Today we did an EdCamp on Supporting Skills for students. The topic was a bit general so we brainstormed what skills we think are needed in today’s schools.
Assertiveness training, spelling, public speaking and social skills were some key areas we identified.
We agreed that skits and presentations should continue to be part of learning in schools and that anxiety increases the more we avoid difficulty. In contrast exposure therapy can help decrease anxiety and encourage youth to be more confident in areas they wouldn’t otherwise be.
I like the EdCamp idea because it gives people a chance to chat and discuss topics of interest. One part of the experience that was disappointing to me was that there were a certain number of participants in our group who did not contribute to the discussion. I think this is one of the failures of Zoom, it is a bit easier to stay out of the conversation whereas if we had been in person we could have brought everyone into the discussion more easily. Some group members even turned their screens off which was disappointing.
We argued a bit because I suggested self defense skills as worthwhile but others argued students might try to justify using self defense to escalate instead of deescalate potentially violent situations. I agreed to disagree as I think knowing self-defense doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in physical conflict but does enable youth to be prepared in case of a violent incident.
