"Don't fight the fabric, CHANGE it"

Good Evening :)

One of my ALL TIME favorite films since I was young has been Legally Blonde starring the amazingly talented Reese Witherspoon. The story begins following the narrative of a bright-eyed, ambitious young women, Elle Woods, who initially begins her college career in fashion design and management. The film takes a climactic twist when her boyfriend of several years, Warren, breaks her heart with an unannounced breakup because she was not "serious enough" to fit the image of the wife of a lawyer and future politician.

Taking the breakup hard, Elle decides to prove to Warner, her close friends, and surprisingly herself that she is not just a stereotypical "blonde bombshell" with a large chest and small mind, but an intelligent and confident woman that doesn't settle for societal standards on the opinions of women and goes after what she wants without sacrificing her unique style and personality. She ends up getting accepted into Harvard law, graduating with honors, proving that Blondes can have fun and be a force to reckon with, and snagging herself a new and IMPROVED man ;)

Of course much happened within the movie, and it's sequels, but one line that stood out that has resonated with me since was "Don't fight the fabric, change it!" (It occurred in the sequel when Elle was wedding dress shopping and trying to add beading to a silk dress. I won't say much else; you have to watch the movie 😊)

I did not understand why I had connected so much to that phrase up until recently when I had graduated from undergrad at UIC. I was a Political-Science major with a concentration in Urban Politics and Education. I truly LOVED my time at UIC and once I enter my third year, my interests began to truly pique and I knew I made the right decision in switching majors- I was originally a psychology major and had a career goal to become a sex therapist. (Ooh La La)

As much as I enjoyed my undergraduate years, I realized that the company around me did not align with me or my personal/professional beliefs. I became one of the only students of color in my lectures and discussions and when the topic of race, poverty, and policy came to the forefront of a discussion, a debate always ensued because of the overwhelming bias and misunderstandings my peers had against communities of color and life outside of their own circle in general.

I realized I was educating my own colleagues, even a few of my professors, on subject matter relating to race, ethnicity, and policy and began rethinking the idea of applying to law school. I knew I wanted to be an advocate for my community and other communities of color, but I wasn't quite sure if law school was the correct mode for be to do so. By the time I would be in the court room, the action I want to avoid taking place would have already occurred and I would only be sweeping up the mess.

Through my experiences during my undergraduate years inside the classroom coupled with my interest in policy and education, I decided to venture off and try teaching informally through summer programs, summer camps, environmental education programs, and teaching English abroad in China, France, Costa-Rica, and Japan. I have learned about myself and my interests immensely through my travels and experience and came to realize I am a constructivist educational philosopher that believe whole-heartedly that children learn best through hands-on, engaged learning methodology.

Johnathan Kozol, Diane Ravitch, Loris Malaguzzi, and Paulo Freire are the fairy-godparents that guide my teaching philosophy, approach, and outlook on education and how children should learn inside and outside the classroom. However, these philosophies are not always popular when it comes to traditional classroom teaching and I was often faced with resistance from administration and skeptical colleagues that were "veterans" in the field "before I was even thought of." 😑😑😑

My very first step into my "career" was as a seventh and eighth grade teacher for a private Lutheran school on Chicago's South side. I absolutely LOVED my job and how well my students responded to my ideas and lesson plans. However, because I am a fresh graduate in a system with educators that are not always receptive to new and creative ideas that can enhance the quality of education we give our students, especially African-American and Latino students, I was constantly monitored, instructed to follow "the model that works", and forced into a box where I felt I could not allow not just my personality to shine but my beliefs in education to ring through in my teaching. My students went from doing daily and weekly hands-on projects, hands-on gaming that worked against rote memorization and massaged analytical understanding, and interactive group work to weekly testing, work sheets, and essay writing that did not gage their critical thinking skills but their "knowledge of standards".

After much consideration, I realized that a traditional classroom environment was not the best fit for me or my beliefs and ventured into early childhood. I have worked as an assistant infant teacher due to my lack of Early Childhood experience and education and have ambitions on teaching Pre-K in with Head Start to low-income children from my community. One thing I know and have realized is the access to quality education starts young and for Black and Brown children, that is where the education gap begins. Children's brains develop the most before the age of five as well as their language acquisition. Children from disadvantaged communities are often not sent to schools or child care centers that offer a curriculum that stimulate the growth and development of those skills as their counterparts in more affluent areas.

Also, early childhood education is the epitome of creativity and imagination that sparks the interest of learning at a young age. My biggest strengths are my creativity, imagination, and divergent thinking that makes my decision to switch to ECE long overdue. My weakness is that I genuinely enjoy teaching an older demographic and as a career, I would like to eventually merge the two into creating a curriculum that could stretch across the board to older students as well as development curriculum for Head Start. ( And I have no idea how to go about it 😫)

I ultimately have much ambition but I am still trying to figure it all out- I'm only twenty-four (24). I do know that I want to change how children ultimately learn, especially in at-risk areas, and bring new and creative concepts to the forefront of the education conversation for all grade-levels- beginning from birth.

I am new to online learning and, honestly, looked at it with stigma. However, after having my life turned upside down from the loss of my son and having to take time to rebuild myself and my life, I chose online schooling because it fit within my schedule and allowed me the space to learn at my pace without feeling the pressure of being around too many people at one time. I am interested to see how it functions and making connections with my peers and colleagues via the internet as opposed to the traditional classroom setting but very optimistic. I tend to dominate conversation and often think my opinion is the only one with merit; however, through growth, maturity, and professional experience, I have learned that we all have something to contribute in our unique way and it all deserves to be heard and considered.

We are all devoted educators, otherwise we we would not be pursuing higher education to help develop the next generation of young minds and future leaders. The best part, we all have something to contribute that is unique and different from a perspective that could bring new development into how we can educate students.

"Don't fight the fabric, CHANGE it"- Elle Woods