Education is Politics

Education is Politics
Ira Shor

Response:
 I was pretty bored with reading this piece.  I thought his ideas were interesting and his points about the classroom made sense but I thought he rambled on way to much, that I sort of just stopped reading and went on to the next point and I would read a few lines and continue the process.  I agree with many of his points especially with the teacher centered classroom versus the student classroom. I think it varied depending on the teacher that I had in high school it would vary with how much they truly honestly cared about the students versus just teaching the basic information.  While reading this I found a lot of similarities with the other pieces that we had read for the class especially with Finnand his point of view with the different ways that teachers teach and that it depends on also your social class and what type of education that a student receives.

Kliewer

Kliewer 

Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

Reflection

I believe that Down Syndrome and the way we look at is has changed immensely from when the article was first published.  It should change and grow because we are learning and growing as a culture.  I believe this has to do with many things in life and that if a person is given a label and people know about this they are instantly put in that certain category and it is extremely difficult to get out of it.  It has to do with the whole knapsack but kind of the opposite affect with many people thinking of it as a disability and that it represents who you are as a person and many people don't want to be known as the label instead as an individual. 

I believe in this a lot because my mom is a type 1 diabetic and doesn't normally share with her colleagues at work that she is because she is afraid they would treat her differently and if she ever did have a reaction people would be unsure what to do.  I think people need to learn to not be afraid of what is different but embrace the change.  They need to know that everyone is different even if you can't see it.

Promising Practices

Promising Practices Conference

I found Dana Fusco's interesting.  I wasn't sure what exactly she was going to talk about but I think the gist of her talk was about agency and how it affects high school students.  The data she showed was really interesting to see that many students would rather be in after school programs because they enjoy it more than being in school which says a lot that teachers aren't getting the students attention and engaging them in activities that they are in interested it.  After reading Finn's article it sort of relates to what Dana Fusco was talking about and the idea of these schools that just don't care about their students or don't do much to engage them in school because of the type of environment/school they went to.

My first session was exciting, I enjoyed it a lot.  I was thinking the workshops were going to be huge but in the first one there was only 10 people.  It made it much more comfortable and not so awkward.  It made me appreciate nature and how I love living in the woods and not in the city.  It also made me realize I should become creative.  My mom used to love to go outside and draw and we haven't done it in years and that we should start doing something fun and slow down our lives.

In my second group I was really looking forward to it.  In my head before the class I was ready to join Teach for America after listening to the speaker and it was something that I knew I wanted to do.  Well two things about the presentation it was basically about City Year and about some other language program allowing elementary school students to learn a different language.  The guy didn't know much about Teach for America and I was a little disappointed.  I'm not sure what I would be interested in doing after college.  They both gave a lot of different information about their different groups.

The only picture I have from the event is what I made from my first session.  It was a nature drawing book.  I loved that we were able to do something fun and learn how much nature is no longer part of our children's world and that teachers should incorporate it into their lesson plan.

Finn

Finn, Literacy with Attitude
Quotes

1. "One explanation is that we have come so far in our democracy that we have nothing to fear from the have-nots. We worry instead that the low levels of literacy among them make them a liability for the rest of us. The idea is that if we could raise their level of literacy they would join the haves. America would have no poor, just rich, richer, and richest."
This makes a lot of sense with everyone trying to change the way education is being taught we want everyone to succeed in our country but at the same time some people are afraid of knowledge and the power that comes with it.  There would still be levels of inequalities and the fight for who gets the most power will continue and want to rule over the not so rich people.

 2. "One fifth grade teacher said the students needed the 'basics-simple skills, When asked "why?" she responded, "They're lazy, I hate to categorize them, but they're lazy,"  
This would be a comment that my teacher in my classroom would make about her students that they are lazy and don't pay attention and don't care.  She doesn't think very positive of them and laughs at some things that they don't understand.  The teacher tries to give the basic idea to the students and not try to incorporate into their own world.

3. "These lessons were often based on ques- tions that students had encountered during their individual read- ing or writing activities. Students could sit anywhere they pleased in the room, as long as they were working on their projects. All books read and all writing genres exhibited by the students were self-chosen. These conditions mirror Anyon's description of the affiuent professional school."
I did this when I was in elementary and middle school, we were given the freedom to sit anywhere around the room and write.  I can't see the teacher in my elementary school allowing her students sit wherever, she doesn't have enough control or wanting to allow her students that freedom.  I think she likes them but on the other hand doesn't think very highly of them.

4. "While the affiuent professional school's teachers were excited and motivated, the most common refrain I heard among the working-class school's teachers was that they planned early retirement. "
The teacher that I help gives off the feeling that she is already tired and she graduated from Rhode Island College 10 years ago.  She also gave me some food for thought with that teaching takes a lot out of you and that if you want to teach it as to be your whole entire world.  I'm pretty sure that if you want to teach you should be focused on the job that you chose to do and the teacher seems to not care as much especially in her kids in the classroom.

 I chose 4 quotes because many things that Finn wrote about were relatable to me and my volunteering experience with being in an urban school.  I'm not sure I would have been aware of them if I didn't volunteer at Asa messer.  It has enlightened me about what I think I would like to do in my future.  There are so many options that's it hards to decide, do I want to be that disciplinarian in the classroom who bosses her children around and loses interest in it or would I rather work with kids and be able to work with them in others ways such as being creative or playing sports.  I have been a little confused about what exactly I want to do in my future.

Romney vs Obama: Housing Marktet

The article that I found was about the housing market with Romney and Obama and what they would do to try and change it.
This is the link:
http://t.news.msn.com/politics/few-housing-solutions-offered-in-presidential-race

In this article it talks about how neither of the candidates give much of an opinion on what to do for the housing economy.  Romney had sent out a housing plan but it was just criticizing Obama and his plan without giving much detail into what he would change.  With Obama he hasn't mentioned housing that much especially in his booklet that his campaign sent out, outlining his second term agenda. 

In certain states it is a big deal that many houses are being foreclosed and people are continuing to take out mortgages on their houses.  It is a never ending cycle that people want some answers to.  I believe that the candidates do this a lot especially in debates.  They are asked questions a topic that they would change when they would get into office and the whole two minutes they have there busy criticizing the other candidate and not talking about the issue and what they feel should happen.  They sound like little girls fighting back and forth trying to get the point across that the other person is wrong.

Service Learning

　
In The Service Of What?
By Kahne and Westheimer

Argument:
"These authors Kahne and Westheimer argue that teachers, policy makers and academicans who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America's schools (13). "

I believe that their argument means that teachers try to teach service learning separately.  Some teachers focus on the learning part of it and how certain people live in differently than others.  Other teachers just teach service and giving back to the community.  They don't use both in ways to teach about service learning so Kahne and Westheimer want them to be able to bring those both together to teach students in the United States.  They write about that students should participate in service learning and be able to express ideas about it in ways explaining why people are this way.  Also allows the students to have better communication skills.

I wish we had implemented community service guidelines for students in my school.  It would have been a great experience for many people to have.  I decided to do volunteering for my senior project and I worked in a soup kitchen and also at a senior center delivering food the seniors that didn't get out of their houses.  It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot about the people.  After that experience when I went to college I decided to do more volunteering and ended up going to Camden, New Jersey.  I know I explained about the trip in an earlier post but it was an amazing week to meet people in Camden and also students from other states.  This website I'm going to attach is the place that hosted us and many different schools can stay there.  http://www.romero-center.org/ministries/urban-challenge/what-to-expect/
Even though it was a Catholic establishment it is open to anyone of different faiths and allow people to reflect on what they saw in the City and in the community and be able communicate with others.

Cinderella Ate my Daughter

I'm sorry this late, I have been studying a lot for my bio exam and I have been really stressed about it. 

Cinderella Ate My Daughter
By Peggy Orenstein

Response
After reading Cinderella Ate My Daughter, I will still be a princess girl.  They were a huge part of my childhood and made me who I am today.  I'm not sure if it was in a good way or a bad way but somehow had a very big influence.  My mom was big into making sure we had princess parties with Cinderella coming to my party.  I was the girl who had many barbies, who had the American Girl who looked just like me, I eventually went into the Bratz phase because barbies got old.  I disagree that Pocahontas or Mulan were not as populare because I had the sleeping bag and tent for Pocahontas and for Mulan I was six when it came out and I had the poster for it and I have loved Mulan for the warrior that she was even though she was a girl.  I don't think I could ever not be into princesses my mom has always liked disney and the movies that they make not just for the love.  As I think about it I don't think my mom really understands what is going on with the movies and the hidden messages that are behind the scenes. 
One quote that I found interesting was
"A reward for her is 'You look so pretty, you look so beautiful.'  People tell her that all the time, and we do, too.  We tell him, 'You're so smart."
I think this idea is what the Disney princess movies show young girls that we don't compliment girls on their brains but on their beauty.  The idea that girls only should focus on their looks and it doesn't matter if you are smart enough, your goal is to clean and to take care of your family.  This shows with the different types of toys that are produced my companies that are only specified for one gender. 
In Toys R Us they showed this segregation of males and females with one side of the aisle was boy toys and the other was girls with dolls and babies and things to play house with.  Even on their website they separate toys into girls and boys sections http://www.toysrus.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=2255956 .
I believe any child should play with any toy, I was babysitting a little girl this past weekend and she was telling me she wanted to play football and liked to draw warriors.  She was an independent girl who didn't care what other people thought.

Post #4

Post #4

Linda Christensen, "Unlearning the Myths that Bind US"

Quotes:

1."Before, I would have just walked into the toy store and bought them what I knew they wanted- Nintendo or Barbie.  But this time, I went up to the clerk and said," I want a toy that isn't sexist or racist."

I think this a new idea that many people are trying to do with buying toys that are not just for gender specific child.  I found this point right that they shouldn't only make toys that are geared towards a certain gender.  I was the typical girly girl who had barbies and polly pockets.  I wish that it was more common for me to build with legos or at least trying something different but in my family you play with your gender specific toys.  My cousin who is 3, his parents are very overly obsessed with making sure he play's with boy toys and doesn't play with girl toys just because he is a boy.  I believe any child should be able to play with any toy they want and not being based on their sex. 

2.  "Turning off the cartoons doesn't stop the sexism and racism.  They can't escape, and now they're started analyzing the rest of the world.  And sometimes they want to stop."

I agree with what she is saying that once you are able to point it out, you are able to see it in many other media's.  I don't necessarily think that it has to take over your whole entire time of watching of tv.  You should be able to realize it and take note of it that it exists.  It shouldn't have to consume you and I think it will influence the person with how much that person is able to understand what is going on.  Disney Princesses are part of the culture you should be able to watch them but they don't have to consumme your world.

3.  "Both young women wanted the race of the actors changed, but they didn't challenge the class or underlying gender inequities that also characterize the lives of Cinderella, Ariel the Mermaid, and Snow White."

 After reading this quote and how there should be a black cinderella.  I started thinking of the Cinderella movie with Brandy and Whitney Houston.  It is one of my favorite movies and I also love Cinderella and musicals.  I think it has a lot to do with the piece because Brandy is black and its one of those thing that you don't normally see in our culture.  But the stepmother is white and superior over Cinderella who is black.  There are still definite differences between the classes of the rich and the poor and between men and women in the movie.  So below is my youtube video for Cinderella.  I hope everyone watches it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5mqWuKuGk0&feature=relmfu

Questions/Remarks:

I haven't changed my perspective of loving disney movies.  I believe that there is a big difference between race, class status, and  gender.  I think movie companies are trying to get people's attention and do this to make money.  Parents should be aware of this and that all people are equal but it probably would not happen for parents to discuss after every movie that not everything in the movies is true.  I think Christensen wants everyone to realize that this type of propaganda has been going for many years and there are many things that haven't changed in our society and people should at least try to change it.

GLSEN

GLSEN

Reflection:

I had never come across the website of GLSEN, I found it to be really helpful for people who needed a community or a support system.  In my high school I had heard about the silence for the victims of being bullied and some of the students had worn red tape or tags that they said they weren't speaking.  I thought they were very courageous to do that.  I didn't think there was a very strong support system in my school for those students with not many teachers caring  or doing much to start conversation about what was going on with the suicides. 

Once I went into college it was a different setting and professors actually talked about topics that weren't normally spoken about in school.  I wish in high school it was different and that teachers were open to everything.  In my WMST's class we spent a lot of time talking about the differences of what it means to be transgender, bisexual, lesbian and gay.  It was something that opened eyes and many terms that we talked about I had never known with how hard it is to change your sex with taking hormones and the surgeries.

The part that was even more disturbing was that so many teachers used homophobics slurs and words when they are teaching the children of the future.  How can people not understand that children are impressionable?  I know that I will never be the teacher that acts this way and says those horrible things.

Post #2

Post #2
Aria by Richard Rodriguez

Option: Hyperlinks

I found the article Aria written by Richard Rodriguez to be a very different point of view of how people have to understand a different language and how it changes your family lifestyle.  With not having to deal with this at my home, I'm not really sure exactly what it would be like.  Before reading the assignment I had read

Finding classroom success in noisy mix of Spanish, English by Sara Garland, I thought it was interesting because the author talks about an elementary school in California that teaches bilingual students 90% of the day in Spanish and then once the student reaches 3rd grade they integrate more English. 

 I thought it pertained a lot to the articles that we had to read this week for class.  In Aria the author empasizes a lot that it was really awkward at home with his parents having to speak English so much so he was able to understand it in class.  I think the system back then was also very religious because now in our society we don't have nuns coming to our houses and there is less communication between parents and teachers.  In the Sara Garland article she writes that many parents are getting involved with trying to help their students. 

Opinion/Questions Paragraph:

Did many nuns help people try to speak English back in the day?  I feel like being involved in a certain religion also helps to connect people, that you have a common interest and more people are connected.  Thinking about the nuns and helping his family to try to speak English around the children, makes me think of when I went to Camden, New Jersey for a mission trip with Assumption College and it was a great experience working with people of different backgrounds and the friends you make while living under the same roof.  It taught us what it was like to live on 3.00 of food for a day and giving so much to the people.  I got to go to a nursing home/rehabilitation center, an adult daycare and I walked around the city of Camden handing out flyers to help students that wanted to get an education.  It was an amazing experience. 

Post #1

Post #1
Amazing Grace By Kozol

Quotes
1. "They say she gets a number," she replies.  "City don't have the money for the living.  I guess they think: why waste it on the dead." p.20
I thought this quote meant that the city doesn't care about the people that are poor and need help to live in houses and to stay helahty.  They believe many people are just a number and that they don't deserve the respect that the wealthy get.  Its the same thing in big schools many times you are only a number and there is no name associated with you. 

2."Evil exists," he says, not flinching at the word.  "I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil.  Somebody had power.  Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people- that is my idea of evil." p.24
When I read this quote I thought a lot about Johnson and his piece with white privilege.  I believe that many people don't know that they have this white privilege and this power over people.   There also other people who know that they have this power but don't want to help anyone else but themselves.  I think this was a main point of Kovac's piece that many people know that the poor need to be taken care of and that the hospitals that they go to are not up to standard but nobody in power does anything to fix it.  They are left to their own means and that doesn't allow many people to get very far in a white privileged society.

3. "I believe that we were put here for a purpose, but these people in the streets can't see a purpose.  There's a whole world out there if you know it's there, if you can see it.  But they're in a cage.  They cannot see." p.24
When Kovac talks about the prostitutes and the drug dealers in his piece I feel like this quote somes up how he feels that they might feel that they don't know anything else they were brought up in this culture and don't see anything besides sex or drugs.  They are stuck in the cage that he is talking about and unable to leave because of the white privilege that exists around them and that it is very hard to get out of something that you are so used to.

Questions:
What did everyone else think of this piece?  In my WMST's class we read another piece by Kovac and he wrote that from almost an interview type of writing just like this one was and I found it to be really easy to follow and more interesting than other pieces.  I found it easier to read than White Privilege.  I thought Kovac had a good point about how many poor people lose out on many basic things such as healthcare and even being buried because many wealthy people don't care to help them out. 

Hi everyone, hope your weekend went well!! Mine was extremely busy there were two birthdays in my family, I have eaten so many sweets in the past three days.  A little bit about myself I'm 20 years old.  I love sports, I'm a really big basketball fan.  I love the Boston Celtics and also the Red Sox.  This summer I got to go to Aruba with my boyfriend and his family.  I was also busy working at KFC during the summer.