One historical example of genius and joy that is expressed by the LGBTQ+ community is drag culture and drag queens. During the 19th century, drag began to emerge as a form of art and performance, playing with societal norms of gender roles. In the early 20th century, drag became popular amongst the LGBTQ+ community; it was used as a form of self expression and to form community. Throughout the 60's and 70's, drag became a symbol of LGBTQ+ culture, especially for Black and Latinx communities. Drag is an example of genius and joy because it unites the LGBTQ+ community through dance, music, and extravagant outfits and performances. Drag today, is a symbol for culture within the LGBTQ+ community, bringing joy to all who watch it.

2. What advice does Muhammad give about adding on to incomplete standards, in order to meet culturally and historically responsive education (CHRE) goals?

In order to meet culturally and historically responsive education goals, Muhammad advises teachers to "reframe" standards so that students can connect them to their lives and the real world. To do this, Muhammad suggests revising state standards that promote identity, criticality and joy. Along with that, adopting culturally and historically responsive learning standards and reflect the truth, and not a sugar-coated version of it that only represents the white male. On top of all of this, adopting culturally and historically responsive standards for teachers, instructional support staff, leaders, and board members, and holding them to these standards.

Something that resonated with me regarding addressing political backlash and resistance is that many parents and educators are resistant to CHRE because they don't think that it works. I have seen this first hand in the classrooms that I have observed throughout my time at UD. Teachers find that teaching strategies such as the HILL model, do not prepare students for state wide exams. With this, going back to my days as a high school student preparing for the SAT, I don't remember seeing any culturally or historically responsive readings in my SAT classes. Simply incorporating readings that represent a variety of students into test prep, is an example of CHRE, which also helps students to prepare for state exams. Teaching CHRE also promotes critical thinking, which is an extremely important skill for students taking state wide exams like SATs to have. Teachers tend to think that CHRE will take away from traditional teaching and learning methods in schools. This is not true, for CHRE is only adding to a curriculum, not taking anything good away from it.

2. Read over the questions on pages 101-104; then read the questions for Communities Project part 1 and begin taking notes/thinking about them. (Nothing to turn in for this part—just to get you started!)

   
   

3. What else from chapter 3 stood out to you?

One thing from this chapter that really stood out to me was what I think of when I hear the words 'genius' and 'joy.' Muhammad explains that when most people hear the word genius, they think of white men such as Albert Einstein. I resonated with this because in the media and at schools, you rarely see woman, people of color, queer people, etc..., represented as genius. This is harmful to those specific groups because how are they to see themselves in what the school considers a role model? This goes along with Tatum's point that, "Black children may begin to value the role models, lifestyles, and images of beauty represented by the dominant group more highly than those of their own cultural group" (p. 96).

I remember a specific example of a time when I experienced joy in school as a third grade student. I was in an enrichment program where a small group of students from my third grade class practiced reading and writing skills. Our enrichment teacher asked us what we would enjoy doing in her class that has to do with reading and/or writing. As someone who was always interested and involved in theater and the performing arts, I said that I would love to write a play. In that class, my teacher allowed me to write a script for a play about recycling. While practicing my writing skills, I also got to research recycling a little bit! What brought me the most joy in all of this was at the end of the year, I got to cast the play and perform it for parents and students at my school! This experience shaped who I am today, and is definitely one of the experiences that inspired me to take up a theater minor in college.

2. On pages 77-78, Muhammad explains why her work focuses on Black students. What are the reasons? How does the CHRE framework apply to all students?

I think that the main reason why Muhammad's work focuses on black students, is because the Black community has accomplished and overcame so much, making them a really a good example to learn from. Muhammad says that Black people have found joy amid the highest oppression, and I think that she is excited to share their accomplishments with the world and use them as an example. She also mentions that Black-centered schools and other organized spaces thrive in teaching leadership. Another reason is that Black history is unique across the world and it is different in the US than it is in other countries; black history is known all around. The CHRE framework does not only apply to Black students, but applies to all students. Muhammad says that you have to start with one group in order to transform a system for everyone. With the CHRE framework and the five pursuits, we are able to connect to students on personal levels with their unique identities, qualities, and needs.

The key theorist of culturally relevant pedagogy is Ladson-Bilings, the key theorist of culturally responsive pedagogy is Gay, and the key theorist of culturally sustaining pedagogy is Paris. With culturally relevant pedagogy, teachers become involved and learn about their students' cultures, families, and communities, through direct efforts to connect with students' communities. Similarly to culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy responds to the cultures and identities of the students in the classroom. However, different from culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy is focused on making sure the classroom is adapted to students' values, traditions, language, communication styles, and relationships. It is more individualized rather than culture and family centered. Culturally responsive teaching also deals with social controversies, making it unique to other pedagogies. Like the first two pedagogies, culturally sustaining pedagogy aims to help students "develop a deep knowledge and appreciation of their own literature, languages, and cultures." (61) Uniquely, a main goal of culturally sustaining pedagogy is to empower students that come from historically and socially marginalized groups and teach them how to embrace academic achievement as a form of resistance.

2. What two "primary concerns" does culturally and socially responsible assessment address? What might culturally and socially responsible assessment look like in your classroom?

Two primary concerns that culturally and socially responsible assessment addresses are fairness and representation. In my classroom, culturally and socially responsible assessment will look like me, as a teacher, making sure all students have the background knowledge and information needed to succeed on tests. Tests will not be indicators of which students are higher level and which are lower, but indicators of what I need to teach or reteach to my students. In my class, students will have options for writing prompts, giving them variety and choices to choose what they think they would succeed on. Furthermore, test questions and prompts will be a reflection on students cultures and backgrounds, and the literature in which they will be tested on will also reflect their cultures and backgrounds.

Something, that I personally think is important, that I learned from this reading, is that having a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing classroom does NOT have to be expensive. At first glance of Rebecca's classroom, I thought to myself, "Wow, this women must have a lot of money or her own budget from the school." But really, she is spending her own money, and not a lot of it. Rebecca writes, "Mostly I find these things at garage sales… I DO work at a school with a basement full of furniture odds and ends that no one wants; if I ask for a piece down there, I get to use it until someone else wants or needs it for something (that is where the cool street lamp comes from: an old prop for some play or dance some years ago)." I think it is really cool that most of the furniture in Rebecca's classroom is used and she got it for cheap, and I now have a good idea of where to obtain cool furniture like Rebecca. I also thought it was really interesting that Rebecca allows her students to sit anywhere they want in the classroom. I feel like taking the traditional classroom setup out of the classroom is a good way to relieve students' anxieties about school, making them feel comfortable in the place that they go to every single day.

From this reading, one really important idea that I learned about the classroom environment and its relation to the classroom community, is that the way that you design your classroom, has a bigger impact on students than you think it does. One of the teachers, Jasmine, had a poetry wall in her classroom, where she posted her's and her students' poetry. "The messages of the poetry wall in her room, particularly of her own poetry, seemed to be designed to endure long after her poetry lessons and poetry slam concluded, reminding her students that 'they'll be okay'" (42) It is important to be vulnerable with your students when designing your classroom. While sampling students work is good, sample your own as well, to show students that you are human just like them and that you understand what they are going through. Another teacher, Heather, has a wall of postcards in her classroom, not to brag about the vacations that she's been on, but to show her students that the world is bigger than what they have experienced. From this, I learned that every little thing that you do in your classroom, is going to impact students in some way or another, so you want to try and make that impact meaningful.

Teachers can work towards building relationships with their students by getting to know their students and their students' cultures. Teachers can build relationships among students by taking students' culture into account during class time and incorporating students' culture into lesson plans. When students are able to connect with each other, they become more comfortable with their peers. Both types of relationships are important when creating a positive classroom environment with strong classroom management because when teachers invest time and energy into classroom community, students learn to respect their peers and teachers.

2.  Why might culturally responsive classroom management better meet students' needs, especially those often underserved in schools? Be specific. 

Culturally responsive classroom management might better meet students' needs, especially students who are underserved in schools, because your everyday classroom management techniques are designed by White-American middle-class teachers for White-American middle-class students. Culturally responsive classroom management also focuses on students' educational wellbeing. Where traditionally, misbehaved students may be sent out of the classroom, with culturally responsive classroom management, teachers don't send students out of the classroom because it would be taking them away from a learning opportunity. Culturally responsive classroom management also allows for students to be understood by teachers and other students, where in a traditional disciplinary classroom, you may not see this. Students' cultures, identities, and families effect the people that students are, and it is important to get to know these parts of students before disciplining them.

3. What are some classroom management and/or community-building strategies you liked and feel you could use in your future classroom? Give 1-2 specific examples of how you will use those strategies to promote culturally responsive classroom management.

One community building strategy that I would really like to use in my own classroom is a student led community meeting. I think that having students interact in a non-educational way, is a good way for students to become more comfortable with each other. I would like to have students come up with a set of classroom agreements, and then discuss the progress of them, once weekly. I think giving students an opportunity to share personal news is also a good way to build connections among students. Having these meetings promotes culturally responsive classroom management because students are able to build a community among each other, making them feel more safe and accepted in the classroom. Another classroom management strategy that I would implement into my own classroom is to help students recognize the power of education and learning beyond simply passing their classes. I think that in order to become motivated, students need to realize how important their education actually is. I can show students how important education is by implementing literature into the curriculum that is important to all students' cultures and identities.

One way that i can bring communities into the classroom is to have students' family members come into the class and speak about something that they do that also has to do with what we are learning. For example, when I was in 4th grade, my grandfather came into my classroom and talked to my class about what living in Brooklyn before and after WW2. One way that I can go into communities is to attend community events that are related to the school but also ones that aren't related to the school. An example would be going to a football game if you know a lot of your students are going or if you have a football player in your class. Another example could be going to the local fair if you know a lot of your students are going so that you can talk to them about it the next day and see what their communities have to offer.

2. What are some strategies from the TK and TLA readings that you think you might use in your classroom? Are there any that you think you might struggle with? What supports would ease your implementation of those practices?

One strategy from TK that I think that i would use in my classroom is to check up on students to see how they are feeling about what they are learning. If I notice that students are not engaged during my lesson and if they seem to be uninterested, I will ask them what they need to reengage in the lesson. I think that having this level of communication with students creates good community in the classroom and shows students that they have a say in what they are learning. There isn't any point in teaching a lesson that my students aren't engaged in. One strategy from TLA that I think I might struggle with is always giving students a "why." Telling students why they are reading/writing what they are assigned. One thing I've noticed working in Conrad is that the teachers really dislike the curriculum. Sometimes, teachers have to assign things that they don't believe in and don't want to assign, but they have to because it is part of the curriculum. I think that it would be hard to justify these assignments when you, as a teacher, can't see the purpose behind them. I think that to ease my implementation of that skill, I might want to talk to other English teachers in the building or even administrators to see what the positives of these assignments are. I also think that being honest with students is important and while you don't necessarily want to tell students that you think an activity is "stupid," transparency is important.

3. How does working with and in communities help create a culturally responsive classroom? How does that contribute to positive classroom management?

Working with an in communities helps create a culturally responsive classroom because when teachers get to know and understand their students' communities, they are able to make their lesson plans culturally relevant to what students are experiencing in their day to day lives. When students see themselves in the curriculum, and when they feel like a teacher actually wants to get to know them and cares about them, they will return that teacher and that class with the same level of respect. They will take the class more seriously and they will be able to see why the work in that class is important.

Pushout Culture (Bieler): The negative environment in schools that criminalizes students and pushes them out of schools in ways that are central to the school to prison pipeline. 

Cradle-to-Prison-Pipeline (Milner et. al): The idea that because of structural, systemic, institutional, and societal challenges, and other roadblocking factors that cause inequity, inequality, racism, and other various forms of discrimination, some children are pushed towards prison from the minute that they are born.

Restorative Justice (Winn, Graham, and Alfred): A practice that seeks to foster understanding and build community in the classroom. It helps to build and reinforce relationships between teachers and students while creating a space where everyone is able to be seen and heard.

2. What are two or three factors that contribute to pushout culture and the CTPP?

One factor that contributes to pushout culture is that schools in poorer communities of color are inequitably funded and severely under-resourced. Another factor that contributes to pushout culture is a "hidden curriculum" that runs throughout students experiences in schools, and reproduces a system of unequal social classes, favoring white, wealthy students. (Bieler, 8) Factors that contribute to the CTPP can be organized into outside of school factors and inside of school factors. One outside of school factor that contributes to CTPP is that students of color and students living below the poverty line face geographical inequities which limit parental job prospects and impacts their health and school performance. (Milner et. al, 37)

3. What are ways to combat pushout culture and the CTPP? Provide at least one example from each of the three readings (Bieler, Milner et. al, Winn, Graham, and Alfred).

One way to combat pushout culture is to "protect students from the threat of internalizing negative stereotypes by teaching racial literacy" (Bieler, 10) and being culturally responsive. One way that you can combat the CTPP is to train and prepare teachers in understanding behavioral differences in culturally responsive ways and to either limit school security measures or to train SRO's to be culturally responsible or retrain them to work in a school environment. (Milner et. al) Another way to combat pushout culture and the CTPP is to bring students identities into the curriculum using windows and mirrors. (Winn, Graham, and Alfred) Bringing in materials, such as novels, that reflects students identities and cultures, allows students to see themselves in the curriculum which allows them to develop a sense of their own importance and a sense that they are valued in the world.

4. Which of these (if any) approaches in #3 are you ready to start using in your own classroom—in student teaching and/or in your first year of teaching?

I am ready to use the approach of protecting students from the threat of internalizing negative stereotypes. Recently, in my field placement, I overheard three students (one black girl and two hispanic boys) talking about how they were going to fail their vocabulary test because they are "dumb." By having individual and personal relationships with students, I want to help students to believe that they are capable of succeeding and that they are geniuses. Along with that, by incorporating these students' identities into the curriculum and introducing them to successful authors that they share an identity with, I aim to help these students to see that they can be successful if they work towards it and that they are important and valued.

The schools in Literacy With An Attitude were similar in the way that students were learning the same content but in the way that the schools taught that content was very different. While the middle class school students learn that they are rewarded for obedience and docility and punished for assertiveness and initiative, the students in the upper class school were rewarded for initiative and assertiveness. The students of the upper class were assigned relevant and meaningful work while the middle class students were taught to learn from a textbook. For both the middle class and the working class, lessons that required creativity were labeled as "fun" and "enrichment" but that was the upper class students' everyday work. The upperclass students were given freedom and authority while this was frowned upon at the working class school. The working class students were taught to do mechanical, low-paying work, while the middle class students were learning to follow orders, and the upperclass students were learning to think out of the box and not follow the status quo.

2. Think back to your middle and high school(s); which of Anyon’s categories would they fall into? Why?

My school was most like the middle class schools that Anyon talks about. Most of my assignments, especially in Social Studies, came straight out of a textbook. I constantly received "busy work" and don't recall ever having a project that allowed me to make an impact or contribute to society. I was never awarded for thinking out of the box and was always confined to the 5-paragraph essay. I was never allowed to sit where I wanted because every class had assigned seats and all the desks were in rows in almost all of my classes. In only one english class did I have a choice on which books I wanted to read. My classes and my schedule were always chosen for me by my guidance counselor and I was always confined to take a math, an english, a social studies, a science, gym, and theatre. In high school experience, there wasn't much room for creativity at all.

3. How can academic tracking programs contribute to economic inequality?

Academic tracking programs can contribute to economic inequality because lower class students and students of color are overrepresented in lower track classes. With this in mind, more experienced teachers tend to teach the higher track classes, which are usually the students who are upperclass, while the working class students end up with teachers who don't have as much experience. Students in lower track classes also tend to have less peer role models. Schools that are integrated tend to have more resources which then leads to higher levels of academic achievements.

4. Why might students be unwilling to accept help from teachers? How can we help without invalidating these feelings?

Students may be unwilling to accept help from teachers because they feel very different from the teachers. For example, a black male student might not accept help from a white female teacher because the student may think that the teacher does not understand him, which may be true. Along with this, students may feel that the school system has failed them, so they don't want to accept help from a teacher who is apart of that system. Without invalidating these feelings, we can help by showing students that we, as as teachers, care about them and believe in their ability to succeed. Rather than pushing help onto students, leaving it there for them to take.

One quote from Christensen that I found significant was, "...there is a difference between teaching them to write well and teaching them to write in order to change the world." (110) This quote is significant to me because I feel that so many students ask, "why are we doing this?" and when you teach students to write with a purpose, to show them that what they say matters, they will not only find a purpose in their school work, but in the world. One teaching idea that I would like to use in the future is Christensen's "tea party". I think this activity allows the students to interact in a positive way with one another and allows students a preview and background knowledge for the novel that they will be reading. It is also something that every student can partake in and it isn't anything "too hard" for students, making them want to quit. One teaching idea from Muhammad that I really like is to have students critique the names of crayon colors to determine whether they are inclusive or problematic. I really like this idea because coloring is something that students have probably done their entire lives, never thinking about how the names of the colors of crayons can be harmful. This project allows students to think deeply and critically about everything that they encounter in their everyday lives.

2. In a couple of sentences, how do you envision integrating the arts (whether visual, media, dance, music, and/or theater) into your future classroom? Feel free to use ideas from the Perpich Center website, including Critical Response Protocol. I realize the protocol is buried deep in the Perpich resources, so here is a siteLinks to an external site. where it is more easily accessible.

I envision integrating the arts into my classroom by giving students a multitude of formats to present their work. For example, a unit on poetry can easily turn into an opportunity for students to write and perform a song. A group of students can even come together to form a band where they work together to form an "album" of songs that they wrote. Creating and performing plays is another way for students to express their knowledge through creativity. Something more simple that I will do in my classroom is to play music as students are walking in and sometimes when they are working to create a comfortable and less "sterile" learning environment for my students.

"In my classroom, day one, I go over the syllabus which every teacher is required to have, with classroom rules and expectations. Most teachers in the school have to have classroom expectations" Ms. Neal has a few posters hanging around the classroom with class rules on them. "I don't like to class them rules, I actually call them expectations and I establish them on day one. The syllabus is posted on each classes Schoology page and I give a hard copy for each student to take home to have their parent sign."

"I handle misbehavior pretty traditionally; I'm old school. I deal with misbehavior in the classroom right when it happens. I use a disciplinary write up system as a very last resort, if my handling the behavior right when it happens in class isn't enough, then I will contact parents by phone of email. If the behavior gets worse, I will use i-tracker pro, which goes to the state and the dean of students, and stays on their record until they go to high school. I try not to have any disciplinary reports throughout the school year."

"I recognize positive behavior by telling students in class if they do something well. I'll tell them 'good job' or 'give yourself a hand'. I'll tell students who are doing well to run an errand for me or I'll give out candy as a reward."

"Classroom management relates to instruction because it is very important, you got to have it. If you don't have a well managed classroom, you as a teacher will not be effective at teaching and students will not learn."

2. Collaboration with Special Educator(s): How do the special educator(s) plan, make accommodations, and engage in classroom management? How exactly do they work together and/or divide the workload? Do they have common planning time? If so, when? If not, how do they manage? What routines do they follow, in and out of the classroom?

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1. "In studies of classroom assessments, Madaus et al. (1992; Madaus, 1988) found that assessments in low-income schools focused on low-level skills and mirrored the types of test questions found on standardized tests while assessments in middle- to upper-income schools focused on reasoning and inquiry." (92)

I find this observation really interesting and it really makes me want to ask, "why?" From talking to friends who have went to private high schools, I noticed that they have always had meaningful projects and assignments and were able to truly learn in a meaningful and engaging way. However, for me and friends of mine who went to public high schools, I recall writing meaningless papers about topics I didn't care much about and working really hard to do well on state exams and constantly preparing for big exams. Why is this though? Does it cost schools more to give students engaging and meaningful work? Do lower-income schools NEED good state test scores for funding?

2. Three factors have been shown to influence the effectiveness of feedback: clarity, timeliness, and focus." (95)

This really stood out to me because I feel like giving students feedback is only actually beneficial if you do it the right way. For students to actually consider your feedback, I feel like they need to be given an opportunity to take your feedback. Giving students feedback shortly after they submit their assignment and then giving them a chance to revise their assignment after taking your feedback seems like the only way that students are actually able to learn from their mistakes and to learn through trial and error. Giving students something clear and specific to focus on is also really important so that students aren't overwhelmed with information.

3. Adults who engage in intellectual work (scientists, historians, mathematicians, literary critics) do not present "right answers" but rather draw valid conclusions and/or make defensible arguments based on the evidence available." (99)

This statement kind of gives me a whole different perspective on teaching. As a English teacher, you aren't necessarily teaching students information, but you are giving them the tools that they need to assess information and make judgements for themself.