Social Advocacy Lesson

 

WHAT?

During this lesson, we taught students about social advocacy, focusing on topics such as bullying, air pollution, and poverty. The main objective was for students to be able to address difficult topics and feel comfortable talking about them.

We used a variety of activities throughout the lesson. We started by going over vocabulary words, then had students complete a cause-and-effect chart. Students also analyzed an image by writing what they saw, wondered, and thought. They made friendship bracelets, wrote about a serious issue and what they believed caused it, and read and acted out a bullying play. After the play, students discussed how the situation was resolved and how they could stand up for someone being bullied. At the end, students completed a post-test to show what they learned.

Collaboration was shown through working with my two co-teachers to deliver the lesson to a small group of students. Communication took place between teaching partners and with students during discussions and activities. Social awareness was incorporated through the topics themselves, as students were engaging with real-world issues like bullying and poverty. I demonstrated professionalism by dressing appropriately, being prepared, and interacting respectfully with both students and colleagues. I also showed adaptability by making sure all parts of the lesson were completed within the time we had.

What went well during the lesson was that students performed well on the post-test, with one student earning a 70 and the other two earning 80s. In addition, students were very engaged when acting out the bullying play, which led to a meaningful discussion afterward.

One area of weakness was the friendship bracelet activity. It ended up being too large of a project for the time we had, and students were upset that they could not finish it. This showed that I need to better plan timing for hands-on activities.

Students met the objective based on both assessment and participation. All students scored a 70 or higher on the post-test, showing they learned from the lesson. They also demonstrated understanding during discussions, written responses, and activities like the cause-and-effect chart. All students met the objective and were able to engage with and discuss serious social issues.

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SO WHAT?

From this experience, I learned that just because I feel like students are not doing well during a lesson does not mean they are not understanding the material. I expected that most students would struggle on the post-test because some did not communicate as much during the lesson. However, all students performed well, which showed me that participation does not always reflect understanding.

This experience helped me grow professionally by teaching me to be more reflective and patient. I learned that students may still be learning and processing information even if it is not immediately visible. It also showed me the importance of using assessments to better understand student learning instead of relying only on what I see during instruction.

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NOW WHAT?

This experience will influence my professional identity by helping me become a more trusting and supportive teacher. I will have more faith in my students and their ability to learn, even if they are not always showing it right away. This will help me create a more positive and encouraging classroom environment.

In the future, this will influence how I plan, teach, and assess my lessons. I will teach with the understanding that not all learning is immediately visible. When planning, I will include different ways for students to show their understanding. When teaching, I will be more mindful of not assuming students are struggling based only on participation. When assessing, I will use both observations and formal assessments, like quizzes and written work, to get a clearer picture of student learning.

Cultural Reflection

 

WHAT?

During this lesson, we taught students about the culture of Massachusetts and also had them explore and talk about their own culture. The main objective was for students to be able to identify their own cultural identity and explain what makes them who they are.

We included several activities to help students understand this concept. One activity was a hide-and-seek picture game where students chose a place to “live” and gave clues using their five senses. We also had students discuss different cultural aspects of Massachusetts. Lastly, students drew a picture representing their own cultural identity and explained it.

We incorporated collaboration by working together as a teaching team to create and deliver the lesson. Communication was used when we shared ideas with each other and when students shared their thoughts during activities. Social awareness was incorporated by encouraging students to think about their own culture and how it connects to others. I demonstrated professionalism by being prepared, dressing appropriately, and speaking respectfully to students. I also showed adaptability by adjusting the lesson when we ran out of time and had to shorten certain parts.

What went well was that students were very engaged, especially during the hide-and-seek activity and the cultural identity drawing. These activities allowed students to be creative and personal, which helped them stay interested. In the moment, we adjusted by shortening parts of the lesson due to time constraints.

One area of weakness was the Massachusetts culture chart, as students seemed to struggle with it. I think this may have been because the directions were not as clear or it was less engaging compared to the other activities.

Most students met the objective based on their drawings and explanations. One student showed a strong understanding by explaining that she was African, describing the food she eats, and explaining how she could share her culture with others through food. Another student met the objective by explaining her background, including where her parents are from, and sharing that she could talk about her culture with others. One student did not meet the objective, as he drew a bank and was unable to explain how it connected to his culture or how he could share it with others.

To better support all students, I could model my own cultural identity more clearly. By sharing my own background and examples, students would have a better understanding of what is expected. I could also include more visuals or sentence starters to guide students.

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SO WHAT?

From this experience, I learned that when asking students to share personal information about themselves, it is important to model expectations by giving an example. By talking about my own cultural identity, students can better understand what I am asking them to do.

This experience helped me grow as a teacher by showing me the importance of clear instruction and modeling. I learned that students feel more confident and are more successful when they are given a clear example to follow.

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NOW WHAT?

This experience will influence my professional identity by helping me become a more student-centered and reflective teacher. I understand the importance of building connections with students and helping them feel comfortable sharing about themselves.

In the future, this will influence how I plan, teach, and assess my lessons. When planning, I will make sure to include clear examples. During teaching, I will share more about myself to help guide students. When assessing, I will make sure students fully understand expectations so their work accurately shows what they know. This will help improve student understanding and engagement overall.

Economics Lesson

 

WHAT?

During this lesson, I taught a third-grade class about economics. The lesson included a variety of activities to engage students, including vocabulary practice, examining pictures of businesses from the past and present, writing about how they would want to make money in the future, discussing ways to support local businesses, playing a Kahoot game, and ending with a short session of Monopoly.

I incorporated collaboration and communication by working closely with my teaching teammates to plan and deliver the lesson, ensuring everyone was on the same page. I practiced social awareness by keeping my voice at a level where my group could hear me without disrupting other groups. I demonstrated professionalism through appropriate dress and respectful communication with both students and co-teachers. I also showed adaptability when the computer lost internet connection; I helped come up with solutions and adjusted the lesson by moving on to the next activity.

The Monopoly game went especially well, as students were highly engaged and excited to participate. My team adapted the instruction by choosing to play Monopoly after the Kahoot to ensure we had time for all planned activities. The only minor challenge was the temporary internet issue, but it did not significantly impact the lesson.

By the end of the lesson, all students demonstrated a solid understanding of economics concepts. On the Kahoot, two students scored 60%, and one scored 70%. While no students exceeded the objectives, all met the learning goals. Upon reflection, I could improve differentiation by reviewing key topics throughout the lesson, as some of the questions students missed were only briefly covered at the beginning.

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SO WHAT?

From this experience, I learned that some lessons can go extremely well when students are engaged, activities are interactive, and teamwork is strong. This lesson helped me grow professionally by increasing my confidence as a teacher. I observed how effective collaboration with my peers and thoughtful planning can lead to a successful, enjoyable learning experience for both students and teachers.

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NOW WHAT?

This experience will influence my professional identity by showing me the value of strong teamwork and thoughtful lesson design. Moving forward, when I feel discouraged about teaching, I can reflect on this lesson as an example of how effective collaboration, engagement, and planning can result in a highly successful lesson. This will guide how I plan, teach, and assess in the future, reminding me to include interactive activities, review key concepts, and work closely with my teaching team to maximize student learning.

Civics Lesson

WHAT?

Today, I taught a small group of three third graders a lesson about civics, focusing mainly on the three branches of government. We began the lesson by greeting the students and asking about their day, giving them an opportunity to share anything they wanted. This helped build a positive learning environment and set a respectful, professional tone for the lesson.

Next, we introduced the lesson vocabulary using an I do, we do, you do approach. The students and I read the words aloud together, then they read with us, and finally, we asked them to explain what each word meant. The vocabulary words included: branches of government, political process, civic participation, civic competence, civic agency, common good, democratic citizenship, rights and responsibilities, rules, and laws. During this time, I used an appropriate voice level to ensure the students could hear and follow along, and I adjusted my communication as needed to clarify meanings.

After teaching vocabulary, students participated in several activities, including a sorting game, a roleplay, and a discussion where they expressed which branch of government they thought was most important. In the roleplay activity, each student was assigned a branch of government and given a role to perform. While the students enjoyed the roleplay and asked to do it again, they seemed confused about what to do and when, despite the instructions on their cards. This showed me that the activity did not align perfectly with the students’ current understanding, which I will address in future lessons.

During the lesson, I realized a Kahoot game had not yet been prepared. While I stepped aside for about 10 minutes to locate an appropriate civics Kahoot, my teaching peers temporarily led the next few activities so that learning continued smoothly. The students were still actively participating, and when I returned, I was able to fully assist and guide them through the remaining tasks. This demonstrated collaboration, flexibility, and teamwork, allowing instruction to continue without interruption.

Throughout the lesson, I actively scanned the room to identify when students were struggling. For example, I noticed they had difficulty spelling some vocabulary words, so I provided additional support. I also remained flexible, adapting instruction in the moment to help them understand content, such as clarifying instructions during activities or guiding them through writing tasks.

We ended the lesson by asking the students what they felt they had learned and what their favorite part of the lesson was. One student mentioned learning about the branches of government, and all three students said the roleplay was their favorite part. These closure questions helped reinforce learning and gave students a voice in reflecting on their own experience.

Time management went well; using a timer helped us complete all planned activities.

In terms of learning objectives, all three students struggled to identify the three branches of government. This was evident in the roleplay activity and later in the Kahoot assessment, where all students answered fewer than half of the questions correctly. No students exceeded the objectives. In the future, differentiation will include a more structured activity, such as having students draw a three-branch system and explain who is in each branch and what their responsibilities are.

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SO WHAT?

From this lesson, I learned that I need to create checklists to track all materials and activities before the lesson begins. This experience taught me the importance of being organized, reflecting on challenges, and double-checking resources to avoid last-minute difficulties.

I also learned the value of collaboration and adapting instruction in the moment. While I located the Kahoot, my teaching peers led the next few activities, allowing learning to continue uninterrupted. Additionally, helping students with spelling difficulties or clarifying instructions during activities demonstrated the need for flexibility. This lesson reinforced my ability to use appropriate voice levels, communicate clearly, and scan the classroom to ensure students were engaged and supported.

This experience helped me grow professionally by highlighting areas where I can improve, such as preparing interactive activities and giving students more explicit instructions. It also reinforced that teaching is a reflective practice; even enjoyable activities may need adjustments to match students’ learning needs.

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NOW WHAT?

Moving forward, I will use checklists to stay organized and ensure all lesson materials are prepared in advance. I will also provide students with clear, specific instructions instead of vague directions to maximize their understanding.

This experience shapes my professional identity as a teacher who values organization, reflection, adaptability, clear communication, and collaboration. I plan to incorporate structured, hands-on activities in future lessons, such as drawing, sorting, or other interactive exercises that give students multiple ways to demonstrate understanding. By doing so, I aim to help all students meet learning objectives while fostering engagement and collaboration.

Overall, this lesson reinforced the importance of preparation, reflection, and responsiveness, which are central to the kind of teacher I want to be. I will continue to build on these skills to ensure that my lessons are effective, engaging, and student-centered.

History Lesson

 

WHAT

During this lesson, my two teaching partners and I taught a third grade social studies lesson on the history of Massachusetts. Specifically, we focused on teaching students about the Wampanoag people and what their life was like. The objective of the lesson was for students to develop a deeper understanding of the history of Massachusetts and what life was like for the Wampanoag. Throughout the lesson, we incorporated communication, collaboration, social awareness, professionalism, and adaptability while planning and delivering instruction.

We began the lesson by greeting the students and asking them a question to get them thinking about history. The question asked students if they could live during any moment in history, which moment they would choose and why. However, the students seemed confused by this question, so we moved into reviewing vocabulary words related to the lesson.

During the lesson, students explored primary source images to help them grow their understanding of what the Wampanoag people looked like and what their daily lives may have been like. Using primary sources helped students visualize history and think more deeply about how people lived in the past. We also read the students a book about the Wampanoag and had them create a timeline that matched events from the story. In addition, students completed a writing activity where they shared their thoughts about how the Wampanoag lived.

Students also participated in a hands-on activity where they created their own Wetu using a paper lunch bag and string. A Wetu is a traditional home used by the Wampanoag people. At the end of the lesson, we used a Kahoot game as an assessment to see how much the students understood about the Wampanoag.

During the lesson, I demonstrated professionalism by dressing appropriately, being respectful to both my teaching partners and the students, and contributing to the lesson while also listening to my peers. I also made sure to speak loud enough for the students in my group to hear me while still keeping my voice quiet enough so that I did not disturb other groups. While students were working, I gave them time to think and write before asking them questions so that I would not interrupt their thinking process. I also showed flexibility during the lesson when I realized that I had cut the string for the Wetu craft too long. I adjusted by helping students cut the string to the correct length so they could successfully complete their project.

One part of the lesson that went very well was the arts and crafts activity where students created their own Wetu. The students really enjoyed making the Wetu using paper lunch bags and string, and all of the students shared that the craft activity was their favorite part of the lesson. I believe this worked well because students tend to be very engaged in hands-on activities. Creating the Wetu also helped students better understand what homes might have looked like for the Wampanoag people, which made the lesson more meaningful and connected to the content. This activity also helped students develop a greater appreciation for the culture and daily life of the Wampanoag people.

One weakness of the lesson was our time management. This was the second lesson where we struggled with managing our time, and as a result we were not able to get through everything the way we had planned. In the future, we will map out how long each step of the lesson should take and set timers so that we stay on track and ensure that we are able to complete all parts of the lesson.

Overall, the objectives of the lesson were mostly met. Evidence of this can be seen through the Kahoot assessment and the students’ writing responses. One student answered about 90% of the Kahoot questions correctly, while the other two students answered a little more than half of the questions correctly. All students were able to correctly answer questions such as where the Wampanoag live and what a tribe is. Students were also able to share their thoughts in writing about how the Wampanoag lived, which showed that they were able to reflect on the content we taught.

The student who scored around 90% on the Kahoot exceeded the objective of the lesson, while the other two students still met the objective but did not grasp the information as strongly. I believe that they all met the objective because they were able to discuss and write about how the Wampanoag lived, even if they did not answer every Kahoot question correctly.

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SO WHAT

From this experience, I learned the importance of time management when teaching a lesson. This was the second lesson where we struggled with managing our time, which made it difficult to complete everything we had planned. This experience helped me realize how important it is to carefully plan how long each activity should take.

I also learned that students are often more engaged when they are participating in hands-o
n activities. The craft activity seemed to capture their attention and helped them connect with the lesson content in a meaningful way. This experience helped me grow professionally by recognizing areas where I can improve while also seeing strategies that worked well with students.

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NOW WHAT

This experience will influence my professional identity by reminding me that teaching requires strong planning, flexibility, and reflection. While not every lesson will go exactly as planned, reflecting on what worked and what did not helps teachers grow and improve their practice.

In the future, I will focus more on time management when planning lessons. I plan to map out how long each part of the lesson should take and use a timer to ensure that we stay on track. Doing this will help make sure that all parts of the lesson can be completed and that students receive the full learning experience that was intended.

Geography Lesson

What

This was our first lesson plan with the students, and it was part of a larger six-week unit where we will be teaching about the state of Massachusetts. This specific lesson focused on the geography of Massachusetts. At the beginning of the lesson, we gave students a pre-assessment consisting of 10 questions related to topics that would be covered throughout the six weeks we would be working with them. The purpose of the pre-assessment was to see what the students already knew so that we could track their progress and growth as they continued learning about Massachusetts in future lessons.

When discussing the topic, one girl shared that she had a family member who lived in Massachusetts, while the other two students said they did not know much about the state. This helped us understand their prior knowledge before beginning the lesson.

During the lesson, we read the book Exploring the States: Massachusetts – The Bay State as a group to help students learn more about the geography and important features of Massachusetts. We also introduced several vocabulary words that would help students better understand the lesson. These vocabulary words included geography, region, location, place, and scale. I helped review these vocabulary words with the students and discussed what each word meant so they could better understand the concepts we were learning about.

Students then examined an older map of Massachusetts and a newer map. Before discussing the maps as a group, students first wrote down what they noticed and wondered about each map. This gave them time to think about their observations individually before sharing with the group.

After students recorded their ideas, we discussed what they had noticed. Two of the students mentioned that the shape of Massachusetts on both maps looked like a boot, which showed that they were closely observing the outline of the state. All three students also noticed that the newer map was easier to read than the older map, which helped lead into a discussion about how maps can change over time and how modern maps can often provide clearer information.

I was responsible for guiding the compare-and-contrast discussion between the two maps. During this part of the lesson, I asked students if they noticed anything that was similar or different between the maps. Students shared the observations they had already written down during their notice and wonder activity, which helped them explain their thinking and build off each other’s ideas while identifying similarities and differences.

Students were also asked to complete an opinion writing activity related to the maps. During the lesson, our group realized that we could not remember the exact prompt that we had originally written in our lesson plan. Because of this, I came up with a new prompt on the spot that asked students whether they would rather live in the Massachusetts shown on the old map or the Massachusetts shown on the newer map. Since the students had just spent time analyzing both maps, this question still allowed them to think critically about the differences between them and express their opinions using what they had learned.

We also included a brain break during the lesson. For the brain break, students listened to a song about cardinal and subcardinal directions. After the song finished, I asked the students several questions about which direction each one was to check their understanding. After asking four or five questions, I intentionally asked them about the direction “North South,” which is not an actual direction, to see if they would notice the mistake. The students did not recognize that it was not a real direction, which showed that they were still learning and becoming familiar with the directions introduced in the song.

My role in the lesson included reviewing the vocabulary words with the students, helping them identify things they noticed and wondered about the maps, guiding the compare-and-contrast discussion, and assisting students as they worked on their opinion writing pieces. Since I joined the group later in the planning process, I mainly contributed by helping create the vocabulary cards that were used during the lesson and designing the Kahoot game that we planned to play at the end of the lesson. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and were unable to play the Kahoot game with the students.

During this lesson, I also demonstrated professionalism by communicating with my co-teachers and making sure we were all on the same page when planning and teaching the lesson. We met on Zoom three times to discuss how we wanted to organize the lesson and how we would divide responsibilities while teaching. During the lesson, I made sure to speak clearly so that the students in my group could hear me while also being mindful of the other groups working in the room.

The objective of the lesson was for students to be able to identify differences between the older map of Massachusetts and the newer map. One of the girls in the group exceeded expectations because she participated consistently and shared thoughtful observations throughout the lesson. The boy in the group understood the lesson and participated, although he did not contribute as frequently as the girl. The second girl struggled more during the lesson. She often laid her head on the desk and did not want to participate. In order to encourage her participation, we had to ask her several times, and when she did contribute she often repeated something that another student had already said.

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So What

This lesson helped me grow in my ability to collaborate and work with teaching partners that I do not normally work with. Although I have known one of my co-teachers for a long time, I was initially hesitant to work in this group because I am usually partnered with a different friend in my classes. At first, it felt unfamiliar to plan and teach with people outside of that usual partnership. However, this experience helped me realize that working with different people can still be successful when everyone communicates and contributes to the planning process.

Throughout this lesson, our group worked together to plan the activities, discuss how we wanted to teach the content, and support each other during the lesson. We met on Zoom three different times to discuss our ideas and how we wanted to structure the lesson. During the lesson itself, we supported one another by helping students, leading different parts of the activities, and guiding discussions.

This lesson also highlighted the importance of time management when teaching. Although our lesson included several meaningful activities, we were not able to complete everything we had planned because we ran out of time. As a result, we were unable to complete the extended activity, the Taking Informed Action writing assignment, and the Kahoot game that I had created. Reflecting on this, I believe that the reading portion of the lesson took longer than we expected because we allowed students to take turns reading the book. While giving students opportunities to read is valuable, it slowed down the pacing of the lesson. In the future, it may be more effective for the teacher to read the book aloud in order to manage time more effectively and ensure that all planned activities can be completed.

This lesson also allowed me to demonstrate my ability to think quickly and adjust during instruction. When our group realized that we could not remember the original opinion writing prompt from our lesson plan, I came up with a new prompt related to the maps that students had just analyzed. This allowed the lesson to continue without disrupting the flow of the activity while still supporting the learning objective.

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Now What

This experience will help me become a stronger collaborator and more confident educator in the future. I learned that working with different teaching partners can bring new ideas and perspectives to lesson planning. In the future, I will be more open to working with a variety of people and contributing my ideas when planning lessons together.

This experience also showed me how important lesson pacing and time management are during instruction. In future lessons, I will be more mindful about how long each activity may take and will consider which parts of the lesson may need to be shortened or adjusted so that all planned activities can be completed.

Overall, this experience helped me gain more confidence in my ability to work with others, support students during instruction, and adapt when unexpected situations arise during a lesson.

Three things I will take from this class.

 1) There is no perfect example of a teacher. The only thing that matters is the relationship that the teacher shares with their students, 

During this class we have looked at so many different readings as to what makes someone a great teacher, what every teacher must know, and things to do as a teacher. Different things were pointed out in each article and every author had different opinions on how a teacher should teach. One thing that every author seemed to believe was that a teacher's relationship with their students is the most important part of being a teacher. At the end of the day, the relationship that we had with them will follow them for the rest of their lives.

2) We are all minorities. 

I know this sounds like a weird line that Mr. Shue said in glee, and no we are not minorities because we are all in glee club. Hell, I don't even think there's a glee club in the school. We are all minorities because there is something about all of us that is different than the stereotypical straight white male. Let's take Ricky from HSMTMTS as an example, yes he's a straight white male but he comes from an extremely low-income family, so he is not a stereotypical straight white male. Even Ej from HSMTMTS who's a straight white male from a rich family a minority is still a minority because he is Jewish and comes from parents who are emotionally and neglectfully abusive to him.  

3) Don't be quick to judge a student, you don't know their home life.

Everyone comes from a different home. We can't know everyone's life story. There's a reason why everyone does what they do. It is important not to jump to conclusions. 

For example, when HSMTMTS first came out I thought EJ was a narcissist. Then as the show goes on you find out that he only acts the way he does because he is trying to gain some type of love and attention from his father. Kids experience stuff like that all the time and when you're a teacher it is important to know why kids are acting the way they are before jumping to conclusions.

Great ways to teach LGBT youth

I agree with the editors of Rethinking Schools when they claim that LGBT topics need to be discussed in class. I feel like the best way to do so is by putting on HSMTMTS and having them discuss the things they took notice of in the show, about LGBT topics. What was Ashlyn's coming-out story like? How did the other characters react to Carlos and Ashlyn coming out, who do you think were their biggest supporters? Were you surprised to see a love duet between Maddox and Ashlyn? Were you surprised during the first love duet between Carlos and Seb?  If you are LGBT what LGBT character did you find yourself relating to most; Maddox, Big Red, Ashlyn, Maddison, Seb, Carlos, or Andy? Were you surprised when Andy turned out to be hiding his feelings for Big Red all along? Which LGBT story did you find the most touching; Madly, Seblos, or Andy X Big Red? Why? The beautiful thing about this show is how they take all minority groups and put them in a way that young minds can understand, while it mainly focuses on LGBT characters it also includes Hispanics, blacks, autistics, those whos parents are struggling financially, those who are being abused by their parents, and those with anxiety and puts it in a way that a young child will be able to understand. So even if the child may not relate to the LGBT aspect they can still find something to relate to.

I do understand that I will need to get permission slips signed by parents before showing their kids this show. But I genuinely do feel like this would be a great lesson plan. Due to the amount of diversity in the show, it would also provide a great project opportunity by having each student pick a character they felt like they related to and explain why they feel like they related to that character. For example, I relate to Maddox because we are both lesbians with autism who have problems making friends

.Example of the great LGBT representation Disney provides in hsmtmts.

My experience with Ableism in Education

 Like most people with disabilities, I was born with disabilities. When I was younger it was a lot more noticeable than it is now. So, I did face backlash when it came down to my disabilities. 

As I'm sure many of you weren't able to do, I wasn't able to read or solve addition problems right out of kindergarten. This was a major turn-off for schools when my parents tried looking for private schools to enroll me in. A lot of them didn't want to take a six-year-old who wasn't able to read or do addition yet, especially if that six-year-old had disabilities because they figured that I would never be able to read or do said math problems. The ones that did accept me wanted to put me in their special ed program which only provided a little support for students like me. 

My parents had decided that their best option was to give up on the private school idea and enroll me in public school instead. But since I also had summer vacation, they figured that it would be best to prep me a bit before trying to enroll me in a private school nearby. They figured that if I seemed to be at least a little ahead of my peers then I would have a shot of staying in the regular education classes. So during that summer, they worked tirelessly to teach me how to read and solve math problems. By the time the school year already started, I was way ahead of my peers. I was at the point where I could answer all of the teacher's questions before she even started the listen. Due to my parent's tireless efforts during that summer, my parents taught me everything I needed to know for both math and English for the next two years. They were determined to keep me ahead of everyone so they would spend about an hour each day with me, preparing me for more advanced levels of math and English than my peers were. By middle school, I was able to figure out my mom's master's degree college-level math homework.

People need to understand that people with disabilities are just as smart as everyone else and may require a little extra help to reach their full potential. Watch the video below for more information on disabilities. 

https://youtu.be/wIAhSeVpQsU?si=4b4-tIku1zSAuSXO

Being Bilingual

 I am bilingual and see being able to speak English and Spanish as part of my personality. In fact, I often use both languages if I can, given the amount of time I have and how short what I am saying is. I am proud of being bilingual and it is something that I should show as much as possible. I have a friend that makes fun of the fact that I often choose to say short sentences in both English and Spanish, calling me "Dora the Explorer" for doing so but I stand my ground on it being a good way to not just show off my culture but also be able to stay in touch with it.

"In an instant, they agreed to give up their language." (35). While it is in your child's best interest to help them understand the rules of power (Delpit) it is also good to make sure that they understand their culture and language is such a huge part of that culture. The story went on to almost make it seem like the parents refused to speak Spanish when around their kids and I feel like this isn't something that they should have done. While. I do understand their motives of trying to help, crossing out part of who your own children are is doing more harm than good. I feel like they should have played those English-speaking games every night but for the most part, should have continued to speak to their children in Spanish that way their kids will learn the English while also keeping the Spanish. 

What are the benefits of having a bilingual brain? Watch the Ted talk below.

Finn Blog: My experience in High school

 I absolutely hated high school and could not have hated it anymore and my reasoning has to do with the way the working-class schools are described by Finn. Sure, there were a few good teachers, but they were very few and far between and most of them were assholes (for lack of a better word). 

"Work was often evaluated in terms of whether the steps followed rather than whether it was right or wrong." (10) I had a math teacher like this and I hated him to the point where my blood boils every time, I think of him still. He was a math teacher, not a coding teacher, yet he thought his way was the only right way. He would explain the most complex way of doing things and when a student would suggest another easier way, he would put them down and even usually call them dumb. Before his class, I was extremely confident in my math abilities but even though that happened several years ago, because of him I am still unsure about my math skills, even though he was the only math teacher to this day that I have had that didn't praise my math skills.

His problem with me was that I had a different way of solving the math problems than him, so despite me getting the right answer he would give me an F in every assignment just because it wasn't his way. My dad had already taught me that math when I was five and because it was the way I had been doing it since I was a little child, that was the way I had become accustomed to. You can't just expect a kid to deviate from doing something the same way they had been doing it for more than half their life. Especially if their way of doing it still gets the right answer. 

I have also never been one to shy away from calling people out on their bullshit, so I was more than happy to call him out on it one day. He was resilient in him being right though, so it was like talking to a brick wall. Even when I asked him why he felt this way so strongly, his response was that "because he is a straight white male, his just always right and shouldn't be questioned." I had argued with him about this for a while until I realized that there was no point and that there was no talking sense to him. 

I had another teacher that I hated and a specific quote reminded me of him "You can't teach these kids anything. Their parents don't care about them and they're not interested." (10) I had a teacher in the past say similar things to me in the past. For example one day I didn't get money for my parents for a sweatshirt that he was selling and when he asked me for mine I explained that my parents were working that night so they didn't come home. He had looked at me and asked me if my parents cared about me and claimed that if they didn't then it seemed like no one did. This was in front of the whole class, so this definitely made me feel angry and embarrassed. That was during teacher appreciation week, so in response, I had told him that I think his a terrible teacher and that he shouldn't be part of teachers appreciation week. 

Here's a video on how to know if you have a bad teacher.

Disagreeing with Tantum

Tantum states that racism is what keeps whites in charge. I choose to disagree with this statement. Power is constantly changing as well as who has it. There was a given period where Jews had more power than Christians. Though this may not be the best example, it is the first one I could think of. I'm sure that if I were to take a deep dive into power dynamics though, there would be countless examples that I could find, Some other examples could be employers such as the Mayan emperor who got taken down by another emperor. Right now at the time of writing this, it is the white straight males who hold all the power. 

How does power dynamic change though? Those in an underrepresented group begin to stand up for themselves and claim their power. If one is not given any power, they will gladly stand up to any unfair justice system they are presented with. Just think of all the kings and queens that have been cut off from their duties, because they failed to treat those below them as equals. Now, I am in no way saying that anyone is below anyone. However, white people are given more power and as more people start to notice how little power, they are given, they begin to rally together and fight for the power that they deserve. 

It may be an extremely slow process, but if whites continue to abuse their power then one day those of color well take over and refuse to give those who have abused them before any power. After all, why give your abuser any power if you know that they are just going to abuse it? The best way to stop this cycle is for everyone to just treat each other as equals. 

Here's a video explaining how racism effect everyone

https://youtu.be/S_qMEQ1sQF4?si=Da3rUhpRngl1-pa6

Video Analysis

 

https://youtu.be/BElG3joieUE?si=orT2wTKLOGgba3qw

https://youtu.be/e-wY9VXDBwM?si=Egzaw7VUu65bphJ3

https://www.kanopy.com/ric/video/precious-knowledge?frontend=kui

Connecting intersectionality to the real world;

 I know for a fact that a lot of jobs try to work around and find a way to hire people that fit their status quo without being accused of racism. We talked about this in class during either our first or second day of class. Jobs will often claim that you need to be able to do certain stuff to work for them, even if it is something that we will never have to do at the job. Jobs are just trying to discriminate without being called out for it. Intersectionality is just one of their many attempts to do so. 

To prevent people from calling them out, companies decided to hire black people and women but not black women. Which is an even worse cause of discrimination, if you think about it. At least, in my opinion, because I would rather have someone show me their true self them have them hide what they really think. Even if I were to hate both of them. 

A lot of us are intersectional if we think about it. About 10% of the world is gay and an additional 15% are bi. Let's say that about half of that population is either non-white or women, that would leave about 17% of the world at risk of facing discrimination without a court taking their case seriously. Now this might not seem like a lot, but let's think about black women who make up about 25% of the world. Now, sure some of those black women are part of the LGBT community which, let's say it's 5%. That still leaves 37% of people to be at risk of facing intersectional discrimination. That's before we even add in people with disabilities. 

That's a large percentage of the world at risk for police brutality, no's from jobs and even no's from schools. Just on account of what they were born as. 

Personally, I know that as an LGBT Hispanic woman, I could have faced these issues without even realizing it. 

Below find a video, explaining what intersectionality is. 

https://youtu.be/O1islM0ytkE?si=oSgOwiRJOQcVxy6e

What I remember from my time as a student "What too look for in a classroom." Kohn

 When I was in school, we often had desks lined up in rows. We barely ever had desks facing each other, like we do in this class currently. I remember having maybe one or two classes with desks that faced each other before this class. 

I never remembered having anyone's work portrayed in class. The closest that came to that was teachers displaying my projects as examples for future kids on what to do. And I would always be the only one who got their project shown for future classes because as they told the whole class, my project was better than everyone else's.

For me, my face always changed based on what class I was in. Classes that I'm extremely passionate about would have me beyond eager, while classes that I'm bored with would have me unengaged with a blank expression on my face.

This is one of the first classes that I have had that has everyone deep in a conversation while in class. FNED 101 also has a similar setup to this., they also have the desk pointing towards each other too. 

I've never really paid much attention to where the teacher was during assignments because when I was in class, I was always assigned as an extra pair of hands to help the students who needed help once I had finished my assignments. 

The classrooms I have been in have always seemed to be distracted by a visitor, no matter who they were. 

I've always had a problem where when I'm interested in a subject, I want to answer all the questions and when I'm not interested in the subject, I just completely ignore the teacher and notice that others do as well. 

I have always seen classrooms full of activities for students to do after they have finished their assignments. Such as books, games, arts and crafts, or other activities. 

In high school, teachers always seemed to let students pick their partner and I was usually alone because I had no friends. 

In elementary and middle school, we always had projects and artwork fill up the hallways but in high school, it was only sport trophies since they valued sports above all else. 

Below find a video of what a Montessori classroom looks like.

https://youtu.be/kuPetmcEAXQ?si=Nl-GGUGxxajBVouY

My parents values matching with Kozel's

My parents share very similar views on poverty with Kozel in 'Amazing Race'. They both believe that poverty is an individual problem and that anyone can escape it if they try. They have this belief system because this is what they managed to do, and since they did it they believe that everyone can. 

My parents both grew up poor, with their parents almost never at the house. As a plan to get out of poverty, they both joined the military, had the military pay for their education, and got respectable jobs. My mother is currently in the process of becoming a doctor and my father has been an Xray tech for well over two decades. My mom graduated with her bachelor's in nursing when I was 5, got an associate degree in massage therapy when I was 10, her master's in nursing when I was 12, and another associate degree in business management when I was 14. While my mom worked full-time jobs in nursing homes and went to school my dad worked his way up the management ladder in his hospital job. Both were extremely hard-working and competitive with each other. They had managed to work their way from the very bottom and get all the way to the upper middle class. 

My parents have always told me about the struggles they had to face growing up due to poverty and how people in poverty are just not working hard enough to become something of themselves. They would always sight everything that they had done as proof of what every poor person could do if they put their mind to it. They had also always warned me to stay away from poor people, because in their minds poor people were just people looking for free handouts because they didn't want to work for it. 

Below please find a video of what it's like to be poor.

https://youtu.be/L08YYKwgXHw?si=a4Yxp5oX81XG3Yj_

School is it's own society. Delpit

Think of a big society? You might have thought about a nation, maybe a state, perhaps even a town. But another example of a society can be a school. 

Societies need to meet certain criteria; they have a set number of rules, people in power, and punishments.

In most societies if you refuse to follow the rules you get sent to jail. The school has a place similar to its own jail cell but we know it as detention. But really it's more of a short-lived jailhouse for children. You are forced to sit there in punishment as you watch the clock, waiting for time to fly by. You count how long your sentence will be and try to sneak in conversations about what got you in there in the first place. All while thinking and regretting what you have done in the first place to put you there. The only other thing you can do while you wait is work. Doesn't this bring back memories of detention?   

Schools also have a certain hierarchy. Some people are given an easier way to succeed than others. The principal is like the King, he orders everyone around and when someone misbehaves, he/she is one of two people who can punish the misbehaving party. They can also over a teacher's decision. 

Then there is the teacher who is similar to the princess/prince. They are right below the King, they are still able to come up with rules of their own and punish people who disobey them, as long as it is ok with the King. 

Then some are higher up in society and tend to do better. They are the rich or middle-classmen who are typically white. 

Finally, there are those at the very bottom. They are already given a low success rate and must make due with what they have. This group usually consists of poor black students. 

Below please find a video explaining the social hierarchy of a school.

https://youtu.be/_63p4Q7AUlM?si=Tc8PgNLFLlUA8s64