of talking about something they did over the break — I think it’s still perfectly reasonable to make room for students who are excited to talk about their break to do so, but by making it one of many options, AND couching it this way (one memorable thing vs. “what did you do over break”) you’re no longer setting students up to have their lives compared side-by-side with the lives of their peers. When you give students more control over what they choose to share about their lives, you significantly reduce the chances of putting them in a Charlie Bucket situation.
See all EduTips here.
Thank you for the important reminder and helpful suggestions. It would be great if administrators could also remember this when welcoming teachers back at the start of the school year and after winter and spring breaks. Not all teachers want to share with their colleagues and be placed in a Charlie Bucket situation. 🙂
Good point, MaryAnn!
Thank you so much for this. It took working at a very socio-economically mixed school, at the mid-point of my 30 year career, to really get this one. I would have kids who had spent the summer traveling Europe, and kids who had spent the summer caregiving for 4 younger siblings without leaving their neighbourhood. It was a wake-up call that all educators need. Who they are outside the classroom informs who they are inside, and we cannot ignore that.
I always preface this with talking about routine activities that I did over the summer. We spend more time talking about the little things of daily life, than the big grandiose adventures.
Thanks for sharing this, Lisa.
I love this! It also holds true for winter, spring breaks, etc. and the need to avoid the assumption that everyone has something exciting planned for the break. While I’m now retired from the elementary classroom, I remember the day I finally put together why behaviors escalated in my classroom right before breaks. The majority of my students were not eager for the break as it meant a lack of routine, food insecurity, increased stress at home for working parents who have to find care for their children, etc. Great article! I will share with my pre-service teachers.
Made this mistake when I asked my Spanish students to talk about their homes during a house unit. Asked the students how many bathrooms were in their home and was shocked that some homes had five plus… definitely a topic where using non personal examples can be more comfortable.
Thanks for the reminder!
Once upon a time, I used to have the students share their best thing from the weekend on Mondays. Once, at the end of a Monday, I learned that one student was distressed because his bike had been stolen. He couldn’t share it in our Morning Meeting because it most certainly was NOT his best thing.
Since then, I’ve created a slide for our AM time that says “Quiero contarles que…” (I want to share that…) so any student can share but it doesn’t have to be good. We use it before or after holidays as well. My “I went to meet my baby cousin” kids can share alongside my “I went to Italy” kids. Most importantly, kids can just say “Good morning” and skip the sharing if they aren’t in the mood.
We also do “Yo, también” (Me too) to find connections. Everyone stands in a circle; one person takes a step to the center to say one thing and anyone else can join while saying “Me, too” if they make a connection. I try to balance my own shares between “I cleaned the house and rested” or “I read a book” along with the doing things that involve money, to help those with fewer resources feel a part of the sharing.