Lacy's Moving Classroom

        Regarding gender diversity in the classroom, I have been learning and practicing how to approach it. I am creating different reading material supporting or demonstrating other genders and diverse people. When I was in high school, I had friends who came out as trans or nonbinary. Calling them by their name, the name they love and feel comfortable with, made their whole faces light up. It made them feel safe and validated. That is what I want my students to feel. Even though I might not be able to say at this moment, I have had many similar moments during my practicum. However, the few I did have were worth it if they helped the students. The small experience I gained working with gender in the classroom started last spring when I was able to work with middle school students. Two students in my classroom preferred to use names different from those the schools have on file. They both had more feminine names and wanted to use masculine names. My mentor teacher...

      Welcome back. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Fall is approaching with chilly weather, and most of us want to snuggle indoors with a good book; however, for our teachers and my teacher-intern classmates, that is not always an option. Much work is to be done at this time of year, and I want to ensure I have all my resources to accomplish my goals. This includes creating lesson plans, keeping up with my assignments, and ensuring I have everything lined up for next year when I will be a full-time student teacher.  This year's KATE conference helped, inspired, and prepared me with ideas for the future. The KATE conference is a professional development event for English language art teachers. Sessions that were included this year were local authors, innovative strategies from the classroom, critical thinking exercises, and navigating local partnerships. This was my first time at the KATE conference, and I loved every second; the people I met and the thi...

  Reading and writing can be fun and exciting, but they can also be complicated and frustrating, especially when going over the rules of how we should write. I was never a fan of teachers going over grammar rules. It was my least favorite part of writing in class, and I'm still not a fan of teaching them to students. The problem with grammar and language is that teaching grammar is about setting rules, and language involves a sense of creativity and individuality. These two sides can be confusing for students to master simultaneously. For students, writing is something that is done with creativity. Even when students write essays on the same topic, there will still be that amount of creativity and specific choices that students make when creating their point. Their choice of diction or use of figurative language all show their vision and identity. The problem is that studetsn are still finding their voice out loud and in writing. When we want the student to apply their innovativene...