Posts

What is worth learning?

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  In my opinion, there is so much that is worth learning. However, those in charge of creating curriculum for schools do not seem to have the same opinion. While working through this module I learned about Null Curriculum. According to the YouTube video "3 curricula all schools teach," DrKT explains that Null Curriculum is the curriculum that is being taken out of schools and thus not being taught to students. This means that there are certain events, people, or ideas that students are not learning. This is detrimental to all students because they are only being taught one side of things instead of learning the whole picture. In my black out poem I chose the first line "reclaim our schools as sites of real learning." This line stuck out to me because if we are not teaching students all that we know and all the true facts then school is not a place of learning. It is a place of conditioning, we are conditioning students to think or act a certain way and that is unfai

In 2023, why are schools still segregated?

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Schools are still segregated due to the racism of the government. In this module I learned how  schools are still being segregated today, even though segregation laws have been abolished. In the YouTube video “The disturbing history of the suburbs,” Adam Conover explains that due to redlining neighborhoods with African-Americans and minorities were unable to receive loans and they were not allowed to live in white neighborhoods (Conover, 2017). These laws have been abolished, however, the African-Americans and minorities still did not have money to buy a home, so they were still unable to move out of these areas. These areas still exist and what happens is the white neighborhoods have higher property taxes so the schools in those areas have better funding. The schools in the African-American and minority neighborhoods are not receiving near as much funding. The government set African-Americans and minorities up for these conditions and it is unfair that it is still happening today. In

What lengths am I willing to go to in order to do right by every child?

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  The big words in my WordItOut are care, students, culturally, responsive, and classroom. Before I get into the ideas, I want to point out the layout of the words. I kept regenerating different layouts and when I came across this one I paused and I read the big words as a sentence. In my head I read, "when you care for students you are creating a culturally responsive classroom." Then all the little words fill up the space to create a culturally responsive classroom. One of the articles that stood out to me the most was, "Cultural responsiveness starts with real caring" by Zaretta Hammond. Hammond explains that when students feel cared for in the classroom their bodies are in a more relaxed state, which means they are more apt to learning (Hammond, 2013, paragraph 9).  She then explains that when students do not feel cared for their bodies are more apt to go into fight or flight mode (Hammond, 2013, paragraph 10). This stuck out to me because I will have students t

Whose are told and whose remain in the margins?

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I think the stories that are told are mainly about white, unmarginalized people. When the results were shown in DancingTeacher808’s TikTok, it put into perspective the sad reality of history education. I know that I personally felt affected because it made me think back to my K-12 experience. I remember learning the same thing year after year and most of what we learned was based on white people’s experiences, thoughts, and opinions. We did learn about marginalized people, but never from their perspective. Which brings me to whose stories remain in the margins? The stories of people who were oppressed due to their race, ethnicity, or historical background. In the article “An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People,” Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Jean Mendoza, and Debbie Reese explain how the white man was seen as dominant. They quote Sun Elk’s comment, “They told us that Indian ways were bad. They said we must get civilized… It means “be like the white man”” (Dunbar-O

Why Teach?

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  For as long as I can remember I have said that I wanted to be a teacher, specifically a Special Education teacher. There are two main reasons I can think of that have influenced my thoughts and feelings about this throughout my life. The first reason which influences my decision to work in the Special Education department is that my mother was a Special Education teacher at the elementary school I attended. I loved that she worked at the school I went to because I had more opportunities to interact with the students in her classroom. I was able to get to know the students and help them in the mornings and afternoons with arrival and dismissal. I can remember in the afternoons when we would be dismissed from class, I would run to my mom’s classroom to try to get there in time to help. I am not sure how to explain it, but it's a feeling I get when I think about teaching Special Education and it feels as if that is what I am meant to be. The second reason, which is why I want to be