Connecting with Colleagues — Learning Together
"When someone with the authority of a teacher describes the world, and you're not in it, there's a moment of psychic disequilibrium, as if you looked into a mirror and saw nothing." — Adrienne Rich, poet
The purpose of the Connecting with Colleagues — Learning Together section is to provide educators with resources and activities that will enable them to facilitate informative and inspiring professional development workshops with their colleagues. These activities were designed to be used by teachers who are interested in working with colleagues to explore and expand their knowledge bases and develop an awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender topics. The activities can also be useful for parents and community allies who want to form discussion groups. Most of the things we discuss and teach about in schools are things that we have had practice talking about in our own schooling, our families or our places of worship. LGBT people and issues are different. Most of us — educators, teachers and parents — did not talk about LGBT people as children. Most of us were unaware that we knew any. Some of us have never talked about these things at all and others of us never used the words "lesbian," "gay," "bisexual" or "transgender" until we were young adults. Some of us never heard these words used in a positive context until we were adults. Some of us still haven't. Bringing the voices, images and history of LGBT people into our professional development and conversations with colleagues will begin to bring positive change. Many teachers don't have the language or knowledge base to talk about topics regarding LGBT people in their classrooms. Many teachers also don't have the experience or comfort level to interrupt anti-gay name-calling or to answer questions from students such as "What does 'gay' mean " or "How can he have two moms " The activities in this section are designed to provide structure and content for conversations in which to share ideas, put thoughts into words and practice and make mistakes with our colleagues. These activities will also help teachers learn by listening to children speak of their experience with two moms, seeing how other teachers have incorporated LGBT topics into their classroom or gaining historical information on LGBT issues. GROUND RULES: It is important to set ground rules that will ensure confidentiality and respect. Listen and learn Maintain confidentiality Talk respectfully, no put-downs allowed Everyone sets their own boundaries for personal disclosure Explore new ideas Respect different experiences Share time equally

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