RESPECT & Support LGBTQ+ Students in Your Classroom (for Teachers & Students)

As a teacher or student, you will meet classmates who use different pronouns or who don’t fit traditional gender categories. I’ll give you simple tips on how to respect them. I also explain why it’s important to respect cultural differences – some people may not know much about the way these issues are handled in North America currently, and that’s okay. The key is to be respectful, to focus on learning, and to create a safe, inclusive classroom for everyone. https://www.engvid.com/respect-support-lgbtq-students/bweDwrPQ4Ak 📚 My book, "The Magic of Teaching English", is on sale now! https://englishwithronnie.com/shop/ols/products/the-magic-of-teaching-english In this lesson: 0:00 LGBTQ+ in the classroom 1:33 Ask what name and pronoun they prefer 2:28 Avoid addressing your group by gender 3:05 Respect cultural differences 4:11 Educate, don't judge TRANSCRIPT: Hey there. It's Storytime with Ronnie. But more than storytime, I'm here to teach you something important. Whether you are an ESL student or an ESL teacher, there's going to be some things in the classroom that come up that you're not comfortable with, and whether you are a teacher again or a student, it's going to affect you. So, with my book, The Magic of Teaching English, the... Your Uncensored Guide to the ESL Classroom, I've given you some tips about how to understand what your students are going through, understand what your classmates are going through, particularly in the LGBTQ+ realm. LGBTQ in your classroom, what are you going to do about it? So, sex, gender, we can't avoid it now. We don't have to put people into categories. She's a male, he's a female. It's not about that. You're in a classroom, one, to learn, or two, to teach. So, if you've got a classmate that isn't normal, cool. That's not going to affect you. Or as a teacher, if you've got kids that would like to be identified as a "they" pronoun or male or female, let them. It's their choice. It doesn't have anything to do with you teaching them English. So, let's go through some pointers, first of all. As a teacher-okay?-it's a struggle. I know it's hard. It's hard to adjust to teaching. So, I've written this book to help you guys. Maybe it's your first time starting out. This is awesome. So, easy. When you're doing attendance, ask them-them, not he or she-ask them what name and pronoun they prefer. So, when you look at the paper and you see "David", "Oh, hi. Your name's David. Oh, what would you like to be called? Oh, I'd rather be called Melissa. Perfect. Okay, what pronoun would you like to have? They, he, she, it. Perfect. Choose it, write it down, remember it. Also make sure that this is communicated to substitute teachers so that people don't have to go through this every time there's a new face in the classroom. Another very important thing as a teacher is avoid addressing your group by gender. So, a long time ago, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls." Yeah, it's not working. What I do is like, "Yo, yo, hey, hey, hey. Jump on the table like a monkey." That'll get their attention. You don't need to call people by gender. You can say, "Hey, guys. Oh, hey, that's a male thing, isn't it?" But no, it's not. "Hey, students." That's my number one go-to. "Hey, students." Because they're going to go, "Oh, hey, teacher." Perfect. Students, non-gender, non-binary. Awesome. Another big, huge, massive thing in North America, LGBTQ in North America, this is where we're doing it, right? Respect culture and differences. You could be in a class with people from all over the world. Amazing. So fun. What a great opportunity to learn about everything. But make sure you respect people's cultures. Some cultures have never heard of LGBTQ, and they're like, "What is that? Is that an acronym? What's that?" So, it's your job to educate your students. Your students are also there to learn not only English, but the culture of where we're living. If you're living in the UK, you got to teach these people, "Hey, guess what? This person beside you, please call them they, not he, not she. Okay? Yes, her name, their name is Melissa. Okay, deal with it." And if they have a problem with it, or if you have a problem with it, talk to your teacher, because there's no sense causing trouble in the classroom. It doesn't make it great. I cannot say this enough. You are there to educate the people, not judge them. I don't care what your opinion is on LGBTQ. Everyone has their opinion. Keep it to yourself. You're there to teach them how to communicate, teach them grammar, reading, writing, whatever skills. That's your job. […]