“The Connected Learning”

I wanted to choose this badge because I was the student that craved something other than a paper for the judgement on what I had learned from the unit. I want to know, as a future teacher, how to execute something like a project based learning, an inquiry project, for the students like me that despised essays. I chose this badge so I can have that diversity in my classroom for the students who are not a proficient writer but understand the unit in a proficient way. I think projects like this opens up that sense of a community, because the student is picking something that means something to them. That being one of the attributes that fuels my core teaching beliefs I want to fuller understand what this badge has to offer so I can offer that to my own class.

“What’s Your 3-Foot ‘Circle of Influence’?”

Especially through the lens of “Teacher as an Advocate” I feel as though I am not hindered by my reach. While I may have to stand on my tippy toes to reach a little further than a teacher who is more established than me, because I am a first year teacher, I still think it is what is the driving force behind that actions that I am taking. Luckily for me that is within in myself and I don’t have to reach at all. I think this all relates to what our core beliefs are and making sure that we instill that in every student that comes through our doors. If I can show my students my belief of love and have them take that with them then I am making my circle that much larger. Little things like what Frank does on the bus to change the outlook will change the willingness of our students to create that 3 Foot Circle too. As a beginning teach that is the closest impact you have is your students. By making sure that they are being impacted positively by your reach and taking it with them, you grow your circle now being able to reach the more established teachers and higher-ups within the community of education. While they will still be within your reach as a first year teacher, they are much further to reach. They will listen but it will be much harder for them to believe in the impact you are having.

Two Approaches to Similar Conflicts

The fight for educational reform is across all generations, and across many media sites yet the means of achieving this justice has different means of getting there. In the two site below the action of Education Reform is carried out through the brains of “students” (specifically college students talking about K-12 education) and a bit more mature association. Both had the same intentions and yet their means of getting there are expressed in different “plans”.

The first plan, established by the SFER (Students for Educational Reform), is meant for a younger audience, as well as written by a younger audience. The vocabulary within the site is much more digestible for students talking about issues that students have the most passion for. They talk about rights with being able to use the bathrooms that “we” choose based on the gender “we” identify with. The is hopes of changing student loan debt in present time, because that is what is at the forefront of their issues with education. Their means is to establish this “fire” within the people who are reading/ viewing the site, and hopefully get them to join the fight. Either with their own voice, the person viewing the site, or to support with a donation as little as a dollar. This site, their plan revolves around gaining voices as means to win this “battle” that surrounds the educational reform. There are two different categories under the “Why We Fight” (about) that describes this as “How We Win” as well as “When We Win”. There is a comradery force that pushes their plan into not only the reader’s mind but in a way their heart causing them to feel the same fuel that the students who created this site feel. Their whole plan revolves around the hope that those who join will be as passionate as they are, about the issues they are.

On the other side there are the more mature fight of the CER (Center for Education Reform) which takes a more sophisticated approach on similar ideas. Because they know their audience is that of a more established group, they don’t need to place that “passion” into their site because the people going to their site already have that passion within them. They talk about issues that have more of a “lasting” impact. They take a stance on issues that have been around a while, issues that may take a larger piece of the educational reform pie. Even within the About page their statement says that education isn’t the goal it is the anchor. While many of the topics they bring up about educational reform are the same as the site prior, the way the manage their “plan” is much more passive. They have this credibility about them and about their cause so they do not have to “push” the ideas so hard. Their plan is in the works and has been for a while so essentially the “proof is in the pudding”.

The thing between these two websites that caught my attention was how the attribute of establishment played into the way they went about getting others to follow what they were saying. They both have huge followings and are doing the job of creating a new meaning to the educational world and yet how they go about their plan is corralled by who knows them, and the amount of people know them.

https://www.studentsforedreform.org/why_we_fight

https://edreform.com/about/

“No Vulnerability, No Learning”

I think the most comfortable space I have ever felt willing to put myself in that vulnerable place was a dance class I took last year. Dancing in front of people you don’t know, especially people who you assume are better than you, can make anyone put up that wall of shame in order to protect themselves. Gia, the women leading the class made sure to get that looming feeling of shame out of the room before we even began dancing. Their is this weight when shame takes over anyone and the more you let it overwhelm you the more it overwhelms the experience. She said right out of the gate to make a conscious effort to not let that feeling attack any of the motions in the dance we were learning. To cheer on the other women alongside you, to compliment something you like and let that girl know how killer she is doing. By the end of the class the pressure was turned into energy and the class was hollering for everything that the group dancing did. It pushed myself to try weird creations that I would have never tired elsewhere. It made me feel at ease, that making a mistake was merely a mistake, it was not going to ruin anything, rather it was something I could take into my next experience as what not to do. It helped me to see that everyone struggled somewhere, that even the girls I admirred had flaws that should be celebrated.

This feeling of being vulnerability is carried through my badge as well. Being an advocate is all about putting yourself out there so someone else can admire what you are doing even if it seems silly in the moment.

“’The students here are aggressive and relentless about doing well in school,’ says Ysleta Independent School District Superintendent Xavier De La Torre. ‘It’s all about helping kids understand that the trajectory that your life will take is directly tied to how hard you work now, and what you achieve now,’ he explains”

Story Hinckley, “Pioneering Spirit: How One School Helps Latino Students Tackle AP Tests”

This article talks about the way a school achieves that “looming” gap that we always believe is between students of predominantly white schools and those that experience a wider range of students races and cultures. This teacher believes that the same relation that we put within the realm of sports should be pushed into the realm of academics. They key this model is suggesting is push the ideas of competitiveness on to their students, showing them that they must put in the work to get anywhere, and most importantly strive to outdo not only their peers but outdo what they believed they could do. When there is more choice, like suggested by H.R. 106, there are more things given to the students, this takes the “challenge” out of that competitiveness that has pushed this school to achieve AP scores even though their population is 99 percent Latino/Hispanic (limited english) and more than one-third is under the poverty line. Rather than taking out the “choice” of which schools to attend put the funding into these schools that have established a way to make their students care about education again. These students have a passion and are choosing to work hard for their education, even though no one is working for them, in terms of getting their school better funding to help some of the students (with Wifi and food). Opening up the value of a private school should be extended but not without demolishing what schools like these have created.

https://www.csmonitor.com/EqualEd/2019/0131/Pioneering-spirit-How-one-school-helps-Latino-students-tackle-AP-tests

“Molly Robins Breathing Expert”

Within the session with Molly Robins I got a more developed view of all the entails being a teacher advocate. I think my biggest take away was that she first and foremost develops a relationship with students. Sharing her personal stories she opens up the opportunity to have her students speak. My personal tool I took from the “Resources for Teacher Advocacy” was the storytelling aspect. I mentioned that this lead with my “Empathy Leadership” style and she really touched on this when mentioning that is not only a way she would be a Advocate but also with being an Ally. This helped me understand that all the badges are intertwined and that you need to have a taste of all in your own classroom.

I think going along with the educational democracy, she mentioned her hopes for her daughter’s teacher “pushing” her or keep her going. We as advocates and as teachers are here to bring topics to light, while we wouldn’t give what exactly we are doing, just by showing them that we are being advocates gives them that “push” to do something towards something they too would like to be an advocate for.

Finally, she answered my question “How do you respond with groups that want a similar endgame but don’t appreciate how you are going about it?”. I wondered this from reading the piece about being a new teacher and hoping to be an advocate. She talked about not only giving our students the choice but also giving the other teachers the choice within working on a type of advocacy. Things like staff development give teachers a way to be an advocate without the temptation of ridicule, which I really liked and enjoyed the thought of. Like within a classroom where the isn’t a community aspect, teachers may feel shy about bringing something they are passionate about to notice. This idea on the other hand gives the “microphone” to whoever would like to speak up, and I feel it would be beneficial to the group.

Ready to Be an Advocate? Me?

There is one key word that comes to mind, again, when thinking about what decides who can take on that role as an advocate. That word is passion. If someone, young teachers included, have the right passion to fuel their speech than I believe that it is possible to become that advocate. Teachers are the closest to the students, they are the ones who hear first hand the problems that matter to the students. In return I feel as though we owe them to report their problems in a way that will help them find solutions. Checking off the box of “Wishing you had an impact beyond your classroom”, you have started yourself on the road of being a “teacher leader”. There is nothing within either of the articles presented that demand there must be “X” amount of years in order to be an expert and be “allowed” to speak out. The most important element here is finding that passion that fuels you to venture outside of your comfort zone, outside of your classroom.

The bottom line is that there SHOULD be no age gap on whether or not someone could be an advocate. The ONLY “requirement” should be the WANT and the DRIVE to make things happen!

Fruit Salad Yummy, Yummy

While I am doing all this research for the Advocate badge I am realizing that the one that sticks with me is the concept of testing every student the same, even though as teachers we don’t teach every student the same. We are built to create this community where everyone is valued as an individual and yet when March and April roll around we are required to prepare them for the same testing style that was around since the dawn of time. While I understand there has to be some way to generate a measuring system I find it hard that there is no way to measure the standards while benefiting the ideas that all the little fruit grow in their different ways. The classroom, like a fruit salad, appears so much more appealing when the colors and flavors are mingled and appreciated. Standardized testing becomes the picky child that only picks the apples out because they are the most recognizable. Like the child the standardized testing fashion does nothing to help its ownself grow because it is only sticking to what appears to be comfortable. While the child (ST) believes he/she is doing well because he/she is eating their fruit, they are excluding all the wonderful feelings eating the salad together brings.

Like only sticking to what is Common, State testing as well as the ACT and the SAT excludes the flavors of the ELL, the auditory learners, the texts anxious, rewarding itself for testing only the apples (English, proficient test takers). I think it is absurd that we have gone this long without realizing that only so little of this salad is getting eaten, is getting the chance to use their test scores to get into colleges, to get into the advanced classes, to create the “elite” mentality that will help them through life. Like the poor pineapple that sits alone in the juice of the other fruits, we are throwing away the style of the children that are not apples and it is a shame.

“Pose, Wobble, Flow: Redux”

I am taking on the “Pose” of Teacher as an Advocate. I think what was most curious to me was the word Advocate. Many times we hear that diction when playing “Devil’s Advocate” sharing the path that only few have walked, picking the side that most chose not to even look at. I think that is why it caught my attention the most. I want to explore the “hidden” side of education and give a voice to those who can’t. Similar to how the first badge helped me find my own voice in my own writing, I hoped to give different sides a chance to express what they need help with through education.

With already starting this project I have found that my Leadership Compass is pointed towards Empathy, opening up a new way of wobbling. While Empathy is good for getting to hear those voices, I cannot say no, which is a key part of the Advocate. Sometimes you have to say no to a side that is always within the “lime light” and listen to the side that lies within the shadows. At the same time this helps me with a flow, I can listen and feel for each side that has an idea about the topic of education. By doing so I can almost “play” advocate for both sides and may be more likely that there is a common ground that I will stumble across.

I have already improved my flow. By working as closely as I can with the checklist I have accomplished more in a smaller amount of time than my last badge. This has also helped me with doing small things every night rather than saving everything for the final night. Establishing “soft deadlines” makes me more aware of all I need to get done each week, even each night. So far I am almost done with level one and it is making me further than predicted.

“Moral Compass” Pointing South

I took the “Leadership Compass Self-Assessment” and found out that I am overwhelmingly pointing South, Empathy. In all honesty I wasn’t shocked about this in the slightest. My mom always tells me that I would be much at being an elementary teacher, because usually those are the students that we think need more empathy. But I think that is a strength of mine. Taking that ability to think about the student rather than the grade is what higher levels need. My whole teaching belief is about having that love, aka empathy, for my students. To really show them that I am here for them so I can begin to build a community within my classroom. By looking back on everything that I have written involving my beliefs it is no wonder why my Leadership Compass points south.

On the other hand this makes me really nervous. I have a tendency of not being able to say no as well as take all the blame onto myself which can be dangerous when thinking about the fact that my students may burn me out. Meaning that if I constantly give into my Southern ways (Empathy) then I could risk not getting any growth from my students. I could constantly give into their emotions and have no black or white guidelines for them to follow. Which helps is that I am not conscientious of these tendencies now so I can manage how far my compass will point South. I don’t think that I should 180 and flip to another direction but I think being more balanced within the compass will make me not only a better teacher but a better advocate for my students and for education.