# data[].attributes.body
I think PET by Akwaeke Emezi is an amazing work which deals with so many meaningful topics. For example, when I read the book, I automatically started to relate the contents to issues like race, ethnicity, transgender, black community, police violence, child abuse, and emotions that a child or teenager might have... and so on.

From the beginning of the book, it opens with "There shouldn't be any monsters left in Lucille." The author uses "shouldn't," and I intuitively know that Lucille may still have monsters living in it. However, sometimes people cannot see them when they are so used to the Utopian society which they all let their guards down. Just like a line on page 19 says people always forget, and forgetting how the monsters come back. Also, when I read one scene when Jam asked her mom what does a monster look like, her mom told her that "Monster don't look like anything, doux-doux." (p.12). and also angels aren't pretty pictures in old holy books, just like monsters aren't ugly pictures. (p14). After reading those lines, I think of some of the police violence happened in the US. In those cases, the police has been constantly reported to shot or treat black people violently simply because they think black people look scary. The book keeps using some characters' family background, sexual orientation, appearance, how they behave to "challenge" or overthrow my stereotypes and what I think of as a "normal" society. For instance, Redemption has three parents and Hibiscus is depicted as an image of a soldier but turns out to be the family monster.

Later in this book, Pet keeps reminding Jam to see the unseen and to look harder for things she maybe wouldn't have thought existed. (p.80). This line has been repeating for many times in the book, and I think the author tries to tells us not everything we take for granted and see as normal is something right to do. In every kind of social context, we must remain our own set of judgment (on page 182 when Jam didn't want to kill Hibiscus) and not let people sway us easily when it comes to doing the right things. In the process, I can see Jam and Redemption trying so hard to not let their families to stop them from saving Moss, even though it is so hard to point out someone's fault when he or she is our family or close friends. It teaches us in every situation we should still take things fairly despite the fact that we might be ignored by people or our voices might be erased and disrespected if they are not accorded with the mainstream.

Last, I would say I really like the way how the author gives to every character. Although I can't understand all the meanings of the names, I think there are metaphor, undertone, and special meanings for characters' names like Bitter, Redemption.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection on YA book: Stamped Racism, Antiracism, and You

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection on YA book: Stamped Racism, Antiracism, and You

# data[].attributes.body
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (2020) disrupts the narrative of racism as spontaneous and isolated but is presented as interwoven in the ideas, systems and representations that have persisted for centuries. Reynolds and Kendi (2020) break free from racial dichotomies and use the unique triad of segregationist, assimilationist, or antiracist. From the outset, the authors emphasize that Stamped is not a history book as they believe the intended audience of secondary school students will find a history book boring, which will be counterproductive to their intended aims of engaging the reader in antiracism. The book presents a deep analysis of facts and figures in a colloquial and easy to understand language, like a friend telling a story. Using words like “beef” to describe tensions between Native Americans and white colonists (Reynolds and Kendi, 2020, p. 25), the text is attuned to how contemporary teens speak, with “pauses'' and “word checks'' throughout the book to make sure the audience “gets it.”

The chapters we selected cover what we call the “3 Is” of stamped- ideas, individuals and image-constructions through which racism and antiracism are explored. Although chapter 9 is very short, it defines the significant “assimilationist” position by exploring the idea of the “Uplift Suasion''- which is the notion of wanting black people to live by white people’s standards. The text highlights how this position is still racist as it indicates people cannot accept black people the way they are . Chapter 13 explores Abraham Lincon as a complicated individual, challenging the idea of Lincoln as the Great Emancipator. His three different positions/policies around black folk that catered to both abolitionist and racist groups of voters are explored in the chapter. Finally, chapter 23 touches upon how Black women have been muted in the representation of Black resistance and the civil rights movement by discussing the life of activist Angela Davis. It also discusses representation of black men in the post civil rights climate- like the “southern strategy” and the movie Rocky which had political consequences like the election of Reagan.

In the lesson linked to Chapter 9, Sanchez et. al. (2019) takes important figures in the  abolitionist movement and guides students to learn the history of the abolition movement through a role play. The Chapter 13 lesson asks students to think about what the official, real aims or reasons of the Civil War are, analyzing what documents reveal about Lincoln’s war aims . The lesson for Chapter 23 teaches the FBI’s war on the Black freedom movement by introducing COINTELPRO, to let students see the unethical, unjust, illegal and racist tendencies that exist in the US government and the criminal justice system.

# data[].attributes.headline
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.subject
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.body
Corporal Punishment that I usually received from my teacher

# data[].attributes.headline
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.subject
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.body
A can full of candy.
If I got 1st place in the exam, my parents would let me bring it to school and share candy with my classmates.

# data[].attributes.headline
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.subject
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.body
Venues for College Entrance Exam

# data[].attributes.headline
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.subject
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.body
Report Card for monthly exam shows every classmates' grades on it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.subject
Items that remind me of my own school life related to the movie- I am not Stupid

# data[].attributes.body
stick that teacher used to punish me for not getting enough grades (corporal punishment occupy my secondary school life)

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection on the Social Justice Book- Island-born

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection on the Social Justice Book- Island-born

# data[].attributes.body
At first, I was simply attracted by the book due to its colorful cover. However, after reading this book, I learned that the contents of it is so meaningful and worthwhile for educators to read.

In the book, the little girl has trouble finishing her homework. The teacher asks all students to introduce an artifact or journal that represents their own "original" culture. However, the girl knows nothing about her own culture, so she is worried to death for not being able to hand in the homework. She only knows that all of her neighbors, her families call where they come from "the island." (Dominica) The girl was born in the United States although she has a deeper skin tone.

She later interviewed many of her people, like the vendor on the corner of the street, her neighbor upstairs, her hairdresser, etc. She is later so fascinated by the cultures that are inborn within her. For example, their dance, their sings, their fruits/foods, the landscape of the island, and the natural disasters  happened on the island. She starts to develop a sense of belonging and begins to develop her own set of cultural identity. The story ends up with the little girl introducing her island's cultures to her classmates, and she is so proud of herself!

# data[].attributes.body
This movie addresses fascism and how an educator could influence or even manipulate the whole classroom atmosphere. It is a German movie. In the movie, the teacher is assigned to teach students autocracy in his history class. At first, all the students thought it was a cliche and outdated topic to be discussed. What's most impressive in the movie is that several students complained about being sinful to be born as German. It is like a cross and innate sin to be a German, because when people talk about German, they spontaneously think of "Nazi,"  "Holocaust," and the cruel oppressions they placed on the Jewish people. The students are clearly sick of the same old topic and the history related to Hitler.

However, the teacher teaches autocracy in the classroom by playing himself a dictator, they have a common gesture to show loyalty to their peers in their own party called "the Wave," and they even have a mark for their groups. What is not astounding to me is that they have to wear uniforms to the history class. This is a norm in Taiwan and Asian classrooms, for our society promotes the idea of "unity" and "conformity."

In the movie, most students were so addicted to the class activities and they exclude anyone who is not a member of it, while there are two female students who don't comply to what the teacher said, and they are totally ignored by the teacher when the class is having discussions. The class later became just like Nazi in the modern time because at the end the majority of the class wants to execute one of their peers for he wants to remind people the danger of the consequences. The movie ended up with a member shot himself dead for he was totally addicted to the fascist ideas.

The critical point here for me is that "teacher should always be "clear-headed" enough towards the contents and all the activities that they bring into classrooms. Any kind of activity will lead to different consequences, and it is the teacher's responsibility to be careful and so cautious with the contents in order not to let bad history repeat itself.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection on the Kick-off Activity in Week 11

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection on the Kick-off Activity in Week 11

# data[].attributes.body
I am not sure whether it is in my 4th grade or 5th grade in my elementary school that my parents started to think I need extra academic support. Back in my elementary school life, after every monthly exam, I remembered our homeroom teacher would always put everyone's rankings on the bulletin board and announced that classmates can go check out their rankings. For me, this is a nightmare, I always felt embarrassed and even a little humiliated by the teacher's act and by the discussions of my classmates. We had roughly 35, and my ranking were always somewhere  like 30-32. Getting #1 only exists in my dream. The situation remains the same until I went to college. I always know I am not that "bad" as some classmates and teachers might think of me, because I know what I am good at and what I am not. In high school, we have 13 subjects' exams to take every monthly exam, including math, physics, biology, geography, earth science, chemistry, Mandarin, English, history, citizenship, etc. I am exceptionally good at language subjects, but they are only counted as two subjects only. So, that makes my ranking so low.

Thinking of the influences of our rankings, the ranking of a student can relate to many things. It can influence the student's confidence, the student's popularity in class, teacher's and parents impression on the student's performance (whether he/she is hardworking or lazy is often depends on the student's ranking.) I always feel myself being evaluated by them with my academic performance. Hence, on the day the report card and rankings were sent to my house or announced in class, I was upset, because I was always not in the top tier of the rank.

In my high school period, I had a talent of sketching and painting. I once won #1 in a national painting contest. Instead of really complimenting my talent, I felt my parents and teachers did not take it seriously. I felt that "for them," painting is only a "girly hobby" rather than some big achievements. Of course, I gave up painting when I was a sophomore in high school because of the approaching College Entrance Exam, and CEE does not include "painting" subject.

Before I applied for graduate schools, I thought quietly to myself what exactly was the true meaning of "learning" to me in my mind. Although I told my parents that I was going to get an IVY diploma and they can proudly show off to all the relatives, the true meaning of me get a master degree is to purse the happiness of learning. And honestly, I had always heard that schools in America are open and respectful to student's individuality, I got into TC to see if it is really like that. I was totally astounded by the high level of self-control and decisions that the students can make here in the US settings. In the past, I considered my learning passive and I was not fulfilled with my learning. Now I will learn to take back my self-control over my learning condition as a real learner.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection on the Graphic Novel "New Kid" by Jerry Craft

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection on the Graphic Novel "New Kid" by Jerry Craft

# data[].attributes.body
After reading this graphic novel in the form of an audiobook, I found graphic novels can really facilitate and assist not only young readers but also me with the understandings of the whole contexts. Although being an English lit student back in my college time, I still found difficult to comprehend the whole text due to the language barrier sometimes when I am reading literary works, not to mention kids as a ESL learner. Some people might say graphic novels are not literary "enough" to be literature, but I don't think so. I still remembered one of my professors back in college once said there are actually "rankings" and an implicit hierarchy in literature. For example, people always think highly of poems (maybe written by someone like Homer) or some formal written texts and consider "graphic novel" not so literary. At that time, I was indeed not a big fan of graphic novel because teachers in my country always recommended me to read literary works other then graphic novels.

With this time's reading, I see this form can deal with so many issues in the contents, and these issues can be related to young adults' life. For example, in New Kid by Jerry Craft, it addresses issues like micro-aggressions, parents' decisions on their children's school, ethnicity, stereotypes fixed on particular groups of students, dualism, always feeling as an outsider, parents/students coming from different socioeconomic backgrounds, etc. With the help of visual aids, graphic novels can prompt young readers to create a mental picture in their minds, promote deeper thinking, lead their thinking process, and let them learn to put themselves in characters' shoe to think what if they are one of the characters in the situation? What will they react and how will they deal with a stressed out and totally new school life?

In this graphic novel, it addresses a lot of issues with situations that might happen in students' real life. For example, a teacher keeps calling a black boy student's with a wrong name, for she mistook the boy with another student for they both have black skin. If this happens for only one or two times, I think it's understandable. However, this situation keeps happening for a semester, which hurts student's feeling. Another example from the novel was that whenever teachers mention "financial aids" in class, students will always peep at students of color, and this always bothers them.

So, after reading this audiobook, I think it is important for educators to care more about the whole classroom culture we try to create in the classroom. Being nice to students is not enough. We must create a classroom to let students feel their identities and backgrounds are welcomed and respected.

Down below is the link to the audiobook:

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflection on the Biology Class (NY based/Zoom recording)

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflection on the Biology Class (NY based/Zoom recording)

# data[].attributes.body
In this time's observation, I watched a recording which happened in a NY based classroom. However, the learning activity happened online through Zoom, and unfortunately, I could not see the students' faces but only the teacher's.

In the class, the teacher first opened the class by saying that the class today was going to be the review of the photosynthesis and cellular formula practices, which I think is reassuring for students, for they know they had got second chance to review the knowledge learned from the last class.

As for the time that have been utilized in class, the teacher first gave students 10 minutes to work on a worksheet to review formulas from the last class individually. During this period of time, students may switch off their camera and the soft music was played to get all students involved in the situation. After they got back from their individual work, the teacher started to nominate students to answer questions and lectured the contents. During this time, a students could answer all questions, but the teacher wanted him/her to give others a chance.

Learning on Zoom during the pandemic is harder for educators to give attention to students sometimes, but the teacher from the recording did notice that students need time to right down the note, which was very considerate. I could clearly notice the organization of time in this class was well-organized and well-planned, for every section the teacher gave students a clear limit.

At last, the students were given a short assessment to identify between photosynthesis and cellular respiration before the class was dismissed. I really admire the teacher for her precise organization of time.

# data[].attributes.headline
Analyze and Critique on Avenue: the World School and KIPP Academy

# data[].attributes.subject
Analyze and Critique on Avenue: the World School and KIPP Academy

# data[].attributes.body
According to both observations, I consider they have their own pros and cons and some questions thus come into my mind. I spend a half day to reflect after observing them, and try not to criticize and make irresponsible judgments on them like I usually did. Take Avenues in NYC, we can easily observe the classrooms are bright and fully equipped and everyone on camera is wearing a smile. Students in groups get plenty of time to reflect upon topics in class to digest the knowledge, which I really admire this point. However, does the flexibility of this learning style (also the flip classroom) promote students' academic achievements in a real way? Also, in the classroom, we see only white students sparkled with one or two colored students. This again makes me wonder "If a school lack of different ethnic groups, will this impede students' nature of cultural inclusion. It makes me think of a US series called "Fresh Off the Boat." In one episode, the Asian kid brought fried noodles for lunch, and during lunchtime he was mocked by his white friends for they thought his lunch looked different from pizza and fries and smelled like trash.  From KIPP school's observation, it gives me a bad impression at first. I see their orientation is totally teacher-centered and authoritarian. No chances for students to speak out their opinions. The environment is monotonous and packed, and the students need to be a hundred percent obedient to the power-holder (the teacher/the principal) in class. Yet, I almost forgot that I have been living in that kind of learning environment throughout my lifetime. When I was in high school, my class had nearly 50 students and the teacher played God all the time. My desk and chair were thrown out of classroom once by my homeroom teacher to humiliate me for I involuntarily fell asleep during the math class. Every time I failed my math test, I got beat by my teacher. All these seem to destroy students' self-esteem, including the little boy who was forced to get out in KIPP clip. However, I wonder does this act of punishment mean the teacher is totally inhumane or instead, helping students to cultivate self-discipline and commitment ( the part when the teacher wants the student to sign the contract) to be responsible for his own behaviors.(not including the physical punishment)There is a Chinese saying goes, " The lotus always grows out of the dirty mud," which means outstanding people will always come out from a struggling and difficult situation. I wonder if the way in KIPP school can cultivate students to have strong mindsets and resilient attitude, or is it all bad to have students be in a over-crowded and restricted learning settings?

# data[].attributes.body
With this postcard exchange activity, it made me think of the Culturally Responsive Education (CRE). Although the CRE in States focus a lot on students of color/minority students in class, the students in the PE specialized class can be considered another kind of minority students in TW. PE students are often ignored and mistaken that they are unable to learn knowledge. However, once they get medals in some international sports tournaments, people think they are a source of pride of TW.

This activity gave students an opportunity to reflect upon their cultures, share the cultures of their students life, and hopefully they can befriend with students from another country.

# data[].attributes.body
Sports are in students' daily life. It is clear that they not only share Taiwanese cultures with Korean students but their daily training life by making the cards related to sports.

# data[].attributes.body
Student even left their Instagram account name on the postcard.

# data[].attributes.headline
12/09 Observation in Zhuwei Senior High School

# data[].attributes.subject
12/09 Observation in Zhuwei Senior High School

# data[].attributes.body
Today in Zhuwei high school, the same PE specialized class just finished doing their postcard exchange activity. Although their English writing capability is limited, they still tried their best to communicate with the Korean students. Following are some of the works from the students.
Some students are extremely creative for they combine their daily training life into their cards. If they really want to have cultural exchange with their Korean correspondents, they would eventually find a way.

# data[].attributes.body
Randomly saw this video on Youtube and it resonates with my positions in a classroom.

I found in the United States, the norm in the learning environment promotes and admires "extroverted" students a lot. While it is true that extroverts really contribute to the classroom a lot, the needs of introverted students should also be considered as well.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The power of introverts | Susan Cain | TED

# data[].attributes.headline
Reflections on the first episode of the Queen's Gambit with the label of "smartness."

# data[].attributes.subject
Reflections on the first episode of the Queen's Gambit with the label of "smartness."

# data[].attributes.body
“The hidden curriculum consists of the implicit messages given to students about differential power and social evaluation as they learn how to work in schools, what kinds of knowledge exists... and how students are valued in their own right." (pp.20) 

For me, being a teacher is the most difficult job in the world. After reading the assigned reading, I found it become even more difficult due to the language, the body gestures and even the disciplinary strategies that a teacher adopts in class. However, it will definitely make me become more aware of the use of these. For example, in the reading, it mentioned an African-American boy Jackson who was labeled as the "least" smart and the least obedient student in class. He had to move his car to the red on the very first day of school. Ever since then, he became a total contrast to the "smartest" kid Natalie, who always conforms to the teacher's rule by doing nothing and sits in a requested manner.

My life in my elementary school is just like Natalie's at first because my parents had taught me some basic social rules before attending schools and kept a good relationship with the teachers. I always sat well and remained quiet in class, and the teacher even assigned me to be the class leader, which was a so powerful job that the teacher even said that I could use the stick to beat my classmates if they "misbehaved." That was horrible, and of course I was suspended from the position two weeks later because the teacher thought me too gentle to my classmates. Needless to say, my popularity in class dropped once I was taken away my title.

From the Queen's Gambit, I also see endless labels on students. First, the teacher underestimated Elizabeth's ability on arithmetics. Then, the whiter/younger little girl was adopted instead of the black or elder ones. Then, the man who taught Elizabeth to play chess assumed girls can't play chess. Last, a girl's gift would always be a doll.

# data[].attributes.headline
11/30 Observation in Zhuwei Senior High School (Class 忠)

# data[].attributes.subject
11/30 Observation in Zhuwei Senior High School (Class 忠)

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher leads the students to listen to the contents of the magazine. This is a review activity because they are going to have a quiz.

Then the teacher found few students completed the assigned listening activity. She asked the students whether they had finished their homework. However, the students are all honest to confess they forgot to do it for they just finished the monthly exam. Hence, they are a bit lazy.

The teacher did not get angry with the students. She gave students a second chance and review the contents of the English magazine together.

From the class, the teacher adopt online resources from the Net, and that is something rare for Taiwanese teacher. I found the time management of the teacher was very organized.

This week, the magazine introduces an UK pop star, Ann Marie. The teacher thus introduces them a song from her, and let them finish the lyrics filling activity.

Then they go on the Postcard Exchange Activity as well. Their corresponding school is an Romanian High School. However, the Romanian school is still closed due to the pandemic. So, they are going to finish their postcards online.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
LiveABC 互動英語教學集團 | 數位語言學習第一品牌

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
LiveABC的集團事業版圖橫跨出版、教育及數位內容等產業，提供全方位數位語言學習產品，出版ABC互動英語、Live互動英語、ALL+互動英語、CNN互動英語、互動日本語、知識大圖解(How It Works)系列雜誌刊物，以及各式叢書、教科書、線上學習平台等服務，並整合了LiveABC點讀筆、電腦影音互動學習軟體等學習工具，滿足各階段的學習需求。

# data[].attributes.headline
11/30 Draft Worksheet for Postcard Exchange 

# data[].attributes.subject
11/30 Draft Worksheet for Postcard Exchange 

# data[].attributes.body
The other side of the draft.

# data[].attributes.headline
11/30 Draft Worksheet for Postcard Exchange 

# data[].attributes.subject
11/30 Draft Worksheet for Postcard Exchange 

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher let students to use their cellphones to search for info they want to write on the draft.

What's special is that the teacher provides QR codes down under the sheet.

# data[].attributes.headline
11/30 9:00-12:00 Observation in Zhuwei Senior High School

# data[].attributes.subject
11/30 9:00-12:00 Observation in Zhuwei Senior High School

# data[].attributes.body
Today I came to Zhuwei Senior High School Again to carry out my observation project. They are preparing for a Holiday Postcard Exchange Activity.

The first class that I observe was a PE specialized class. Their academic performances are relatively low compared to other classes in the school. At first, because they are going to exchange postcards with high school students in South Korea in order to let Korean students to better understand Taiwan no matter it is geographically or culturally.

Each of them get a draft to let them jot down the rough ideas about what they are going to write on the postcards.

Then the teacher walks around the classroom to answer to students' questions when they are finishing drafts.

# data[].attributes.headline
Learning a langauge? Speak it like you are playing 

# data[].attributes.subject
Learning a langauge? Speak it like you are playing 

# data[].attributes.body
I've been learning English since I was six years old, I can right now still feel very uneasy, stressful, and even anxious every time when I am speaking in front of any native/fluent speakers. Ironically, I am an English teacher in my country.

From the Ted talk, Ms.Pascal illustrated different people's attitudes when speaking a second language. Some people speak English like they are playing the piano - exhausting, endless practices, knowing themselves still have a LONG way to go. Others speak English like they are the guy playing video games in the cyber cafe. They can feel at ease even when they are surrounded by many people. Unfortunately, I am the former type of person. Even right now, I am in TC, I can still feel myself so unconfident when giving my opinions out and to say something to contribute to the class. I feel super upset when I have ideas but cannot translated them into English.

I am always too aware of my performances when I speak the language and I am so afraid that I might screw up and lose my face, and I think this can be something related to our sociocultural phenomenon. First, I grew up in an learning atmosphere where students are oftentimes not allowed to make mistakes. Making mistakes gets me no perfect scores. When I was little, I once tried to answer my English teacher's question. She asked, "Do anyone in the class knows the English pronunciation of 爆米花(popcorn)?" I struggled in my mind for 30 seconds and I plucked up my courage to raise my hand. I said "puppycorn." Of course, I mispronounced it. Suddenly, I was mocked by the whole class (including the teacher). I was so hurt. I swore not to answer any questions again, and this made me feel like I did something shameful. Hereafter, I speak the language very carefully and forget it is meant to be a tool for people to communicate.

Hence, the sociocultural atmosphere forms my way of speaking English, and that the whole education system wants students to pick the "correct" answers has a great impact on my life (, which I believe I am just a drop in the ocean.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Learning a language? Speak it like you’re playing a video game | Marianna Pascal | TEDxPenangRoad

# data[].attributes.body
In Week 10's module, we start to think "Whose culture is valued, and whose is left behind." It immediately made me think of this music video and current events happened in my country Taiwan.

My country just passed the same-🤬 marriage bill last year in 2109. I can still feel most people strive to protect other people's rights through the "Pride Parade" we hold annually and through our country's voting system. In 2019, the participants of the Pride Parade reached 200 thousand people. Everyone came to celebrate the diversity of human beings. By advocating the concept and the belief, people who bear more traditional thoughts started to change too!

It is easy for us to forget or ignore the values from other people. When other people share different beliefs with ourselves, it makes me ponder whether the whole education system has tried to make every one of our students fit the mold, or should we promote equity for those people?" and "How can I as an educator, through our daily teaching activities, try to convey this ideas?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
蔡依林 Jolin Tsai《玫瑰少年 Womxnly》Official Dance Video

# data[].attributes.body
After the observation in Zhuwei High School, I actually have complex feelings. I took part in two different classes that day. One is a normal academic class which focuses on their academic performances a lot in order to get into  top-ranked universities in Taiwan. The other class that I took part in was a PE specialized class, which all students need to get up in the early morning at 3AM to do their separate training and get back to their classroom at 8AM to start their study just like the first class.

Picture is the teacher explaining the questions again after they used the Quizizz App to give an exam at the beginning of the class.

# data[].attributes.headline
10/28 10:00-12:00 Observation in Zhuwei High School (Taiwan)

# data[].attributes.subject
10/28 10:00-12:00 Observation in Zhuwei High School (Taiwan)

# data[].attributes.body
The teacher in the classroom first made the students recite the vocabulary words at the beginning of the class, and then she (the teacher) would repeat after the students when she was walking around the classroom to check if every student was getting involved. Then, the teacher asked all the students to take out their cell phones and logged into an APP called Quizizz to take a quiz. However, as I saw it, I was not a quiz. It was just like a video game that help students to reinforce the vocabulary words they had just reviewed, and the whole class was full of laughters. I never thought using technology can be so fun in the classroom settings.

As for characteristics of different learners influence different teaching approaches, I thought of another class that I've observed in high school today. The second class that I observed right after the first class was a Special Sports Class. Students have to get up at three in the early morning every day and receive their professional training until eight o'clock, and then they start their learning in the traditional classroom. My observation time started at 10:00 AM. Almost every student was exhausted and got their heads glued on tables even the activities were almost the same from the first class, which was a normal class. Therefore, I'd say maybe the teacher should try other teaching methods to motivate the students.

For the politics part, every day I see Teachers College send emails to all the students to remind them to vote. So I can more or less get to know how the political situations influence the whole learning environment. In my country Taiwan, politics is EVERYWHERE. It always depends on which party is the present ruling party in our nation. For example, there was a historical event called "Feb 28 Massacre" , which happened in 1947 in Taiwan. It talks about the ruling party KMT slaughtered innocent people on street back then. However, if we are right now having a government of KMT, then we are not able to see teachers teaching this particular history in secondary school. Although I sometimes worry that bringing political issues in classrooms will make students become more divided, nothing is irrelevant to politics at the end.

# data[].attributes.body
In Taiwan, as a teacher or as a passenger on the streets, I can always see students wearing uniforms from different schools. I’ve long observed an interesting phenomenon. That is, wearing a green uniform or a khaki uniform could be a proud thing for students and their parents. Because wearing these uniforms means the students are in the most elite high schools in Taipei. I’ve also noticed parents in the neighborhood would always praising the teenagers, for they think the students must be so hardworking.

Critical Analysis
•It can be related to students’ socioeconomic backgrounds.

•The distributions of educational resources

• Taipei gets the most annual educational budget from the government.

• Uniforms do NOT decide teenagers’ talents and intelligence.

• Ideology that subconsciously influences people’s opinions.