queer students in the classroom

in yesterday's education 649 class, one of the leadership groups presented a three hour segment on equity in the classroom... their presentation very helpful and informative, though at one point i had to speak up about my disdain for the lack of information offered to the class about resources for teachers of queer students.  time constraints are always a problem when covering many topics, so i understand why some information was not broached.  that being said, the other sections of the presentation involved strategies for teachers when dealing with issues of diversity, and it felt as if the segment on lgbt students was simply left behind.  this could have been an oversight, or a simple consequence of trying to finish up a leadership group project in time to present it to the class.  regardless of its reason, though, such an omission reflects a larger trend among educators to concern themselves with many issues of diversity while forgetting those student identities that are still socially acceptable to scorn.  

additionally, offering "tools" like sensitivity and open-mindedness to potential educators dealing with issues of sexual orientation in the classroom is irresponsible; not only does a lack of more specific teaching methods leave us mac-ers high and dry when it comes to working with queer students, but it inherently diminishes lgbt students and their needs.  finally, this lack of specificity raises a very troubling question: if teachers are uncertain about what exactly they're being sensitive to, how can we expect them to help and accommodate these students?  

in response to the lack of these resources in the presentation, i took a few moments to search out some myself... here are a few really helpful resources for teachers dealing with sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom:

http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=1011
http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=1032
http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/home/index.html

cell phones, twitter, and trust... oh my!

after reading fellow mac-er mike jahnke's post on the use and abuse of technology in the classroom (http://mijahnke.blogspot.com/2009/07/tweet.html#comment-form), and replying to his post with a short comment about my muddled thoughts on the issue, i felt i should expand on my thoughts... and what better forum to do so in than a blog?

my comment: "i've thought about this quite a bit in the past few weeks, and i'm glad you addressed it in your blog... when planning our leadership presentation for eugenie's class, my group discussed using the cell phone polls and perhaps twitter (to some extent) to increase student participation and engagement in the material. however, because many secondary mac-ers are new to the world of tweeting and texting, worry about whether they will use these technologies for school material instead of personal wasn't really present... this is a really valid question, and one we'll have to grapple with in our own classrooms and educational careers!"

this post and comment bring me to my most recent musing on the matter: so what if students are using these technologies for personal use as well as educational? i'd be lying if i said i didn't send a few personal texts during class in high school (perhaps more than a few), and i wonder, if i had been given the privilege to use my cell phone sparingly in class, would i have continued to abuse it the way i had? i'm a strong proponent of trusting relationships between students and educators, and perhaps this idealism will get me in some trouble in my early years of teaching... that being said, when we discussed punishments and the student handbook in eugenie's class, i was shocked to see how serious the administration found some mild offenses- suspension and a failing grade for "cheating" (seemingly without needing proof of the offense) and suspension for cell phone use during the school day, just to name a few. why is it we immediately assume the worst from those young people we want the best for? and how is sending a child away from school for several days a useful tool for helping that same student learn and mature? perhaps if we award students the trust we expect them to give us, they will surprise us with their actions...

Imagining a Classroom

Because the first assignment for Education 504 was to draw my ideal classroom and the technology in it, I set my sights on "technology" and tried my hardest to think of something other than a laptop to include in the room.  However, the more I racked my brain, the more apparent it became that the computers, televisions, and projectors were the least important parts of my classroom vision.  Therefore, a bit of erasing (okay, a lot of erasing) and an hour or so later, I had a classroom with windows, moveable desks and chairs, a small garden, bookshelves, whiteboards (chalk-on-board is slightly painful for me, but I could handle a blackboard, I guess), a teacher's desk, and - as an afterthought - a small cart with a laptop and projector on it. 

It took at least ten revisions of my drawing to get it just right, and it still needs a bit of work.  I hope, though, that the moveable parts in my dream classroom will allow for revision on a daily basis... the clusters of tables and chairs can move to accommodate almost any activity and the shelves and sinks near the "garden" (read: plants growing in the window, accompanied by supplies such as soil, watering cans, seeds, etc) can be repurposed if the students decide there is alternative activity or setup they'd like in its place.  Because the classroom dynamic is subject to change, the classroom must be dynamic in order to support change.

Of course, I often wonder how feasible such a classroom is.  Generally speaking, most schools can provide desks and chairs, white/blackboards, and other necessary supplies, and my technological requests are not very substantial, but the bookshelves and the windows and space for growing plants are less likely... I can provide the books and buy the seeds and watering cans, but in a windowless classroom, will they be able to grow?

(... that was supposed to be a pretty heavy allegory)