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.

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.

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.