Blog 11

 "When you look at everything we have done this semester, what stands out to you as meaningful?"

When thinking about this semester and what I have gained and learned this semester, the list is quite long. One author that I keep going back to is Alfie Kohn and his paper titled, "What To Look For In A Classroom." Before I had read this paper, I had noticed how uncomfortable my service learning classroom was. There was no separating the room into different sections, there was the teacher's desk and the students desk and that was it. No rug, small tables, or anything like this. You could tell that the students got antsy and were restless because there were sitting at their chairs for the entirety of the day. After reading Kohn, not only did it make me even more excited to plan my future classroom in a way that ensures it is set up for success for not only me, but the students, but it also made me think of an elementary school in Garden City, RI that was modeled after this article. This school had their learning communities stacked with various kinds of accessible seating along with hopscotch and structures in the hallways for kids to get their pent up energy out. 

Another thing that has stuck with me are the discussions about service learning. Almost every day at the beginning of class, we would talk about our service learning. This is where I have gained a lot of information and insight. For example, I had noticed that in my classroom, after the students went to the restroom, the teachers instructed the students to stand there with their finger pointer over their mouth to remind them to mot talk. I found this very unsettling and thought that there had to be a more effective way of reminding the students to stop talking. When I talked about this in class, my professor chimed in and asked if anyone had ideas as to how to better approach this. When no one had any ideas, she gave me a few ideas that I actually presented to my service learning teacher and she responded very well and said she would give it a try. Moments like this were very helpful because yes, it helped me in the moment, but it gave me more tools to use in the future. 

Queering Our Schools/They,She,He Easy as ABC

 For Blog #10, I will be pulling quotes "Queering Our Schools" from the editors or Rethinking Schools, as well as talking about the video "They,She,He Easy as ABC" published by Woke Kindergarten. 

Queering Our Schools:

"How do we create classrooms and schools where each child, parent, and staff member's unique, beautiful self is appreciated and nurtured?" - This question on page 23 I think is one of the most modern questions in education. Today, everyone is trying to create the most inviting, safe, and inclusive classroom and community to welcome students from every and all backgrounds. This is going to be an ongoing conversation and will probably be constantly evolving as time goes on.

They, She, He Easy as ABC:

In this video the narrator, Ki, reads a book titled "They, She, He Easy as ABC." In this book, it goes through the letters A-Z and talks about different kids and their preferred pronouns. Throughout this book, Ki stops at every other letter and explains why people might use certain pronouns and why it is important to ask people their pronouns to make them as comfortable as they can be.

Reflection:

I thought that both of these pieces were very informational. I thought that the book was a very good introduction to explaining this to kids. Pronouns and identity can be a very complex and deep conversation and often a lot for a 6 year old to retain so I feel that introducing it in the way of the book is extremely beneficial. The article "Queering Our Schools" talked a lot about modern day schools and how they have been evolving. This read was also very intriguing to me because as I am in more schools currently, I know how to address these topics if they arise. 

Teaching Kids About Gender Pronouns

Eliminating Ableism in Education

 For Blog #9, I will be reflecting on his writing and will be talking about my own experiences with ableism in education.

    In Thomas Heir's article, "Eliminating Ableism in Education", he talks about the attitude that is received from society and defines ablism as, "the devaluation of disability." I thought that this piece was very interesting and thought that reading this was not only beneficial to myself as a current student, but is helpful for myself as a future educator. 

    I would like to think of myself as a pretty open person and keep inclusivity in the front part of my mind. Last semester in FNED101, we were talking about ableism and inclusion among all students. We talked about multiple different scenarios in which how we could make it a more inclusive environment. Our Professor talked about how students learn about static electricity by rubbing a balloon on their hair and how it stands up. I was a little stumped by this because my hair would always stand straight up if a balloon was rubbed on my hair. What I was not aware of, was that this worked with typically white students with straight/wavy hair and excluded students with thicker and very curly hair. As someone with wavy/curly hair, I found myself unintentionally excluding others since that was not my experience. This was a very eye opening scenario for me and I constantly think about this. 

    For the next example, our Professor instructed us to do was to find ways to stack blocks. To me, this was simple. Put one block on top of the other. After a few minutes of confusion, she intervened and told us  to now picture it as if we had a student with only one arm, no hands, or with no arms, and to think to ourselves not, "how can THEY adapt to ME", but "How can I adapt to THEM." This is another lesson that stuck with me. Just because I have two working arms and legs, does not mean that that is the case for everyone. 

    I am very aware that my experience in life and my privilage with education is nothing to take for granted. Both of these experiences were very interesting for me and made me even more engaged and eager to find and create an inclusive and welcoming space for my future students. 

How to Promote Inclusion in the Classroom

Aria

 For Blog #8, we read "Aria" by Richard Rodriquez. Rodriquez's writing talks about his childhood and how experienced language barriers. He connects the idea that because he spoke Spanish, he felt a closer connection to finishing his sense of belonging. He talks about the idea of being a native Spanish speaker in an English speaking school and how conversations differ among other things. 

Growing up as someone who only spoke English, I thought this piece of writing was a very interesting perspective that I have not yet explored. Reflecting on it, I thought that this writing was refreshing and gave me an insight as to what it would've been like in some one else's shoes and what is was like navigating all of that.

Being Bilingual In A Culture That Doesn't Understand It

For Rodriquez's article, I will be pulling quotes.

1. "At school, words were directed to a general audience of listeners... and the point was not self-expression alone but to make oneself understood by others." 

- I really liked this quote because he explains how he felt excluded and felt delayed because while his classmates were aware of what was going on, and he was blind trying to find his way.

2. "The family's quiet was partly due to the fact that, as we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents. "

- I thought that this quote was important to include because I think it is crucial to talk about the barrier that is pushed and divides them. 

Video Analysis

 

What To Look For In A Classroom

 For Blog #6, I decided to use connections about my own experiences to talk about the text. 

Alfie Kohn posted a chart titled, "What to Look for in a Classroom", and the chart is exactly as it sounds. It shows what are good signs of a good classroom and vise versa. 

How To Set Your Classroom Up For Success

Kohn's article talks not only about the physical items that are in the class, but the environment that the teachers and students bring into the room. I have been working and volunteering in classrooms since I was in third grade so I have a pretty extensive background in classrooms and have seen very different classroom models. I can also say with certainty and from experience, the physical items in the classroom are essential, but the teacher and the students are what make the classroom. 

One classroom I will always remember is my second grade teacher's room, Mrs. Jenkins. Her room, for a lack of better words, was magical. She had a giant bookshelf filled with every book from A-Z. She had a reading nook that was always available to her students. We had accessible seating, there were very few "normal" chairs. This classroom was comfortable for everyone to come into. Our artwork was constantly on display for everyone to see. She created a space where we were comfortable and wanted to be. 

In elementary school especially, it is important to establish this environment for your students so they want to be there. This sets a a foundation for them and gets them excited for school which sets them up for success. I really enjoyed this article and made me think a lot about how I can set my future classroom up to ensure engagement and excitement. This article also made me think about how over time learning environments have changed. A hundred years ago, students might have been able to sit down at a desk for 8 hours and learn, whereas today, this doesn't not apply and for teaching the upcoming generation, I have to adapt how to set my classroom up.

Troublemakers

 For Blog #5, I decided to pull quotes from TroubleMakers, written by Shalaby. 

How Teachers Impact Their Students

Preface

1. "For the most part, schools value quiet children over loud ones and operate as though adults are the only teachers in the room." I really enjoyed this quote because I have always been frustrated at teachers that treat children as less than or try and dim their creative outlets. I feel that a lot of times teachers try and teach with what lesson plan they have in mind and work around the "noisy kids", however this problem of disruptive kids could be solved by finding what interests them. When they are doing tasks that interest them, their creativity would blossom and the class would be less rowdy because they would be turning their "negative" energy into a positive.

Introduction

2. "I was in charge of asking the questions and he was charged with answering them. I was the adult, the teacher, the leader. He was the child, the pupil, the follower." I thought that this quote ties in with the previous quote because as it is commonly perceived that the teacher is the ring leader and the students just follow behind them. I chose this quote because I think it also shows that the children and students that you work with are extremely malleable and want to learn. With this means that teachers need to be aware of just how much of an impact they make on students.

Reflection:

I throughly enjoyed this piece. I think that compared to other pieces and articles we have read, this was my favorite. I think that this text talked a lot about the impact that teachers make on students and how the students all have their own set of individual characteristics that serve a purpose in their classroom and how that can be better approached and maneuvered.