Courage When It Counts

Kristen Gilger said that the majority of employees prioritize the Cs when it comes to a boss. As we discussed the meaning of the Cs, I realized that we are the students' boss. We need to practice the Cs in the classroom if we expect for our bosses to practice them.

• Competence
• Communication
• Compassion
• Courage
• Creativity

We must know and understand something, and practice it to teach it. The ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute brought us here to ensure our competence in the classroom. As we all know, we must communicate our expectations to students in order to be fair. We can't leave them guessing what is expected and then nail them on it. We must converse with them daily and let them know they are heard. As we've sat in the classroom and shared stories about our students, I can see that compassion has been practiced by the Reynolds participants, and will continue to be practiced upon returning to our respective classrooms. Creativity? Well, at the institute our presenters have handed us a million tools to bring options into our classrooms. From now on, we can use our community to stimulate some creativity with exchange papers (as Alan suggested) or when we bounce ideas off one another.

The concept of courage struck me most, particularly with all of the discussions about running into conflicts with administrators about what we put in our papers. To be honest, as a brand new journalism teacher, conflict about content frightens me. Then, I realized that I have advocated for students in the past. No job would be worth compromising my values about what kids deserve. Sometimes, we think an extracurricular activity shouldn't be worth the fight. It's just supposed to be fun, right? Then, I realized that if I didn't stand up for their content, it would be like saying my students didn't deserve the First Amendment. I would be showing them that it didn't matter that much. Not fighting for journalism would be like saying kids didn't deserve the right to practice skills applicable to any profession, or the right to make decisions and make mistakes. Somehow, I think remembering that might give me some courage when the time comes. Thanks to Gilger, I know exactly what I plan to do if faced with such a conflict. 

Gilger reacts to a teacher and principal simulation.

Rhonda Dickens

Chisholm Trail High School

Fort Worth, Texas