Do I Have the Full Picture?

  As educators, it is our duty to teach an unbiased curriculum that gives students the full picture. It is also our duty to make sure we make it known to our students what stance we take on issues that directly affect them. However, I do not promote using political terms such as democrat and republican. It is possible to let our students know how we feel about issues concerning race without using this terminology. An example, of a stance that I will take with my students, is that dysconscious racism is the direct root of economic inequality in the United States. It is important to teach our students about what this term means and what its results included. The video “We Must Talk About Race to Fix Economic Inequality”, defines dysconscious racism as “habits, perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs that justify racial inequality, the social and economic advantages of being white that does not allow alternate visions of society”. The main example the video gives of this is dog whistling. Dog whistling is a way to talk about people of color in a demeaning way that still allows the people speaking to have deniability about who they are directing their comments. An example of this would be freeloaders. It is important that we as educators learn how to spot this kind of derogatory language so that we can prohibit it in our classroom, and properly explain to our students why it will not be tolerated. 

The TikTok posted by Victoria really hit home with me because I distinctly remember learning about Ruby Bridges in school. However, I was taught that Ruby was welcomed into her new school with open arms with little to no resistance. I did not learn that fifty other children of color applied to this same school, and were rejected. In fact, I did not even learn that they had to apply at all. The point I am trying to make here is that, as educators, it is our job to do our own research and learning because it is almost a certainty that we have been fed biased information and mistaken them for facts of history. If we fail to educate ourselves then we just continue this vicious cycle.

    I think many people are so willing to leave this in the past because they think it is ancient history. This is a picture of Ruby Bridgers now; she is 68 years old.

Why Teach?

       For as long as I can recall teaching has always been a profession I admired. I remember sitting in my Kindergarten classroom and staring at my teacher in awe. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I didn't say princess like my best friend and I didn't say astronaut like the boy who spoke a little too loudly. No, instead I said I wanted to be Mrs. Smith. I remember the smile the answer brought to my role model's face, and I have not changed my career path since and almost definitely because of that memory.

    The first thing I did when I graduated high school was I applied to a college's education program and to work at a preschool. I originally wanted to teach upper elementary grade levels, but I have deviated from that path after being able to be a teacher to eleven wonderful two-year-olds. I know that does not sound as amazing to everyone as it does to me, but let me tell you, those kids amaze me every day. I found out very quickly that children are way more intelligent than we think. They know how to find a solution to most problems that pop up in their everyday lives (this usually has something to do with toys and snacks haha)    and they know how to make their friends feel better when they are having a hard day. Because of this, I think I am becoming more drawn to the younger grades such as Kindergarten (Mrs. Smith may have some influence on this) and first grade. 

    I obviously could not upload a picture of my actual students, but this is a pretty good depiction of what my classroom looks like on most days.