Class Room Activity
On Thursday in class we did an activity that i had never done before and thought that it was really interesting. There was a problem put up on the overhead and we had to decide where we stood on the issue. It was very interesting to see what people thought and was right or wrong. The first example that was up was having a class do a project that they made headbands and pilgrim suites out of paper. I don't personally see how this is bad or offensive at all because most likely in the class they aren't going into great depth about the pilgrims and indians. They are simply dressing up as the people would have and had a meal together. Thanksgiving was a peaceful event and that's what the class was doing.
The activity was just a cool thing for us to do to see where we stand on things. Also it gives us insight to what can come up in our future. People seem to have issues with everything in the world so we just need to know how to handle it. In many cases it was just one person that has a problem with a lesson plan in a few years but you still have to do something to change it because of that person. So you always have to be careful in what you teach so can cater to everyones needs.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Critical Teaching for Social Change
Reflection:
This is a very long piece that we had to read this week but it goes along with a lot of what we have already been talking about in how the classroom is set up and how it needs to be set up. The piece talks about what is happening in the classrooms and what should be changed so that more is taken away from our schooling experience. We are told to go to school for a young age with everyone on the same curriculum that is written be a group of people the don't know any of the students that are in the classes. Also what is being taught very rarely changes and that isn't fair because each group of students that comes into school is different and has their own dreams. In the article is says that there needs to be an agenda of values taught to the students also. It says that we should teach in each of these areas...
Participatory • Affective • Problem-posing • Situated • Multicultural • Democratic • Researching • Interdisciplinary • Activists. The article then goes into each of them in great depth so i am not going to explain what each one is and give a whole background on each.
This is a very long piece that we had to read this week but it goes along with a lot of what we have already been talking about in how the classroom is set up and how it needs to be set up. The piece talks about what is happening in the classrooms and what should be changed so that more is taken away from our schooling experience. We are told to go to school for a young age with everyone on the same curriculum that is written be a group of people the don't know any of the students that are in the classes. Also what is being taught very rarely changes and that isn't fair because each group of students that comes into school is different and has their own dreams. In the article is says that there needs to be an agenda of values taught to the students also. It says that we should teach in each of these areas...
Participatory • Affective • Problem-posing • Situated • Multicultural • Democratic • Researching • Interdisciplinary • Activists. The article then goes into each of them in great depth so i am not going to explain what each one is and give a whole background on each.
One of the most important ones it seemed like was the participation aspect. Children need to be participating in a positive way that they enjoy so they will get the most out of the class. If they are simply told that they have to participate and have nothing to say or don't know what to say then they aren't going to take much out of the lesson. The article says that you need action to gain knowledge and you can start right away with participation on the very first day of school. There are many websites that can help you with techniques of how to get students to participate so he is just one link that is geared towards a mass class.
As a future teacher i am going to have to use the techniques and strategies that are in this article. I am also going to have to let kids discover and think on their own and not just them what we are doing and this is the only right way to do it. Students need to explore with information to find the best way to do things and not always be told how to do everything. Teaching is starting to become harder and harder with everything that is changing in our world so we just need to be ready to deal with every situation that comes our way and not get stuck and just say "uuhg" and look like a fool. We need to have answers already in the chamber like Dr. Bogad told us early on in the semester and i know it helped me when a boy said that Justin Beber was gay. I already knew to say ooh really whats that mean.
In class i would like to talk about strategies to use in the classroom and see what has worked for everybody and what hasn't.
Happy Easter!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Social Justice Piece
Let me first start off with saying that if you didn't attend this event then you really missed out!
The first thing that i am going to talk about is the S.C.W.A.M.P. that we did earlier this year in class. S.C.W.A.M.P. was created by Leslie Grinner (the guest speaker) and she went into great detail with it and how it got it's name because she wanted it to be something that was easy to say opposed to something awkward so she came up with the S.C.W.A.M.P. She said that these six things are huge in our culture and then broke them down using the movie Twilight. The letters stand for straightness, christianity, whiteness, able bodied, man, and property holding. All of these things can be related back to the readings that we have done throughout the year.
Johnson is the first author that i am going to connect to the lecture. Johnson goes directly with all the aspects of S.C.W.A.M.P in how if you have all these things you are considered privileged. Back in older times you actually needed to have all of these things to be able to vote. Nowadays you don't and it makes things much more fair. Johnson says that we need to talk about power and difference which Grinner did with the scwamp exercise.
The next person that i am going to relate is McIntosh. McIntosh is all about how whiteness is an invisible privilege. This whiteness is also apart of the scwamp and Grinner went into specific details about this. When she is relating it to the movie she talks about how all the head vampires are white and there is only one vampire in the movie that is not white. Also with the Cullen family they are a white family and therefore have a ton of money and a really nice house. Also because they are white it is overlooked that their children although adopted are in relationships together. Because they are white people don't make a big deal about it. Also Grinner said something about how every man no matter what race wanted to be with the whitest person in the movie Bella.
Then lastly and sorry to be like Emily but i am going to relate Christensen. She is about the media and how to interpret social stereotypes. Since the lecture was about a movie it works because it is the media in how it shows some people being better than others. It also teaches many lessons such as violence is ok because in one instance that Grinner was talking about she was talking about how a ware wolf got mad at his wife and hit her in the face. She was left with terrible scars but basically said that it was fine and didn't do anything about it. This promotes that violence is ok and if your husband hits you it doesn't matter and you just have to live with it.
Now i am going to connect the scwamp to outside sources.
The media plays a huge role in this by showing kids what is right and what is wrong. It shows that men are in power by having all men be the head vampires. All the characters are in relationships so it says you have to be dating someone. It also has all the characters being in really good shape. aka muscular so thats why all girls like to watch the movie and want a muscular guy because it is always in the media. Also there are characters in this movie that are religious and you can see people everywhere wearing crosses such as Snookie from Jersey shore. You also see the Cullen family has a huge home and nice things so money and property play a huge role in the movie and media. Many people also find this movie controversial because it is at time just about the guys in it and not the supposedly main character Bella.
Nextly i am going to relate sports to the SCWAMP in how men normally have an easier. SCWAMP is easy to relate because a few years ago a basketball player came out as gay and it was a huge deal and it made players very uncomfortable. Straightness is very valued in sports. One thing that is different is whiteness is not valued at all which is a good thing. As we try to get rid of this SCWAMP being the right thing sports is starting to do this. If you are good enough you play. All of these athletes are freakish athletes which means they are able bodied.
Then Lastly i am going to relate jobs. It is just easier to get a job as a man. It is also a proven fact that they get paid more money. When you see high powered positions in the workplace for the most part they are men. Also when you hear about the richest people in the world most of them are men. Although it is not fair men do have it easier when it comes to getting and keeping a job.
The first thing that i am going to talk about is the S.C.W.A.M.P. that we did earlier this year in class. S.C.W.A.M.P. was created by Leslie Grinner (the guest speaker) and she went into great detail with it and how it got it's name because she wanted it to be something that was easy to say opposed to something awkward so she came up with the S.C.W.A.M.P. She said that these six things are huge in our culture and then broke them down using the movie Twilight. The letters stand for straightness, christianity, whiteness, able bodied, man, and property holding. All of these things can be related back to the readings that we have done throughout the year.
Johnson is the first author that i am going to connect to the lecture. Johnson goes directly with all the aspects of S.C.W.A.M.P in how if you have all these things you are considered privileged. Back in older times you actually needed to have all of these things to be able to vote. Nowadays you don't and it makes things much more fair. Johnson says that we need to talk about power and difference which Grinner did with the scwamp exercise.
The next person that i am going to relate is McIntosh. McIntosh is all about how whiteness is an invisible privilege. This whiteness is also apart of the scwamp and Grinner went into specific details about this. When she is relating it to the movie she talks about how all the head vampires are white and there is only one vampire in the movie that is not white. Also with the Cullen family they are a white family and therefore have a ton of money and a really nice house. Also because they are white it is overlooked that their children although adopted are in relationships together. Because they are white people don't make a big deal about it. Also Grinner said something about how every man no matter what race wanted to be with the whitest person in the movie Bella.
Then lastly and sorry to be like Emily but i am going to relate Christensen. She is about the media and how to interpret social stereotypes. Since the lecture was about a movie it works because it is the media in how it shows some people being better than others. It also teaches many lessons such as violence is ok because in one instance that Grinner was talking about she was talking about how a ware wolf got mad at his wife and hit her in the face. She was left with terrible scars but basically said that it was fine and didn't do anything about it. This promotes that violence is ok and if your husband hits you it doesn't matter and you just have to live with it.
Now i am going to connect the scwamp to outside sources.
Nextly i am going to relate sports to the SCWAMP in how men normally have an easier. SCWAMP is easy to relate because a few years ago a basketball player came out as gay and it was a huge deal and it made players very uncomfortable. Straightness is very valued in sports. One thing that is different is whiteness is not valued at all which is a good thing. As we try to get rid of this SCWAMP being the right thing sports is starting to do this. If you are good enough you play. All of these athletes are freakish athletes which means they are able bodied.
Then Lastly i am going to relate jobs. It is just easier to get a job as a man. It is also a proven fact that they get paid more money. When you see high powered positions in the workplace for the most part they are men. Also when you hear about the richest people in the world most of them are men. Although it is not fair men do have it easier when it comes to getting and keeping a job.
RANDOM BLOG
So i haven't really seen many of the "random blogs" so im not totally sure what im supposed to have in them so here goes...Kinda getting stressed out with all the work due. Not only for this class but every class with every teacher assigning papers and projects due in the last week of school. I just read and saw that we need two misc. blogs when i thought it was only one so im going to have to do another one on top of the normal blog and the social justice one that is worth ten percent of my grade so that's going to have to be a really good blog. So right now im just trying to relax and just do a little bit of work at a time especially since tomorrow is easter and im going to have like no time to do my work then so that means one less day to get everything done. Also we have our group projects that i think are very stressful because we only have two weeks till there due and i know most groups havent started them as of thursday.
Basically just have to just keep trudging and get everything done and just listen to a little bit of music to keep going.
Basically just have to just keep trudging and get everything done and just listen to a little bit of music to keep going.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Quotes:
As soon as i started to read this article i immediately found quotes that had a lot of significance.
As soon as i started to read this article i immediately found quotes that had a lot of significance.
"I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education.! had to go through special ed. almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, 1wanted to cry. (Peterson, 1994, p. 6)"
When i rad this quote it meant a lot to me. My mom is a Special Education teacher so over the years i have spent a lot of time in her classroom with these kids. When i go to my mom's classroom the children are a lot younger so i don't see many of these issues coming up. This quote is saying how the student is forced to take "special ed" classes which makes her feel badly about her self and she feels like it is unfair because she wants to take "normal" classes. Being around a lot of students with down syndrome and numerous other disabilities i really feel for this student. They should be allowed to take other classes that interest them so they feel like they want to go to school and be normal like the other students because they aren't on a specific curriculum. I believe that they should take special classes but they also should be allowed to take electives just like everyone else because they are normal, they just have a disability.
"Now we know that people with disabilities can learn and have a full, rich life. The challenge is to erase negative attitudes about people with develop mental disabilities, get rid of the stereotypes and break the barriers for people with disabilities. (Kingsley, 1996, p. 6)"
This next quote is directly under the first one. Basically everything i said about the first one is what this one is talking about. The person who said this wan't things to get fair for people with disabilities. The thing that i liked the most in this one was that it said that we need to erase the negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. I know that there are people in the world that will never change their views but the image needs to be changed. People with disabilities can be very smart and just need to be given a chance and not be written off as soon as you see them. The quote is very meaningful and once people read it they should no longer pass judgement on someone who is different and actually get the time to know them and realize that they aren't that different from themselves.
"It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here-kids, teachers, parents, whoever-it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's what learning is."
This quote is great, it was said by someone who doesn't have a disability. Is is taking on the perspective of a person with a disability and is saying how they don't want people to think of them as different or already have the idea that they are different before they even talk to them. It is also saying that basically we are all people and we are all different but should be treated the same. They also shouldn't be separated on the sheer fact that the person has a disability. They should be given a chance to show off how smart they actually are and if they are able to succeed ina classroom then they should be left there. later on in the article there is a boy who is in a normal classroom that has a disability and if you didn't already know he had a disability you wouldnt be able to tell. Basically the quote is saying that everyone deserves a chance.
Class Talking Points: Do you just pass someone off because they have a disability or do you take the time to get to know them. Also does anyone spend any time or have any experience with people with disabilities?
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Literacy With an ATTITUDE
For this weeks blog I just wanted to do a reflection and talk about what was in the pieces that we were supposed to read. First off i really like what was in the preface of Finn's Literacy with Attitude. I thought that this was a very powerful piece and and really goes along with a lot of what Delpit says with the culture of power. One thing that i found in the preface that looks exactly like what Delpit would say is this, "The status quo is the status quo because people who have the power to make changes are comfortable with the way things are. It takes energy to make changes, and the energy must come from the people who will benefit from the change." This quote sounds exactly like something Delpit would say because she is big with the culture of power in how the people who are reaping all the benefits don't want to do anything to change these things. Then the people who need change don't have any of the resources to do so.
Another thing that caught my attention was right at the beginning of chapter one. This was when he was talking about naming his book and he started to talk about Jonathan Kozol. I thought that this was interesting because in class we have talked about him a lot in class. This particular piece was talking about his book Savage Inequalities and how it is unfair how different races are being taught differently. This is something that Johnson has said a few things about in how we need to educate everyone equally. Finn and Johnson are on the same page with this and Finn actually uses these things in his own classroom where he treats everyone the same and tells them specific directions. This is something that really needs to be done to help create a better balance in our world today where people are on the same level as each other.
When going back and re reading my blog i realize that it is more of a connections piece than i originally thought it was going to be. In class i want to discuss how there are so may people that can be connected to this piece. I would also like to talk about education and how it needs to be equally distributed to everyone and have it be equal. If schooling was equal for everyone then our world could be much different than it is today.
Another thing that caught my attention was right at the beginning of chapter one. This was when he was talking about naming his book and he started to talk about Jonathan Kozol. I thought that this was interesting because in class we have talked about him a lot in class. This particular piece was talking about his book Savage Inequalities and how it is unfair how different races are being taught differently. This is something that Johnson has said a few things about in how we need to educate everyone equally. Finn and Johnson are on the same page with this and Finn actually uses these things in his own classroom where he treats everyone the same and tells them specific directions. This is something that really needs to be done to help create a better balance in our world today where people are on the same level as each other.
When going back and re reading my blog i realize that it is more of a connections piece than i originally thought it was going to be. In class i want to discuss how there are so may people that can be connected to this piece. I would also like to talk about education and how it needs to be equally distributed to everyone and have it be equal. If schooling was equal for everyone then our world could be much different than it is today.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Title Nine in Sports
This weeks blog is something that i personally know a lot about because i wrote my research paper about it in highschool. Title 9 is something that tries to take the restriction off who can and can't play a particular sport. Title 9 says "No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid." This is a change that i believe was made for the better in sports.
This website tells you everything that you need to know about title nine and how it has affected people. Although i believe that it was made for the better and has helped many girls be allowed to play in quote unquote mens sports i haven't personally seen it help any male athletes play in quote unquote female sports. For example a boy in my highschool was a tremendous volley ball player and we didn't have a mens volley ball team at our school but there was a girls team. Because of title 9 the boy should have been able to play on the team because there wasn't a mens team but the school wouldn't just let him. If he wanted to play then he would have to jump through a million hoops first and then if he did all that he would only be allowed to play in the back row and was never allowed to approach the net. I could see why they wouldn't want him to approach the net because people could say he could jump higher or hit harder than any of the girls and that wasn't faire but by not allowing him to do this he wasn't able to play to his full potential.
Another experience i have with this issue is when a girl at my highschool was allowed to play football. All she had to do was say she wanted to play and she was on the team because of title nine. There were no restrictions put on her where she could and couldn't play. She ended up playing middle linebacker on the freshman team and at times she would be the full back. I personally believe that this was a great thing just letting her play but at the same time it was a little bit one sided just letting the female athlete play her sports when the male athlete had to jump through so many hoops just to play the back row so he never played.
Something that i also notice is that everything that you see about title nine says women's sports. if you type title nine in sports into google this come up under videos. Every video there is about women where Title 9 clearly states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex"be discriminated upon in sports. This should mean men too and there should be more about this information on the internet than just the womans information. I do know that it has affected much more women then men but still there needs to be information on both sides.
A couple video that i found aren't from you tube so i cant post the actual video but here in the link for the first video. it is about how schools are going to have to do more to show that they are complying in title nine. The only issue is that the video mainly talks about woman but clearly says both sex at a few points. Then my favorite video is this one.
it talks about both mens and womens sports being equal.
During class i just want to touch upon how great title nine is but also how it isn't truly fair for both men and women. It seems like men's sports are always being cut to add more women's sports so the schools dont get in trouble. One great example of the is at PC where the men's division 1 baseball team was gotten rid of to make a women's hockey team. Although they are a good team just because they needed another women's sports the just totally got rid of a good men's program.
This website tells you everything that you need to know about title nine and how it has affected people. Although i believe that it was made for the better and has helped many girls be allowed to play in quote unquote mens sports i haven't personally seen it help any male athletes play in quote unquote female sports. For example a boy in my highschool was a tremendous volley ball player and we didn't have a mens volley ball team at our school but there was a girls team. Because of title 9 the boy should have been able to play on the team because there wasn't a mens team but the school wouldn't just let him. If he wanted to play then he would have to jump through a million hoops first and then if he did all that he would only be allowed to play in the back row and was never allowed to approach the net. I could see why they wouldn't want him to approach the net because people could say he could jump higher or hit harder than any of the girls and that wasn't faire but by not allowing him to do this he wasn't able to play to his full potential.
Another experience i have with this issue is when a girl at my highschool was allowed to play football. All she had to do was say she wanted to play and she was on the team because of title nine. There were no restrictions put on her where she could and couldn't play. She ended up playing middle linebacker on the freshman team and at times she would be the full back. I personally believe that this was a great thing just letting her play but at the same time it was a little bit one sided just letting the female athlete play her sports when the male athlete had to jump through so many hoops just to play the back row so he never played.
Something that i also notice is that everything that you see about title nine says women's sports. if you type title nine in sports into google this come up under videos. Every video there is about women where Title 9 clearly states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex"be discriminated upon in sports. This should mean men too and there should be more about this information on the internet than just the womans information. I do know that it has affected much more women then men but still there needs to be information on both sides.
A couple video that i found aren't from you tube so i cant post the actual video but here in the link for the first video. it is about how schools are going to have to do more to show that they are complying in title nine. The only issue is that the video mainly talks about woman but clearly says both sex at a few points. Then my favorite video is this one.
it talks about both mens and womens sports being equal.
During class i just want to touch upon how great title nine is but also how it isn't truly fair for both men and women. It seems like men's sports are always being cut to add more women's sports so the schools dont get in trouble. One great example of the is at PC where the men's division 1 baseball team was gotten rid of to make a women's hockey team. Although they are a good team just because they needed another women's sports the just totally got rid of a good men's program.
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