Thursday, May 1, 2014
Monday, April 21, 2014
Social Justice Event- Iggy's Doughboy Dash
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Shor
For this weeks blog post and last blog post on the readings, I decided to pull out some quotes that I thought were interesting to me. Sometimes I find it easier to use quotes from the text to explain the connections that I have with them.
"Students in empowering classes should be expected to develop skills and knowledge as well as high expectations for themselves, their education, and their futures." (16)
Shor claims that allowing students to have a voice in the classroom changes everything which I believe is true. Setting the class setting early is very important considering that one day, students feel that they are a valued part of the classroom, which will hopefully improve their outlook on school. I also think that in empowering classes, students help one another develop a sense of self-worth. If you were an educator and had a chance to do this for your students, wouldn't you?
"They ask why the official textbook and syllabus are organized the way they are and how this knowledge relates to their community cultures and to conditions in society." (37)
This quote was very interesting to me. When I first read this quote I thought--Dr. Bogad. This particular quote reminded me of the day that we had a "written assignment". She is teaching our class as an example of what Shor claimed to say. Of course, being a student for so long, I am so used to doing what I am told by teachers that when and assignment like what Dr. Bogad handed to us, I just did, without any hesitation. I think that this is very important to remember as we become teachers because if this is how I feel now or did feel back in high school, am I going to want to make my students feel the same way? Absolutely not. We should care about our students' opinion.
Those were two of the quotes that I found really interesting and connected well with. I sort of found this reading a little difficult to understand but when I could relate it to our class itself and the readings, I had a better understanding of it!
Below is a hyperlink to a video about differentiating instruction. I thought this video was really intresting and I really enjoyed watching it! Check it out! https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/differentiating-instruction
"Students in empowering classes should be expected to develop skills and knowledge as well as high expectations for themselves, their education, and their futures." (16)
Shor claims that allowing students to have a voice in the classroom changes everything which I believe is true. Setting the class setting early is very important considering that one day, students feel that they are a valued part of the classroom, which will hopefully improve their outlook on school. I also think that in empowering classes, students help one another develop a sense of self-worth. If you were an educator and had a chance to do this for your students, wouldn't you?
"They ask why the official textbook and syllabus are organized the way they are and how this knowledge relates to their community cultures and to conditions in society." (37)
This quote was very interesting to me. When I first read this quote I thought--Dr. Bogad. This particular quote reminded me of the day that we had a "written assignment". She is teaching our class as an example of what Shor claimed to say. Of course, being a student for so long, I am so used to doing what I am told by teachers that when and assignment like what Dr. Bogad handed to us, I just did, without any hesitation. I think that this is very important to remember as we become teachers because if this is how I feel now or did feel back in high school, am I going to want to make my students feel the same way? Absolutely not. We should care about our students' opinion.
Those were two of the quotes that I found really interesting and connected well with. I sort of found this reading a little difficult to understand but when I could relate it to our class itself and the readings, I had a better understanding of it!
Below is a hyperlink to a video about differentiating instruction. I thought this video was really intresting and I really enjoyed watching it! Check it out! https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/differentiating-instruction
Monday, April 7, 2014
Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome
For this Weeks reading we had to read Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome. This reading out of all the many readings that we have had to read so far this semester, has had to of been my least favorite. I was not engaged in this text at all whatsoever. I tried my best to read it but then I realized the reason I didn't like the reading was because I wasn't interested in it at all. I believe that because I had no personal connection with the article, it was hard to see where the author was coming from with all of the different points that he was trying to make. I presumed that was the reason why this was one of my least favorite readings.
Although I didn't like this reading I managed to find some interesting points that Kliewer mentions on the very first page of the article, that I agreed with. Kinglsey claims that we need to break the barrier for people with disabilities which I believe is true. In order to break the barrier of people with disabilities, other people need to not be so judgmental and stereotypical of people that have disabilities. I believe in order for this work these two groups of people need to come together and by doing that students and students with disabilities should come together in a school setting. Just because a student has a disability doesn't make them any different from a non-disability student besides the fact, of course, that they have a disability. Just like we talked about last week with grouping students who have a higher I.Q with the better teachers and the students who aren't that smart or need more help, are placed with teachers that don't care. These teachers believe that there students are "stupid" and because of that judgment, the students placed in a lower class setting are loosing out on their education. I feel the same way with students that have a disability. Students that have a disability are typically placed in the same section of the building but teachers and aids must also remember that not every student has the same disability, therefore some students are capable of doing a lot more and shouldn't be labeled to be placed into those types of classrooms. These students should have reign but also some guidance in pointing them into the right direction.
A student that has a disability usually has no control over this happening to he or she, so why punish them even more to being limited to doing certain activities and learning certain things? It's not. I can remember back in high school, there was one part of our school which was called the 300's and that was were all the special education classes were, people with disabilities. After being in my Senior year in high school, I remember this one girl who I never even knew had some type of disability because she dressed and acted so normally but because she was in those classrooms and walked with the students with disabilities I knew she was. She tried so hard to fit in and be one of the popular girls that it broke my heart to have to see her be limited to meeting certain people in high school because of whatever type of disability that she had.
Below is an article about how children with disabilities have it harder in school than others. http://psychcentral.com/lib/teens-with-intellectual-disability-have-it-harder/0007894
Although I didn't like this reading I managed to find some interesting points that Kliewer mentions on the very first page of the article, that I agreed with. Kinglsey claims that we need to break the barrier for people with disabilities which I believe is true. In order to break the barrier of people with disabilities, other people need to not be so judgmental and stereotypical of people that have disabilities. I believe in order for this work these two groups of people need to come together and by doing that students and students with disabilities should come together in a school setting. Just because a student has a disability doesn't make them any different from a non-disability student besides the fact, of course, that they have a disability. Just like we talked about last week with grouping students who have a higher I.Q with the better teachers and the students who aren't that smart or need more help, are placed with teachers that don't care. These teachers believe that there students are "stupid" and because of that judgment, the students placed in a lower class setting are loosing out on their education. I feel the same way with students that have a disability. Students that have a disability are typically placed in the same section of the building but teachers and aids must also remember that not every student has the same disability, therefore some students are capable of doing a lot more and shouldn't be labeled to be placed into those types of classrooms. These students should have reign but also some guidance in pointing them into the right direction.
A student that has a disability usually has no control over this happening to he or she, so why punish them even more to being limited to doing certain activities and learning certain things? It's not. I can remember back in high school, there was one part of our school which was called the 300's and that was were all the special education classes were, people with disabilities. After being in my Senior year in high school, I remember this one girl who I never even knew had some type of disability because she dressed and acted so normally but because she was in those classrooms and walked with the students with disabilities I knew she was. She tried so hard to fit in and be one of the popular girls that it broke my heart to have to see her be limited to meeting certain people in high school because of whatever type of disability that she had. Below is an article about how children with disabilities have it harder in school than others. http://psychcentral.com/lib/teens-with-intellectual-disability-have-it-harder/0007894
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Literacy with an Attitude
For this weeks reading I had a little bit of trouble trying to get through the reading especially considering that it was thirty five pages, but after managing to read it, I couldn't believe how it connected so well with Delpit. I decided to do my blogpost this week on the connection of Finn and Delpit. Delpit is all about rules and codes of power and that is exactly what Finn was talking about in the reading. While teaching in his classroom, he is in complete control and he makes sure that his students know this. Finn claims, "I didn't say to an errant student, "What are you doing?" I said, "Stop that and get to work." No discussion. No openings for an argument."
Finn shows in his classroom exactly what Delpit wants. In Delpit's reading she emphasizes that we have to teach these rules and codes of power as well as helping students to value their home culture, all at the same time. Finn explains all of the different mechanisms that he has to keep the classroom under control and it seems to work. Although he feels that he is too controlling, that's the only way to keep it tamed. For example, any parent who let's their teenage child do whatever they want when they want to without any rules or codes of power than he/she is going to let loose and be wild, not having any respect towards anyone and same goes for schooling. If you have a teacher that let's the students control the classroom then you bet your bottom dollar that they are going to take control and only work when they feel like it. This is why it is very important to have rules and power in school as well as at home too.
Students who have rules at home have a better understanding of what it is like to follow directions at school whereas students who don't have rules and codes of power at home find it difficult to follow directions at school. Both Finn and Delpit believe the rules and codes of power is a success when teaching a classroom.
Below is a link of an article that provides good information about when Delpit and Finn talk about using power and control of their classroom, as a teacher. http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/sept96/vol38/num06/Managing-Today's-Classroom.aspx
Monday, March 24, 2014
Brown vs Board of Education
When I saw that the reading for this week was going to be about the Board of Education I was very excited. I can remember back in the tenth grade I had to do a huge report on Brown vs. Board of Education. Although I can't remember much of what it was about I do remember the main points especially after this weeks reading. On the website that we had to look at, it talked about the Civil War and how it was meant to pave rights for everyone, but during the early 1900's, many of the laws were put in place which caused segregation. But one thing that was established was that there was a fight for civil rights for blacks, which proves that their was some type of effort.
In
the Wise videos, it was said that there is evidence of racism of people
of color that is still relevant. It also claims that racism is sometimes
defeated, which is a step up from what it has been, but it is not always
defeated. There was also an interesting idea, that there are certain
exceptions for certain people. Some people of color are accepted,
but this is not really helpful when there are still so many other people out there of minority. There aren't any particular white acceptable people, just based on their
race; so why is it that way for the colored? There is no racial equity,
and until that day, I feel that there will always be racism. Another
interesting idea from Wise was that all the movements for acceptance of
blacks has taken time, and although it is taking time, us Americans are moving forward with it which is a good thing. Also, an
ironic thing was that this piece mentioned Brown vs. Board of Education
and said that it was a big step forward.
What connects these two pieces together is that they both say that it took some time to make a change. The website on the Board of Education had a timeline so you could easily see the years that went by to change everything. The video also explicitly says that it has taken time as well.
Below is a link of a video that I found on YouTube which talks about the Brown vs Board of education case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Q-zd8PgeA
In
the Wise videos, it was said that there is evidence of racism of people
of color that is still relevant. It also claims that racism is sometimes
defeated, which is a step up from what it has been, but it is not always
defeated. There was also an interesting idea, that there are certain
exceptions for certain people. Some people of color are accepted,
but this is not really helpful when there are still so many other people out there of minority. There aren't any particular white acceptable people, just based on their
race; so why is it that way for the colored? There is no racial equity,
and until that day, I feel that there will always be racism. Another
interesting idea from Wise was that all the movements for acceptance of
blacks has taken time, and although it is taking time, us Americans are moving forward with it which is a good thing. Also, an
ironic thing was that this piece mentioned Brown vs. Board of Education
and said that it was a big step forward.What connects these two pieces together is that they both say that it took some time to make a change. The website on the Board of Education had a timeline so you could easily see the years that went by to change everything. The video also explicitly says that it has taken time as well.
Below is a link of a video that I found on YouTube which talks about the Brown vs Board of education case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Q-zd8PgeA
Thursday, March 20, 2014
In The Service Of What?
In this article I decided to pull some quotes that I thought was interesting and could elaborate a little more on. In the beginning of this article it was confusing to me because I wasn't fully aware of the difference between the "charity" and "change" types of service learning. After reading the article over again I realized the differences and began to develop a keen sense of the differences between the two. From my understanding, my view on the service learning charity could teach students important values and possibly change their views, in of course a positive way. In this article, both Kahne and Westheimer explain that a music class went to a school in and area that performed poverty from the attending students. These students talked about the school that was located in a poor neighborhood and how scared they were for the things they thought they knew about the students who went there. This also connected me to Inspiring minds in the Providence Schools. My first day I was very nervous and scared for I didn't know what to expect. The students in the music class performed a service and ended up learning from this. The original learning was done at the school in the poor neighborhood and it was continued while they ended up discussing their experience in class. I personally believe that if students are demanded and have an expectation to perform community service, they are in fact completing the service portion of service learning, but only partially.
"As is commonly the case with new policy initiatives, however, more attention had been focused on moving forward than on asking where we are headed"
This is an important quote in the article because it shows the articles main point. Most policies start without the planning that they deserve. An example of this happened in my high school. Throughout the year several times the new graduation requirement was changed because it was not planned very well. This was frustrating to many students because teachers or administrators were unable to answers questions that students had because of the poor planning. This was similar to Khane, and Westheimer when they wrote about service learning and how quickly it entered the education system without an effective learning strategy which resulted into not being well-developed.
"In Atlanta students simply write a 500-word essay describing their experiences. They never discuss their experiences as part of a course. In fact, many of the major legislative proposals have a minimal reflection component- sometimes for fear that such an orientation would diminish the focus on altruism"
I personally believe that Christensen would not like this. With the policies that with held in this quote, the students are taking action by volunteering in their community but they are not reflecting upon their experiences in a meaningful way. Performing and action and then writing about it does not compare to the what the student learned in a meaningful way of their experiences. In order to make it meaningful, their needs to be a class discussion which shows progress of learning. After doing a project it should not stop with just the project but should be continued with a reflection. During the reflection process it could be difficult for it could make or break a project but when it is being forced on a student it is most likely going to break it.
"In the service of what?" is a question that inevitably merits the attention of teachers, policy markers, and academics who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America's schools"
The purpose for writing this article, I believe, was to elaborate on the importance of answering the question, "In the service of what?" If we continue to take action upon service learning without answering this question, then their is a possibility that we could end up with strategies to incorporate service learning into the curriculum. For example, Mr. Johnson's project ended with a few unsuccessful results. The argument that the author tries to portray to their readers is that people who enjoy service learning should realize that service learning becomes a very effective method before you implement it.
Below is an article that I found online about service learning and all the great things that come from it. I found this really interesting and thought it was very realateable to what we read!
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.black/benefits_of_participation_in_service
"As is commonly the case with new policy initiatives, however, more attention had been focused on moving forward than on asking where we are headed"
This is an important quote in the article because it shows the articles main point. Most policies start without the planning that they deserve. An example of this happened in my high school. Throughout the year several times the new graduation requirement was changed because it was not planned very well. This was frustrating to many students because teachers or administrators were unable to answers questions that students had because of the poor planning. This was similar to Khane, and Westheimer when they wrote about service learning and how quickly it entered the education system without an effective learning strategy which resulted into not being well-developed.
"In Atlanta students simply write a 500-word essay describing their experiences. They never discuss their experiences as part of a course. In fact, many of the major legislative proposals have a minimal reflection component- sometimes for fear that such an orientation would diminish the focus on altruism"
I personally believe that Christensen would not like this. With the policies that with held in this quote, the students are taking action by volunteering in their community but they are not reflecting upon their experiences in a meaningful way. Performing and action and then writing about it does not compare to the what the student learned in a meaningful way of their experiences. In order to make it meaningful, their needs to be a class discussion which shows progress of learning. After doing a project it should not stop with just the project but should be continued with a reflection. During the reflection process it could be difficult for it could make or break a project but when it is being forced on a student it is most likely going to break it.
"In the service of what?" is a question that inevitably merits the attention of teachers, policy markers, and academics who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America's schools"
The purpose for writing this article, I believe, was to elaborate on the importance of answering the question, "In the service of what?" If we continue to take action upon service learning without answering this question, then their is a possibility that we could end up with strategies to incorporate service learning into the curriculum. For example, Mr. Johnson's project ended with a few unsuccessful results. The argument that the author tries to portray to their readers is that people who enjoy service learning should realize that service learning becomes a very effective method before you implement it.
Below is an article that I found online about service learning and all the great things that come from it. I found this really interesting and thought it was very realateable to what we read!
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.black/benefits_of_participation_in_service
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