Monday, April 20, 2009

Talking Point #10

Allan G. Johnson; "What Can We Do?"

Author's Argument:
Johnson argues that if people do not do anything then nothing can get done because people do not want to do anything.

Quotes:
1. "Privilege is a feature of social systems, not individuals."
People become privileged because of the social system that they may be in and not because of their parents. If someone is rich then they are going to have everything on demand and when they ask for something they will receive it. If someone is middle class then they might see struggle in order to get what they want because the funds are not there in order for the item to be bought. Due to the struggle appreciation for the object will be there once the item is received. For a person that is poor, privileges are far and few in between. There are many things that are not given to them because there are no funds to support the item that is wanted. If the item is ever received then the people of that class know what they need to do next time in order to receive that item again.

2. "Racism, for example, shapes both the experience of being white and the experience of being a person of color."
Whether you are white or black you will experience some kind of racism in your life. Somethings whites target blacks and sometimes blacks target whites. Racism is always going to be around no matter what and it will be experienced by all types of people. Even though black people are more targeted more often than white people, racism is still in exsistence. Even though people may say that there is less and less racism in the world, it is still around because past generations have intergrated it into the heads of other generations. With it being in the heads of other generations, those generations just keep passing it to future generations so that it remains in existence.

3. "Systems shape the choices people make primarily by providing paths of least resistance."
There are some people that do as little as possible just to get by. When it comes to doing any kind of work, there are people that do not put the extra effort or go the extra mile just to imporve their work. The people that do not give that extra push are unable to get the best out of themselves because they do not put more effort into their work. If more effort was put into their work, then more things would be done and they would be even more successful and greater at what they do. When people try harder in certain areas they are able to get the best out of themselves. When people are able to get the best out of themselves, then they might even be able to bring the best out of others because then there may be a competition to as to who can be more successful.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
Johnson argued in this piece and in the other peiece that if people do not do anything or say anything then the realization of things cannot be seen or heard. In this piece though, Johnson touches on privileged societies and how they use society to express themselves. He also talks about racism and how it will continue to be around for years to come. Johnson has the most direct article that I believe that we read during this semester. During the pieces though, it felt as if it was dragging and I didn't end up reading the whole article because after a few pages I felt as if I knew what his point was and how he wanted to express it.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Talking Point #9

Christopher Kliewer; "Schooling Children with Down Syndrome"

Author's Argument:
Kliewer argues that all children no matter what the disability or what their health may be still have the ability to learn and be successful in some way.

Quotes:
1. "He set the bottle on a shelf, waved his arms wildly, punched his fist into the air, shouted out a long series of sounds, and plopped a baseball cap sideways on his head."
Even though some people may have a handicap, does not mean that they are unable to express themselves. This student for instance, has a disability and with him putting his fist in the air, and shouting out long series of sounds he was able to express himself. Some people may see him has a person that is disablied but then there will be others that see him as a very expressive person because of what he did. Everyone should be able to express themselves and it shows here that you do not have to be a "healthy" person in order to express yourself. You can have disablities and be a great person. When a person is able to show who they really are and others can look through the disability and see the good inside someone then that is when acceptance is generated.

2. "Instead, Vygotsky understood children to be active constructors of knowledge who constantly enter into new relationships of understanding with adults, peers, and materials."
Children as also people of knowledge. Many people mainly adults do not understand or are able to see that. When a child is young and interupt an "adult conversation" to make a point they are brushed off as being "too young" or "not knowing what they are talknig about." Even though they may be young, they may still have a point to be made that may impact the way people view things. When children are young, that it when they will being to develop who and what they are going to become. The people that surround them daily are the people that are going to have the biggest impact on the children because they are around so often. Children are the future of the world and every generation from now until the end of time will be saying that. With their thoughts and their knowledge is how the world will improve or decline. Without the minds of people before us and the minds of the people now, we would not have the technology and resources that we have in today's society.

3. "As such, education is considered a dual process of group and individual transformation through which children (1) establish together a unique community in thoughtfully planned activites, projects, experiences, and problems; and (2) support one another's membership in that community."
When children are able to communicate with each other and form groups that help them educate themselves that is when they are able to learn at their best. When students are brought into the world of a disabled kid with lets say, down syndrome, then when they grow older, they will have some experience on how to manage and work with child with disabilities. There are some children that are in the classroom with the child that has down syndrome and they may become teachers. When they become teachers, they will have some experience of how to handle a child that may have that disease or any other disease that can be considered a "learning disability." Then when students are able to accept the students with the disease then the child with the disease will feel accepted by the other students in the classroom. When there is acceptance in the classroom then the classroom will be a great place to learn in.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
I believe, as a future teacher, that all students should be able to learn. No matter what disease, handicap, or diability they should be able to learn. They will be able to learn if people are willing to put in time and effort to help educate them.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Talking Point #8

Jean Anyon; "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work"

Author's Argument:
Anyon argues that there are many things about schooling that are still a mystery to some. She also argues that there are some things that teachers are hiding so that all of the details of how to perform a certain task are not told to the students, which enables them not to perform or even learn correctly.

Quotes:
1. "The teachers rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance."
When teachers do not connect a lesson to students, the students are unable to focus and connect ideas and thoughts that they might have on a certain topic. After a teacher teaches a lesson, the students do not remember the skill that they were taught so then they cannot link it to previous lessons that were taught to them. With them not being able to link the lessons, they cannot learn a skill of being able to link multiples things at once.

2. "The project is chosen and assigned by the teacher from a box of 3-by-5 index cards. On the card the teacher has written the question to be answered, the books to use, and how much to write. Explaining the cards to the observer, the teacher said, "It tells them exactly what to do, or they couldn't do it."
By the teacher doing this, it does not enable the students to figure out how to research, bring thoughts together, and do a project on their own. By the teacher providing all of the information, there is really no major work that needs to be done besides putting the actually project together because the research that is needed to be done and all of the other materials is already provided by the teacher. The students then are not able to the students in a way to speak out how they would if they wrote the project in their own tone and not in the teachers. By the teacher wanted them to write the paper how he wants, the students are not able to claim an identity as a writer because they have always been told how to write. In a way it is not like letting a bird out of the nest because if the bird lives in the nest forever the bird will not be able to live. It is the same for the students because as they move on through school, they will not know how to wrote on their own because the information has always been provided for them.

3. "The products of work should not be like anybody else's and should show individuality."
Even someone does anything they want to leave a mark on it that will be known as their own. Many people do not like to copy someone else's work and they want to make it their own. When someone starts a new fashion trend they do it to break art from the look of everyone else and when people being to copy their trend then a new trend is made. The same thing goes for school work. The way people type papers, the way they make the title page, the way that they present the whole paper is a way of expressing who you are. When you are not unique and show individuality you become just another face in the crowd, but when you do your own thing then you are singled out because you are known for certain techniques that you use in the paper.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
Anyon is showing not only the people that read this article but the world that there is more for the students to learn. Also
there is a lot of information that the teachers are not facilitating out to the students. With the teachers not getting this information out to the students, the students are unable to set themselves apart individually from the rest of the students that are in their class and that will be in their future classes. With the teachers giving instruction to the students on how they should do the project, the students are unable to learn how the project should be setup. When the students begin future projects, the skill of being able to figure and decode the project is not there because the students have always been given how they should exactly do the project out.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Talking Post #7

Peggy Orenstein; "Anita Hill is a Boy"
Author's Argument:
Orenstein argues that each sex is seen as one way. She also shows and explains what would happen if the sexes switches rolls, so that each sex could view how they act.

Quotes:
1. "It disturbed me that although girls were willing to see men as heroes, none of the boys would see women that way."
In movies and in shows, the heroes of the stories is nine times out of ten a man. When you ask someone about a super hero they will most likely say, "Batman, Superman, or Spiderman." Then there are a rare few that will say "Wonder Woman or Catwoman." Many people see heroes as being men. Women can accept the fact that men are many times the hero, but men cannot accept the fact that women can also be heroes as well. It is tough for people to change the way that they view things because these boys for so long have viewed men as one way, heroes. For them to now have to think that women can be heroes too is going to expand their views on things because they will now see that men and women can be heroes. When you ask a boy who his hero is many times they will tell you their father or some kind of figure that is a male. Then when you ask a girl who their hero is they might say their mother or someone that is a female. It works so many different ways and now change is needs for these children to broaden their minds and how they view things.

2. "When I'm shopping, I think,'Would people think I'm a ho' if I wear this?' Girls, too. Would Shannon think I was a ho'? Would Alissa? I think about that."
Girls in today's society care very much about the way that they present themselves out in public. I do not care the way that I am presented out in public because I am who I am and if people do not like me for who I am then they are at a lose. When it comes to my girlfriend I see it all the time with her. She cares so much about the way that people view her. When I tell her that she is going to be meeting someone she asks me "what should I wear" and I tell her it does not matter how you are presented because as long as you are polite and courteous then that is all that matters. This is also seen with other ways people present themselves. If someone dresses in all black then many people would say that they are part of the Gothic community. If someone has a bandanna in their back pocket people would say that they are part of a gang. If people wear polos then they are considered preppy. All these are factors and shows how quick people are to stereotype other people.

3. "Although they try to comply with the boys' request, the girls simply have too much to say to be patient, and, once again, they begin blurting out their thoughts. The boys, meanwhile, continue to raise their hands whenever they'd like to speak."
The roles here of the boys and girls are switched. In my school experiences growing up and even when I go to tutor, the boys are always blurting out answers, laughing, and talking and the girls are quiet, polite, and raising their hands. When boys are blurting out the answers they can be seen as troublemakers because they can never keep quiet so therefore the boys are always seen as the ones that cause trouble. When I was in elementary school, the boys were always the ones that would be getting in trouble. We would talk to each other, laugh, and disrupt the class but it was not very often and when we did everyone was blamed for it. Then if a girl did something then the boys were the ones that would get blamed for it because it was typically the boys that would be the ones disrupting. The girls that were in my classes barely spoke a word. They would answer a question only if they really needed to, mainly because they were called on by the teacher. As Orenstein stated the tables were flipped so now the boys could see how they acted in class and the girls could see how they acted in class.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
Today women have more rights than they did back about 40 years ago. Men then and men now are seen the same way. The men then were seen as role models, important figures, and heroes. Then women then were seen as the keeper of the children and of the household. Men now are seen the same as they were back then, but the role of a woman has changed. Yes, women still maintain the children and the household, but they are also seen as role models, important figures, and heroes. Times have changed and so has the way that people look at each other. Just because people are of a certain gender does not mean that they cannot be heroes to all. To some people that I know, that are men, their hero is their mother. Their mother is their hero because she raised them all by herself with no ones help and they saw her struggle to send her children to a good school to help them stay off of the streets. Just because you are a boy or girl does not mean that your hero has to be of the same sex, it can be of the opposite sex.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Jena 6

This quote right here, "Once it is understood that segregation functions as a systematic labeling device, it should be clear that any state action that results in the maintenance of the segregated system is a direct and proximate cause of the injuries suffered by black children in segregated schools and is in violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment," made me think about this immediately when I read it.

You all may remember this from some time ago about the Jena 6.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Talking Point #6

Charles Lawrence; "One More River to Cross"

Author's Argument:
Lawrence argues that due to the controversy that arose after the Brown vs. Board of Education trial that segregated areas became somewhat more calm and peaceful due to the laws that were passed.

Quotes:
1. "That the purpose of the institution of segregation has always been to stigmatize and subordinate rather than to simply separate is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that whites in the antebellum South had no aversion to commingling with blacks as long as the institution of slavery made their superior status clear."
Back in the early 1900s before the civil rights movement superior status was needed among the whites. The whites that lived in the South were the minority due to how many slaves there were that lived and worked on the farms and in the fields. With the whites feeling the minority power needed to be made because all the whites have known up to this point is that they are the superior to the blacks and there is nothing the blacks can do to make themselves surpass the whites in status. This happens all the times whether it is with different races or sexes. If a man walks into a room full of women and all this man has known his whole life is that men are more superior to women then if something is occurring the man then may try to take over and handle the situation and have the women listen to him. These examples are still seen way after the civil rights movements have occurred due to the generations that still exist that know white is still superior to black today.

2. "Once it is understood that segregation functions as a systematic labeling device, it should be clear that any state action that results in the maintenance of the segregated system is a direct and proximate cause of the injuries suffered by black children in segregated schools and is in violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment."
After the law was passed to united black and white schools the whites that were in the schools did not want anything to do with the blacks so therefore the whites would attack the blacks. The only reason why the whites attacked the blacks was because all they knew up to that point in their lives was that blacks are "the scum of the earth" or "they are dirty" and because of that hate was built because the whites did not want the blacks around. Now in present day when we hear about fights between whites and blacks it is a big deal and it is on the news for days. Back then if you heard about whites fighting with blacks it was not as big of a deal only because it was common for the whites to beat of the blacks. The reason why the whites would beat on the blacks is because the blacks had always been slaves to the whites and when the blacks did something wrong he whites would beat them until they did the task correctly or until they decided to stop.

3. "The school was successful in engendering strong positive self-images among both children and parents, in creating an atmosphere in which children enjoyed learning, in expanding the school's role into a concern for the whole child and that child's family, and even in increasing scores on standardized tests."
When school is an enjoyable place that is when the students I believe are able to learn at their best. Many students can learn in a classroom that is full of discussion and slow, but not all the students will be paying attention. Some of them might start doing other things in class to make the time go by faster. I believe that if the classroom is enjoyable and a fun atmosphere then the students are capable of learning way more than they can and are going to be interested in the subject. My experiences with slow classes are it feels like it is never going to end, every minute feels like an hour, and I just want to leave. Then with more energetic classes I don't look at the time, it feels like the class was ten minutes long, and I want to learn more about the subject. If the teacher can keep the student interested in the subject that is how grades and testing will be on the rise because the teacher kept the students interested in wanting to learn more than they thought that they could.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
The South will always be known for being the slavery area of the United States. It will also be known to why the civil rights movement occurred. The South still has some very racist towns because in these towns lives about no more than 400 people and they all know each other and everyone's families have grown up together and all that they have known is hate against blacks. As generations pass the hate against blacks will become less and less but until then there will continue to be a decent amount of hate against blacks and most of the hates lives and comes from the South. In schools today there is little to no hate or discrimination between blacks and whites. You see whites talking to blacks and blacks talking to whites and because of this we see Dr. Martin Luther King's dream coming true because he just wanted everyone to be treated fairly. When there is peace is the school there can also be a good education being taught. With students focused on class and not attacking each other students can learn as best as they can. With the students learning as best as they can then scores on tests will be higher, grades will be higher, and hopefully the graduation rate will rise. There is always hope and the hope that MLK saw is being seen today.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Talking Point #5

Joesph Kahne and Joel Westheimer; "In The Service of What?"

Author's Argument:
Kahne and Westheimer argue that through service learning projects students are able to learn more than they would in a classroom. The experiences that the students learn outside the classroom is information that they might be able to use in the classroom and also in life.

Quotes:
1. "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students." With service learning being part of the academic requirements of a classroom students are able to succeed in the classroom by completing their project and also learn from the people that they are encountering. Even though many people can learn in a classroom I believe that a lot of the knowledge that people need in life is learned outside of the classroom. If a student is interested in going into a certain field then if they are doing their service learning project on the field that they want then the students will have knowledge on the field.

2. "The class discussed the growing economic disparity between rich and poor, the impact of homelessness on the children, and the difficult balance between individual rights and collective responsibility." It is good that Ms. Adams' class is learning about the economy at such a young age because then as the students grow older they can be even more aware of the situation that the economy is facing. Also with the differences of how the rich and poor effect the economy being thought it helps the students appreciate things more if they become rich or if they come poor. When you teach the students individual rights and collective responsibilities they can learn how difficult it is to be a person with money and a person with no money. This knowledge is great to have in today's economy where everything is valued.

3. "We attempt to 'apprehend the reality of the other' and then to 'struggle [for progress] together.' In so doing, we create opportunities for changing our understanding of the other and the context within which he or she lives." Everyone makes mistakes in life and through these mistakes comes knowledge. With this knowledge comes wisdom that can be passed down from generation to generation and even friend to friend. If someone does something right or something wrong next time they go to do something they can do the same thing right again or they will correct their mistake and do the right thing next time. If they continue to do it wrong then their knowledge will only grow stronger until they finally do it right.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
Learning can be done so many ways. When people do not think that they are learning, they are actually learning. People may say that they hate to learn, but there is something that they are interested in and when it is talked about they listen and learn more about it. With people going out and helping people in the community they can learn how they got to where they are and with that the person helping will have the knowledge of how not to be in the situation of the person less fortunate. Then if a friend, parent, or even the person themselves experiences something different they will have knowledge to pass on so that they can help other people be better off than they were. Then on the opposite side if someone does something successful they have the knowledge to help people be as successful as they were. Knowledge is key to life and without knowledge there would be nothing in the world. Being able to share knowledge is even better than experiencing because you know what to do or what not to do when it comes your time to go through that experience.