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.

The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

 For Blog #4, I decide to use connections to refer to this article. In Christine Sleeter's research review titled, "The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies", she talks about how it is important to not only recognize people with different backgrounds, but ,"recognize that that ethnic studies grew from a desire to counterbalance both inaccuracies and the predominance of Euro-American perspectives that underlie mainstream curricula." This, to me, reminds me of what we were talking about in class the past week about oppression. This reminded me of Kate's blog where she pulled the quote from "The Four I's of Oppression". The quote talked about how someone had a belief and got others to believe what he felt and made others feel less than if they thought differently. 

Kate's Blog

Christine Sleeter's research paper reminded me of the Precious video. In the Precious video, it talked about the story of a school in Tucson, Arizona where students  got their ethnics study curriculum taken away from them. The students were in an environment where they were learning about their culture and were in a space that they felt comfortable in. One of the higher men in charge took away their class because it was "threatening America". This man claimed they were trashing the founding fathers and had no respect for their class or beliefs. In the research paper, author Christine Sleeter talks about respecting others beliefs and where they came from which those values were also shown in the Precious documentary. 

The Four "I"s Of Oppression

Oppression can be displayed in many different ways. In an article titled, "The Four I's of Oppression", written by the Training Resources for the Environmental Community, they talk about the the four "I"s of oppression. For this blog, I decided to pull quotes and then elaborate on what was pulled from the text. 

The first I is Ideological Oppression. Ideological Oppression is any oppressive group that has a core belief that they are better than one another in any way, shape, or form. "Ideological Oppression is rooted in value systems that allow people to dehumanize, exploit, or harm other individuals and groups." Ideological Oppression is the overarching idea, however internalized, interpersonal, and institutional oppression are all smaller versions within the main idea. 

The second I is Internalized Oppression. Internalized Oppression talks about how certain groups put their beliefs on others while unintentional or not. “In white dominant societies, internalized oppression often expresses itself for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color through a strong drive to over-achieve in order to feel valued, or in self-doubt and hesitancy when pursuing opportunities for which they are demonstrably qualified.” While a lengthy quote, I feel that it is very important. It talks about white power and how they overpower anyone who they see as lesser than themselves.

The third I is Interpersonal Oppression. Interpersonal Oppression is the idea that one group is superior to another. "Honestly identifying the problematic statement, behavior, or action is a necessary first step." I chose this quote because a lot of times, it is very hard to make that first step and actually pursue action. 

The fourth I is Institutional Oppression. Institutional Oppression is the systematic mistreatment of a certain group of people. "Though committed individuals can choose to act equitably in their institutional or professional roles, the antidote for institutional oppression is transparent, dedicated, and accountable diversity, equity, and inclusion work towards change." I really liked this quote because I thought it was very transparent on how change CAN be made, however it is a matter of if people want to actually make the change. 

The Oppression Tree