Final Project Script and Narrative

Script:

About two years ago, I received feedback from a student that I never really achieved a deep connection with. I assumed that I just wasn’t her jam. But I continued to try to reach her in the same way I was able to reach the other students.

One day, some sort of conflict led us to have a conversation and this student said “can I be real with you.” To which I responded, “Uh-oh!”

She proceeded to say that I was too nice. She said no one in her life had ever been this nice without disappointing her in the end and she simply didn’t trust me not to do the same. She said if I wanted to build a connection with her, I had to be more “abrasive”. This conversation completely reshaped the way I choose to engage with my students.

What I learned from this is that my approach isn’t going to reach everyone. I am naturally a sensitive, nurturing, compassionate person but that isn’t going to be a strength for me with everyone that I work with. It’s not about how much love and care and kindness I radiate, my students aren’t going to feel safe if they don’t feel like their reality is truly understood.

We know that our students come from different realities and that they carry these traumatic experiences that affect the way they navigate relationships and connections, and so it is our job as educators, youth workers, advisors, and mentors to build and co-create spaces of connection that are informed by each student’s individual needs.

It’s okay to ask your student:

“what feels safe for you?”

“What ways would you like for me to show you that I care?”

My name is Jay Salcedo and I’ve been a youth worker and educator for over 6 years. In December of 2020, peak-covid, I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Youth Development at Rhode Island College and now, Summer 2023, I am literally 2 days away from completing my Master of Arts in Youth Development.

As I worked towards this Masters, I focused on defining my beliefs and values as a youth worker and what I envision for myself professionally. It’s important to me that I work in a space where young people have autonomy and opportunities to explore themselves and grow in their own ways.

It’s become increasingly difficult to find K-12 spaces that align with my values. So this year, I began a new position as a Program Manager at the Undocumented, First-generation College, and Low-income (U-FLi) Student Center at Brown University supporting U-FLi students’ transition from high school to college through advising and programming. Let me tell you, higher ed is a shift.

But even though I’m in a different setting, a different context, you wouldn’t believe what I carry in my back pocket? What continues to inform my work? My beliefs and my values. Who’d have thought?

Currently, there is no organized system for advising in my department. In past years, there were 16-20 students, they were divided amongst two staff members, they engaged in high-touch advising for a year, and the next year, a new set of students. Easy to track, easy to manage.

Beginning this Fall, I’ll be advising for the very first time, except I’ll have 20 students, and the one year program has expanded into a four year program. And I’m no mathematician but I’m pretty sure that means it's time to create a system.

But not just any system, I’m going to demonstrate how I apply my beliefs and values to inform this system.

I believe that students are best supported through interactive, collaborative and multimodal advising. So what does this mean? To effectively support students, we must learn how they like to receive support. We do this through open communication, inviting feedback, trying out different approaches, but most importantly, working WITH them, not for them.

I believe that students are best supported when holistic care is at the center of their advising relationship. Holistic care is about looking to support students beyond their academic success, caring about their entire well-being, and recognizing and acknowledging the complexities of their unique identities and experiences.

I believe that students are best supported when they have access to an organized system that allows them to manage and shape their advising experience. Students should have ownership of their learning and growth journeys. However, the key word is organized. In order for a system to be effective, it must be intentionally designed and easily navigable.

I present to you the Scholar Advising Space.

This folder is collaborative. Integrated within the structure are opportunities for each student to make their advising space uniquely their own.

This folder is holistic. I’ve included resources such as time-management tools, and self- practices updates will be made based on students' individualized needs and interests.

This folder is organized. It is a shared responsibility to keep it that way so that it can continue to serve the student throughout their entire college journey and beyond.

Let’s take a closer look at the advising document.

Each student will have a cover sheet that we will fill out together. This way, they’re involved in the process of defining our space. I ask questions like “what aspects of a mentorship relationship are most important to you?” and “what advising approaches would you like to see in our sessions?” Not only does this ensure that I am best serving the student but it actually makes my job easier.

I incorporated a Providence street art theme because part of the curriculum is engaging with the local community. Each session will begin with a quote that sets my intention. And then students will pick a card from the affirmation deck that speaks to their intention.

Each session will end with space for the student to share what they would like to discuss the next session. You see, there’s intentionality and structure, but there’s also fluidity and freedom.

Even in the affirmation deck, there is a slide around how students can use the deck on their own time in their own space.

And that really is the key. Equipping students with tools they can use outside of your time together. I’m a bit of a techno-constructivist. I’m grateful to live in a time of technology where our files seem to be able to live forever, to be timeless in a sense. And I often tap into my past work for guidance and inspiration for my present work. I try to give this same opportunity to my students through this use of technology.

I don’t know where I would be if I didn’t still have access to all of my youth development thinking from college. But I only feel this way about my youth development work because its structure allowed me to shape my own learning.

When students inform the work you do together, your time as an educator becomes an investment of endless value to their future. Because what they co-create STAYS with them.

As educators, youth workers, advisors, and mentors, don’t we want the work that we do with our students now to be able to inspire the work that they do in different contexts or different time periods, a year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years. Isn’t that the goal?

For that to be achieved, we must create systems of learning that students are not only active participants in, but have ownership of. It needs to be theirs. And it needs to be collaborative, holistic, and organized.

Thank you.

Narrative:

In thinking about my final project, I struggled a lot because it seemed to be tailored to a classroom setting where I would be the teacher and I am changing something based on my beliefs about how students learn best. At my job, things are already so digital because the university ensures every student has a laptop and so much of their work is digital. But during our individual advising sessions and whole group meetings, it's really our time to be present and share community. So it was hard to think of a way to bring technology in because I don’t think I want to change that part of it. I decided to change “I believe students learn best…” to “I believe students are best supported…” because of my role as an advisor. I brainstormed what my beliefs are when it comes to youth work and I wrote down community, love, affirmation, organization, care at the center, collaboration, and active communication. I am so proud to have created something that embodies all of these values and that has actually sparked inspiration and motivation in me. This was the first time in this new context of higher ed that I was able to really apply my unique youth development background and I can’t wait to show my boss what I’ve created.

I was inspired to create the “Scholar Advising Space” by danah boyd when she talked about students being so amazed by MySpace and getting really excited about customizing it. That made me think of creating a “MySpace” for advising that my advisees can customize and be a part of. The different pieces in the folder were inspired by different people. The affirmation deck was inspired by Pierson when she talked about the affirmations her and her students would say together. She said, “You say it long enough, it starts to be a part of you.” I want my students to have access to words of affirmation as a tool to manage stress, fear, imposter syndrome, insecurities, and other transitional issues. The “advising notes” doc was inspired by YDEV of course. The intentionality of the theme and design, the way its structured and interactive. I’m excited to create something for my students that has been so impactful for me. And the “exit question” was inspired by Lesley’s exit slip, which is helpful because students have access to come back to the question anytime before our next session and it helps me know what they would like support with in advance. This project is the beginning of a system and space of connection that is individualized and effective. It is a better way to get to know students and what ways they would like to receive care from me.

Sherry Turkle on Technology and Connection

How do you feel about the issues Turkle raises in her article and Ted Talk? Did the pandemic change the way you feel about yourself (personally and professionally) in relation to technology?

Just because of capacity, this blog will have a simple quote + thoughts/reaction structure and I kinda fry my brain by the end so, sorry in advance lol. 

Ted Talk

"We expect more from technology and less from each other"

My first impression during the first few minutes of the TedTalk completely shifted when Turkle shared the story about someone telling her they wish siri could one day serve the function of a best friend that listens because no one really listens and that makes us want to spend time with machines... That's when she got my attention. At first, it didn't sound like she was saying anything really concerning and then I realized, the excessive use of technology is so normal now and we are just so desensitized that maybe that's why what she was saying didn't really peak my interest. But then I could relate to the person in the story and when she said, "People want to be with each other but also elsewhere" to describe connection in a world of technology where you might be physically present but mentally not. 

"The illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship" 

This quote stood out to me because although the phrase "demands of friendship" seems harsh, it's not wrong. Even the word "friendship: triggers me a bit because why is it so demanding? I'm gonna say capitalism is mostly to blame for this one. We live in a society where we are constantly on the go, where working 40+ hours per week is required and sometimes not even enough to sustain a family and household. Where its normal to only receive 2 weeks of vacation per year, if that. Where we are exhausted all of the time and only really have maybe 4 hours to ourselves and families every day after work before our bodies collapse into sleep mode. The amount of things we have to get done in those 4 hours is almost impossible so we have to learn to be okay with always being behind. These are not suitable conditions to be able to even sustain friendships. So I can empathize with someone who wants connection, who wants the illusions without having to sacrifice so much to be able to receive love and companionship. 

"The moment people are alone, even for a few seconds, they become anxious, they panic, they fidget, they reach for a device. Just think of people at a checkout line or at a red light."

Honestly, she read me so hard with this one. I pick up my phone out of boredom, silence, stillness, loneliness, distractedness, etc ALL DAY LONG. And most of the time, I accomplish nothing more than achieving a temporary distraction. Most of the time, I'm not connecting. Who the fuck has time to text anymore, lets be real! It's such a chore and I'm behind on so many chores. When my friends hit me up, I find myself praying its a quick check in or question because I don't have the capacity to sustain an ongoing conversation. But then I find myself very sad when I see that I have no ongoing conversations. It's such a disappointing cycle. Something else I notice is that if you looked at my schedule/routine, you would see that I actually don't have a lot of time for leisure. It takes forever for my friends and I to find times to hang out because our schedules are so booked. Then a quick buzz from my phone will show me a screen time report saying that I averaged 8-10 hours of screen time per day this week. Like literally, HOW all them little scrolls add up to this in one day???

Anyways, after listening to this TedTalk, I feel inspired to rely less on technology for connection and make time and space for real connection, solitude and conversation. 

Article

Okay, back to the whole capacity thing, lol. I'm gonna provide 1 sentence reactions to the next three lol

"Then, the pandemic. Suddenly, the screens that had closed us down to the most meaningful connections were the only way we could open up to each other. I had once said we were “alone together.” Now we were truly “together alone.” 

I really appreciated Turkle's realization of the way the times relate to her beliefs on technology and adjusting her theory to describe how things have changed as a result of the pandemic. 

"The closest I could come was staring into the green light on the top of my laptop screen, which gives the other person the illusion that you are looking into their eyes. But to sustain that illusion, you end up looking at nothing at all."

This was so relatable because I have definitely looked directly at my camera so that those on the video call see me looking right at them but it has led me to feeling so sad that I was missing their face and expressions as they spoke. Its always so confusing to know which is best to do.

"The striking thing about living through dramatic change is you are right there when something that once seemed odd begins to seem natural. The trick is to remember why it once seemed odd because that might be a reason worth remembering."

This was deep lol. 

Rethinking Media and Popular Culture: Pg 300- Storytelling as Resistance

Use your blog to summarize and teach us about the content. Inspire us to go read it ourselves!

I chose the chapter titled, "Storytelling as Resistance" for two reasons, both related to my work with the Undocumented, First-generation College, and Low-income student population. First, one of my student staff coordinators has an independent major in "Storytelling Narratives" and I wanted to be read more on storytelling as a resistance practice. Second, the programming I do with my students is heavily based on the Community Cultural Wealth framework that this chapter discusses and I was curious to learn what activity/lesson plan Jerica Coffey did with her students.

Community Cultural Wealth is a concept by Chicana scholar, Tara Yosso, that focuses on the cultural capital that communities of color possess that are usually unrecognized and undervalued. Basically, the model recognizes their lived experiences as an asset. 

The types of cultural capital are:

Aspirational: The ability to maintain dreams even in the midst of challenges

Linguistic: The intellectual/social skills from communication experiences in different languages/styles

Familial: The cultural knowledges nurtured among kin

Social: The networks of people and community resources

Navigational: The skills in maneuvering through social institutions

Resistant: The skills/knowledge fostered through oppositional behavior that challenges inequality

We have so many different forms of capital that we may not even realize because it is simply how we live in this world, it is a part of us. As products of our cultures, communities, and experiences, our knowledge is uniquely valuable. It is important to recognize, affirm and draw on these forms of wealth for both individual needs, collective work and community prosperity.

Coffey began the lesson on Community Cultural Wealth with a schema building discussion around what it means to have money and what words are often associated with money. Students said words like "wealth," "power," "status, "respect," etc. Then she asked if there are other things that can also give you status, respect, power, etc. to which students responded with "your looks or your family background" and "who you hang out with." Coffey said “In our community, even though we don’t have a lot of wealth in terms of money, we have other kinds of wealth that help us survive.” The class came up with a list of other kinds of wealth and THEN Coffey introduced Yosso's theory of Community Cultural Wealth. 

Coffey incorporated the framework into the unit's final assessment which involved researching, documenting, and analyzing the untold histories of people in their community. To help the students develop questions for the interviews they would conduct, she hung up the definition for each form of Community Cultural Wealth around the room and had students move to each poster and design questions that could help them understand what role each one played in a person's life. She also supported students in identifying the focus or theme of the stories they would craft before they began writing their narratives. As the stories were to be written in first person, Coffey had the students frequently check with the interviewees to ensure they have authentically captured the story. 

The work of the students in shifting away from deficit language and instead honoring the stories and experiences of members of the community was a powerful way to define what stories matter and how those stories get told. 

Coffey ends with, "My students pursued learning to uplift their community, honor the stories of their elders, and give voice to powerful lessons about community strength and survival." 

Here is a link to a Yosso article about Community Cultural Wealth if you're interested in bringing this framework into your work as an educator: https://thrive.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/Whose%20culture%20has%20capital_A%20critical%20race%20theory%20discussion%20of%20community%20cultural%20wealth_1.pdf

Mentimeter Mini Tutorial

Inspired by my pre-icebreaker poll in class, I have decided to provide a brief overview and mini tutorial of the digital tool, Mentimeter. Mentimeter is an online presentation-building tool and polling platform that facilitates anonymous audience engagement in real time through live polls, quizzes, word clouds, open-ended questions, and more.

Brief Overview:

With Mentimeter, learners participate in the presentation, making the learning process more engaging and interactive. Students can actively respond to questions and provide input, which increases their involvement and attention during the lesson. Mentimeter provides immediate feedback to both teachers and students, which means teachers can use it to assess students' understanding of concepts and adjust their instruction accordingly. Or as a polling tool to get feedback from the class anonymously which can encourage more honest and open participation from students. This can be particularly useful in sensitive or controversial topics, where students might feel more comfortable expressing their thoughts without fear of judgment. I've also seen it used to play a game/quiz/trivia and make the learning fun! 

Mini-Tutorial:

Step 1: Sign up and log in

Go to the Mentimeter website (https://www.mentimeter.com) and sign up for a new account if you don't have one already. Once you're signed up, log in to your account.

Step 2: Create a new presentation

After logging in, you'll be taken to your dashboard. Click on the "Create presentation" button to start creating your interactive presentation. You must select a template for the kind of presentation you want. 

Step 3: Choose a slide type

Mentimeter offers various slide types, including multiple choice, word cloud, open-ended questions, quizzes, and more. Select the slide type that suits your needs and click on it to add it to your presentation.

Step 4: Customize your slide

Once you've added a slide, you can customize it by editing the text, changing the background, selecting color schemes, and adding images. 

Step 5: Add additional slides

Continue adding slides to your presentation by selecting different slide types and customizing them according to your requirements. You can mix and match slide types to create an engaging and interactive presentation.

Step 6: Present your slides

When you're ready to present, click on the "Present" button at the top of the screen. This will launch your presentation in presenter mode. Use the arrow keys to navigate through the slides and present them to your audience. You can also test and interact with your presentation by clicking "Preview Presentation" and simulating votes. 

Step 7: Engage your audience

One of the key features of Mentimeter is its interactivity. During your presentation, you can ask your audience to participate by answering questions, providing feedback, or brainstorming ideas. They can do this by entering the unique code shown on the presentation screen at menti.com with their electronic device or by using the Mentimeter app.

Step 8: View and analyze responses

As your audience interacts with your slides, Mentimeter collects and displays their responses in real-time. You can view the responses and analyze the data to gain insights and make data-driven decisions. Mentimeter provides various visualizations, such as word clouds and charts, to help you understand the responses better.

Step 9: End your presentation

Once you've finished presenting and analyzing the responses, you can end your presentation by closing the browser tab or clicking on "esc" or the "End presentation" button.

These are the basics of using Mentimeter to create interactive presentations and engage your audience. Remember to explore the various features and slide types available to make your presentations even more impactful.

Here is a link to their FAQ, in case you still have questions! 

Sugata Mitra - Build a School in the Cloud

How does this Ted Talk make you think about your role with young people in an online environment?

In his Ted Talk, "Build a School in the Cloud," Sugata Mitra argues that because of various factors, we have outgrown our current traditional system of learning. We have access to advanced technology that we did not have before that made us think we wouldn't always have a textbook or calculator in "the real world" but we actually do. Our current system of schooling presents as a threat because of its hyper focus on grades, exams, competition, memorization and rankings. Mitra explains that these threats actually trigger a part of the brain that causes another part of the brain responsible for thinking to shut down. He said, "We take our kids, we shut their brain down and then we say perform." I didn't know this but it makes sense because we have all experienced a similar sensation in these situations. The learning system he proposes is all about raising good questions and encouraging and admiring the answer and the process of collaboration used to land at the answer.

This made me think about the story Lesley shared in class about the children in her family working together and sharing their knowledge to figure out when Frederick Douglas was born. They connected the pieces they had and used what their collective knowledge to finish the puzzle while the adults encouraged and supported their process. A real-life example of a SOLE. 

This Ted Talk also makes me think of the conversation we had as a class about the use of Chat GPT and other artificial intelligence in work and school settings. And using the resources we have, such as google and calculators, which we have access to and are often encouraged to use in our every day lives but are for the most part not allowed in school exams. 

My favorite thing that Mitra said was, ""Its not about making learning happen, its about letting learning happen." This is going to shape how I see my role with young people in any environment! We've known for a long time that our current education system is broken and causing harm to youth, but this is the first time I have heard an actual potential solution. Mitra's SOLE theory validates other forms of learning that include nontraditional methods and proves that they produce the same and sometimes even better outcomes, because the youth actually enjoy the process more.

Podcasts as an educational tool

I really enjoyed the 1619 podcast. It was very well-structured and engaging as it mixed history, dialogue and analysis, story-telling, and music. As I listened, I read the transcript and was able to really appreciate the tone and pace of the speakers and how it changed depending on the topic they were discussing. I love how the podcast started with a story and ended with another story to really personify the topic of racial health disparities and the effects of lack of access to health care. I think it really opened up the listener to hearing about the history of this issue and think about why it's important to have these conversations. The sound effects, such as the transition music, the archived records in dialogue with the speakers, and even the intentional pauses that gave us time to process, made this podcast feel like a documentary. Even though there was no visual, I could see the imagery in my head with every sentence said and as people shared, both the present-day speakers and those from the archived recordings, I was able to see them in my head connecting with each other in one space. At times, the conversation got heavy and emotional and that emotionality and vulnerability really allowed me to relate to the speakers and feel connected to them, even as I wasn't able to see them. 

I think podcasts can be an excellent educational tool for teaching content when done right! Young people would probably prefer to listen to an engaging audio over reading an outdated history book or listening to a monotone professor give a boring lecture. 

If I were to do a podcast for my students, I would take a lot of time to prepare. The aspects that made this podcast so engaging are things I would need to research and practice. For example, I use a lot of filler words, I would need to work on minimizing those but also learn to edit audio to cut them out if needed. I would listen to a lot of podcasts and collect ideas, tools and strategies that I can incorporate into my podcast. I'm excited to make a podcast for my final project!

Relationship to Disney Culture

What is your relationship to Disney culture?  How does Christiansen validate or challenge your views?

My relationship with Disney culture is complicated. I was somewhat into Disney as a child, though I wouldn't say I was a Disney fanatic, I was more so a fan of Disney Channel shows. However, for whatever reason, I never got to watch the classic Disney movies, such as Finding Nemo, The Little Mermaid, Toy Story, The Lion King, etc. I still have not watched any of these movies or any of the princess movies. I'm okay with this for myself. I remember the turning point for me and my stance on Disney. I was watching a documentary about garment workers in Bangladesh and the conditions they faced, such as extremely low wages, inhumane hours, crumbling factories, no benefits and more. Real quick-- we often use the words "extreme", "inhumane" and "crumbling" to describe conditions that are all of these but to a much lesser degree. So I want to emphasize that the workers were being paid something like 15-30 cents per hour. Their hours were so long that many of them didn't have time to walk home to rest before their next shift so they would sleep there. And Bangladesh is home to the worst and deadliest garment industry accident of all time, the collapse of the Rana Plaza, with approximately 2,500 injured people and a death toll of 1,134. So yeah, the buildings that house these factories pose a serious safety risk to the garment workers. So anyway, in this film, I saw the garment workers' efforts to organize and demand better conditions. They weren't asking for much, just a living wage, normal hours, a safe work environment, you know... the bare minimum. As they documented their efforts, there was a lot of back and forth with the international brands they worked for to discuss their demands and Disney had one of the biggest company presences. I distinctly remember the conversations had between the workers and Disney representatives where Disney refused to pay the workers what they were asking, which was somewhere around $1.30 per hour. From that point forward, I decided Disney was not a company I was interested in supporting. Just like Lesley, I completely boycotted Disney. When they moved to Disney+, I did not purchase a subscription. But lately, I feel conflicted. Disney channel was such an important part of my childhood and I still bond with others through this similar connection and experience today. I really don't want to rob my son of this experience or this opportunity to connect with other people by not exposing him to any Disney at all. Like really, he doesn't even know what Disney is. However, drawing form our discussion in class, I realize that Disney is not all bad or at least the Disney content isn't. The corporation is terrible, lol. After reading Christiansen, I'm excited to introduce Kairo to Disney while incorporating dialogue and a critical analysis perspective around its hidden messaging and stereotyping, similar to what we did in class and what Christiansen had her students do with cartoons and other media.