Troublemakers
As educators responsible for upwards of 20 students' academic progress, personal safety, social-emotional development, it can be easy to slip into the "good students sit still and quiet" mindset while labeling students who don't subscribe to this mold "troublemakers." However, this labeling system is detrimental to the students, educators, and the school community. Throughout Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School by Carla Shalaby, she explores the adverse effects of labeling students who routinely "act out" during class. The book follows four students: Zora, Lucas, Sean, and Marcus. She goes beyond their classroom presence to experience their home lives as she interviews their parents and sees firsthand what the foundation for each child is in order to humanize them; emphasizing that each child is more than a so-called troublemaker. The first child we meet, Zora, is an excited, creative, energetic young girl in Mrs. Be
