What I Notice Now

While sitting in class today it was great to see what lessons the class has come with so far. It is fun to be able to build a presentation for everyone and teach about something we are passionate abut as future teachers. With that in mind, I thought it was interesting how we were all able to build off of each other in a way.

I saw today that many of us had some of the same ideas as to how we could incorporate all of these with a lesson plan in the future. It seemed as if Linda Christensen's Reading, Writing, and Rising Up was a good book to refer to when it came to lessons. This book, in my eyes, is one that we should try to keep around for our futures. But why is this book so popular for teachers and why is it so effective? It seemed to me that a few of us referred to Where I'm From today and I'd love to expand on that.

I looked into a book called Cultural Competence: A Primer for Educators, by Jean Moule. In this text, Jean refers to the "where I'm from" piece and expands on why it would be beneficial in a classroom setting. "The idea behind this activity is to use two themes: Our Foundations and The Journey" (149). In this she is saying the foundations make us consider things like beginnings, family and friends, community, values and other things. On the other side of the spectrum, we have the journey. The journey is you being prompted by words, identity development, pain and healing, joy, dilemmas, and a lot more that the individual has experienced.  There is more on this at this Link.

I feel like, to many teaching professionals, Linda Christensen provides us an awakening experience with this project. She isn't only laying out lesson plans for future teachers. She is teaching us how to teach with joy and serve justice while doing so. With this book and hand, we are able to teach in a way not many others are provided a chance at. She provides great guidance for us all.