Indy Teach

I felt that my Indy Teach went very well today. I went over the 45 minute (sorry about that) time period. I just really wanted everyone to understand what literacy is and how to incorporate it in their classroom. I feel like I left out so much stuff that I wanted to talk about. I guess this is how teachers feel, when they really want to make a point and the bell rings. By doing this Indy Teach I learned that 45 minutes is too short! I also learned that when you present you students with information that makes them think, you will get the responses that you are looking for. At first I was nervous about presenting my information because our class is very intelligent. We have some of the brightest people I have encountered at WMU thus far. After I realized that everyone wasn’t going to chew my head off, I was more comfortable and was able to focus on developing Allen’s main points in her book. I really enjoyed this teach, it taught me a lot about myself as a future teacher.

Reflection on day 1 and 2 group 3

The past two days of this class have been very interesting. Talking about stereotypes was cool on the first day, but then talking about them on the second was a little different. We focused as a class on the more racial side of stereotypes. I have to admit this always makes me uncomfortable because I am the only minority in the class. I think that today focusing on racial stereotypes from my personal perspective made me of course think of myself, because I am a minority. But today I got the opportunity to see racism geared towards other minorities which equally turned my stomach. It feels good to be able to not think about my struggles as a minority and think of someone else's for a change. I think group three did an amazingly respectful job of presenting a very sensitive subject. And I realized that racial stereotyping doesn't only affect the minorities it affects the entire society as a whole.

Dear Disney

Dear Disney, I have recently watched the movie Peter Pan and I am confused about your true intentions for incorporating the song what made the red man red. I am trying to understand why you would use a song that mocks the Native American culture. What should I tell my children when they ask me if this song is a true representation of Native Americans. So I am asking you, is it? Where did you get your facts from? How do I know that my children aren't directly being exposed to the biases and stereotypes that your company obviously supports. I am just a concerned parent, trying to understand what type of biases your company supports and if I as a consumer should keep supporting your company.

Concerned Parent

Response to Group 3 Day 1...

GROUP 3 YOU ROCK! I loved group 3's activities on Wednesday. I don't believe I looked at the clock once during their teach. The first activity was fun. It made me smile to think back to highschool, and picture the jocks and band geeks. Anytime a teacher makes a student smile, they are doing something right. I loved the fact that group 3 allowed us to work with different people outside of our traditional groups. (We are starting to form "classroom cliques" of our own.) I really enjoyed the chance to talk with different people. I liked the fact that we got the chance to brainstorm on HUGE white pieces of paper. Its something about poster paper, that triggers THINK in my mind. The markers were a plus as well. This activity made me think of all the biases I have obtained over the years. I started to wonder...Where did I get these from? I don't believe they were ever taught to me. I think they are just passed around from child to child like a bad cold on the first day of winter. It is good that I have the chance to think about these stereotypes I have, since I am going to be a teacher. Will I use these biases on my students? if I never acknowledged them, I might have. That's what scares me. How many biases do I really have about people? And how do I deal with this? This is something hopefully group 3 will touch on during their day 2 teaching. I really enjoyed day one, and I am thankful to group 3 for bringing this topic of stereotyping to the forefront. I look forward to day 2.

If i were a boy...

If I were a boy life would be simple. First of all no periods! My wardrobe would consist of long sleeve shirts in the winter and short sleeved shirts in the summer. Piece of cake! If I were a boy, I would be good at math. If I were a boy I would not have to worry about how my hair looked, or what shoes to wear. Nor would I ever have to experience the pain of wearing stiletto heels all day. Boys have it easy; they never have to worry about getting a job, because men can do EVERYTHING! Plain and simple boys just have an easier life.

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I have really enjoyed the Indy Teaching so far. They have opened my mind to an array of teaching styles that I have not had the pleasure of being introduced to yet. Also I have really enjoyed working with group 2 on our group teach. This assignment allowed me to think about the future when working with colleagues on a desired goal. I learned a lot about my classmates, more than just their names, and I look forward to learning a lot more during the rest of this course.