Blog Post #12

 Blog Post Number 12 

1. There was one activity that resonated with me the most throughout this semester. It was based upon the reading, The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children by Lisa Delpit was an eye opening experience. It was the game of cards that we played. Once I understood that each group had received different instructions it all made sense to me. It was the perfect way to illustrate a powerful concept she taught us, rules and codes of power. It was more difficult to be successful when you did not speak up or explicitly say the rules. I might have felt a little oppressed during this game; however, now I feel more connected to the possible outcomes: confidence, shame, anger, or giving up. At the activity I could not believe I was unable to pinpoint the purpose of what we were doing. Looking back at it, I was stuck in parallel universe regarding the culture of power.

2. A discussion point after we read Shalaby’s Troublemakers was also quite interesting. Many teachers fail to understand the difference between pushing your students and controlling them. Although some teachers have “good intentions” behind getting their students to comply, it may end up hurting them in the end. During my service learning and schooling experience I have seen educators treat their students like “subordinate creatures.” This can contribute to canary metaphor, specifically the toxic air that Shalaby taught us. As future educators, we need to understand: even though students are younger and can learn from us we NEED to treat them as with human rights. It sounds ridiculous to write this, but it is a real problem! It is only when we treat our students as an equal and give them the freedom they deserve, where they can fly their highest. 

3. A quote from Queering our Schools touched my heart: “if he had seen Sasha’s skirt as an expression of another kid’s unique beautiful self… I would not be writing this now.” This quote speaks to me because I believe you should always try to see the beauty in self expression. Instead of critiquing differences, we can be empowered by their confidence to showcase their true selves. Before I wanted to become a teacher, I thought it would be beneficial to teach a small lesson on love and kindness early on. When children learn in a positive environment they can learn to model kindness. After all, when we behaviorally learn as children, it can influence how we perform for the rest of our lives. 

Chat gpt generated image: “could you generate an image of a classroom of students hands on learning kindness based on what I wrote [insert text].” Then, “how about the teacher learning a lesson on specific examples of how to spread love to her students.” 

RI Law and Policies, Queer our School, & Woke Read Aloud: They, She, He Easy ABC

 Author: The Editors of Rethinking and Woke Kindergarden 

These readings and videos were very insightful regarding queer practices in the school systems. For the Woke Read Aloud video I was fond of the children's book that the woman was speaking about. What stood out to me was the gender identity of a certain individual could contradict their gender orientation. For example, a person wearing a dress, having long hair, and wearing pink could identify as a male. Introducing this topic to little children can make it easier to understand that these differences are okay. Additionally, through education we can break down stereotypes that marginalize the queer community. This video reminded me of an Instagram reel I came across while doom scrolling. An educator showed pictures of different cartoon T.V. and anime characters asking the children to identify their gender. Specifically he showed students Piglet and Tweety on the classroom television. They said that the two characters were females, and the teacher corrected this accusation. One of the characters' gender even identified as non-binary. After, he described the term misgendering and the necessary steps to take in the future. These two videos heavily resonated with me because I want to be the kind of teacher that will teach kindness at an earlier age. In educational psychology class we are learning about Bandura’s Social Learning Theories. We as humans learn from observation and behavior outcomes we watch in society. If we can build a healthy and safe learning community in early stages we can set that standard for a child for the rest of their lives. According to the RI Law and Policies and the Woke Read Aloud there are real concerns on how parents will react to education and coming children with gender differences. Deeply, this makes me disappointed and angry in a variety of ways. Through communication and education we can end the silence to challenges and segregation that the queer community faces. I believe that teachers should be professionally developed in these areas so they can spread kindness where hatred is prominent in the school system.  In the Queer studies article, they mentioned integration LGBTQ+ relevant topics into the curriculum. In my opinion, it is a brilliant opportunity to get to recognize queer situations, while continuing to learn about typical history. 

Comment: In Florida, there is a whole law dedicated to the restriction of LGBTQ+ education unless deemed “age appropriate.” It makes me upset that the RI Law and Policies need to restrain using the preferred pronouns to a parent because there are so many that will not accept it. I believe that they look down upon it because of the negative stigma and the lack of education they receive. Also, there are so many parents worried about how society will look at them knowing their child is not straight or the gender they were assigned at birth. A solution to this issue could be offering education services about queer studies in the community.

Comment: There is one more comment I would like to add pertaining to the Queering Our Schools reading. Sasha’s father says a beautiful quote that includes: “if he had seen Sasha’s skirt as an expression of another kid’s unique beautiful self…I would not be writing this now.” This touched my heart because instead of hating on an unfamiliarity in a human, we can find the beauty in the freedom of their self expression. 

What is Neurodiversity? - Blog Post Number 10

 From the Child Mind Institute 

Reflection: 

Reading this article, I saw a connection between how the authors viewed neurodiversity using the Asset Based Model. For example, there is a whole subtitled called “Emphasizing the Strengths in Neurodiversity.” One of these strengths is creativity, which I had read before while researching dyslexia (a condition that falls under neurodiversity). The article described that different parts of the brain are activated in people with dyslexia.  Those with conditions like dyslexia can be perceived as “less intelligent,” but my research taught me they have different working minds than the rest of us. It made me think: they are not “less than,” – they have different strengths and differences. 

The article from the Child Mind Institute, highlighted using the term difference instead of disorder to help neurodiverse people have more confidence in them. To me, I believe that you are seeing them more as a person rather than “a disordered person” which can be limiting to a human. Which again, relates back to the Asset Based Model. 

Unfortunately, it can be challenging for those with neurodiverse conditions because they are a minority for our society. Most features in the world accommodate those with a neurotypical mind. For example, bright lights, stiff chairs, and loud noises and we do not think twice about it. In my placement school there is a boy with ADHD who has trouble focusing with me when it is loud in the classroom. As a future teacher, I think it is important to be mindful about students who call for these accommodations. In order to ensure comfort and freedom, I would like to have various types of seating and allow students to work in a quiet space. 

According to the article, there recently appears to be more awareness around neurodiversity. One quote in particular that stuck with me includes, “For kids around middle-school age who are struggling socially, identifying as neurodiverse can be a way to make sense of what they are going through.” By eliminating the stigma on neurodiversity, these individuals can speak to trusted adults about what they are going through. Neurodiverse people can hopefully connect with one so they do not feel alone in their differences. Educating teens early about neurodiversity gives them the tools to start identifying if they are neurodiverse at a younger age. That way, with these diagnoses they do not feel like something is “wrong with them.” Rather, through awareness we can shift this to “I have different strengths.” To me, this is huge for the coming generations. 

Comments: I learned that raising awareness can break down the stigma for neurodiversity. This made me think being introduced to these conditions at a young age could be beneficial. It would be great to see cartoon characters or informational pop up events at elementary schools. That way, children and adolescents have exposure to possible differences.  

The Preface and Introduction of Troublemakers

 The Preface and Introduction of Troublemakers 

Author: Shalaby 

Reflection: This piece allowed me to look through a new lens through the use of comparisons. In particular, punishing troublemaking students to a minor’s canary. The little bird would be used to indicate if the air was toxic in a coal mine, because they die before a human would. The poisonous air at school represents the lack of freedom and the strict rules. At the end of the introduction, I wish that the author would provide more ways for educators to clean the toxic air. After all, it could be difficult when teachers are held to teach the curriculum at a specific pace. Therefore, the question I pose is, “how can teachers encourage freedom, and embrace behavioral problems when they are held to a curriculum?” Moving forward, another comparison that changed my perspective regarded our history of preventing blacks from reading and suspension of primarily black students. I would have never thought that implicit racism could take place in the form of suspension and detention. This really goes to show that history can repeat itself in different situations. It is disappointing to see our system fail the students because they need to be in school to learn. Not being taken out, hence demonstrating to them that they are the problem. This brings me to my next topic that inspired me from this reading- the troublemaker. In my Inspiring Minds classroom, the teacher informed me on which students that “gives her a hard time.” The last time I went, there was a student and she thought he was the one making a sound. When she found out it was a peer of his, she says “usually you are the problem, but this time you are not” in front of the whole class.She is isolating him from the class, most likely making him feel like an outcast or inferior. In our class, we have spoken about how shame and humiliation can be a harmful tactic to learning. The preface mentioned how teachers should treat their students as free human beings. In some elementary schools, including the one I went to, they made students who were talking line up against the wall for the whole cafeteria to see. It is normalized for teachers to do this and to assert their dominance over their students. As future educators, we need to remember that the primary goal is to respect and see progress in our students.  

Comment: In the reading, I liked how it mentioned that behavior issues are the number one driving cause for them to quit. After watching many teachers on social media quit for the same reason, behavioral issues have become worrisome to me. Following this it says that teachers who are more empathetic and deeply care about their students are happier in the long run, which alleviated a lot of my anxiety. I am a psychology oriented person so understanding certain situations and reasons for behavior comes more naturally than most people. As someone who challenged authority with my history teacher, I know what it is like for the perspective of a student. Without a doubt, I will always love each and everyone of my students. Happily receive constructive criticism, while making the necessary adjustments that I need to. I take my students seriously and not treat them as inferior to me. Afterall, I believe how you treat your students is how they are going to treat you back. 

Literacy with an Attitude- Educating Working Class Children in Their Own Self-Interest

 Literacy with an Attitude- Educating Working Class Children in Their Own Self-Interest 

By: Patrick J. Flinn 

Reflection: This piece was truly an interesting and insightful read that piqued my curiosity. The main idea for chapter 2 suggests that schools in areas of certain social classes can set them up for that exact class in society. For example, in the working-class school the assignments students would where very mechanical and following instruction oriented, similarly to that field. Children of the middle class could learn techniques to perform well if they paid attention to their teacher and listened well. Which is related to how middle class workers are rewarded when they obey. Those in the affluent professional schools focused on individuality and creativity. It is designed for students to connect real life experiences to the content of the class. Instead of giving direct order, she had the students themselves choose how they behave. This approach differs from Delpit where she advocates for explicit instruction. I believe both ways can be beneficial depending on the circumstance. There is one example in particular I have given much thought into, including the use of cell phones in a classroom. 

Chat gpt generated image: 

Insert “can you create a photo with cell phones. have the teacher say, "when you are on your phone you can miss out on the lesson." have a student say "I need to send a quick text to my mom".”

In a high school setting, I have been pondering if you should have a strict no phone policy or give students the freedom to use it as they please. As a teacher, I would say you can use them, but you may miss out on something important. One of the key words in affluent professional schools was think. It takes no effort to think when you get yelled at or your phone taken away. However, it does take thinking and learning to go on your phone, miss a detail, and learn that you should pay attention to your teacher. It takes negotiation to tell the teacher, I need to text my mom back for one second, but I am listening and will put it back right away. I believe when we give students more creativity and trust in certain settings that learning can be proper. There are going to be specific classrooms that may take advantage of this and you may want to strictly enforce no cell phones to younger students when they are not ready to make such judgments yet. Negotiation, deep level thinking, and creativity is crucial in experimental scientific based jobs, which is setting them up for this career field. The last school they focused on was the elite executive school. There was focus on self-discipline and making good choices. In this school students had the freedom to move around and the responsibility to keep up with the brisk pace of the content. This school was pushing the students to be elite just like the career they are destined for. The end of this piece resonated with me when the author said “I’d like to hope that a child’s expectations are not determined the day he/she enters kindergarten.” After all, this is the land of opportunity so it is unfair that the school you go to can influence a certain career. Especially when you are born into the working class. Honestly, I have never thought of that relationship before, and it really opened my eyes to these hidden injustices. 

Comment: A part in the piece that made me feel passionate was when the author mentioned that working class students were making a grid, but they did not know why. When you show students how to do everything, especially a certain way, it can be a barrier for learning. Students need to spend time struggling on their own in order to learn. School should not be so focused on the pace and the answers, but rather on the content understanding and creativity.

Teach Us All: Video Analysis

 Teach Us All Video Analysis Google Doc Notes Link

Teach us all: Segregation and Education in the United States 

• Children in segregated schools are less likely to graduate and more likely to get arrested 

• More unqualified teachers 

• Will leave them poor for the rest of their lives 

• Central high little rock Arkansas 

• 1957 there were protests stopped the little rock nine from desegregating the school 

• The lost year there were no education at all for black students  

• Jonathan became the principal of the lowest performing schools 

• No one wants to go to an area where students are lower 

• Higher income areas get more funding for the schools than lower income areas 

• Lower income students can apply to a better school but it’s so hard to get in to 

• 1944 there was a black young lady that wanted to go to a school 

• Denied entry to the white school she wanted to go to 

• The mendez family won in 1946

Precious Knowledge Video Analysis

 

Classroom Tour Video Analysis

 

What to Look for in a Classroom

 What to Look for in a Classroom

Author: Alfie Kohn 

Reflection: It was really interesting to me that there are factors that can impact the dynamic of a classroom. There were a couple points that stood out to me; one being the teacher's voice. In my own experience I have seen how a condensing voice can create a negative learning environment. Of course, as a teacher it is important to have control over the classroom. However, I have seen some take it too far and I notice students disengaging when the teacher treats them as inferior and they are the only ones speaking. In my Inspiring Minds classroom, when I walked in the teacher was yelling and or humiliating certain students. It was clear they seemed dissociated, irritated, and most likely less motivated to learn. Another teacher I have had for history in high school had a poor attitude. He would complain about our generation, cell phones, and would speculate we were against him. It only ended up making the students not motivated and arguing with him to be understanding of us. As a future teacher, you have to be firm sometimes, but at the end of the day you have to treat your students with respect and have faith in them. Another very important detail from that list was group work and peer collaboration. In my educational psychology class we learned that Vygotsky believed that a coconstructed process can foster learning in students. In this way students are actively speaking through, teaching, and perhaps learning it a way a peer can better explain it. Also, it can be disengaging and monotonous when a teacher is rambling on for a long time. Lastly, the physical environment in a classroom and school building can encourage students. A safe and resource filled setting is crucial towards getting the best education possible.

Comment for the class: Something mentioned in the video Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy reminded me of when we spoke about Delpit’s piece. Each student is coming from different cultural backgrounds and rules. Which can be different than the rules that school forces upon students. It was interesting to me how the woman interviewed said the school should accommodate all the different cultures. Would anyone have any advice on how to go about this?

The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children

 The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People’s Children 

Author: Lisa Delpit

Reflection: The “culture of power” was a main focus that Delpit explored in this piece. When I read that there are codes and rules regarding culture of power it made me think of the SCWAAMP dominant ideologies. Delpit was referring to the power more linguistically, but the concept of power advantages are still related. Later, in the article she shifted to how some liberals will believe that they are helping people of other cultures they have power over, when in reality they are deemphasing power and indirectly communicating. Although the perpetrator with more power is trying to help in actuality they lessen their explicitness by asking questions and details. According to the article it states, “Some have added that liberal educators believe themselves to be operating with good intentions, but these good intentions are only conscious delusions about their unconscious true motives.” Basically, she argues that schools push every child to be successful in the white world. Further into the article, she says that black teachers have a more structured and powerful approach while white teachers do not. Meaning, that a black student will have a harder time due their cultural experiences instead of a white middle or high class student. That really resonated with me because it made me question and then agree that people of different cultures respond to teacher authorities differently. The example that she provided was that middle and high class white students would respond better to rhetorical discipline like “excuse are we supposed to blurt an answer?” The child growing up may learn that the question means discipline and since she is the teacher THAT means she is the boss. However, in a black home the child may be raised differently where the teacher must EARN his/her right to authority. 

Chatgpt generated prompt: [insert my text] can you generate the differences between black and white students responding to the different discipline styles I discussed?

Honestly, I loved how psychology was brought into the mix. We learned about obedient experiments in my class in high school and it is very interesting to me. She was almost implying that “meanness” is important for pushing students to do their absolute best and learn, however I am still not sure how I feel about that right now. I would never want to be the mean teacher, I want to show my true silly personality while also being firm enough that there is order in the classroom. Another point that she makes is that an individual's language and cultural style can be unique, but they must also learn formal English in order to get involved. She refers to this as playing the “power game.” I am a realist myself and unfortunately it can be tricky to learn about only other languages and cultures to be successful in America. However, he still emphasizes the importance of learning and embracing the linguistics of other cultures and believes they can practice in the context of certain audiences. 

Comments for class: 

When the author met up with the Native American girl about her paper, what she said resonated with me deeply. Even though she was not perfect, she still BELIEVED in her she could be a successful teacher, where others did not. Also word for word it says, “I stressed the need to use her own learning process as an insight into how to best teach her future students those “skills” her own schooling has failed to teach her.” I think that when a teacher has struggled as a student learning from their mistakes, they can be more passionate and better explain the concept or topic. In school I did struggle in difficult mathematics courses, but once I started tutoring I realized how much better I was at explaining since it never came naturally to me.

The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

 The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies 

By: Christine E. Sleeter 

Argument: This author Sleeter argues that ethnic studies should be in the curriculum for schools. Various races are misrepresented in the school curriculum or generally in society (black history often reduced for slavery, Latinos depicted as labor, etc.) These are all important to learn about, but there is more to the culture than those grueling events. With many interviews he found that most white students believe everyone is equal where blacks do not.  They may assume racism does not happen anymore because it is not as extreme as the school ONLY teaches it to be.  Right now racism is an oppression led by ignorance or lack of education. He provides evidence from studies that suggest when students, specifically non-white, learn about different cultures including their own they are more likely to be engaged in school. He points out when white bias remains in the system, students have to rely on other sources to learn about the history of their ethnicity. He provided a study where a black students find school more engaging when immersed in ethnic studies. Likely because they can connect their traditions, heritage, and beliefs to what they are learning about. 

Reflection: Being able to connect the experiences in your life to what you are learning in school can make learning more engaging, exciting, and memorable. Senior year, I took a psychology course and that was the first time I felt I could apply what I learned to real life. Milgram's experiment, demonstrating humans' desire to obey authority, was one I will never forget because of the experiences it reminds me of in my own life. 

From a teacher's perspective I think it would be useful to take a topic applicable to real life experiences. It can make the class more fun and engaging. In seventh grade, my teacher sang (xyxy1122), having a spin on the cheer song “extra extra read all about it.” A few years later not I did not remember how to find the slope between two points and then that song popped into my head. Overall, I think students benefit from engaging learning when it pertains to real life experiences.

Shifting the Paradigm: blog post #4

 

Shifting the Paradigm 

By: Renkly & Bertolini 

Reflection: After deciding I want to be a teacher last year, classroom management has been

circling in my mind.

Behavior issues in school can determine whether a teacher stays or quits his or her profession.

This piece made me

shift my mindset to worry less about shutting down risks for behaviors and more about focusing

on what a student

does well. I loved the message, however I have one concern. A question I would like to pose:

what strategies allow

teachers to stay alert about behavior while also focusing on student strengths? Moving forward, there were some key points in this piece that inspired me.

In my word, for teachers to find what “asset” or skill they have and use it to the best of their

ability for the school

and community. This point was strong for me and my mind took it to the next level.

If students identify what assets

they possess like support, adult-teacher relationships, positive values, positive identity;

I believe that they can be

a role model and positively shape their peers' attitudes.  For example, let's say a student is

proficient in the asset of support, we

will call him Pete. If Pete is working with Sarah, a student who is about to start sobbing

on a problem; he can say take a deep

breath Sarah, read the problem over again and I can help you through it. For me, this is strong because instead of developing clones we are developing leaders as students.

Also, student-student relationships would be strengthened and overall I think students will gain

more leadership skills. It would take a lot to reform the schools to have these assets integrated into

public schools,

but I feel like it would be worth trying. As a future teacher, I will be interesting in exploring different

techniques to

finding the balance between behavioral management and seeing the good in my students 

Chatgpt entry: “How could I make my question from Shifting the Paradigm better?: 

‘What strategies allow teachers

to stay alert about behavior while also focusing on student strengths?’” 

Comments for class: Another important point in this piece that stuck out to me

was the impact a teacher can have for a middle schooler.

In Erikson's eight stages of psychosocial development there is a stage during adolescence named Identity V.S. Role confusion.

In other words, as stated in the article, adults' perceptions of a teenager can play a huge role

in what path they take. For an educational perspective, the teacher can shape how the

adolescent sees themselves for the rest of their academic journey. Meaning, if a

teacher treats a student poorly, they have a higher chance of seeing themselves that way

and rebelling by putting less effort in. Hence, I feel it is my job as a future middle school

teacher to never give up on a student and give praise to them when they perform well. The

quote at the end about loving students really resonated through me for always being empathetic

and caring about all of my future learners. 

What “Counts” as Educational Policy? Notes toward a New Paradigm

 What “Counts” as Educational Policy? Notes toward a New Paradigm 

By: Jean Anyon 

Argument: The author argues that low income levels can contribute to less success academically and primarily sets students up barriers in life. Firstly, mentioning urban schools have less resources and worse conditions compared to suburban schools. Through studies,  he explains a cycle of disadvantage commonly occurring in low income students, predominantly Latinos or African Americans. Various factors like poverty level wages and not enough income for college can leave them in the hole. He stresses that rules and regulations need to be put in place to increase minimum wage pay and housing segregation.  Furthermore, providing new research that families with financial assistance had a higher rate of their child carrying out college education as opposed to families without modest income.  

Demonstrates generation failure from schools 

Breaking the cycle of poverty

Chatgpt generated this image in with the two prompts “with my argument [inserted what I wrote] can you generate an image for me generations low poverty effecting what Anyon advocates for” and then “can you make it more like a cycle and less writing more education based” 

Reflection: Overall, this piece resonated with me deeply. Being a student, I have seen the behaviors and stress some of my peers like he was referring to. Having extreme pressure for me to have excellent grades made me vigilant in the classroom. On top of it, as an introspective thinker, I paid attention to injustices in my school. Also, I attended a high school with various income levels and ethnicities. At times, I could see underprivileged male students were predominantly ones to misbehave and act out in class. I truly believe that they act out because they are frustrated in their life circumstances, the cycle of disadvantage I described. In my heart, I believe they act out subconsciously to resist the system and unfair barriers in education it takes loads to overcome. Not to mention, lower income students have stress coming from home. In my own classes, I see teachers choose to remain ignorant to their struggles and their expectants shrink when they see the homework is not done, or they perform poorly on. Instead of urban based teachers giving up on their students, my take on this is that they should step up and advocate for their education. This reading reminded me of a research paper I wrote for my write 106 class, when I was in a different major. Which is such a truly full circle moment for me. And it shows me following my calling, ready to save lives.

Comments: The evidence pushing towards higher minimum wage pay was not strong in this piece. Using words like “not significantly” or a little higher did not convince me that increasing the minimum wage would not harm businesses or increase inflation. His idea was something I believed too and then after research for a project, I came to the conclusion it might not be feasible. However, the families that need it can qualify for higher minimum pay without discrimination in the hiring process. That way, young adults who come from a stable family do not wreck the economy.