Hi Brandon, I did not have any driving experience before I came to US because I only use public transportation or a bike. It is really dependent on how the society is built. Just like I heard a girl asking in class “why does anybody live in concrete built homes”? But in my country, actually, we do not use the wood as building structures as in the US. We use concrete brick and concrete more often. I am very open to the differences. Actually, I enjoy all the inspirations from these differences.

Hi Alex, I am currently on computational work as well. It does feel easier. For the more difficult topics, I agree that we need more practical guidelines and practice of control, leadership, communication, and maybe some counseling skills as well. At the same time, I believe it also helps that we as the educator has some level of flexibility and maybe more confidence by setting a very inclusive culture of not taking things personally. Even if we said something wrong/improper, we can make reflections, corrections, and explanations. Sometimes being authentic and trusting people might sound abstract, but people react much more inclusively to authenticity and trust. I once said something really wrong in a group activity. It sounded very wrong although it was just a language translation problem. But it was not taken badly at the end by the other. That gave me some relief to not to be too sensitive and vulnerable. Maybe being too sensitive could hurt people more, while being natural, authentic, open, relax, and flexible will change the culture in a soft way.

Hi Dr. Nelson. While reading my classmate’s posts and their comments, I think some of us are really expressing a lack of skill set to have some level of control over these difficult conversations. People usually procrastinate when they feel difficulty or feel less prepared. Thanks for the reminder of this perspective. Procrastination to do something really penetrates every aspect.

Thank you, Jyotsana. I am amateur in psychology. It is always inspiring to see how to psychology to understand and explain people’s behavior.

Hi Bethany, Thank you for the comment. I thought we were the ones that control the mind, be sometimes it is really the mind controlling us. Thank you also for recommending Zach’s metaphor. He has used a good metaphor of drivers and bicyclers.

Hi Grace, thank you for the post. This is really a difficult mission and it needs the collaboration of all. Learning some communication skills such as the “broaching” that Jyotsana mentioned and also leadership skills might better prepare us for these difficult and unpredictable conversations in class. I feel that training or workshops to teach every teacher on these theories and skills should be universalized. First, we need to master them as if they are common sense, and second, we can plant it better for the next generation.