Assignment A: Safe Spaces

Quotes for Discussion

"When the official curriculum stigmatizes or, worse yet, vilifies LGBT people, bullies feel like moral champions, like guardians of the American way." Standing up against bullies that stigmatize LGBT individuals can be incredibly difficult in a middle school (and, I am sure, all schools). I find myself having internal battles each day when I hear students use a slur for LGBT people, due it being so often and widespread.

"If applied across all disciplines and grade levels, integration and interpretation of LGBT experiences and contributions can transform our classrooms into safe spaces." When starting teaching this year, I was actually surprised to see that one of our projects in our curriculum revolves around the story of a trans student. I am interested to see how many teachers are choosing to teach this unit as a form of integration, or how many do not due to its topics.

"Teachers cannot legislate friendships or alliances; they cannot single-handedly change minds or hearts." As a queer educator, I have had past experiences where I have had to make decisions regarding disclosing my sexuality to people that I cared about. This creates a strange dichotomy in myself, as my past experiences make me unwilling or hesitant to disclose this information to others due to how they have reacted. On the other hand, I understand the great importance of being a role model for students in the closet.

Argument Statement

Newman argues that language and communication can be used as a tool to either erase LGBT youth experiences, or as a tool to integrate those experiences into 'mainstream' society.

Comments

Digital Native or Not?

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danah boyd vs Prensky - Digital Nativism

Are today's youth digital natives? In the debate of digital nativism between boyd and Prensky, I wholeheartedly agree with boyd's perspective. Digital nativism is the idea some generations are digital natives, meaning they naturally adept at navigating and understanding digital technologies and systems. On the other hand, the existence of a digital native implies the idea of digital immigrants, or those who are foreign to the digital familiarity experienced by natives. In chapter 7 of danah boyd's It's Complicated , she discusses the idea of digital nativism and how it is actually dangerous mindset to have. To start, boyd discusses that the idea of nativism vs immigrant truthfully stems from the fear created by generational gaps which are increasingly illustrated through technology use. She paraphrases Barlow when she discusses that, "the implicit fear that stems from the generational gap that has emerged around technology." The idea of generational tensi...

Seventh Graders and Sexism

In Lisa Espinosa's chapter of Rethinking Popular Culture and Media titled "Seventh Graders and Sexism", she discusses her experiences with sexism and gender stereotypes in the classroom. In her early childhood, Espinosa realized early the double standard that existed for boys and girls. She was puzzled as to why boys were taught to be strong and independent while the girls were encouraged to be nice, do chores and cook. Though Espinosa's realization dealt with the familial expectations of gender, it is also reflective of the media's portrayal of gender roles, such as in the Disney films we have been watching. Espinosa realized that given her realization of this double standard, it was her duty to integrate these problems in hopes of solving them, into her own classroom. Espinosa ultimately argues that these issues are vast and sometimes insurmountable, but it is possible through small acts in our own spheres of influence. Espinosa discusses that she at first...

Collins Compositions

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