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