Nolan's Professional E Portfolio

I personally grew up in a middle class white family, I am very privileged to have had all of the opportunities I have in my education. I atteneded the biggest elementary school in Yorkton as well as the biggest high school in Yorkton. In both schools I was fortunate enough to be put in places where I could make friends with people of different cultures and ethnicities. As well as I was very fortunate to have two teachers as parents who always pushed me to be my best and who educated me on many things and lessons in life. I always carried biases and lessons down that my parents had taught me about such as my dad is a very easy going guy who is always friendly to everyone does matter their race or language he always tries to be friendly with everyone so I have carried that bias and will continue to use it in my classroom when I grow up. It is very difficult for everyone to believe in the biases I have as I know that’s not possible but I truly believe everyone is unique in their own ways and should be privileged with the same help and love everyone else is given. In a classroom setting I know I will be faced with many different challenges such as different kids with different cultures, believes, genders so I want to be prepared for those situations that’s why another one of my biases is to always to continue to push myself to be better and to learn more.

There were lots of European cantered stories in my learning. Such as the Hamlet, the Romeo and Juliet, the Macbeth these were all great stories that brought many great messages. But we were never really taught much about the indigenous or Métis people until I remember we read a article in grade 12. It was very disappointing because it was like one story was enough for one year, we would talk about the history lots in classes but it would never be about the different cultures. It was always the truth of the white people in the stories I remember countless stories of white peoples perspectives that we read and it was always about what they had to say was what we would talk about in discussions. But then as soon as we read a article about a First Nations person it was always not really discussed after. It’s kind of hard to see still in education because those peoples perspectives and history is just as important as everyone else.

Thinking back to my schooling and mathematics days I wasn’t one of the kids who struggled with math or who constantly needed help. I was always the first kid who wanted to answer the question because it made me feel smart and good about myself. I think after reading the article it is seen that there definitely is discriminatory behaviour within numeracy and mathematics. What I took out of the article is that it is this way for some students because it’s either a right or wrong answer in math. There’s not really no inbetween so when students are struggling and not getting the answers right the teachers are constantly harping on them about doing better when in reality they are trying their best. So personally since I was always a kid who loved and succeeded in math I never really had to deal with the discriminatory behaviour but I feel like it is present. Even within mathematics when things are taught they are only taught one way when different kids learn differently so they struggle with the math. Or kids coming from different cultures and ethnicities struggle with the new math they learn. I believe the European philosophy is the dominant type of teaching math and there isn’t much leverage on other philosophies to teach math.

Part 2: The Inuit communities live in a much different environment and have much different lifestyles than we do. They have adapted to those lifestyles though and shown many positives coming out of the Inuit communities. Because we have such different lifestyles Inuit community is forced to try and come up with different approaches to succeed with their daily lives, with mathematics and numeracy being one of the different practices they have learned and taught. Poirier highlights the ways in which Inuit mathematics challenge Eurocentric ideas throughout her article and how they are so different. There are many differences when dealing with the European mathematics compared to the Inuit mathematics.  One of the ways our mathematic systems are different is the calendar theirs is not divided into days like ours-their calendar is based on natural, independently recurring yearly events that take place. Such as different rituals or practices that occur. Another difference through mathematics is the language. More of their mathematics is taught orally where as ours is practice and paper and pen, and tests, where as theirs is learned orally and from generation to generation. As well as it is being taught in completely different languages as it would be very difficult to learn their mathematics as well as vice versa. Another difference is in their practices they do. For example since they don’t have much space in their communities they are taught to assess the winds or to read different snow which is super cool but when learning math we don’t do any of those things.

Learning and teaching about Treaty education and the First Nations people is crucial to our society today. It not only teaches us about the past and history of those people but also the present and future for those people as they are a big part of society as well. When I was in school treaty history was a huge part of our learning, especially in high school but even in my field placement last year treaty education was being taught in elementary schools as I think it is awesome how much of a importance that has on us. There is so much importance in teaching and knowing what had happened in the history of First Nations people. What is taught now in the classroom about treaty education will shape those students for the rest of their life and give them great amounts of learning and information that will benefit them for the rest of lives. If we did not learn about First Nations and different cultures of people there would be so many stereotypes that go around and so many judgements made about those people when we don’t even know the complete truth on how they lived. Our world and lifestyles would be a lot different if we didn’t learn about treaty education and all of the aspects that makes them a unique culture. No matter the race or language we should all come together as a society as one we are all connected to treaty people so should support them and learn about their culture like they have to learn about ours. In the classroom it shouldn’t matter what ethnicity you came from or where you were born we should all bring each other up. Treaty education should be crucial for a classroom even today.
 
I know at times it is tough to learn about a different ethnicity or about a history when you think it doesn’t matter as I have had those thoughts but it does matter. It mattered in the past and matters now and will continue to influence our future and I’m trying my best to really understand treaty education and gain more knowledge so I could be the best teacher possible.

Culture pedagogy in the classroom is going to be one of my big focuses in becoming a educator. I am majoring in math so it may not be as easy to input different cultures in work in math compared to something like social studies. But I definitely am up for the challange and can’t wait to find ways to add cultural pedagogy into my teaching. Some things I am going to focus on is making sure that my students are culturally involved and welcome in my classroom. Some ideas I had were even adding Mayan number systems I think that would be a unique learning experience for the students and I think would be awesome to teach.

I really want to make sure that my students feel safe in their environment of learning. I want my students to feel like they can learn anything in my classroom and I want my classroom to be a place they look forward to coming too. I know that if I include all the different cultures into my teaching not only the students will be satisfied but the parents always will but also myself as a educator because I will feel great about making my classroom such a great environment. One of my biggest goals is to make sure I influence my students to want to follow their dreams and be successful in their futures and I think including different ethnicities is a great first step.

Hip hop pedagogy is described as some form of artwork that was not created in the classroom. Hip hop was created in the streets or the hood and was created by different ethnicities helping spare time. Hip hop pedagogy is great in the classroom, it brings diversity to the class and is a great and fun way of teaching the students. It creates a different way to learning and helps engage the students in activities that maybe aren’t so engaging. The one thing students and teachers need to be aware of is that there is many in appropriate acts and languages that come with hip hop. So making sure those inappropriate aspects are kept to a school environment.

The hip hop culture has taken over many of our lives today as for many people that is their main stream of music now. Not only students but also teachers enjoy the hip hop culture and music. Some of the dances and songs they are able to create is just phenomenal. There are issues occurring due to hip hop in not only the past but also in the present. Hip hop can get very racial at times and offensive to many ethnicities saying words and statements that should not be said. When hip hop talks about a personal experience it talks about the different issues in society and how those issues are still shown today. It would be great if students and teachers were able to see how this hip hop was offensive and wrong to some individuals so that it was easy to change to make the classroom a better place. If students become more involved in issues and it becomes a bigger discussion then the world can become a better place.

In the article determining what a citizen is by Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne named “What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy”. From such a young age learning from my dad I found out how important it was to give back to my community by volunteering and being a good citizen. My dad was always volunteering for new things that he could help in which taught me how to be a good citizen. I also learned the importance of giving back, so many people helped me through my childhood of whatever I wanted to accomplish so I knew I had to give back, whether that was helping kids younger than me or older than me I always tried to be out there in the community. I remember in our high school history class we would spend lots of time talking about what it was like to be a good citizen and we would have debates about issues in a community including political issues. We would argue over certain laws and rules enforced by a goverment as it always got pretty heated because both sides had great perspectives. I remember the one time we debated over what it was like to be a good citizen. After that debate it really hit me that I needed to start donating more when I can and volunteering more because you don’t think it makes a difference but it really does. It is so crucial to give back to the goverment and the community whether it is a 2$ donation or whether it is opening a door for someone every little gesture makes a difference in being a good citizen and if everyone does their own share the world will be a good place to live in.

This model of Curriculum in regards to citizenship is definitely tough to grasp and understand because I feel the curriculum regarding citizenship is all about what one believes to be right or wrong. Whether that’s if one believes they don’t need to volunteer or give back compared to one who feels it is crucial to give back. I feel there is definitely pressure put on by the society and governments and schools in teaching to be a good citizen should be the goal. That being a good citizen is what should be taught I feel this version of the citizen can be problematic because they will feel like looking at schools or goverment that there is only one way to look at it all, they will feel forced and believe that is all what is trying to be taught. This aspect can be dangerous because of the many different groups, inequalities, and differences that Canada has. I have always been harped on as a student that there is only one way to see curriculum within a society and that is being a good citizen is important. This way of creating citizens is all about producing students who will grow up and do whatever they are told is right at the time and listen to whatever their teachers or parents tell them. This will be dangerous because only being taught the one way they will not be able to deal with the adversities and the different problems they may encounter.

I would very much agree with the statement “Cirriculum is complicated”. From what I’ve learned that is 100% true. There are so many different perspectives and people who deal with creating curriculum it just creates a huge mess and confusion. Many school boards have to take in count from many peoples different ideas and then try and take apply all the ideas to make the best curriculum possible. There is always judgment on the curriculum too it’s like it’s never perfect, something always needs to be fixed or needs to be added which is good but that is what makes cirriculum so messy. Not only does this make it difficult to decide what should be taught but it makes it difficult to decide what should be the main outcomes and focuses, how far every student should get through out the year. One piece that really stood out to me was the “Saskatchewan Way” by Henry Janzen’s and his quotes that he made regarding teachers, parents, students, and the community determining what should be included and what shouldn’t be.

Curriculum is the shifts from the planned out activities to those times where you need to think on the spot and have those unplanned transmissions. Curriculum is very much involved in everyday learning, every second teaching. There always needs to be a plan and it is so difficult to handle curriculum because there will always be different opinions. Some people are focused on not only achieving grade level but also going over that grade level where as other opinions are seen as I’m satisfied with the bare minimum. Some perspectives are you need to focus mainly on English as that is the key to a students success. Where as a different perspective says we need to spend more time on math. These are all factors in what makes planning out a curriculum so confusing and difficult. I know many times in my school we would always have fire drills or lockdowns during math and we missed out on a lot of math so had to catch up. So that was just a unplanned sequence that happened where we needed to adjust time and what we were being taught to catch up. I think cirriculums are what makes the schools run so smoothly if planned correctly so it is very imprortant to focus on curriculum.

The curriculum aspect on sex Ed is making sure that all of the straight kids are being taught all of the norms to sexual aspects meanwhile the trasngender or not straight kids are being set up to fail. Sex education focuses on the body and precautions of straight sex, but fails to explain the steps for safe sex for queer couples, or normalize asexual people. Students are always taught how they need to wear condoms and be safe from the different diseases that they can get but on the other hand they don’t talk about the people who aren’t straight. Which still puts those people at risks and they need to continue to account for everyone and educate people who are also bisexual. No person is 100% straight nor 100% gay, people can’t control which way or who they are attracted but to it just happens and the students need to know it is okay to feel different. Some may feel physical attraction towards women, but in different ways attracted to men and that is okay and should be accepted and not judged. There usually is 2 different Health classes one that teaches biological boys about what to expect, and in a separate room teaches biological girls about what to expect. Health class should be an open conversation that teaches everyone the same thing in one classroom because we don’t know how everyone feels and maybe a guy wants to know the autonomy of a girl or vice versa and shouldn’t feel the need to speak out about it if they aren’t comfortable so that should be added into the curriculum. Every student deserves to feel like they are in a safe and welcomed space. Every student has their own thoughts, their own desires and their own privacy as every student deserves to feel prepared for whatever encounter they face sexually in the future.

I am going to try and make some big changes in my classroom. First off I am going to make sure my classroom is a inclusive place where everyone can feel comfortable. I am going to account for I have no idea what each student goes through sexually, or whom they are attracted too. I am going to make sure to let my students ask as many questions as they need and educate them so that every single student is prepared no matter the situation they encounter. I will be very open to many comments or new ideas. I will support the students no matter their preferences on male or female. I will make sure to educate my students on the LGBT+ club and how it is not something to joke around about. I will make sure that the students are able to learn about not only their gender but also the other gender and make every student feel comfortable. I want my classroom to be a inclusive place, I want every kid to feel safe to feel loved and for the ability to give them what they need to succeed in the future!

According to common sense, a lot of the same traits come with a good student as well as a good person. Someone who is hardworking, someone who always tries their best. Someone who respects the teacher as well as the fellow classmates. As well as someone who finishes their work on time, I know teachers love when all of their students are done their work on time because it makes their lives easier. Also according to common sense someone who shows they want to learn by participating, asking questions, and being involved in class discussions that helps determine a good student. There are also stereotypes that come with good students such as most good students get good grades, teachers love when they have a easy paper to mark cause it’s all right compared to looking to find errors constantly. According to common sense if you do those things you will be a good student.

The students who are privileged are the ones who can adapt to the teachers types of learnings and can succeed with how the teacher runs the classroom. Everyone learns differently so some students won’t be able to pick up on the style of a teacher so will constantly struggle in doing good. As well students who don’t respect their classmates or teachers usually are known as the bad kids or the class clowns. Usually the class clowns are the kids who feel like they are doing bad and are too scared to fail. But the most privileged kids are the ones who are the most mentally advanced and the ones who show that they want to engage and learn every single day by asking questions and being involved.

A good student is shaped by historic factors because most of the stereotypes and factors that makes a good student were determined in the past and have just carried on to today’s society. Such as the kids with the lowest grades are usually the trouble makers. So due to the history of education the stereotypes that a good and bad student receive are mostly identical to the stereotypes from the past.

For my assignment I decided I am going to be doing some research on disabilities in schools and the bullying that comes along with it. In the article I read the main point is how horrible the bullying has been to kids with disabilities as well as the consequences that comes to those bullies. Yell says, “Unfortunately, students with disabilities are frequently the targets of peer-on-peer bullying. The purpose of this article is to examine the legal ramifications when students with disabilities are bullied in school settings.” Most common disabilities seen in school fall under the developmental concerns.

Every child and every case of disability is individually different. There are some children that function at high capacities no matter what their disability is. Then there are other children with very low capacities to function in a school setting and tend to struggle a lot with the school work. I believe that teachers, administrators need to be aware of these children and their specific needs because everyone is different and everyone thrives in different situations. Some people are just born with disabilities and cannot control that. Schools and school systems are able to provide specific services for special help or needs and that is something that has came along ways in schools. In my high school they had a classroom for all the kids who maybe experienced disability and needed extra help and helped them succeed no matter their condition and most of the teachers even helped them graduate. I think the school system has come along way in helping everyone thrive.