International Career and Training Resource Institute

School this year won't look like it ever has before. We are redesigning instruction, prioritizing standards and curriculum, and reassessing what our students ne...ed most at this time. As we reimagine education, teaching, and learning, let's also take a minute to redefine "whole body listening" and its implementation, too. . . . This outdated practice is problematic in so many ways. . . . It demands that our students prove they are engaged by moving, sitting, listening, acting in identical ways. But diverse brains have diverse needs. . . . It reinforces ableist community standards: "neurotypicals learn, focus, and engage in this way--and so should you." . . . It is often developmentally inappropriate for numerous students in any given class, and therefore is inappropriate as a whole-class expectation. . . . And it is mentally, physically, and psychologically harmful. We need to be teaching our students to listen and respond to what their body needs, not forcing it to sit, move, and focus in a way someone else deems appropriate. Teaching students to ignore what their body needs to learn and focus can and does lead to mental health issues, self-harming behaviors, toxic stress, and internalized ableism. It can also make students more susceptible to manipulation and abuse, as they have been trained to ignore what feels right to their body and instead conform to what adults tell them is best. . . . Is this really what we want our students to be learning? . . . As you design class rules and expectations for your room this year--whatever that "room" looks like--I hope you are prioritizing student engagement and learning, rather than enforcing outdated policies of policing students' bodies. My whole body is listening when I'm twirling a fidget, sitting on my feet, possibly "staring off into space." What does your "whole body listening" look like? What does your students'? . . . Picture ID: Text over a watercolor rainbow background reads: Whole body listening is ableist, developmentally inappropriate, and harmful. Speech bubble surround the main text and read: "Eyes on your teacher!" "Feet on the floor." "Quiet hands!" "No mouth noises." "Sitting criss-cross applesauce!" The Neurodivergent Teacher's logo is at the bottom. #BackToSchool #WholeBodyListening #SchoolRules #ClassroomRules #VirtualTeaching #VirtualClassroom #RemoteLearning #QuarenTeaching

#Don’tforgetyourwhy

#Makethatchangebeyou

Great way to give this Christmas time!!