Teach Out Slideshow 6/26

Slideshow

Collier, Rodriguez, CUNY-NYSIEB 6/20

 Argument Summary:
Collier focuses on how difficult learning to read and write can be for immigrant students and challenges teachers to meet them with lessons that match both their age and cognitive development. Rodriguez reflects on the personal cost of assimilation, arguing that learning English can lead to success, but also distance from home, family, and cultural identity. The CUNY-NYSIEB videos bring both perspectives together by showing real classrooms that view multilingualism as a strength. They offer a model for schools that want to support bilingual students without forcing them to give up their identity.

Three Quotes

1. “The teacher’s challenge is to find ways to integrate immigrant students with other students their age, while presenting meaningful lessons both at their level of maturity and their level of cognitive development.” – Virginia Collier
This quote helped me understand just how much we underestimate the effort it takes for emergent bilingual students to succeed. Even fluent English speakers struggle with literacy, so we can only imagine the pressure and confusion facing students who are still learning the language, often while dealing with other challenges like resettlement or family separation. It connects to Delpit’s argument that good teaching requires deep knowledge of students’ backgrounds. 

2. “But the bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation. They do not seem to realize that there are two ways a person is individualized. So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality.” – Richard Rodriguez
Rodriguez’s perspective is complex. He doesn’t reject bilingualism, but he believes that learning English gave him access to power and public voice, even though it came with a cost. His story made me reflect on Johnson’s Privilege, Power, and Difference. English fluency gave Rodriguez power, but it also forced him to leave something behind.  

3. “In spite of the world's wealth of textual information, learning to read and write is often trying for average students. Nonetheless, it is essential, since reading and writing enable students to learn about and act upon the world. It is ever more important for immigrant students. Many of these students are refugees or older preliterate students. For them, the challenge is greater. The teacher's challenge is to find ways to integrate immigrant students with other students their age, while presenting meaningful lessons both at their level of maturity and their level of cognitive development” – Virginia Collier
Language learning is already hard work, but even harder when students are also navigating new cultures, trauma, or interrupted education. Her message is that we can’t teach these students with a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Our job as educators isn’t just to deliver content. It’s to make it meaningful and accessible. The teachers in the CUNY-NYSIEB videos are doing that. They show how students can use their home languages to process ideas and show what they know. They treat bilingualism as a tool. This connects with Sleeter’s idea that the curriculum should reflect and respect the communities students come from. We can’t just teach to the majority and hope others catch up.

Further Reading

Summary of Article from Frontiers
Teachers who supported blending language and subject learning had more positive attitudes toward bilingualism and home language use. Those who preferred English-only teaching weren’t necessarily less caring but resisted using other languages in class. Teachers who valued students’ cultural and language backgrounds were more open to integrated approaches. Interviews showed that those with training or pull-out experience leaned most toward LICT. While most supported integration in theory, many lacked the tools to apply it. The study points to the influence of English-only norms and calls for shifting teacher mindsets to truly support multilingual learners.

Questions

• Are we really creating bilingual spaces or just English-first spaces with translation on the side?
• What does real support look like for students who are navigating two languages?
• What are students being asked to give up to succeed in English?
• Can we support bilingualism without reinforcing the pressure to assimilate?
• How do we balance English development with students' cultural and linguistic identities?

RI Law and Policies/ Trevor Project 6/17

“Youth may initially begin to express their preferred gender with people that they feel are safe. The process by which youth begin to express their preferred gender can vary and many factors can influence how individuals express their gender identity.” (Rhode Island Department of Education)

This quote reminds us that expressing one's gender identity is a personal matter and often depends on trust. For trans and nonbinary students, school can feel unsafe if they don’t know they’ll be accepted. That means safety isn’t just about physical protection, but it’s also about emotional support and the presence of people who will affirm their identity without question. Affirmation is an ongoing process that should follow the student’s lead.

How can we create classroom environments where all students feel safe enough to express their identity at their own pace, without fear or pressure?

“54% of transgender and nonbinary young people found their school to be gender-affirming, and those who did reported lower rates of attempting suicide.” (The Trevor Project)

This quote shows how powerful gender-affirming schools can be. For trans and nonbinary students, feeling seen and respected is directly linked to lower suicide risk. It’s not just about being nice—it’s about saving lives. When schools support identity, they give students a real chance to feel safe, cared for, and able to keep going.

What support systems, language, or practices help make students feel truly safe and valued?

“As with other efforts to promote a positive school culture, it is important that student leaders and school personnel, particularly school administrators, become familiar with the terminology, best practices, guidance, and related resources... strategies for communication, bullying prevention, district policy, and student privacy.”

Being kind isn’t enough. Schools need training, strong policies, and leaders who show what respect looks like. If staff don’t have the tools or language to support trans students, those students can feel unprotected. Support takes work. It has to be intentional.

How can we make sure students are part of shaping the policies that affect them most?
What would it take for every adult in a school to feel confident supporting trans and gender-expansive students?

Teach Out Project Article Summary: Sleeter, Armstrong & Wildman

 Sleeter Article Summary

Christine Sleeter’s article highlights a crucial point that many people overlook that most school textbooks still present history primarily from a white perspective. There are mentions of other groups like Black, Latino, Native, and Asian Americans. But those stories are often short or added on. The main story still centers on white people. Sleeter explains that this makes many students of color feel left out, like school isn’t really for them. She provides examples of students who became more interested in school once they took classes, such as ethnic studies, that focused on their own cultures and histories. When students see themselves in what they’re learning, they often do better in school.

This article shows that ethnic studies isn’t just about being more “inclusive." It’s about telling the full truth. It’s about making sure all students feel seen and heard. For many students of color, it can make a big difference in how they feel about school and learning.

Armstrong & Wildman Article Summary
The article by Armstrong and Wildman helps explain how racism and privilege still show up in schools, even when no one is trying to be unfair. They talk about how white culture is often treated as the normal way of thinking or doing things. This affects who feels like they belong, who gets listened to, and who is seen as trouble. The authors say that to make schools truly fair, we have to look at how the system works, not just at individual actions. A lot of unfair treatment comes from rules and habits that seem normal but actually favor some students over others.

What’s important about this article is that it helps us understand that treating everyone the same isn’t always fair. We have to notice whose voices are being centered and whose are being left out. If we want all students to feel welcome and respected, we need to make room for different backgrounds, experiences, and ways of seeing the world.

Why These Two Articles
I chose these two articles for my teach-out project because they both show how schools can either include or ignore students’ real lives and identities. Sleeter explains how ethnic studies helps students, especially students of color, feel seen and supported by showing their histories and cultures in the classroom. Armstrong and Wildman go deeper into how whiteness is often treated as the normal standard in schools, which leaves many students feeling left out. Together, these pieces help explain why changing what we teach and how we teach it is so important if we want all students to feel like they belong and can succeed.

Shalaby Troublemakers 6/11

 

Argument Summary

Carla Shalaby argues that children labeled as “troublemakers” aren’t broken or bad; they are resisting systems that were never designed with their full humanity in mind. Instead of seeing misbehavior as something to control, she asks us to consider it a form of communication, even protest. These students are giving us clues about what’s not working in school. 

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Three Quotes

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1. “These often idealistic and earnest teachers-to-be are taught that good teachers command control over students, and they are encouraged to learn to use behavioral systems of reward and punishment that are actually more appropriate for training animals than for educating free human beings.”

This quote prompted me to reflect on everything we’ve learned this semester about power and control in schools.  When control is the goal, the teacher becomes a manager, and the students become workers, rather than listeners or learners. This quote also relates to the Atlantic podcast on The Real Origins of Public Education, which explained that schools in the U.S. were designed to shape students into obedient citizens, not necessarily critical thinkers. Shalaby’s critique of reward/punishment systems shows how this mindset is still with us today.

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2. “For the word obedience, where I expected a picture of a dog, perhaps, I instead found a young artist who had drawn a row of pupils at their desks sitting straight, hands clasped, facing forward. It was a haunting image and, also, a deeply resonant one.”

It reminded me of how The Washington Post article on school “factory models” pointed out that while schools weren't literally modeled after factories, they still operate like ones, with bells, lines, scripts, and strict routines.  In most classrooms, the “ideal” student follows the rules quietly, speaks “proper” English, and stays in their seat. Any student who doesn’t fit that mold is labeled as disruptive, even if they’re just being themselves.

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3. “The child who deviates, who refuses to be like everybody else, may be telling us—loudly, visibly, and memorably—that the arrangements of our schools are harmful to human beings... It is dangerous to exclude these children, to silence their warnings.”

This quote is the heart of Shalaby’s argument. “Troublemakers” may actually be the truth-tellers. They’re pointing out what’s toxic in school systems. This reminded me of Christine Sleeter’s article, where she wrote that students of color know when the curriculum ignores them and they can describe it in detail. Shalaby is saying something similar: students know when a system doesn’t serve them and some will act out rather than silently suffer. It also echoes Allan Johnson’s point in Privilege, Power, and Difference that systems are maintained because people with privilege often ignore the harm those systems cause. In this case, schools are set up to reward conformity and punish resistance, especially from marginalized students.

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Questions

• What would it look like to design classrooms around freedom and not control?

• How can we train teachers to read behavior as communication?

• What are students trying to tell us when they refuse to sit still, be quiet, or follow rules that don’t make sense to them?

• How can we make the accommodations for these students while still meeting the needs of the rest of the class?

• What would it look like to actually trust students, especially those labeled as “disruptive," to help redesign the way school works?

• Have you ever felt like you had to “behave” in school just to survive? Not to learn, but to avoid trouble?

Because Our Islands Are Our Life Article. By Moé Yonamine. Rethinking Schools, Summer, 2019. 6/10

 Moé Yonamine shows that climate change is personal for Pacific Islander students. For them, it’s not just about science. It’s about losing their homes, their culture, and their families. Through Ethnic Studies and community events, students are finding ways to speak out and fight for climate justice.

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 “Because if our islands drown, our identity goes with it.”

Climate change isn’t just about science or the environment; it’s about culture, identity, and survival.  This reminded me of Lisa Delpit’s idea from "Other People’s Children," where she discusses how education must reflect the lives of students. These students are literally saying, “See me. Hear me. This is my life.”

How do we talk about climate change in school without turning it into just facts and charts? How do we center the people most impacted?

“How can you say that you don’t have time to hear from us?”

The students weren’t allowed to speak at a climate march. They were ready, organized, and still got ignored. It shows how even when students from marginalized communities do everything right, show up, get involved, and speak out, they still get silenced. This made me think of Allan Johnson’s point that privilege makes people blind to others' struggles.  The organizers probably didn’t even realize they were leaving someone out.

How many voices are we missing just because we aren’t paying attention?
How many times have I seen someone get cut off or ignored without realizing what that meant to them? 

 “It’s either walk now or swim later.”

These students can’t wait. Their homes are at risk. This is why education needs to be connected to real life. These students aren’t learning for the sake of a test. They’re learning to survive, to fight, and to be heard. This also ties into Sleeter’s article about the value of ethnic studies. These students were empowered because their Ethnic Studies class gave them tools to understand, organize, and express themselves. 

What would school look like if it focused more on students' real lives and communities?

The Teach Out Project 6/9

 CHOOSE A TEXT

Two texts that have had a significant impact on me this year are "The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies" by Christine Sleeter and "Teaching Race, Privilege, and Power" by Armstrong and Wildman.

Sleeter’s article stood out because it clearly outlines how traditional curriculum centers white, Euro-American narratives while minimizing or oversimplifying the experiences and contributions of people of color. It also showed how ethnic studies can re-engage students, especially students of color, by reflecting their identities, communities, and histories. 

The Armstrong & Wildman piece helped me reflect more deeply on how race and privilege operate in schools. This article supports the idea that we can’t have genuine equity in schools unless we challenge white normativity and create space for diverse voices and lived experiences.

WHO DO YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH?

I want to share these ideas with my students. They are the ones living through the consequences of what gets taught and what gets left out. They deserve to learn in ways that affirm who they are and challenge them to understand how power works in society. I also hope this will open up conversations among them about their own experiences, culture, and identity.

WHAT FORMAT MIGHT WORK FOR YOU?

The format I will use is a lesson plan. This lesson will:

• Use excerpts from both texts
• Engage students in a discussion about whose voices are heard in the curriculum
• Ask them to reflect on their own schooling experiences
• Include an activity where students imagine or propose their own Ethnic Studies unit, centering their cultural backgrounds or questions they care about
• Challenge them to think critically about how race, privilege, and systems of power operate in schools and society