Event #1(Time Management) by Cabrera, Roberto

    On October 21st, I went to a virtual event through zoom that talks about time management. It was an event hosted by my College Crusade advisor from Rhode Island College (RIC).  This event has taught me to how to be flexible with timing as well as thinking about how my own plans will affect the way I use my time. Some of the things we did during the program was expressing how we planned our day, "What affects out time management" and what we do to stay positive and ready when using time for school and other important things. As I answered some questions my advisor asked during the event such as "What affects my time management", I told her school, internship, religion, etc. Some possible answers she posted after we told her our responses was "Easily overwhelmed, procrastination, doing too much at once" which were some things I did not get a chance to learn myself. This made me realize how feeling anxious a lot could lead me to needing as much help from supportive educators or tutors. 

     As a youth development major, my goal is to help youth/young adolescents become successful. I want to support them in their educational needs and lead them to a better path/life. Knowing the fact that every student is unique, I want to be there for each one of them, which is why this event helped me think about how I should plan my time, the same way I plan to study for my courses and do homework. I usually keep things in my head and work when I feel ready, but coming to this event has made me think about being proactive, which makes me want to ask myself, Am I using my time correctly, Did I study enough, How will I know if I am doing a great job, which is something important for me to consider when wanting to become a professional youth worker. This event was about planning out time better, how we can change the system of things, and seeing what helps us see where we are when we organize our plans.

    This event has brought me back to I know What I Believe: Using Theory to Prepare Youth Workers, where I learned about how youth development majors stay positive in their beliefs when supporting others as professional youth. One quote from the reading that stood out to me the most about being a youth development major and having support by my staff members was, "Our theoretically-grounded curriculum and approach grows from our belief that youth are thoughtful, creative people who deserve opportunities to practice leadership with supportive, professional adults by their side" (p.3) where I feel as the same support I am receiving to prepare as a professional youth development worker will help me feel ready to support youth in their academic challenges they will be up against in school. Time-management has been challenging, and it will be important for me by the time I become professional. If I do not use my time carefully, I am not giving myself time to be with each student. Each student is important in this community and I must be able to see each one of them for a good amount of time. I want to help students of all different cultures. Maybe there will be a time I can speak to everyone as a whole, but the most important thing is to treat each of them equally and have time to be there to support them. I do not want anyone to be oppressed or feel left out if I do not get a chance to see them, I want to be responsible for all of them. As mentioned in Mini Lecture #7: Care, "Most of us come to this work because we love children. We think of ourselves as empathic and loving and funny and friendly" and I feel the same way.  After going to this virtual event, I was able to see how time-management will be an important step of my life when I want to go work with youth in the future. I remember seeing myself making the same mistake each day when I was volunteering at Inspiring Minds KidsBridge Summer learning program two years ago where I did not get to each student and some were mad that I did not have the opportunity to help them. This happens to me when I try to study for school, which makes me want to plan ahead, be responsible, and show how much of a caring person I am.

    Overall, this virtual event went well. The citations I found in  I know What I Believe: Using Theory to Prepare Youth Workers and Mini Lecture #7: Care were citations that stood out to me and felt as it could connect to the event. In this course, we have discussed about the ideologies such as risk, resiliency and prevention, positive youth development, civic youth development, and social justice youth development. I could relate this to time-management, which is something I am still focusing on as not being there to support the ones we love feels as we are oppressing them for being different, or because we do not like the way they learn. I know for myself that every student learns differently, which makes them unique in their classrooms. Not only does time management impact me in college, it will also impact me when I want to support youth. This is what got me interest in attending this virtual event by my college crusade advisor today. Hopefully, I have the opportunity to become a better person and have a better path towards my academic goal/career, which means I must "Set time limits for tasks, keep everything organized" and plan ahead to feel ready to handle my own business.

    Time management is a great thing to consider. Although it was not discussed as a topic in this course, I think it would be something interesting to discuss in the future. In the future, I want to teach my students how to use their time. Some of them will find stress in their academics. Stress is one way I can tell they are not feeling well about the problems they are up against, and I might have that similar experience. As a teacher, I want to share my experience of how I use time, "As human beings, all of us want to feel various and cared for by the people of our lives" (Teachers Connect, 2019) and having time to care for all of them is important. As discussed in class today, we all talked about our difficult situations and how we do not put enough time to handle those tasks. Sometimes, classes can be tough as well as studying for them, which could lead us to fatigue or over studying. I know for a student like myself, we all want to learn to use a time, especially when handling the tough courses in school. This event was well-organized and made me want to do something like this for my students in the future. I wish it was discussed in Youth Development as well, as we are all here to be supported and become successful.

References

"7 Powerful Ways to Reach Every Student in Your Classroom". Teachers Connect for Teachers. 29 

    

        January 2019, Retrieved from  https://www.teachersconnect.com/2019/01/29/7-powerful-ways-to-

        reach-every- student-in-your-classroom/

    

    

    

   

Blog Post #7 by Cabrera, Roberto

 

    One of the ways I understood "Care" in education and youth development before I began doing the readings was in my Youth Development 350 course: Community, Pedagogy and Inclusion. I learned that care is one of the five anchors in youth development and it is the "Experience, practice, and critically engage the intentional and diverse practices of care that shape youth and community" (Clemons/YDEV 350 Syllabus, 2020, p.2). The way care is showed in youth development is by helping youth meet their challenges, leading them in "Differentiated lesson planning" (Clemons/YDEV 350, 2020, p.2) and showing them that you are willing to be there for them as a supporting friend/member. As with education, care is being shown in ways teachers/educators support their students. During the 2019-2020 school year, I was working at Spaziano-Laurel Hill Elementary School and I showed care to a bilingual class by getting to know the different learning needs they had, listening to their ideas/opinions, and by being a positive role model to them. Supporting them in their academic goals in school was the way I learned to show care in education, but not every student is given care in their schools. As you might know, some students are being oppressed in their schools for being different. People who identify as Black-American are experiencing discrimination and people assume they are bad people just for the way look, which makes them feel as they are not being cared for in their education. Those who work as youth development workers do not just want one race/culture to support in their profession. They should have a diverse group of people of all different backgrounds including Black-American because if they do not get to know them, how will they be able to understand the lives and prejudices of them and others. After reading Dear White Teachers: You Can't Love Your Black Students If You Don't Know Them and Nice Is Not Enough: Defining Caring for Students of Color,, I was able to better understand the meaning of "Care". Care is important to every youth/young person. Every individual in both education and youth development should receive it no matter how different they are from others because we all matter in our society.

    People who identify as either Black-American or person of color do not see positive changes or actions happening in their society. In the U.S., many people believe people of color are racist and are a threat to the people they see around them. People who identify as White-American think they are the majority of the population everywhere in the country. They think they are better than Black-Americans, but it is not true. Black-Americans are just as important as those who identify as White-American. People of color who go to school are not here to be negative, they are here to earn an education and find peace. When they go to school, they are experiencing difficulties from their teachers, which makes them feel as their needs are not being met in class. Teachers are also not giving African-American students a chance to speak or express how they feel. A quote from Love's reading that made me think of the negativities they are experiencing was, "For Black and Brown children in the United States, a major part of their schooling experience is associated with White Female teachers who have no understanding of their culture" (2019, p.1), which shows me that teachers are not being supportive or respecting their culture while they are trying to learn. It is also not White Female teachers, White male teachers are like that as well. Both of them say that they will work hard to help their students succeed, they love their students, but they do not show how they care for their students. If they want to help their students learn, they must know both the students and themselves. Something I learned from Mini Lecture #4: Racial Identity was, "If you don't know yourself, you can't know the young people that you work with" (Bogad, Loom). Teachers must be able to see all students and know the strengths between the students and themselves to see how they can make the learning society better because if they don't, they are not showing care and will not be able to lead them in their educational plans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HCqUClUWlc (Video to see how Bettina Love is trying to explain the prejudices on Black girls and how a change must happen, please see when you have a chance).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Xc08anZAE (Video to see End Adultification Bias, you may have seen it already, but please see it again when you have a chance)

    As I am learning more about the prejudices of "Black and Brown children in the United States" have been experiencing, this brings me back to one of the videos I saw , End Adultification Bias, which talks about the lives of Black-American girls and how they are being punished more than other girls who have a different race. Black girls would be more likely to face consequences such as getting suspended or arrested. They are not bad people nor do they commit crime, but people believe they do because they saw other people make the same mistake. As it comes to seeing students of different backgrounds making mistakes in school, "A White girl's mistakes might be met with sympathy and understanding, but time after time, black girls are punished instead because they are held o a more adult standard of behavior" (Georgetown Law/EAB Video, 2019), which makes me want to explain how one individual group is not being cared for. Instead of caring, they are oppressing female students who are Black-American. Oppression is a problem that still happens in our country and it should stop now. The next reading I wrote about below, made me think better about our society and care should happen everyday, not just once.

    The article, Nice Is Not Enough: Defining Caring for Students of Color, was interesting and important to read. It shows how school can be a difficult setting for students of color. Teachers are not doing enough to support Black-American students to help them feel motivated to succeed. As for teachers who do not focus on the students of color, they are oppressing them and not seeing them as students who belong in their class. Four or five years ago (Back in my junior year of high school), I remember I was working with Black students in a group assignment for physics/science class. The teacher told us we were doing a great job, but when she looked at me, I knew she only told me I was doing a great job, and not letting my peers know they were doing well. She made an assumption that I did most of the work and my peers were not doing as much because of their culture, which made me feel bad for my peers because the teacher only cared about my knowledge and not my whole group because we were all different people. My group was supportive and gave me great ideas to do well on the assignment. One of them (Student identified as student of color) had more knowledge and he helped me more than I supported him in that assignment for physics. Something that stood out to me the most in Nieto's reading was, "Teachers must understand individual students within their concrete sociopolitical contexts and devise specific pedagogical and curricular strategies to help them navigate those contexts successfully" (Nieto, p.3). My physics teacher was not someone who wanted to understand or learn about the contexts or knowledges of people of color including the Black-American peers I worked with a while ago, and it is important that all of us understand the importance of those students and give them space to make them feel comfortable in their educational setting. As a youth development major, I want to show every student I will be able to work with in the future that they matter in this community. The first important thing will to be to show care for all of them and treat them equally. Also, have them get a chance to know their peers in class and have opportunities to work with them in assignments to gain better knowledge and learn about the different aspects they have.

    When Nieto says "care", I think she means for all teachers to be open for all their students, especially students who identify as people of color. She is trying to show that students need support from them as they are the ones who are trying to make people better. Something she would ask to her students if she were a teacher would be "What does it mean to 'care'" and then maybe ask why it is also important for all of us as she is someone who would want to be there for them to support their learning needs. As mentioned in the article, "Teachers may think of caring as unconditional praise, or as quickly incorporating cultural components into the curriculum, or even as lowering standards" (Nieto, p.2), as a way to see what skills people may have or how they can be best supported. On the other hand, "care" could be "a combination of respect, admiration, and rigorous standards" (Nieto, p.3), but she is saying that showing care is more than just showing respect and being open, you must also elaborate and think of strengths students may have compared to your own and view everyone as a whole. As said, care is important to all of us in this society, which makes me think about how I must be ready to care for my students in the future as a Youth Development major. I want to do a great job being there to support students and show why they are important in this community. I know who I am as an individual student. Leaving someone aside for being different will not happen. The goal is to be there to lead students to success and to a better life. As Sonia says, "care" is important.

Blog Post #6 by Cabrera, Roberto

    The article, New Terrain in Youth Development: The Promise of a Social Justice Approach by Ginwright and Cammarota is an appealing and satisfying article. Ginwright and Cammarota are trying to show how positive youth development became a problem in society.  The authors show us in the article that this approach started in the 90s when "The youth development field began to promote youth assets, rather than focusing on youth problems" (p.84). They were leaning more towards their strengths, but not on their mistakes/difficulties. The positive youth development model was made in order to help youth, but to also show that they are the problem in their society, which does not support youth or make them better people.  

    

    Not all youth are having equal opportunities, support, and/or privileges. From the way I view Positive Youth Development, I agree with the authors critique on that Positive Youth Development is a problem and that youth need something better to best meet their needs. When someone is helping a group of people of different ethnicities such Black-American and White-American, it is a possibility that White-American could get all the help they need while Black-Americans are standing aside and being oppressed for being different. All youth should be given better support, programs, and opportunities no matter how different they are from others. Positive Youth Development was created to focus mostly on White-Americans and only giving them the help they need, but not for those who identify as Black-American or Non-White such as Latino, etc. If this gets removed, every individual will have better chances to succeed and become better people. After reading this article, I was able to learn more about the social justice issue in youth development as well as learning the better meaning of positive youth development, praxis and the actions happening within the society. 

    One quote that stood out to me the most from Ginwright and Cammarota's article is, "We still pay too little attention to the complex social forces affecting their lives, as well as to the oppressive community conditions that require youth action" (p.84) because it gives us a way to show how positive youth development does not exactly support youth in positive ways nor letting youth express their problems and finding ways to get them fixed. This quote also idealizes Positive Youth Development and we must make a change in our community. 

    Positive Youth Development is different to social justice youth development. Positive youth development is "Created by adults, with some youth input-- focused on highlighting the kinds of respectful behavior that staff want to see" (Restler, Mini-Lecture) which does not let youth behave in the way they think will help them express their emotions or problems. As with social justice youth development, it is "Created by and for youth. Youth would take a leadership role in creating norms in the community" (Restler, Mini-Lecture) which makes youth in charged of their own process/business and do what is right for themselves by not letting adults take control of them. Social Justice Youth Development focuses on two key elements which are "Critical Consciousness and their ability to act" (Treasure Map).

This map shown on the left side gives a quick sketch/set up of the Social Justice approach. Two things I learned from looking at this map was "Risk Resiliency Prevention and Positive Youth Development equals Individuals" and "Civic Youth Development and Social Justice Youth Development equals Institutions which are being seen as problems and can become solutions" as mentioned earlier in the blog. None on the youth should isolated nor being helped only for what they are good at. It is important to get to know the problems they have in order to help them learn from their mistakes and gain experience on their own skills/knowledge. We want youth to be aware of themselves and see what is happening around them to get a sense of what they need to know, must do, and begin having the correct support. Below SJYD shows "Critical consciousness + ability to act = PRAXIS" which ties into the framework of this map, which is also known as a quick sketch/set up. Self awareness, social awareness, and global awareness all fall into the category of critical consciousness, which is also leads to the goal of social justice youth development to foster praxis in youth. Relating back to Ginwright and Cammarota's article, youth can become better with praxis /critical consciousness as something positive that could happen to them is becoming "More intentional about their life choices and strive to value the 'humanness' in everyone" (p.91) which could help them feel ready to be supported, accepted, and have the ability to express the kind of people they are and be understood by others.

I agree with all the details the author(s), because I believe that the ideology does not lead or advocate youth in their goals, settings, etc. If you look at Latinos or Black-Americans, they both have an extensive circumstance/life. White-American is not the only identity we see in America. All of us live in a diverse community where people can have a chance to get to know one another and learn about the different aspects of others and work together as a group to make society better.

    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llci8MVh8J4 (Link to see Kimberly Jones, "How Can We Win") 

    I think Kimberly Jones has to deal with this as well. She shows a demonstration of how black people are being oppressed and how they can do better. The part that touched me the most was "Rioters, Protestors, and Looters" and she explains how many Black-Americans are trying to protect their own society. People of different aspects try to make people of color look bad. Instead of making them feel like they are criminals, we should help them and make space for them to feel comfortable. When Kimberly explains why people protest, it is because they want to bring peace and justice to their own community. They work their hardest to make a change until rioters come in "Angry, who are anarchists who really want to deal with their [_] up and that's what they're gonna do regardless" as they think they are protecting their city from something bad that could happen. As with looters, "They are almost exclusively just here to do that to loot, what you did gain" believing that they are bringing peace, but they are actually being oppressive to innocent members of the community. There is no peace or system where all individuals could feel safe and want to love in a better environment. It is as we have to fight to protect ourselves and handle things the hard way. This video shows a deep presentation of how Black-Americans are being oppressed in the United States, the same way the article shows how most individuals who identify with a different identity other than White are not earning freedom or support in positive youth development, which is why Social Justice must happen and people should be aware of everything happening around them and the people they are hanging with, as we are all aiming to help youth succeed and live a better life.

                                                                                                                                                     

    

 

Blog Post #5 by Cabrera, Roberto

 

Youth Work is a Philosophy: It Is Important To Be Around and Support Youth

Quote 1: "This approach resonates with many of our students because of the ways it disrupts dominant school discourses that position young people as part of the problem, rather than part of a solution" (p.5/Positive Youth Development)

My reflection towards this quote: Being a Youth Development major has taught me in better ways how to communicate, seek for support, and work better to support others. Before I switched to Youth Development, I started out as a Psychology, where things did not go well. There was no one to support or tutor me, professors aimed more for students with high learning needs/fully abled and oppressed those who needed help. I was that person when I tried to seek support for being behind. When I tried, all they said was study harder without realizing what my learning needs were. As I switched, I was still struggling, but then the staff were able to understand my learning needs and that I have anxiety. They knew that everyone learns differently and just wanted students to work to the best of their ability, they were not just asking for right or wrong answers, which is what Psychology majors mostly are. Now that I am in the field of my interest, the Youth Development staff encourages me to express my problems to them and we all work together as a team to solve it and get all the help I can get to become successful. 

This is something I experienced last year when tutoring at Spaziano-Laurel Hill Elementary School. There were 4 students I remember tutoring because they were had difficulties in Math and Reading, they spoke Spanish and I had to help them learn English because it was their second language and not fluent at the moment, and they needed someone who could be a support to them. I was proud to be there to support them last year. I viewed them equally and tutored them not only the using the knowledge I remember as a 5th grader, but to show them how they will learn and do this on their own in the future. Every student learns differently, but the important thing is to not oppress those who are not as highly fluent in the moment. There was one student I remember tutoring and did not know much English. In math, she was told by her teacher to present a problem on the board. As she was not ready, she told me to go work with me, which I think is OK, but one thing I remember in YDEV 300 is no labels. Just because someone got an answer wrong or does not understand well should be told to do something else like seeing me for help, something I think the teacher could have done instead was ask me to go up and present with her or give her another chance later on. As a Youth Development major, I want to be professional and show that each student is important and that their own knowledge/experiences that they bring to me in school will help me learn what they are good at and what they need the most support in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0ZQZEFTqB0  (This link is to see the video about Positive Youth Development and explains why we choose to be supportive people and study Youth Development. This shows a way how Youth Development is the right supportive source in supporting students. Please see when you have a chance)

Quote 2: "The kids are playing games -- they are leading games, and they are laughing and learning. Everyone knows each other's names. And I saw the coach pull a kid aside and ask how his grandmother was feeling now that she is out of the hospital. I was a competitive basketball player in high school. Our practices didn't look like this at all. I remember being yelled at by my coaches, and we did a lot of challenging and repetitive drills, over and over until we 'got it right.' I thought sports were for people who could grit through the pain, and come out on top. The wrestling program is so different". (p.9/Moment One: Playing at Purpose and Value)

My reflection towards this quote: This quote was is eye-opening to me because it does not just show how students or players who are competing against one another are fighting for a game, but not realizing what they see when they are on playing against other teams or players. When kids are playing on a team, it is an ability for them to get to know each other, communicate and practice drills, and feel ready before having a huge game. It made me think about the time I was playing Flag Football for After zone when I was in 7th and 8th grade. My coach was not only looking for victory and leadership, he was aiming for the players with the greatest skills to be heard more and only think about them winning the game for the coach and focus less on us. I always wanted to be heard and seen as a young person and I like how the author mentions wrestling as a way to show how students should be treated when playing on sport teams. When children are playing sports, sports can be a way for children to have fun and interact with one another such as building positive relationships and helping one another when someone makes a mistake. A sentence from this quote that appealed to me the most was, "Sports were for people who could grit through the pain, and come out on top" because as a member of the Flag football team eight years ago, I always thought that an athlete needed excellent skills and train very hard to become the best player you could be. Not only did this quote help me learn about how sports is not always about winning or being better, there is a video I found that has taught how losing helps us learn. I think it is OK to lose because it helps me think about the mistakes I make when playing sports, it helps me learn and be ready for the next game, it show that I tried my best, and that I am someone who is willing to compete with all my ability. Now that I think about it as a Youth Development worker, it is not about being better than any other player or team, you must have the opportunity to have fun when you play sports. When I plan on teaching youth to play sports, I want them to have fun when they play before they even think about win or lose situations. I also want to find something they will enjoy and learn from, and not just what I think is best for them. After, I want them to tell me how they feel and how I could be a huge support to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp4sdWdzTiw (This is the link to the video I mentioned on my reflection. When you have a chance, please see this video as it mentions why losing it helps us learn. They use NFL games as an example) 

Quote 3: "For our students who are from marginalized communities and their allies, this ideology offers a disciplinary framework around power, privilege, and oppression that resonates with their lived experiences and inspires avenues for collective liberation" (p.6/Social Justice Youth Development

My Reflection: I enjoy reading this quote because it makes me think about the problems happening in our society such as the different learning abilities each student has, the ways students should be supported and how not all teachers are meeting their students needs. This resonates with me because I always needed help, but I feel as I have not received great support until I made it to college. As a college student majoring in Youth Development, I want to work with students in the elementary school and teach all of them equally. In other words, I do not want to view anyone as the minority or oppress others for their race or thinking skills. As a student in middle school, I did not get as much help as I needed. Also, some of my classmates would not let me work with them because of the way I learned and the way I looked. As of this moment, I believe each student should have a chance to succeed. A word that comes to my mind after reading this quote is privilege, which I think should be removed. If that was removed, everyone would have a chance to have fun, get a chance to know one another. It is important for all of us to be heard. We must make room for one another and help empower our experiences. We want our society to be safe and let people be who they are and show us what they can handle. The more we accept people, the better our environment will grow/expand. The goal for everyone is to lead, advocate, and support one another because we all belong together.