Promising Practices

When i first arrived at RIC the curriculum fair was just getting set up. The first session i went to was Teaching transgender students. I think that is crazy that a person as young at 2 starts to realize they are different. I never thought that young children "knew" those feelings. "Children will have a strong persistent interest in things deemed unusual for their gender like, toys, play, artwork, dress, names, and clothing. Children spend most of their waking days at school. Teachers, faculty, and staff need to be open minded, positive and supportive. Not all transgender people are "out", so teachers need to be knowledgeable about transgender and have a no tolerance teasing policy. Parents will also have concerns about how will the children act when Joseph comes back to school at Josie. Will the child be put down and isolated? Will the child get bullied and feel unsafe at school? Will the teacher accept the child and teach the children to "stick up" for one another. Will the teacher also discuss how everyone feels the same on the inside. Will they use gender neural language. Another major concern for transgender children are bathrooms. Some children will hold it in all day long. This does not just go for children. Transgender adults get harassed when using the bathroom. No one should feel unsafe when using the bathrooms. Bathrooms should be family or unisex facilities. I also never thought how that might make someone feel. I am the type if i have to pee i will go, but not just in any bathroom.The most disturbing information was the suicide rate. By the age of 20 about 50% of transgender children have attempted or succeeded in suicide. The presenter also mentioned the transgender bill of rights
This session went over the time by like 10 minutes. I think that this session connected with Carlson. Having gender neutral bathrooms, educating teacher on how to support and make transgender children feel welcome. I think that is very important for all students to feel safe and welcoming in school in order to get the best education. I learned the most in this session.
After the first session we went to the curriculum fair. I thought it was fun to walk around and see the different learning materials they had to offer. I liked the assistance technology table.
The second session that i went to was Celebrating our World: An Integrated Approach to Global Studies. I really liked this workshop the two presenters put a lot of thought and effort into what they presented. They were 1st and 2nd grade teachers from Henry Barnard School. They have a travel friend that travels with children when they go on vacation with their family. The presenters gave a folder to everyone with letters and examples of work for the children. There is a letter that is sent home with the children for the parents explaining the children will complete a travel log. There is also a letter for the student telling them about the travel log and sharing their experience with friends when they return to school. The log includes character traits, items collected during the trip, food ate, new things, favorite things, people you met on your trip, draw the state and country of the place you are visiting, journal for each day of the trip,buildings, bridges, tunnels,lakes, rivers, oceans, and mountains visited. Also a space provided to draw your favorite place visited.
September is summer souvenir. October is Columbus, Spain to San Salvador. November is Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, from England to the new world/ Massachusetts. ETC. After the month by month lesson on geography we went around to 6 different art stations. We made art projects from places like, Brazil ( carnival masks), Japan ( paper fan), North America ( story sticks), and Germany ( wooden clothespin people). They supplied the materials and directions for everyone. I had a lot of fun with the hands on take home projects. I was thinking that maybe Rodriguez because the teachers are bringing other cultures into the classroom. The children get to see the place on the map and draw it. They invite parents into the class to teach the students about their heritage and even bring in food to try. The children like to try food. I enjoyed this session a lot i also learned a lot. i like how the teacher finds a way around learning about different holidays. They also include the family's of the children into the classroom.

I really enjoyed, Tricia Rose, the keynote speaker. She was inspiring and down to earth. i liked when she said we need to be painfully honest, and make sure that we don’t skip over the "ugly parts." I enjoyed promising practice because it is informative and you get to talk to other students wanting to become a teacher and others who are already teachers.