Blog post 12

    3. Jeopardy

The jeopardy game was a standout and really showed me the dangers of competition in a classroom setting. I used to love to compete in classes growing up because I usually perform very well academically in that setting but I realize that not everyone is the same. It sets up a hierarchy that is not beneficial to learn and grow. 

    2. Card Game

The card game helped me better understand that not everyone comes from the same background knowledge. Even just explicit instructions are not enough. It also brought a new perspective to students who do not speak English as their first language.

    1. Queering Our Schools and The Gender Revolution

The discussion that followed the Gender Revolution documentary was a standout moment in my higher education career. It was really a lesson in being able to control my mouth and my passion for a topic and redirect it in a way that is tangible and useful. It was very useful and I appreciate the platform and respect from all sides of the discussion.

Queering Our Schools Argument

     I would like to share some thoughts on the homework readings and the video we watched in class. As a future educator, I care deeply about the physical and emotional wellbeing of children. Every student has the right to feel seen, valued and supported. Queering our schools does a beautiful job explaining the need for open minded spaces in order for children to flourish. I cannot lie; I take a lot of disagreement with current transgender activists. Some of the affirmations are turning dangerous. I found several aspects of the video difficult to watch because of how they presented certain medical and ethical problems related to children. 

    I heard the video mention John Money’s “study” which has since been widely criticized for unethical methods and for the serious harm caused to the individuals involved. The film presented several claims like gender identity is biologically predetermined in the womb, and that transgender and cisgender brain structures align which remain debated in the scientific community. When it stated that “puberty blockers are reversible,” I felt that crossed into misinformation and chose to step out rather than continue listening. Based on extensive research and my true passion for understanding transgender mental status and healthcare, there is an overwhelming narrative insisting that puberty blockers are the way to deal with gender dysphoria in children that was perpetuated in the video and the readings that is not rooted in truth and is extremely harmful for children and parents of trans identifying children. 

    When I think of the pursuance of gender euphoria that activists see, I think of cases like Jazz Jennings. Jennings is an author of two books; I am Jazz and Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen. She also has a TV show on TLC called I am Jazz. She began puberty blockers at age 11 and started estrogen therapy. At 17 she had a vaginoplasty which is a gender-affirming surgery that flips the penis inside-out creating a neovagina. It is a very painful procedure with a long recovery. Many complications have been experienced by this surgery like the inability to pee due to a folded urethra. Jazz experienced a huge complication because the penis was not developed enough to turn inside-out because of puberty blockers. They had to take abdominal tissue to add to the neovagina after a botched surgery and now she has to "dilate" her neovagina by sticking foreign objects into the vagina to keep it open because her body would otherwise close up the area like a wound. Even a child who took all the “correct” steps ended with huge complications during their gender reassignment surgeries and that was because Jazz’s puberty was stopped. The human body needs puberty in order to carry out its natural functions. Peeing, procreating, orgasms, overall happiness and prosperity cannot happen without puberty. When you cut off puberty, you cut off the possibility of that child ever producing children of their own. This is not a decision any child can make, and no adult should choose this on a child’s behalf. We should give children the space to become who they want to become, but we absolutely must veer away from affirming life sentences to their self-identity until they have reached a point of full autonomy and understanding. 

 

    And if puberty blockers only pause or temporarily stop puberty as most activists say, that is implying the truth that children will eventually need to go through it. So why pause it at all? The answer is that puberty blockers are, more often than not, not intended to be a pause. However, puberty blockers are now seen as the anecdote for gender dysphoria in youth which only delays the imminent reality of puberty. This creates an imaginary haven for the child that does not exist that they never have to experience their body developing into their sex. 

    There absolutely is a space for children who want to experience different gender expressions. If a little boy was asking if it is okay to paint their nails or wear dresses or wear makeup, we should allow and encourage age-appropriate ways of expression. Same with little girls asking if they can like sports or fishing or rough housing. There is absolutely a desire, need, and health benefit for children trying different things out in the pursuit of finding themselves. However, there are huge dangers with some of the believed and affirmed ideas that transgender activists have pushed on to society, such that you do not need puberty.

    What are your thoughts? Do you deem puberty blockers a positive? Why or why not?

 

The Relativity (and fakeness) of Classes.

 

Patrick J. Finn's book Literacy with an Attitude has been my favorite reading by far. It had a lot of thoughtful points on Jean Anyon's discoveries in the classroom. His discussion made me think of my own theory and I am curious of the class's thoughts on it: Class is relative and fake. It is vastly subjective with its only objectivity in the P of SCHWAAMP. While it is upheld socially and people experience various effects of the social classes, it is impossible to dismantle because it only exists in relation to itself. The goal should be happiness, gratitude, accomplishment, and prosperity-- not just in monetary ways like overcoming class separation suggests. 

Reason #1: The inherent fear of the unknown will always cause groups to form in society. People tend to assimilate where they are most comfortable. This is a pattern exhibited in every place in society, no matter how much we try to dis

mantle it. Think about the argument over societal and systemic racism. Now look to the government. Since the civil rights act of 1964, racism has not been allowed governmentally. But when we look to statistics, there is a clear-cut difference in prosperity between races in fields such as college attendance, incarceration rates, home ownership, wages, and more. And we can keep fighting the government for equal rights but surprisingly, there is not more that the government can do. Redlining is illegal in theory, but it still happens socially. Not through the government but through societal standards. We place people into boxes and ship them away where we feel they belong. 

Reason #2: Equalizing the P of SCHWAAMP only causes reliance on other levels of oppression    to form groups. I fear this would break the world. So now there is no room for growth in property owning (because to get rid of classes would mean to equalize everyone's economic status). So now everyone is forced to work the same job? Is everyone is forced to do the same number of hours? How would we measure this? Per person? Per household? As I've mentioned before, groups are inevitable to form in societies it is just in human coding. Now these groups would be based on what? I hate to bring this up but now we are talking about eugenics of sorts. The Christian white straight males will be the most prosperous group based on actually no merit at all, just because they are Christian and white and straight and male. Getting rid of classes is not possible unless we turn to communism. And at that point it is not something that would benefit anyone.

 

So, in my theory, societal groups are inevitable and actually a necessity. So, if class is inevitable, how do we create fairness within that reality?

We first need to decide what is it that makes a child worthy of moving up into a higher class. Is it intelligence, rote memorization, willingness to learn, or anything else? Is that even for us to decide? Now how do we catch students raised in lower class up to higher class. Like the culture of power theory suggests, not every student is brought up in the same environment and some need to catch up before being able to expand. What ever happened to holding students back who were not ready to move on to the next grade level. I believe this would totally level the playing field.

I welcome opposing arguments that challenge this theory and deepen our understanding.  

*Edited with Chat GPT**

What to look for in a classroom: Miss Honey v Miss Trunchbull

Classroom Set Up

Alfie Kohn's chart on the difference between the classrooms reminded me of Miss Honey vs. Miss Trunchbull in Matilda. I somehow manage to tie everything in teaching back to Matilda because it was that story in musical form that made me fall totally in love with teaching by directing an after-school theater program's production of Matilda. Matilda is so personal to me, especially as the more I teach the more I long to embody her soft, loving, sweet energy. I started teaching when I was only sixteen music directing, and my goodness I was so mean to those kids! I also did not really know any better and as I grow I become nicer and nicer (which is probably why I have kept my teaching jobs). Matilda was a big turnaround for me, and I see Ms. Honey reflected in a lot of the teachings at Rhode Island College. Here is how it relates to this reading, specifically, on the classroom decor:

Miss Honey  

Lets break down just how genius this depiction of Miss Honey's classroom is. Chairs are in tables, colorful student projects on the wall, students are engaged, and many more signs of a good healthy classroom. On the contrary...

Miss Trunchbull

 

This is a picture from the musical adaptation but as you can see it is dark, those who enter are timid, and the walls are lined with no student paraphernalia but instead security cameras and trophies from her OWN personal winnings. Not even her students.

Directing Matilda

I directed Matilda at Villa Nova Middle School in Woonsocket, and it truly was the highlight of my entire artistic career and, not to toot my own horn, I have accumulated a pretty impressive artistic resume so far. The feeling that you get when watching students, you have taught relay their talents with such passion truly changed my whole life and trajectory of my career. This kind of shift only happened though, once I stopped actually focusing on the goal, and started building up kids this shift happened. Once I started to embody more Miss Honey and less Miss Trunchbull, it was the most rewarding process of my life. Attached are my two favorite songs from the Matilda Jr. soundtrack and I know my music/ theater friends can definitely relate to the feelings that both of these teachers illicit. 

This article totally drove the wedge between Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull and explained how they contrasted and how beneficial it is to have Miss Honey aura.  

Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull 

The Silenced dialogue response.

 

"The Silenced Dialogue" by Lisa Delpit made very interesting points on how teachers are discouraged from their teaching strategies and how administrators often push a white agenda in their teaching. One point consistently implied through the chosen quotes was the need to teach children differently based on the students or the teacher's race. I believe that this point is very dangerous. The main goal of school should be an equal opportunity to equal education, no matter their race, background, ethnicity, or any underlying identities. 

I am probably just really struggling to understand what the differences could be between teachers of different races in bringing up curriculum and my brain kind of spews off in two different directions with it:

#1: Statistics show that Asian Americans and White Americans hold the most wealth per household. This automatically makes my brain assume that they have a different level of understanding and connection to the education system in America. It is one that they personally can relate to and one that they have been able to benefit from, so VERY GENERALLY SPEAKING, Asian and White voices are louder in education because they are the most educated in America. White and Asian Americans hold that system up.

#2: We can get more Black Americans and Hispanic Americans to become more prosperous and educated by giving them an education they can relate to. 

I would be lying if I said this wasn't concerning as a White American to try to empathize with, but it is the truth. On that same note it makes me nervous to divide a "White education" from a "Black education" because that calls for even more segregation and history shows that separate NEVER means equal. Now what are the solutions to this issue. 

Tying back to another huge point of discussion in the article, being able to listen and learn about all sides, ensuring everyone's personal identity is represented is SO IMPORTANT in receiving a "good" education. I learned a lot about this in last classes discussion. We got onto the topic of Christopher Columbus, and I was totally schooled. The other students in my small group explained that we need to stop treating him as such a hero. I immediately thought and challenged that we also probably shouldn't explain that he raped a bunch of Native Americans and cut off their hands and stuff. Now... OBVIOUSLY we shouldn't do that. No one IS doing that or stating that that is okay. I learned that the debate comes in opening up ALL sides and experiences in this conversation. While not necessarily painting him as a hero and showing people were harmed by his agenda is important.

I hope in class I can hear about these teachings and how the system built by white people has continued to uphold White America and suppress Black America and how I can be more open to all voices in order to improve the overall merit and productivity of ALL Americans. 

 

 

 

 

"The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies" Response

 The reading "The academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies" by Christine E. Sleeter explains how ethnic and cultural studies are very important for the productivity and enjoyment of students' learning. This reading was very interesting and brought up a very good point, that kids work well and thrive in environments they can relate to and identify in. And on top of that, we should have more programs that nourish these environments. 

I strongly related to this center idea in the arts area of schools. Going from two different elementary schools to two different middle schools to high school, I was always most happy and prosperous where there was a strong music program because that is something that I deeply identify with. 

 

In environments where music is not as deeply appreciated (or funded), I felt like a piece of my identity was not being nourished. In high school, however, we had one of the best, well-funded music and theater programs in the state where I was granted endless opportunities like four shows a year, AP Music Theory, our musicals were even entered into a competition that sent me to make my Broadway debut! This would not have been possible without the highlighting of theater by the administration. This proves the idea that in order for students to grow and prosper, they need nourishments to their identities in school. Just like how Carlos nourished his identity in his education by pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, all students' identities should be nourished and supported.

 

The 40 building blocks to good education-- What do you have and can you build more?

 What are the "building blocks"

Shannon Renkley and Katherine Bertolini wrote a truly inspiring piece called, "Shifting the Paradigm from Deficit Oriented Schools to Asset Based Models: Why Leaders Need to Promote and Asset Orientation in our Schools" which described the building blocks of education and how we can build these up before we have to counter act the absence of one. I hope other aspiring teachers were as inspired by this text, promoting the ideas of, "...identifying each child's jewels and using these to help the student grow..."(26). They also mention how The Search Institue found a list of 40 assets students may have that strive behaviors and decrease behaviors where they are absent. These "external assets" include family support, positive family outcome, other adult relationships, caring neighborhood, caring social climate, caring school climate, parent involvement in schooling, community values youth, youth as resources, service to others, safety, family boundaries, school boundaries, neighborhood boundaries, adult role models, positive peer influence, high expectations, creative activities, youth programs, religious community, time at home. The internal assets include achievement motivation, school engagement, homework, bonding to school, reading for pleasure, caring, equality and social justice, integrity, honesty, responsibility, restraint, planning and decision making, interpersonal competence, cultural competence, resistance skills, peaceful conflict resolutions, personal power, self-esteem, sense of purpose, and positive view of personal future.

How can we obtain them and eventually pass them on?

 As a child, I was blessed with two totally opposite sides of the coin: my father, and my mother. Both divorced. One remarried with a college education, fulfilling and high earning job, and a beautiful house. The other never remarried, never graduated college, and has never owned a home. I like to think I developed the skill set of the former. I see my childhood where one side pushed these ideals and the other did not. One took me to Barnes and Nobels to pick up a new book every week and one was too busy to be present in my development. I thrived under my father's house while I was socially ostracized while in my mother's. These skills are extremely eye opening and important to consider when teaching or raising children. The same idea in my last blog post on avoiding poverty, you can take action to prevent this. Look to ChatGPT on how to be more caring, where you can join a religious community or any other asset you feel that you are lacking. Think about how you have got them or can get them so we can influence the youth in our life to possess them too.