Alfie Kohn- "What to Look For in a Classroom" Reflection Blog Post

Reflection Blog

Growing up, I always enjoyed going to school. I still remember my kindergarten teacher and how she always made me look forward to going to school. I remember her always having a smile on her face and having the sweetest voice. I remember the classroom being a very comfortable space from what I remember. She had bookshelves full of books and a big rug in the front of the classroom where we would sit as a class. Sure, the physical appearance of a classroom or school is important but a teacher also has a big impact on a students success. In Kohn's chart, it tells us that a controlling and imperious teacher voice is not a good sign and will hurt a students academic achievement. It is the teacher's responsibility to lift up his/ her students and to make their classroom a safe and comfortable space where students will learn the best in. They can simply do this by filling their classroom with books, colorful posters, student artwork, plants, and so on. Little things like these affect student achievement. Even a classrooms temperature, lighting, or air quality can affect a student's learning. For me personally, I learn better when the lights are dimmed and in a room temperature setting which may sound silly but it is true. The way a teacher sets up their classroom can also affect students based on age. Having chairs around tables or forming comfortable spaces with bean bags or wobble chairs for example can facilitate more interaction between students. Having desks in rows is one of the worst ways you can set up a classroom in certain cases. In an elementary school classroom, it is important to establish a comfortable environment so they want to learn. A classroom's physical environment and teacher are what make the classroom a positive learning environment. I enjoyed going through Alfie Kohn's chart because I think it will definitely be beneficial to me when I have my own classroom.

Click on the link below to learn more about some of the ways you can add comfort to your classroom and how it benefits students-

The Importance of Comfort for Student Success 

Canaries in the Mine Reflection Post

Reflection Blog Post on TroubleMakers

After reading TroubleMakers by Shalaby, it really opened up my mind to the issues that surround schools even more. As someone who is going into education and hopes to become a second grade teacher, it is very important to understand the possible reasons behind a students behavior. The students that are so called "troublemakers" are often the ones who are dealing with personal issues or issues at home. When a child starts to act up it doesn't always mean that they are doing it for attention, it could also be a cry for help. Shalaby compares these "troublemakers" to caged canaries in coal mines which I thought was extremely brilliant and interesting. As Shalaby says "I want us to imagine their behaviors which are admittedly disruptive, hypervisible, and problematic as both the loud sound of their suffering and a signal cry to the rest of us that there is poison in our shared air" (Shalaby). Coal miners would use canaries to indicate whether or not there is carbon monoxide present since they would die first before a human being because of their sensitive respiratory systems. This same type of situation is repeating itself, only this time it is in schools and affecting students. Students that are in negative school environments are just like caged canaries in a coal mine. Instead of receiving the help that would benefit them, they are constantly reminded of their problems or getting in trouble which is unfair to them in the long run. School should be a positive place where students get to learn new things and play with others. Just like Shalaby said, "pushing them through time-outs and detentions that graduate to more consequential forms of exclusion over time, and too often medicating them into docility" (Shalaby). A school's environment can have a significant impact on a student's behavior in school and people need to become more aware of this instead of jumping to conclusions or putting their kids on medications that force them to become quiet and easily influenced. Yes, kids can be loud and obnoxious but they are kids and sometimes it is their only way of showing that they need help especially if they are very young and don't know any better. It is not a teachers job to push aggressions onto students no matter the situation. Every student should have a voice.

Possible reasons for misbehavior  

Reflection: I really enjoyed reading this text and found it very important, especially for those going into education. It gave me a new perspective on why a child could be acting the way they are and it opened up my mind even more to the issues that students can encounter in schools. I hope that I get to fix these problems one day when I become a teacher.

 

Ethnic Studies and Why It Is Important

For this blog post, I am going to talk about the "Precious Knowledge" video that we watched last class and the reading "The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies" by Christine Sleeter and how they intertwine. In the "Precious Knowledge" film that we watched during class time, it really emphasized how important ethnic studies classes are for students. In the movie which was filmed in Tucson, Arizona, the Mexican American Studies program at Tucson High School brought students of all cultures and races together. It taught the students about their own cultural identity as well as others. Author Christine Sleeter also talks about how ethnic studies should be necessary as it can change someone's life for the better as we saw in the film. She talks about a boy named Carlos and how he was not a very good student. Later on, Carlos was introduced to the Chicano studies courses that his friend was taking at the time. After a while, Carlos became so interested in the course that he took as many Chicano courses as he possibly could. We learned in the film that about 50% of Mexican American students drop out of high school. Tucson High School's ethnic studies program was not only insightful but increased the graduation rate to about 93%. This goes to show that programs like the one at Tucson High School help students become more successful, more knowledgable about themselves, and their culture. Regular curricula can often be seen as "bias" or "boring" and not as insightful because it focuses more on one specific topic. In the film, we saw how engaged the students were even though some said that it was a challenging class. Many appreciated the challenge because it helped them grow and gain confidence.

Click on the link below to learn more about some of the advantages that come along with ethnic studies courses! → The Benefits of Ethnic Studies

   

The Four "I's" of Oppression

1) "We internalize things because there's a dominant narrative that tells us that there's a standard, there's a norm and if you're anything outside of this you're other." (Malbroux).

Explanation: When Lisa Malbroux talked about internalized oppression towards the end of her video she mentioned that this type of oppression is talked about the least. Internalized oppression has to do with an individuals own beliefs that eventually "contribute to feelings of false supremacy within themselves in relation to others" (TRC org). It is basically your own negative thoughts and beliefs about yourself or others. Malbroux explains that we often feel internalized oppression. An example could be feeling like you're excluded when hanging out with a group of people. I think that we all deal with internalized oppression without even realizing it. We are all guilty of making up misconceptions.

2) "Because ideology often presents itself as “common sense” or a way of

understanding the world, ideological oppression can have longstanding cultural and historical roots."

Explanation: Ideological oppression has to do with certain stereotypes that have become normal over time. An example would be "real boy" and "real girl" stereotypes. Before you're even born, you're already being forced into "gender norms." For an example, a boy is often gifted toy trucks or toy cars, etc and a girl is often given barbie dolls, makeup, etc. But why? We are shaped even while we are still in the womb to like certain things because that has always just been the societal norm. Malbroux also explains that these gender norms can affect which professions men and women go into. Certain concepts such as men being smarter than women and performing better in certain subjects such as mathematics can affect the amount of women in the engineering and science fields.

3) "numerous studies have demonstrated that scores do not predict academic success and at best reflect class privilege."

Explanation: There are certain policies, laws and social practices that all go into institutional oppression. Many schools require a certain test score in order for you to get accepted into that school but does it really show your true intelligence? Living in a rough low income area can affect your education. Schools in rougher areas don't have access to half the materials that a school in a rich area does. Schools in better areas are funded more money which then gives their students more benefits that will help them receive a better education.