REFLECTIONS: 08/26/18 After reading the article “Mythology and the American education system” I felt that a lot of the myths that were mentioned were ones that I myself believed too. However, the article helped me see these myths as what they are, just myths and clarified a lot of question that I had on these topics. For example, myth number 5 which dealt with SAT testing really surprised me and I feel that as a future educator that’s something that’s important to know and be clarified on.
The modules were very informative and helped me better understand archetypes and biases in the classroom. I found the Academic Impact model very important to know because as a teacher your actions will always affect your students and everyone you work with. If you have negative actions your students will react negatively. I also enjoyed the explanation on archetypes and how they correlation the classrom. I believe that as a teacher we need to know how to not have biases in our classroom and the module touched on that well.
09/02/18 From the beginning of the article "Hope Required When Growing Roses in Concrete" by Duncan-Andrade I immediately knew that important issues were going to be addressed from a teaching perspective. I prepared myself to read more on these "false hope" expectations teachers can set. I was surprised at how this is such a common issue found in schools where teachers don't really understand the situations of their students and still tell them it'll get better, that things are changing. One of the quotes I really liked from the article was the one in reference to MLK "It is akin to what Martin Luther King Jr. (1963) referred to as “the tranquilizing drug of gradualism” (para. 5): an individualistic up-by-your-bootstraps hyperbole that suggests if urban youth just work hard, pay attention, and play by the rules, then they will go to college and live out the “American dream." This is a concept that almost everyone has heard of, but not everyone understands that not all students have the same advantages and head starts as others and the American dream isn't as easy to reach as they believe. It's important to know the three elements of critical hope being material, Socratic, and audacious. Material connects the content to students lives, socratic hope allows for students and teachers to examine their lives within society and how to better them under those conditions. Finally audacious hope allows our students to express their pain as our own in our classrooms and use it to move them forward.
Asset based thinking is a crucial tool for teachers to posses because it makes us understand how we can contribute to not only our students, but to ourselves and our classrooms. As teachers we all have different assets that we can bring and incorporate into our teaching that can benefit everyone, but it's important to know that there are certain things we can't help. I feel that the locus of control module was helpful because often times we worry about things that we truly can't change and it stresses us to the point where it impacts our teaching. We need to focus on what we can change, and channel our energy into the situations we can make a difference in while letting go of those we can't.
09/23/18 After going through the "respect the content" module I was really surprised at all the things we're not allowed to do as teachers in our classroom. I'd been informed on some of this before, but it's been a while since I had a refresher and feels like this isn't really talked about enough. There are so many resources out there that I'd never heard about that offer things for teachers to use that don't violate the copyright rules and regulations. These are sources that I plan on saving and using for future classroom assignments. What I found most surprising was the fine line between copyright and fair use, you may think you're okay to show a video or movie in class but you may actually be violating many rules. I found the fair use checklist to be very helpful and plan on using that when hoping to show anything in my class. All teachers should be aware of the materials they're presenting in they classrooms and be educating students on where to find credible sources. Just as we need to be aware of the things we're presenting to them, they need to be aware of the correct articles, news, and overall media literacy skills to obtain from the internet. We live in a very digital age, but it's one with many regulations and one can easily slip up if they're not aware of these regulations.
10/07/18 The digital citizen for educators: respect your digital self module had a lot of information that teachers should know if they plan on working in a traditional school. I was surprised by how many Acceptable Use Policies there were and also how serious the consequences are if they're violated. I didn't know you could lose your job for not following to agree with them. Student AUP and teacher AUP don't differ that much, but there were some things that stood out to me. Students need to understand why there are AUP rules and why they need to be held accountable for misusing technology. Especially in this era where social media use is highly popular and pretty much anyone has access to it. It starts with the teacher, if we module appropriate behavior for our students then they are likely to follow. It's as simple as giving credit to sources that are used in the classroom. Many students aren't aware of their digital footprints or how the can impact their futures. It's important to be able to talk about this to our students and let them know how their digital footprints can be easily searched up. I didn't know the terms active and passive digital footprints, but that was interesting to read as well. Online scams and phishing gets more common every day and teaching our students to avoid this is important to protect their safety as well as our own. The internet is it's own world and if we want to operate in it we need to be mindful of everything we do and how we do it.
10/21/18 Schools, Prisons, and Implications of Punishment As soon as I started reading this article I knew exactly what to expect from my own experiences growing up as a student. I grew up in an area where minority groups made up almost all of the population (Hispanic and Black) and my schools were all low income title 1. However, the difference with these schools is that when you have a teacher who understands and relates to their student they're more likely to sit them down and discuss the issue rather than just punish them. Race and background play a big role in the school system when it comes to behavior control, students need to be disciplined when they act out yes, but intent and guidance through teachers is crucial in the outcome of this. As the article mentioned the schools need to take responsibility to ensure that these children aren't just being punished, but educated and take control of their futures. As a Mexican American teacher I already plan to continue my educational experience in similar demographics as the ones I'm familiar with because I know I can be a good asset to these communities where students can relate to me and we can create a respectful and nourishing environment.
10/28/18 The "Respect your students" digital citizenship module was very informative for teachers considering the amount of information we get from our students that we need to ensure is kept private. It's not something you really think about everyday but could put our careers at huge risk if we violate any of the FERPA acts. Through directory information schools can publish some records through consent from parents. A big thing to remember is that if students are under 18 it's up to the parents to give permission of students records to be released. Most of the time students aren't even aware that they're sharing their information to the world especially using social media. This is where it's up to us teachers to guide students to being aware of their information and how to be responsible digital citizens. Although technology tools can help enhance student's communication skills it's important to find a good measure of time spent using these especially in the classroom or else we can risk loosing our students to the digital world.
11/04/18 The "I won't learn from you" article hit home for me. As someone who grew up in low income communities and attended title one schools all with bad reputations, I've experienced first hand the attitudes and discriminations of some teachers towards students of color. Teachers can be quick to assume that a certain group of students are "lazy" or "dumb" for not wanting to do their work, without really trying to figure out what the real issue is. Race and background play such a huge role in school environments and need to be acknowledged properly by teachers. Knowing your students differences, but treating them all with respect and interest despite where they come from is important. I like how the article listed of different instances regarding learning English in schools. This is a common issue in Latino/Hispanic communities that I plan on working with. It was a good reminder of the situations I might come across as a teacher.
11/11/18 “Promote Digital Respect” Digital Citizenship Online Module. The issue of cyberbullying has grown exponentially in our school communities as the introduction of technology continues to grow. It's hard as a teacher to monitor everything our students are doing online, but we can monitor what they're doing in our classrooms. We often forget that teachers are also subjected to cyberbullying as well. This could be by parents, peers, or even students. In these situations it's always crucial to not retaliate, but to keep the evidence whether its towards a teacher or a student. As teachers we need to show our students how to interact and communicate with civility and respect. Directing their use of social media for good causes can be a great way to implement media into the classroom. We just need to always be aware of what we're posting and how.