Contact Zones

I agree that as educators we need to be willing to teach within contact zones. We need to deal with tough issues and push students to think beyond their class and social structures. It can be scary to branch out and it can be tempting to settle back into comfortable zones that just skim along the surface of subjects in an attempt to produce satisfactory grades, but it is imperative that we take the risk because the reward is priceless. I want to create a classroom environment that encourages students to openly share their struggles and thoughts even if they are complicated and perhaps off-task.