We did the coolest activity today. We learned about this teaching technique called "RAFT" where you personify something you're learning to show your own understandings of the material. The acronym stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. We broke up into our subject groups and wrote our own. One of the history guys wrote a letter (format) to "sentence" (audience) from "comma" (role) about how they were "glad to be of service" (topic). It was pretty adorable.
There was another good one about a seed. It just sounds silly and it's funny to personify a seed. The voice of a seed is like, "It took like a million years to germinate even though Mom said it was only 3 days." Very silly and nerdy. I find these things funny. Anyone who knows my sense of humor could probably imagine how much I was cracking up in class today.
My favorite one, of course, was the math one my new friend Pierre wrote. It was a romantic card to multiplication sign from positive sign about why they go together. It was just so funny to hear him read it. He said he drew a picture and the front asked the question, "Why do you and me go together?" and on the inside were 2 hearts. It read, "Because if both of our values are greater than zero, me times you is greater than or equal to the sum of me and you." Hahahaha....so verrrry nerdy. Yes!
So that was my take-away from "Content Literacy." We also spend a lot of time in groups in that class talking about current issues in education that will be applicable in our experience. Today I learned about the idea of 3 spaces. In a classroom you, the teacher, are exercising authority to "make" the kids do something (1st space), and the kids have their own identity outside of that space (2nd space), but they will form an expression of identity in that space when they're being impressed upon (3rd space). It made me think more about the idea of meeting kids where they are and trying to find common ground. It will definitely take some experimentation to find that, I think, especially my first year.
Inclusion was also really interesting tonight. We got started on our group project. I am working with 3 other students to present information on students who have disabilities in the category of neurological disorders. I look forward to learning more about that.
Something about special ed really resonates with me. I just found out that the endorsement for Sped takes more time and coursework than I had previously thought...which is a bummer, but I will definitely still be thinking in those ways anyway. Ie: how can I make this material accessible for slower learners or English language learners, etc. There are lots of Sped techniques that might take a little more time or effort to employ in your teaching, but would basically benefit everyone in the class, like labeling your steps so they can easily be followed, or providing graphic organizers for material.
The thing in Inclusion that was most shocking today was our talk about drugs and weapons. It came up in the context of discussing how to discipline students in general, and also how to discipline students in Sped within the laws of Boston Public. It sounds like kids mostly throw a few punches in fights and puff their chests, but they really don't want to fight, generally speaking. It's really funny the way Dr. G talks about it. She said, "You wouldn't believe how many fights happen right in front of the school office. It's like, 'really?'" Haha. It goes to show that kids don't really want to fight, they just want to save face. A lot of what we talk about is how to diffuse situations and save face for the parents and for the kids. I appreciate that there are so many ways she showed us that we can step in and make things less awkward or tense. I'm trying to mentally prepare for the scenarios she mentions--ie speaking with parents who just got off of a 48-hr shift in the medical field. Dr. G often tells us not to assume. We basically have this role in the schools to solve problems, not to make them. It's not about ego. She even gave an example of a parent who said to a teacher, "You're white," in the middle of a conversation. That teacher literally threw up their hands and walked out of the room. They were so insulted because they thought the parent was calling them out on their racial difference and saying they couldn't understand their position as a person of color or something. It turned out the parent was saying, in their own way, "You're RIGHT," but had an accent of sorts. So Dr. G encouraged us to just ask questions and be aware of cultural sensitivities. She suggested to ask questions and explore issues instead of taking offense since there are all kinds of complicated racial, cultural, and language barriers out there we need to cross. In other words, I need to prepare myself because I'm typically not a very guarded person--which is good. I still get defensive and take things personally though, so I need to learn to take my ego out of it. However, I am going to be working with kids and families that are very guarded in a lot of ways, in addition to some of these communication and cultural differences. So I'm really glad Dr. G is telling us these stories to illustrate possible scenarios and how she has handled them successfully.
But I digress. The thing she said that was really shocking was that these kids don't really carry weapons or do drugs. She said people never believe her, but it's true, these kids don't do drugs. They can't afford it. Once in a while they dispense or sell pot, it has been found on individuals. But if they have it, they're not going to smoke it. They'd rather sell it and go get a burger. This was truly humbling. I come from a middle class background where kids have the burger and spare change for all kinds of drugs. These kids--they just want a burger. A good meal. Or sneakers apparently. Ha. Sneakers are a hot item. But also--a necessity if you don't have them--or perhaps a cultural thing of value. Dr. G keeps bringing up how these kids want sneakers for some reason. Ha--kind of random.
I just thought that was really humbling.
I'm starting to gain some confidence about being in the city and working with inner city kids. I know it'll be hard, but I'm starting to feel more eager and less nervous. I'm starting to feel like I can really do it and I must be able to if we all are, and we must be able to support each other. I'm starting to prepare myself for the ways the kids will try to take me down, try to play with me, try to break me or be rude to me. I just kind of know it's coming--from what I've heard and from what little experience I have. I know I'll probably come across as some middle class white girl--which I am--who knows nothing about their lives--which I don't. And I guess the only thing to do is acknowledge that and try to find that 3rd space where we have commonalities and where the kids can be open to learning information that they need to be successful in the world.
And difficult as it's going to be, I'm really really excited for those moments when I do connect with them, and where it's worth it. I'm excited to be taken down and to take a deep breath and keep going and take charge and get tough from it.
Oy. Listen to me. Rallying up! This week was a great start to the program. :)
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