Pro-D reflection

I attended the conference on Introduction to SOGI in the K-12 Context. We began the day with a short keynote which introduced everyone to what SOGI is and the importance of it. A key point was that every person has a Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation, and implementing these resources benefits all students. We then attended two small group workshops. The first one I attended was focused on how to have SOGI themes integrated into the curriculum. The speaker highlighted the importance of representation and that it doesn't need to only be explicit conversations but your resources can have 2SLGBTQ+ people represented, as well as other groups seeking equity, and that means more students will be able to see themselves in what you're teaching. He shared with us various lesson plans and ideas for integrating SOGI into the curriculum, using curricular language. I really appreciated his examples of navigating conversations in the classrooms with his students. My second workshop was on how to create safe places. We had an interesting activity where we came up with various struggles facing the 2SLGBTQ+ community right now and we had to identify two perspectives and find the humanity in both perspectives. We looked at religious positions taken by some and trans rights that are being debated. I think this was a really incredible idea - that we need to find the humanity in people who have views potentially very different from our own in order to have productive conversations. I think this is an ongoing conversation - how to best support 2SLGBTQ+ students in my classroom but I'm so thankful I got the opportunity to think through that more on Friday. Many thanks to all who organized the event and took the time to present.