This week we started working on our synchronous lesson plans, as well as the elective lesson plan. Throughout Monday and Tuesday, I worked together with my partner Aspen on creating our presentation for the digital footprint synchronous lesson. It was wonderful being able to work together in groups again and connect with my peers, espcially during this time in the pandemic where collaborative work is not always made accessible. On Wednesday, we then met with Anna to go over the presentation, polished the layout, and finished editing.
On Wednesday, I also met with my partner Morgan for the elective lesson plan, Behind the Scenes of Video Games. We had meaningful conversations around graphics design and how we could present the topic in a way that intrigues our girls in the camp. I appreciate taking the time to not only prepare lessons for our girls, but also being able to learn something new about the gaming industry and graphics design myself as well.
On Friday, we went on to our second racial equity workshop, discussing the topics of social positionality. We discussed the scholarly article, “Teaching Race at Historically White Colleges and Universities” around the topic of walls of whiteness. I thought it was a great way to describe our culture in America founded on racism and biases even though we have always been exposed to the concepts discussed in the article. The terms, such as essentialism, spatial walls, curricular walls, racial radars, etc. help us put concepts into words and terminology in an empowering way – because knowledge is power. We then went ahead and discussed the topics of social positionality, how we perceive the world based on our own personal experiences that are not always representative of the experiences of others, rooted in our own culture which can be strewn with biases and perspectives. We talk about how important it is to acknowledge other people’s struggles even if you have never gone through them personally, because people’s experiences are so different. We perceive the world through what Bryana described as “colored lenses” or “glasses” that we are constantly wearing. I really appreciate having the honest and open conversations so we can take actions to bridge that gap.