I really enjoyed this week's readings. Probably my favorite was Chapter 4 in Miller & McVee, where it discussed the multimodal projects of Carol, a 9th grade English teacher. I loved hearing the results of her Halloween story project. "Her son, the mother told Carol, frequently struggled with school learning and was easily intimidated by school assignments, but during this particular week, he had told his mother enthusiastically about his story, had continued to work on it at home, and- in an uncharacteristic demonstration of confidence-had proudly shared it with his mother" (55). This quote really struck me.
I really  loved my high school, but it did have its fair share of flaws. One of which was the separation of "good" and "bad" students. The honors students were always in classes together, and then students who typically got lower scores were together. Often in my honors English class, the teacher would comment/joke about the "other" class that failed their tests, or didn't turn in project, or handed in sub-par work. While I get that teacher get frustrated sometimes, I hated seeing a whole group of girls (it was an all-girls school) labeled as "bad" and expected to fail. I firmly believe that no student is "bad". It's so important to me that when I teach, I use multimodality and new digital literacies to make sure that all of my students feel connected to what they're learning. I've experienced so many teachers that when faced with students that didn't understand the lesson, shrugged their shoulders and moved onto the next topic. Instead, they should've taken the time to approach the lesson in a different way that allows students who learn a different way to understand. Honestly, my biggest dream as a teacher is allowing students, like the boy Carol encountered, to see that they truly can excel in school and see learning in a different light.