Jordan's Blog

     Aria  by Richard Rodriguez is a reflection on his experiences while growing up in a Spanish-speaking household but being forced to learn English in the U.S. Struggling with identity and language, Richard shared his personal experiences of the harsh transitions from his private family language, Spanish, to the very public language of society, English. I enjoyed this excerpt and thought Richard was brave enough to share his story even though it was a really trying time in his life. Even though these were challenging years for him personally and within his family dynamic, his family and he persevered and overcame this. Unfortunately, this change led to even bigger changes at home, which created a distance within the family, which is heartbreaking. I feel so awful that at such a young age, Richard was able to realize such significant changes within the family and their personalities. His parents encouraged the children to speak English to help them assimilate bette...

     The book Literacy with an Attitude by Patrick J. Finn immediately caught my attention. This quote, in general, is important to me. "Teachers who see themselves as allies of their working-class students can help their students see that literacy and school knowledge could be potent weapons in their struggle for a better deal by connecting school knowledge with the reality of working-class students' lives." As discussed in class and in my previous blog posts, I have said how important it is to have a strong relationship with your students when developing their trust. I liked this quote because it emphasizes that it brings you and your students closer together, creating a community and showing them this trust by helping these students have different perceptions of school. By viewing yourself as better than your students, you will come off as arrogant, which causes a hierarchy in the classroom, which further creates a toxic environment. Literacy tools are essential for th...

       Alfie Kohn's What to Look for in a Classroom is a chart with guidelines on what to look for in a classroom. This chart was published in 1996, almost 30 years ago. I believe it gives good insight as to what to look for on a surface level, not everything that is in the "Possible reasons to worry" category is an actual reason to worry, they are just things to keep an eye out for. The furniture, on-the-wall-section, and the around-the-school section are ones that could be applied at most times in schools, but because a school doesn't have one of these things, it does not make the school less than any others. Although I do agree that if the teacher is the one who is being controlling and condescending, it is really alarming and needs to be taken seriously immediately. I would like to add that if a school has these things and are equipped with the right tools, frequently they have an easier time in the schools they are in. In the many different schools I have b...

     Reading the Preface and Introduction to Carla Shalaby's Troublemakers raised some familiar questions that have lingered in the education world for decades. Right off the bat, I liked that Shalaby stated that she cares about the lives of the children at school because she is an educator, but she also cares about the students because she is a human being. I relate to this because oftentimes, in a classroom, the teacher can become robotic, or I have had experiences where a teacher has little to no feelings, and you can tell they do not want to be there. "Classrooms must be a place in which we can practice freedom." (16). As future educators, we need to listen to Shalaby and create spaces for young people, by young people, so we can engage our youth to practice their power. Although there obviously will be some disconnect in the ages, if you take the time to learn about your students and create meaningful, trusting relationships with them, the world is ultimate...