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     I took a look at the thoughtful approach to student support in the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's guidance for transgender and gender nonconforming. This document is worth reading whether you're interested in education or just creating a more inclusive environment. Making sure transgender and gender nonconforming kids feel valued, secure, and validated in their educational settings is the main goal of the guidelines. It highlights the importance of using the names and pronouns that students have selected, which may seem like a little detail but has a big impact. Think about how lonely it would be to have friends and teachers overlook or reject your identity. Schools take a step toward creating a sense of belonging and trust by encouraging staff to accept kids' gender identities.      I also liked the instructions on facility access. It is recommended that schools allow children to use locker rooms and restrooms that mat...

 I've always believed that education should be an equalizing environment where everyone has an equal opportunity. However, reading Toward Ending Ableism in Education by Thomas Hehir and witnessing the discussion between Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor in Examined Life has caused me to reconsider the true meaning of "fairness" and "inclusion," particularly for students with disabilities. Hehir and Butler both push us to look past band-aid solutions and truly examine the causes of ableism in our structures, especially in educational institutions. Hehir argues in Toward Ending Ableism in Education that our educational system actively discriminates against disabled students in ways that limit their access to education, rather than merely ignoring them passively. According to him, "ableism" is a collection of attitudes and behaviors that presume that individuals with disabilities are less able or superior. It manifests itself in education in many ways, fro...

 Rodriguez describes how he acquired English in "Aria," not only as a language but also as a means of assimilating into American culture. At first, he says, he felt lost and uneasy, as if English were a "public" language that wasn't his. His "private" language was Spanish, which he used for comfort, family, and home. He had to learn English, but it also caused a rift with his family because he began to identify Spanish as more "other" and English as more "American." Many of us who were raised bilingually, I believe, can identify with this issue. I feel like I'm interacting with the outside world when I speak English, but there's something unique about speaking my own tongue with family. Rodriguez's narrative is compelling since he does not consider himself a victim. Rather, he believes that his trip is essential, even if it means losing something in the process. He accepts that his connection with his family changed as a...

 I initially assumed that Patrick J. Finn's Literacy with an Attitude would be another scholarly in-depth analysis on the value of reading or ways to improve educational institutions. However, it went beyond that; Finn contends that literacy encompasses social power in addition to reading and writing. He explains how literacy is a crucial instrument in the way that educational institutions are set up to maintain some groups in positions of power while others remain in lower status. This changed everything for me as a 19-year-old college student who was only beginning to experience the world outside of high school. Finn's main argument is that different social classes receive distinct and unequal instruction in literacy. Working-class children are frequently taught "functional literacy"—the ability to read and write well enough to follow instructions and get by in daily life. Middle- and upper-class pupils, on the other hand, receive instruction in what Finn refers to ...

One of the things that stood out to me in the video is how CRP isn’t just about representation   it’s about making learning relevant. If you think about it, school is the first place where many of us learn about the world. But if the lessons don’t connect with who you are or where you come from, how much do you really get out of it? As someone in college now, I can see how education tends to favor certain perspectives over others. Even in high school, most of what I learned didn’t reflect the experiences of people like me or the diverse communities around me. CRP is a way to fix that it’s not just about teaching diverse content, but about creating classrooms where students feel seen and heard.  In the video, there are examples of teachers who use CRP to make learning more engaging for their students. One teacher, for example, connects math lessons to real-life issues in the community, making it more relevant to the students’ everyday lives. Another teacher encourages disc...

 In college, we’re always discussing how education shapes us, but reading "Troublemakers" by Carla Shalaby made me rethink what that actually means, especially for kids who don’t fit into the “good student” mold. Shalaby’s book focuses on four young students labeled as “troublemakers” and shows how schools handle or mishandle kids who don’t conform. As a college student, this book hit home for me because it challenges the ideas of what education is really supposed to be about. The kids Shalaby follows Zora, Lucas, Sean, and Marcus are all seen as disruptive, but what stands out is how the system doesn’t ask why they act out. It’s almost like the label of “troublemaker” is given to them without trying to understand what’s going on. Instead of seeing these kids as whole people with emotions and experiences, they’re seen as problems that need to be fixed or controlled. Reading this made me think back to elementary school, and I could definitely see how this label impacts som...