Category: Writing

! I love how you mentioned including parents in the decision making. I believe this is a great way to discover and meet the needs of students and their families. Teachers can also learn and develop new teaching strategies through receiving input from student’s families. What are some strategies you will use in including parents in making decisions? I agree it is difficult to teach and for students to learn if their needs are not met. One thing I am grateful for with the outcome of Covid is that our school now provides free breakfast and lunch to all students. I hope this continues. I love how you mentioned showing appreciation to families for their efforts. This is so important for building relationships and encouraging involvement. In what ways do you plan to show appreciation to parents? Min 40 words or more

Part 1: Religion, Science, the Past, the Future
Sir James G. Frazer viewed some societies as “primitive” and others as “developed.” He argued that in so-called “primitive” societies, people commonly believe in concepts of magic, witchcraft, and other supernatural forces. In contrast, Frazer argued that so-called “developed” societies believe in
science
(
rather than
religion). As we have learned, Frazer was not alone in drawing a distinction between “primitive” and “advanced” beliefs; other early anthropologists also saw a sharp divide between primitive societies (who were “religious” or “superstitious”) and modern societies (who are “rational” or “scientific”).
In our class, however, we have challenged the perspectives of Frazer and other early anthropologists. Specifically, we have observed that ALL cultures have their own concepts of the supernatural (religion).
Assignment/Question Prompt
In our course, how have we challenged the perspectives discussed above, that Frazer and other early anthropologists advocated for?
Part 2: If You Had to Be an Animist
Introduction
In our course, we have considered a variety of worldviews that involve believing in supernatural forces. One of these was “animism,” an extremely broad and extremely old category of religious beliefs.
We also saw a variety of worldviews that involve believing in supernatural forces, but in which
believers did not recognize that their worldview was supernatural.
In other words, we repeatedly saw that
you can believe in the supernatural and never realize it.
We even looked at ”
our own culture
,” several times, making the case that there are supernatural beliefs in the contemporary United States where we least expect to find them (outside of churches, temples, mosques, and other “religious” spaces). As a category of supernatural beliefs, it seems that animism is, in fact, all around us.
Questions
IN YOUR OWN WORDS, explain what makes a worldview “animist” (define animism).
THEN, start with the assumption that you
do
have
some
animistic beliefs, whether you previously realized you had them or not. Explain one way that your own worldview or beliefs could be seen as animistic. Be sure to provide a clear example to illustrate your point.
Each question needs to be 200 words. No research required.

This year has been trying for all of us. I live in Louisiana and not only did we get hit with the pandemic, but also two major hurricanes and an ice storm. Collaborating with families has been a real challenge the last two years. I work with preschool students, and we were not allowed to do any of our parent involvement activities this year. One of the ways that we collaborated with our parents were to send them pictures and video messages from their child at least twice a week about what we were doing in the classroom that day. The parents really seemed to enjoy this, and the children loved showing off what they were doing. Another way that we collaborated with our parents were to send home a weekly newsletter recapping what we did over the week and what we would be doing the next week. By doing this we felt that it was helping to keep everyone on the same page. We also would have times scheduled every day for parents to call us to talk about the progress of their child. Each parent was assigned a day and time to call in. This was the same for them every week. We were also available any time via the remind app. The parents were very appreciative of the time we put in to keep them updated on how their children were doing in the classroom. We loved being able to reach out to them and learn about them. Even though we were separated by the pandemic, two hurricanes and an ice storm, we felt more connected to our students and their families this year than we have with any of our students and families in other years. I guess when going through something traumatic, you tend to bond more. Comment as you see fit. min 40 words or more

plan to work in special education which I feel the relationships maybe a little different in SPED then in general ed depending on what students you have. Caring for special needs kids means you get to know them a very personal level which is great, but also means you need to keep close contact with the parents. A few things I would do is first send home daily home notes. Let them know how their childs day was, what they did, their bathrooming, what they ate etc. This is super important, especially for students who are non verbal or have limited communication.
Something else I would do is make sure I take pictures. I love taking pictures of my studetns and sending them to their parents espeically because getting good pictures can be so hard for parents sometimes. I would make sure I send them via email or text depending on what the parents prefer.
And last I would want to in person meetings with parents either once a quarter or once a semester depedning on class size and needs to go over IEP goals and what kind of progress their student is making. What could help them within the school setting as well as at home. Comment as you see fit. Min 40 words or more