Chapter 8: Mixed Media Projects in a World History Classroom

High school is hard. Students are dealing with hormones, self-esteem issues, peer pressure, mounds of schoolwork, precariously balancing home life and extracurriculars with academics, and more. When my students begin the school year, many are quiet, earbuds in, focused on trying not to embarrass themselves. On our first day of school, I try really hard to set the right tone for the year. My goal is to make our classroom a “brave space.” I prefer this term to the more commonly used “safe space.” I was influenced by the work of Beth Strano, who wrote “There is no such thing as a ‘safe space’ / We exist in the real world. / We all carry scars and have caused wounds” (n.d.). Our classroom needs to be a brave space because throughout the school year I’m going to ask students, mostly sophomores, to challenge what they think they know about history, to step outside of comfort zones to try to create art in styles they’ve never experienced, and to trust in a process that doesn’t always have a pretty, neat, tidy finish.