Being the "Other"

I am not a runner, nor do I ever go to the gym, so I chose to do both of these as my project. The catch-I was wearing jeans, a nice shirt, and a cardigan. I went to the Smith Field House at BYU campus and began running around the track. I felt so uncomfortable. I am not a very fast runner, nor do I like running, and even less so when I am doing it in jeans. It was hot and as people walked down the hall they were clearly trying not to stare as some crazy girl was running down the track at 7:30 on a week night, in jeans (see right). 

I felt so uncomfortable and didn't want to look at anyone as I continued to run down the track. I didn't want to be there. I felt like I didn't belong there. I could tell that people were judging me for not knowing what I was doing. 

But, it wasn't enough. There were few people on the track (see below), and all in all it wasn't all that bad, except for the people boxing that I kept passing and who stared maybe a second too long. I was defying a social norm, and they obviously noticed. 

I then proceeded up to the gym, and without entering into too much detail, it was awful. Like I said, I don't go to gyms and I don't know how to use machines there. I walked in and some 40-50 people were already in the gym working out. I avoided eye contact with everyone as I walked in, not really sure where I was headed, but going to the far corner of the room where I felt less people would stare. But, of course people stared. They acted like they weren't, but they did. They looked at me like I was crazy or there was something wrong with me, but no one questioned me. I even exchanged a bit of small talk with a person or two and they didn't question me. Rather, they just tried to act normal as you could tell they were still trying to figure out what I was doing and why I didn't know what was going on. Slowly I made my way into the more populated part of the gym and the stares only became worse and more frequent, so I tried to avoid them, but it was nearly impossible. I felt awful and as I left I couldn't have been more grateful that this awful experience was ending. 

Feeling awkward as I used the machinery with people staring.

I did not like being the other. I felt awkward. I could see and feel prejudice towards my appearance in a place where everyone else dressed the same, acted the same, and did the same things. I did not feel like I could not do anything that was there or that I could not use the equipment, just over and over again I felt that I shouldn't, due to the strange looks and stares of those around me.

I went over to get a drink at the public drinking fountain, and felt that I should have been letting people in front of me because they had worked harder and obviously I wasn't doing quite enough work to sweat and thus 'earn' water, which was free to all in the gym. I was experiencing self-imposed institutional discrimination. No one told me that I couldn't use the equipment, but everyone made me feel as though I shouldn't just by the looks on their faces. 

I tried to be positive and keep a smile on my face the whole time, but it was hard with people staring at me. I tried to fit in. I fiddled with my phone, but everyone else had headphones in to listen to their personal music, and I was stuck with the loud music blasting overhead. No one really talked, so I also kept to myself mostly and distracted myself trying to learn how to use different machines by observing what others were doing with them. It helped, I learned a lot in a manner of minutes. But, when people saw me watching them, they gave me odd looks and I felt slightly embarrassed and looked away. 

Most of the people in there had the privilege of knowing how to work machinery and what to do that was socially acceptable because they had played or were currently playing on sports teams and had gone to the gym with their coaches and trainers and learned what to do and what exercise was best for them. I had never played on a high school or college sports team and had never been to the gym other than to one time run on the treadmill, but that was in a different city and the gym was nearly empty. 

Towards the end I began to feel like I was taking part in the resistance theory. I didn't like the way I felt or the way people were looking at me and I was resisting trying to learn and understand the area I was in. All I wanted was to leave, and trying to understand machinery at that point was no longer doing me any good, and so I left. 

I feel that I understand a little bit of how students who are not part of the majority feel when they come into a classroom. It is disturbing, and it doesn't always make sense. I think that many students probably go through a process similar to what I did. 

Students feel awkward or embarrassed and make their way to a place where they will be seen by less people. Maybe they then become slightly more comfortable after they are there for a short time. Then, they try to participate in the group but shy away quickly because they realize that they don't fit in or that something is different because people keep looking at them, or maybe even talking about them. This is where the fundamental attribution error comes in to play. Classmates, or possibly even the teacher, begin to hypothesize about appearance, race, gender, etc. and explain a student or classmate's behavior. However, they do not address the problem with the person, but merely talk about that person. This then leads to misunderstandings, judgments, and eventually even discrimination because of incorrect hypothesis. 

I want to make sure students feel comfortable in my classroom. I don't ever want them to have to experience the awkwardness and embarrassment I did in this situation. Students should never have to feel out of place and as teachers we should do all we can to make sure they have opportunities to succeed and feel safe within the classroom.

Culture

Your collection should consist of digital images and/or recordings (20 artifacts or so) that capture your culture. 

Review your artifacts and reflect on what you learned about your own culture and how your culture serves as a help and/or a hindrance in school settings. Post your reflection in your portfolio.

Today's culture would suggest that it is impossible to get around without a smartphone. In some areas, they are a sign of wealth and can even be used to determine who is popular in schools. Anywhere you find people, you will most likely find someone actively using a smartphone.

 Books are a big part of my family's culture. We are a reading family. We are expected to read and all have developed a love for it as entertainment. It is highly encouraged and is not unlikely to see someone with a book out in my house sometime during the day. Harry Potter was one that my parents read to us when we were younger before we would go to bed.

 Family is a large part of Utah culture. People are expected to spend time with their family and have a happy, good family life where everyone gets along. Families consist of a mother, father, and their children.









Family dinners are encouraged. Families sit around a dinner table with a homemade meal and eat as they discuss the work or school day. Children eat with good manners (mouths closed when chewing, proper use of utensils) and participate in the discussion when called upon.








Music is a large part of people's day. Almost every where you go, you can hear someone's car radio, a speaker, or some building playing music over the loudspeaker. It is nearly impossible to find quiet when out in the city. There is always some form of music. It is entertainment, as well as therapeutic, or even a filler for lack of noise.










The LDS temples are a large part of LDS culture. When on the grounds of this temple, quiet is expected and reverence within. It is a place of worship as well as a symbol of peace and hope.
















The little name tag there is a large part of LDS culture as well. When wearing this name tag, missionaries have a duty to represent their family, church, and God. There are expectations to the way that a missionary will act when wearing this tag. For example, they are to exercise the highest form of charity and love, serving others and seeking to build up the kingdom of God.

Christmas is a large event in American culture. Celebrated with decorated trees, exchange of presents, colored lights hung in trees and on rooftops, etc. It is a time when everyone is happier and people are willing to give a little more. 

Personally, we celebrated by watching a different Christmas movie every night, or as often as we could with popcorn and in our pajamas to get ourselves more excited for Christmas day.

Social media is constantly in use. It is the main means for communication. It is normal for people at least 13 years old to have one or multiple social media accounts to keep up with friends, watch cat videos, look at pictures, or send quick 10 second videos to others. It is normal for several people to be in a room together, but not say hardly anything to one another and instead be looking at or communicating through social media.

Education is the norm. If you do not have a bachelor's degree, or possibly an associate's, it is difficult to get a good, well-paying job. It is normal for people to now go to college and earn a bachelor's and spend thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a good education.

Clothing varies from dresses to jeans and a tee-shirt, to short shorts and a tank top, to leggings and an oversized sweater. Everything is the norm in clothing. Right now some of the big cultural movements are flower print on clothing and combining mismatched prints.

There is also a cultural movement to be more active. Triathlons, marathons, hiking, etc. have all become more common as the hegemonic culture begs for people to slim down and be more physically fit. This includes outdoor activities such as running and biking. 

BYU football is huge in my family culture. When the game is on TV, silence is expected unless you are cheering because of a good play or touchdown. There is always food and it is normal for it to be extremely loud and for there to be quite a bit of jumping up and down.

Playing soccer at a young age is a part of the hegemonic culture. Children are expected to participate with their team and do their best to score a goal. Families and sometimes even grandparents attend Saturday morning games. Parents all hope that their child will love the sport and be good enough so that they can continue to play,

Grandparents are a large part of my family culture. Living close was important and behaving while at a grandparent's house was necessary. There was no running around them and manners like "please" and "thank you" were required, as well as telling them you loved them and giving them a hug hello and goodbye.

Online shopping is the norm. People expect things to get to them quickly and rarely do they go to try on clothing in a store any more. They click a few times online because it is more convenient and then wait for a package to arrive on their doorstep a few days later.



People also expect food to be ready and available to them very quickly. There are many fast food restaurants, which are a common place to eat at for a quick meal. Customers stand in line, order their food, sit at a table and eat it quickly and then leave.

Grocery stores are the place to go for food. Once inside, customers grab a cart, and put items in until they have all that they need. Hardly a word is exchanged between customers who did not enter the store together.





Movie theaters are a common form of entertainment. It is normal to buy a large popcorn with extra butter and a large fountain drink, sit in your assigned chair in the the theater and not talk to anyone. During the film silence is expected as people sit, enjoying their snacks.






Traffic signs, such as this are on nearly every corner in the country. Culture teaches us that we should bring our vehicle to a complete stop in line with the sign. Pedestrians cross the street before the car continues on.










I have realized that my culture is a very rule-based environment. Things are expected of society, and if someone does not meet that expectation they receive strange looks from other people, and some times even more serious consequences such as a fine or ticket. My culture defines my actions because I generally do not be the one person acting outside of the norm. My culture is very Internet based, as well as pleasure based. It is also a culture in which people greatly lack patience if things are not provided to them quickly.

For the most part I think that this culture helps students in a school setting. Students have a cultural expectation to attend college, and thus generally have a desire to do well in school. Culture dictates that technology be used often, and so technology has been introduced into the classroom and is being used to teach children, for the most part in a very effective way. Culture teaches children what they ought to be doing and they do it so that they feel a sense of belonging. However, sometimes this can be a hindrance to the classroom. For example, social media plays a huge role in today's society. Yet, within the school it mostly serves as a distraction. It really depends on a teacher's classroom culture what will hinder or help a child's education.

Portfolio 1

1. Five images (you can take them or they can come from the Internet [provide proper credit]). These images should reflect, in some way, what you imagine your classroom will look like once you are a teacher. Please annotate your images by providing a description of the image and how it relates to your future classroom.
2. Imagine the surrounding in your classroom. What does the room look like? What resources are available for students? How are the resources used during the lesson?
3. Describe the students in your classroom. What are their backgrounds? What are their interests? What are they doing during the lesson?
4. Describe your classroom policies. What are your classroom rules? What is your discipline plan? What are your homework policies?
5. Describe a typical lesson you will teach in your classroom. What will you teach? What is the topic? Why did you choose this topic? How will you teach it? What is the main thing you want students to learn during this lesson?
6. Imagine your work as a teacher during this lesson. What are you doing during the lesson?
7. Imagine your students again, what are they doing during the lesson?
8. Imagine how you will assess your students' learning and achievement. How will you know they have learned?

  

1. My first picture is of a reading corner that I want in my classroom. There will be shelves full of books to encourage literacy and enjoyment of reading. There will be a carpet for students to sit on for when I read out loud. There will also be pillows or beanbags for students to use for when there is free time or reading time and the student wants to read.
Photo by Khumantaris. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/33216422@N08
/3578400771/in/pool-spaceandplaces

My second picture is of a job chart. Students will have a daily/weekly job to help them learn responsibility. Students will also be responsible for helping to clean up the classroom, as they spend much of their time there and it should be a clean place where we can continue to learn, and where the Spirit can be present to help them learn (and to help me teach).

Photo by Jodi Durgin. Retrieved from http://frame.bloglovin.com/frame?post=1327624935&group=0&frame_type=a&blog=2679652&link=aHR0cDovL2NsdXR0ZXJmcmVlY2xhc3Nyb29tLmJsb2dzcG90LmNvbS8yMDEzLzA3L3RpcHMtZm9yLWNyZWF0aW5nLWFuZC1tYW5hZ2luZy5odG1s&frame=1&click=0&user=0

The third picture is the “Good Morning” Board. It is a welcome area, where, as students come in to the classroom, they can turn in homework, pick up the classwork that needs to be done that morning as they come in to the room, etc. There will also be a calendar with important dates.

Photo by Ashley Hall. Retrieved from http://owlwaysgoodteaching.blogspot.com/2015/09/classroom-reveal.html

The fourth picture shows more or less how I want to arrange the desks in my classroom. I want students in groups of 4 or 5 with their desks put together so that when we do group work we do not have to use our class time moving desks and putting them back. Photo by Caitlin Spencer. Retrieved from http://www.teachingforthethrill.com/category/teaching/

The last picture shows that I want my room to be colorful and full of life. I want it to feel warm and have boards on the walls to post students’ art or good writing or other work. I want them to be able to show their hard work to others and have them think about how much effort they are putting in to what they are doing because it might go on the wall where their parents, peers, and other teachers will also be able to view it.

No photographer listed. Retrieved from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/21/4e/7e2

14e8ad5a881b10cba3e2d3145cfbc.jpg

2. My classroom will be a place where students will feel safe. It will have some of their best work posted on at least one of the walls. It will have a large bookshelf full of books of varying levels and genres to promote student literacy and enjoyment of reading. There will be art supplies as well and pictures of students and interesting places-such as India, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids in Egypt, Mount Rushmore, etc. to incite a desire to learn and discover new things. During lessons we will use art supplies, where applicable, to inspire creativity. We will talk about pictures and paintings and we will use books. I also think that we will use technology to our advantage. I will show videos to help students learn about things or places to which we do not have access within our classroom. The room will be vibrant and full of color and life, but it will also be a calm place. Things on the walls and boards will not be so distracting as to cause students to lose focus on the task at hand.

3. The students in the classroom are engaged learners. They think critically and ask questions. They are a diverse group culturally and socioeconomically. They are interested and invested in their education because they think learning is fun. During the lesson, a few may be off task occasionally, but for the most part students are following directs and commenting and enhancing the lesson.

4. The most important classroom rule I will have is respect for others and yourself. Listen to the teacher and follow her directions. I will use the “Class”, “yes” method to get students on task and use tallies to show how well/poorly students are behaving that day. Other than that I will let students decide on their own rules and consequences.

My discipline plan will be to first use teacher proximity, and get closer to the student or group that is causing problems. If they continue to act out, I will issue a quiet warning as the other students are busy working on something else. The third step, if the problem continues will be a first timeout. Students will sit in a designated area in the classroom (probably a corner further away from the activities and other students) until they feel they are ready to come back, in which case they come talk to me, and then they return to class. The fourth step will be a second timeout in which the student will go to the principal’s office (unless they are trying to get themselves there, in which case it will be the corner again), and they will be talked to about behavior. A message will be sent to parents as well. The fifth step would be a behavior-intervention contract in which students, their parents, and the teacher meet to discuss the student’s behavior and possible solutions to the problem. This would be if it all happened in the same day. However, if a student has several repeated warnings or timeouts, I would involve the parents.

My homework policy would be that turned in on time you can get up to full credit. If it is late it will be docked 10-25% depending on how late it is. No late work for units after the term has ended.

5. Depending on the grade level, I will probably teach lessons dealing with literacy. The goal of one lesson would be for students to learn to use alliteration in their writing. Students would liste to, read and identify alliteration in writing and then practice using it on their own. We would read on the reading carpet Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book and identify patterns in the writing. Then we would have a small lesson on alliteration, using various visual aids, like the Ice cream scoops page (see image at right). Students will then create their own ice cream alliteration and write their examples on the board and share with the class. Then students will apply alliteration to their writing piece from the previous lesson. I want students to begin to identify and apply different writing techniques. I chose alliteration because it is an easier technique to identify and learn to use and can be used across most grades as an introduction into writing strategies. I also want students to learn that their writing is unique and that it can be fun to do.

6. During this lesson, I will begin by reading the story. Then I will monitor as children work on creating alliterations in groups, walking between the different groups. I will help students as they write their examples and then walk between the desks as students work on their own writing and give them positive praise and feedback, as well as help those who may need further explanation or aren’t understanding what to do or are stuck on how to start.

7. During the lesson, students are actively listening to the book reading, participating in discussion with the class, and working together with their group to come up with alliteration examples. They will work on their own writing skills and will be seated in their desks, focused on the task at hand.

8. To assess my students’ learning I might create a worksheet where they can identify alliteration by circling the group of words that forms an alliteration in a poem. I will also see if they are able to incorporate alliteration into their own writing.  If they can do both of these things, and explain to a neighbor what alliteration is, then they probably understand it fairly well.