As a student teacher in high school, there is not a single day in class in which I don’t have to ask at least one or two students to stop texting and put their phones away. Although I’d prefer that my students leave their cellphones in their lockers during my class, I understand that the way adolescents communicate has changed. What used to be done orally, today’s teens like to do it by texting. Continue reading Texting: not as bad as you think it is
Category Archives: Differentiation as an Approach to Teaching Diverse Learners
A picture is worth a thousand words
In a world with an ever growing use of technology for a variety of reasons and uses, there is one medium in particular that continues to rise to the top: Social Media. Social media platforms have increased our ability to become global citizens, giving us access to information, places, and people that, prior to globalization, we never knew or could have known. With social media taking up a greater place in society, educators should seize the opportunity to incorporate it in their classrooms. Out of all of the social media platforms, I personally prefer Instagram. This preference has led me to wonder how it could be used in an educational setting. Continue reading A picture is worth a thousand words
Meeting Needs
“The best thing to come out of the project was that my kids began to realize that they were part of Lawrence’s history.” (Marinell, pg. 538)
What most captured my attention in “Voices Inside Schools” was how Mary, the teacher being studied, was able to use a photojournalism project to engage students in a thought provoking way to demonstrate their literacy. Continue reading Meeting Needs
Netflix in the classroom: Developing a critical lens
One of our ground rules for this course states: “Acknowledge that one of the mechanisms of oppression (racism, classism, sexism, etc.) is that we have been systematically taught misinformation about our own groups and especially members of devalued/subordinate groups.” I strongly believe this acknowledgement should be fostered in adolescent classrooms during crucial developmental years. One media modality that has become part of adolescent life today that can be used to build the realization of this acknowledgement is Netflix, and even TV shows and movies in general. By helping students gain a critical lens with which to analyze the TV shows and movies they consume, we can help them process the misinformation they may be receiving about themselves and their communities as they continue to develop their identities.
Continue reading Netflix in the classroom: Developing a critical lens
I am not unable; I am disabled.
“It is important, however, that educators not dwell exclusively on these negative factors but focus as well on the ‘whole’ student. Having a disability is, after all, only one aspect of the life experience of a student with a disability. Too often, educators behave as if this one factor were the only factor to consider. Students with disabilities are more like all other adolescents than they are different from them, if one can see past the disability.” (Wehmeyer 176)
This chapter focuses on the potential challenges faced by adolescent students with disabilities when it comes to identity building. For the non-disabled teenager, creating an image for him or herself is a laborious task. Hormones, self-esteem, and the desire to be understood all play into the creation of one’s self-definition. Continue reading I am not unable; I am disabled.