The things that make me, me, change every day. I used to hate change when I was a child, but now, I almost get anxious thinking about everything staying the same. Maybe it’s a part of growing up that makes me want to try new things, gain new experiences, meet new people, and even live in new places. I have learned how to play the piano, how to properly cut open a pomegranate, and how to teach English language learners in the classroom. I have gained this new love for adventure and trying new things. I love the person I have grown to become, especially when it comes to my passion for teaching. This was the one thing in my life that has never changed.
I think everyone has multiple different identities. As for myself, I am a daughter, a student, a friend, a sister, a camp guide, and a soon-to-be educator. All of these identities come from my family and the people/places I surround myself with. I grew up in a split home ever since I was 3, I loved going back home to Colorado to see family, I participated in a lot of extracurricular activities, and I spent a lot of time with my friends. I became who I am now because of the situations I lived through. These are all of the things everyone could easily notice about me if they knew me. Although, as for the things they couldn’t see about me, there were a lot! I suffered with anxiety when I was younger after my parents divorce, I was extremely hard on myself in school, I did not have a close relationship with my dad or sister, and I lost a lot of close friends in my childhood. These were struggles I had to face alone because I was too stubborn to reach out to anyone in my family or friend group. Because of that stubbornness, I had to force myself to get out of that hole and open up to the people who loved me. That is also why I am who I am to this day.
In a societal perspective, I am also a young, white female. This comes with a lot of privilege that I can sometimes forget to think about in certain situations. It’s difficult to live in someone else’s shoes and experience what life is like for them when you are not aware of this privilege. That is why identity is so important to me because I never want people to assume I am unaware of the privilege I currently have. I often think about this when I picture my future as an elementary school teacher. It scares me that I will take advantage of this unknowingly, and make my students feel uncomfortable in the classroom for any reason. I want to create a safe space for everyone of all identities, and to do this, I think Dorinda Carter gave a good piece of advice for future teachers like me. She stated, “Flexibility is central to antiracist instruction; as long as the educator consciously considers whether her moves are harmful or helpful to the student in the learning process, she will do better by her students,” (Carter 234).
I have attached a picture of my identity down below. This activity made me realize a lot about myself and I was able to reflect on who I am as a person and how far I’ve come. Thank you for enjoying my first blog post! Stay tuned for more to come!
References
Carter, D. J. (2008). On spotlighting and ignoring racial group members in the classroom. In M. Pollock (Ed.), Everyday antiracism: Getting real about race in school (pp.230-234). New York, NY: The New Press.
July 6, 2023 at 9:45 p.m.
Hello Sydney!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading through your response on identity in the classroom. I especially like the book you picked and how it specifically talks about feeling lonely and making friends with a bunch of new and different people. I feel that the book that you chose perfectly encompasses my teaching philosophy that we should celebrate our differences. I grew up military so I have experienced a ton of new places and tons of different people. I have friends that live not only all over the country, but in other parts of the world. I want to be able to share my understanding that differences make the world a better place in my classroom. No two people are alike, and thank goodness because how boring would that be? Overall, I felt that your response was beneficial to me and helped to present new ideas for my future classroom in regard to the importance of identity.
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