Ms. Rodriguez's Classroom

We all know that young students like games as a form of learning, and research has backed it up! However, this sort of "play to learn" gets phased out through middle school and high school, and it can be a fun and engaging way to mix up classroom routine. Since I teach at a decently rigid and formative prep school, games haven't been part of the culture outside of language classes. To prepare for our semester exam, students had roughly 91 terms they needed to know from about 150 years of American history. To make this more exciting, I made a Quizlet, and consequently had students play Quizlet live. Not only is this application a fun way to make students learn and review, but they also have to work together as a team to review flashcards. I can see who my most competitive students are, but also those who are quietly diligent at reviewing terms prior to coming to class. While students are supposed to sit next to their teams to see all screens involved in the round, I some...

I've written about this briefly in my discussion board with my SAGA group, but this is something I'm consistently working on. I had a coworker show an incredible example of being a warm demander last week. We are reading what we call an "absent narrative" story in world history--a woman whose story is often left out. Her name is Abina, and she is a prosecutor's witness in a case regarding slavery on the Gold Coast of Africa in the time of imperial Britain. They are accusing Abina's husband/master of being a slave master, and she is corroborating that narrative. Our class had a short discussion on whether or not Abina was a slave or not, based on the graphic novel history we read of Abina's trial, taken from court transcripts in 1875. One student brought a provocative question--if this was 2018, would a woman in an abusive relationship be treated the same as this African woman, or if the system hasn't change very much? I thought this was a very inquis...

In history we always refer back to two big themes: the dominant and absent narrative. These are especially apparent not only throughout a historical lens with racial, ethnic, economic, and religious oppression and dominance, but in 2018 around a touchy season of holidays. Plain and simple, I grew up Catholic--went to Catholic school since I could hold my own head up, and continue through SMUMN. I've never attended an institution that was not Catholic. I even spent my first two years teaching at a Catholic school. Growing up in St. Paul, I grew up thinking of it as the dominant narrative. Boy, was I wrong. I didn't realize how many of my traditions and beliefs were in the minority! Now teaching at SPA and previously teaching at Eagan, I realize that my dominant narrative is most people's absent one. Teaching and attending Catholic school, I celebrated Christmas with abandon. I turned on music whenever possible in my classroom, and said prayers of gratitude at the start of ...