Happy Book Birthday Sara K. Ahmed – Win A Copy of Being the Change

There are books that will move you.

There are books that will challenge you.

There are books that will give you practical ideas.

There are books that will force you to reevaluate your practices and then offer you a new pathway.

There are books that become heart books because you know that within their pages your heart was changed and you somehow became something more than you were before.

And then there are books that are all of these things rolled into one.

This is the case for Sara K. Ahmed’s book Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension which is released today by Heinemann.  Happy book birthday!!

I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this book and I will tell you this; it has totally transformed my teaching plans for the final quarter of the year.  That’s how powerful this book is.

With stories, reflection questions, and also actual lesson ideas, this is the perfect package for anyone who wants to bring the world in and also navigate these tough topics with their students.  I am telling you, this book is a game changer.

And so because I want as many educators to discover and read this book, I am giving a copy away.  This will be a quick giveaway ending March 30th already.  All you have to do is leave a comment and I will pull a random winner.  But in the meantime you really should order the book and then just enter the giveaway to have an extra copy.  You won’t regret it.

Official description:

Topics such as race, gender, politics, religion, and sexuality are part of our students’ lives, yet when these subjects are brought up at school teachers often struggle with how to respond. How do we create learning conditions where kids can ask the questions they want to ask, muddle through how to say the things they are thinking, and have tough conversations? How can we be proactive and take steps to engaging in the types of conversations where risk is high but the payoff could be even greater?

Being the Change is based on the idea that people can develop skills and habits to serve them in the comprehension of social issues. Sara K. Ahmed identifies and unpacks the skills of social comprehension, providing teachers with tools and activities that help students make sense of themselves and the world as they navigate relevant topics in today’s society.

Each chapter includes clear, transferable lessons and practical strategies that help students learn about a targeted social comprehension concept. From exploring identity and diversity to understanding and addressing biases and microaggressions, Sara demonstrates how to address real issues honestly in the classroom while honoring and empowering students.

Dealing with social issues is uncomfortable and often messy, but you can build habitats of trust where kids and adults can make their thinking visible and cultivate empathy; where expression, identity, and social literacy matter. There is no magic formula for making the world a better place. It happens in the moments we embrace discomfort and have candid conversations.