A thought: couldn't we just talk about COVID in the classroom without making it a curriculum tool?

Good points on either side here, but I think we need to step back – if teachers are not yet comfortable having hard, human conversations in the classroom, why add a math lesson? https://twitter.com/shskaercher/status/1285006801516277767

Designing relevant lessons from real world data is a skill & managing trauma/difficult emotions in the classroom is another skill.

Committing to grappling with the real world in STEM classes should necessitate you learn to deal with the fallout, but not everyone has both skills.

If we're picking a place to put our efforts in 2020: learn to be trauma informed.

Incorporate check-ins, learn how to deal with your own potential trauma/vicarious trauma. Learn a way to engage with students pain and fears that is authentic to YOU.

We DEFINITELY shouldn't ignore/never mention the pandemic & the impact it's having in our communities.

We definitely shouldn't pretend that impact is proportionally distributed or that it's a coincidence (or has a scientific/genetic basis)

But it's a hard time for teachers too.

It's a lot to ask to do a math lesson about this well. It is hard pedagogical work & hard emotional labour.

We have a responsibility to speak to the moment, and it's a pandemic and maybe folks aren't ready to learn to do all of this at the same time.