August Article

Quotes

Johnson explained that democratic life requires more than good intentions: "Patterns of oppression and privilege are rooted in systems that we all participate in and make happen. Those patterns are built into paths of least resistance that people feel drawn to every day, regardless of whether they think about where they lead or the consequences they produce...If we have a vision of what we want social life to look like, we have to create paths that lead in that direction." (Pg. 144)

How children act has a lot to do with parents, teachers and other children setting an example for them. The way they are taught and how to interact can be learned behaviors and it is our job to teach them how to be social in a positive manner. If we promote positivity and kind and appropriate social interaction the children are more apt to respond appropriately. In the examples August gives, Zeke uses teachable moments in class to teach the children what is appropriate and acceptable language in society and what is not. He attempts to mention how sometimes things that other people can say about them being different can hurt their feelings. They need to be able to respect each others differences and think about what they are saying.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney states, "Schools under our parental-nitification law are required to inform parents... of matters relating to human sexuality that may be taught in the classroom and to allow that child to be out of the classroom for that period of education."

This law surprised me a little bit, especially seeing as though gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts. I know they made the law to protect the schools and school boards from getting sued but I am still surprised it went as far as becoming the law. I can see why parents might be hesitant about their children learning this information at such a young age, but I also don't think sheltering them is the best answer either. As a child with a classmate who has two moms, it is very difficult for them to understand their situation without the knowledge. The child who is taken out of the room will always wonder about it and maybe ask questions, and possibly feel as though he/she is missing out on something when they are removed from the room during these lessons. Another point that comes to my mind is that children talk. If a lesson was done on gay/lesbian parents etc. don't you think the children would talk about it after the fact and the information would get back to the child that was removed? I also wonder if any other states also made this law.

Rodriguez Article

Extended comments on Donna's Rodriguez Blog

Donna raised some great questions in her Rodriguez blog. As an ELL or ESL teacher Donna has put forth some great incite as to what it is like for a student in ELL.

Donna states, "Research has shown that for pre-literate learners making sense of their native language helps to anchor overall literacy development which also helps learn English. This seems to contradict the author’s experiences." This notion would only make sense, but if he is not given the opportunity to express himself in his native language, this method will not work in a positive manner. Likewise, maybe if the nuns had not pressured his parents to speak English to their children at home, this may have helped him. I do feel that the English language should be reinforced at home if possible, but it does not have to be the only language spoken. I am sure that Richard's parents were learning too, and that they could learn together. But I think culturally, and in more social situations it is just as important to remember their roots and culture and continue to speak Spanish. They are obviously all comfortable with the language and are able to express themselves mroe freely with worrying if they are using the right termanology. It's upsetting that because the English language was spoken at home that Rodriguez felt disconnected from his family. I feel that his family should not be sacrificed to "learn the language of public society."

With that being said, Donna raises another question that has me thinking, "What do Rodriguez’s experiences say about providing bilingual education in public schools?"
We briefly touched upon this topic in class and it was one that never struck me until then. Why is it that learning a second language as an English speaking student is so brilliant, when ELL students are being asked to brush their native language aside? What I think is brilliant is when a student learns fluent English and remains fluent in their native language. Nowadays, when jobs are so scarce, people that are bilingual are going to be able to obtain jobs when most educated English speaking people cannot. Being bilingual provides so much opportunity for people and it should treated as a gift, not as something that must be changed.

I decided to change my background to look a little more summery! :)

GLSEN

Hyperlinks

The GLSEN website was very interesting to explore. The first place I went on the site was the ThinkB4YouSpeak link. This was a great site that included educational guides, and campaign material that you could print off. It gave definitions of the words gay, faggot, and dyke. To be honest, I didn't even know that those words had other meanings previous to describing homosexuals. I think that is something that should be taught to kids. It needs to be brought to the attention of everyone that these words are hurtful to some people, and even if the are not directed at them, using phrases like "that's so gay" can really afftect them. On this site, one part that caught my eye was the tally of how many people use the words "fag, "dyke" and "so gay" in one day on twitter. I was astonished to see that the word "fag" was seen more than 1500 times on twitter today. This tally just goes to show how often these words are being used in our society.

The next part I investigated was the Stop Bullying Now! site. Bullying does not just happen with the LGBT population, it seems to happen with a lot of kids. Someone could be bullied for wearing glasses or being short. It is whoever other children decide to pick on. Therefore, it is important to teach the children about bullying. This was a neat site for children and adults to use to teach and learn about bullying. They have the definition of bullying and things you can do if you are bullying or being bullied, little clips that talk about bullying scenarios that can be used to teach about bullying, along with discussion questions to go along with each clip. These would be great to use with elementary aged students as they are cartoons with characters and such. On this site there are also games that the kids can play with the characters. There are a lot of situations both inside and outside of school with kids bullying and being bullied and it is important that children know what do if it happens to them. I know in my system the guidance counselor does a few lessons about bullying in each classroom, and I think this site along with the lesson plan on GLSEN.com would be a great tool to supplement her lessons.

After looking at the GLSEN site a bit, I was interested to see what other kinds of sites were out there about bullying. Coincidently, I stumbled upon a blog about bullying statistics . On this blog there are statistics about bullying, personal stories and and quite a few videos, describing various bullying instances and the effects of bullying today. In one of the clips from abc news it talks about bullying in the media, such as "Mean Girls" and the sad story about boy who committed suicide because he was depressed and being harrassed. Suicide is an extreme effect that bullying can have on a person's life. Children need to know that there are people they can talk to, or what to do if they are being bullied.

I also found this site through pbs, which might be nice for kids to explore. It describes the different types of bullying, what it is, what to do, what other kids have to say about bullying, and they can play the "beat the bully" game.

I thought this site on kids health might also be a good one to look at. Aside from bullying it targets peer pressure, gossip, cliques, self-esteem, abuse, dealing with anger etc.

Here are a couple of sites that give lesson plans and activities that you can do with you students to teach them about bullying.
Grades 1-2

Grades 3-4

What to teach kids about bullying

Finn Article

Connections

Patrick Finn's argument in the sections of the book titled "Literacy with an Attitude" is very similar to that of Kozol's argument in his article, "Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid." They both discuss the inequalities of children in schools. Finn targets the issues of social class inequalities, whereas Kozol targets the racial diversity and rich vs. poor inequalities in urban settings.

Finn discusses the various types of social class segregated schools, how the teachers teach the children and the way the curriculum is set up. There are drastic differences among the working class schools, middle class schools, affluent professional schools and the executive elite schools. Finn mentions the quote from a principal to a teacher, "Just do your best. If they learn to add and subtract, it's a bonus. If not, don't worry about it." Don't worry about it? As teacher, how could you not worry about it? That is your job. You need to come up with ways for these students to achieve these basic standards. Addition and subtraction are the foundation of mathematics, without that mastery there is little room for advancement. Teachers should strive for student's success in any situation, and it is hard to understand how anyone could "not worry about it" and give up on their students for the sole reason that they are of a lower social class. The teacher's expectations of students are most often based on their social class. In this case, teachers seem to be setting the kids up for failure and not allowing kids to work to their maximum potential. These children have average to above average IQ's and without the support and proper instruction from teachers they will not succeed. On another note the curriculum does not allow for interest in learning in the lower social classes. It seems to be in only the affluent and elite groups where creativity and student success is valued. All children learn differently and are capable of trying to learn. If they are not given that opportunity then you will never know.

Similar to Finn, Kozol expresses the differences of children of various social classes in his article. Kozol mentions the "cheap children" and the "expensive children" The expensive children get the best of everything. They get the best teachers, the best equiptment, the higher expectations etc. The exact opposite is what he discusses for the "cheap children" or children of low-income families. Kozol also talks about the curriculum materials suited for "the special needs and learning styles" of low-income urban children. Just because they come from low-income families does not mean they can not think and perform like children of the elite or high-income families. Once again, Kozol is noting the lack of high expecations for the children and families of the lower social classes.

Kozol and Finn have very similiar views on the issues of social class in education. Both of their examples in their writings prove this notion. They confirm the perceptions of how social class effects the world of education in the eyes of some teachers, administrators, governments, students and families.

People Like Us

After playing around on the People Like Us website, a few different things and feelings came to mind. The first thing I did was go to Background and "You are Where you Live", again noticing that location plays a large role in who we are. I typed in my zip code and was surprised to find that most of the people in the area which I live according to this website are considered "Domestic Duos." Domestic Duos are described as mid-scale generally over the age of 65, single or married, living in older suburban homes. They are mostly high school graduates, retired homeowners of mixed races. In the two neighborhoods that I have lived in in this area, yes there are older retired people but there are also middle aged, middle class families mixed in as well. I don't feel as if the retired senior citizens make up the majority population in this area. I am curious as to where they received the information to arrive at these conclusions. Do they use the Census? It was very interesting how in depth the descriptions of the different groups of people were that make up this community. They talk about where these types of people shop, what kind of technology they use, the average income, and what kind of television shows they watch. It was very interesting to see how they generalize for each group of people.

I also read some of the stories on the page and thought about how the "characters" probably felt in their specific situations. Many of them were secluded in one way or another. I was able to think about myself in their situations and how awful it is to be judged, let down and shut off from people you love. These stories used different scenarios to bring the notions of power and privilege in society to life.

Kozol Article

Questions:

While reading Jonathan Kozol's article Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid I found myself questioning what I was reading. My first question arose when reading pg. 4 which discusses teacher salaries and the price per student taught in public schools in certain areas. What I don't understand is why teachers where minorities are the majority are being paid significantly less money than in other school systems where maybe whites are the majority. Do the children not deserve the same education? Also why do the teachers "suffer" a pay cut for teaching in these systems? Are they not putting in the same amount of effort as the teachers of the middle-upper class children? In my opinion, if children come from poor families where their parents work and there is not as much support in the home as maybe there could be, teachers must put in the extra time and effort to help the children succeed. Plenty of teachers go above and beyond their expectations and are not rewarded for it.

As I read the article and Kozol describes his encounter with Alliyah and how she says, "You have.. We do not have," I immediately thought of my undergraduate student teaching experience. I taught in a second grade classroom in a system that consisted of only one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. It was a pretty wealthy community made up of mostly white middle-upper class citizens. This school had more technology than I have ever encountered in a school. I had ten computers in my room. There was a separate computer lab with about 25 moderately new apple computers, a projection screen, a cart with about 20 laptop computers that any class could use, a couple elmo projectors and various computer programs to enhance student learning. I learned a tremendous wealth of knowledge of how to use technology in the classroom in this experience, however, I am not able to necessarily adapt that to my current teaching situation. Although I am only a substitute teacher, my district is not as fortunate as my last. Each classroom is lucky if they have 2 computers set up in the room. Maybe there is about 10 computers in the library. A couple of schools have smart boards and some have computer labs, but not most. I question though, why some schools in the system or other systems are fortunate enough to have all of these resources at their fingertips? Wouldn't it be nice to allow every child to utilize this kind of technology. It seems as though the schools that are technologically advanced are located in the more wealthy sections of the city. Why can't all schools in the system be treated equally? Every component of education revolves around money. It is upsetting that school committees continue to make budget cuts and do not think of the way it affects the children, which should be the main priority.

It was also quite disturbing to me to read about the lack of doctors in the various school settings. Do all children not deserve to be healthy? Why do some children in some schools get to be treated and remain healthy whereas other children just have to suffer without any help? All citizens of the United States should be treated equally, why are some children treated differently than others?

This article really made me reflect upon my experiences in teaching. It was confusing and aggrivating to think about Kozol's statements.

Delpit

Format: Argument

Lisa Delpit argues that all students do not learn in the same manner. A child's background knowledge and culture plays a determining role in how the child will learn. Delpit makes it a point to mention that it is our job as teachers to adapt our teaching styles to the needs of the children we teach rather than attempt to change the homes of the student's in which we teach. We need to incorporate strategies that are appropriate for all the students in the class. We can use various methods of teaching to connect with each and every child in order for them to learn the best they can. Primarily as a teacher, it is our job to teach. In her article she mentions many situations where teachers are not teaching and are not putting in the effort to teach and the students are suffering because of it. If they are not learning, they can feel as if they are not able to learn and become disinterested in school.

As I mentioned culture is a huge factor in a child's learning ability. I like how Delpit mentions Shirley Brice Heath's verbal quotes from Ways with Words regarding the differences among the way people communicate. The style of communication we use in the classroom could be misinterpreted by students based on what they are used to at home. It is important that we are directive in the way we speak but are taking a step back and thinking about how what we are saying is coming across to the students.

Teachers must be able to teach all of the students in the class. It is important that we listen to students, parents and other teachers in order to truly benefit all children.

IAT Post

The Implicit Association Test was very interesting. I took both the race and gender one. The test uses the time it takes you to associate each picture or word with the appropriate group to measure your unconcious preference. After completing the race test my results came back as "moderate automatic preference for European American compared to African American." I can see this as being fairly accurate as I have grown up in a primarily white dominant suburban area all of my life. I was not really exposed to much diversity of any kind until I entered college where I was able to interact with many different people and learn about varying cultures and preferences. Today, I am very open to people of diverse backgrounds and in turn have many friends who are different than me in many ways.

Along with the race test I also took the gender test. My results for this test showed a "slight association of Male with Career and Female with Family compared to Female with Career and Male with Family." These results also seem fairly accurate to me. Growing up both of my parents had jobs and worked, however my mom did take a little time off of work to stay at home with my brothers and I. My father was our primary source of income for our family. Both of my parents took care of my family in many ways and I can very well see how my unconcious preference would slightly associate males with careers and females with family.