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Proposal for Final Paper

Planning for our final assignment has left me at a crossroads. For that reason, I am using this post to pitch four potential ideas that are bouncing around my brain. To those of you that read this post, I want to thank you in advance for taking the time to read through my proposal. While reading, I ask that you read with the purpose of helping me select an idea to move forward with for my final paper. In an attempt to help you (and myself) nail down an idea, I ask that you consider the following questions: 1. Would I actually read this paper? 2. Is the topic interesting? 3. Does the topic have the potential to influence others, be it through providing a new way of thinking about the topic and/or by providing suggested actions people could take after reading the paper? To be clear, I welcome any and all feedback that any reader of this post intends to provide, however, I am posing these questions as a way to ensure that whatever I end up writing is something of substance and not just an
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11/18 Reading Response

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            After watching the Netflix documentary I Am Not Your Negro (2017) directed by Raol Peck, the concept of hope was one theme, among others, that stood out to me ( once again ). Through this lens of hope, I found myself connecting this source to the video lecture by Dr. Tricia Rose, “ How Structural Racism Works ”. For me, this connection is most salient in both the beginning and ending of the documentary. To start, the documentary begins with a clip from 1968 from the Dick Cavett Show. During this clip, the host asks James Baldwin a series of questions, such as “why aren’t [black people] optimistic?” and “is it at once getting much better and still hopeless [for black people]?” The second question, paired with Baldwin’s initial response (i.e. “I don’t think there is much hope for it”, the “it” I believe referring to black people’s sense of optimism), mirrors Dr. Rose’s response at the end of her lecture when answering a question that asks about “the next opportunity [for pr
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10/28 Reading Response

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  “Do we or do we not live in a world where we assist each other? Do we or do we not help each other with basic needs?” - Judith Butler, Examined Life- Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor (2010) Reading and watching this week’s sources brought a lot of thoughts I have about special education, particularly the way special education operates in public high schools, to the forefront of my brain. Starting with the Youtube video Examined Life--Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor (2010), I was instantly hooked on the concept of how social politics inform the way one operates in a space and/or if one asks for, and in turn receives, assistance. Although Butler and Taylor contain their conversation to the physical realm (i.e. how one’s appearance informs how the public reacts to them/ their bodies), I connected this conversation to something less visible, but just as omnipresent: asking for help in a classroom setting. In my experience thus far as a special educator it is common to see students p
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10/14 Reading Response

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  “The dominant white culture is killing us slowly with its ignorance… As a people we have resisted and we have taken expedient positions, but we have never been allowed to develop unencumbered—we have never been allowed to be fully ourselves.” - Gloria Anzaldua, “La conciencia de la mestiza/ Towards a New Consciousness”, p. 86 Watching Precious Knowledge (2011) directed by Ari Palos and Eren Isabel McGinnis was a constant act of dedication after the first twenty minutes of the film. The shift of watching the success of  the Mexican-American Studies program (MAS) to the documentation of MAS’s untimely demise is what I think makes watching this film feel surreal: the first twenty or so minutes demonstrates to the viewer that there is a strong correlation between an increase in positive academic and nonacademic outcomes for students who participate in MAS with the remaining 50 minutes showcasing all the ways two prominent politicians use their power and their networks to put an end to
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9/30 Reading Response

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          After watching the Netflix documentary 13th directed by Ava Duvernay as well as watching  the Ted Talk “ How we’re priming some kids for college and others for prison ” by Alice Goffman and then reading the recommendations section from the policy report “ Law and Order in School and Society: How Discipline and Policing Policies Harm Students of Color, and What We Can Do About It ” written by Janelle T. Scott and others a clear theme emerges for me: people of color in America are seen as criminals. Moreover, the concept that people of color are seen as criminals (regardless of committing a crime or not) is one that has been manufactured and maintained throughout history by people with influence, namely our politicians.  Specifically, 13th begins by explaining how the thirteenth amendment has been utilized as a “tool” and “loophole” that politicians use to maintain the economy as much as possible to match the productivity and free labor that occurred during slavery. However,
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9/16 Reading Response

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          After completing the coursework for this week’s class, I am left wanting to know more about the links between early childhood experiences (as well as prenatal experiences) and the trajectory of one’s life. This line of thinking started first with my viewing of the episode “ In Sickness and in Wealth ” from the TV series, Unnatural Causes . Essentially, this episode demonstrates that in America there is an insidious connection between one’s socioeconomic status, race, and life expectancy. Early on in the episode the narrator shares that with diseases like “diabetes--low income Americans have twice the rate of disease as the affluent and for those in the middle classes it’s still almost twice the rate. A similar pattern holds true for stroke [and] heart disease” (11:35-11:46). Essentially then, people with low socioeconomic statuses are at a higher risk for chronic diseases. According to the episode, the reason for the disproportionate rates of illness among social classes is
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Manifesto

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I am a teacher who stan ds up for equity against  injustice , who is in favor of inclusion against systems of discrimin ation , who is a supporter of diver sity against practices of segregation , and who is a defender of access for all students against exclusionary practices . I am a teacher who favors the permanent struggle against unfair practices that keep "those kids" out and against the stereotypes that follow the label a student has been given, be it from a teacher, doctor, caregiver, or specialist . I am a teacher who rejects copy room talk, because this seemingly innocuous act is responsible for creating biases that cloud the minds of well-intentioned teachers and keep them from seeing a student for who he/she/they really are . I am a teacher full of idealism , in spite of a world that is filled with cynics and nay-sayers . I am a teacher who refuses to give up, even when others tell me to stop trying . I am a teacher proud of the differences . If I do not strugg
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