Reading with Mrs. Shivers

I chose to study UNICEF’s reporting and efforts in the Middle East and Northern African region. This is a region from which many of our school’s students and their families have immigrated, so I felt it would be useful to have a better working knowledge of their background. The Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region has seen mass destruction and a large refugee crisis as the result of extensive conflict for years. For instance, families in Gaza whose homes have been destroyed are living in the school buildings. Children whose school are still being used for education report not feeling safe as their schools have been attacked and their friends or family have been injured (UNICEF, 2015). In Iraq and across Syria, the case for schools is similar with multiple families sharing classrooms as shelters. Additionally, UNICEF (2015) reports in Syria roughly 25% of schools are unusable because of the shelters, damage, or destruction, and for many children who can go to school they hav

The reading, So Sexy So Soon , was unfortunate but not altogether shocking. Whether it is movies, books, TV shows, music videos, or the images in children’s games, often too often girls are viewed as sex objects and boys are portrayed as aggressors. These images are not presented in a way that would be alarming to children, but instead normalized as if they were reminiscent  of everyday life children should expect to experience. Thinking about movies, such as Frozen the central character Elsa sings about being free while her dress updates from covering her body to cleavage baring with a thigh high slit.  The male who her sister Ana decides she wants to marry also uses a sexual act, kissing her, as a trick in the movie. More recently for girls the Descendants movies specifically address being more desirable to boys by using spells to change their hair, and clothes. The girls then approach the boys in the movie with suggestive body mannerisms, while the boys make it literally a game

Education is the key to success in life. This is a statement we’ve heard many times over, and maybe even espoused a few times ourselves. While there is much truth to education’s critical role, we must take a more broad view that encompasses the role equity has in achieving that success. The barrier to that equity I chose to address is sexism. Sue (2010) describes this issue poignantly, writing “sexism is still confused with nature, because anything that affects males is seen as males is still seen as more serious that things affecting women, because women are still raised mainly by women, and because there is still not right way to be a woman in public power without being considered using negative stereotypes” (p. 161). In achieving equity, I would rather see women treated as equals, provided the respect and afforded the opportunity to speak for themselves without judgement or assumptions based on the “needs” of their gender as if we cannot sustain ourselves on our own. Often sexism

Observing communication means stopping to focus and listen to interactions without judgement. To truly understand children necessitates setting aside our pride and agenda to hear their messages and communicate our commitment to their interaction through active listening and then reflecting. In short, we must follow the child where they lead (Stephenson, 2009). Often, though, in the midst of a busy day with schedules pressing, 30 kids in the classroom, and standards that must be met, the story a student tells gets rushed, or brushed aside. Unfortunately, when that same child then struggles in the classroom with work or behavior, we bear part of the responsibility for not understanding their needs in our push to accomplish our plan. The observation I completed this week was in a more relaxed atmosphere within our school. I went to spend a part of the day with our summer enrichment program. This program is meant for students who we consider at risk based on their previous years academi

         This blog assignment is timely in that I am currently in the midst of setting up a classroom. In making decisions about what to include, there are important considerations that make the difference between a traditional environment and an anti-bias learning community. First, setting up a home center involves creating an area to welcome families. Both the family and the child must be comfortable with the arrival process in order to ensure a positive experience. To meet the varied needs of families, I would set up a board detailing what we have planned for the week, and how they can be involved. Purposeful planning gives parents a chance to know what is going on in their child’s care, and also allows them to preplan opportunities to participate in the center around their schedule. In addition, in the arrival area, I would add a small seating area in case the child is uncomfortable or unready for their parent to leave. This gives the myself and the parent a place to sit with

Working with children from different backgrounds requires us to take a flexible approach to teaching. What I have planned for the day may not connect to the students in a way that is helpful because if a cultural disconnect, difference in vocabulary or background knowledge, or because it brings up a microaggression I was not aware of. That’s why planning with inclusion in mind is essential, but so also is the flexibility to modify a lesson when that disconnect or oppression is witnessed. A goal I have moving forward from this course is to be more intentional in my planning and implementation throughout the school year to not just focus on teaching students reading, writing, and math, but also broaden their ideas about the world in a meaningful way that is relevant to their lives. When we as teachers intertwine the academics with social justice and inclusion, we can make time for empowering advocacy.             My hope, then, is to be effective in sending students to third grade a

Each year we welcome students back in August. Some come through our doors excited, others, frightened. Students come to the classroom with confidence, having spent previous years at the school and already knowing the procedures to be successful while for other students they wander the hall searching for a friendly face on their first day in a new school. We have students from many different ethnicities and a myriad of family backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common. Each student comes through the door looking for someone to believe in them. My hope when I meet my new group of students for the next school year, especially those from diverse backgrounds, is that they feel welcome in my classroom not just on the first day but throughout the year. I hope the students feel like they matter, with their likenesses represented in a fair and just way throughout the curriculum. I hope they feel valued, through their interactions with me and their fellow students.  Part of feeling t

For this assignment, I chose the country of El Salvador. This small Central American country suffered devastating earthquakes and continues to be plagued with violence. The Families have come for the last several years gaining temporary protected status (TPS) as a result of the destruction in their own country (Terrazas, 2010). Although President Trump is ending that designation, the people are continuing to enter the country seeking a better life for their children. In order to welcome a child from an El Salvadorian family into our classroom, I would need to prepare in several ways. 1.       Study the language and learn key phrases. The people of El Salvador speak Spanish, and I know none. I need to learn basic phrases that would help the child throughout the day. However, just as with the dialects in the United State, there will be differences in pronunciation, so I can consult with the family to modify phrases as necessary. 2.       Assess the structure of the classroom. Are

This is a poem I put together to represent my learning and growth through the Start Seeing Diversity videos (Laureate Education, 2011) and the topics explored in the blog assignments. It is meant to chronicle the transitions from biased thinking through my realization of areas I could improve. My aim was to focus on the awakened realization of bias and how to move from a place of naivete toward creating a more inclusive approach to teaching. Reference: Laureate Education (Producer). (2011). Start seeing diversity. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu It’s Not About Me It’s not about me, I live in the home of the brave In the land of the free, I never owned a slave, Look all the way back in my family tree It’s not about me, I’m just a teacher, I help kids to count one, two, three. How could I be an intolerant child of a preacher? I’m not even a person of color so you can plainly see. Its not about me, When I see an “other” I practi