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week 1, #1
is an ongoing experience that never stops.  Learning styles and needs differ from student to student and those needs should be attended to. In the book, American Education it says that, "...every child, no matter who they are, how much their families earn, or where they live, should have access to high-quality education, from preschool throughout high school and beyond" (Spring 2018 p. 88). This quote resonated with me because even though it is seen so much in today's society that this is not happening, I feel that this needs to be the case with learning. I believe that ALL students can learn. Our students deserve to learn no matter their background I believe that learning is not only for my students, but for me as well. I will learn just as much from my students as they will learn from me. I also believe learning goes beyond the curriculum, and goes on to teach students about everyday life skills.

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week 1, #1
-I believe that learning…happens every single day. I believe that learning may be different for each student.
-I believe that teaching…goes beyond the job description. I feel that teaching is a passion to not only better your students' education, but also really caring for your students.
-I believe the purpose of schooling is…for children to get an education and prepare them to make life decisions later on in life.
-I believe all my future students are…successful. I truly feel that all of my future students are already successful and have the power to do great things.
-I believe students learn best when they…feel most comfortable. I believe that students do have their own ways of learning and they need that to be implemented to do their best work.
-I believe my students will learn best when I…incorporate their learning styles and their home lives. Being comfortable and being able to personally connect to the material, my students will learn best.
-I believe community/family is…extremely important and should be incorporated in my classroom.
-I believe collaboration is…an amazing tool to help students see and share multiple ideas, strategies, viewpoints, etc.
-I believe being a teacher-activist is…making sure that I am keeping myself up to date with information and that I am doing my part to ensure a meaningful education for my students.

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week 2, #2
goes further than what most people think of when they think of the profession. Teaching should be a passion to work with children to help them to become the best versions of themselves. I believe that teaching is not just the curriculum, it is teaching them how to become who they are supposed to be. We see the children more than their parents do in a day's time, therefore we end up teaching them so much more than the state standards. I also believe that teaching should draw upon what the students already know so that they can make connections that lead to understanding. In the book, American Education by Joel Spring, it discusses that they identified students who were speaking "black English" and another language at home, as using home or community language. It also stated that teachers were instructed to use this knowledge to help the students to learn English (Spring 2018 p. 172). This stood out to me because throughout our classes we have discussed home language and using prior knowledge to understand. I do not see the need to punish students for using their home language, but rather use it as a tool to develop their English skills. It is no different than using students' prior year of mathematics or scienceknowledge to help them understand what they are learning now.

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I believe that my responsibilities as a teacher are...

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I believe that my responsibilities as a teacher are...

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week 5, #3
to guide my students to get the most out of their education. I believe that it is my responsibility to create a community in my classroom that makes my students feel comfortable and safe and respected at school. I believe that I need to get to know that so that I am able to make sure my students are well represented in the material they are learning and their different learning styles are welcome. In the article, A Talk to Teachers, the author states that if he were a teacher he would teach his students that they are not what the world outside of the school walls tells them they are. They are whoever they want to be (Baldwin 1998 p. 685) . I connected with this because I believe it is my responsibility to make sure my students know that all that matters is who they believe they are, not what the world around them tells them they are.

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I believe the purpose of schooling is...

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I believe the purpose of schooling is...

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week 6, #4
to give students an education that helps them navigate their lives in the future. It is believed that it is to prepare students for the next step. For example, first grade prepares you for second, elementary school prepares you for middle school, then on to high school, and then for college or to start working in the real-world. I believe the purpose of schooling is to prepare students academically and socially for their future. It is more than the academics, students are also taught behavioral topics and values from their teachers and peers. I also believe that the purpose of school is to expose students to cultures that differ from theirs. This knowledge, along with the academic knowledge, is what students take with them in the real-world. In the book American Education, by Joel Spring, cultural differences are discussed. A quote that stuck out to me was, "...differences in cultural frames of reference can result in differences in action in particular situations" (Spring 2018 p. 188). This quote represents why other cultures should be included in the purpose of schooling because our students will eventually encounter someone from another culture in their life and they most likely will show their ignorance in a situation because they do not know about the person's culture. Students should be prepared to be able to critically think not to jump to conclusions in a situation because the person from a different culture may not see the situation the same way. Schooling is to prepare you for the real-world, and culture is a huge part of the real-world.

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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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week 7, #5
capable of whatever they put their minds to. I believe that my future students all have the ability to learn and understand. All of my future students are carrying the power to succeed. I believe that all of my future students are important. My future students are apart of a classroom community that they are included and represented in all aspects.  I believe that my future students are great thinkers, readers, mathematicians, writers, scientists, etc. I believe my future students are the bright future.

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I believe my students will learn best when...

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I believe my students will learn best when...

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week 8 #6
when they are comfortable and have an interest. I believe that students need to feel comfortable in a space for them to be able to do anything, especially learn. I also feel they learn best when they are interested in the content. When they are interested, it is usually because they are seeing themselves reflected in what they're working with. Making a personal connection with the content is a huge factor in facilitating learning in your classroom. I believe that feeling part of the community is also a big factor. I believe that when students feel like they are part of a whole and they matter, they feel more encouraged and less scared to participate in the learning process. I also believe that students learn best when they feel they have a connection with me and can see that I care about them through knowing them. In the article, Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, it talks about the importance of knowing your students and their backgrounds. When you get to know your students, you can use that information to gain insight to their learning styles, ways to adapt things, and ways to make them feel represented in the classroom.

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I believe my students will learn best when...

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I believe my students will learn best when...

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week 10 #7
they are engaged. If students are not engaged and interested in the work, they are not going to be motivated, and if they are not motivated, they aren't going to learn. To engage my students and get them to learn best, I need to be sure that I am representing their cultures, interests, relevant topics, etc. I also believe that my students will learn best when they feel they are understood. In the reading from, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood, it discussed an example of where they showed pictures of a student and the teachers said they look uninterested/defiant, but in reality the student was feeling defeated because they were excited to answer questions, but was constantly looked over or told to calm himself. I never want to discourage my students from being excited to learn. I feel that if in that example, a relationship would have been established, it would have went a totally different way. Students want to be understood and feel that you care about them. So much goes into how my students will learn best, and I am going to try my best to make that happen.

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week 12 #8
going to be an integral part of my classroom. We have consistently talked about building relationships and communities within our classrooms and I plan to have that be implemented in my classroom. Community/family of the classroom allows for students to feel comfortable and safe every time they come into the space. It allows for more friendship, creativity, collaboration, and so much more. Community/Family outside of the classroom is also very important to me. Being involved in the community and having relationships with my students families will help me to get to know where my students hang out, their interests, their culture, they way they learn best, how to handle certain situations, etc. Getting to know my school community and families is going to make my teaching so much better. Building relationships builds respect, and both are needed among teachers, students, and their families for things to work. In the book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y'all too by Christopher Emdin, he talks about an incident where he had three students in his class that were all completely different from each other and that it would be hard to find a way of teaching to empower all of them, seeming as they were all so different. He goes on to talk about that he witnessed the same three students engaged and having fun in a rap cypher. He found that he actually could connect all of the students by using this in his classroom. I think that if he would have had a better classroom community, he might have seen this before and been able to see that his totally different students had a commonality he could use. Having a community in your classroom, or visiting the school community could lead you as a teacher to so many new discoveries about your students that can really help to make learning that much better.

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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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standing up for the students in my school. Not only the students in my classroom, but each and every student in the school itself if I can. Making sure that I am incorporating their home lives, interests, relevant issues, etc. into my classroom is one of the biggest ways I can be an activist for my students. Asking for their input, getting to know their cultural backgrounds are also big ways to be an activist because not only can they be implemented in my classroom, but I can help other teachers that may not have had classes like this to help them engage their students and handling situations better. Ensuring that my students are receiving a meaningful education, means representing them in every aspect of my class and teaching to each of my students. In the reading from, For White Folks that Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y'all Too, the author states, "Perhaps the most important lesson they learned was that urban education requ8ires a different approach from that taken in traditional classrooms" (2016 P. 58). This connected to this padlet for me because this is something that being a teacher in urban education is very important and needs to be in top priority if we are going to be activists for our students.

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one of the greatest tools that can be implemented into my classroom. Collaboration allows for my students to be able to share their viewpoints, thoughts, questions, knowledge, etc. with their peers. This leads right into meaningful discussions and conversations within the classroom that really help students grasp and understand the material. We learn through socializing and doing. If our students aren't talking, they aren't learning as much as they could. In the reading from, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood...and the Rest of Y'all Too, they discussed cogens. Cogens were compared to hip-hop cyphers where one person started a rap off with a few lines and then others would join in bouncing off of the previous line. This sparked my connection to collaboration because just like in the cogen where the participants bounce ideas for the next rap off of each other, the students bounce ideas off of each other during collaboration. Using this tool helps students connect with and understand each other.