Top 5 Strategies

    Throughout the semester, we used many different strategies to help us learn the content. These strategies allowed me to learn the content in a fun and unique way. Before this class, I was used to the typical way of learning. Where I was presented with content, then I had to complete an assignment such as an essay, multiple choice questions, or PowerPoint to prove that I understood the content, but my using these strategies, I was able to learn the content while completing the assignment. I believe that these strategies allowed me to be more engaged in the content, which led to a better overall understanding of the content each week. For my Top 5 assignments, I chose the ones that I most enjoyed, but I also chose them because I was surprised by the outcome of each. As the semester progressed, I became more and more surprised by the outcome of each strategy. My favorite strategy of the semester was the WorditOut. This was a new strategy that I have never heard of, so I enjoyed participating in it and seeing how beautiful the outcome was. I was really inspired by this strategy and I am excited to incorporate it into my future classroom. 

   Overall, I truly enjoyed participating in a new strategy each week, and I believe that I acquired many new ways to teach and assign content to my students. I cannot wait to incorporate these strategies into my future classroom. I hope my students enjoy them just as much as I do! 

1. WorditOut

Skills: Creating a WorditOut involves taking notes while learning content, then posting important quotes and sections from the information

into the WorditOut app

in order to create a piece of artwork that uses words that represent the main idea of the content. 

Why it worked: I was able to select the important quotes that led me to emphasizing the main ideas of the content. 

2. Black-Out Poem

Skills: In order to create a blackout poem, you must be able to read and understand the main concept of an article(s), so that you can “blackout”

the rest of the poem. 

Why it worked: I was able to incorporate artwork into my blackout poem to emphasize what I interpreted as the main idea of the article. 

3. DOs and DON'Ts

Skills: This activity involves taking notes on things one should, and should not do, in regards to a specific situation or topic. 

Why it worked: I was able to take a step back and analyze the things I should do as an educator to help support my students, as well as bring to light the things

I should avoid as a future educator.  

4. Selecting Golden Lines to determine importance

Skills: This activity involves selecting lines that you found important or inspiring from a piece of literature. 

Why it worked: I was able to dive deeper into the content and see how the information was relevant and inspiring. 

5. Blogging with other educators

Skills: This strategy includes creating a personal blog, and keeping up with weekly posts about important information, as well as responding to

and learning from fellow educators. 

Why it worked: While participating in educational blogging, I was able to see the ideas and opinions of my fellow teachers and collaborate on some important topics.

What lengths am I willing to go to in order to do right by every child?

    What does an equitable classroom look like to you? In this module I learned the importance of culturally responsive teaching and what it means to have an equitable classroom. I enjoyed working through this module and learning how I can better support my students and allow for their perspectives and voices to be heard. After reading the articles and watching the videos, I realized what I am willing to do as an educator in order to support all my students.  As an educator, I will do whatever I can to ensure that my students feel supported in my classroom. This module taught me the importance of allowing students to have a voice in the classroom. As educators, It's our job to incorporate relevant cultural experiences into our lessons so that our students can make deeper connections and relate to the content. While reading, "The Culturally Responsive Teacher", when the teacher focuses on the students narratives and cultural experiences, they will strengthen their understanding of the content and allow the students to build connections between home and school. The article used a student named Belki as an example and explained that, "Belki will learn more from a social studies unit on immigration if her teacher draws on her very real experience as a newcomer to the United States."  (Villegas & Lucas). This is a great example of how educators can pull from their students' own personal experiences so that they are represented inside the classroom. This will allow our students to feel seen, and it will also allow them to have a deeper connection with the content. 

    Above I posted my very first "Word It" that I created from this lessons content. I enjoyed creating this piece and I believe it captures the main idea of this module perfectly. 

Do I have the full picture?

  I believe that in order to truly have the full picture, we must be exposed to other cultures and communities. Growing up, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by many different ethnic groups at home and in my town. My stepmom and her family shared their food, music and culture with me. Since my step family is from Belize, I was able to experience a different culture than my own. From an early age, I understood the importance of  learning about other ethnic groups and cultures. As a child my parents always taught me to embrace and accept those who are different from me. Because of this, I grew up around a diverse group of friends.  

    I enjoyed participating in the "face test". This exercise made me realize that although I have grown up around people from different ethnic groups than myself, I still have a lot to learn. I believe that our public education system plays a vital role in our knowledge and understanding of other ethnic groups. As a child, I was surrounded by diversity outside of the classroom, not inside of the classroom. 

    Until now, I have never thought about how the history that I learned, was limited in many ways. The current public school system teaches an often one-sided version of history. The Tik Tok video, "I didn't learn this in school" made me think about what I learned about historical events such as, Thanksgiving, The Civil Rights Movement, and other historical events was only half of the story. The way we are taught history here in the U.S. , lacks representation and diversity. I related to the video because it made me think about how I too learned about the civil rights movement and ruby bridges, but I didn't actually hear her sorry. Our textbooks often filter out the voices and experiences of POC. This is a disappointment as a future educator, and is why I will ensure that I provide my students with the "Full Picture". 

How do we talk about issues that matter?

  As educators, we often engage our students in discussions on the curriculum,  

but how often do we bring up important topics that matter? Educators are responsible for providing a safe and open learning environment that promotes discussions on issues that matter We must be able to support our students by initiating important discussions that allow our students to discuss, listen,  

observe and form an opinion. Number four of the High Leverage Practices is “leading whole  

class discussion of content” ( University of Michigan School of Education). This practice requires that the teacher and students listen, contribute, and learn from others.  During my sophomore year of college, my professor led a class discussion over gun violence and gun control laws. Although this is often seen as a controversial topic, we were able to successfully discuss our thoughts and opinions as a class. Multiple students had the chance to share their stance on the topic and their reasoning behind it. The professor encouraged everyone to keep an open mind and allow everyone to share their thoughts without interruption and side comments. As predicted, some debates occurred, but everyone was able to debate the topic without getting angry or offending the opposing side. This discussion that may have been difficult to have, actually went quite smoothly because my professor made sure that the classroom was a safe space to share our ideas. 

  This scenario makes me think about my role as a future educator and the role that 

I will play in leading discussions on controversial and important issues. 

  I believe that my role is even more important when it comes to leading these discussions since I will be an elementary teacher. From a young age, students must be taught how to effectively communicate with their peers.  

No matter the age, students often have much to say and are eager to share their ideas,  

thoughts, and opinions.  It is my job as a teacher to guide my students on how to effectively have discussions over important issues. I must teach my students how to respect the  

opinions of others. I will help my students to understand that we will not always agree,  

but we can learn to look at others with empathy and understanding. In my class, students will learn to listen with and observe with respect and kindness. If students can effectively  

communicate and participate in discussions from a young age, these discussions may no  

longer be "difficult”. In the end, it is up to the teacher to lead by example and set the pace  for an effective discussion.

Why Teach?

 Since I was  a child I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher. When I was young, I used to play school with my cousins and I always insisted on being the teacher. My mom was a 2nd grade reading teacher at the time, so she would give me copies of her old work books to play with and I would force my friends and cousins to complete the worksheets for "fun".  I always loved visiting my mom's classroom and being able to help her set up her classroom.  I knew that I wanted to  become a teacher just like my mom.

      Along with a natural passion for teaching, and my mom as a role model, I had a teacher who inspired me and stuck with me throughout all these years. Mrs. R. was my 3rd grade teacher. During this time, I was dealing with a lot of changes at home and I struggled to stay motivated while in class. Mrs. R. did everything in her power to ensure that I felt comfortable and motivated in her class. I tended to become distracted easily so she bought some pretty purple earplugs that I was able to wear while completing independent work. Mrs. R. loved purple so much, that she decorated her entire classroom in the color purple. I thought this was cool since that was my favorite color.  I also expressed to her that highlighting and taking notes on my assignments helped me to understand what the questions were asking me, so she allowed me to use highlighters to mark on my assignments. She never once lost patience with me and she was there for all of us as individuals and was open to trying new things in order to help all of her students become successful. To this day, Mrs. R. continues to inspire me to be the kind of teacher that she was. A teacher who puts her students first and has the ability to make a positive  impact on their lives! 

    Although I enjoy working with all grade levels, It is my goal to teach 4th or 5th grade Social Studies or Science. I was a dance instructor for three years and I worked with all grade levels, but I loved how vocal the students of upper elementary were. They were more open to expressing their thoughts and opinions on things and this always made class interesting! Growing up, Social Studies was always my favorite subject because I loved learning about historical figures and events. I also enjoyed the hands on aspect of science. I always look forward to participating in experiments and believe this would be a fun subject to teach.