https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl Padlet Assignment en-us 2021-11-02 23:30:41 UTC 2021-12-10 21:23:25 UTC hello@padlet.com beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863025910 To be completely honest, I do not remember much from my middle school language arts curriculum. I do remember reading The Outsiders and watching the movie, but I do not remember any assignments for it. I also remember reading a book about a boy in seventh grade during the Vietnam War I believe, and I enjoyed it. However I do not remember any life changing lessons that really stuck with me. Book reports were common, but that always felt like a lot of summarizing. In my mind, there was not a lot of ground breaking development made in the classroom, and a lot of my time was spent reading outside of class for my own enjoyment. ]]> 2021-11-02 23:42:22 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863025910 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863073893 My senior year of high school, I took AP English. Because of this, I spent a lot of my time reading very short excerpts and writing essays a lot. My writing improved a ton, which was very beneficial to my education, and I appreciated it a lot. I was much more engaged than I had been for the previous few years, and because our readings were so short and actually enjoyable, I did them. I was able to actually delve deep into their meanings, and was given a safe place to discuss them and how I felt about them. I was in a class with a female teacher for the first time, with eleven girls and no boys, so it really was a place I could talk about the struggles women had to go through and be able to accurately represent them in my writing. My teacher made sure to engage us, and ask us about our opinions and perspectives so that we all felt heard and respected, which is something I had not really ever experienced before. This year was a turning point in my education, and I was grateful to have this experience before college. ]]> 2021-11-03 00:16:39 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863073893 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863135457 I believe that I got very lucky in terms of a diverse classroom for my first field placement. I also got lucky in the aspect that they were very open with me as well. I had students tell me their sexualities, without me prying of course, as well as students wearing clothes with pride flags on them openly. It was very enlightening for me to see because I went to Catholic schools from kindergarten to senior year of high school, and I had friends who told me about their sexualities but did not want to come out until they graduated because of the environment we were in. Seeing this difference and the level of acceptance from the other students was a new world to me. Also, the diversity of race was very different than what I was used to. My school was predominantly white, and most of my peers identified as conservatives who regularly made racist jokes that I had to combat. Seeing students of different races be friends with no discrimination was such a welcome change, and I wish I grew up in an environment like that. Class systems were not even a thing at my field school, and I never experienced any conversation surrounding that area. I believe that the educators at this school were very open to this diversity, and incorporated it into their literacies. They included different historical figures of varying cultures to teach lessons on, so all of the students had figures they could connect to. This is so important for a child to see as they are growing up so that they believe that they can be successful too, no matter the color of their skin. My host teacher taught science, and shared scientists of all different backgrounds and their accomplishments with the students depending on the content they were learning. ]]> 2021-11-03 00:47:01 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863135457 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863135674 In my freshman year of high school, I remember being very engaged and ready to learn. I participated a lot in class, and tried my hardest to read the assigned books. However, this is when I started using Sparknotes and using that to really be able to perform on tests and have the correct answers. A lot of class time was spent listening to my teacher read, silent reading, and talking about what happened in the previously assigned chapters. I recall reading The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, and To Kill A Mocking Bird, but I did not actually fully read any of them. I managed to collect the important details needed to perform well, but by my sophomore year I was totally disengaged and did not participate in class much, if at all. The teaching method was the exact same, as I had the same teacher both years. There was no social justice or CRT involved in my curriculum, and the deepest thinking I really ever had to do was with the green light in The Great Gatsby. It did not take long until I was uninterested in the lessons being taught to be, because there was nothing that actually intrigued me; everything felt very surface level.]]> 2021-11-03 00:47:08 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863135674 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863135743 This year of high school was definitely the worst for my language arts curriculum. My teacher was not a great man, and spent a lot of time targeting students and going after them for things they cannot help. At times, he would basically call me a narcissist and that there isn't much to me, and I spent a lot of time being upset in the class. This even further pushed me away from language arts and I only performed the bare minimum in his class to make sure that I did not have to participate. This teacher discouraged me from anything happening in this class, and I cannot really recollect anything we did except read the Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare, 1984, and Edgar Allen Poe. I remember being tested on details of Shakespeare's life, but that is about it. I gained little from this year, and it is difficult for me to think and talk about it because of the way my teacher acted towards me. Nothing motivated me to engage or think deeply, and everything felt very surface level. ]]> 2021-11-03 00:47:10 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863135743 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863238236 I feel that my story is similar to many students' experiences. I learned to talk very quickly, logged into computers and picked TV shows to watch by the time I was two, and could read at a very early age. I was creative and smart. Because of this, I was considered "gifted." This led me to obtain a perfectionist complex, and anything below an A was unacceptable. I was in all of the accelerated classes, performed high above average on standardized testing, and never studied for anything. I won school spelling bees, went to states for Power of the Pen, and played sports year round. I loved reading, and would go through a book a day, all the way until high school. Throughout high school, I played all varsity sports, maintained a 4.5 GPA, and did tons of extracurriculars. However, I began to feel the burnout very quickly. I did not find joy in reading anymore, I was tired all the time, and was losing weight very quickly. Nothing felt meaningful, and though I cared less and less everyday, my perfectionist complex forced me to keep going. Everything surrounding school became overwhelming, and every purpose I had felt when I was younger now was pointless. School took a lot out of me and was wearing me down at an exponential rate. I was still performing well in my education and sports, but I dreaded every minute of everything. I believe this is something that is not addressed in education enough, and that students who feel this way do not receive the help they need. It is never good for a student to not care about what they are learning, and I think all measures should be taken to prevent this from happening to more students so that they actually learn and develop instead of just doing what they need to to get by. 

I chose a personal narrative because I feel as though written words are my easiest form of communication. I have never been good with speaking, but writing has always come easy to me. I love keeping a journal to write down my thoughts and feelings, and I wanted this narrative to feel similar to that; nothing too formal, more like an insight into my life. ]]> 2021-11-03 01:32:43 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863238236 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863481934 2021-11-03 03:17:08 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1863481934 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1924391435 Students' identities and them developing them through a culturally relevant lens has always been one of my main priorities when it comes to my future career. Using the pedagogical culturally response lens, I will be able to create an environment where all of my students can thrive, and include all of their diversities and cultural backgrounds. This includes making a safe and welcoming classroom, surrounded by multiple means of support; my knowledge of how to create such an environment has greatly expanded in these last few months. Two of the most influential pieces of literature that I have read this semester are España & Herrera (2020) and Muhammad (2020). España & Herrera (2020) really introduced how to actually create lessons surrounding the histories of different cultures to create a better community and be supportive of all students. All students should be able to connect to different teachings in the classroom, instead of feeling left out, ignored, or invisible. I have to be able to give my students a sense of agency in their education, so that they know that they are valued and are fully capable of directing their education in whatever ways they want; I want to be a guide for my students on the long journey of their education. The resources I have selected will be own sort of guide, giving me the best opportunity to bring out the best in my students.]]> 2021-12-02 05:00:47 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1924391435 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1924398483 This article gives me multiple examples of how to help my students who are struggling with themselves, their identity, and their education. Students need a positive mindset when it comes to their learning, or else everything they are experiencing in school everyday will seem like a passing blur. These methods will allow them to find joy in knowledge again while experiencing positive reinforcements to encourage them along the way.]]> 2021-12-02 05:07:57 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1924398483 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1924422336 This article helps me with creating ideas on how to outwardly support and encourage diversity in my classroom, and how I can teach my students about all different kinds of cultures. An essential part of a students identity is where they come from and how they celebrate such, and I believe that these 10 promotions are only just scratching the ice, but lay a wonderful foundation. I want my students to feel comfortable sharing all different aspects of their cultures, and know that they will be accepted and celebrated not only by them, but by all of us. ]]> 2021-12-02 05:32:20 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1924422336 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1925541584 This video focuses on successful ways that educators can support and affirm their students' identities, including students of minorities, students who have learning disabilities, students coming out of or are in poverty, and students in the LGBTQ community. The role of identity makes such an impact on students and their education, and whether or not they will believe in themselves and their potential.]]> 2021-12-02 16:16:06 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1925541584 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941090665 This Q&A helps current and future educators to challenge themselves when it comes to encouraging and supporting students to have pride in their disabilities. Students who have disabilities have no need to be ashamed of them, and can actually look at them as a positive identifier in their individualities. Being able to look at disabilities as something that makes students unique in an amazing way is the only way to have an effective inclusive classroom, and I believe this Q&A fully supports that ideology and helps us to further work on it ourselves.]]> 2021-12-10 20:55:48 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941090665 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941096137 This blog posts gives insight on to how we can create an environment that promotes students' learning identities and their own agencies. It tells us how to create a learner-centered classroom and how to successfully approach and implement this practice. Students' learning identities are an essential aspect of creating a prosperous classroom that encourages engagement and motivation towards the curriculum.]]> 2021-12-10 21:01:40 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941096137 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941099517 This website provides five individual lesson plan ideas to use in the classroom when encouraging students to look further into their own identity. It dives into the teacher's role in promoting student identity, and how educators should be leading students to grow into themselves, not forcing them into an idealized box in which they feel trapped and suffocated. ]]> 2021-12-10 21:05:11 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941099517 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941102234 This is a full lesson plan including vocabulary and activities for students to participate and engage in to help them delve into their identities and what characteristics make them who they really are. This lesson plan takes on more of a social justice standpoint, and encourages these students to accept and love themselves for where and who they came from.]]> 2021-12-10 21:08:19 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941102234 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941108421 This website gives twenty five different movie options that give teachers the opportunity to allow students to watch movies in the classroom that better depicts some areas of study that are just too difficult to understand with only text book assignments. The list includes movies that may change the way students see the world around them and help them to live their lives as better individuals. ]]> 2021-12-10 21:15:31 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941108421 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941111782 This website gives a list of songs that will help students to further value and understand their school and learning journeys, and to realize just how many people have popped up along to the way to encourage, value, and support them towards their full potential. Music can help students to feel emotions about school in a completely new and different way, while also being fun and enjoyable. ]]> 2021-12-10 21:19:24 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941111782 beldenbe https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941114973 Reading is the perfect way for students to see versions of themselves that they can relate to and connect with. “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange … Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection, we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often see their mirrors in books.”]]> 2021-12-10 21:23:01 UTC https://padlet.com/beldenbe/5ukif9770405cjwl/wish/1941114973