Blog Post #11

 Final Reflection

Looking back at everything we’ve done this semester, a few pieces stand out that I know will stay with me long after this class is over.

1) Lisa Delpit - The Silenced Dialogue

Delpit’s message about the “culture of power” really stuck with me. I’ve learned that being direct and clear with students isn’t being harsh, it makes the rules of school and success understandable. Delpit helped me realize that clarity builds trust and gives students real tools to succeed.

2) Carla Shalaby - Troublemakers

Shalaby’s work changed the way I think about “difficult” students. Instead of seeing so-called troublemakers as problems, I now see them as signals that something in the classroom or school environment isn’t working. The metaphor of them being like canaries in coal mines really helped me understand that these students are often the most aware of injustice or misalignment in the system.

3) Precious Knowledge Documentary

This documentary showed me how powerful it is for students to see their own identities and cultures reflected in what they learn. The ethnic studies program didn’t just improve test scores, it gave students a sense of pride, belonging, and purpose. It reminded me that education isn’t neutral, and culturally responsive teaching can make a life-changing difference.

Blog Post #10

 REFLECTION:

The text I chose off the Trevor Project website "Understanding Gender Identities & Pronouns", that alongside "Guidance for Rhode Island Schools on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students" made me reflect on how important it is for schools to create safe and respectful environments for all students, especially those whose gender identities don’t fit into traditional expectations. These documents don’t just give definitions or policy, they speak to the real need for affirmation, visibility, and safety for transgender and gender nonconforming students. That really matters to me, not just because I’m going into education, but because I use both he/him and they/them pronouns myself.

It wasn’t always easy for me to explain or feel confident in using both sets of pronouns. Even now, I sometimes wonder how people will respond or if they’ll take me seriously. Seeing that schools in Rhode Island are being encouraged, actually guided, to respect students’ pronouns, names, and identities is hopeful. It shows progress. And when I read the Trevor Project’s breakdown of gender identity and pronouns, I felt really seen. It’s a reminder that identities like mine aren’t too complicated, confusing, or something to be brushed aside. They’re valid, and they deserve respect.

What stood out to me in the RIDE guidance was how clear it is that respecting a student’s identity isn’t optional, it’s a responsibility. From using correct pronouns to protecting students' privacy and ensuring access to facilities that align with their gender identity, the guidance emphasizes how much these things affect a student’s ability to feel safe and thrive in school. As a future educator, that’s a huge takeaway for me. I want my classroom to be a space where students feel understood and supported, no matter how they identify.

These texts made me think about how easy it can be to make someone feel respected, by just using the right name or pronoun, and how damaging it can be when we don’t. I’ve felt both. So going forward, I want to be the kind of teacher who never assumes, who models inclusive language, and who makes it clear that every student has the right to be exactly who they are.

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/article/understanding-gender-identities-and-pronouns/

Blog Post #8

REFLECTION

Reading Aria made me really think about the personal cost that sometimes comes with learning English in America. Rodriguez’s story about growing up in a Spanish-speaking household and then being pushed to embrace English at school was really powerful. His description of feeling like he was losing part of his identity and connection with his family really hit me, it was something I couldn't even conceptualize. It’s not just a language shift, it's an emotional and cultural transformation, and not always a comfortable one.

This made me reflect on my volunteer experience in Southside Elementary where most of the students are bilingual. I’ve seen firsthand how these young students switch between languages, Spanish with their friends, and English with me and their teachers and in the classroom. It made me wonder if any of them are already feeling some of what Rodriguez describes, the pressure to sound “American,” the confusion about where they belong. I hope that this isn't the case as the students who speak Spanish also get tested in Spanish, they still use their language often.

One part of Rodriguez’s story that really stuck with me was when he described how his home went quiet after he started speaking English more. That silence wasn’t just about sound, it was about distance, about something being lost. I think about how the students I work with might be going through something similar, and how important it is to make sure their cultural and linguistic identities are honored in the classroom instead of pushed aside.

This reading challenged me to think about how schools often frame English as the “right” or “normal” way to speak, without always realizing how that can make students feel like they have to choose between success and staying close to their families or heritage. Rodriguez’s story reminded me that language is about more than just communication, it’s about belonging, memory, and family. Aria was a powerful reminder to create classroom spaces that affirm students’ full identities, not just their ability to speak English well.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_IiVUh8-zacE9Nh_I4Q9Jmaj8_v9ATtR/view

Blog Post #7

In the preface and first two chapters of Literacy with an Attitude, Patrick J. Finn introduces the idea that not all literacy is created equal. He argues that the kind of education students receive depends heavily on their social class, and this inequality is not just about funding or resources, it’s about power. Finn distinguishes between "domesticating" education, which teaches compliance, and "empowering" education, which teaches students to think critically. The book is eye-opening and, honestly, a bit uncomfortable, especially going into teaching. It made me ask: am I only able to reinforce the system, or can my classroom be a place where we change that?

One quote that really stood out is:

“We don’t worry about a literate working class because the kind of literacy they get doesn’t make them dangerous.”

This is such a powerful and disturbingly true statement. Finn is saying that even when working-class students learn to read and write, the type of literacy they are given is meant to keep them in their place. They’re taught to follow rules, not question them. This quote points to how schools can actually be used to maintain inequality rather than challenge it. It also explains why some students might “fail” in school, not because they’re not smart, but because the system isn’t built for them to succeed in a meaningful, transformative way.

Another quote I found important was:

“When rich children get empowering education, nothing changes. But when working-class children get empowering education, you get literacy with an attitude.”

Here, Finn shows that critical, empowering education has the power to shake things up, but only if it reaches the people who have traditionally been denied that kind of learning. Wealthy kids learning to think critically doesn’t change the status quo, because they’re already benefiting from it. But when working-class kids are taught to analyze, critique, and speak out, it threatens the existing structure. That’s when education becomes a dangerous and powerful tool.

Throughout these chapters, Finn uses real-life classroom observations to show how different schools teach different kinds of literacy. It’s not just about teaching reading and writing—it’s about teaching students how to see themselves in the world. Are they being prepared to lead and question? Or to obey and conform? As a future educator, this reading really challenged me. It made me reflect on what kind of classroom I want to create. I don’t want to  teach kids how to follow the status quo, I want to teach them how to use their voices, to ask hard questions, and to believe that their opinions matter. That’s what Finn called literacy with an attitude and we need more of it.

Do you think schools today still follow the same patterns Finn described?

Can we as educators change what "type" of literacy we give our students or is it curriculum based?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18oYkhqKhuR4kUchebkg92zQ3_MtsDbBr/view

Blog Post #6

 QUOTES:

In the intro of Troublemakers, Shalaby challenges our expectations about "bad" behavior in the classroom. Instead of looking at difficult or disruptive children as problems to be solved, Shalaby invites us to see them as signals, signs that we should be asking questions about the systems we've established as the norm in schooling. Her work is not only about specific students who are labeled as being troublemakers but also about how schools themselves create climates that often suffocate rather than foster freedom, individuality, and emotional health.

One quote that stood out to me is:

"If nearly half of our children fail to follow directions, we should question the appropriateness of the requirement.”

This quote turns something that causes frustration in all schools on its head. Instead of blaming the children for not listening or following rules, Shalaby invites us to examine the rules more closely. Maybe it's not the children who are at fault, but the requirements. If that many kids are rebelling or failing, then there's something more to the reason why. Her perspective dares us to question if our requirements are developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive, or even sane. It's a reminder that disobedience is not always defiance, it may be a learning experience.

Another quote that I liked was:

"The child who deviates, who refuses to behave like everybody else, may be telling us-loudly, visibly and memorably-that the arrangements of our schools are harmful to human beings. Something toxic is in the air, and these children refuse to inhale it"

Here, Shalaby is reframing deviance not as dysfunction but as resistance. The children we label "bad" are maybe the children most attuned to problems in our classrooms. Things like tight schedules, lack of creativity, standardized expectations, and constant control.. Rather than punishing them, we need to be hearing them out. They might be silently, or not so silently, showing us what all students feel but don’t express. This quote is one of the key things that links the canary metaphor, these kids being the signal that there is “bad air” in the school.

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/18/01/troublemakers-school

Questions for Dr. Sasha Sidorkin

How should colleges be thinking about policies for AI usage, should there be consistent rules across departments, or more flexibility? I’ve had some professors allow use and some prohibit it.

Do you think there’s a risk of AI widening the achievement gap, and if so, how should schools address that? With some students using it as a tool and some using it as a crutch.

How should teachers/professors approach grading assignments that may have been partially generated by AI? Should there be different standards?

Blog Post #4

 REFLECTION:

Reading Lisa Delpit’s The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children made me reflect on my experience in a second-grade classroom and the way I communicated with students. At first, I would ask questions like, “Are we supposed to be doing that right now?”, assuming that prompting students to think about their behavior would guide them toward the right choice. But I quickly realized that this approach wasn’t effective. Some students wouldn’t respond or seemed unsure of what I was asking. Instead, I needed to clearly tell them what to do: “Please sit down and start your work.” or “We raise our hands before speaking.”

Delpit’s argument helped me understand why direct communication was necessary. She explains that not all students enter the classroom already familiar with the unwritten “codes of power” that govern academic and social success. These rules—how to participate in discussions, how to structure written responses, even how to interact with authority figures—aren’t always explicitly taught, yet they shape how students are judged in school and beyond. Simply expecting students to pick up on these expectations through indirect cues leaves some of them at a disadvantage. It reinforced what I had experienced firsthand: clarity and authority in instruction are not about control but about ensuring that all students understand what is expected of them.

This also made me think about how dominant cultural norms influence teaching. Many educators—especially those from white, middle-class backgrounds—advocate for student-centered learning that encourages discovery and self-direction. But as Delpit points out, this approach doesn’t always serve students of color, who may benefit more from direct instruction that makes expectations clear. I had always thought that asking guiding questions rather than giving direct instructions was a more respectful way to interact with students, but Delpit’s argument helped me see that withholding direct guidance can actually create barriers for some learners rather than empowering them.

Reflection/Questions/Comments to Share

One point I want to raise in class is how we can teach students the “codes of power” while also encouraging them to challenge those codes. Delpit argues that explicit instruction is necessary for students to navigate dominant systems, but how do we ensure that this doesn’t turn into simply enforcing conformity? 

 Delpit, “The Silenced Dialogue”