Roberto Germán [00:00:01]:
Welcome to Our Classroom. In this space, we talk about education, which is inclusive of, but not limited to, what happens in schools. Education is taking place whenever and wherever we are willing to learn. I am your host, Roberto Germán, and Our Classroom is officially in session.
Roberto Germán [00:00:28]:
Today, I want to do something a little bit different. In a few days, I'll be traveling to Juneau, Alaska to facilitate a poetry workshop with educators through the Sealaska Heritage Institute. And as I was preparing, I realized something. This workshop isn't really about poetry. It's about how we enter spaces that aren't our own. It's about what it means to teach with humility. Because whether you're teaching across the country or across the hallway, every classroom already has a culture. Every community already has stories.
Roberto Germán [00:01:03]:
The question isn't whether we can bring something valuable. The question is whether we're willing to recognize the value that's already there. When I first began preparing for this workshop, my instinct was to do what I usually do. Start with identity, talk about my story, share my background, introduce Blue Ink Tears. But then I stopped because this audience isn't asking me to come teach my community. They're inviting me into theirs, and that changes everything. Instead of beginning with identity, I'm beginning with place, because before we know who we are, we often know where we are. Every community carries stories.
Roberto Germán [00:01:54]:
Every landscape teaches something. Every neighborhood, every river, city block, mountain shapes us in ways we don't always recognize. Poetry simply gives us language to notice it. One of the biggest shifts I made was deciding that I don't want to arrive as an expert. I want to arrive as a guest.
Roberto Germán [00:02:18]:
There's a difference.
Roberto Germán [00:02:19]:
As educators, we're often rewarded for having answers, but some of the most meaningful learning begins When we ask better questions, right? One of our norms for multicultural classroom is to lead with curiosity. So instead of telling people about their community, I want to ask, what is something outsiders misunderstand about this place? Then I want to listen. No correcting or adding my perspective, just listening, right? It's important to practice active listening because listening is one of the greatest acts of respect we can offer. And that has me thinking about my own classrooms and our collective classrooms. How often do we ask students to become experts on themselves? Not just to answer questions, but to teach us something we don't know? How often do we make room for local knowledge, family knowledge, community knowledge, cultural knowledge? Students spend so much of their educational lives consuming information, right? It's truly a consumer model for the most part. What if we gave them more opportunities to contribute? And another thing that surfaced for me is language. And one of the poems I'll likely share from my book, Blooming Tears, is called Lengua. It's about language, identity, belonging.
Roberto Germán [00:04:03]:
And for educators working alongside Alaska Native communities, language isn't simply vocabulary. I've come to understand that it's history, memory, survival. That realization reminded me that language always carries more than words. It carries people, ancestors, stories. And every time students are invited to write in, about, or through the languages that shape them, they're doing more than completing an assignment. They're preserving something. One of my favorite changes to this workshop is the writing prompt. Normally I'd ask students to write about themselves.
Roberto Germán [00:04:47]:
This time I'm asking— well, not students, they're participants, they're adults, educators. I'm asking them to write about the place that made them. I come from The land remembers. The water teaches. One thing outsiders don't understand is... So those prompts aren't really about geography. They're about relationship. Because place isn't simply where we live.
Roberto Germán [00:05:23]:
It's part of how we become who we are. That's why you hear me talk about Lawrence, Massachusetts in a particular way. You hear me talk about the Dominican Republic in a particular way. Those places have played a major role in my life, have helped to define me in many ways. I find identity there. And so preparing for this workshop reminded me that culturally sustaining teaching isn't primarily about diverse books or celebrating different holidays. Those things matter. But at its heart, it's about entering communities with humility.
Roberto Germán [00:06:04]:
and believe in every community already possesses wisdom, and in helping to create opportunities for the audience to preserve their own stories rather than replacing them with ours. The question I'll leave you with: think about the community you serve. What stories already exist there that you've never asked about? What wisdom already lives in your students that your curriculum hasn't invited into the room? Because before we teach, we should learn. Before we speak, we should listen. And Before we ask students to understand the world, we should first help them understand the place they call home. Appreciate your time. Appreciate you processing with me. And certainly if this resonated with you in any way, shape, or form, I'd love for you to share it with another educator who's committed to creating classrooms where every Student story has a place.
Roberto Germán [00:07:25]:
That is so important. Seriously, continue to teach in truth, lead with courage, and belong to a community that gets it.
Roberto Germán [00:07:37]:
As always, your engagement in Our Classroom is greatly appreciated. Be sure to subscribe, rate the show, and write a review. Finally, for resources to help you understand the intersection of race, bias, education, and society, go to multiculturalclassroom.com. Peace and love from your host, Roberto Germán.
