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"The reality is that we privilege people who look and act like us, and perceive those who don't as different and, frequently, inferior." (Emdin, p. 19)
Everyday, I witness at least five people talking to, interacting with, and giving attention to those who look like they do. The quote that I have selected reveals what most people, including myself, are afraid to; privilege, superiority and inferiority. The image that I have selected does a good job at showing exactly what the quote is trying to say... those who preach equality around the world and in all races (the police officers), are usually those who privilege and give more leeway to those who look like them, in terms of superficial culture, or skin color.

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"I'm asking for you to understand our struggles and our hardships,
To understand that if we have to learn with each other we should also learn about each other so we can bring each other up." (Emdin, Bored in 1st Period, p. 25)
Imagine walking into the Subway in the middle of New York City everyday... now imagine walking into the Subway and being told that your classroom will be on the same train everyday but with different people whom you know nothing about. How can any student ever feel any sort of comfort or trust within his/her classroom if the students can't even take the time to get to know one another? Teachers should take the time to get to know their students, their hardships, their strengths, their personal lives and/or communities which mold them into who they are- that is what the author of the quote is trying to say.

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"Furthermore, teaching to an exam and strictly following a curriculum makes it easier for these teachers to remain emotionally disconnected from students." (Emdin, p.37)
The goal for teachers who have no emotional connection towards students in urban schools, and even for those who do, is to teach to an exam. Teachers rather watch their students fail in the real world (whatever that is) just to see them, maybe, exceed on standardized tests. The image does a great job at depicting what it may look like for a person who has only ever known the public school system in the United States. I, personally, became accustomed to multiple choice, true or false, and fill in the blank questions and when it came time for me to answer open ended response questions, I never could. In the vast majority of schools in the public school system, the goal is memorization.

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"If the teenage me had walked into the auditorium in which I stood on my first day as a teacher, the adult me would have judged my teenage self as unprepared for learning and not properly equipped for being intellectually challenged; from the way I looked and acted, I would have been labeled trouble." (Emdin, p.42)
The media has stripped future teachers and new teachers of their own identities. The author found himself forgetting that he had come from the same place as the students walking into the auditorium on his first day of teaching/their first day of school. Today, we tend to judge people based on the color of their skin and the culture that most were born into. We tend to ignore what and who is actually on the inside of students. The picture depicts that, unfortunately, poverty lives in urban schools, in the hood. What is even more unfortunate are the administrators and teachers that do not understand that there is way more to the students than the clothes that they are wearing.

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"Within the urban classroom, valuing voice means providing students with an opportunity to have their thoughts, words, and ideas about the classroom and the world beyond it heard and incorporated into the approach to instruction." (Emdin, p. 59)
When teachers teach exactly what they have on their organized lesson plans, which involve little to no discussion or question time, they are said to be exemplary teachers in urban schools- even though their students' performances continue to decline. Little do they know, an exemplary teacher is one who is not only patient in his/her teaching, but passionate about listening to students opinions and group discussions within the classroom. An exemplary teacher is one who goes the extra mile to dig into his/her students feelings about not only the neutral, easy topics that may be discussed in class, but the very difficult, controversial topics that will be discussed in the classroom. Lastly, an extraordinary teacher is one who not only teaches, but one who listens, one who wakes up in the morning expecting to learn from his/her students as they will learn from him/her.

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"In implementing cogens, teachers should introduce them in a way that does not make students see them as another school responsibility or assignment." (Emdin, p. 65)
This white teacher who teaches in the hood realizes that what she has been doing, hasn't been working. She decides to tell her students that they are going to play a game, which in all reality is a form of informal assessment in order to see who her students are and why they act as they do. The teacher presents this task as a game and tells the students that they have the choice to play the game or work in their workbooks... The students think that this isn't going to be just another school assignment and are accepting of the game. All teachers should present different tasks in fun ways or in ways that will grab a students attention. Speaking from my own, personal experience, I have had very few teachers who have (1) shown interest in why I act as I do and (2) have presented tasks in a manner that makes me believe that it is not an assignment, while it really is. What this teacher did was a great way to bring students, who may live in the same area but come from very different places, together.

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"The purpose of the selection of students who are opposites, or who represent the diversity of the classroom, is to allow for different voices to be heard." (Emdin, p. 69)
Students need their voices to be heard, they need others to understand them, to comprehend where exactly it is that they are coming from. In this clip, this teacher gives her students the opportunity to join their individual journals together. She allows her students to be heard, to explain themselves. This quote is referring to students speaking to one another and presenting different ideas to each other, orally. However, I am a firm believer in that writing is way more powerful than speaking sometimes, especially when it is coming from your peers and/or students.

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"The key to becoming an effective educator is acknowledging the differences between students and teacher and adjusting one's teaching accordingly, which often requires nontraditional approaches to teaching and learning." (Emdin, p. 83)
In this video, which is supposed to be really funny, we meet a teacher who taught for 20 years before becoming a substitute teacher. In other words, this teacher had his classroom management rules and ways of teaching already set in stone. He was not accepting of the idea that he might have been pronouncing every student's name incorrectly. Instead, he became angry and frustrated with the students for not respecting his pronunciation of their names. The quote and the video that I have selected go hand in hand with one another because the quote is telling us that, as educators, we must find a way to adjust to different learning/teaching strategies. In the video, however, we see a teacher who has no interest in bending his rules.

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"In every neoindigenous classroom where cosmopolitanism is established, the nature of the exchange among students, and between teachers and students, are very different than they are in other classrooms." (Emdin, p. 126)
This video does an extraordinary job at describing both the quote, and the video of the teacher doing a dance with her students. When a teacher gets on his/her students' level, the students automatically become more interested in everything that is coming out of the teachers mouth. When students feel as though they aren't just students, but people with roles in the classroom and the outside world, they seem to enjoy, respect and value their education a bit more. Rather than having a separate handshake for every student, as the book described, this teacher changed the lyrics to a very know song to positive, educational lyrics.

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"This value for the students must be displayed in the classroom through deliberate practices where the teacher is indicating a role shift and signaling to students that he or she is taking on the role of student." (Emdin, p. 89)
In the clip I have chosen, it is easy to see that Mike's tutor decides to sit back and let Mike's Dad do the teaching. Mike learns a lot quicker, and a lot easier, by listening to his Dad explain the poem to him in terms that they can both understand and relate to. The tutor then seems to realize, as do many teachers when they allow their students to peer teach, that  "handing the microphone" over to someone that is deemed as not as smart as the teacher, can be a good thing. I think it's important to allow students to teach one another because they may have things in common that the teacher comes nowhere near understanding. I also believe that students need to understand that the roles of a teacher and student go back and forth. Why? Because when a student writes a paper or completes an assignment that the teacher then needs to turn around and grade, the teacher is gaining knowledge, learning how the students mind works, understanding how the student is feeling, and viewing the lesson that he/she has taught through another persons lenses.

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                     Part One - Chapters 1, 2, & 3

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                     Part One - Chapters 1, 2, & 3

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                    Part Two - Chapters 4, 5, & 6

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                    Part Two - Chapters 4, 5, & 6

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                 Part Three - Chapters 7, 8, & 9

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                 Part Three - Chapters 7, 8, & 9

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"After visiting the places where youth spent time around the school, the next step for the educator is to begin visiting places that are farther away from the school and closer to the home communities of the students." (Emdin, p. 141)
The video selected does a good job at representing what it may look like for a white teacher who teaches in the hood, to actually visit the hood. A white person may think that getting out of their fancy car, wearing their fancy and expensive clothes, won't affect what may or may not happen to them the hood. Luckily this woman has a young man, who truly cares for her and protects her, by her side. He does not allow her to get out of the car due to embarrassment, he does it because he knows that the guys sitting on the steps are up to no good and would disrespect her. It takes a teacher putting him/herself in the kind of danger that their students put themselves into every single day, to actually realize and maybe understand why the students act as they do and put their guard up the way that they do.

(Kaitlyn Espanol-McKibben)

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"Many teachers intuitively use game formats like Jeopardy to get students excited about reviewing or relearning a massive amount of information quickly." (Emdin, p. 158)
I remember back to when I was in high school... I was never a great test taker, but I do know that games like Jeopardy and Kahoot made learning, reviewing, and studying a lot easier for me. The video below shows a great description of how the students are so focused on answering the question correctly and quickly while playing Kahoot. Their expressions and their excitement is so great to see after they have gotten an answer correct. The teacher in the video does a great job at explaining the questions and answers the the students missed. The students will remember how and what to do when problem solving a lot quicker when they are taking a test if they review by playing games, than they will if the teacher sends them home to study on their own.

(Kaitlyn Espanol-McKibben)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8YWsjur-Vc
(The video was too long to upload)

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"For neoindigenous youth, the first week is a fashion show. Students show up to school to unveil new hairstyles and fresh haircuts, show off new school clothes or (more typically although less discussed) outfits from the previous school year revamped to look new." (Emdin, p. 163)
I wish I knew how much money my parents spent on me every year for back to school shopping. I have come to realize how unnecessary that always was. I can understand if a student has grown out of their clothes, but purposely spending money on a new haircut, a new pair of shoes (or a few), and brand new clothes which most of the time ends up being designer clothes, can really make a difference in the amount of food that is brought to the table for next few weeks. In the video below, you can see how important it is for those students to have a new haircut and new clothes before their first day of school... even if they have been with the same teacher and classmates for the past three years. Back to school shopping has become a tradition for most students, which is very, very sad and disappointing.

(Kaitlyn Espanol-McKibben)

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"I got students to engage with me and each other differently because I blurred the lines between the in- school and out-of-school contexts." (Emdin, p. 139)
The author explains how he has been working very long hours each day in order to make this year more successful than the previous year. As the year goes on he gets tried and exhausted and decided he needs time to enjoy himself. He sees students playing basketball outside on the school court and joins them. The next day he goes back to play basketball with the students. He continues to go play games with them after school for several weeks. He quickly finds himself learning about each student and their community. The students begin to invite him to block parties, church, breakfast, and community events. He discovered that spending more time with his students was helping him formally plan for his class. The more he spent with the students outside of school was the more he learned and was able to use those experiences in teaching students in the classroom. That was helping him blur the line between in-school and out-of-school. Students were more engaged in class, participated more, and there was better classroom management. I think getting to know your students and connecting with them is key to success in a classroom. In the video, the teacher also connects with his students through sports. Even though he is not playing a sport with the students, he brings football into the class. He teaches his class like if it were a game they are about to play and the students enjoy it because they enjoy sports. Even if a student does not know how to play football they can learn. Having a class that is different from a traditional classroom also helps students to engage and have fun while learning.

(Stephanie Ventura)

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Five former presidents attend hurricane relief concert; Trump appears in video message

1 dead, 2 injured in shooting in southeast Houston

Mega adoption event held for pets abandoned, lost after Hurricane Harvey

Astros fans fired up for ALCS Game 7

Police: Man shot, killed at homeless encampment

Home Showcase: Open Houses for Oct. 21-22

Man found shot, killed inside car in Heights parking lot

What you need to know about the blue tiles on Houston's streets

More than 30 people injured in 25-vehicle crash on I-10 in Chambers County

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Spring ISD teacher uses sports to help students in classroom

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Five former presidents attend hurricane relief concert; Trump appears in video message 1 dead, 2 injured in shooting in southeast Houston Mega adoption event held for pets abandoned, lost after Hurricane Harvey Astros fans fired up for ALCS Game 7 Police: Man shot, killed at homeless encampment Home Showcase: Open Houses for Oct.

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"Graffiti is a way for neoindigenous to dress up their neighborhood in much the same way that clothing dresses up the body." ( Emdin, p. 167)
For many people, graffiti is a way that gangs mark their territory. As educators, your mindset should consider graffiti as being an art that is used as a form of expression. In the book, the author talks about how students who wear a perfectly matched outfit might be recognized for self-presentation but for the student, it might serve as an escape from a harsh reality. The way someone dresses can represent who they are.  Just be adding little things to an outfit can create a representation of who they are, like adding a flower to their hair or a handkerchief in a pocket. The quote states," Graffiti is a way for neoindigenous to dress up their neighborhood in much the same way that clothing dresses up the body." Just like clothing can be a form of showing who you are, graffiti can be a way to show who or what exist in the neighborhood. In the video below, a young man is drawing graffiti on a wall. He writes a phrase. That phrase might be a reminder for everyone in his neighborhood to believe in themselves or maybe a reminder for him that he wants to share with others.

(Stephanie Ventura)

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Just Another Day | Graffiti | Airic Le'Mike

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Airic Le' Mike Experience Featuring: Just Another Day The life of a Graffiti Artist is no joke, all about getting up getting out there and representing your name and style. Witness "Just Another Day" as this respected artist goes out to put in work early in the morning and produces a piece with a meaning.

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      Part Four - Chapters 10, 11, & the Conclusion

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      Part Four - Chapters 10, 11, & the Conclusion

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"Furthermore, their local colloquialisms and codes are welcomed in this space." (Emdin, p.180)
I chose this image because at first, the teacher writes on the chalkboard Welcome back to school, students! The students are confused on what the teacher wrote on the chalkboard, and once she realizes it she rewrites her statement in a different way for her students to understand, WB 2 skool stdents. The teacher had to change the way she wrote her statement in order for her students to understand what she wanted them to know. This is similar to what Christopher Emdin explained in chapter 10. In chapter 10 the teacher allowed students to talk in the neoindigenous language in order to create a discussion among students in the context being learn. This allows students to speak in a way they can all understand. It helps students get involved in discussion allowing teachers to see how much they understand regardless of what language they use to interpret the information.

(Stephanie Ventura)

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"Without explicitly saying it, I was telling the students That I didn't believe their issue with my yelling was a genuine one." (Emdin, p. 186)
In the book, the teacher asks a group of students to tell him what major issue was getting in there way of their learning in the classroom. In a few minutes, the students had decided that the biggest issue was their teacher was often yelling and raising his voice to the students when he got frustrated. The yelling caused students to get distracted, it would put them in a mood of disinterest in the class topic, and made students upset. The teacher did not want to accept that fact and ended their cogan meeting. The students met again for a second and third time. All three times the students said the same thing and the teacher continued to not accept the fact that he could have a problem until one of the students recorded him several times when he would begin to yell at the students during class. I selected the picture below because the mirror represents the students trying to let the teacher see what he does not want to see, him being the problem because he yells at them. The adult is the teacher looking to find out what the issue is but not wanting to see the reality of the issue in the classroom.

(Stephanie Ventura)

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"You cannot teach someone you do not believe in." (Emdin, p.207)
In this video, teachers told different students that they were special, an inspiration to them and that they believe in them. You can see teachers getting emotional as they tell their students, why they believe in them. The students' reactions are priceless, seeing them smile and feeling proud. You are able to see that their teachers words mean something to them and it makes them feel good about themselves. I chose this video for this quote because it demonstrates to us that believing in your students is important in order to teach them. If a teacher does not believe in her students than the student will not believe in themselves either. We were able to see each student's reactions and how several of them were very surprised because they were probably not expecting the teacher to let them know how special they are.

(Stephanie Ventura)

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Students react to hearing "I believe in you"

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In Community ISD, we were recently inspired by a video created by Mr. Henry of El Dorado High School (you can watch that video here: https://youtu.be/fFaJdBq78lc) showing what it looks like when teachers tell students they are important and inspiring.

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"For educators, getting computers meant that we would be able to better prepare students for college and careers in the real world." (Emdin, p. 189)
I chose this picture because it resembles the importance of computers for college students in today's world. For us, Early Childhood Education majors, computers are extremely necessary to exceed. Everything is able to be shared with our professors... if we weren't able to see our grades, save our files, and receive feedback from our professors as quickly as we can through the internet, we would be more stressed than we already are. Today, we tend to complain and take for granted the luxury of having computers and having the ability to go back and edit our files without feeling as though our hands are going to fall off when putting a pencil to a paper. We should be allowing students to use computers as well as learn to navigate through them, in order for them to be better prepared for college (where we rely on our computers) and further careers.

(Kaitlyn Espanol-McKibben)

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"The way that a teacher teaches can be traced directly back to the way that the teacher has been taught." (Emdin, p. 206)
I chose this quote because it reminded me of the professor's who changed my life... If I could explain the amount of times that I doubted myself, I'd be completely out of fingers and toes to count on. For every time I doubted myself, however, I had a professor right behind me ready to pick me up and bounce me back to reality. The professor's, as well as the future teacher's in the picture below, have taught me and resembled what a good teacher should look and act like. The patience displayed towards me this past semester, has been indescribable. The 26 people with me in this photo, have done just that- stand by me through thick and thin. They have taught me to accept every person that enters my life, and as a teacher, I expect to do just that... accept every student that walks into my future classroom, love them, be patient with each of them and push them to be the best person that they could be. At the very beginning of what seemed to be a lengthy process that would take forever, I was so excited and then I soon became exhausted and in turn, became angry. I became angry with what seemed to be the entire universe, but the most important person that I became angry with was myself. I forgot to take care of myself, to love myself, and to find the courage within myself to let go of things that I simply wasn't able to change. It wasn't until recently... it actually wasn't until the day the photograph below was taken, that I realized that I was exhausted because I was actually learning for the first time in a long time. I became exhausted with the numerous amount of information I had been taking in for the past 2 to 3 months. I then took the exhaustion, the hatred and the anger and I turned it into life, love and patience. It was then that I realized that this decision, the decision of joining this program and believing in something bigger than myself, was actually a good thing, and that each person in the picture below has been the biggest blessing that I could have ever received.

(Kaitlyn Espanol-McKibben)