Affinity Spaces

1. A community practice that I am currently engaged in is within the 75 hour clinical. Through these classes and the classroom experiences I am learning how to become a better teacher.

2. The author suggests to look at community in terms of space because you can see the extent to which the people of the community interact. To think of a group of people, it is often thought that they share the same views and feelings. However, this is generally not the case. Therefore it is better to think of community as a space rather than a group.

3. A generator is what the space is "about" Its counterpart in school would be the content being taught.

4. A content organizer is how content is designed or organized. In school this would be the lesson plans created by the teacher.

5. A portal is how we gain access to content and to the interactions related to the content. In school we can relate this to books, internet, whole group or small group discussions, etc.

6. People have an affinity for what they can relate to or what they are interested in. This informs me of good teaching because you need to know what your students interests are. Knowing this will help the teacher develop lesson plans that foster meaningful learning.

7. Affinity spaces support inclusive classrooms because:

• having a sense of community is created when students can feel that they are not discriminated against for their interactions within the space
• a common vision is often found in inclusive classrooms and affinity spaces.

8. In traditional classrooms students are often separated by academic level and other factors. In affinity spaces, students are  interacting with each other and other tools so that learning is occurring in a meaningful way.