What I Carried into the Classroom: Positionality Journaling for Educators

Key Focus Areas

1. Positionality & Personal Narrative

   • Explore why educator self-awareness matters, examining how personal histories—cultural, familial, and communal—impact teaching and learning.

2. Guided, Embodied Writing

   • Learn journaling prompts and somatic check-ins that gently surface the beliefs, habits, and emotional patterns you bring into your classroom relationships.

3. Translating Insight into Practice

   • Discuss how to integrate new self-awareness into equitable decision-making, relationship-building with students, and lesson design that uplifts diverse experiences.

Who Should Attend?

• K–12 & Higher Ed Teachers
  Seeking a reflective space to identify how their personal journey shapes curriculum choices and student interactions.

• Instructional Coaches & Mentors
  Interested in facilitating deeper self-awareness among staff for improved collaboration and culturally responsive practices.

• School Counselors & Social Workers
  Looking to guide educators in introspection around biases or triggers, enhancing the school climate and supporting educator mental health.

• Community Educators & Activist-Teachers
  Wanting to ground social justice or liberationist pedagogy in personal authenticity, healing, and relational growth.

Learning Objectives

1. Surface Personal Histories & Truths

   • Use writing prompts, freewrites, and gentle reflection to uncover how past experiences—trauma, joy, identity—manifest in daily teaching.

2. Cultivate Somatic & Emotional Awareness

   • Engage body-based practices that anchor self-discovery, transform stress responses, and create room for new insights.

3. Develop Actionable Classroom Shifts

   • Translate newly revealed positionality into meaningful adjustments—like inclusive lesson framing, mindful classroom tone, or reimagined disciplinary approaches.

Why It Matters

Positionality isn’t just an academic concept—it directly informs every classroom rule, discussion, or interaction. When educators hold unexamined biases or unhealed personal wounds, these can surface as unintended harm or missed connections with students. By embracing guided journaling and embodied check-ins, teachers validate their lived experiences and responsibly wield the influence they have in shaping students’ educational journeys. This reflective process nurtures empathy, cultivates more genuine teacher-student relationships, and champions equity throughout the school community.

Is This Workshop For You?

• Craving deeper self-reflection but unsure how to start or maintain a consistent writing routine?
  We’ll introduce user-friendly journaling structures that fit busy schedules while offering profound self-discovery.

• Noticing your past or identity occasionally clashes with school culture, colleague expectations, or administrative pressures?
  Learn to navigate those tensions with clarity, grounding, and a stronger sense of self.

• Curious about how your personal story impacts your approach to discipline, lesson topics, or student feedback?
  We’ll show you how consistent journaling unearths patterns you can then refine for equitable practice.

• Ready to bring vulnerability and deeper authenticity into faculty development or PD sessions?
  We’ll demonstrate how mindful writing spaces can strengthen team trust, transform staff conversations, and inspire collective growth.

If these questions resonate, “What I Carried into the Classroom: Positionality Journaling for Educators” provides the guided framework and supportive environment to hold your personal truths, celebrate joys, address challenges, and bring revitalized presence into your teaching.