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The one quote that stood out to me most was "But in her school life, Zora is encourage to conform (Page 22)". This stood out to me as throughout history people of color are pressured to conform to the societal norms of white people. They are often told to mask who they are to fit in. Typically people see blackness as uneducated and troublesome so they often try to "act white" and hide their blackness to avoid persecutions.

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"I can't help but see that hers is the only brown face in a sea of white." This caught my attention because I think that even though this sentence is short, it already tells so much about Zora's class. I also chose this quote because thinking back to my elementary school, I could relate a lot to this and this quote reminds me of how this made me feel at the time and the experiences I went through.

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"Zora calls out "Comfort somebody." Mrs. Beverly ignores the contribution with a look in Zora's direction that signals that she should have raised her hand." (pg. 12)

This stood out for to me because it shows Zora's good heart and how it was stifled by the teacher's attitude.

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One quote that stuck out to me was "The home is wonderfully chaotic: busy, active, hectic, lived-in, alive. It is the very opposite of mundane. These are not people trying to fit in. But in her school life, Zora is encouraged to conform."
This is such an essential quote because school can be difficult for some students to "conform" to. When students home lives are so different, where the culture is different, school can be a new world. In this quote it talks about how her home was busy and lived-in and active, most students homes are like that, however if they come from a home where the language, food, atmosphere, forms of communication, and decorations are different, helping the children adjust is such and essential detail.

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"The home is wonderfully chaotic: busy, active, hectic, lived-in, alive. It is the very opposite of mundane. These are not people trying to fit in. But in her school life, Zora is encouraged to conform."

This resonated with me because my home life growing up was also chaotic and it didn’t have a schedule in the slightest. As soon as I moved into kindergarten everything changed in my life.

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"Zora, you're the only person who's body is not facing the direction I want it in.", "Zora, I am waiting for eye contact right now". These quotes really stood out to me because they are phrases that I have heard so many times over in classrooms. So many times teachers try to govern the childs-body in a way that they believe to be the best for the child.

It is is so important to trust and listen to children and their needs. So often adults think they need to control children's' emotions and behavior which may lead to children not trusting themselves in the future and not being able to be independent.

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"She's eager on this point. "Comfort someone if they're alone. Maybe not if they're very upset. We should let them calm down a little first. But then comfort them." It doesn't surprise me that this rule feels important to her. Zora lives a lonely life on the margins of her school community." (pg, 13).
I picked this quote because it showed what she wants from her teacher. She's giving the teacher an idea of what she needs and is being ignored. I also don't like how Zora feels lonely at school because that's not how school should be. It is like that for her because she's very excluded. Things would be better for her if the teacher tried to help her and tried to understand her.

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On page 39, it says "Can Zora Love herself through this gaze? Whether she is controlled socially through constant redirection or internally through medication, or both, the insistence on making Zora more compliant-more like others-was required for her success."

This paragraph of the book acknowledges the fact that all of the scolding, the (unintentional) isolation, and the lack of (positive) socialization can potentially scar Zora in the long run. As a minority, attending a majority white school/institution can greatly effect the perspective that they have of themselves. Feeling like an outsider, constantly, can wear and tear an individuals personality and self perception, because this can cause for them to act in ways they normally wouldn't... just to "fit in". Just to be apart of the average crowd. In Zora's case, you see her become the class clown just to be noticed and heard. Which is unfortunate, because she's learned and accepted that "hey any attention is better than none", so she'd rather misbehave just because of this.

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"But in her school life, Zora is encouraged to conform" pg. 22
This stood out to me because even though its short, it speaks huge volumes. Children are often forced to conform and turn down their own personality to make sure the school day is easier for the teacher when in reality us as teachers have to take our students and allow them to be them while still resecting us and their fellow classmates. I think if we make students conform that wont like school but begin to hate it because they cant be themselves.

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"Most of the children select a favorite animal and glue it in the center. Some overachievers make sensible additions of other animal friends that might be found with this central favorite. Zora, scanning both sides of each provided cutout, manages to locate a non-animal option: a large bust of some historical male royalty in costume."

This stuck out to me because Zora has a huge imagination and decided to choose a different topic than her peers. Instead of seeing the importance of her actions and seeing she is not being a follower but instead choosing to go her own path the teachers felt she was only doing this for attention and to have to walk around.

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"..." Zora, can you stand up please so I can see your face?", "Zora, are those Legos cleaned up?", "Zora, you're starting to talk again.", "Zora this is the third time I've had to ask you to come here.", "Zora, I'd hate to take your recess on the first day of school."..." (pg. 12)
The paragraph that caught my attention would be where the teacher kept on calling on Zora on page 12. This section stood out to me the most because I work at a school, and even though I don't spend a lot of my time in the classroom, I see this type of behavior from teachers. Calling one of the students out in front of the whole class. It made me wonder if they realize at the moment what they are doing and if they know that they are doing it?

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"By the end of the day, I am tired. Mrs. Beverly is tired. Zora is tired." (p. 12)
This quote follows examples of how many times Zora was called on during the class. On this whole page, growth from Zora is acknowledged, yet she's still called on and she's still excluded from certain activities for acting out. I feel like at this point in time it's important that a teacher would try a different approach. Change something to shift the environment and in turn help Zora.

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The one quote that caught my attention would have to be "Zora picks up a picture of a seagull. She utters a series of very realistic-sounding seagull squawks while launching the photo into the air as though the bird has taken flight". I like this quote because not only does it show some of Zora's personality of how she may act around children. Seems like she is fun to be around and someone who does not mind going out of their way to make animal noises.

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Page 33 "As hard as I am on Zora, everyone knows that I like her. It's clear. It's even clear to her, and I think I'm harder on her than anyone."

I think it's bold for Mrs. Beverly to claim Zora, and everyone else, knows she likes her. I think actions speak louder than words. While a teacher can tell a student how valued and liked they are, I would question the authenticity of those statements if I was treated the way teachers and other students treat Zora. There may be many undocumented moments in which Zora and her teacher get along very well, but based on the information given in this book, I do not believe Zora feels liked by her teacher. If a teacher is going to claim to like a student, that teacher needs to show this through their actions.

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"But she seems completely unaffected by getting in trouble, as though the opportunity to interact in a positive way with the other children was well worth the gamble of a negative consequence." (pg 15)
This stuck out to me because Zora so badly wants to connect with children her age, she doesn't care about getting in trouble. I think the teacher is missing this, and instead is looking at Zora at a troublemaker and like she's acting out for no reason. I also think that because her teacher didn't demonstrate much respect for Zora, Zora doesn't care so much about her opinion

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"Considering how much attention she was paid during kindergarten and first grade, so much of it negative..." (page 10)
I picked this quote because a lot of the time we don't notice how closely the children are affected by the treatment they receive within their classroom. Children build their ideas, views and attitudes towards school from the way they are treated and especially having a negative impact on their first years of school can have a long term affect on how they view school and education.

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When the author references Zora's parents they say that "rather than conform, these two leverage the act of being out-standing as a response to hostility, fully embracing a life and an identity at the margins" (pg. 23). Zora must find it difficult to adjust to these two completely different and clashing lifestyles.

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"The home is wonderfully chaotic: busy, active, hectic, lived-in, alive. It is the very opposite of mundane. These are not people trying to fit in. But in her school life, Zora is encouraged to conform."
This quote stood out to me because it truly describes the different norms that Zora has at home and at school. She is told one thing at home, but gets told to follow different rules at school.

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There are so many parts that caught my attention! Zora just wants to participate and be heard. When the class is making their class rules Zora calls out "comfort somebody." Since she didn't raise her hand Ms. Beverly gives her a look and ignores her contribution. Zora calls out again expanding on the idea that classmates should be comforted but it is again ignored. It makes me sad to think the teacher could not have at least acknowledged her idea.

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"To enter Zora's room is to feel as if you are entering the scene of a beautifully chaotic fairytale." pg. 21
I chose this quote because I think it is interesting how her room can be a reflection of her. They talk about all of the different parts of Zora's room and how its colorful and there's a lot to it. I feel like you can say the same about Zora. She is unique and there is a lot to her which is what makes uniqueness amazing.

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At home she is encouraged to be outstanding-- at school she is encouraged to avoid drawing attention to herself. Difference is deviance and deviance is punishable. (Page 26-27)
Zora must find it hard to really be who she is when she is told to change herself so attention is away from her, and must find it difficult to figure out who she is when being true to herself can be punishable.

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"Mrs. Beverly ignores the contribution, with a look in Zora's direction that signals she should have raised her hand." One of my favorite things when designing classroom rules is for it to be student-led. They give us rules they think are important. When I did this over the summer for a camp I was leading, I also had a kid who shouted out an answer. I still listened and wrote their answer, but then talked about how next time we should try to raise our hand and wait because all of our friends have good ideas too, and they were waiting to say them. We can turn those moments into teaching moments, while validating the students. Rather than ignoring them and invalidating their thoughts. I think this is important

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“They (the students of the 1st and 2nd grade class) often sit for more than an hour straight, pretzel-style on the rug, with very clear, even rigid, expectations for their behavior. Sit up straight. Don’t fuss with things in your hands. Fold your legs in. Don’t dare interrupt.”  (p. 6)

I can’t imagine sitting for that long, and I think it is very unreasonable to expect this of young children in a classroom. I think the children would learn more and be more eager to participate with more movement allowed. I also think the public reprimands are belittling and discouraging.

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“If they are gonna look, I ’ll give them something to look at”
“I turn it up”
Zora’s mom said this and I feel like I had a similar mind set growing up. I wish students were given this confidence in being strong in who they are. I hope to encourage my students to be happy with who they are and what makes them different from everyone else.