As I look back over this class and all of the reading and discussion that has taken place I realize that as a society we have a lot of growing to do. As I listened to the book reviews of my classmates I realize how we, as humans no matter what information is given to you, you only see what you want to see. (or should I say what you are ready to see) So many of these intelligent people gave very interesting presentations, but, in my opinion, they did not see the 'heart' of the stories in which they read. Acceptance is such a vital part of being an educator and it frightens me that so many educators lack this quality.
I understand that we are products of our environments and sometimes we can only accept what is important to us and nothing more than that. But what if we all decided to walk a mile in someone else's shoes just for a brief moment? I wonder how many of us would be running back to walk in our own? But the real question is when we get back in our shoes, what would we do to try and help the one's whose shoes we could not endure to walk in? In this class we have looked at so many of the wrongs but have not really ventured into what could be changed/altered? Not just in the lives of those who suffer but in our own perceptions? What could we change about ourselves that would benefit those around us? I guess that should be the ultimate question of the course, huh? Now that you have the information, statistics, and truth what are you going to do to change you?
To answer this question on a personal level I am going to hang up some of my own stereotypes that I have. Judging the parents of my students is a big issue with me due to the fact of how they chose to approach certain situations. I am going to listen to their reasoning first and try to offer a friendly suggestion if it gives them an easier solution. Then I am going to try to be more tolerant of my colleagues, who lack patience with our students. Leading by example is the most effective way to lead someone to change. Last, I am going to be more open to new relationships with people who do not look like me. Upon my return from living abroad I have to admit that I have been a bit stand-offish with people of different races due to the fact of my ill experiences of those who chose to live in ignorance. Upon this revelation within myself, which was very difficult to admit, I realized that by making this change maybe someone would get a clue, as did I, that people are just people. We all desire the same thing no matter where we come from, acceptance. . .
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
#17 - Compensating for age
How old is too old. . .especially when you are dealing with middle school children? The dilemma I see in urban schools is children who are too old age wise for the grade level that they are intellectually placed in. Each year I see a group of kids who are left back for the 2nd or 3rd time in the 7th grade. (mainly due to excessive absences that lead to lack of 'completed' work & instruction) So now they are 14 and 15 years old in class with 11 and 12 year olds. So now you have a host of behavior issues and hormonal frustrations that NO teacher should have to deal with. What is the solution? Socially promote eventhough they are not academically ready? Estabilish alternative schools for these students so that they can get 'caught up' academically with other students who are in the same situation/age? Or push them all out at 16 to such institutions like Dallas Can Academy? How and who is to decide?
Let's look at option one, social promotion. . .well that is what has gotten education into the situation that it is in now. Passing students just because they are too old to be around the younger one's. The injustice in this is that we are setting these kids up for failure, which in most cases, lead to drop out because they are academically unfit to handle the course load in which they are placed in. Let's say we put them in remedial classes to help move them up academically. . .they still are not ready for the standardized testing, because there isn't a 'remedial' version of these test and 9 times out of 10 they don't qualify for special education because they are not in school enough to gather enough data on. Also there are not enough teachers on the secondary level who have been trained to teach the basics of reading. That is a skill that you learn if you are studying to be an early child hood or elementary teacher, not secondary. The expectation is that by the time you get to 7th grade you should be fluently reading. . .but so many times you have groves of students who do not have basic reading skills.
I read that a large urban district is building a school that caters to older students who are on 2nd through 5th grade level, you must be 14 years old to attend and must complete the program by 19. This is a good alternative, but the curriculum is set to be intense. . .no room for absences at all. The only hole that I see in this plan is that it will work for native speakers, but what will happen for those where English is their second language? This is a subgroup who will be left to fall in the cracks. Research shows that it takes 2 years to pick up conversational language, but 5 to 7 years to learn academic language. Again ELL students are at a disadvantage.
Last to push students to such campuses like Dallas Can would benefit them tremendously, but by the time they get there they are already frustrated and fed up with education as a whole. To my understanding there are legal reasons as to why programs of this magnitude cannot accept them any earlier. . .hence the previous option. Also grant funding has been cut to these programs making it harder for them to service the students and keep enough personnel on staff. Its a pitiful situation when programs like these are so needed. Sometimes it feels as though you have to go back to the drawing board all over again. Education as a whole is failing in regards to the 'age' situation and we are sending these people without a halfway decent education and they are a strain on our economic system in the long run anyway. . .so why not invest the money in their education so that can lighten,or better yet, contribute to carrying the load in the long run. . .I know, I know, too much common sense. . .
Let's look at option one, social promotion. . .well that is what has gotten education into the situation that it is in now. Passing students just because they are too old to be around the younger one's. The injustice in this is that we are setting these kids up for failure, which in most cases, lead to drop out because they are academically unfit to handle the course load in which they are placed in. Let's say we put them in remedial classes to help move them up academically. . .they still are not ready for the standardized testing, because there isn't a 'remedial' version of these test and 9 times out of 10 they don't qualify for special education because they are not in school enough to gather enough data on. Also there are not enough teachers on the secondary level who have been trained to teach the basics of reading. That is a skill that you learn if you are studying to be an early child hood or elementary teacher, not secondary. The expectation is that by the time you get to 7th grade you should be fluently reading. . .but so many times you have groves of students who do not have basic reading skills.
I read that a large urban district is building a school that caters to older students who are on 2nd through 5th grade level, you must be 14 years old to attend and must complete the program by 19. This is a good alternative, but the curriculum is set to be intense. . .no room for absences at all. The only hole that I see in this plan is that it will work for native speakers, but what will happen for those where English is their second language? This is a subgroup who will be left to fall in the cracks. Research shows that it takes 2 years to pick up conversational language, but 5 to 7 years to learn academic language. Again ELL students are at a disadvantage.
Last to push students to such campuses like Dallas Can would benefit them tremendously, but by the time they get there they are already frustrated and fed up with education as a whole. To my understanding there are legal reasons as to why programs of this magnitude cannot accept them any earlier. . .hence the previous option. Also grant funding has been cut to these programs making it harder for them to service the students and keep enough personnel on staff. Its a pitiful situation when programs like these are so needed. Sometimes it feels as though you have to go back to the drawing board all over again. Education as a whole is failing in regards to the 'age' situation and we are sending these people without a halfway decent education and they are a strain on our economic system in the long run anyway. . .so why not invest the money in their education so that can lighten,or better yet, contribute to carrying the load in the long run. . .I know, I know, too much common sense. . .
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Blog #16 - Does location matter?
So many times you hear the statement that "It doesn't matter where you come from, but where you are going." Although the phrase does have some truth to it, where you come from does dictate your mindset and how well you receive those things/people that are different from you. I have mentioned many times the location in which I work, a low SES area where the children are raising themselves. Parental voice rarely comes into play unless there is an opportunity to cause havoc for the school or the teachers; or quite disturbingly to voice to the student what they won't accomplish in their life because the parent didn't.
As a coach I see this sad and twisted mind game on the court and field. I have students that have amazing athletic ability. . .and with a little guidance from me and additional outside help, they flourish in their first year of volleyball. So much so, high school coaches continue to watch game after game to monitor their progress, as well as offer them full summer scholarships to volleyball camps throughout the state. Over and over again, I see my students defeat themselves on the court. They are better players in everyway imaginable, but in the back of their mind somewhere they don't believe they have what it takes. I have to remind them that if they didn't high school coaches wouldn't take the time to invest in their skill. Nor with the opposing coaches come to them and ask if they would like to transfer to attend their schools. Nevertheless, they refuse to believe in themselves.
This mind set doesn't stop just in sports, but if bleeds over into academics as well. These students are quite intelligent and have 'street' sense beyond their years. But when it comes to high risk testing, no matter how they succeed on the practice exams, they never come up to their full potiential on test day. My campus has gone so far as to have a dry run of the test two months before the actual test. (the mindset to have it that early is to show the students that they have all of the skills, strategies, and knowledge to do well prior to the exam) The campus is in full testing mode and everything even the lunch procedure is drilled for the entire day. A week later everyone gets their test scores and they look awesome for the whole campus and we purposely don't grade them on a curve. Unfortunately when they take the actual exam, the scores are 10 to 15% lower than the practice exam. As teachers and administrators we walk away scratching our heads wondering what in the heck happened. The students always say the same thing, I thought I did my best or at least I tried. It is a phenomenon that throws me for a loop every year. But the saddest to this whole scenario is that the students always believe the latter score versus the earlier one no matter how many times you try to encourage them that they are better than that, they take to heart the negative; and the parents reinforces it.
As a coach I see this sad and twisted mind game on the court and field. I have students that have amazing athletic ability. . .and with a little guidance from me and additional outside help, they flourish in their first year of volleyball. So much so, high school coaches continue to watch game after game to monitor their progress, as well as offer them full summer scholarships to volleyball camps throughout the state. Over and over again, I see my students defeat themselves on the court. They are better players in everyway imaginable, but in the back of their mind somewhere they don't believe they have what it takes. I have to remind them that if they didn't high school coaches wouldn't take the time to invest in their skill. Nor with the opposing coaches come to them and ask if they would like to transfer to attend their schools. Nevertheless, they refuse to believe in themselves.
This mind set doesn't stop just in sports, but if bleeds over into academics as well. These students are quite intelligent and have 'street' sense beyond their years. But when it comes to high risk testing, no matter how they succeed on the practice exams, they never come up to their full potiential on test day. My campus has gone so far as to have a dry run of the test two months before the actual test. (the mindset to have it that early is to show the students that they have all of the skills, strategies, and knowledge to do well prior to the exam) The campus is in full testing mode and everything even the lunch procedure is drilled for the entire day. A week later everyone gets their test scores and they look awesome for the whole campus and we purposely don't grade them on a curve. Unfortunately when they take the actual exam, the scores are 10 to 15% lower than the practice exam. As teachers and administrators we walk away scratching our heads wondering what in the heck happened. The students always say the same thing, I thought I did my best or at least I tried. It is a phenomenon that throws me for a loop every year. But the saddest to this whole scenario is that the students always believe the latter score versus the earlier one no matter how many times you try to encourage them that they are better than that, they take to heart the negative; and the parents reinforces it.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
#15 - 'School' book summary
In the book that I am reading "Why Gender Matters", the chapter on school gives some very interesting strategies on teaching to gender. And how as teachers we need to be well versed in the language of the opposite gender. For example, the chapter mentions at how girls feel as though their male teachers yell at them. . .well biologically girls hear better than boys and as students have a tendency to sit in the front of the classroom to be a 'good' student. So where the male teacher may be projecting to those in the back of the classroom, to the girls up front it sounds as if he is screaming. The book offered a really cool solution. . .move the boys to the front(since they have a hard time hearing) and the girls to the back. Now I tried this in my classroom but set my room up where the desk were set up in quads and my desk was in the middle of the room. That way when I went to the board, (which is where I sat the boys) it didn't appear as if I was at the "front" of the room. The girls could hear me and I had the boys attention at all times because I was in the center when at my desk and close to them when I was at the board. I thought this was absolutely genius. I also didn't find myself repeating directions to the boys as much as I did before. (who knew)
Coed middle schools causes a lot of grief and leaves quite a few scars on students. Liking someone who doesn't like you back, kids making fun of your due to the ackwardness of growth spirts, and just the overall rage of hormones that overtake the body in this particular age bracket. By separating students by gender in their school setting will eliminate alot of the crazed questions that tend to go through the mind of middle schoolers and keep them focus on the task at hand which is their education. This model of education scales down on the ills of social behavior of students worrying if they belong to the 'wrong' clique. Instead students begin to worry if they are contributing to their community and question their responsibilities in it.
As parent, administrators, and educators continue the push for gender-based schools, especially in urban areas, professional development as to how to relate to students based on their gender is a temporary alternative. By making small changes in how we relate to our students we will see improvements in test as well as overall classroom performance. Cost will always be a factor in the world of education, but it is one that shouldn't cause us to compromise the success and growth of our students. With grant funding and reallocation of current professional developments focusing on gender-based learning should be a direction that education should be headed into.
Coed middle schools causes a lot of grief and leaves quite a few scars on students. Liking someone who doesn't like you back, kids making fun of your due to the ackwardness of growth spirts, and just the overall rage of hormones that overtake the body in this particular age bracket. By separating students by gender in their school setting will eliminate alot of the crazed questions that tend to go through the mind of middle schoolers and keep them focus on the task at hand which is their education. This model of education scales down on the ills of social behavior of students worrying if they belong to the 'wrong' clique. Instead students begin to worry if they are contributing to their community and question their responsibilities in it.
As parent, administrators, and educators continue the push for gender-based schools, especially in urban areas, professional development as to how to relate to students based on their gender is a temporary alternative. By making small changes in how we relate to our students we will see improvements in test as well as overall classroom performance. Cost will always be a factor in the world of education, but it is one that shouldn't cause us to compromise the success and growth of our students. With grant funding and reallocation of current professional developments focusing on gender-based learning should be a direction that education should be headed into.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Blog #14 - We all say Amen. . .
God, Allah, Budda, Om, Ganesha. . .now let's break it down into denominations, sects, and cults. . . getting interested or bogged down??? Religion in education has a very small place based on the legal ramifications that it can bring about. Skills, knowledge, and mapping are the only things the law allow the field of education to give its students. Faith, respect, and culture are the things that are ‘inferenced’ to come from home. Knowing that this is not the case in all children’s lives as educators the most we can do is give a ‘cultural’ lesson, if you will, and if religion comes up, it comes up. (but only momentarily) The respect factor is what hinders our understanding in most topics that are this sensitive in nature. For example, the terroristic attacks that have come to our country are deemed religious in nature. But when you get to the heart of the matter, it has nothing to do with religion at all.
These people, in simpler terms, want the US to get out of their country. Now, I am going to play devils advocate, appealing to your sense of patriotism and love for this country, if another tried to come and implement their version of ‘civilization’ on us wouldn’t we deem it necessary to push them out. Don’t get me wrong, I know that there are some fanatics who take things to far, but the essence of why these believe in what they are doing is because they love their own country, as we love ours?
We teach our students, hopefully, not to take what isn’t theirs. And world history shows us over and over again how many nations have tried to ‘mandate’ what civilization should look like, but in the end both side ultimately lose some part of the battle. Respect is vital in this volatile world and if we don’t learn from previous mistakes it will hinder the next generation in ways we cannot imagine. We must do better as a world society for the benefit of those we have audience with on a daily basis. When looking at the ‘main’ religions they all have the same premise, take care of your fellow man, honor your family, honesty, don’t take another’s life, be charitable, and pray. In this we see our similarities even though there are significant differences, the basis is the same. So why not build on the similarities and follow our faiths and be truthful with one another about our intentions, feelings, and needs.
I know those who may read this may ask ‘what type of utopia is she dreaming of?’ One that we can fellowship and worship as we choose with respect towards each other to do so, oh it’s already in existence, the USA. Why do we have to be reminded that this is what we are founded on? The fact that in this country we are created equal no matter your religion, culture, or gender. So no matter how you slice it, at the end of the day we all say Namo Amida, Selah, Shalom, Amen. . .
These people, in simpler terms, want the US to get out of their country. Now, I am going to play devils advocate, appealing to your sense of patriotism and love for this country, if another tried to come and implement their version of ‘civilization’ on us wouldn’t we deem it necessary to push them out. Don’t get me wrong, I know that there are some fanatics who take things to far, but the essence of why these believe in what they are doing is because they love their own country, as we love ours?
We teach our students, hopefully, not to take what isn’t theirs. And world history shows us over and over again how many nations have tried to ‘mandate’ what civilization should look like, but in the end both side ultimately lose some part of the battle. Respect is vital in this volatile world and if we don’t learn from previous mistakes it will hinder the next generation in ways we cannot imagine. We must do better as a world society for the benefit of those we have audience with on a daily basis. When looking at the ‘main’ religions they all have the same premise, take care of your fellow man, honor your family, honesty, don’t take another’s life, be charitable, and pray. In this we see our similarities even though there are significant differences, the basis is the same. So why not build on the similarities and follow our faiths and be truthful with one another about our intentions, feelings, and needs.
I know those who may read this may ask ‘what type of utopia is she dreaming of?’ One that we can fellowship and worship as we choose with respect towards each other to do so, oh it’s already in existence, the USA. Why do we have to be reminded that this is what we are founded on? The fact that in this country we are created equal no matter your religion, culture, or gender. So no matter how you slice it, at the end of the day we all say Namo Amida, Selah, Shalom, Amen. . .
Blog #13 - SCREAM. . . I'm sick of the community I work in!!!!!
Let me begin this blog by stating that I LOVE my career choice. I love to teach and I love opening minds to the possibilities that are available to them in life . . . no matter where you come from. But I am sick and tired of 'parents' and 'administrators' who blame teachers for the lack of skill that students come to you with. Teachers aren't given credit for bringing these students up to speed and helping them get on course, but blamed for the lack there of. So my question to the parents is 'What in the H*LL have you been doing with this child at home???' Or better yet you didn't think to ask the teachers they had before they got to me? Oh yeah, think of hiring a tutor or looking into the free programs that are made available to this community? No you just decided to come and tell me off about the 'disservice' I am doing for your child, God forbid you were the one 'disservicing' your own child.
How are you a disservice you ask my ‘loving’ parent? By not taking out the time to read with your child . . . no, no, no, that’s my job although I have never met the child before coming to my classroom. How about inquiring about how your child’s natural talent may help them in the classroom . . . no, no, no, that’s my job, even though I only get them 45 minutes out of the day. Okay how about this, teaching your children common courtesy toward others . . . again, no, no, no, that’s my job as far as you are concerned. Teachers have families of their own that we have to care for and need out attention, just like yours, but the deficit in all of this is that you, parents, are not giving your child what they need at home. The only thing they should ever require of their teachers is their education, encouraging words, and a map for them to chart how they plan to reach their goals.
Now to my well trained, forgetful, unappreciative administrators . . . how dare you forget the struggles of the classroom. Of how Johnny couldn’t do his homework because the power has been off in his house for two months. How dare you forget the egregious amount of paperwork that is demanded of teachers on a daily basis besides the management of a classroom of 28 students and making sure that you are trying to meet all of their needs. Again, how dare you forget to support your teaching staff when you yourself had support to get to where you are now. How dare you let central office tell you to run your school as a business and not as a school. Webster online dictionary states that a school is an institution for the teaching of children. Not, how many are here each day so that we can increase our federal and state funding. Not, are we going to meet AYP this term so that we can be ‘recognized’ or ‘exemplary’? Not, no matter the child behavior let him continue to disrupt your classroom. ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!! Okay maybe my aim is a little low, maybe I should be charging these questions to the superintendents of districts, state government, or even federal government, but shouldn’t it start with those who are closest to the child?
Okay as you can see that I have had a horrible week with parents and administrators. Mainly because I have held my students responsible for not completing a portion of their six weeks project over spring break, the portion of the project that they needed to complete was to gather 'TWO' articles from the community section of the newspaper. It they didn't have access to the newspaper, I made arrangements at the local library to donate the paper to the students all the students had to do was to ask one of the two librarians that I made the arrangements with. (Please understand that these librarians are at the library everyday and one of them is the managing librarian, the other the community liaison) Out of 127 students only 63 of them made use of this resource, 28 called on relatives to gain their resources, the rest of them came to class with nothing. So when their progress reports reflected that they were failing 17 parents became upset. (They get a newsletter every six weeks about expectations and projects that are going to take place in my class) The kicker to all of this is that my administrator relays the message to me that I can not fail these students because they have not completed this particular portion of their project. (THIS IS ONLY A PROGRESS REPORT & THEY HAVE THREE MORE WEEKS TO BRING UP THEIR GRADE!!!!!!! ALSO THIS IS A PROJECT THAT IS MANDATORY BASED ON THE CURRICULUM IN WHICH THE DISTRICT HAS SET IN PLACE!!!!!!) If the teacher is making information readily available and you choose not to read it then that is on the parent.
I guess my rant here is really for parents and teachers to get on one accord. I feel that if the parents get frustrated enough with the system and not the teacher, maybe the real changes will take place. For example, why are there people who work in the Department of Education who have never spent time teaching in front of a classroom FULL of children, and those who have, have never taught in a low SES area. For the same amount of proving your worth in the classroom, those who make major decisions for education should go through the same rigorous process. We ask our children to be accountable every day; shouldn’t we put that same accountability on ourselves? Don’t just apply to the teachers, but to the Education Department, governments, districts, administrators, and parents as well.
How are you a disservice you ask my ‘loving’ parent? By not taking out the time to read with your child . . . no, no, no, that’s my job although I have never met the child before coming to my classroom. How about inquiring about how your child’s natural talent may help them in the classroom . . . no, no, no, that’s my job, even though I only get them 45 minutes out of the day. Okay how about this, teaching your children common courtesy toward others . . . again, no, no, no, that’s my job as far as you are concerned. Teachers have families of their own that we have to care for and need out attention, just like yours, but the deficit in all of this is that you, parents, are not giving your child what they need at home. The only thing they should ever require of their teachers is their education, encouraging words, and a map for them to chart how they plan to reach their goals.
Now to my well trained, forgetful, unappreciative administrators . . . how dare you forget the struggles of the classroom. Of how Johnny couldn’t do his homework because the power has been off in his house for two months. How dare you forget the egregious amount of paperwork that is demanded of teachers on a daily basis besides the management of a classroom of 28 students and making sure that you are trying to meet all of their needs. Again, how dare you forget to support your teaching staff when you yourself had support to get to where you are now. How dare you let central office tell you to run your school as a business and not as a school. Webster online dictionary states that a school is an institution for the teaching of children. Not, how many are here each day so that we can increase our federal and state funding. Not, are we going to meet AYP this term so that we can be ‘recognized’ or ‘exemplary’? Not, no matter the child behavior let him continue to disrupt your classroom. ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!! Okay maybe my aim is a little low, maybe I should be charging these questions to the superintendents of districts, state government, or even federal government, but shouldn’t it start with those who are closest to the child?
Okay as you can see that I have had a horrible week with parents and administrators. Mainly because I have held my students responsible for not completing a portion of their six weeks project over spring break, the portion of the project that they needed to complete was to gather 'TWO' articles from the community section of the newspaper. It they didn't have access to the newspaper, I made arrangements at the local library to donate the paper to the students all the students had to do was to ask one of the two librarians that I made the arrangements with. (Please understand that these librarians are at the library everyday and one of them is the managing librarian, the other the community liaison) Out of 127 students only 63 of them made use of this resource, 28 called on relatives to gain their resources, the rest of them came to class with nothing. So when their progress reports reflected that they were failing 17 parents became upset. (They get a newsletter every six weeks about expectations and projects that are going to take place in my class) The kicker to all of this is that my administrator relays the message to me that I can not fail these students because they have not completed this particular portion of their project. (THIS IS ONLY A PROGRESS REPORT & THEY HAVE THREE MORE WEEKS TO BRING UP THEIR GRADE!!!!!!! ALSO THIS IS A PROJECT THAT IS MANDATORY BASED ON THE CURRICULUM IN WHICH THE DISTRICT HAS SET IN PLACE!!!!!!) If the teacher is making information readily available and you choose not to read it then that is on the parent.
I guess my rant here is really for parents and teachers to get on one accord. I feel that if the parents get frustrated enough with the system and not the teacher, maybe the real changes will take place. For example, why are there people who work in the Department of Education who have never spent time teaching in front of a classroom FULL of children, and those who have, have never taught in a low SES area. For the same amount of proving your worth in the classroom, those who make major decisions for education should go through the same rigorous process. We ask our children to be accountable every day; shouldn’t we put that same accountability on ourselves? Don’t just apply to the teachers, but to the Education Department, governments, districts, administrators, and parents as well.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Blog #12 - Discipline 'a chapter for my book summary'
‘What is your secret? My child loves and respects you far more than they do me.’ I have heard this one too many times in my career as an educator, once being too many. Parents seem to have forgotten their authority in their relationships with their own children and some appear comfortable enough to let the teacher know it. This is a gross misjudgment on behalf of the parent and one that should be corrected immediately. ‘Why Gender Matters’ discusses how parents should/can go about disciplining their children in a positive manner and gain the parental control of their household. The book goes on to mention Norbert Elias observations as to how the parental/child relationship has drastically changed over the past three decades. (between 1960 and 1990) Loss of parental authority has only worsened the issues that we witness daily with our children. From teen pregnancy to teen drug abuse, trying to be the friend and not the parent has weakened our children’s respect for authority altogether.
For example, child obesity runs rampant in our society. Partly because instead of just feeding our children healthy meal choices, we ask for their input on what they would prefer for dinner. Common sense would dictate that of course burgers, pizza, and fries will be on their menu, but as I have come to the realize, common sense isn’t all that common. Children want what they want, not what they need especially if you give them a choice. I am not a parent, but I do spend a lot of time with my three year old niece. Now my niece is a pretty good eater, meaning that she loves broccoli, salad, baked chicken, green beans, apples, all in all love fruits and vegetables. But if I give her the ‘choice’ between an apple or a pack of skittles. . .trust that she is going for the skittles. For her overall health I am going to give her the apple, without asking, and after dinner give her a handful of skittles, without asking. Letting her make the decision, in this scenario, is not the most logical thing to do. As she gets older the conversation should and will grow, but when she comes to visit me she will already know that junk food everyday is not an option.
The book addresses positive discipline, referring to using parental authority in positive ways to expose the child to the world or to reward good behavior. (p 172) In other words don’t ask. . .tell. Taking a page out of my own life, all of my friends had their own phone line and television in their room when I was a teenager. So of course I asked my parents for my own, the phone line was a definite no. . .which I understand why now, having the privacy to say what I wanted how I wanted may have led to situations I didn’t want to be in. The television on the other hand was a bit of a compromise, if I worked to purchase my own television I could put it in my room, but I had certain scheduled hours in which I could watch it. There was no eating my dinner in my room to watch my favorite show, that was family time. I couldn’t stay up late on a school night to watch the Arsenio Hall show, lights out meant lights out. If I disobeyed any of these expectations, my parents would take my television for a week. Now this was a television that I paid for myself, but I would rather follow those rules than loose something that I paid for all together. Similar rules applied when I bought my first car, but without those standards in place, I may have ended up like some of those old friends of mine pregnant or not finishing college. Ultimately when it comes to parenting, to each his/her own, but that dynamic changes when a child enters the classroom and in the classroom all rules apply to everyone, no exceptions. How should a parent who caters to their child prepare them for this type of setting?
For example, child obesity runs rampant in our society. Partly because instead of just feeding our children healthy meal choices, we ask for their input on what they would prefer for dinner. Common sense would dictate that of course burgers, pizza, and fries will be on their menu, but as I have come to the realize, common sense isn’t all that common. Children want what they want, not what they need especially if you give them a choice. I am not a parent, but I do spend a lot of time with my three year old niece. Now my niece is a pretty good eater, meaning that she loves broccoli, salad, baked chicken, green beans, apples, all in all love fruits and vegetables. But if I give her the ‘choice’ between an apple or a pack of skittles. . .trust that she is going for the skittles. For her overall health I am going to give her the apple, without asking, and after dinner give her a handful of skittles, without asking. Letting her make the decision, in this scenario, is not the most logical thing to do. As she gets older the conversation should and will grow, but when she comes to visit me she will already know that junk food everyday is not an option.
The book addresses positive discipline, referring to using parental authority in positive ways to expose the child to the world or to reward good behavior. (p 172) In other words don’t ask. . .tell. Taking a page out of my own life, all of my friends had their own phone line and television in their room when I was a teenager. So of course I asked my parents for my own, the phone line was a definite no. . .which I understand why now, having the privacy to say what I wanted how I wanted may have led to situations I didn’t want to be in. The television on the other hand was a bit of a compromise, if I worked to purchase my own television I could put it in my room, but I had certain scheduled hours in which I could watch it. There was no eating my dinner in my room to watch my favorite show, that was family time. I couldn’t stay up late on a school night to watch the Arsenio Hall show, lights out meant lights out. If I disobeyed any of these expectations, my parents would take my television for a week. Now this was a television that I paid for myself, but I would rather follow those rules than loose something that I paid for all together. Similar rules applied when I bought my first car, but without those standards in place, I may have ended up like some of those old friends of mine pregnant or not finishing college. Ultimately when it comes to parenting, to each his/her own, but that dynamic changes when a child enters the classroom and in the classroom all rules apply to everyone, no exceptions. How should a parent who caters to their child prepare them for this type of setting?
Monday, March 1, 2010
Open Blog #11 - Travel, Race, & Gender
I love to travel and have lived in a couple of countries that I love, although those two countries are male dominated. Everything catered to men, so being a female, especially one of color, made life a bit difficult from time to time. Travelling through male dominated countries could be very trying at times, especially when you are brokering business deals or trying to handle household mishaps that 'men' are suppose to handle. I just love the phrase 'so this is why you are single' when you get, for lack of a better work, aggressive about your request. Let's take this example, living in Spain a pipe burst in my flat. Well being my Father's oldest child, I knew how to stop the water from taking over and flooding the place. When I called a plumber and explained the situation he came over and asked where my husband was so that he could ask him how 'he' turned the water off. Naturally I said 'I turned it off by this valve' he said 'Are you sure, because if not and I do the wrong thing it will cost extra'. At this point I am laughing to myself and replied, 'yes I am sure because I am the husband who turned it off'. Now understand that there is a language difference here so of course he thinks I have made a mistake. So as he smirks at my 'ignorance' I continue to state that, 'I am not married therefore I am the husband and the wife' to this he looked at me with surprise and asked 'How did you learn to be so handy?' to this I replied, 'My Father raised me to sufficient in all things.' Now I thought that this would end the conversation, but of course it didn't. . .the plumber goes on to state, 'Oh that's too bad, you may never get married, who wants such a strong minded wife', again I reply, 'A strong minded man'. Well, this led to a bright red face and a quick fix of my pipes and a 15% off discount without a thank you.
As I reflected back on this whole scenario, I wondered what I gained out of it? Did I really change this persons mind or did I just upset/embarrass him? I can't answer the question that I have posed, but I look at it this way. . . hopefully he walked away with a better understanding of women. Most importantly what I realized is that it is not my job or my calling in life to ‘change people’s minds. We are reflective of our upbringing, situation, and circumstance, what they believe is what they believe and if those beliefs are founded in ignorance and not in the mindset of people are people no matter their gender or race, then (in my opinion) their mindset is flawed.
I guess this portion of my blog is as good as any time to reflect on my encounters in Japan. There were times that the color of my skin played more of an issue as well as my gender. As I evaluated this issue I had to come to the realization that I was living in a country that did not have a lot of interaction with people who didn’t look like them. All of the exposure that they had to my race was what they saw on television . . . and to be clear, the media perspective of Black America is one that is shameful to say the least. So I found myself fighting and dismantling horrible stereotypes that were portrayed on the television in which they were exposed to. Even more so, those businessmen or ‘other’ foreigners in which the Japanese encountered who took it upon themselves to reinforce those stereotypes the minds of the Japanese. In all of this miseducated chaos, I had to be the light of intellect to ‘prove’ that what they were exposed to was a misrepresentation of my race and even my gender. (I mentioned my gender due to the fact that black women were stereotyped as the ‘seductress’ who is only out for your money and to destroy you) Although there were times when I wanted to tell people to kiss my behind due to the ‘sly’ racist questions and constant repetition of things I have already told you. . . I chose to take the high road and ‘graciously’ answer their questions for the sake of international and race relations.
I guess that is why when I finally moved back to the States I find that I have a lack of tolerance for race issues due to the fact that we have lived in the country for how long and people still don’t ‘understand’ the cultures that live in your own country? As a Black woman who have travelled and endured the stares, questions, and discrimination of other countries, I refuse to stomach it in my own country. . .especially when it is my own country that has displayed these horrific images of who I am ‘suppose’ to be to the world in the first place. So if I am a bit short or indifferent to the ignorance of Americans it is because I believe that they choose to be, so why should I take the time to waste my precious breathe to educated someone who has had the information at their fingertips their whole life and has chosen not to accept, relate, or confirm it for themselves.
As I reflected back on this whole scenario, I wondered what I gained out of it? Did I really change this persons mind or did I just upset/embarrass him? I can't answer the question that I have posed, but I look at it this way. . . hopefully he walked away with a better understanding of women. Most importantly what I realized is that it is not my job or my calling in life to ‘change people’s minds. We are reflective of our upbringing, situation, and circumstance, what they believe is what they believe and if those beliefs are founded in ignorance and not in the mindset of people are people no matter their gender or race, then (in my opinion) their mindset is flawed.
I guess this portion of my blog is as good as any time to reflect on my encounters in Japan. There were times that the color of my skin played more of an issue as well as my gender. As I evaluated this issue I had to come to the realization that I was living in a country that did not have a lot of interaction with people who didn’t look like them. All of the exposure that they had to my race was what they saw on television . . . and to be clear, the media perspective of Black America is one that is shameful to say the least. So I found myself fighting and dismantling horrible stereotypes that were portrayed on the television in which they were exposed to. Even more so, those businessmen or ‘other’ foreigners in which the Japanese encountered who took it upon themselves to reinforce those stereotypes the minds of the Japanese. In all of this miseducated chaos, I had to be the light of intellect to ‘prove’ that what they were exposed to was a misrepresentation of my race and even my gender. (I mentioned my gender due to the fact that black women were stereotyped as the ‘seductress’ who is only out for your money and to destroy you) Although there were times when I wanted to tell people to kiss my behind due to the ‘sly’ racist questions and constant repetition of things I have already told you. . . I chose to take the high road and ‘graciously’ answer their questions for the sake of international and race relations.
I guess that is why when I finally moved back to the States I find that I have a lack of tolerance for race issues due to the fact that we have lived in the country for how long and people still don’t ‘understand’ the cultures that live in your own country? As a Black woman who have travelled and endured the stares, questions, and discrimination of other countries, I refuse to stomach it in my own country. . .especially when it is my own country that has displayed these horrific images of who I am ‘suppose’ to be to the world in the first place. So if I am a bit short or indifferent to the ignorance of Americans it is because I believe that they choose to be, so why should I take the time to waste my precious breathe to educated someone who has had the information at their fingertips their whole life and has chosen not to accept, relate, or confirm it for themselves.
Blog #10 - Love of Language
My love of language started in my home. I had an array of grandparents from different cultural backgrounds and they wanted to be sure that I had an appreciation of all of it. I guess you can say that my respect for different cultures started at home as well, being that I saw my grandparents respect one another whether it was for the love of their grandchildren or not they shared their backgrounds with one another and respected their differences. Portuguese, Cherokee (Tsalagi), Choctaw (Chahta Anumpa), and French Creole were languages that were heard and spoken in my home, not to mention the cuisine. Although my parents and grandparents made sure that my first language was Standard English, they also wanted to make sure that I had knowledge of their native languages as well. It was pretty cool though when it was time for family reunions as well. My mother made sure that we visited relatives that lived all over, so when my cousins came from their respective homes, my sister and I were the translators. (Even though we all lived in the US). Relatives from Connecticut, Louisiana, and California all spoke with different dialects and accents which made it a challenge for them to understand one another. Therefore, as I began to travel picking up languages and the dialect of those languages wasn’t as difficult for me as it may have been for most.As an educator I have taken a great interest of bilingual education in our public schools. I feel as though it is completely one sided if only Hispanic children are given the opportunity to this type of education. In many other countries bilingual is made available to all children and has left the US in the dust when it comes to linguistics. I would love to see bilingual education as a co teaching effort in the US. This would put teacher’s minds at ease and also give them an opportunity to learn another language as well. The students of this country would no longer be last in an ever changing world when it came to language if we would implement foreign language into our nation’s curriculum. We have and are doing our students a disservice by not exposing them to various languages. In the Southwest region of this country it is imperative that bilingual education take place in the classroom, starting with Spanish instruction for all students in all subject areas. I know that this is a fear for quite a few teachers who feel as though their jobs would be at risk, but in a co teaching model all stand to benefit. My plan would be to assign a language based on the majority of minorities in that particular region. For example, the Northwest would focus on Japanese and Chinese, where as the Northeast would focus on French bilingual education. The North central region of the US could focus on German where as the Eastern seaboard could teach Russian and Italian. I know this is a pipe dream, but how cool would it be that our nation could be just as multilingual as it is multicultural. Other countries teach English as a mandatory second language, but what is awesome about their curriculum is that students get the opportunity to choose a third language as well.
When I taught in Japan most of the teachers I worked with understood academic English which made it easy for me, but to challenge myself I tried to speak Japanese whenever I wasn’t teaching, I co-taught with a teacher whose native language was Japanese but was certified to teach English. This was an awesome pairing due to the fact that I was there to help students with the conversational portion of the English language as well as day to day vernacular. (The stuff that wasn’t in textbooks) This caused me to study English more in depth because I wanted to be sure that I could address any questions about the English language beyond my academic and regional knowledge. I had to explore Great Britain, Australian, Irish, Scottish, and American English to truly give my students a full and fair view of the different styles and types of the English language. What I learned in the process of this research is that just as vast as the English language is on American soil it is just as vast everywhere else too. Also, that each language has a large variety of dialect and accents due to regional and grammatical differences. This taught me that there is a standard in any language, but to get to the heart of the people is to understand and appreciate their dialect as well.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Blog #9 - Open Blog; No guilt, No blame, Just reality
Emotions rise as we talk about our differences and perceptions of each other. Even if we are of the same race, emotional reactions tend to surface . . . its human nature and should be accepted and respected. I tried my best to see if my group could get another topic when we presented Race and Ethnicity due to the fact that it is such a highly charged topic in this country. Trying to be sensitive to other people views when dealing with this topic was a difficult task in itself; especially when there are those who are still plagued with ignorance about other cultures and have never exposed themselves to the world or even have the desire to do so. I am glad that this class brings up topics that make us uncomfortable and hope that it opens our eyes and hearts to true acceptance of one another. Who better to make uncomfortable than a group of educators? I recently read an article that I am going to try to attach to this blog, which addresses how a group of educators took an online diverse learner’s class and how emotion rose in the discussion boards. What was truly interesting to me was how comments were made more freely online; that I believe would not have been said in person. I look forward to the day when we are just as open face to face.
Acceptance is something that many of us, in my opinion, lack as a group of educated people. What I mean by that is one of the questions that we received, which was not addressed, was why African/Black Americans don’t just get over what happened so many generations ago. Well, I found this offensive because it is just like saying ‘Jewish people should just get over the holocaust’. Or imagine someone very close to you died. You are hurt, because of the loss, in time the wound would heal of that person no longer being there, but you never forget the hurt of losing them. An injustice was served to a group of undeserving people and was legally justified for generations. Forgiveness is inevitable, but to forget is to forget the ones who were sacrificed, sometimes for sport, for the freedom of those who live today. In other words the generations of torture and injustice will take generations to overcome and heal.
Respecting each other’s points of view is the first step of harmony. The next step is a little bit more difficult for most of us to do. That is putting ourselves in the other shoes, a task that many of us refuse to do. We may question why all day long, but when it comes down to it we won’t trade places with a race that has been discriminated on for nothing in the world. This makes me question human nature all together; we say we want to understand to be more sensitive to those who are oppressed. So why not take the time to get into the thick of the situation to understand it all the more. One of my favorite movies is ‘A Gentleman’s Agreement’. When the fiancé of Skylar Green realizes why he is so passionate about the injustice of the Jewish community, due to the fact that he lived in it as an undercover reporter, a light goes on in her head as to her own prejudice that she didn’t realize she even possessed herself. Then and only then could she address her own issues of trying to take on the responsibility of trying to change herself then try to change the world in which she lived in.
I couldn't attach the article but it is entitled "Engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination through critical emotional reflexivity in online learning". It was written in 2008 in Adult Education Quarterly volume 59 number 1.
Acceptance is something that many of us, in my opinion, lack as a group of educated people. What I mean by that is one of the questions that we received, which was not addressed, was why African/Black Americans don’t just get over what happened so many generations ago. Well, I found this offensive because it is just like saying ‘Jewish people should just get over the holocaust’. Or imagine someone very close to you died. You are hurt, because of the loss, in time the wound would heal of that person no longer being there, but you never forget the hurt of losing them. An injustice was served to a group of undeserving people and was legally justified for generations. Forgiveness is inevitable, but to forget is to forget the ones who were sacrificed, sometimes for sport, for the freedom of those who live today. In other words the generations of torture and injustice will take generations to overcome and heal.
Respecting each other’s points of view is the first step of harmony. The next step is a little bit more difficult for most of us to do. That is putting ourselves in the other shoes, a task that many of us refuse to do. We may question why all day long, but when it comes down to it we won’t trade places with a race that has been discriminated on for nothing in the world. This makes me question human nature all together; we say we want to understand to be more sensitive to those who are oppressed. So why not take the time to get into the thick of the situation to understand it all the more. One of my favorite movies is ‘A Gentleman’s Agreement’. When the fiancé of Skylar Green realizes why he is so passionate about the injustice of the Jewish community, due to the fact that he lived in it as an undercover reporter, a light goes on in her head as to her own prejudice that she didn’t realize she even possessed herself. Then and only then could she address her own issues of trying to take on the responsibility of trying to change herself then try to change the world in which she lived in.
I couldn't attach the article but it is entitled "Engaging with issues of cultural diversity and discrimination through critical emotional reflexivity in online learning". It was written in 2008 in Adult Education Quarterly volume 59 number 1.
Blog #8 - Exceptionality
Due to the fact that many educators have not exposed themselves to other cultures and have a complete misunderstanding of the African American culture, placing children in special education has become a place of behavior issues versus mental/learning disabilities. So many children of color are viewed as SPED due to the fact that they do not learn as the mainstream does. Hence their needs are not being met and become bored in the classroom. Through this boredom they either become disruptive or despondent and unfortunately too many educators view this as an issue with the child and not themselves. If we were to take a good hard look at a number of students who are mislabeled as SPED we would see that many of them should be GT. Their thinking is abstract and far beyond the norm of a mainstream student their age. Due to lack of patience and foresight educators immediately begin to fill out the paperwork to have them tested for special education versus gifted and talented. One of the things that my mentor told me when I began my career was 'There is a very thin line between genius and insanity, as well as, intellect and idiocy; it is up to us to delve into our students to see what process they go through to get to an answer rather than observing if they can mimic what we give them." As I have spent several years as an educator I have discovered how true the statement is . . . when students say certain things a lot of the time teachers get impatient with their statements because on the surface they appear to be nonsense. But if we would just take a moment and listen to the logic, not always mainstream, their comments and statements are quite profound.
As I think of those students who are forced to work in general education classes that should truly be in self contained classes I shake my head at the disservice we give these children. I do believe that they are entitled to an equal education, but how equal is it when they are in a classroom with 18 other students and no inclusion teacher? Especially when their testing is modified and they don’t count against a school ranking score. I know this sounds very pessimistic and negative, but when I see children being thrown to the wolves without the skills needed to survive it angers me. Or let’s look at it from another point of view . . . how about the same students who are being disservice because too many students are in their self contained class who are mislabeled and are behavior issues due to boredom. It is time for our school districts and universities to start giving aspiring teachers a real world view of what the classroom is really like and train them to go back to the drawing board instead of documenting enough paper work to SST a student away because you don’t want to ‘deal’ with them any longer.
If educators don’t stand up for their profession and students, with the help of parents, to make schools more equitable I often wonder who would. Education has never been a ‘cash cow’ therefore it gets put on the back burner when it comes to equality in the classroom. Money is such a powerful force in this country it is a shame that it comes before education. Truth is we tell our children every day that their education is based on their parent’s income. If you just look at the difference between Title 1 school's versus schools in upper middle class neighborhoods. Then you are left with the endless debate of who is responsible of making sure ALL children get an equal education. So many people look at teachers . . .but teachers have their own families to support and take care of, if the continued to spend hundreds of dollars to keep their classrooms competitive, especially on the salary they are paid, who takes care of their children? This is why many teachers, in my opinion, are compelled to take legal action against school districts when students and their families get the short end of the stick. It is going to take parents, teachers, administrators, and political leaders getting on the same page to fully make education fair and just for all students.
As I think of those students who are forced to work in general education classes that should truly be in self contained classes I shake my head at the disservice we give these children. I do believe that they are entitled to an equal education, but how equal is it when they are in a classroom with 18 other students and no inclusion teacher? Especially when their testing is modified and they don’t count against a school ranking score. I know this sounds very pessimistic and negative, but when I see children being thrown to the wolves without the skills needed to survive it angers me. Or let’s look at it from another point of view . . . how about the same students who are being disservice because too many students are in their self contained class who are mislabeled and are behavior issues due to boredom. It is time for our school districts and universities to start giving aspiring teachers a real world view of what the classroom is really like and train them to go back to the drawing board instead of documenting enough paper work to SST a student away because you don’t want to ‘deal’ with them any longer.
If educators don’t stand up for their profession and students, with the help of parents, to make schools more equitable I often wonder who would. Education has never been a ‘cash cow’ therefore it gets put on the back burner when it comes to equality in the classroom. Money is such a powerful force in this country it is a shame that it comes before education. Truth is we tell our children every day that their education is based on their parent’s income. If you just look at the difference between Title 1 school's versus schools in upper middle class neighborhoods. Then you are left with the endless debate of who is responsible of making sure ALL children get an equal education. So many people look at teachers . . .but teachers have their own families to support and take care of, if the continued to spend hundreds of dollars to keep their classrooms competitive, especially on the salary they are paid, who takes care of their children? This is why many teachers, in my opinion, are compelled to take legal action against school districts when students and their families get the short end of the stick. It is going to take parents, teachers, administrators, and political leaders getting on the same page to fully make education fair and just for all students.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Open Blog #7 - Book findings
The benefits of gender based learning are endless. I am a very vocal advocate of this theory due to the fact of the positive results that have come out several case studies and public school progress that use this model. There is an infinite amount of studies and statistics that show that female students struggle with math and science, the exception comes about when you look at those females when they are in all female classes they excel in those subjects as well as others. The same can be said for male students who struggle with Language Arts and History, they excel in all male classes in these subjects. What is so significant or vital about this type of class setting that students break the sterotypes and gender bias when it comes to learning? According to ‘Gender Matters’ it is imperative to separate students by sex to get the best out of them academically. In our society we admit openly that females and males are different in the way that we communicate, listen, and observe. . .so why don’t we see, as a society, that this would effect the education in which we give our students? As I go through my book chapter by chapter, I have had the opportunity to find great articles that focus on this topic and the research article after article supports the benefits of gender based learning. I look forward to see how the book ends.
Sexual Issues of Gender #6
Gender????? I asked quite of few educators how gender affects their classrooms. Most of them responded by saying that boys are noisy and girls are sassy. Then I asked how gender affects your interaction with your students and most replied “Very careful . . . wouldn’t want any child to get the wrong idea.” Exploring this thought process when it comes to gender in education most teachers of the past, in my opinion, didn’t have much of a preference. Yet over the past 15 years a trend has developed out of fear that has many teachers wanted to teach students of their own sex. Students who have falsely accused educators of sexual relationships and those who have tarnished the profession by being involved with students sexually have caused a great rift in the nurturing aspect of education. What I mean is this . . . to be an educator that takes a certain amount of nurturing for some students to even open themselves up to be educated. With the fear of being accused of being ‘too’ attentive many teachers have shut down and just give assignments and have abandoned the natural instinct to be nurturing all together. For example, in 2003 a first grade teacher in Boston, MA was accused of being cruel to her students when she would just send them to the nurse office if they fell down and hurt themselves, but two years prior was accused of inappropriately touching a student when they fell down and hurt themselves because she gave them a hug to calm the student down. Her question was, “What do you want from me?”
As a 7th grade teacher my students throw me off guard at the beginning of the year by wanting to hug and hang around my desk in search of doting attention from me. Yet I find myself feeding them with a long handle spoon so that nothing I do will be misconstrued. Although I know a lot of my students come from broken and dysfunctional homes and the only safe haven they have in their life is my classroom it saddens me that I choose not to give them the attention that they desire so that I don’t put my career at risk.
Another aspect of gender that has a tendency to come about frequently is homosexuality. There are quite a few students that are open with their choice of sexuality on my campus, which amazes me due to the fact that I am dealing with11 and 12 year old children. They appear to have a grasp on their choice and although they are open on campus they tend to hide it when they get home around their parents. For instance I have a student who let me know that she was dating an older girl. She was quite comfortable in sharing with me her feelings for this young lady and as I responded to her by asking what her parents thought she became terrified with the fact that I might talk to them. I assured her that I would not but did let her know that I was referring her to her counselor so that she could work out her insecurities on the matter. Even though I and the counselor suggested that she sits down and speaks with her parents she was against it in every possible way. This led me to wonder, ‘How could she be so open and free with who she thought she was and not with her family?’
As an educator I have done my best not to judge students based on race, ethnicity, or culture . . . but I have never thought that I have judged them based on gender or sexual preference. I am uncomfortable when students disclose to me that they are sexually active or what sexual preference that they may have. I wish that was a topic that was illegal to talk about within school hours, but unfortunately is not. As teachers we are expected to educate, counsel, protect, nurture, and direct. Yet we are left to decide certain boundaries that won’t offend parents and administration, it is this catch 22 that lead a lot of GREAT teachers out of the profession. I have to go back to the first grade teacher’s question, “As an educator, what do you want from me?”
As a 7th grade teacher my students throw me off guard at the beginning of the year by wanting to hug and hang around my desk in search of doting attention from me. Yet I find myself feeding them with a long handle spoon so that nothing I do will be misconstrued. Although I know a lot of my students come from broken and dysfunctional homes and the only safe haven they have in their life is my classroom it saddens me that I choose not to give them the attention that they desire so that I don’t put my career at risk.
Another aspect of gender that has a tendency to come about frequently is homosexuality. There are quite a few students that are open with their choice of sexuality on my campus, which amazes me due to the fact that I am dealing with11 and 12 year old children. They appear to have a grasp on their choice and although they are open on campus they tend to hide it when they get home around their parents. For instance I have a student who let me know that she was dating an older girl. She was quite comfortable in sharing with me her feelings for this young lady and as I responded to her by asking what her parents thought she became terrified with the fact that I might talk to them. I assured her that I would not but did let her know that I was referring her to her counselor so that she could work out her insecurities on the matter. Even though I and the counselor suggested that she sits down and speaks with her parents she was against it in every possible way. This led me to wonder, ‘How could she be so open and free with who she thought she was and not with her family?’
As an educator I have done my best not to judge students based on race, ethnicity, or culture . . . but I have never thought that I have judged them based on gender or sexual preference. I am uncomfortable when students disclose to me that they are sexually active or what sexual preference that they may have. I wish that was a topic that was illegal to talk about within school hours, but unfortunately is not. As teachers we are expected to educate, counsel, protect, nurture, and direct. Yet we are left to decide certain boundaries that won’t offend parents and administration, it is this catch 22 that lead a lot of GREAT teachers out of the profession. I have to go back to the first grade teacher’s question, “As an educator, what do you want from me?”
Monday, February 15, 2010
Ooops. . .Foundations #5 for #2
As educators we make the mistake, sometimes unknowingly, of making presumptions about student abilities on appearance only many times on the first day of school. Human error shows up so often in the profession of education. Their clothes are slightly dirty, their bodies a little smelly, and hair unkept . . . well I learned a lot from one of my mentors my first year in a classroom. What a wonderful woman she was, but her stereotypical views caused her and me to question why we ever entered this honored profession.
The students name was Thomas. He would come into class very boisterously daily and announced that he was not going to work on any assignment and he would take a nap before lunch each day. My mentor would sigh of disgust each day and say ‘I can’t stand him!!! I wish he would just drop out!!!’ The statement bothered me very much and I told her how it made me feel. She let me know that she had been in the profession long enough to identify a lost cause and Thomas was most definitely lost. She also went on to let me know that my attitude of all children can be taught would soon change. I prayed that her skeptic view would not affect me and that somehow it would change . . . that would be a long journey.
My mentor had been teaching a total of 33 years and was only two years from retiring. She was Caucasian and Thomas was Hispanic, I African American . . . before I assumed that she was just prejudice I decided to hang back and ask if I could work with Thomas when time allowed. She agreed and said it would be a good lesson for me. As the school year went on I tutored Thomas so that he could catch up to his classmates. What I realized is that Thomas didn’t need to catch up . . . he was ahead. Thomas had been retained for two years due to absenteeism because his family was migrant workers and he was completely bored with the 7th grade.
I began to give Thomas work from the 8th and 9th grade curriculum and he excelled. He liked coming to my class and performed well. The only downer was my mentor. She was a constant negative reinforcement in his life and when she came around Thomas shutdown. So I decided to take a free write journal paper to her that Thomas wrote. It revealed how teachers mistreated students by being negative and how the student may react. She completely agreed with the student and raved at how well written the paper was . . . when I told her who the student was she sat there frozen in silence. She asked if she could make a copy to keep for her records.
After that meeting with her Thomas began to come to my class less and less, but still saw fit to come after school for tutoring. Eventually he told me a month or so later that no one had ever stood up for him and he was glad that I did. I asked him what he meant then he told me that my mentor apologized to him and said that they needed to start their teacher/student relationship over. I told him it was nothing that I had done, but he assured me that it was. My mentor never spoke to me about Thomas, but she did make sure that he tested into the tenth grade when he left her classroom. She went on to teach for another 10 years and always e-mailed me to ask for strategies when she encountered a student she couldn’t quite reach.
What I learned from her is that you are never too old to learn in this profession and hopefully she learned the same thing. Thomas taught us both not to judge a book by its cover and how important it is to make a connection with each of your students, no matter their background. This was a multicultural situation in which a veteran teacher had been poisoned by her environment, a student poisoned by inattentiveness, and a rookie naïve enough to work through it. Learning each other is the best education any educator can have.
The students name was Thomas. He would come into class very boisterously daily and announced that he was not going to work on any assignment and he would take a nap before lunch each day. My mentor would sigh of disgust each day and say ‘I can’t stand him!!! I wish he would just drop out!!!’ The statement bothered me very much and I told her how it made me feel. She let me know that she had been in the profession long enough to identify a lost cause and Thomas was most definitely lost. She also went on to let me know that my attitude of all children can be taught would soon change. I prayed that her skeptic view would not affect me and that somehow it would change . . . that would be a long journey.
My mentor had been teaching a total of 33 years and was only two years from retiring. She was Caucasian and Thomas was Hispanic, I African American . . . before I assumed that she was just prejudice I decided to hang back and ask if I could work with Thomas when time allowed. She agreed and said it would be a good lesson for me. As the school year went on I tutored Thomas so that he could catch up to his classmates. What I realized is that Thomas didn’t need to catch up . . . he was ahead. Thomas had been retained for two years due to absenteeism because his family was migrant workers and he was completely bored with the 7th grade.
I began to give Thomas work from the 8th and 9th grade curriculum and he excelled. He liked coming to my class and performed well. The only downer was my mentor. She was a constant negative reinforcement in his life and when she came around Thomas shutdown. So I decided to take a free write journal paper to her that Thomas wrote. It revealed how teachers mistreated students by being negative and how the student may react. She completely agreed with the student and raved at how well written the paper was . . . when I told her who the student was she sat there frozen in silence. She asked if she could make a copy to keep for her records.
After that meeting with her Thomas began to come to my class less and less, but still saw fit to come after school for tutoring. Eventually he told me a month or so later that no one had ever stood up for him and he was glad that I did. I asked him what he meant then he told me that my mentor apologized to him and said that they needed to start their teacher/student relationship over. I told him it was nothing that I had done, but he assured me that it was. My mentor never spoke to me about Thomas, but she did make sure that he tested into the tenth grade when he left her classroom. She went on to teach for another 10 years and always e-mailed me to ask for strategies when she encountered a student she couldn’t quite reach.
What I learned from her is that you are never too old to learn in this profession and hopefully she learned the same thing. Thomas taught us both not to judge a book by its cover and how important it is to make a connection with each of your students, no matter their background. This was a multicultural situation in which a veteran teacher had been poisoned by her environment, a student poisoned by inattentiveness, and a rookie naïve enough to work through it. Learning each other is the best education any educator can have.
Money Matters in America - #4
When it comes down to it color does matter . . . and the color that matters is green. . . MONEY!!! When it comes to race, education, or gender in the USA money is the driving factor. We are a capitalistic system and unfortunately it finds its way into education where all things are suppose to be equal. When you look at chapter 3 it is apparent that as a society we have accepted this truth to be the norm. Proof??? Why do we have title 1 schools??? Why do we have Robin Hood programs??? Why are there schools in the same district without technology while others across town have it??? Why are educators looking for the best school district to teach in versus all districts are the best to teach in??? What a sad state we are in. . . .
I grew up in a time where my teachers were not ‘use’ to students of color being ‘intelligent’ enough to handle the given curriculum. When my parents realized that I was not expected to perform, regardless of their conversations with my teachers, they transferred me to an all girl private school. Again I wasn’t ‘expected’ to perform on level, and since my parents could afford the tuition and I excelled I became a novelty item rather than a student to further challenge. It wasn’t until I was sent to a Christian private school that my race and my parent’s economic class didn’t matter. I was challenged to perform and go beyond the next level. It was the first time I received clear expectations from all of my teachers and was expected to meet them.
It was this experience that makes me, as an educator; look at all of my students as well capable to achieve any tasks that I set before them. Race, class, and gender are irrelevant. My job as an educator is to impart in them the capabilities to achieve no matter what. Even when I hear the excuse ‘I don’t have the resources to do that’, as an educator I scream, camp-out, and mandate to the powers that be until they do have them. Now I am not saying that some students don’t have personal issues that hinder them from achieving to the best of their abilities, but I believe that it is my job to modify, to a certain degree, so that they can succeed. A teacher’s job is one of sacrifice so many times so that the students we teach do not go without a fair and just education. This is unfair not only to the student but to the teacher as well. Whether students come from homes of the working poor or the upper middle class, they are entitled to an equal education. Yet our society over and over again dismantles its own truth of all men created equal. . .
I grew up in a time where my teachers were not ‘use’ to students of color being ‘intelligent’ enough to handle the given curriculum. When my parents realized that I was not expected to perform, regardless of their conversations with my teachers, they transferred me to an all girl private school. Again I wasn’t ‘expected’ to perform on level, and since my parents could afford the tuition and I excelled I became a novelty item rather than a student to further challenge. It wasn’t until I was sent to a Christian private school that my race and my parent’s economic class didn’t matter. I was challenged to perform and go beyond the next level. It was the first time I received clear expectations from all of my teachers and was expected to meet them.
It was this experience that makes me, as an educator; look at all of my students as well capable to achieve any tasks that I set before them. Race, class, and gender are irrelevant. My job as an educator is to impart in them the capabilities to achieve no matter what. Even when I hear the excuse ‘I don’t have the resources to do that’, as an educator I scream, camp-out, and mandate to the powers that be until they do have them. Now I am not saying that some students don’t have personal issues that hinder them from achieving to the best of their abilities, but I believe that it is my job to modify, to a certain degree, so that they can succeed. A teacher’s job is one of sacrifice so many times so that the students we teach do not go without a fair and just education. This is unfair not only to the student but to the teacher as well. Whether students come from homes of the working poor or the upper middle class, they are entitled to an equal education. Yet our society over and over again dismantles its own truth of all men created equal. . .
Monday, February 8, 2010
Race & Ethnicity #3
When we have to take a hard look at ourselves we become very uncomfortable. Especially when it deals with how we view others. As I read through chapter 2 and pondered how I perceived race and ethnicity, I quickly came to realize that in education I MUST be colorblind. Although that is not a ‘handicap’ that many educators desire to possess. Through my experience as an educator in the USA I have seen more prejudice come from educators versus that that comes from students. As educators our target audience constantly changes and to deliver the information that we must hand across to our students we should understand in which the world they come from. In this I feel as though we are to be just as open as to share ourselves and our world. A connection must be achieved before education can begin.
What surprises me about some educators is how they are not willing to listen or even consider new information that is brought forth in updated textbooks. For example, in the subject of history or science, new information and documents are found constantly that change what we have been taught in the past. Are we not liable to present that information and accept it as progression? So many educators refuse to even entertain these changes due to the fact that is rocks their belief system of what is right or what they were taught. As educator we are constant learners and are required to be to give a proper education to our students.
Teaching a child based on your assumptions of their race is a grave injustice. If educators would begin to look at each child as their own and how they would want their children to be treated I feel as though this would change how they interact with their students. Are we human yes, but the same ethics we expect our law makers and enforcers to abide by so should we. Our students are too precious for us to hold their ethnicity or race against them and shame to any educator who does. For those who do if you ever wonder why your students disrespect and disobey you, look deep within yourself and see how you may be subliminally treating them and you may have the answer to your issue.
What surprises me about some educators is how they are not willing to listen or even consider new information that is brought forth in updated textbooks. For example, in the subject of history or science, new information and documents are found constantly that change what we have been taught in the past. Are we not liable to present that information and accept it as progression? So many educators refuse to even entertain these changes due to the fact that is rocks their belief system of what is right or what they were taught. As educator we are constant learners and are required to be to give a proper education to our students.
Teaching a child based on your assumptions of their race is a grave injustice. If educators would begin to look at each child as their own and how they would want their children to be treated I feel as though this would change how they interact with their students. Are we human yes, but the same ethics we expect our law makers and enforcers to abide by so should we. Our students are too precious for us to hold their ethnicity or race against them and shame to any educator who does. For those who do if you ever wonder why your students disrespect and disobey you, look deep within yourself and see how you may be subliminally treating them and you may have the answer to your issue.
Why Gender Matters -Book #2
For my book selection I have chosen Why Gender Matters by Dr. Leonard Sax. I chose this book due to the fact that it addresses the significance of how we should address our students based on their gender. Dr. Sax also addresses how to overcome gender stereotypes and how students benefit from being seperated in the classroom by gender. Dr. Sax is a physician and psychologist and founder of the National Association for Single-Sex Public Education. Along with this book study I am looking at schools that have implemented single sex education to see how effective the process has been for students and test scores. I look forward to walking through this book and exploring the possibilities of gender based education.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Blog #1 - Introduction of the Mochagaijin
My name is Chejuana Willis. I am a 7th grade school teacher for DallasISD. I have been a teacher for a total of ten years, six of which I taught for the Japanese Board of Education in Osaka, Japan. It is in Japan that I fell in love with teaching. I love the whole aspect of giving students the power to examine and discover things on their own. I grew up in Dallas, TX where I went to a number of schools from private to public. In those experiences I gained a lot of understanding from different cultures and ethnicities at a young age. Eventually I graduated from the Business and Management Center High School in DallasISD. This high school was a melting pot of Dallas due to the fact that we came from all over the city and learned how diverse our hometown really was.
After graduating high school I attended Texas A&M and graduated in 1997. In college I took every opportunity to explore different cultures. While studying at A&M I studied and worked abroad in the glorious country of Spain. After graduating, I moved to Phoenix, AZ then to Osaka, Japan. I lived in Japan for a total of six years. I learned a lot and had the opportunity to explore the country and most of Asia as well. While in Japan I learned a lot about other cultures as well, which truly opened my eyes to the world.
My family is a huge mix of ethnicities . . . we are Brazilian, Creole, African American, and Native American. During the holidays you never knew what cuisine would be served or if everything under the sun would be on the dining room table. My purpose for taking this course to learn how teach/show my students cultural acceptance among each other, also how to explore this concept among my colleagues as well. My teaching philosophy is borrowed from Denzel Washington “We do what we have to do, so that we can do what we want to do”. I look forward to growing in this class and learning a lot more about myself and others.
After graduating high school I attended Texas A&M and graduated in 1997. In college I took every opportunity to explore different cultures. While studying at A&M I studied and worked abroad in the glorious country of Spain. After graduating, I moved to Phoenix, AZ then to Osaka, Japan. I lived in Japan for a total of six years. I learned a lot and had the opportunity to explore the country and most of Asia as well. While in Japan I learned a lot about other cultures as well, which truly opened my eyes to the world.
My family is a huge mix of ethnicities . . . we are Brazilian, Creole, African American, and Native American. During the holidays you never knew what cuisine would be served or if everything under the sun would be on the dining room table. My purpose for taking this course to learn how teach/show my students cultural acceptance among each other, also how to explore this concept among my colleagues as well. My teaching philosophy is borrowed from Denzel Washington “We do what we have to do, so that we can do what we want to do”. I look forward to growing in this class and learning a lot more about myself and others.
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