Izzy's Blog

 After school began after covid, I noticed that in many classes we began to share our pronouns when introducing ourselves. I realized how important this was very quickly. In the video the speaker explained how important it was to affirm people's identities. As a future educator especially, it is so important to make sure students are comfortable expressing themselves in a space. By doing this you are creating an inclusive respectful environment for your students. 

  When people advocate for policies and opportunities that address causes of trauma, such as lack of access to mental health, these activities contribute to a sense of purpose, power and control over life situations. All of these are ingredients necessary to restore well-being and healing. "Ginnwirght 1" Mental health has been a topic that is widely talked about. This quote stood out to me for the fact that it talked about lack of access to mental health. Since I have been at RIC I have noticed how much support is given in this aspect. When there is tragedy happening in the world, on campus or in our own life, RIC has made it known that they have support waiting for us. Another is example is during finals week. They had lots of activities and support for us during a time that can truly test people's mental strength.  I feel that it is important that all schools no matter what age have this support ready. Children and adults at any age can be effected by tra...

 Finn's reading talked about the study Jean Anyon completed about the different classes. In my service learning school, most of the students are from working class families. One time, there was an issue during school and the teacher had to call home. It was then noted that the parents didn't answer because they were at work. Another example happened at my job. I have one student who's dad is a firefighter and would only see her Dad every couple of days due to his work schedule. In addition, another families' Mom is a nurse. She typically worked over nights meaning there would be days the kids didn't see her until the next morning or ever after school the next day.I come from a working class family myself and there is a constant movement of who will be home when and where everyone is at different parts in the day. Sometimes its "Is it a late night for Dad?" or finally Dad is home early.

Rodriguez "Aria" I feel like I will take this reading with me as I continue through my teaching career. This reading opened my eyes to what it is like for some students to have to learn English to become successful in their schooling. I saw this especially in my service learning classroom during the semester. For many kids in the class, Spanish is their first language so this is quite a challenge for them. Kohn "What to Look For in the Classroom" This was important to me because wanting to be an educator it makes me think of what my own classroom will look like some day. I want to be the teacher that is always engaging with her students. I also want to have everyone busy doing work that will help them excel but also isn't busy work. I hope to make my space inviting and safe for all my students and these tips were very helpful. Tricks card Game I liked this game a lot because we did it in the beginning of the year. This helped us interact with new people and mayb...

 After reading "Other People's Children" by Lisa Delpit, I decided to connect to what I have seen in classrooms in the past. Delpit talks highly about direct teaching of rules and codes of power. In my own experience I have seen teachers in my own life do this and I have done it myself. I think it is important to lay out rules and expectations from day one as a teacher. It has happened before that because I am young the students look to me as a peer and not a teacher and think they can do whatever they want. This will then result in complete un- organization in the classroom. When you teach them this early on I also feel like it gives a fine line between fun and respect as a teacher. I have also observed this in my life as a student as well. Many times I have felt that teachers have abused the power and made students dread being in their class because of how harsh they were towards their students. 

After watching the videos and reading "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez, I have two major connections to make to both the text and videos. Now that I have done much observing at service learning, I gather that many of the students in Providence schools are going through the same thing that Rodriguez did to some degree. Each day they  have a block of time where students that are not English as a first language speakers get extensive work with reading and writing. Many of the students that I have interacted with typically speak Spanish to their friends and have told me they speak Spanish at home. All of them can speak English pretty well but often struggle with pronouncing and recognizing words. This is similar to what Rodriguez talks about because they are only getting reinforced with English at school. In some ways this can be inclusive to them because teachers are focused on these students getting better with the English language. I also think it is unfair because it doesn't s...