SED 564

      Even more so, as I have read from Johnson in other classes, we need to have these dialogues with our students to first address and recognize the prevalence of race within not only the school but in society. Having these open dialogues allows us to "confront the negative consequences of racism in our school environments and serve to enhance our own growth just as it does our students," (Nakkula 125). In order for these dialogues to happen, we need to recognize that we cannot fully "overcome our prejudices, but we can recognize them with practice and learn to modify and respond to them constructively," (Nakkula 126). Meaning that we need to identify and embrace who we are and who are students are so that we can grow together and promote working relationships within the classroom. The chapters in Nakkula this week play an incredibly prevalent role in my everyday interaction with students. In fact just today, I had a student say that I was being "r...

After reading chapters 4&5 in Nakkula, I really took a lot of time to reflect on myself as a teacher and mentor for my students.  In the readings, what really stuck out to me was in chapter 4 on page 74 talking about the developmental assets framework.  More specifically, the external assets of "Support, Empowerment, Boundaries and Expectations, and Constructive Use of Time," (74). Reading through each of these clusters that are essential to nurturing healthy youth development, I thought about how I relay these assets(if at all) within the classroom with my students.  Continuing through the reading, I feel like while there is a lot of different theories, concepts and ideas they all come back to the same general idea of getting to know your students and creating relationships with them.  For example, the situation with Lorena and Steve, Mr. Harrison had a positive relationship with his students and knew what these students were capable of so the situation was able...