Chris Andresen

TE 807
Multimodal Responses

Week 1: 1.C Tweet: Summarize key ideas in the article in Tweets of no more than 140
characters

Bingham: “Two Educational Ideas for 2011 and Beyond”

Tweet:
Bingham argues that in the age of the internet, teaching can feel less relevant than ever.
Knowledge is easier to access than ever (think: @KhanAcademy). Teachers cannot compete
against the massive resources for learning that anybody can find online. SO, teachers must play
the role of a leader in the classroom who encourages and supports community building and
cooperation. (long tweet, I know. Sorry!)

Week 2: E.b: Personal Response

Youtube Video: “Why Education in Finland Works”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntdYxqRce_s

This video stuck with me this week. Randi Weingarten, president of the AFT (the second
largest teacher union in the country, I believe), visits a Finnish school and is taken aback by the
work environment she finds. Her initial takeaway is how the spaces within the school are
designed to foster student learning and engagement. The video then asks the question: why is
Finland so high ranking in math/science/reading? The answer given seems simple, but it makes
sense. Finnish teachers are treated as professionals by their administrators and the public as
well. This has not always been the case for me during my 6 years in the classroom.
Administrators in my experience typically don’t work WITH us, but they manage their teachers,
oftentimes never stepping foot in a classroom.
The thesis of the video is that a true sense of community surrounding the school--
teachers,students, admin, and the public--is wildly beneficial for learning. Teachers are valued
by their communities, and in turn they produce better lessons and seem to avoid burnout. In my
experience, I’d say about 90% of the parents in my community support teachers and the school
system. The other 10%, however, seems to be growing angrier and more vocal on social media.
Terms like marxist, socialist, communist, etc are thrown around if a teacher shows or reads
something intellectually challenging with their students. It’s really depressing, and I hope that
common sense wins out with these folks.
Prior to covid, I would leave parent teacher conferences every year feeling a true sense
of community and belonging. The parents I met were ALWAYS supportive and thankful for my
work and efforts. It was great meeting the families of my students and hearing just how
important teachers are in the community. This year, obviously, has been very different. The
combination of lockdown and remote learning has really made a certain set of parents in my
community loudly anti-teacher on social media. Seeing how Finnish teachers spoke about their
sense of belonging and gratitude from the community reminded me of that feeling I used to get
after a night of conferences.

WEEK 3: E.b. Personal Response

What can education learn from the arts about the practice of education? (Eisner, 2002)

Something Eisner said really resonated with me in this speech, and I’ve never heard
teaching described the way he put it here. He mentioned that teaching is not too dissimilar from
being a short order cook.

“The good teacher, like the good short order cook, has to pay attention to several operations
simultaneously, and they do.”

I’ve never worked as a cook before, but I have worked as a barista. Knowing how to line
up several orders at once, keeping things moving, and putting together several drinks
simultaneously really IS a bit like managing a classroom. I’d never thought about how similar the
job was to teaching, but he has a good point. I learned how to pay attention to several
operations at once, just like Eisner mentions, when I worked in the coffee shop. It’s frantically
paced, with a ton of moving parts. I wouldn’t say teaching is frantic, but there are definitely
moments where my barista instincts kick in. When you have 30 kids in a classroom, and 15 of
them are asking for help on an assignment, that barista mindset of keeping things organized
while going through several different motions at once comes into play. Multitasking is a crucial
element of my job, and for whatever reason that reference to a short order cook stood out to
me.
Ally “gift: Here is a gif giving a shout out to your double experiences and skills of organizing.

WEEK 4: 1.A Outline

“Dr.Gholdy Muhammad Discusses the Black Lives

Matter Movement and Education”

● How the events of the past year (Geore Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc) have impacted Dr.
Muhammad’s work
○ URGENCY
■ Educators are rethinking their pedagogy and curriculums
■ New courses like ethnic studies being created
○ Focus is on how teachers can be more equitable in their classrooms
● So what can we do?
○ Biggest thing is to not ignore the issues
○ It is easy to ignore something that doesn’t affect you directly
○ ““How has the death of George Floyd affected you?” That’s a powerful question.
But we can’t just ask it and have that be it. We have to weave it into the fabric
and the culture of our schools and our classrooms.”
○ The culture surrounding speaking about these issues must change
○ Administrators must lead this change as well. Responsibility is on them too
● Maintaining stability of this change in classrooms
○ Standards themselves should be reworked to be more equitable and workable in
classrooms
○ Again, admin and leadership is crucial:
■ you have to support teachers, and show them what this type of teaching
looks like. Model it. Get them from point A to point B. It’s all about
leadership.
 ○ Teachers need supports through training, through modeling, and through
collaboration with admin and colleagues
● Oppression
○ Occurs in many forms, both meant and subconsciously
■ Could be a mean look or a knowing glance
○ The goal is for our students to actively disrupt oppression when they see it
■ “This blueprint is designed to improve the future and hopefully touch the
minds, hearts, and social emotional well-being of our students and our
teachers so they can live complete and quality lives.”
● How can teachers actively change their methods?
○ READ!
■ But be critical about it. Consider the author’s methods, what they’re about
etc
○ Take care of yourselves, work with your colleagues, get involved in therapy
○ Ultimately, the educational corporate system must change
■ Textbook publishers, standards writers, all must alter their methods
● Final takeaways
○ Teachers must be more self aware.
■ Is what I’m teaching correct?
■ What have I done today to be anti-oppresive?
■ It must be a part of your life, rather than just part of your teaching
practices