Teaching Equity Design

I found Equity Design after fine tuning my teaching practice to accurately reflect what I craved to learn (and what I think should be taught) in grade school. 

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After Receiving my Bachelor's of Arts in Computer Science and delving into Race, Gender, Disability studies in college I found myself needing to skip the software engineering roles and settle into something where I felt I could grow. My experience in higher education was not good, maybe a story for another day. Naturally a school was a good fit. 

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Students are not expected to be experts so mistakes are welcome, I could find a school where I was given free range and teach what I love, and I could set the culture of my class. Meanwhile I could actually work with students that were accepting to radical ideas(I love you middle school) and loved the idea of reflecting instead of writing an essay. Win, win. 

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I did not have a teaching Certificate so my first stop was a private school where I was asked to teach 16 different courses with no coursework pre-written each semester. I hated it, and I wondered why. hah.. Next came a Charter school where I found IB Design Technology and I developed a curriculum that built on to the IB design Cycle to teach kids how to design with equity principles to change the world... with equity in the center of the discussion. Here, I found home. 

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Disaster struck when a series of unfortunate events reminded me of my ongoing disability and added to the fact that I had no spoons left, and I was fired from my dream job. But, Alhamduliallah, I found a better home and was able to escape leaving behind a beautiful 8th grade program and curriculum. 

Now, I have finished the coursework for my teaching certificate, but because schools have very little capacity for disabled teachers that need accommodations I cannot complete my internship, although I have been teaching for 7 years as teacher of record. 

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So I write to you here: Use the curriculum, find different ways to teach equity! you can do it! Use my lessons to help you, even If I cannot teach right now, I am sure that you can use what I have to build your own dream projects. 

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Yours In Teaching, 

Isabella