Author: Clarissa Page 2 of 5

For EDUC 402 Diverse Classrooms

An important thing to practice as an educator is being anti-racist. It goes a lot further than simply not being racist. If you say you’re not racist, it may mean you aren’t participating in racist actions or microaggressions, but being anti-racist means being an active-witness. It means you actively address racist actions that you witness. This is important as an educator because kids sometimes don’t understand why what they are saying or doing is wrong if they’re copying the actions of an adult or another student. It’s also important to address racist actions of students while they’re still young and impressionable so they can be anti-racist adults. Furthermore, being anti-racist means you’re standing up for and protecting a student or adult that someone is being racist towards. Not only is it ethically right to protect the students, it also aligns with the first Standard for BC Educators which states that “educators value the success of all students. Educators care for students and act in their best interests.” Being anti-racist means valuing the success of everyone in the class.

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My previous understanding of SOGI in schools was that it involved more explicit teaching rather than the goal of it to be visibility, protection, and inclusion. This gives me more confidence about addressing this in the classroom because creating a safe and inclusive space seems easier and more natural than explicitly teaching content about SOGI.

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For EDUC 402 Diverse Classrooms

Prior to discussing trauma-informed practice in class and doing the assigned learning, what I understood it to be was very limited. I had heard it discussed in schools by teachers and there were mixed opinions about it. Since discussing it and reading about it, I’ve realized that there’s a lot of overlap between trauma-informed practice and how kids best learn. For example, the idea that relationship-development and creating an environment where kids can be calm and safe must be done before learning can happen (POPFASD, 2019, 23:45) aligns with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Additionally, the recommendation to have flexibility for assignments and encouraging students to practice their strengthens aligns with parts of Universal Design for Learning (O’Neill, 2019, p. 13).

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For the October 25th Professional Development Day, I did two workshops through POPARD. 

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A Visual Guide

By Yana Weinstein and Megan Sumeracki, with Oliver Caviglioli

We read this book for EDUC 421: Assessment and Motivation during block 2 of the program. The 3 part book goes over the science of learning, basic cognitive processes, and strategies for effective learning.

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Language Essentials for Teachers

This book was covered in EDUC 397: Curriculum and Instruction in the Humanities. It provides in depth explanations of phonetics, phonology, orthography, morphology, syntax, semantics, and structured language and literacy instruction.

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