Introduction
Hi everyone! I am so excited to write my very first blog post and share it publically. I swear, I've attempted to create a blog before. It has never been successful, but this time is different!
My name is Brenda Lopez and I use she/her pronouns. I'm a second-year social science teacher at Morton East High School in Cicero, Illinois. Currently, I teach semester-long classes. I mainly teach Civics and Economics to seniors, and an elective for sophomores, juniors, and seniors titled Modern World History. I work at my alma mater and graduated from this school in 2015. Afterward, for my undergraduate degree, I attended the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and graduated in 2019. I am a co-sponsor for a club at Morton East called Operation Snowball, a club that I was a member of when I was a student at Morton. The club's mission itself is to have our students create healthy and positive relationships with each other, and most importantly within themselves. Everything in my career has been a full-circle moment.
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| Personal Instagram |
On my personal Instagram, there is not a ton of information, and it may be hard to recognize me since I decided to choose a picture when I was a toddler as my profile picture. The picture was taken by my mother at the Field Museum in Chicago, and it was in front of Sue the T. Rex. My biography is "aqui, casual" -- taken from a Latin American meme that translates to, "here, casual." Since it is my personal Instagram page, and I use it quite often, it is private. I chose to not share a recent picture of myself as my profile picture because this page keeps it casual, as my biography reads. I teach and still live in the community where I went to high school, so most of my students can find me fairly easily since we have mutual friends. Some students have already admitted to me that they know my handles, but having this profile picture can make them wonder if it is actually me.
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| Teacher Instagram |
My students can follow me on my teacher Instagram where it is completely public and I share school-related things. There is a picture of me taken by a friend from the Chicago History Museum. The biography that you see on my teacher/professional Instagram is the same one you will see on my Twitter page. They are also the same handles. In those biographies, I have, "Once a Mustang, Always a Mustang. Stanning these kids, forever and always." To stan, means to be a fan of and it comes from the song, "Stan" by Eminem. Since I am a teacher that is a product of the community, meaning I live and work where I was raised, supporting and advocating for my students is something I am incredibly passionate about. Working at Morton East was something that genuinely fell into my lap -- I was at the right place at the right time. I am thankful for the opportunity to work with the student population that I once belonged to.
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Since we have also been exploring what social media is, I would like to end with a conversation I had with my partner over the weekend. I asked him, "what's the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?" He said, "I put on a pot of coffee." I told him the first thing I do when I wake up is check Twitter. To me, I need to know what happened overnight and honestly, if my family and I still have our rights. For as long as I can remember, I have been connected to the world through social media. A lot of it does have to do with my age -- I am part of Generation Z after all. Since technology has progressed though, we have social media at our fingertips. It is literally with arm's reach since I can just grab my phone and I am instantly connected to the world, like I grab it more than a hundred times per day, or sometimes more.
Hello, Brenda! I am so excited that you are ready to blog! It is such a wonderful way to express yourself as an educator. Your passion for education and your students comes through. I appreciated the thorough description of your profiles and look forward to learning with you this spring!
ReplyDeleteHi Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI like the quote you use in your social media. I think it's unique and it goes straight to the point. I think I may do something similar to your quote for my social media profile in the future. I also think that you are doing an outstanding job with Operation Snowball. Most students I have had in class speak great things about this club. They really enjoy it!
Brenda,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated reading about what you have been doing and so happy you found a job in the neighborhood where you grew up! Gen Z, wild, the millennials will never know😅. I will get to say, I remember the day, when we awkwardly looked around at the diner instead of our phones😂. How is teaching ECON, sounds tough and how is CIVICS? I teach World Studies but it is heavily Civic based, often times teachers complain how it's not really World Studies. Nonetheless, students care more when the content is relatable to them so Civics may help create that bridge. Say hi to our old friends!
Hi Brenda,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the blogging world, even if it’s just for class it can also be the beginning to flute blogs from you on various topics and ideas. How cool that a lot of your career has been a full-circle moment for you! I love the idea of having a teacher instagram page solely for school related things! I too check my socials first thing when I wake up (I’m trying to be better at not doing this though). It’s nice to meet you, I look forward to reading more of your reflections as this class progresses!
Hi Brenda!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture with Sue, such a cool exhibit. I definitely can relate to your partner with the first thing when you wake up. Social media definitely needs a strong cup of coffee some days. Really enjoy seeing you write "stanning these kids, forever and always". As a former Morton student yourself, I bet you can be a support for these kids in many ways. Looking forward to learning with you! Also, I'll see you at Snowball!