#11 3 things I will remember

After looking back at all the things that we have done this semester, I believe that the three things that I will remember the most are when we learned about the reading Aria by Richard Rodriguez, Troublemakers by Shalaby and did the five tricks game. I feel that these topics will be the most memorable for me due to the fact that they made me think about my future self.

Aria by Richard Rodriguez

To learn and hear about Rodriguez's experience was incredibly sad to hear but also made me very curious about if others have had a similar experience.  We learn that Rodriguez and his family are originally from a different country so their home language is Spanish.  At home with his family he speaks confidently to his parents using their language but when he goes to school his confidence begins to spiral down since they want him to learn and speak only in English.  Since he was not speaking very much at school due to this new language his teachers decided that it was best to speak to his parents and tell them that they needed to speak English at home too.  Rodriguez's parents , only wanting the best for him, encouraged him to speak English from now on.  Rodriguez began to speak confidently within his learned language but he slowly lost the connection between him and his parents due to him not speaking much Spanish anymore.  

I will remember this because If I work with students that speak a different language I want to be a teacher that will encourage them to continue to speak and learn within their language.  If I have students that can speak a different language I would ask them to teach me or I would take the time to learn a bit of it so that way they can feel comfortable and accepted within my classroom.  Today, in my placement I handed a student a survey that was in Spanish and she got so excited because she speaks Spanish.  I want to continue to bring that joy and feeling of acceptance to my future students. 

Troublemakers by Shalaby    

I think reading Troublemakers was very eye opening and makes you realize that before you act on something to really take a second to think about what is going on.  In every classroom there is at least one person that is labeled as the troublemaker. However, are they really trouble?  The "troublemaker" is seen as someone who is seen fighting or talking back against policy or a faculty member. 

This reading made me realize that instead of seeing what they are saying as a sense of fighting back but to think about what they are saying and if what they are saying is actually worth questioning. I want to be a teacher that supports my students in questioning things that they feel are wrong and to fight for what they believe in. I want to also show my students why they believe in something that they should fight until they find an answer. 

Five Tricks Game 

In class we were told that we were gonna play a game.  We were given a deck of cards and directions on a piece of paper which said how we played.  One of the rules was that we couldn't talk to each other.  Looking at the directions I figured out how to play and was trying my best in the practice rounds to explain to everyone else in my group on how to play.  However, when we got to the actual game part and could no longer talk to each other it seemed that everyone was just guessing on what to do.  As we continued to play once and once we finished at our table the winner and the loser would have to get up and go to a different table.  Once at a different table we would continue to play again.  This is when things started to get really confusing when we still couldn't talk but all were following different rules.

I quickly caught on that everyone had different rules and it was a test to see if we could all get along.  I remember some people in our class were starting to get frustrated and some you could see were very confused.  It wasn't until someone shouted out "we all have different rules" that people understood.  In a way I found this to be a little funny and a great lesson.  Something as simple as a game made people get so frustrated.  I thought that this was a great lesson to point out how in life people are quick to not listen to each other and that if we could find a way to hear each other out no matter the differences then we could come together which would be better for everyone. 

Reflection on intro to sexual orientation

 Today in class we watched a TED Talk on sexual orientation.  In the video we get two different perspectives on sexual orientation.  One point of view we get a personal experience from someone who growing up was able to get support from a summer camp and from their parents about trying to figure out who they were.  The second point of view was from a parent who was noticing their son at an early age be interested in female typical things like wearing dresses and heals from his mothers closet.  The video talked about how as a parent and as a personal experience how having support can be helpful for the child and the child and parents experiencing this are not alone. 

Blog #10

 This week’s blog posts is about reading Rhode Island Laws and Policies on “Guidance for Rhode Island Schools on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students”.  This gives us a look at the policies that are being followed in the state of Rhode Island and what schools have to follow.  Although in the state of Rhode Island schools have to follow these policies, I believe that as a teacher whatever is in the best interest of the student is what a teacher should do.  No matter what the teachers thought are about any of their students their job is to provide students with an education.  As a teacher we should want to do whatever we can in order to create the best environment for our students to learn. As a teacher I want all of my students to feel safe and comfortable within my classroom no matter what race or gender that they are.  As a teacher you are in charge of providing students with a strong education and if making slight changes in order to make every student feel supported and safe then you should be doing so.  I hope that in the future that I can build a strong relationship with my students that they feel safe with showing and expressing who they are and supported within their education no matter who they are.    

“Eliminating Ableism in Education”

 

This week for my blog post I read “Eliminating Ableism in Education”.  In this reading I found three quotes that I liked that made me think about how I want to be as a future teacher.  

The first quote is “a child who has received the help he needs to walk is at an advantage in a barrier-filled world”.This quote just reminded me of how important it is to be able to help our students in the ways that they need us too.   No matter in what ways students are different from each other it is our job to be able to support any of our students and provide them an education that is best for them and encourage their minds to grow.  As their teachers we have to be the ones to provide them that help.

The second quote is “I was taught to read print, not Braille, because everyone felt it would make me more like sighted people”This quote reminded me that as a teacher I want students to feel confident and comfortable with who they are in my room.  No matter how our students are different then we as teachers should surround our students in a safe environment so that they feel that they are enough just being who they are.  I want my students to know that they are perfect for who they are.  They should feel safe to embrace what makes them different instead of feeling they need to be just like everyone else. 

The third quote from this reading is “Special education does not mean a different curriculum”This quote made me think about how it is important that students that are different and do need to be receiving specific help not only get the help they need but also not completely change their lesson from everyone else.  Just because these students may need specific help does not mean that they need to have what is being taught to them changed.  Just because students may need extra specific help does not mean that they can’t still be learning what everyone else is being taught, it just means that they need to be taught and supported differently.  I want to be a teacher that provides the adjustment to the lesson that students need in order to best fit the student but not change what they are learning so that way they are getting an education like everyone else in the class is.