Told in third person, I thought that Beam couldn’t possibly convey J’s experience in an engaging way. This novel details J’s story as a transgender youth growing up within a family that’s trying so hard to meet the world’s expectations of traditional gender expectations. And it also offers a reminder that we constantly have more work to do when reaching every reader.Ĭris Beam’s novel, I Am J, was originally shared with me at #nErDcampMI during the diverse YA session led by Cindy Minnich and Sarah Anderson. That says something about the powerful work that we do. This summer, a teacher friend of mine recounted how she had a student who felt more comfortable revealing she was gay to the teacher instead of her parents.
They get a chance to live vicariously through characters and see how others respond, all without having to risk taking the action themselves. And even if we don’t feel comfortable answering their questions in person, we should be able to point them to books that explore those topics and help answer students’ questions about growing up. Teenagers have questions about their gender and sexual identities. With school starting next week, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can reach all readers in class-especially students like the one mentioned above. I want them to find themselves on my shelves and find a part of themselves that they hadn’t considered yet as a result of the books that line my shelves. We immediately called my colleague.) But I’m starting to see my classroom library in a new light: it’s a place that can provide answers for the questions that students have and the ones that they didn’t know they have-yet. (One time a student asked about the shape of a uterus. In the past, I’d refer students to the health teacher when they asked questions that I didn’t know. I solicited questions, and he posed one that I wasn’t expecting and didn’t know how to answer within the confines of my curriculum.Īs a new teacher, I let it go. All of these things are happening.” I know there are some teenagers that would submit a response like that to be funny, but this student was serious.
Last school year, I gave students a brief writing prompt in the hopes of planning for the next day: What are you still confused about, and how can I help? As I read responses that night, I stumbled upon one that took freedom with my prompt and went something along these lines: “My body is changing and I just don’t feel comfortable in it.
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