The Problem We All Live With

Radio episode/Herbert
10/29/16
Connections

As I was listening to This American Life, It was making me think about many of the authors we have read in this course. I decided to blog about connections today between the radio episode and authors we have read in class.



Johnson- I went back to my writing on Johnson's article about Privilege, Power, and Difference and found a quote that I had written down, "Whether it's a matter of can't or won't, the truth is that we simply don't get along. Segregation in housing and schools is stubborn and pervasive, and the average wealth of white families is almost ten times that of blacks"(Johnson 2).  This quote made me think about what Nikole Jones said about her friends telling her they cannot come to her house. The white families did not want to get along with the blacks and segregation in housing in her town was true. They simply don't get along as Johnson says.







SCWAAMP- The radio station relates back to SCWAAMP in many ways. I saw it above When Nikole Jones discussed the white families not coming to her side of the town and again on the topic of schools. Ira Glass states what Nikole Jones noticed, "The bad schools never caught up to the good schools. And the bad schools were mostly black and Latino. The good schools, mostly white"(Glass). It is shown that whiteness is in the "good" schools. The rest basically, are "bad".



Kristof+Kozol- I heard these two authors as I was listening to the episode. I think that the U.S.A is the Land of Limitations for people of color. It is because of the housing they are in as well as the schools they are put in all based on their race and their poverty level. They cannot seem to rise above it because it is too hard to do so. This leads to Kozol who talks about individuals vs. institutions. Is it the people of Mott Haven making the bad choices, or is it the institutions that provide them with needles? For the radio episode, it is the school students making poor education choices, or is it the school system doing a poor job of integration, curriculum planning, etc? Jones states, "Those kids have greater educational needs. They're more stressed out. They have a bunch of disadvantages. And when you put a lot of kids like that together in one classroom, studies show, it doesn't go well."(Jones). 

While listening to the episode, I was curious as to what the Normandy School District looks like so I looked for a YouTube video and found this. Very informational video to see what is happening in Normandy.

Separate and Unequal by Bob Herbert also reminded me of the authors above. Herbert states, "But when the poor kids are black or Hispanic, that means racial and ethnic integration in the schools. Despite all the babble about a postracial America, that has been off the table for a long time"(Herbert). Communities do not want these students in their districts because of their poverty level and their race. There won't be a change unless people start accepting everyone else as the same. 

The Brown Vs. Board of Education website was interesting to look at previous history and also gives a timeline and essay about it. I liked the photographs of the exhibition, I think it would have been neat to see in person. 

Points to Discuss in Class:
We need to all be accepting of students of all races and income levels to be sure that they receive the best education possible. A students education should not be in jeopardy or lessened in any way because of who they are or where they come from.

In the Service of What?

Article by Kahne and Westheimer
10/23/16
Extended Comments

This week I decided to use Colleen's blog for extended comments. Colleen did a great job of connecting readings that we have done to this article by Kahne and Westheimer.

Colleen states that it is beneficial for students to do service learning in their community and feel the reward of helping others out who are in need. I definitely agree on this thought. Going out into your town and helping citizens out is beneficial to not only the person you're helping, but to yourself as well. The people you are helping are teaching you things that you can take and use for the rest of your life. This article by The University of Minnesota shows some of the benefits of service learning for students, faculty, and the community.




Colleen also used a quote from the text that I thought explained a lot of what the reading was about. She used the quote, "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"(Kahne/Westheimer 2). Service learning is not only about going out and helping others, it's about learning things through the process of helping. I like this video where a different people talk about what service learning means. It is an interesting and engaging video.


Service learning is such a beneficial activity for students to go out and help people. I also think it is good to get out and do what you want to do for a living, (just like we are doing in the schools), so you will get an idea if it is what you want to do or not. I was lucky to also be in a first grade class my senior year of high school everyday from 1-3:30. In that class is where I decided that I belong teaching my own class one day because it is where i'm most comfortable. Service learning is also something so unforgettable to a student.

Points for discussion in class:
- Do you feel as though your service learning in the school is teaching you things as well as giving a service to the students?
- Service learning is rewarding for students to get out of the classroom and interact with their community
-I don't think it can really be harmful in any way. Students are out in the community, where they eventually will end up, getting a head-start on practicing life skills that they will use in their lifetime
***Thanks to Colleen for a great post for extended comments!!

Election 2016: Power, Privilege and Voting

Articles by Soloway and NYT on Clinton's voice
10/16/16


I chose to read the two articles, one by Jill Soloway the other by Amy Chozick


In the first article, gender is shown by these so called locker room talks. Men talk behind women's backs in this locker room talk and make comments about them. Men have always had the power over the women and this is why they can brush it off and say they were talking about nothing. They can get away with this "toxic" talk because they are males. Even the greatest of men can perform locker talk because of their masculinity. Soloway says in her article, "Because it's here, in these gendered rooms, where men not only learn-but also learn to tolerate-this objectizing of women"(Soloway 3). There is the gender issue right there of male over female.


In the second article, gender is shown when Clinton feels that she needs to raise her voice to be heard. There is nothing wrong with raising your voice when speaking to a crowd but for a female, this is considered wrong because only men do that. Well, that is completely wrong. What is the issue of a woman raising her voice during a debate? The issue is that it is believed that only men do that and we women never yell and are supposed to keep our voices down. "'In today's America, when a woman is loud
it's 'shouting', when a man yells=enthusiasm'"(Joyce Karam 2).
When will it be that a woman yells, it will be considered enthusiasm too?
Here is a video(little less than a year old) that shows some percentages of
women and politics.

The U.S. is definitely a land of limitations as Kristof discussed in his article. He discussed more of people lives and beginnings but these articles can connect to the topic of limitations and gender(women)being surrounded in a land of limitations.

Another reading that I can connect gender to is Allan Johnson's piece on Power, Privilege, and Difference. I remember reading about the wheel he talked about(the diversity wheel) and was questioning how it would be if you woke up the opposite gender and how it would feel. He also asks how people would treat you. In today's society where gender is so split, you would likely be made fun of. If we did not discriminate gender, maybe it would not matter if you woke up the opposite gender!

Peggy McIntosh's piece also reflects gender. It reflects gender by the means of privilege. She states, "Through work to bring materials from women's studies into the rest of the curriculum, I have often noticed men's unwillingness to grant that they are overprivileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged"(McIntosh 1). That shows gender in the first sentence of her piece.

When will men and women be equal as opposed to the scale above where men are above women?

Safe Spaces

Article by Gerri August
Quotes
10/9/16

1.) "First, educators must ensure that the curriculum includes the perspectives, experiences, and history of LGBT people. Second, educators must ensure that communication inside the classroom walls validates the LGBT experience"(August 98). 

This is the whole point of this chapter summed up in two sentences. August and her fellow authors argue that this needs to happen in the schools to include the LGBT community of students. Not having any curriculum based on LGBT students will not make them feel like they fit in. This also reminds me of our last reading by Christensen where she talks about how people of color do not feel as though they fit into television or children's stories because most of the characters are always white and if they are of color, they are poor or "bad" characters. 

2.) "So far so good-until the family is two moms and their children or two dads and their adopted daughter. such families rarely ever make the curricular cut- they are invisible"(August 85). 

This is the problem in schools today. What is being taught about families is that there is one mom, one dad, and the kids. Not two moms or two dads. Therefore the students are not being taught that it is okay and are growing up having false opinions on it. We all need to learn and teach students about the other types of important families that are out there and that is the LGBT families. 

3.) "If applied across all disciplines and grade levels, integration and interpretation of LGBT experiences and contributions can transform our classrooms into safe spaces"(August 90). 

This is a main point of the chapter. Integration and interpretation are said to be the two most important things that need to be done to make school a safe space of LGBT. If the LBGT community is not integrated and interpreted correctly, the chances are less likely that it will create a safe space like it should be for them. Everyone is equal no matter what you identify by. 

Points for discussion in class:

How can we as future teachers make sure that LGBT students in our class feel as safe as possible and how can we make sure that all other students are accepting? What are some strategies of this? LGBT students need to feel safe and we should know how to make this happen. It is sad to see LGBT members suffer because they are being who they want to be. Here is a short video of some LGBT students expressing how they feel.

Unlearning the Myths That Blind Us

Article by Linda Christensen
Reflection
9/27/16


"Unlearning the Myths That Blind Us" was such a true read in my eyes. I found myself saying "correct" to a lot of things that Christensen was saying about movies and children's books.

  As I was reading this I could not help but think about a children's toy in my life that I have at my house for my niece when my mom babysits her. We have a dollhouse that came with two families, one family who is white, and only family who is of color. This dollhouse which is typical children's toy, strikes up more of a conversation than I would have ever thought. Family members do not make racial comments, rather they are comments on how surprising it is that the dollhouse is sold with a family of color. Our generation and past generations have grown up with sexist and racist toys so to see this is surprising. Although I do think it is great that Fisher Price has started making dolls of color, like always, there is something to depict that this doll is not white and is in fact a person of color. Her hair is much different than the rest of the dolls hair. Something small yet very noticeable.

Arthur: As I was reading the article I was thinking of what children's shows I watched most frequently as a child that I would consider now to be racist or sexist. One stuck out the most and that is Arthur. I loved Arthur as a child for many years and my mom always let me watch it. One of Arthur's friends, Francine, is a monkey. Her hair is an afro and in an episode, she lives in an apartment with her family and her father is garbage man. The other white characters are wealthy and live in nice homes. Racism shown there. 

Disney movies are also an issue of sexism and racism. Christensen talks about The Little Mermaid and Cinderella. There are no characters of color in either movie. Generally, if there is a black person it is a servant, says Christensen's student(Christensen). A quote that stuck out to me is, "The stereotypes and world view embedded in these stories become accepted knowledge"(Christensen). No child notices what we discuss about this topic. As they watch these shows, they pick up on whatever the show wants kids to know. 

Points to Discuss in class:

When will tv show companies pick up on the fact that they need to include everyone? Also, when will people of color feel that they fit in with the rest of society? They certainly do not feel this way with the lack of people of color starring in movies and tv shows with lead roles. 

Since I did not talk about children's stories, here is VH-1's top 9 racist children's books. Interesting to read and see what has been chosen as "most racist".