Student First Language:
A Way to Change the Way We Describe People
Changing our Conversational Language
When we talk in our everyday conversations about students, it is typical for most of us to describe students we work with by giving the descriptor first (ie. IEP student, gifted student, or at-risk student). I challenge all of us to focus on how we say things so it matches how much we respect our students. So we should say, "students with individualized learning plans, students with gifts and talents, and students exposed to at-risk factors". This way, our language is people first!