TED Talk Blog

 From this Ted Talk, I learned that community is one of the most important things for young gender non conforming and trans children. If it weren't for the community, Reed would not have been able to find her true self and freely share herself with the outside world. It is sad to see that in our community people have to hide their true selves because of unaccepting people. I'm glad that Reed was able to find a community that supported her. I can relate this back to teaching and being a future educator because I want to build a community that supports each student in my classroom no matter what their identity looks like. 

3 Standouts of this Class

 1) The first thing that stands out to me about this class is the Moo ins. This helped me learn everyone's names very quickly as well as what their interests were. This is important to have in a classroom as an introduction to the class. It also helps students get to learn each other better and breaks first day jitters. 

2) The next thing that stands out to me is blog post homework #1, Johnson. This was such an important article to read and to understand what the basis of this class would be about. One quote that will stick with me from this article is, "The purpose is to change how we think so that we can change how we act, and by changing how we participate in the world, become part of the complex dynamic through which the world itself will change.” pviii

3) The last thing that will stick with me from this class is the "What to Look for in a Classroom" Chart by Kohn. I found this chart to be super helpful when comparing our placements classrooms. I also think it is a good resource to look at to think about what we want our classrooms to look like as future educators.

They, He, She, Easy as ABC from Woke Kindergarten

This week we listened to "They, He, She, Easy as ABC" read by Woke Kindergarten. We also read the RI Laws and Policies on Transgender and Non-Gender Conforming students which are important for everyone to read and be aware of.

I enjoyed the book and how diverse each of the characters were. It's important to show young children how there are different people in this world so they know how to accept everyone at an early age. Different races, gender identities, and abilities were showcased in this short picture book. But even though they showed different characters, each character portrayed activities that anyone could like. The book finds similarities in differences and its important to show this idea to children early on. 

Even though this book is meant to be for children, it can be helpful for anyone. Even I learned new information from this picture book. I have never heard of the pronouns of tree and fawn. I went down a rabbit hole of internet searches of what these meant. I found that they are called neopronouns and that there are many others as well. I have heard of the term neopronouns before, but I wasn't sure what that meant. With a quick google search, I found that it simply means new pronouns. These are just new ways that people can identify themselves as. As simple as the definition is, it is still confusing to me and that's okay. I am learning more about it and that's all one can do. Being open to new ideas is important as an educator because it will help you provide an inclusive and safe environment for your students. 

Reflection: Have you heard anyone use neopronouns before?

Understanding Neopronouns

"Eliminating Ableism" by Hehir and "Examined Life" Video

 In this week's reading and video, we learned about preconceived notions about ableism and how it automatically affects a student's education.

Definition of ableism from the text: “Laura Rauscher and Mary McClintock (1996) define ableism as “a pervasive system of discrimination and exclusion that oppresses people who have mental, emotional and physical disabilities (p3.)"

The definition of ableism is important to understand before moving forward throughout the article. Having an understanding of the word ableism allows for an open mind when learning more about it.

Quote 1: “In this article, I examine how ableist assumptions influence the education of children with disabilities and how these assumptions undermine the educational attainment of these children (p3.)"

This is the author's purpose of the article. One of the main points of the article is talking about assumptions about disabilities and how it automatically affects the student's education. Immediately when someone knows about someone's disability, it is automatically assumed that they will never be as smart as their abled peers. A message that the author tells is how this needs to stop. We shouldn't assume how smart a child will be just because they have a disability.

Quote 2: “While disability is not a tragedy, society’s response to disability can have tragic consequences for those who have disabilities (p2.)"

This quote follows along with my explanation from quote 1. It is assumed that disability is a tragedy, therefore leading to tragic consequences as people believe that people with diabilities, without even knowing the severity, will not be as capable as people without disabilities. It is unfortunate how people authomatically assume that students with disabilites will not be as capable as their peers.

Quote 3: “Thus, oralism continues to have a negative impact on the education of deaf children as an enduring legacy of ableism (p6.)"

I don't know about you, but I have never heard of the term oralism. Oralism is the idea of deaf people using their voice to speak and using lip reading as their form of language rather than using American Sign Language. This is dangerous because it forces a way for students to learn that is no meant for them. This can be compared to students being forced to learn in an auditory way when they are visual learners.

Reflection: Have you seen an example of ableism in your site classroom?

Oralism Article