The Beast // La Bestia by https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy This is the small group, book club circle where you will discuss ideas with other educators who read the same book. Please post a reflection about how the content of this book relates to your teaching practice. For example, share specific examples, events and quotes from the text that were significant to you or caused you to consider more deeply the experiences your students may have had. Post one reflection (2-3 paragraphs) by Thursday, August 1st and respond to at least two other posts by Thursday August 8th. en-us 2019-07-29 11:00:19 UTC 2025-11-06 04:28:47 UTC hello@padlet.com Small Group Reflection bonavitawolf https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/372719610 My first reaction to this prompt is trauma. The journey The Beast describes is traumatic for all who travel it. While I don't think that my elementary aged students have traveled this route, it is possible that their family members have or that they have had another journey that was just as traumatic.

After reading the section about human trafficking and prostitution, I wondered if this was a trauma that any of my students have ever experienced. Statistically I think that more than likely there are students that have experience this or other types of sexual abuse. I think it is so important that our migrant students have access to mental health services at school. For many students, not just migrant students, school may be the only place where students have access to mental health services.

For me, the most important take away from this book is that we cannot know the lengths of the trauma our students have experienced in their lives. We do not know the trauma their parents may have suffered either. It is important that as educators we build relationships with our students based on compassion and kindness, knowing that for some school is a place of serenity they may not experience elsewhere. 


]]> 2019-07-30 18:41:30 UTC https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/372719610 Small Group Reflection haasm2 https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/372973796 Over the course of my teaching career, I've had a handful of students who were recent immigrants from Latin America. They came in speaking only Spanish, and I've always done my best to provide books in Spanish for them in the library, and to try to explain how book checkout works in my very limited Spanish. I've felt like I was doing my best, and providing them with some good resources. Reading this book made me think that these efforts are not nearly enough, given the trauma that these students may have experienced.

The first chapter of this book, about the three brothers who are fleeing the violence and death in their neighborhood in El Salvador, was one of the most eye-opening for me. I've had students who came from El Salvador before, and while I had a sense that it was a country with some economic and political problems, I had no idea of the scope of gang violence that was prevalent there. I can only imagine how the trauma of living in fear for their lives could haunt our students, and the long-term impact it could have on them. 

I'm still thinking about this book and how it can help me to be a better teacher for my students who are recent immigrants, whether from Latin America or elsewhere. I know that I will be more cognizant of the trauma these students may have lived through, and to make an extra effort to build relationships with these students, despite the difficulties that can come with a language barrier.]]> 2019-08-01 18:18:53 UTC https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/372973796 Small Group Reflection stephellenkiefer https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/373290704 It was an odd experience, reading this work while traveling across Eastern Europe--where a lot of the same issues of immigration, human trafficking, and economic disparities are so prevalent as well. It made me realize how...insulated we are from these realities, whether by choice or by lack of knowledge. It was a sobering realization to acknowledge that I have most likely worked with students, colleagues or incarcerated citizens who have most definitely experienced these traumas. This realization came with the acceptance that I was not nearly as effective with trauma based instruction practices. 

During my time as a prison educator, I got a small, diluted introduction to gang culture (our prison was minimum security facility on the eastern shore of Maryland). Reading the section on Los Zetas, who Martinez refers to as "famous storybook wolves", sent a chill down my spine. What I had heard during my time was nothing compared to the horrors inflicted by these gangs, on populations with no recourse to defend or fight back. It was hard to swallow, considering I thought I knew enough about gang culture--or at least more than the average educator--to come to realize my knowledge didn't even begin to touch the trauma of this work.

The most important takeaway I have had from this book is to hit harder with trauma based instruction, and to maintain an idea of the kinds of experiences that might be relevant to our school population. Is it possible to be perfectly aware of every nuanced history of every student's mother country? Certainly not. But a desire to keep a finger on the pulse of issues affecting these regions, along with inclusion of trauma based instruction practices, will certainly help keep things a bit more in perspective.]]> 2019-08-05 15:44:57 UTC https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/373290704 Small Group Reflection by Mike Nelson nelsonm12 https://padlet.com/daturner/qs6asoat5biy/wish/373773479 My teaching practices have always been about meeting students at their needs and helping provide a path for every student to succeed. Having read this book, I am deeply troubled by the journey migrants take to come here. I assumed getting caught my migration officials or trying to sneak across the border were the hard parts. Now, I know how wrong I was on this. That’s the easy part. Gang violence, kidnappings, armed robberies, clinging to fast-moving trains, rape, murder, human trafficking & being trapped in prostitution rings, compromised police, being taken advantage of, and not knowing who to trust or be skeptical of, are the hard parts. Unfortunately, all of these dangers are a reality to the majority of migrants.

When I think about my students, I can remember one ELL student who migrated from El Salvador who was always fearful and had a hard time trusting his classmates and teachers. Having read this book, I feel bad that I had no idea what horrors he had probably seen or experienced while on his journey to “El Norte.” I’m sure most teachers had no idea either. I know he spoke with the school psychologist but as a teacher you never hear anything about the content of those discussions. I worked hard at using Google Translate for him in the classroom and finding books with English and Spanish on them. I invited him to many lunch bunches where some really nice Hispanic kids who would also help teach and translate for me in the classroom. This student came a long way in my class (academically and with his emotional health). However, I wish I had read this book back then so that I could’ve done more for him. 

In all the posts in our book circle, we all come back to trauma based instruction. I feel like I could use some of that after all the horrific actions and assaults that I read about. Trauma based instruction is something all of us as educators need to employ and practice in our classrooms. Being aware of these traumas that our students and their families have seen/experienced is a good start, but we need to start addressing these traumas if we want to have a bigger impact on these students in the classroom.


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