Ashley Valencia-Pate 02/11/2021

Ashley Valencia-Pate, from Perkins, Oklahoma, is a senior English teacher in Stillwater, Oklahoma and a graduate student at Oklahoma State University. Mrs. Valencia-Pate shares the challenges that arose from the change from having a flexible curriculum to a predetermined curriculum. She expressed how she felt feelings of anger due to inequity issues. She also shares how she felt lost during all the uncertainties that the COVID-19 pandemic brought. Mrs. Valencia-Pate acknowledges poetry helped her express her feelings and relieve emotions after her student-teacher relationship was broken. She also talks about how the teacher-parent relationship was affected in different ways. Mrs. Valencia-Pate fears that people will forget that technology is one of the main aspects that lead to inequity issues in education. She also shares how professional development and flexibility in her curriculum were crucial in her teaching practices. Mrs. Valencia-Pate looks forward to learning how to create a community in a virtual classroom.