Week #12

 Course Overview

Lisa Delpit: 

    Lisa Delpit had a significant impact on me this semester. Her research compels future educators to critically examine their own biases and understand how different teaching methods can inadvertently disadvantage students of color and those from low-income households. Ultimately, Delpit challenges these college students to honor and incorporate a child's home culture, and to explicitly teach the dominant codes of communication and behavior necessary for academic and societal success.

Card Game: 

    The card game was by far my favorite activity of the semester. The lesson of the game itself was obvious, except that the class was more focused on the rules and understanding the game. I then understood that judging doesn't get anybody anywhere when everyone comes from a different set of rules and standards. 

Jeopardy:

    As comfortable as I felt in this class and as much as I loved this activity, I still found myself limiting how much I spoke or advocated for my team. This was important to realize because it taught me how I need to be more comfortable with having the idea of being wrong in front of more than just myself. Competitive games are not my style, but watching both teams work together and help each other out was fun to experience and watch. 

Week #2

READ:  

Khan, Chapter 2: The Broken Model

WATCH:  

Short History of American School

Reflection

Focusing on what he argues in Chapter 2, “The Broken Model,” and what that means for how we think about schools and learning. Reading “The Broken Model” is unsettling in an important way. It forces you to see how much of what we take for granted in education isn’t grounded in what helps students learn deeply, but in historical routines and systems that were built for very different purposes. Khan describes the traditional school structure as designed more to produce obedience, uniformity, and workforce-readiness than curiosity, mastery, or meaningful learning.  One of his key critiques, what he calls “Swiss Cheese Learning,” really stuck with me. We often move students forward based on the clock: a semester, a school year, or even a class period, instead of on their genuine understanding. What we end up with is a patchwork of partial knowledge: lots of students drifting forward without closing the gaps that matter.

Watching this short history felt less like a nostalgic glance backward and more like a challenge to ask why we organize learning the way we do. The film traces how school as we know it, public, compulsory, standardized, didn’t always exist: before the 1800s, many children learned informally, at home or through apprenticeship. Formal, government-mandated schooling gradually emerged in response to industrialization, immigration, and concerns about social order. What stands out is how the original purpose of this transformation was as much social as educational: to shape a unified citizenry, to instill common values and basic literacy, and to assimilate, especially immigrant and working-class children, into a shared national identity. That history invites reflection: if schools were created with those social aims in mind, often emphasizing conformity, standardization, and “what all children should know by a certain age,” then perhaps some of the problems people critique today (rigidity, lack of relevance, inequality, alienation) are baked into the structure.

Both the video and Khan’s chapter highlight that the structure of American schooling is not natural or inevitable; it was constructed for specific historical purposes, and those purposes no longer align with the learners' needs. The video shows how early American schools were shaped by industrialization, immigration, and a desire for social order and conformity. Khan’s argument picks up exactly where that history leaves off. He explains that the standardized, time-based model we still use is essentially an industrial-era system that prioritizes efficiency and uniformity over true learning. What connects them most strongly is the idea that the system was never designed around how children actually learn. The video illustrates how schooling evolved to meet societal needs, producing disciplined workers and assimilated citizens. Khan argues that this left us with a “broken model” where students move together at the same pace, regardless of whether they understand the material, creating gaps that accumulate over time.

Week 11

Queering Our Schools

By the editors of Rethinking Schools

Mini Reflection

The essays in the volume don’t just argue for tolerance. They model what it looks like to build community in classrooms that refuse silence: classrooms where empathy, honest conversations, and respect for difference are part of everyday life. The book highlights how “queering” school structures — curriculum, language, family forms, school rituals isn’t special treatment; it’s part of building an inclusive, socially just education system. Teachers who reframe reading lists, challenge gender stereotypes, or invite reflections on identity aren’t just helping LGBTQ+ students; they’re enriching the learning experience for everyone.

Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

 Guidance for Rhode Island Schools on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students

Mini Reflection

Reading RIDE’s guidance feels like a powerful reminder that schools are more than just places to learn math or history; they are crucial sites of belonging, identity, and safety. The document doesn’t treat transgender or gender nonconforming students as a niche concern; rather, it insists that schools commit to being safe, inclusive environments for all students, regardless of sex, gender identity, or expression. What stands out is how comprehensive the guidance is: it covers not only anti-discrimination protections but also practical, everyday aspects of school life, use of names and pronouns, privacy around records, access to restrooms/locker rooms, and participation in athletics or other sex-segregated programs according to a student’s gender identity. This sends a strong message: acceptance is not about “special treatment,” but about dignity, respect, and equality.

Woke Read Alouds: They, She, He Easy as ABC

By Woke Kindergarten

Mini Reflection

What I appreciate about this read-aloud is that it treats inclusion not as a complicated or adult-only idea but as something basic, like A-B-C. That framing suggests that acceptance and respect can (and maybe should) be part of children’s earliest social lessons. The book doesn’t overburden young readers with heavy theory; rather, it plants a seed of openness, empathy, and awareness that might grow over time. At the same time, I recognize that young children may not initially grasp the full meaning of pronouns or gender identity as easily as older kids or adults do. The book works best when paired with thoughtful guidance — a conversation, a safe space for questions, and adult support so that the affirmations of identity feel real, not confusing or tokenistic. Some reviewers of the book note exactly that: that an adult’s presence helps children understand and process what pronouns and identity mean.

*ChatGPT generated image*

I liked this image because it shows that even though we are all different, we all fit somewhere in the puzzle. 

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Week 10

What Is Neurodiversity?

 Caroline Miller

Reflection

 After reading this article, it really changed the way I think about how our brains work. The basic idea is simple but powerful — there isn’t just one “right” way for a brain to be wired. We all process the world in a slightly different way, and that’s not something to fix or hide. It’s something to understand, appreciate, and even celebrate.

    What stood out to me most was that the concept of neurodiversity started as a social justice movement. Judy Singer, who’s autistic herself, came up with the term in the 1990s. She didn’t just want people with autism to be accepted — she wanted society to realize that neurological differences are part of natural human variation, just like diversity in race, gender, or culture. That idea feels both revolutionary and, at the same time, so obvious. Why should we expect everyone’s brain to work the same way?

The section about identity also stood out to me. I thought it was beautiful how some teens find comfort in identifying as neurodiverse — like it gives them a way to make sense of their struggles and find community. I remember feeling out of place when I was younger, like I was “too much” or “not enough” in certain ways. I can see how powerful it would be for a young person to have a word that helps them understand themselves better, finally, and to know they’re not alone.

 I asked ChatGPT to create an image of different ways people view neurodiversity. I really liked this photo because it shows that just because people think differently, they are not all assumed to be "dumb."

Week #9

 Troublemakers

Carla Shalaby

Reflection

    When I started reading Troublemakers, I thought I knew what “trouble-maker” meant in school: the kid who disrupts class, won’t sit still, interrupts, maybe gets sent out of the room. But Shalaby flipped that idea on its head. She shows these four young kids (Zora, Lucas, Sean, Marcus) who’ve been labeled “problem children,” and she invites us to see them differently.

    I was struck by the line that disruption isn’t just “bad behavior”; it can be a message about what the classroom or school is doing to a child. Shalaby writes that these children “sing freedom” in their own way, challenging systems. I felt a bit guilty, too, thinking “What role did I play in that?” Maybe I was a good student who simply followed rules; maybe I sometimes judged peers who didn’t. Shalaby forces you to reflect on that. This reading also challenged me to think about “compliance” vs. “freedom” in schools: Are children being asked to obey first and learn second? Or are they being invited to learn with freedom? It’s a different mindset. Also, the fact that these are very young children (first/second grade) already facing labels, meds, and exclusion. 

    Something I took away from this piece is that I want to carry the idea that when someone disrupts, perhaps they’re not being a “troublemaker” in the negative sense but are responding to something. Maybe they’re not heard, maybe they’re bored, maybe the structure isn’t working for them. I’ll try to lean into “What strengths does this child have that I’m missing?” instead of immediately focusing on the “problem behavior.” Shalaby shows how kids like Zora, Lucas, etc, have creativity, imagination, and curiosity traits that get shut down.

       There were moments when I winced, thinking of kids I knew who got labeled early, pushed out. There were moments when I nodded, remembering how I sometimes got restless in class and maybe felt like I couldn’t just be. It made me hope for a kind of classroom where kids like Zora or Lucas don’t feel like they have to quiet their weirdness or shut down their spark to belong. It made me want to be someone who asks: ‘What’s going on for you?’ rather than ‘Why aren’t you doing what I asked?’”

Week #8

 Literacy with an Attitude 

Patrick J. Finn

Reflection

   After reading Patrick Finn’s Literacy with an Attitude really made me rethink what it means to be “educated.” Previously, I had assumed that literacy was primarily about learning to read and write effectively. But Finn makes it clear that literacy is actually about power and who gets it, what kind they get, and what they’re allowed to do with it. That idea hit me because it explains a lot about how school can look so different for different people, even within the same city or district.

    Finn talks about the difference between “domesticating” literacy and “liberating” literacy. Domesticating literacy teaches people enough to function in society, follow rules, and do what they’re told. Liberating literacy, on the other hand, helps people question things and challenge unfair systems. When I read that, I started thinking about my own school experiences. In some classes, it really did feel like we were just learning how to follow directions and not make trouble, while other times, teachers encouraged us to think for ourselves and have opinions.

    The way he describes working-class schools versus wealthy schools is honestly frustrating but not surprising. In working-class schools, students are taught to obey rules, complete tasks, and focus on the basics. In upper-class schools, students are taught to think critically, lead discussions, and take control of their learning.

This movie and Finn's readings have a very similar message. This is a documentary about education inequality in the U.S., examining how, despite desegregation progress, many schools still reproduce segregation and unequal opportunities. Very much in line with Finn’s concern about how literacy/education systems serve working‐class students less “liberating” literacies.

Week #7

 Article: What to Look for in a Classroom - By Alfie Kohn

Video: Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy - By Learning for Justice

Reflection:

Article:

      This article was one of my favorites that we have read this semester because it really challenged my ideas about what an effective classroom looks like. Kohn’s main argument is that students deserve to learn in environments that help them grow into smarter, more thoughtful, and engaged individuals—not just robots trained to memorize information. He makes a compelling case that genuine learning often happens in a “messy” way, where students are actively questioning, exploring, and collaborating, rather than quietly following directions.     Kohn encourages educators to look beyond surface-level indicators of a “good” classroom, such as silence or strict order, and instead ask deeper questions: Are students engaged? Are they thinking critically? Are they making meaningful choices about their learning? These questions remind us that teaching should be about fostering curiosity and critical thinking, not just compliance. He also emphasizes that the curriculum should be meaningful and connected to students’ real lives, rather than simply a list of skills to be memorized for tests. As future educators, this perspective pushes us to focus on creating dynamic, student-centered classrooms where learning is authentic and empowering.

Video:

    Watching this video helped me better understand how culturally relevant pedagogy is both a mindset and a practice. It made me reflect on how often classrooms expect students to conform to dominant cultural norms, rather than allowing them to bring their full selves into learning. The video emphasizes that culturally relevant teaching is not an add-on or superficial gesture. True implementation means reshaping how teachers think about content, assessment, relationships, and classroom culture so that students feel seen, understood, and empowered.

This is the photo I chose because Kohn makes a point that students need more than just words going in one ear and out another to be successful in their future. This image of a classroom perfectly reflects his point here. Students have more to look at and use as tools to help them learn further while the educator is teaching.