#I'm also thinking about my students in citizenship class

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

I'm in an all-staff Zoom meeting now (we're on a 10-minute break lol) and the leader of our non-profit was just telling everyone about how important the 2024 election is for our work and specifically the clients we serve, immigrants and refugees, and that we need to get out to vote and also work the polls against election intimidation this year.

I'm just sitting here thinking about how our team, who directly and exclusively works with immigrant and refugee families, understands how important electoral politics is, while we also do community-based work such as increasing green spaces in our city to develop our communities. Meanwhile, the insufferable edge-lords on this website who constantly rail against voting never do anything meaningful to help anyone, ever. 9 times out of 10, there's a total disconnect between the most performative voices online who think reblogging shit is activism, and the people who are actually trying to make a difference in real life.

#like I said before do NOT come at me with anti-voting nonsense #I will block you immediately #sorry not sorry but #we're not saving the world but I'm proud of our organization! #we do help people! #and the loudest voices on here don't! #I'm also thinking about my students in citizenship class #wanting to become citizens and register to vote!

[ladythespera]

so i should have been finishing my citizenship application but instead i blazed through a bunch of online autism diagnosis tests (bc i've seen my friends doing it for months now and i knew that if i didn't do it quicklyyy i would angst over it for another 3 months)

in conclusion: first of all, for the RAADS-R test, i definitely scored above the threshold, and for most other tests as well. second of all: it went okay, but i do still really hate standardized tests about personality/mental stuff (i don't hate standardized tests in general even if i think they're not the best means of info gathering, and for some subjects i love them)(ie. for pathophysiology good, for literature bad). but it's just a constant struggle of second-guessing questions all the time, and to be honest, so many questions feel like they do not even apply to me in the first place, or are somewhat skewed by context/background.

e.g., do i enjoy social events/gatherings? well, usually yes! because they're so rare.

do i like having friends? yes!! bc i know so many friends who are also into my specific interests and projects that we can collaborate on.

anything academic or social related i think is also skewed by the fact that, well, i was homeschooled in K-12 and got to dive into school as much as i wanted and as much as was expected of me (which was apparently a lot, but, not forced?? my parent never hovered, in fact was quite hands-off, but they simply assumed we would take to it, and we did). in standardized testing in the 6th grade i was already scoring at a post-high school level (i.e. post-12th grade) in every subject, but i don't think that was any extraordinary achievement, that was simply a 'we must be doing a good job' result. no one in my family thinks that's abnormal, and i don't even think that myself; in fact, they (immigrants) would probably just say the US standards are abysmally low. i enjoy social situations now, but again, it's the social situations i choose to put myself into. why go to a social situation i dislike?

i felt that way about many questions - like, for example, can i tell if someone is getting bored by what i'm saying? yes, but will that stop me talking? depends. do i have difficulty doing something that doesn't interest me? you fool, i will simply make it into something that does interest me.

finally, there's age-related changes. as a child i used to be extremely scrupulous regarding scheduling, lists, room cleanliness, grammar, rules, etc. but as an adult i have loosened up considerably although i still like predictability.

the only thing that i find consistent is that i tend to have extremely strong interests in things. there wasn't any need for me to give my 9th grade teacher a cellular breakdown of how milk is created in a project on farm animals (listen - they asked how milk is created !!! it must mean on a DETAILED level right?), but i wanted to. for the record, the bibliography alone on that project reached 4 pages (wheeze). but to be honest, and i mean this sincerely, i am continuously surprised that this is apparently not how most people feel. to me, if the teacher is great and the subject is one you like, why wouldn't you? i wondered if it was instead that the class was just not the right fit for some students, and therein lies the problem - is it neurodivergence, or is it just the right environment that encourages specific interests? and, even if i am ND, i don't think i ever even thought of it while i was in k-12, bc i simply felt like all my 'eccentricities/interests' were encouraged. and so now in college i feel no need to hide anything. i would proudly march into my patho class in my flamboyant doctor who get-up or jedi robe - and then still do well. it does feel performative, but after all, i am in theatre for now...

i will say the one impression i strongly came away from in all this: my parents would probably both score MUCH higher on these (i have basically no sensory issues; my mom definitely does)(my dad is extremely precise and organized - but also, he is German ManTM).

#also i forgot to mention - my RAADS-R score was 99 and my cat-q was 112 #the thresholds are 65 and 100 respectively (i also took a bunch of other tests there but i won't list them all) #not terribly high but again i feel like i have spent. so little time really in the same social situations others are typically in. #rn i am very much isolated at home and i'm sure if i were back in a job i would start feeling more challenged again #personal #delete later #autism #also if i see anyone 🤡-ing abt homeschoolers all being asocial or awkward or uneducated...No and only other hs'ers are allowed an Opinion #some of us in fact were around before Covid made everyone think online classes were just poor irl substitutes #also interesting that u would mock a group where in fact so many ppl i know later turned out ND hm

[187days]

Day Thirty-Seven

The culinary class has opened their cafe for lunch, which is THE BEST because I can get a delicious meal without having to make it myself. Today it was fish tacos, a side salad, and a piece of pumpkin cheesecake. Amazing.

Mr. Q, who has the same lunch period I do, said it's probably the best perk of working at our school.

I said he wasn't wrong, heh.

He also said I'm a cool department head, so yay me.

We had our morning PLC meeting today, and spent most of it talking about how our students are doing on the Citizenship Test (passing is a new state graduation requirement, for those who haven't been following along at home). We agreed to continue to give it once a month to students who haven't passed, and discussed ways we could proctor sessions outside of our classes, too. Unfortunately, there will be students who will need that. One thing I need to work on: using assertive language when I talk. I say "probably" and "maybe" too much when I'm proposing something I know should be definite. I know the guys I work with wouldn't think I'm being pushy or anything- they're not like that- but it's still a bit of a challenge.

What's not a challenge: making my voice big to get the attention of my ninth graders so I can give instructions. They did a research and citation practice assignment today about Jewish holidays; I assigned a holiday to each individual or pair (their choice whether or not to pair up), and had them research why and how it's celebrated. Everyone will share out what they learned tomorrow. It's a good lesson to balance out the fact that the last two were a lot of direct instruction; I shouldn't always be the one doing most of the talking.

I did about half the talking in APGOV because I was teaching about the presidential election process, so I was lecturing and fielding questions. We were going to watch the House speaker vote after lunch, but since that got called off, I resumed my regularly scheduled lesson: we read about the electoral college, past efforts to amend it, current views about it. I'd say it was a pretty solid class.

I stayed after school to help one of my GOV students with an essay, and supervise a ninth grader making up a quiz. I also ended up getting a bunch of planning done, and wrote the last letter of recommendation I had left to write, so that was good.

#teaching #edublr #teachblr #education #high school #teacher #social studies #Mr. Q #PLC #department head #my department is awesome #day thirty seven

[michaelseth]

Preface

Good day, my name is Seth Michael Palay, 20 years old. I am from Pandacan, Manila, and I have four siblings, all of which are girls. Two of my sisters are married, and my father is an OFW, while my mother is a housewife. everywhere i go im the people favorite cousin, the family member you want to keep in touch with.

My pastime is overthinking, and I'm not particularly talented, but I enjoy playing basketball and writing poems. I also enjoy viewing interviews or podcasts and listening to music. I don't have any accomplishments to flaunt about right now, but I know that everything I sacrifice has a purpose and will yield a positive outcome. I want to be the person in a family that breaks the chain of poverty.

This portfolio was developed so that I could show off some of my work in various subject.

Personal Vision and Goals

I want to see myself 10 years from now living far away from Manila, satisfied with what I'm doing, living a tranquil life, running a large business, and being labeled successful. But what does it take to be considered successful? for me It is not always about money, fame, luxury vehicles, or large homes. For me, success means being happy.

• Introduction to World Religions and Belief Systems •

Its purpose is to assist students in understanding the historical settings of the nine religions, appreciating their differences and similarities, and promoting mutual understanding among believers of other religions. we discuss here the meaning and origin of different religions.

• Creative Writing •

• Creative Nonfiction •

Creative nonfiction is a type of nonfiction writing that employs a variety of creative writing techniques and literary genres to express nonfictional stories. I learn the elements of a nonfiction piece here.

• Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences •

This course introduces students to the fundamental concepts, subjects, and research methods used in the Social Sciences.

• Philippine Politics and Governance •

The purpose is to teach students the fundamentals of politics and governance, equip them with information and skills, and transform them into responsible citizens who exercise their rights and use what they have learned in class.

• Trends and Critical Thinking in the 21st Century •

Students will have the opportunity to explore patterns and derive meaning from developing trends in this subject.

• Community Engagement, Solidarity and Citizenship •

This subject focuses on using social science ideas and methods to explore, investigate, and examine contemporary community life concerns.

I gathered artifacts from several messenger group chats as well as the Google Classroom.

[lihaoz]

bolg#1：The start

Questions about some:

Why establish a blog "reflection blog"?

What is the connotation of the course?

For shipyards, how should we spread ideas?

It can be called "reflective blog, diary, etc." to record things at any moment through blog

Share your ideas and insights through the platform, "participate in citizenship through interdisciplinary practice"

This course has students of various majors. The teacher said that everyone has his own creative role.

At the beginning of the course, the teacher gave the students a role test to group them,

I'm dreamer. The teacher showed us their achievements in class. It's very interesting,

It also gives us a lot of inspiration. Citizens' participation is realized through the elements of wooden boards and Lego blocks

For the reflection that needs to be done, we need to think about what form we would use to spread our ideas to the public,

In the later courses, the teacher took the students to the local shipyard with a long history,

Because of the pandemic, I haven't been to school yet, so I haven't been able to participate in an interesting offline visit experience with them,

But I had a real-time discussion with my team members online, and they shared a lot of pictures about the shipyard,

Let me share their feelings online. The teacher also gave us some questions about the shipyard

Brainstorming, the idea of my team is to build a prototype of a physical ship, so that the shipbuilders can remember it and understand how they understand it.

To facilitate the dissemination of awareness of the species we will be looking for.

[graziadiocenterilpostino]

Student Spotlight: Mary Conte

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and what made you interested in studying at CSU Long Beach.

I was born in New York and moved to California because of my work. Actually–I moved to California twice because of my work, come to think of it. One time I was working at a music company in New York (which is also Capitol Records) and my boss wanted me to help work on a new computer system which would extract the most important information from contracts in a computer system to help pay royalties to the recording artists. This record company at the time had labels not only in New York City, but also in Toronto, Canada and also in Nashville and also Los Angeles as well as the UK.

Another place I worked at was as a legal consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers. They also had many projects with various companies e.g. Universal Studios, SONY, and startups about how to make sure the various divisions could communicate. They needed to know how to distribute their products, and whether they could develop new ones.

I know this sounds simple but actually the sales people really need to know if they can sell a movie in Italy or Germany for example, and then the people who actually do the work of sending the 'elements' need to know the particularities of what each country requires. Also someone may be able to create a feature film from a script but NOT be able to create a TV show. Also music has its own dimension of complexity.

Regarding CSULB, two things happened. One: someone in one of my classes said that his wife was attending Cal State Long Beach, and they had an excellent Italian department and also an Italian club. Another: I met a gentleman over 40 who was taking classes in the theater department. He was a part-time actor but wanted to expand and enrich his skills, so he was attending Cal State Long Beach. One day I looked up the web site and left a message for Professor Vettore, Chair of the Graziadio Center, because I felt I could not find any way to deepen my Italian skills as an adult and I wanted to be able to speak Italian fluently. And he actually emailed me back and we spoke about what I was looking for and what might be required. I also learned that I might be eligible for Italian citizenship, so my paperwork is at the Italian Consulate. It's kind of a contest will they respond faster than I obtain a MA in Italian. We will see.

2.  In addition to Italian, you’ve also studied French. Can you tell us more about this and what led to your eventual switch to Italian?

I'm fortunate to have traveled a little and have met people of different cultures and have been a person studying in France or Italy and not knowing all the customs and that helps me have patience with others that don't necessarily know how we do things. We in the US, We in California, and We at this particular company. So I may be dealing with the artists, but also their managers, and their other musicians which are many times from all over the place. And there are so many layers with visas and embassies and money. All over the place in the US and all over the place in the world.

What I have found is any opportunity to speak someone else's language or to be curious about someone else's culture is always appreciated. I got an MA in French right out of college because I had participated in a cultural exchange program after high school, because I met a French exchange student in one of my French classes who was living with a family of one of the teachers) and was fortunate to have had 3 years when I lived in France.

But my family is Italian, all the grandparents. Sicily & Calabria and Ancona & not far from Naples (Castellammare di Stabia) just one-two train stops from Pompeii! They are always kind of overwhelming. My parents are first generation and they both went to college and we all (me and my three brothers went to college). Because that was a way to get ahead.

And I met someone at a conference who was organizing a trip to Italy, and I hadn't been there since college, and my spouse had never been there. So, we decided to sign up at the Italian Cultural center in Los Angeles, and take a class, because I would feel ashamed to not be able to say something to people because I was too lazy to learn some of the basics. And although we signed up for Italian, they put us in a class of 'Italian for Tourists". Well that was a disappointment. But as I wanted to learn more Italian I found that there were many classes that were like this for adults. Mostly geared to tourism only.

3. Do you have any recommendations for anyone interested in an MA in Italian Studies? 

Although at the time I wasn't excited about the pre-requisites I had to take, it was great to be able to meet undergraduates and graduate students, and to lay that foundation of grammar and literature. One of the things to definitely participate in is the program we have with Roma Tre students. And definitely take a translation class. Also, so far I've met two presidents of the Italian Club, and they work really hard to have interesting cultural programs.

4. Outside of school, you work as a lawyer. What do you enjoy about your job? Do your language skills tie into your career in any way?

Right now I work for an agency which signs artists from the US and all over the world and helps them tour. Our niche is folk or roots music. For example tonight at Cal State LA we have an artist Sonya Jobarteh (considered Africa's first female griot kora virtuoso) playing with Taj Mahal. I think we may have someone coming soon to the Carpenter Center. We did have an American artist (New York based Irish-American fiddler) play with the Long Beach Symphony orchestra.

5. Do you have a favorite city you’ve visited in Italy? If so, which one?

How do you pick a favorite city in Italy? I loved Torino because there aren't so many tourists, and at the big outdoor market I can also speak French! We got to rent bikes and ride in Abruzzo along the Trabocchi coast. I forgot about this but I think when I was single I went to Italy and got to do a tour with Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter and Andy Hampstead and his wife. Andy Hampstead is the only American to ever win the Giro d'Italia. Yes I do own one of the best production bicycles ever made, it's Italian, a Calnago C-40. But that's another story…

Mary and il cane Marcus Aurelius

[blueveland]

Lockdown Through Our Eyes

11th Grade is our new normal. It's the new easy. It's thenjew freedom. Which is a very bold contrast to life a year ago, during the hard Lockdown

Do we sometimes sleep and expect that our lives will still he the same when we wake up?

Jamie: I used to think that nothing was happening in my life. I lose and gain friends like I lose and gain weight. I laugh and I cry over trivial things, because there is nothing huge worth laughing or crying for. That's me being dumb of course. I saw my life as one long and straight highway. It's boring. Normal is well, a lame straightine. I sleep thinking that tomorrow will be just like today. There is an abundance of time.

Colin: Before the furst lockdown ever happened, I was training to become a C.A.T officer (Citizenship Advancement Training), so basically, I was I'm COCC (Cadet Officer Candidate Course). This was the first time I was really challenged in my life. It is probably the hardest thing I ever went through because it is not ordinary training C.A.T was military training. This was in 2019, so imagine a 14-year-old going through military training every day. I remember hating every second of being there, but somehow, I managed to find the strength to keep going. My classroom in school became my safe space because we have a rule that you can be a student when you’re inside your classroom, but once you step out of your classroom, guess what, you’re C.A.T jurisdiction. 

The Day The World Stood Still

Jamie: I remember waking up with a start. My first thought was that I'm late for school. But I wasn't because there is no school. Every business establishments that are deemed non essential are ordered to close shops, including schools ( Now we know schools are not essential 😂).  There are no public transports. People are ordered to stay home, as part of the Government's response to the sudden onslaught of a very new virus from China, now known as Sars-Cov 2, causing a disease now called Covid-19. I've been hearing about this virus since December of 2019. It seemed so inconsequential to me then. Suddenly, it upended the world as I know it. The condominium where we live won't allow us to step out of our units. Our househelp had gone home in panic. My parents, who are both medical frontliners, could barely hide their fears. The anxiety they felt, managed to get to me. For the first time ever, I was scared too, though my comprehension of what is actually happening to the world is probably mediocre as compared to most. The unknown is like an abyss. 

Colin: Before the first lockdown in mid-March, the government suspended classes that were only supposed to be 2 weeks due to the Covid-19 virus. I was so happy at this time because this was also around the time when the 4th Quarter Examinations were happening, and the supposed 2-week suspension also suspended the exams for 2-weeks. But then a few days after the suspension took effect, the lockdown of Metro Manila happened. Around this time, I was actually quite calm because I don’t live in Metro Manila, I live in Antipolo, which is in Rizal. Then another few days went by, and the whole of Luzon was now in lockdown, and yet I remember still being calm about it. 

The Sick, The Dying, and Me

Jamie: 2 weeks into the lockdown, and I am on my wits end. I tried not to read too much about this virus that's drastically changing my life. My Mom and Dad are often at the hospital. My brother and I are left alone most days. They said it's safer that way, because they needed to be at the frontline. Come to think of it, before the Pandemic happened, I did wish to be left alone more. But I didn't want that anymore. I wanted to be surrounded by my family. I want my friends. I want noise. It's deathly silent.

Colin: A few more weeks went by, and I knew right then that the supposed 1-month lockdown would somehow still be extended. It’s like the thinking process of me and the government was the same. I was thinking about why the government was not acting like a government that has so many employees and brainpower, because it’s like the government was thinking like one person. Surprisingly, during these first few weeks, I don’t remember myself thinking about the C.A.T training, and how everything that I may have done will be for nothing. 

Virtual School. Virtual Friends. A Real Challenge To Our Mental Health☺

Jamie: In lockdown, the world slowed down, but my mind began to race like a horse without a track. There is something malignant about hearing the numbers of infection and death because of covid escalate daily. It's a monster haunting a prey. We are the prey.  My anxiety is at an all time high. Every sneeze or cough, every throat tickle, every single thing that does not seem normal to me and my brother, is enough to put my entire household in panic. We mask at home, we disinfect everything we touch, and we clean like never before. We were so "sparkly clean" and scared. I feel sad when I'm scared. Fear and sadness are both mentally exhausting. This is my mental state when we started the very first ever virtual school. Here was when I was introduced to Zoom, Google Meet, MS Word, Google Docs, and  a lot more. I would never have imagined that a day would come when I will be doing my PE in my room, in front of my computer screen. Never did I expect that one day, I could go to school in my jamies, without a shower, in my room. So, here is  the Pandemic raging, and then here I am grappling with my virtual school. 

Colin: The middle part of the lockdown is the worst part. Being able to only go around the house gave me time to reflect on a lot of things, and because of it I realized that all of what I worked hard for in 2019, is all gone. With all the things that I saw on how the government try to control the pandemic with very cautious decisions, especially in the education department, I lost hope for my future in the C.A.T Organization. What I did to forget and escape reality, is by playing a lot of video games, to the point where I play games every time I wake up, and only stop playing when I am about to eat or sleep. The reflections I did took a toll on me mentally and playing video games to escape reality took a toll on me physically.

The New Normal

Jamie: Come to think of it, I used to think that my life was so normal it's boring. Now, I am forced to embrace the " new normal" that contradicts everything I understand normal to be. My new normal may not be the same as that of others though. Since my parents are medical frontliners, we mask at home; we self swab every 2 weeks as well. We've graduated from eating "out" by eating inside the car, to dining out but only in al fresco diners, and only when there are almost no people around. Since the decline of cases, we've opened our household a bit and allowed cleaners and friends to come visit, but with strict masking. We've gone on vacations too, mostly to the beach, where there are not many people. We've slept in hotels, but we brought our own pillows, blankets, and well, essentially the entire house that we could fit in the car. There are still a lot of things we are not allowed to do. School is still virtual, though we are slowly transitioning. It is still a world without faces and touch. It's still an upside down world, this new normal. 

Colin: When I kept hearing the word “New Normal”, I hated it. At this point in time, I was probably between denial and anger, if you know the 5 stages of grief. The “New Normal” is something I can’t accept because I know that the New Normal will not make my situation any better. I know at that time that I didn’t care about wearing a mask, face shield, or always applying alcohol, I think I just really wanted to go back to C.A.T and become that person that I always saw myself wanting to be since elementary.

There Is Hope In This Dark Abyss

Jamie: I'd like to think that we are getting there. Slow does it. Let's all congratulate ourselves because we got this far. This Pandemic isn't just a war with a virus. It's a war against whatever forces there may be that is making us less of what we should be. And it's a war we can win. I realized that time is a precious gift, and it should not be wasted wallowing on the unknown. Our world has been made smaller, but we can still make moments. We can still dream. And as long as hope is in our hearts, the tunnel will not be so dark.

Colin: There always will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Though, you must always expect that the things at the end of the tunnel will be unexpected. All you have to do is to keep fighting and keep trying to reach it, and before you know it, you’re already moving on to explore new and better things in life.

#lockdown #pandemic #blog post

[hanawrites404]

Twice My Age

Show : Jojo's Bizarre Adventure/Jojo No Kimou Na Bouken

Pairing : Noriko (female Noriaki)/Jotaro Kujo

Warnings : Age-gap romance and sex along with swearing.

Characters : Jotaro Kujo, Noriko (female Noriaki), Jolyne Cujoh

Timeline : Pre-Stone Ocean

This story is based on this song :

This story is also based on the author's headcanon when she had finished reading Stone Ocean and was recovering her brain cells.

Third Person POV

It was a normal afternoon at Florida. Today was Friday, which meant the last day of the working week. Students at the school were frustratingly tapping the heels of their feet on the floor waiting for the school bell to ring and mark the end of the tiring session.

The teacher obviously minded his own business and lectured the pupils without averting his gaze from the blackboard. He kept ignoring the sounds of whispers and paper-tearing and snickers of the children, until for once he recognised one of the students who was continuously talking in his class, and decided to take some action.

"Ms. Cujoh" the teacher called out harshly as he teared his gaze from the blackboard and stared at the student.

The talkative student looked at the teacher and went silent. She had a piece of folded paper in her hand, her arm stretched out to the student for whom it was meant for. She retrieved her hand back and answered the teacher who was glaring lasers at her through his glasses.

"Yes Mr. Anderson??". "First, please stand up while you speak to a teacher" Mr. Anderson pushed his glasses up. The student sighed and stood up, putting away the paper she had in her pocket.

"Would you please answer the question which is on the board??". Ms. Cujoh read the question. She then rolled her eyes and read the question the teacher had written in white.

Prove that Cos2x = Cos^2x - Sin^2x

"What the??" The teenager reacted.

Mr. Anderson's gaze never left Ms. Cujoh. He was observing every move of her of how she was looking around the classroom, silently asking for help and her friends were giving her a shrug or a thumbs-down.

"Ms. Cujoh. We don't have all day"

After that, she knew that she would have to answer the question by herself.

"I-It's simple Mr. Anderson. Multiply both the sides by zero, and there you go. LHS = RHS".

The students roared with laughter at the teenager's statement. Mr. Anderson was actually expecting such kind of an answer from the rowdy teenager.

"Silence everyone" the teacher stomped his ruler on the table and the room became quiet. But it didn't last for long as the bell finally rung, meaning that it was time for dispersal.

The students quickly packed their bags by shoving their books and stationery inside and exited the classroom, scrambling on their feet. The whole classroom became empty, leaving the astute teenager and the stoic teacher alone.

The silence in the room grew kind of tense. So the girl started to pack her bag and leave the class. Until.......

"Jolyne". The teenager looked at the teacher. She really wanted to leave the vacated classroom and go home. Also she had successfully survived today's class. Now what was the problem??

"Your behaviour is getting worse day by day. And I'm afraid that you might need some extra tutelage for your discipline and your academics yet again".

The teenager rolled her eyes once again. She then placed one of her hands on her hip and looked at the teacher with disinterest.

"Give me a break Mr. Anderson. My answer was correct". "You can argue with the ones who will correct your answer sheet Ms. Cujoh. I'm definitely not the right person to go against with your illogical statement".

Jolyne held her fist tightly. She really wants to punch her teacher square in the face and make sure to get the glass shards of his glasses cut his eyes. But she decided to bottle her anger for now.

"Your discipline is very concerning. Also you are not taking your studies seriously. Even the previous teachers whom I had appointed to improve your etiquettes returned home with a broken nose and teeth" he said to himself.

Jolyne smirked to herself with pride.

"So I have decided to change my plans" he spoke.

"Ha!! So you finally understand, Mr. Anderson" she then crosses her arms and sits on the table while putting her leg on the other. "You will never be able to transform me into nerds like you want to. I'm what I want to be and I don't give a fuck to anyone who wants me to change".

"We will see about that" he then pushes his glasses. "Huh??" Jolyne raises her eyebrow at him. What was this thick-skulled teacher really planning to do to her??

"If it's another teacher, then do keep some extra bandages for the injuries, because I'll not go easy on them" she then cracks her knuckles.

"Now that's where I stop you Ms. Cujoh".

Jolyne then glared at the teacher.

"I'm not going to appoint a teacher to straighten you up. This time, it's a student of your age. Your own classmate".

Jolyne was slightly taken aback. A student?? Of her age?? And the student of her own classroom?? But she barely knew anyone who was good at both discipline and studies. The only persons she was aware of were mostly the divas, the jocks and the bullies.

"W-Who is this student you are talking about??" Jolyne asked. "You will meet her outside the school premises. She is actually one of my best students and has been topping her class for the past 3 years" Jolyne witnessed a sense of pride in Mr. Anderson's tone.

Jolyne became a bit nervous. Who was this nerd whom she hadn't even notice that she was in her school and her class?? And also, a girl??!!

"You might be wondering--'why a girl??' It's because I really want you to get along with her and learn whatever she teaches, and her being the same gender as you would be a good boost".

Jolyne then sniggered and got up from the table. "Just because she is a girl and is of my age, doesn't mean that I can't afford a bruise or two on her".

"I had already warned her about your..........tendency and she is perfectly fine with it. So do whatever you want to do to her, she will be alright with it as she was the one who chose to take the risk and tutor you".

What a daring one for a nerd......Jolyne thought.

Mr. Anderson then looked at his wrist watch. He then spoke "It's getting late. You may leave now".

"Oh thank you, Mr. Anderson" she said in a very sarcastic manner and she even bowed to add to her mockery as she left the class.

"And another thing Ms. Cujoh". Jolyne then looked behind at her teacher lethargically. Can the teacher just leave her already before she actually punches him??

"If you hadn't been the daughter of Dr. Kujo, I would have already expelled you. But I'm still giving you a chance because I'm sure that you too can be as disciplinary as your father".

"Alright first of all, Dad was a delinquent when he was my age. And second of all, he would have already punched your face and shove your stupid glasses into your mouth just to make you shut up if he was at my place" and she then goes away without saying anything else or looking back.

Mr. Anderson sighed as he stacked the sheets and registers he had to take home and correct. After he was done, he looked at the empty classroom once more, especially at the seat where the spiteful teenager sat.

"Hopefully you know what you are doing, Noriko.........."

*One minute time skip, brought to you by Binod*

"Stupid Anderson, he just doesn't know how to mind his own fucking business!!!!" Jolyne angrily stomped out of the premises. She then turned around to look at the clock which was installed on the school building.

It's 5 already. I need to return home fast. Dad is coming home earlier than his usual time so I better reach home before him..........

"Umm....Jolyne Cujoh??".

"What?!!" She turned to the voice. Jolyne relaxed her eyes a bit when she saw who was the owner of the voice.

It was a girl wearing the same uniform as her. The only difference was that she was comparatively shorter than Jolyne and was fairer than her.

She had her red hair down which was a bit longer than shoulder length and purple eyes, one red wavy bang was framing her pretty face and her lips were a glossy, cherry red.

"Do I know you??" Jolyne raised her eyebrow at the unknown girl.

"Not yet, but you will. My name is Noriko. I'm the one who is supposed to mentor you" she then goes closer to her and offers her hand to shake. "It would be a pleasure to get to know you better".

Jolyne observed the girl's hand. She had her nails perfectly trimmed but there was no polish on them. Jolyne then looked at her face and asked.

"Japanese??" She asked. "Yeah" Noriko replied. Jolyne then smirks and shakes her hand firmly.

"Then we will get along pretty well" she said. Noriko then smiles and brushes her bang behind her ear with the other hand. "I'm glad you think so" she replied.

Both of the girls let go of their hands and then they walk home beside each other.

"By the way, why did you say that we will get along well, judging by my nationality??" Noriko asked the taller girl.

"You see, I'm a Japanese myself".

"You are??" Noriko asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah. I know. I may not look like that but yes, Japanese is one of my nationality" Jolyne replied.

Noriko then snickered and asked "Just how many nationalities do you have??". "Well, my mother is from Florida and my father is Japanese, Italian and British" Jolyne calculated.

"Wow, so many citizenships" she commented. "Haha, it's not that cool as it sounds like. Trust me" Jolyne joked. Noriko chuckled and slapped the taller girl's shoulder lightly which made Jolyne chuckle.

"So Noriko??". "Yes??". "Why did you choose to mentor me?? You do know that I have a certain.........reputation at school".

"I am aware of everything you do in school. Mr. Anderson has updated me everything on you".

"*Ugh* That fucker. What is he, a spy?? Did he only find me to spy on?? And not the ones who actually harass girls or bully lowerclassmen behind the school??"

"Actually, I should be the one at whom you should be angry at". "Huh??" Jolyne looked at her.

"Wait, don't tell me--". "Yes. I was the one who told him to note everything you do".

"*Ugh* Noriko~!! I didn't expect this from you~" Jolyne whined. "Sorry, but this was the only way to plan on how to get you into discipline just like how Mr. Anderson want it". "Fuck that teacher!!!" She then kicks a stray rock on the road which goes very far.

"You seem to be very strong". "Heh, thanks. It's not much, but I can surely lift a heavy table pretty easily". "I'll take a note of that. It might come handy to me when I need to move a table" she chuckled. Jolyne then laughs and Noriko too joins her.

After their laughter died, Noriko spoke.

"You are really fun to be with". "Thanks. I had assumed that you were going to be just like Anderson but you are one lively person" Jolyne said.

"Oh really?? Thank you. Actually, no one has said that to me before" she then brushed another strand of her hair behind her ear.

"What do you mean??" Jolyne asked. "I don't really have friends. Only a few classmates talk to me but only when they need my assistance".

"Huh?? How is that even possible?? You are such an amazing person. Also, you are very pretty. You should have at least a boyfriend with you".

"I don't have a boyfriend". "Oh......a girlfriend perhaps??". "No.....". "Oh, you love a trans??". "What?? No. I'm not interested in anyone for now". "Ahhh....I see".

"Say, do you have a boyfriend??". "My status is also as same as you. Even I'm not really interested in getting into relationships. It will just..........get in my way, that's why". "I understand. Love is.......a very new subject for me" Noriko said.

"Yeah.....me too.....Hell, I don't even know why Dad fell for Mom in the first place just to leave her after that" Jolyne stated. "Huh?? What do you mean??" Noriko looked at Jolyne.

"My parents got a divorce after I was born. And according to the laws, both of my parents have the rights on me. So I visit one of them after every alternate month. This month I'm staying with my father" Jolyne explained.

"I see. Your father is Dr. Jotaro Kujo right??". "Yes, the famous marine biologist. The one who wrote thesis on starfish and other marine creatures. How interesting" Jolyne said, adding a dramatic sarcasm to it.

"Honestly, I'm a big fan of him" Noriko added, a light blush on her cheeks. "What?? Seriously??" Jolyne gaped.

"Yes. I have read every report and thesis he has ever written. The way how he observes and analyses the creatures is just wonderful. I bet that he is going to be the one who will discover a new species of marine life which humanity has never seen before" she spoke with amazement.

"Ha!!! You are flattering him now. My Dad is nothing like how you think of him" Jolyne argued. "Oh really??" Noriko raised her eyebrow.

"Yes. I know he is smart and all but he is not Einstein-level" Jolyne answered. "I never compared him with Einstein, Jolyne. It's just that I really think of him very fondly, and I admire him a lot" Noriko said.

"Yeah yeah, but don't fall in love with him. He might break your heart" she joked. Noriko blushed pink. It's good that Jolyne didn't notice it, otherwise it would have been very awkward.

"Well, here we are. My Dad's house" Jolyne stopped and showed Noriko her house.

"Wow, it looks very big" Noriko looked all over the lavish bungalow.

"Heh, these are the perks of being a Joestar" she said. "Joestar?? What do you mean??" Noriko asked. "You first come inside and then I'll tell you" and so Jolyne and Noriko entered the luxurious house. Both of them removed their shoes and Noriko looked around the house with an agape mouth and wide eyes.

"Wow......this looks so much better from the inside. Just how rich are you people??" Noriko commented and asked Jolyne.

"Well, there was a guy named Robert Speedwagon who was friends with my great-great-grandfather. He then became rich after finding many oil ores out of nowhere. After he died, all of his luxuries went to my great-grandfather and that's how all of our expenses are taken care of" Jolyne explained.

"That's amazing. You guys are literally royals" Noriko commented. "Yeah. And also my great-great-grandfather was a noble in England, so he was rich even before the Speedwagon guy came" she added.

"I see" Noriko then sat on one of the loveseats. "Being a Joestar must be very lucky right??" Noriko asked. "If you think like that, you are gravely mistaken" Jolyne told her.

"What?? Really?? I can't believe this. But you guys have everything!!!.............I guess everything has it's pros and cons" Noriko told herself.

Jolyne was about to speak more, but then the bell of the house rang.

"That must be Dad. You stay here Noriko. I'll be right back" and then she goes to check the door. Since Noriko had nothing to do for now, she looks at her skirt and straightens it up a bit.

Jolyne on the other hand opens the door and sees her father standing outside, just as she expected.

"Hello Dad" Jolyne greeted. "Hello Jolyne, how was school??" Dr. Kujo entered the house and Jolyne stepped away to give him some space.

"Meh, it was fine. Mr. Anderson barked at me as usual" Jolyne told him. Mr. Kujo sniggered a bit.

"He doesn't seem to stop critisizing you, does he??". "Of course not. I bet he won't even shut up even after he is an old man and cannot even lift his hand to push his oversized glasses up" she mocked.

Dr. Kujo smiled a fraction as he removed his shoes and his coat. While he was putting his shoes on the rack, he noticed another pair of school shoes which were similar to that of Jolyne's.

"Jolyne, have you brought a classmate here?" Dr. Kujo asked.

"Uhh yeah. She is actually my mentor who is supposed to tutor me, starting from today. I hope you don't mind if she stays here".

"No, not at all" The professor replied. He then hung his coat up and headed to the living room, her daughter following her.

As soon as Mr. Kujo entered the room, he spotted the red-haired girl. She looked awfully familiar to him which made the professor stop on his tracks.

"Dad, what's wrong??" Jolyne spoke from behind her father.

"Noriaki........" He whispered.

"Noriaki?? No Dad, her name is Noriko"

Jolyne corrected.

Even her name is similar to his...........

Mr. Kujo continued to stare at the red head who was scribbling something in the notepad on her lap with a pencil.

That red hair, those amethyst eyes, and how she was concentrating on her work, everything Mr. Kujo had seen already a long time before. It all felt like Deja Vu to him. And he clearly remembers the person whom this girl reminds him of. He was his highschool lover after all.

"Noriko-chan" Jolyne calls her. Noriko looks up from her notepad to her friend.

"Here is my father, who is also your 'sole idol'. And Dad, this is Noriko, my friend" Jolyne introduced them to one another.

(Part 2)

#jojo's bizarre adventure #jotakak #jotaro x kakyoin #noriaki kakyoin #jotaro kujo #jolyne cujoh #jjba genderbend #female kakyoin #Spotify #what I wrote

[monsieurporter]

Week 1: Digital Citizenship

Hi all, welcome to my blog!

I've created this blog as part of an assignment for a course for my Master's of Educational Technology degree, but I plan to continue using it even after this course. I use social media like Twitter because I enjoy celebrating student learning (like this Tweet: https://twitter.com/MonsieurPorter/status/1408168656249491456), and showing classroom events, like here: https://twitter.com/MonsieurPorter/status/1393772602544459776. I also use Twitter to show examples or templates of what well done work should look like for students. For example, I created this template for a project and shared it with families via Twitter (link: https://twitter.com/MonsieurPorter/status/1404799230930268167) and here are examples of student work: (link: https://twitter.com/MonsieurPorter/status/1405226709037637633). Blogging looks like a cool addition to social media, and of course, blogging doesn't have Twitter's word cap! :)

We are learning about digital citizenship in this course, which is an important and pertinent topic in education today. Immediately, my mind jumps to an extreme: cyberbullying. Teachers should incorporate lessons of good digital citizenship in lessons involving technology early and often, centered on the Golden Rule: treat others how you want to be treated. However, there's much more to digital citizenship, which I'm learning thanks to this course. I was unaware of Mike Ribble's nine elements of Digital Citizenship and I'm looking forward to exploring them in depth as the course progresses. Looking online, I found this infographic that would be handy to have in the classroom, to refer to:

(As a side note, I also enjoy art and design, and I found this lovely looking graphic showing the nine elements. :)

I believe it's essential to involve parents in student learning, so a course reading I found particularly interesting was "Educators: Help parents talk to their kids about tech." As the article states, "it’s hard to teach important skills and impart content knowledge in such a small amount of time. That’s why teachers need the support of parents and caregivers. If lessons are not repeated and reinforced outside the classroom, students cannot internalize them and truly learn." This is also true about "digital citizenship education, which needs to be reinforced, taught and demonstrated outside the classroom." The article contains useful conversational prompts that parents can implement when discussing technology with their children. Prompts include, "How would you feel if someone shared something private about you online without your permission? What if I shared it?" and "What things are private to you? What things are public?" These prompts allow both the parents and children to reflect and better consider digital citizenship. I plan on sending these prompts home to families early this coming school year. :) Balance in regards to digital citizenship is something else we're considering in class. This week I watched a series of documentaries, among them was one called "Addicted to your Phone?" which was effective in highlighting, among other things, what can happen if we let our technology take the place as a focus in life rather than a tool to help us. In considering the Nine Elements of Digital Citizenship, I would think concepts from the documentary tie into "Digital Health and Wellness." It's interesting as I hadn't considered digital citizenship in this light! Thanks for reading the first post of my blog! :)

- M. Porter

References:

9 Elements of Digital citizenship. (n.d.). Retrieved July 03, 2021, from https://www.setbc.org/2018/06/digital-citizenship-2018/

CBC Marketplace [Video file]. (n.d.). In CBCnews. Retrieved July 03, 2021, from https://gem.cbc.ca/media/marketplace/season-45/episode-7/38e815a-00d45476c99

Rogers-Whitehead, C. (2020, February 25). Educators: Help parents talk to their kids about tech. Retrieved July 03, 2021, from https://www.iste.org/explore/digital-citizenship/educators-help-parents-talk-their-kids-about-tech

#digital citizenship #first post

[tomyo]

The 10 year change of JK and Anime style

My latest watch in my quarantine marathon has been KyouSougigi, a 2011 anime that's bombastic and quirky. The world was so hyperactive, I thought it was a gainax (the trigger part) project.

But as the main character Koto had pulled out her weapon decorated with two big plush mascot straps, I was suddenly catapulted into a hyperstate of nostalgia. I never thought a phone strap would be nostalgic.

I'd like to pause a minute just to show off my beloved phone that I used at that time:

Granted, I didn't use these accessories yet. I desperately wanted anime phone straps since 2005 but bizarrely I didn't get one until 2011 when my pucho included a small dragonfruit character who didn't make it very long. However, in 2012, I was a new city living college student with no limitations and I. Went. Ham. Fake food, squishy bread, and stuffed plush, I had it all. My phone was now properly twice it's weight in charms. I was living to the then dream of every JK Gal wannabe.

The world changes so unexpectedly in only 7 or 8 years.

Life does, that's not a boomer complaint. But the 180 in Japanase High Schoolers is something I don't think an 18 year old me would have considered. The image I had grown alongside was that of was short skirts, bleached hair, tons of accessories, bright colors, cardigans, long statement nails and as previously talked about, excessively decorated (flip) phones. Excessive is a good word for it. Even though the looming influence of smartphones phased away the strap loop, bags were still prime keychain holders and decoden phone cases where a trending style. Things did change with tech changes but this had been a general look for nearly 15 years. And yet, here we are now.

First of all I'd like to point out there's very few High School centric anime out right now. Especially not many in the last 3 years (albeit I refreshed myself by skimming Crunchyroll). This isn't so much that anime doesn't use high school age protagonists going into high school, but that school has little in effect of the story. The only notable example of HS anime in 2020 have been Fruits Basket, A Certain Scientific Railgun, Kaguya-Sama, and Eikouken, the first two happen to also be visually cemented in previous eras. So let's look at the other two as well as BNHA since it technically is also a school anime. Character design isn't uniform but it's pretty subdued. In all three of these, nearly every character wears their uniform to dress code standard. Out of the whole BHN cast, Bakugo is the only one to wear his uniform differently, aside from that I'd only consider Denki and Kirashina to have flashy hair. Now this isn't to say that characters don't personalize themselves but rarely is it in focal ways. Style seems to has been delagated to exclusively footwear, backpacks, and sometimes headwear. Again, no one really does a flashy design for hair. There isn't a lot of curling or dyed hair (even if it's colorful, it may still be their natural hair color) and styling is kept to simple ponytails. Every so often a character my wear an alternative pair of shoes or tights instead of knee highs but the only really expression is their backpacks. In some ways that's funny because it was previously one of the uniform elements. The school standard duffle seems to have been replaced by stylish bags, something that could be overlooked depending on how often they're worn (not that often).

If I had to describe how high school life is portrayed now, it's mature. Minimalism is, well, a big thing. When I see JK life, it tends to have a clean look, class president like almost, the appeal seems to be a contrast in the white of the blouse against a dark blue or black. Shows don't seem to want to break a jewelish natural pallette. Also track, track seems really big right now in high school stories, don't ask me why. I think another part of this is that the shoujo norm of light hearted stories focused on fashion and boyfriends seems to now be more about bittersweet dramas. The full blown pastel romantic comedy has a lot of niche focus, wotakei for example. Where naming all the 'I'm a high school girl with one major quirk and this is my wild romance with my boyfriend with wacky hijinks and extreme reactions' shows would be hard to do during the era I was in high school, it's hard to think of many now.

In a similar way, I feel the atmosphere of animation has evolved. Let me start by saying anime is gorgeous now. Backgrounds are paintings, sakuga is everywhere and it's been so long since wispy hair detail meant garrish lines. That being said, my one boomer comment is maybe that it's too good. The statement that "Anime looks amazing but also seems to always be in the same style." could be applied to both ends of the 2010s. Kyoto animation had been the studio, popularizing school girls doing cute things, their style of moe character design, and a style of referential that had to be seen (this also was something brought to further focus by makoto shinkai). Anime almost seemed to suddenly elevate with more carefully drawn backgrounds and honed use of lighting effects. After effects in the digital of anime used to go absolutely unused or where extremely forefront. You can really feel the differences in series like Toradora, Gurren Laggan, Anohana. They were just so polished. Unfortunately, we kept trying to polish. Every major series sans shonen has gone deep into polish but it's removed a lot of the edges in the process. Fruits Basket had a distinctive style that was kept through to it's first anime but is completely gone in the remake for something that's more generic.

I'm applying some tunnel vision to this but anime has veered more mature and graceful. Like the inverse of the JK girl from the flashy gal look to the mature and uniform, anime has flipped from bombastic and expressive to gorgeous but retrained. It wasn't just the plush straps that was so nostalgic in Kyousougiga (remember when this was the whole point?) But the cartoonish designs and secure personality of the characters. It's hard to fully put my finger fully on what it is but that loud personality doesn't seem to be around much anymore. The spectrum seems stuck to very distinct flavours of Deep Introspection or Comedic Dumbassery in terms of personality. The majority of the former can almost be stressful, the character is almost always troubled by the state of their situation. The early 2010s almost felt unburdened in their burdens. For instance, Koto is trapped in a magical world, all she wants is to get home and the world is kinda hostile to her. Even still, she is smiling, goofing, and even has a friendly relationship with her foes. It's a 'This sucks!' not as much as 'This isn't good..'. Studio Trigger, the part of Gainax that popularized that rouge-ish goofy cast has been somewhat of the only one to keep that up. Even then they lost that energy a little bit with Kiznaiver and Darling in the Franxx. Of course, this is also all processed through my experience now as an adult who has a lot more concerns. The taste of nostalgia is so sweet, I can almost feel youth flow back into me at the sight of a feature phone. Even as I try to finish this long detour from my anime watch, the urge to recapture that feeling of being 17 is a powerful drug. Its a mixture of a lot of senses, the feeling of wearing my mock school uniform and using a big purse like a school duffle, learning pixiv, becoming a little more stylish but still keeping an eye on Japanese fashion, becoming a little more independent and active in my interests, and the untroubled comfort of my desires. It's funny that 17, a defining year in my life, happens to be the same year this came out. All in that year, I took piano classes, learned how to use a DSLR camera, started to cosplay, and began to learn Japanese. It was the year I stopped being an outcast without trying to be someone, the year I saw my first concert, the year I learned about Boba and BB cream, the year I was really infatuated with this guy but probably also my female friend, the year I became to determined to get dual citizenship (goodbye to that chance), the year I started on tumblr, it was just a year that I knew who I wanted to be. I've actually come near around to that feeling again recently so I won't let the nostalgia haunt me too much. But man, I'm really for late 00s fashion to come back. I want the cute accessories back, the cheesy photos you'd take and share for fun, and for thrown together looks.

[187days]

Day Twenty-Eight

It was an early release day today, so every class was half the time it usually is, and, whew, they went fast! Freshmen put finishing touches on their Culture Project drafts and turned them in, seniors took a vocab quiz (and smashed it) and discussed some practice FRQs with me. And that's all we had time for! It worked, though, so I'm pretty happy about my planning skills, heh.

We got to enjoy a nice, long lunch break, which might be the best thing about early release days. Then the staff gathered in the auditorium for a bit of professional development on the Datawise Protocol, courtesy of Dean 1. After introducing the protocol, he broke us into small groups to practice looking at data sets- doing "I notice" and "I wonder." Now, I'm good at looking at data, but I also kind of hate it. This wasn't bad, though; I got to work with some colleagues I don't normally work with, we had some interesting discussions. One of the data sets we looked at was about per pupil expenditures in similar-sized districts here in the state, and our group got to wondering about per pupil expenditures nationwide- which, as APGOV teachers well know, is the subject of a practice FRQ question. In fact, it's one of the ones my students and I were discussing earlier, so I pulled it up right away.

Also, since I saw this push towards data-driven everything coming a mile away, I've been nagging my department to put their P/F data for the US Citizenship Test on this one spreadsheet. Mrs. C was the first to catch on to what I was up to, so she was grinning when I mentioned to Dean 1 that we'd have some important data to be looking at shortly, and that this protocol would guide our work.

LOOK AT ME DEPARTMENT HEADING WELL.

Because I was department heading, I missed the first half of a meeting of ninth grade teachers, but I'd told the Principal that was going to happen. I missed a discussion about all the challenges of the half block classes, but I've voiced my opinions on that, and had nothing really to add, so I don't think I really missed much. I came in at the end and tried to contribute to the conversation about short and long term solutions. I'm too quick to bat down things I don't like, and need to hear ideas out a bit more, so I tried to do that... I didn't always succeed, but I tried.

And that took us to the end of the day. I stayed a smidge late to get a few things in order, then went home, but ended up grabbing dinner with Mrs. T at this new restaurant in town. I'd already been once, but she hadn't, so she suggested going. We had a good, long chat about things other than work, but we did also talk about how we're finding everything this year. It's a growing year for both of us, you know?

#teaching #edublr #teachblr #education #high school #social studies #teacher #mrs. t #dean2 #dean 1 #the principal #department head #i am a wizard #meetings meetings meetings #early release #professional development #mrs. c #ninth grade house #day twenty eight

[love-pauletta]

Positionality In research, why not in community health care workers?

Have you ever been deep in thought, reflecting about a circumstance in which you reacted and addressed it differently than everyone else who was also exposed to the same situation with you? Have you ever pondered why you reacted the way you did, or why you approached the situation differently than others? And what were the underlying influences and factors that led to that particular reaction? If you haven't already done so, consider your environment and the people you live with. What causes you and them to respond or approach situations in the same way? And if you've found yourself in this circumstance, it's important to go further and figure out what's causing these unusual reactions/approaches, as they may have an impact on your judgement.

Positionality have been thoroughly evaluated and described in research qualitative studies where (Secules et al., 2021) describes it as how a person's socially significant identity characteristics define him or her in a dynamic manner and continues to say that it has been defined as reflexivity, which is the process by which a researcher recognizes, evaluates, and owns their own origins, viewpoints, experiences, and biases in order to improve study quality. This further means, especially out of context of research, examining your own feelings, reactions, and motives and how they influence what you do or think in situations. Class, citizenship, ability, age, race, sexual orientation, cis/trans status, are just a few of the many dimensions that make up our social identities. Age, gender, sexuality, color, social class, culture, religion, and other factors all influence how we see and interpret the world around us, as well as how the world perceives and interprets us as stated by (Jacobson and Mustafa, 2019).

Whenever I'm in a situation, one of the things I've discovered about myself is that the way I perceive, interpret, and choose to react to a situation is heavily influenced by a variety of elements, including culture, religion, race, and the other factors described above. I wouldn't consider myself as a religious woman just because I am a woman who grew up in a very religious family (Christian) that acknowledges its culture but does not follow cultural beliefs and rituals. However, growing up in a family like that has influenced my judgment and the way I perceive situations. However, my age (21), gender (female), and sexuality (LGBTQI+) have a strong influence on how I react to and handle situations as well. And the setting I grew up in, a township known as "lokshin," played a significant effect, particularly in terms of cultural norms, the types of crimes I was exposed to, and the township's views. Now that I'm in the community block and thinking about my role as an occupational therapy student, I'm starting to question my positionality. Positionality is important in social work because it determines how one conducts client work, community participation, and decision-making. As a result, I'm starting to evaluate myself whenever I have to do a home visit, conduct assessments, exposed to severe home/diagnoses related problems or provide intervention etc.

The community I am placed in is also a township, it connects with my hometown as they share the same challenges, I have had no difficulty understanding the settings, contextual factors such as informal settlements that are seen within this community, its culture, religions, and other factors such as race of the people in the community as all of this is quite similar to my hometown. When (Berkovic, Ayton, Briggs and Ackerman, 2020) conducted a research on one of the topics they have a lived experience on, they were referred to as a “research insider”, and they noticed the advantages and disadvantages of this which raised a concern to me as it sort of applies to my situation as well. I have an understanding of these people and the factors that create them and factors which come as challenges, I understand them on a personal level which places me as an insider when providing intervention. (Berkovic, Ayton, Briggs and Ackerman, 2020) states that an insider position’s advantages, include facilitating a clear perspective that creates credibility with people, “promoting an equalized connection between the researcher and the participants, and fostering rapport between the researcher and the participants.” Which are one of the advantages I have also noted since I have began working in this community. However, disadvantages such as participants' misunderstanding of a researcher's ability to provide health advice, as well as compromised researcher objectivity and professionalism haven’t been noted while I’m at the community. (Saidin, 2017) also suggested that the insider researcher's comparable background to the participants could sway his readings of the findings in his study causing them to be biased because of the great impact of his prior experiences with the topic, as opposed to an outsider researcher who has no prior knowledge of the topic. These are on the challenges I am not willing to face as they may place my intervention at risk and to be bias.

Just as researcher’s positionality in qualitative research is questioned and evaluated, it is quite significant to also evaluate positionality of community-based health practitioners. As (Holmes, 2020) state that it has an impact on how research is conducted, as well as the outputs and outcomes, this also applies to the health practitioners working with communities, their positionality will have an impact on how intervention is conducted/planned as well as the outcomes of intervention. Therefore, it is quite significant to have reflexivity as a community health-worker, as It has the potential to guide our thinking so that we may better adapt to complicated and contextually placed health challenges, as well as unanticipated circumstances in health promotion practice that cannot be predicted through formal training (Alexander et al., 2020).

REFERENCES

Secules, S., McCall, C., Mejia, J., Beebe, C., Masters, A., L. Sánchez‐Peña, M. and Svyantek, M., 2021. Positionality practices and dimensions of impact on equity research: A collaborative inquiry and call to the community. Journal of Engineering Education, 110(1), pp.19-43.

Jacobson, D. and Mustafa, N., 2019. Social Identity Map: A Reflexivity Tool for Practicing Explicit Positionality in Critical Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, p.160940691987007.

Berkovic, D., Ayton, D., Briggs, A. and Ackerman, I., 2020. The View From the Inside: Positionality and Insider Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 19, p.160940691990082.

Saidin, K., 2017. INSIDER RESEARCHERS: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES. Proceedings of the ICECRS, 1(1).

Alexander, S., Jones, C., Tremblay, M., Beaudet, N., Rod, M. and Wright, M., 2020. Reflexivity in Health Promotion: A Typology for Training. Health Promotion Practice, 21(4), pp.499-509.

[sanerontheinside]

Hi! You mentioned in one of your posts that you're taking a class that makes you think about the relationships between American school and American government, and that sounds a lot like a class that I would be interested in. What class is it? I'd like to see if I can find something similar. I'm trying to train myself to think critically about debate and politics and culture and... all the things that help people understand complex issues. Do you have any other suggestions of places I could go?

Hmmmmm…. This is… going to be a bit difficult. 

Ok, for one thing, it’s a grad course at my local university, and the program I’m in is Masters of Arts in Teaching. It’s not really one out of a standard class set. 

For another: while the class has spent some time focused on how government, democracy, and policy affect schools, the actual goal of the class is to examine how media representation presents schools, and how that affects people’s attitude towards schooling and teaching. 

However, I can probably recommend some reading. 

Here’s an online course I am kind of curious about. It sounds more relevant to what you’re looking for than my class, I’d say. You will be able to audit the course (the certificate for a verified course usually costs some money, but the audit is free). 

Check out other courses on edX, too: it’s a good site for online learning, basically a pool of free online courses made public by various universities. (Harvard also offers a course on American Government, which I’m enrolled in for shits and giggles, but haven’t done more than take a cursory look at thus far.)

Here’s a link to a google drive folder that contains some articles from my class, if you’re curious. I would say some of them are pretty good reading, but I’ve listed a basic summary of each one I uploaded below the cut. I haven’t gotten to all of them yet, though, so I can’t actually be 100% accurate about what’s in each. 

Now, of course, since it’s academic writing, quite a bit of it is pretty dry and dense, which especially applies to the first three listed here: 

The Hochschild files (read): discuss how, in theory, education and democracy/social structure should interact and better each other. 

(A required text for my class, one which unfortunately you have to pay for: Is Everyone Really Equal? by Sensoy and DiAngelo) 

(if you’re curious, that link is for Teacher College Press, they have an ebook for a grand total of $27.96. They’re also the only ones I’ve seen offering an ebook. You will need another app, though, to actually read the file: ADE) 

Anyon is a study of 5 elementary schools which shows how education is stratified by social class. 

Brookings “Big Government” explains (loosely) how the government funds programs. 

Democracy and Freedom (FH-FITW) index (read): these are pretty clear, though—it’s the study that compares democracy and freedom between countries. You might’ve seen a post running around tumblr that says, for a country with such a loudly touted democracy, the US sure scored a bit low—this is that source. 

American Citizenship “Counting on Character” is an article on a charter schools

Larabee (read): is about the differences between public and private education. This one plays into our actual course goal a bit, because the entire business of school reform is criticised right there on the very first page, as it’s a very media/propaganda-directed process. 

Measuring Democracy (read): is godsawful dry. This was mainly assigned to give us an idea of how many types of democracy there are actually. As such, our assigned reading was pg.253-end, so, don’t fall asleep. 

A couple of nytimes articles are listed: First Amendment Support and Preparing Students for a Complex World (read), highlighting some interesting generational differences between current teachers/adults/millennials and Gen Z kids. Surface stuff, tho, like our preferences for social media, concern for privacy, and interpretation of the First Amendment—less about why these differences exist. 

Parker Against Idiocy (read): before you go getting any ideas about what idiocy is, in the context of this paper—

Idiocy shares with idiom and idiosyncratic the root idios, which means private, separate, self-centered — selfish. “Idiotic” was in the Greek context a term of reproach. When a person’s behavior became idiotic — concerned myopically with private things and unmindful of common things — then the person was believed to be like a rudderless ship, without consequence save for the danger it posed to others. This meaning of idiocy achieves its force when contrasted with politēs (citizen) or public. Here we have a powerful opposition: the private individual versus the public citizen.…An idiot is one whose self-centeredness undermines his or her citizen identity, causing it to wither or never to take root in the first place.

Putting Democracy Back into Public Education (read): bit of an economic perspective, and a focus on why democracy should be a focus in schools. 

Westheimer and Kahne: more on what makes a good citizen 

Young Citizens and Civic Learning: another research paper, on how to teach civics in the digital age. 

To be honest, I don’t know precisely how much these readings line up with your interests? They’re mainly theoretical, and mostly geared towards pedagogy. Some make for pretty good reads, tho. 

I’ll probably add some more as we go through the class, and as I do my own research, but I’m leaning more towards curriculum structure/design at the moment. Plus, there’s the finicky part where my content area is mathematics… and that’s not… precisely… very policy related. 

… CORRECTION: Math content is heavily politicised and people keep trying to regulate math education and curriculum structure and keep trying to reinvent the wheel, here. But in the more general sense, while it’s an example of policy impacting schools and teaching, it’s less about government control of a school as a whole. 

Basically what I was trying to say there was it’s less relevant to my class, but it would serve as a good, and very in-depth case study, if you were looking for a very specific example. 

The things to keep in mind: what you’re looking at is a highly intersectional topic. So many things have an impact on the way we teach: media reporting on teaching and current events, economic goals and its current state, policy, etc. 

Fun fact: you know how we rank countries by the number of students who pass standardised exams out of high school, yeah? Well. A side-by-side comparison of the exams and the topics tested actually shows that the questions European countries consider ‘qualifying’ are easier: they test lower-level topics than the US exams. 

What does that tell you? 

It’s a stupid, non-standardised study, your groups are non-comparable, your variables have no damn relationship to each other. 

But someone reports that the US is lagging behind in Math and STEM becomes a huge deal and Music and Art programs are poorly funded and businesses like Pearson benefit because they have a monopoly on tests, and we push kids into STEM fields because that’s feeding the current job market to bloating while telling them they can’t get a job with a liberal arts degree. 

Furthermore, education is an immensely powerful tool. It has been used (still is!) to destroy upward mobility for the working class, for people of colour, for people in poor rural areas. You can harm so many people by simply not mentioning something (erasure), and hey, it’s not like teachers get much time anyway because they’re supposed to be preparing their students for qualifying exams that permit the kids to advance to the next year. 

And let’s not forget that at some point it was a popular notion that these exam results would be used to control teachers’ pay. The exams weren’t even designed to be used for that. 

So, everything you’ve ever learned about setting up scientific studies and doing statistical analysis? Yyyyeaaah… well the current White House sure ain’t heard of it, you can bet your last dime, but whoever was doing studies on education before them also sure as shit was not the CDC. 

Just.. every now and then, stop, breathe, throw out everything you know, and then keep going. 

#brrrrppppfffft... the new life of saner? #education and pedagogy #reading and resources #stuffs #have fun? #this is probably too much Stuff #I'm sorry #Anonymous

[tcportfoliomgj]

Monday, 7th of June, 2021

"The old lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori." - Wilfred Owen (in McMorland Hunter, 2014)

It was Sunday, the 18th of October, when I received an email from Ton. He recommended me a book called Houd afstand, raak me aan, written by Paul Verhaeghe (2020) and also asked me if I thought it would be interesting for other TC students to read. I finished the ebook the same evening and emailed him back with a long review. Soon the idea formed to start a TC book club. Lieke, Dirk and I, with Ton's help, eventually launched TC Kitchen Table. We wanted to create a place where TC students could come together to have conversations, to philosophise and to discuss all kinds of things, like global challenges. We wanted this because we think that we shouldn't just grow as teacher artists, but also as humans. With essays, books, documentaries, movies, research papers, et cetera, we could start conversations about the Netherlands, the climate, human rights, the economy, (world) politics, society and humanity. TC Kitchen Table is a space where we can explore ourselves and grow together. A space to think out loud, to ask questions and answer them, just like at a real kitchen table. To make deep learning come alive, it's important to promote powerful conversations (Fullan, Quinn & McEachan, 2018, p. 53-54). TC Kitchen Table helps us create an environment and culture where deep learning can take place. We challenge each other to really think about all kinds of topics and stimulate each other to learn. I thank that as TC students, we are in a unique position. We're both the student and the teacher, so we can put ourselves in either perspective.

All of our Kitchen Table sessions have been online, except one. I'm glad we were able to use Teams to have our meetings, but having a session on campus was a lot more fun. We were able to talk, laugh, discuss the movie we watched, recite poetry and do much more. The poem I shared was Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, an anti-war poem written during the First World War. Back in high school, I had to analyse this poem, write a paper on it and do a presentation. It was a group project, but I ended up doing most of the work. I absolutely fell in love with the poem. It's rhythmic, beautiful and incredibly touching. However, when I got to analyse it I got to appreciate it even more. The technicalities behind the poem are amazing. The way Owen uses alliteration, assonance, simile, personification, direct speech, metaphors and irony is incredible and it's still such an accessible poem. Another poem I shared afterwards was O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman (1865). The poem is big in the movie Dead Poets Society (1989), which we discussed during the Kitchen Table session. When I shared the poem in our WhatsApp group, Ton responded and said he would love to discuss what the poem is about during the next Kitchen Table session. I was with Linde at the time, and I simply said "I'm not sure what there is to discuss because the poem is just about Abraham Lincoln and the Americal Civil War."

Linde and I were about to record a podcast for her portfolio. We planned to talk about social media and social media activism. However, Walt Whitman's poem suddenly sparked a question. Is art open to interpretation? Linde and I started talking and then suddenly stopped, realising that this would be a great conversation to record for her podcast. So we did, the conversation took a lot of turns, and we ended up calling it "From Rothko to Religion" (appendix 23). It was a great conversation, one of the many great conversations I've had with Linde. I think having big conversations like this is a lot of fun, but also very important. It can help you grow and learn. I really enjoy thinking and learning together. I've always learned by thinking out loud, even when I was younger. I never did a lot of homework, instead, I would just tell my mother about everything I learned. Thinking and talking about big topics together also allows you to see things from different points of view, instead of just your own. It's important to break out of your bubble (though I realise Linde and I often tend to be in the same bubble).

We should most definitely do this in our classrooms as well. Spark conversations, ask students to form and express their opinions and learn together. Learning environments that invite students to ask questions and come to creative discoveries are incredibly important and valuable. These learning environments are needed in order to keep our students intellectually engaged (Quaglia & Corso, 2017). Teaching about citizenship, society, the climate, cultures and the world will also contribute to my own learning process and growth. Because if we cherish curiosity in our classes, teachers and students will learn together. Students will see that adults are continuously curious about the world around them and that the subject they teach matters (Quaglia & Corso, 2017, p. 122). It also allows us to look at things from a different perspective. Let's not forget that we can learn a lot from our students too, they bring a lot to the table, even when it's about global challenges.

🎵 A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall (Live at Montreal Forum, December 1975) - Bob Dylan, the Rolling Thunder Revue

#critical thinking #character #collaboration #citizenship #communication

[doingitwithmodels]

My reaction to the film ”Citizen Architect and the spirit of the rural studio” by Samuel Mockbee is that he tried to establish to the audience and to all architects that when it comes to using our skills set to benefit the greater society at large. It was hard to get it at first but watching it several times made me understand. It shows how a group of students use their creativity, ingenuity, and compassion to craft a home for Jimmie Lee. The film reveals that the Rural Studio is about more than architecture and building. And what's really interesting is that every person who talked gave their perspective of what is an architecture or what it means to them. Also what really opened my eyes to being an architect is that architecture's role in issues such as poverty, class, race, education, social change, and citizenship many architects said in this dialogue. Caring about social change and citizenship I used to have in mind when the word architect was mentioned it was an extraordinary career. A person who was highly valued and people nowadays are understanding and this film makes us understand that architects do get their hands dirty. Because it's not only the career and profession they choose to do, but they love what they do. Getting dirty will show upcoming architects the boundaries of material and necessities. Also, they benefit from the experience and it's true because Mockbee's effort was to provide students with an experience that forever inspires them to consider how they can use their skills to better their communities. Using the philosophy and heart behind the Rural Studio. For example Sabo's architect inspired people of course by his talent but more because he tried to make the world a better place with his talent, creativity, and compassion. But more than that if you don't love what you do you won't care about helping your community. It might sound cheesy but it's true. And this film helps us to know the image of a good architect and a bad architect. They are bad architects in the world that just by probably having a degree, major, or good grades makes them more valuable or better than the ones that actually get dirty. But it's obvious….. The one who gets their hands dirty is the one who cares and loves what they do and cherishes their community. And that is what makes you an inspiration to your community and the world just like Sabo’s. Their film articulates a commitment to place and pedagogy as ways to an ethical architecture, engaging varied voices to bring a new generation of students and teachers closer to Hale Country and it's pretty simple. I love watching these films because it opens your mind to think bigger of architects. It's not that simple to just say I'm an architect and I build. It's more than that and this film said it. Not only shows humanity, and discipline but to be good such as if it's a different career but to be good. We need good architects everywhere. Above all else, this film offers a dialogue about what it means to be both a successful professional and a responsible member of society.

#journal #inspiration #architecture #lovewhatyoudo