El Paseo

Back in school for the first heavy-duty term of the Master's program. Of course, every term is supposed to be relatively light, so it can be worked around jobs, family obligations, etc, but this term will definitely be more work than last.

We started our Multicultural Education class with an interesting activity last night, an El Paseo "Circles of Identity" activity (click for link to pdf). It was a good way to integrate the basic "get to know your classmates" first day activity with the class' topic and a teaching tool that is relevant to the topic. The activity started with listing the categories of things that we consider part of a student's identity. What pieces fit together? Race, gender, socioeconomic status, religion, family environment... the list goes on. Then we needed to build our own web of identity. Using specific terms in place of the categories, what makes us who we are? What is our own identity? We then went around the room having one-on-one conversations to share reflections on those characteristics. We didn't stand there and list off what we wrote - we talked about why those things made us who we are. Using our identity web and our conversations, we should have a good start on our first assignment, writing an autobiography.

The "circles of identity" I came up with last night.

It wasn't until today that I realized the subtle work the professor did in bringing the standard first-day classroom introductions, the class content, our first homework assignment, and a useful teaching tool together in one activity. We're taking these classes to learn to be good teachers... how often do we notice the tools the teachers are using and recognize the ways they're demonstrating technique in addition to the content?

After drifting a bit for the last month, and falling behind on posts and reflections, getting back into class is motivating. A lot of it comes from the increased stimulation: reading assignments, discussions, class time, etc. I want to remember to reflect on this stuff, so that 'el paseo' (the road) to my Master's definitely won't end with the degree. It should all be part of the learning experience and the never-ending quest to improve my teaching strategies and abilities.