Katie’s FNED Blog

 For our final blog we were asked to reflect on three things during the semester, I am choosing these three.  1. Kohn Classroom Chart One of the things I enjoyed and will refer back to is the Kohn Classroom Chart. I think the chart is a good guideline to look at how a classroom is being run and set up. I enjoyed breaking down our own classrooms in our placement and directing the chart. I will use this chart when I become a teacher and found it to be very beneficial. 2. Woke Read alongs The second thing that stuck with me is the two woke read alongs we watched. I found both of them to be completely off-putting and inappropriate. There is no reason that these topics belong in a Kindergarten classroom. I think they could be approached at a much older age with equal success and less confusion.  3. Discussion time For my final one I am going very broad and saying all discussion time in the class. Many of the other students in this class made me feel like I could not have a dif...

I watched the "Woke Kindergarten" read-aloud of   They, She, He: Easy as ABC   by Christina Gonzalez. I found the video unsettling and unnecessary. This reading is presented for Kindergarteners. In absolutely no world is this something that should be taught to young children. It is confusing.  I am a 19 year old that has grown up with these terms. I still get confused and I have a sound understanding of grammar and identity. Trying to teach the concept of the pronoun "they" while simultaneously trying to teach that they is plural for a group of people is so confusing  Tree  is a noun, not a pronoun, and using it in this way disrupts basic sentence structure. If I find this confusing as an adult, I can only imagine how unclear and perplexing it must be for a five-year-old. Especially students that are not English first language.   Including non-standard words like these in early ...

  Challenging ableist assumptions implies that disability is an ordinary part of human variation, something that doesn't need to be fixed. Thomas Hehir notes that the largest barriers faced by students with disabilities are often the product of social opinion and school policy that underestimate their capacities or rely on limiting stereotypes. In my own experience in public schools, I’ve seen how powerful it can be when students with disabilities are welcomed and fully included in the classroom. When teachers encourage inclusive and supportive environments, strong, respectful connections develop, benefiting everyone and creating long lasting success. As a counterpart to inclusion, how instruction is organized matters immensely as well. Hehir refers to planning lessons ahead of time with varying learning needs in mind, rather than waiting until trouble arises and scrambling to attempt to adapt. Planning for students is part of the job. To be prepared f...

When  we  walk   into  a  room , what tells us  that  it   is  a  good   room  to learn  in ? Alfie Kohn's "What to Look for in a Classroom" gives us  an easy   standard for  asking  that question,  changing   much  of the  old  schooling  assumptions. Instead of focusing on order, compliance, or rows of silent students, Kohn encourages us to look deeper. Inviting classrooms, are spaces where students are active participants in their learning. You’ll find children working together, exploring real questions, and engaging in hands-on activities that spark curiosity. Kohn also  points   out  student choice. In great classrooms, students  get  to  pick  what they're  studying  and how they demonstrate what they know. I see this in my classroom, the students are working on a project where they get to choose what they are researching....