All posts by Laila Zandi

How do I get them to stop walking all over me?

Creating Classroom Community
“So Mark breaks a small rule to see what will happen. If Mrs. Allgood is harsh or punitive to Mark for breaking the rule, he says to himself, ‘This class isn’t safe; she isn’t honoring the contract.’ However, if Mrs. Allgood ignores Mark and he gets away with breaking the rule or if she enforces it inconsistently, Mark says to himself, ‘This class isn’t structured; she isn’t honoring the contract’…The bottom line is that when students test us, they want us to pass the test. They are on our side rooting for us to come through with safety and structure. When students act out, they are really saying, ‘We don’t have the impulse and control that you have. We are acting out so that you will provide us with safety and structure-soft yet firm-so that a we can learn the behavior we need to learn to be happy and successful.’” (Smith & Lambert 17)

Reading this article, I instinctively think to G-band Spanish 3: my cooperating teacher’s Spanish 3 class (which I do not teach on a regular basis). G-band is interesting; G-band is loud; G-band is way too energetic; but ultimately, G-band tests me. Continue reading How do I get them to stop walking all over me? →

Hang on, let me just take this pill to graduate

Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond
“In a world where mental function can be tweaked with a pill, will our notion of ‘normal intelligence’ be changed forever?” (Philip 184).

Upon reading this passage, one may recall a film produced a few years back, titled Limitless. The story involves a writer who has lost the zest for life. He lacks a muse, his relationship has fallen apart due to his lack of motivation, and his home is far from livable. One day he comes across a pill called NZT48 Continue reading Hang on, let me just take this pill to graduate →

Go on, fight with your parents!

Friendship, Love, & Sexuality

Reading this very scientific article, I couldn’t help but make many personal connections; as such, with your permission, this blog post will make occasional references to my life.

The first MVP to capture my attention was:

“Maturationist models assume that a period of diminished closeness and heightened conflict accompanies adolescent maturation and that these perturbations continue until parent-adolescent relationships and roles are renegotiated” p. 4

Continue reading Go on, fight with your parents! →

How to queer your class: 101

Gender Socialization & Identities
“To queer is to venture into controversial, intellectually complicated, nuanced terrain with students. It requires faith that middle school students in a public school such as mine not only can, but must, learn to grapple with complexity if their education is going to provide opportunities, rather than impose insurmountable limitations… A queer methodology […] encourages criticality and considers inquiries about identity as crucial to the act of teaching, rather than material to be covered on one particular day and checked off a “to do” list. In a middle school English classroom, queer pedagogy pushes conversations about characters and identity beyond simplistic observations and into an exploration of power dynamics, social issues arising in texts, and character experience.” (p. 2-3)

Reading Loren Krywanczyk’s piece on queer pedagogy introduced me 1) to a new term: to queer; and 2) to a form of education, focusing on identities, we should implement in our classrooms. The author uses the term “queer” as a verb, signaling a method of teaching where teachers create forums for students to debate, learn, and share about diverse topics concerning identity. It is meant to make students question their current mindset, feel uncomfortable, and ultimately learn about each other in a safe setting. Continue reading How to queer your class: 101 →

Let’s not lose sight of who we are

Newcomers & Perpetual Foreigners
“As the daughter of colonized immigrants, my socialization into U.S. culture began with my earliest schooling experiences—the gradual loss of my first language coupled with acquiring and
excelling at a second language.” (p. 2-3)

This beautifully written piece tackles many facets of society, from American values, to Mexican values, to perceptions of Mexicans through American eyes, to perceptions of Americans through Mexican eyes, to the values of hard working families, to the struggles faced by immigrant families, to bureaucracy favoring one race* over another. Continue reading Let’s not lose sight of who we are →