#cyberPD Being the Change: Social Comprehension

I am so glad this book was selected for #cyberPD this summer! The title and description intrigued me when I first saw it, but I didn’t know how much I NEEDED this book. Why? Because if anyone had asked me what “social comprehension” was just a few days ago, I would have fumbled through a few nice-sounding phrases or made up something by using my knowledge of the two individual words.

What social comprehension means to me now is making sense of the people and situations you encounter in your life and figuring out how to make connections with other people. It involves realizing that different people have different life experiences and that their perspectives on things will be different from yours. It takes knowing yourself and listening to others.

One thing that I really like about Sara Ahmed’s book is that she sets up a progression of social comprehension skills. Before reading this book, I’d used just about every activity from chapters 1 and 2 (understanding identity and listening skills) with students, but they were done more as community-building, getting-to-know-you activities. Now I see how these same activities introduce skills we need to nurture in order to grow on this journey of social comprehension.

While trying to make sense of social comprehension, I listened to several of the Heinemann podcasts featuring Sara Ahmed, and I highly recommend them! The one from May 31, 2018 with her, Christine Hertz, and Kristine Mraz is excellent!

I am definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the book. I know I will learn so much from the comments and reflections that everyone else shares.

(As a quick note, I am a 5th grade teacher in Michigan. I posted a short introduction on the Padlet, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten with the about-me stuff.)