How Was Your Summer? Fostering Critical Conversations with Students

By Jenny Delacruz

NURTURE THE ANTI-RACISM ADVOCATES OF TOMORROW WITH JENNY DELACRUZ’S HOLISTIC BOOK

With so many aspects of the world collapsing and changing around us this summer, the entire globe has had to face a different, new reality. It can be easy to overlook how much the global pandemic and Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have affected our future generations, but the impact of these changes will continue to play out for many years to come.

With so many drastic changes occurring in such a short time, America’s young people and students need attention. Many children and youth are grieving the loss of normalcy but do not have the tools to process their grief. This guide is intended to help students learn coping skills for processing the events of 2020. The skills taught here will continue to serve them throughout their lives. It is essential for every parent and teacher to help child(ren) learn to identify and express their emotions while also cultivating a safe space and instilling principles of confidence and justice.

Conversations about these issues need to take place in the classroom and in the comfort of our homes. These familiar spaces are where students need to learn the necessary coping skills for dealing with stress and/or changes, and these coping skills will continue serving our children as they strive to help create a better future. Although topics such as grief, race, and emotions can be daunting, this book provides a place to start and will act as a guide to help you navigate these difficult topics.

This proactive guide by Jenny Delacruz will help teachers and parents teach K-12 students the coping skills necessary to cultivate a strong identity and sense of compassion. How Was Your Summer: Fostering Critical Conversations with Students is the best resource for educators and parents who want to engage in critical conversations with students. The guide includes 30 “Reflection Time” activities and exercises intended to be completed in 15-minute increments once a week. The topics in this guide include:
Writing/drawing prompts to inspire the future generation to become anti-racism advocates and elevate the BLM movement
Activities to foster trust and community
Exercises for reducing anxiety and cultivating mindfulness amidst COVID-19.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jenny Delacruz
• Release date: Sep 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734221954

Jenny Delacruz

Jenny Delacruz is a licensed counselor specializing in family conflicts, trauma, and parenting issues. Jenny is a philanthropist who advocates for human rights; her work focuses on promoting diversity. Her passion for teaching her children about world history and current events led her to pursue writing and launch her own educational children’s book series.If you want more of Jenny Delacruz’s work, check out her first book, Fridays with Ms. Mélange: Haiti. She has a YouTube channel called Storytime with Ms. Mélange where she reads diverse children’s books aloud.

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Title1

How Was Your Summer:

Fostering Critical Conversations with Students©

Copyright by Cobbs Creek Publishing

PO Box 9400

Philadelphia, PA 19139

www.cobbscreekpublishing.com

Copyright © 2020 by Cobbs Creek Publishing, INC.,

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

For information regarding permission,

email [e-mail]

ISBN: 978-1-7342219-5-4 eBook

ISBN: 978-1-7342219-6-1 Paperback

Letter from the Author

I am a licensed professional counselor with more than ten years of experience in social service and mental health. Because of my experience and expertise, I have been acutely aware of the challenges that families, communities, and children are facing during the COVID-19 health crisis. The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with Americans’ unprecedented attunement to the experiences of Black people, has left many Americans reeling.

As a first generation Haitian American who grew up in New York City, I was raised in a home where we discussed tough experiences head on, such as racial inequality. As a result of these conversations and the ways that our family internalized and processed them, I came out grounded and prepared to deal with the difficult realities of the world around me at the time. Presently, I have applied what I’ve learned back then and have striven to model a similar approach as I raise my two sons and helped other students as a counselor. Being able to discuss and process difficult topics is especially important now, given the uncertainties surrounding the start of school in the fall of 2020. I developed this guide to lessen the anxiety of those unknowns and to assist parents and teachers in instilling confidence, emotional strength, and an authentic appreciation for others in the children they are trying to raise and help.

This teaching and learning guide was compiled for educators and parents who want to support children and youth as they continue to process and explore the COVID-19 health pandemic and the calls from Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists and allies to confront systemic racism in America in 2020.

The activities discussed in this guide can be completed in the classroom, or virtually via distance learning. There are 30 activities to address students’ socioemotional health while fostering critical conversations and teaching coping skills. For example, the activities titled COVID-19 (Activity 5) and Structural Racism (Activity 7) aim to help students begin thinking and talking about the feelings, issues, and changes in their lives in the midst of COVID-19 and the BLM protests. Becoming an Ally (Activity 17) includes a wide range of socioemotional activities intended to help students develop a holistic identity, embrace compassion, and establish and engage in anti-racism skills. I have also included many more activities to foster parental support, as many families grapple with how to continue distance education and engage in critical conversations this fall. While some adults might question the appropriateness of exposing or discussing some of these issues with children, we must reflect on our nation’s racist history and understand that silence perpetuates the very attitudes and dispositions that foster inequity, prejudice, and even death, generation after generation (Smith, 2018). At the end of the guide, you’ll also find a list of resources to support parents and educators and a glossary to clarify the