Kirsten's Teacher Blog

            Something I had never seen before and was incredibly moved by was the YouTube video Changing the World, One Word at a Time.  Those three girls spoke some powerful and moving words. To answer the question what is worth learning? I would say everything. Everything is worth learning and teaching our students. One of our jobs as being a teacher is to make all students feel included, safe, comfortable, and represented in our classrooms. Although teachers have lesson plans, TEKs, curriculums, etc., that they're told to follow, I think it's important to take some time and really consider what you may be teaching your kids. Are you leaving out important information about this or that? Are all sides being considered/heard? Thinking back on some classes, there have been times where I was taught and not all the information was told to us. We would spend a lot of time on one certain thing about a topic, especially in history, it was biased teachin...

               When it comes to money, it plays a big role within the education system. Unfortunately, students are judged by their teachers and peers based on their economic status. A classroom should be a safe space for students to not worry about coming from less fortunate conditions. Students look up to the teacher, they watch what you do and listen to what you say. So, I think it’s unprofessional and very wrong for teachers to be stereotyping and treating students differently on something they have no control over. In the article  The Myth of the Culture of Poverty,  it talks about how “believing that poor people are different from those with higher incomes is dangerous and wrong”. Schools located in a high-income area have more resources, cleaner conditions, and a higher quality learning environment. These schools are likely better funded, which increases the quality of schools and classrooms and provides students with more re...