Edu Blog

I came across a really interesting blog this weekend that I would highly recommend for everyone to check out. Its called The Jose Vilson and is a blog about a math educator/activist/speaker in New York City N.Y. While Mr. Vilson does devote many of his blogs to things that are happening inside the classroom he also talks a lot about the elements outside schools that still have tremendous effect on them. These topics range from race all the way to fundraising for school districts.

I would say that after reading a few of his blogs that he is definitely up to date on technology trends happening in the classroom but at the same he is just really aware of his environment on a local, state, and national level with a focus on high needs areas. I felt that I could relate a lot to his blog due to the fact that I grew up in the inner city and that is where I would like to teach after the MAC program. Since my school placement is one of high needs I have already found interesting concepts that I would love to try for my students.

I also felt that I have very similar goals to what Mr. Vilson wants and is doing with his school. While school is now a place where students come to simply receive education, it doesn't necessarily has to be the same way in the future. In fact schools, along with their administration, can be the platform in order to institute real change with any given community. Furthermore, a school with these traits can serve as a model for what other districts should look and feel like. Just an idea in the grand schemes of things.

What I also really enjoyed about Mr. Vilson's blog is that instead of just making it a top down process, where he talks about a multitude of things from his years of experience, he instead has his blog set up to facilitate a discussion between himself and the different readers and users he has on his site. There were a few different blogs of his that I saw where he simply would ask anyone on their thoughts on the subject by just commenting below. I really enjoyed this characteristic he displayed because instead of being someone who thinks they have all of the answers this is someone who is a life long learner and is still searching for better answers and is willing to incorporate anyone to do so.

The way I had found out about Mr. Vilson's blog was through a book he help authored called This Is Not a Test. In this book Mr Wilson highlights race, class, and education and how all of it is linked for people going through the K-12tth school system. While I know our time is extremely limited within the MAC program I would highly recommend that people pick it up and check it out. If anyone plans on working in inner city and high needs areas this book is the one for you.

Here is the message I sent, I still have not received a response

Mr Vilson
I found your blog a couple of days ago and I wanted to mention how helpful it has been for me. I am currently a master's students/student teacher intern at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, working in a high needs school for my placement during the duration of my program. You mentioned in one of your blog posts about having students realize the importance of voting as certain people have died in the past to be able to have this right and making sure that we are taking careful consideration of the people we elect into office. I think this is of extreme importance as it connects the students to the world that they live and realizing the importance of being engaged, especially in the political realm. I know you have a lot of experience under your belt but would you have any tips for new teachers coming into the field.

Thank you for your time

Best
Muneer K.

http://thejosevilson.com/this-is-not-a-test/