My Blogs

The lesson plan I chose to read about was Using Picture Books to Explore Identity, Stereotyping, and Discrimination. Students by the end of this lesson should be able to define, explain, and explore the concepts of identity, stereotypes, and discrimination. To start off day 1, students will have to define these terms based on prior knowledge. I love that this website links handouts and homework. A few sessions later, after reading the book, students will have to define the terms again with their new knowledge. I also enjoy that it is 8 sessions and uses multiple different books because each book gives different points of view and some students might be able to connect more/understand one than the other. On the last day, students are given a Comparative Analysis sheet which makes students compare and analyze the stories more in-depth. The very last thing asked of the students which I like is ask students to underline actions on their Comparative Analysis that they will try to do this mo...

            I chose to read and reflect and create instructional ideas in the book All Because You Matter by Tami Charle s. This children's picture book is a heart-lifting letter to Black and brown children everywhere reminding them how much they matter, that they have always mattered, and they always will. The story makes everyone feel like they are connected. The first page of the book is a quote that I love and I feel is important for students to hear “They say that matter is all things that make up the universe: energy, stars, space…If that's the case, then you, dear child, matter”  The 2 instructional ideas to use with this book could be Social-Emotional Learning, having students write a short story about why they matter. Then they can share their stories with their peers. Another idea is to have students learn about affirmations which can become a daily thing, which I believe is important.  I will attach an affirmation list I love belo...

My name is Abbey and I am 20 years old. My family, friends, and where I come from make me who I am. Both of my parents are Scottish, born and raised. I was born in Arizona but lived in Scotland when I was learning how to speak. My first ascent/language was Scottish, then we moved back to the US and I taught myself an American accent that I can switch in and out of depending on who I am speaking to. Because I have the 2 accents that give me 2 different identities, I am the same person with the same personality but both have different histories and stories. One thing my mum always says is that when she hears me using my American accent she says “That's not my daughter speaking” because to her I'm only Scottish, but I'm still the same person it's just different perceptions of me. This is not a visual identity, because some people I meet will never know. Because my family is all in Scotland and now Australia, traveling has definitely made me who I am. Music also has played ...

          There is no argument, schools are still segregated. But why? Haven't we passed this already, haven't we dealt with it? Did Brown vs Board of Education mean nothing? Yes we have tried to fix this problem and include everyone and every little effort has been for the better but depending on who you are and where you grow up, you might not be granted the same education as someone else. This can be because a student attends a lower-income school which means that there are fewer resources which will affect the level of education being given.       I feel that it is sad that race and poverty are intertwined. I watched a video recently about college and how unfair being a legacy student is. A legacy student is a student who is given preference by an institution or organization to certain applicants on the basis of their familial relationship to alumni of that institution. The reason I think this is unfair is that a majority of these st...

What Does Money Really Have To Do With It? Money actually has a lot to do with it. If schools are better funded it means smaller class sizes, which give students more quality time with their teachers, leading to better-developed social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Better-funded schools also mean more hands-on learning opportunities, allowing students to engage with problems and practice what they’ve learned. Education is the basis of an informed democracy and the bridge to lifelong opportunities. One article I read talked specifically about how 1 out of 10 students in the US attend school in Texas. If the Texas schooling systems are underfunded and failing, it is going to take a toll on the US as a whole. In my opinion, teaching is not an easy job, with that being said, you would expect it to be a good-paying job, but it's not. We are losing too many teachers because of that reason. Teachers don't have the right resources or support from their schools/government. It'...

Throughout elementary and middle and high school I only attended public schools. In my elementary school, I only can remember 1 male teacher. His name was Mr.Erickson, and he was my 5th-grade teacher. He and his wife taught together at the school and both my sister had both Mr. and Mrs.Erickson.  I remember him being such an amazing teacher. It really did not seem out of place to me though. Looking back I am more aware that he was one of the only male teachers in the whole school. We always had male principals though.  In the TedTalk by Amber Briggle, she talked about her personal experience with having a transgender son. She talked a lot about how she always knew that she had a son, not a daughter. Transitioning is hard for the child but can also be difficult for the parents. Briggle talked about how at first she still wanted to have her daughter but she could dress differently. She said, “it's easy to make snap judgments and discriminate against an entire group of people tha...