Dramatic social change including shifts in domestic governance, and mass atrocity in multiple crisis zones have made the social science classroom a challenging place. Students and educators alike are navigating a world where the boundaries between the political, the personal, and the pedagogical are increasingly blurred. How do we balance the imperative to address current events with care, combining factual accuracy with ethical responsibility and emotional awareness? What place do a teacher’s emotions, values, and vulnerabilities have in a reconnected classroom? This innovative, participatory panel offers space for personal reflections, best practices, and mutual learning. Rather than offering a fixed model, this panel holds space for a direly needed discussion on innovative pedagogy in difficult times.