Over the years, we’ve been through many traumatic and controversial events as a nation, and members have turned to this group as a place to discuss how to equip themselves to best support their students.

At this moment, calls for social and racial justice are a primary concern for many teachers and kids. Lots of folks in our groups cannot—and do not want to—avoid doing their own internal work to process what’s happening and advocate for students.

The primary purpose of this 40 Hour group is to discuss productivity and wellbeing as an educator, but we have always approved almost any post that is related to teaching. We’ll continue to do that now. If you see a post that has nothing to do with supporting kids or being a conscious, effective, balanced teacher, you can click "report to admin" and we'll check the post out to decide if they should be removed. The final call will be at the discretion of the moderation team.

Of course, you do not have to participate in or read conversations involving current events: we simply ask that you avoid interfering with or derailing the discussion. This has been the case so far and I’m deeply appreciative of that. Let folks use this space to brainstorm and support one another as needed, while you scroll by to posts that interest you.

Remember, though, that there is growth to be found in discomfort, and it's often healthy and necessary to sit with those feelings. What's happening in the news is too big for us as educators to ignore and it will impact the way students return to school in the fall. Teachers will have to reckon with this and prepare for it, and our conversations in the group can help with that.

If you are resistant to that idea, I encourage you to stay focused on the larger mission—which I think we all believe in—of racial equality and healing, and know that as a teacher, you play an important role in bringing that to reality. The conversations we’re having are part of our work toward having equitable schools, where every child has access to the same level of high quality education and the support of knowing their identity is fully seen and valued. This is difficult work but so, so worth it.

From day one, this has been an incredibly supportive community of teachers who relentlessly tackle each new challenge that comes their way, and this moment is no different.