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I believe being a teacher-activist is ...

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I believe being a teacher-activist is ...

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I believe being a teacher-activist is fighting for your students. I believe teachers should fight for their students' rights and be on their side. Being a teacher-activist means you stick up for your students. An example of this would be if you had students in your classroom and them or their families were undocumented citizens, then you would fight for their rights. In the article How One Elementary School Sparked A Citywide Movement to Make Black Students' Lives Matter, "A local TV station reported on the teachers wearing #BlackLivesMatter T-shirts, and as the story went public, political tensions exploded." (Wayne Au, Jesse Hagopian). Wearing Black lives Matter t-shirts is also an example of teachers being activists for their students. They are sticking up for who their students are and how they identify. I believe being a teacher-activist is necessary no matter what community you are teaching in. Teachers should be a support system for their students.

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I believe collaboration is an essential part of education. I believe you need to teach your students to work as a team. It is important for students to know how to work with others. I believe collaboration should be integrated into the classroom every day. I believe collaboration is important when students are solving problems, working on experiments, studying, reading, etc. This is important because students are able to hear others opinions, learn new strategies, new ideas, and question each other. Overall collaboration expands your knowledge and gives you insight.  I believe multicultural education is a part of collaboration. In the article Decolonizing the Classroom: Lessons in Multicultural Education by Wayne Au, it states, "The lesson to learn here is that multicultural education should be grounded in the lives of students, not only because such a perspective provides a diversity of view points, but also because it honors students identities and experiences." Collaboration allows students to see the viewpoints of students who have a different background or culture from them. I believe collaboration opens the door to leadership skills, communication, and responsibility. Not only should students collaborate but teachers should as well. I believe collaboration amongst teachers will help them think in new ways and improve their lessons.

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I believe community and family is extremely important. I believe they both play a huge role in a child's education. I believe communities and families not only impact a child but they have a huge impact on schools. Depending on how supportive, stable, and safe a child's home is, it will reflect on their performance in school. The community that surrounds the school may not be safe for children to be outside and play in their neighborhood or have many options for opportunities. I think the more involved a community and family is in school, the better education students receive. I believe it's important as a teacher to build a relationship with your students families and the community the school is surrounded by. In the article City Teaching; Beyond the Stereotypes, the teacher asks his students what an obstacle to freedom was for them and they say, "Prisons." "White [people]." "The school." Then Stacy chimes in from the back row: "Aren't you part of the machine then? You white. You part of the school." (Michie). In order to know how your kids live, you need to understand the community and how it works. When the community, families, and schools work together, they help provide well-being and learning to all students.

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I believe my students will learn best when I... 

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I believe my students will learn best when I... 

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I believe my students will learn best when I motivate them. I believe children need encouragement and support to do their best. My students will learn best when they see equity and equality shown in my classroom. It is important that you do not make your students feel like they are being treated better or worse than other students. I believe teachers need to collaborate and learn from each other. Activism is Good Teaching says, "One thing hat has become clear from our collaboration is that teacher educators need to rely on each other to foster professionalism as activism in our respective settings." (Crawford-Garrett, Short, Perez, Sanchez, Tyson). I believe my students will learn best if they give me feedback on what they like and do not like, and one wish they have. I also think it is important that I give my students feedback not only on their school work but on their attitude and participation. My students will learn best when I provide them opportunities that allow them to work in cooperative groups. I will encourage student engagement in a variety of ways. I believe building a relationship with my students will help them learn. It is important to build trust, to practice positive classroom behavior, and to establish communication rules and respect for one another.

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I believe students learn best when they... 

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I believe students learn best when they... 

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I believe students learn best when they are able to connect to curriculum and material being presented in the classroom. Students learn best when they are represented and can make personal connections to what is being taught. I believe they also learn best when they get to be hands on and fully engaged. Having relationships and community in your classroom also helps your students learn. This way they are comfortable with each other and can discuss difficult topics in a respectful manner. Students also learn best when they feel confident and have a voice in the classroom. Our American Education book touches on culturally responsive classroom management. I believe students learn best when teachers use culturally responsive classroom management. If an African American student is constantly being yelled at for being too loud or seen as disruptive, they are not going to be learning. In order to use culturally responsive classroom management, you have to know your students, how they learn, and build a relationship with them.

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I believe that all my future students are...

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I believe that all my future students are...

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I believe that all my future students are capable of success. I believe my future students should have a voice and stand up for who they are and what they believe in. My future students are going to feel comfortable enough to express who they are and where they come from. They should teach each other about their cultures. My future students are going to be able to connect lessons and activities to their culture. They are going to be able to relate to the curriculum that is taught in my classroom. They should grow in my classroom and show improvement. My future students are going to engage in rich conversations about difficult topics. In the article, Arresting Development, it discusses how the teacher used the situation of a student that was removed and sent to juvenile, then later returned, as a teachable moment. They discussed ways this student could have handled the situation in a better way and how they would make him feel welcome coming back into the classroom. My students will discuss real life topics and problems that occur every day. I believe that all of my future students will be treated with equality and equity, find their identities, express their thoughts and ideas, and relate to what is being taught in my classroom.

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I believe the purpose of schooling is to find your strengths and interests. The purpose of school is to learn academics but it also plays a huge part in your social life and how you interact with people. The purpose of learning academics in school should be by doing so in a hands on and collaborative way. The purpose of schooling should be to learn in the way you best comprehend information. I believe the purpose of schooling should be to focus on your strengths. If you focus on your strengths you can use those strengths to help you focus on areas you need to improve in. Schooling helps you form opinions of your own and grow as an individual. I believe the purpose of schooling is to include all individuals. Teachers get caught up when students are misbehaving and they make irrational decisions without thinking them through. One example of this is from the article Schools and the New Jim Crow when it talked about the strategy of sending students into the hall when they are disrupting class. Schooling should not be about removing students from class for misbehaving. Schooling is also about creating a safe environment. It is important your students feel comfortable sharing their ideas and thoughts. The purpose of school is to build relationships and exceed your strengths as an individual.

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I believe that teaching is about inclusion. It is important to include all of your student no matter there gender or culture. In American Education, it talks about dominant cultures and the gender of students. On page, 196, it talks about the responses between boys and girls when they were asked how they would feel if they changed to a boy or girl. I believe as a teacher we should help our students feel comfortable in their own skin and not have to think "Hmm, would life be easier if I was a boy/girl?". I believe teaching is about making all of your students feel welcome in your classroom and comfortable to share their ideas and thoughts. Including cultures into your classroom does not mean to focus on one or two "dominant" cultures. It means to focus on everyone. I believe teaching is about building relationships with your students. It is important to get to know your students so they know you are trustworthy and there for them. I believe teaching goes way beyond teaching curriculum and standards. Teaching is about your students. It is about the classroom environment you provide for them. It is about how you relay information to them, and it is about how you reach your students on a personal and academic level. I believe teaching is a never ending process. I believe teaching is about motivating your students, building on their knowledge, and focusing on their strengths rather than their deficits.

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I believe that learning is a life long process. I believe that no one knows everything, and everyone can learn from someone. We are constantly learning new things every day. Teachers are learners just like their students. I believe that learning is affected by many factors. In our American Education book, on page 44, it talked about the No Child Left Behind Act and how we are not allowed to talk/teach about birth control or homosexuality. This is one factor, out of the many, that can affect children's learning. This Act is only taking the side of one group of people and their beliefs. This is not fitting to a diverse group of students with diverse beliefs. The American Education book also brings up high stakes testing. I believe this has a HUGE impact on the learning of children. The book  states, "A "high-stakes test" refers to an achievement examination that determines a person's future academic career and job opportunities" (p. 75). A test should NOT determine someone's future. A lot of people have test anxiety and tense up and feel pressured, which then takes away their focus and makes them perform poorly.  Many people are not good at writing, but they can verbally speak their thoughts and ideas. People learn in all different kinds of ways; some learn visually, hands-on, listening, by art, reading, etc. I believe learning can be achieved in many different styles and we should not make students learn in one particular way. There is no "right" way for everyone to learn. I believe learning is never ending.

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I believe my responsibilities as a teacher are to be culturally relevant, create a safe environment, build relationships, and give my students the opportunity to achieve academic success. Chapter four of American Education says, "Transmitting culture, including history, literature, ad the arts, could be another goal of public schooling" (p. 118). Being a culturally relevant teacher is something I learned a lot about last semester. Cultural relevance has shaped how I view education. It is my responsibility as a teacher to know and better understand my students culture. It is important to include my students culture into my classroom, and into the curriculum. Secondly, it is my responsibility to create a safe environment for my students. It is important to me that my students' feel comfortable to share their thoughts, their ideas, and feelings in my classroom. Thirdly, it is important that I build relationships with my students. I think it is vital to get to know your students on a personal level. This way you can make connections with them and they will build your trust. Lastly, it is my responsibility to give my students the opportunity for academic success. It is vital that I set high expectations and goals for my students. It is my responsibility to convey all of my lessons and activities in a way that my students will understand and be willing to participate.  In order to provide my students with academic success, I will give them work that they can complete with materials that they have, I will motivate them, I will encourage them, and I will provides them with the knowledge and skills that they need.