Ira Shor "Education is Politics"

Quotes:
"A curriculum designed to empower students must be transformative in nature and help students to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to become social critics who can make reflective decisions and implement their decisions in effective personal, social, political, and economication"

In classroom the lesson plans and teaching needs to have values and guide the students to act on their own. Their decisions reflect their critical thinking skills and become social critics, to question everything they see. (curiosity)

"The difference between empowering and traditional pedagogy has to do with the positive or negative feelings students can develop for the learning process. In traditional classrooms, negative emotions are provoked in students by teacher-centered politics."

Traditional pedagogy generate boredom and a need to escape for the students. It ignores their language, tradition and diverse culture because it focus on what they have to learn and not what they're supposed to learn. Politics should be freedom to think and to express. The teacher should just be the guide that lead that discussion and let the "people" speak freely and learn what they want to learn.

"People are naturally curious. They are born learners. Education can either develop or stifle their inclination to ask why and to learn."

Everyone is interest in something and to spark that interest we have to find out what it is. That is what education is all about, learning about what you love and strive to be good at it. Education helps you find that interest and guide you to pursue your goal. Elementary, Jr. High and High School is the perfect place to be to find it before going to higher education because a lot of people are lost in college when they don't know what interest them. It is because traditional schooling taught them what to learn in school instead letting them chose.

Comments:
Education is a lot like politics because you need to have freedom and speak your will. Being told what to do can be difficult to learn and not be bored or sick of it. It is easier said than done because teachers has to follow a certain curriculum and meet standards. However, it can be done when teachers relate the lesson to things that everyone share in common and lead the discussion it will be more effective.

http://www.indiana.edu/~leeehman/Brantmeier.pdf

Klieweer, "Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome"

Quotes:
"Now we know that people with disabilities can learn and have a full, rich life. The challenge is to erase negative attitudes about people with developmental disabilities, get rid of the stereotypes and break the barriers for people with disabilities." (Kingsley, 1996, p.6)

This quote described the people with disability having the ability to learn and do what anyone else can do. However, they are held back by the stereotypes portray by non-disabled people telling them that they cannot do it or that they need so much help that it will be almost impossible for them to achieve their goal. They just learn at a different speed, but it is possible for them to gain the same knowledge as a "regular" person.

"I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education. I had to go through special ed. almost all my life. I wanted to take other classes that interested me. I had never felt so mad, I wanted to cry." (Peterson, 1994, p.6)

This quote represent a person with disability explaining her struggles being separated from her peers in all her classes. In these classes held her back from her full potential and she cannot pursue her goal going in this direction. It's really frustrating to have that feeling, like you are trapped and all you can do is shed tears.

It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here-kids, teachers, parents, whoever- it's about all of us working together, playing together,being together, and that's what learning is. Don't tell me any of these kids are being set up to fail. (Shayne, p. 2)

The big picture here is learning and strive to achieve your goal confidently. Kids in school and communities cannot do accomplish this due to the label put upon them by teachers or someone in power. It lowers their self- esteem, and telling them they can't do it when they can they just the positive reinforcement from the people around them.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
It really frustrate me to see lost potential. I've gone through the processed of difficult learning and it can be solved by working together with parents and teachers. It is all about the support from the community and not being labeled or brought down to special education classes. This never solve anything and it just makes the situation worst.

http://www.wnyc.org/story/301679-the-special-education-problems-we-arent-solving/
 

Social Justice Assignment

For my social justice assignment I attended two social justice presentation on November 1st. They were both very interesting and informative about breaking away from the stereotypes on women and working together as a community. The first presentation was about working confidently toward your career. It was mostly about women being the underdog in finding jobs and pursuing their careers. This is because most females will be beaten in a job position most likely if the candidate is a male. The two speakers were females that have achieved greatly in their field and is working for a job they feel they belonged in with great pay. They worked hard despite being female and made it on top of their class then graduated with master degrees in chemical engineering. They showed us all the tips for success and resources + tools we can use to help us achieve. ex. websites and organization to help minorities feel better when pursuing their career. This particular presentation reminded me of McIntosh's reading on white privilege. Although, it was not about race, it was about equality and that some people are born with privilege and they don't need to work as hard as others. Females and minorities sometimes will be intimidated and are not confident because they are afraid they can not compete for the job the love because they don't have this "privilege".

The other presentation I went to was about Central Falls and how they worked to help their community as well as learn something on the way. The speakers that was there showed us about the garden they farm for the community and everyone benefited from the freshly grown fruits + vegetables. There was also a social studies teacher whom created a safety squad out of students and taught them how to do first aid and rescues in case of emergencies. The activities they do really spark their interest because some of them went to pursue as doctors or hospital related jobs. The program they run in central falls helped students with interest in learning anything and give them community service hours. It was an eye opening experience because when people come together as a community, there is endless possibilities. It reminded me of Kahne and Westheimer, "In Service of What?" because community service is a great way to give back to your friends, teachers, people you know and your family. It has an effect for the people around you and everyone benefits from it.

 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/men-crave-competition-women-work-play/story?id=12641830

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-mcdonald/when-a-community-comes-to_b_4662269.html

Finn, "Literacy with an Attitude"

Reflection/Argument:
The reading talked argued about literacy putting labels on students in different social classes to determine their intellectual capacity. The school makes literacy based on how well the students learn and put them in different levels of "grades" ex. Finn taught at a black neighborhood where the school had 8th graders sorted by levels, 8-1s as the highest and 8-15s as lowest. The teachers with less seniority would have to "suffer", as it seems because they would have to be stuck with the kids who are struggling and are put into those classes because they got into trouble. This to me, gave kids the impression of fearfulness toward being labeled as dumb and stupid because they are in the lower classes. They will not reach the expectation they deserved because they are limited to what they can do in lower level classes. Their performance academically and socially will fall short due to the limited resources they are given. While on the other hand, the upper class kids are doing well and the teachers with a lot more experience doesn't break a sweat teaching them. That is a waste of talent putting teachers who are experienced teaching the kids who are excelling academically.
By putting labels on students who are struggling, that is equivalent of saying they are failing and they cannot get any better. There is a lack encouragements for these students and they need that motivation to do better. One cannot fix their mistakes if one does not realize their mistakes. It is a huge mistake just telling students they failed and put them in a lower level classroom because the problem will just continue or worsen. I had my own experience with the same problem and if it wasn't for my ELL teachers and family I would have learned a lot slower than I did in elementary school. When I moved to America I was in the third grade and all the assignments I did had a grade of "U". Even though I did not get any of it I still tried but they never said anything to me and just graded everything with U; even my report card had this letter grade. They brush off my struggles in literacy and because I was in a special ELL class they push me to the next grade. I did not learn much of my actually class in third grade. My dad made me learn English vocabulary over the summer and read books with translation to slow improve my English skill. I did not get labeled as dumb but the grades they gave me made me seem dumb because everyone else had A, B, C and so on. In addition, I was already in a special ELL class so they did not feel like I should be put in a lower grade. I was lucky to have the motivation from my ELL teachers and my family to get better and in some schools, the poor working class does not have that opportunity and they just had to deal with it. Everyone deserve a chance to showcase their intelligent and not everyone learn at the same pace. Putting labels on students kills their creativity and confidence in learning. A light bulb has potential to shine brightly as with any student has a chance to excel in learning. 

http://www-scf.usc.edu/~sgabay/academic%20labeling.htm

Fairbanks,Crooks, and Ariail, "Becoming Something Different"

Reflection:
This reading relates to many things I experienced as well I other people I see experience with the culture barrier and learning to adapt. Through the point of view of Esme Martinez, I can recall having that shift between two cultures. It was very difficult and requires a lot of time to get used to. My cousin and I are about the same age and we moved here at ages 8-9 so we experienced a lot of similar things. We had to speak our native language, Vietnamese at home so our family would understand and still had to learn English outside of home to keep up in school. It was definitely a struggle because I had to learn English during my summer vacation and on the weekends while I see other kids enjoy the outdoors. I also remember holding in a lot of things that I was trying to say but could not say it because I know people would have a hard time understanding what I was trying to say. However, thanks to the resources provided by the school through ELL programs and English learning books written in Vietnamese I was able to learn a lot faster. The friends that I made in ELL class also helped me learn because they knew what I was going through. Being supported by the community helped me get through the language barrier and by the time I was out of elementary school I was in regular English class like the rest of my peers.

Questions/Comments/Point to Share:
My cousins and I all speak English to each other now that it has become our second language. My parents, aunts and uncles always yelled at us telling us to speak Vietnamese at home or else we will forget our culture and native language. That advice reminded everyday to never forget my heritage and where I came from.

http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2011/1018/Bilingual-and-struggling

Kahne and Westheimer, "In Service of What?"

Reflection:
I can relate this to the service learning project we are doing in class for FNED. It's a great way to give back to the community I live in and make a difference. A lot of kids does not have the attention they deserve and one teacher cannot give all the kids in his/her classroom the same amount of attention. Service learning helps the young students learn and have a person other than their usual teacher appreciate them.
I have visit my school for 4 days total now and every visit I can see see they gotten better each time because they are getting that one on one experience. I am also learning from them as they are learning from me. They taught me the values of helping others and the experience that comes with it. I have not done any service learning in the past but this one gave me new perspective on how important it is and the impact it gives for that classroom of students.
Question/Comments/Point to Share:
Doing service learning is a start for the teaching career and it gives some experience with working in a classroom. However, is there a great difference to being a teacher managing a whole classroom? I had somewhat of a difficulty talking to 5 students at once and helping them equally. I would imagine it would being really difficult for the teacher. 

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20120311/news/703119898/

Christensen "Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us"

Argument:
Christensen argues that the media is manipulating kids at a young age. They are exposed to the racism and stereotypes that the media portrays through movies, cartoons and literature. Furthermore, at that age most kids do not question what they see and so they tend to agree with what they see. Accepting the knowledge that is exposed to them through the media makes them not question if what they see is reality or fiction.
Some examples are Disney movies with prince and princesses that are white and at the end they live happily ever after. Also, teenage mutant ninja turtles that fights the "bad guy" and never gets hurt and in reality fighting will get yourself injured in someway.
The author wants the students to analyze the characters of a cartoon and they can clearly see the racism, gender superiority, violence and other stereotypes that are related to everyday life.

Questions/Comments/Point to Share:
What are the percentage of kids that are influenced by the media to a point that they grow up believing in the stereotypes that they were exposed to? The kids who are sheltered by their parents and they only thing they have is a tv. Are they questioning what they are seeing? In my opinion the ones who are exposed more to reality will be more open minded.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/

Allen et al Speaking the unspeakable

Reflection:
In a diverse classroom, everyone needs to be treated as who they are. While I think race is important, there is also the issue of sexuality. There is an absent presence of gays and lesbian in most classroom but it does still exist. It is easier to hide compared to something such as race. However, it is a person's identity and having to hide that must be really stressful on that person. I can relate this to my years in elementary through high school because as the year progress I noticed that a lot more people are more opened to their sexuality. There was even a gay and straight alliance meeting every so often in my high school. More importantly, it should be brought up more in elementary schools so kids will grow up being more understanding and not use the word "gay" as an insult. People from my generation, in my opinion are more acceptable toward gays and lesbians than a lot of the adults. They shelter their kids and not address this problem to them when it should be known in schools and at home.

Questions/Comments/Point To Share:
 I regret being so ignorant as a kid because in school I used to insult people with the word "gay". I never had anyone tell me that its acceptable to be gay and it is not a bad thing. Does anyone else had that experience before?

https://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights/lgbt-youth-schools

"Why Can't She Remember That? Terry Merier

This author Terry Meier argues that reading is essential in school and classrooms. This is especially critical with diverse classrooms with many multilingual and multicultural students. Those students are very sharp and can absorb a lot of the information given to them through storytelling. There were examples in the reading where it said that some children, as young as 3 years old can cleverly use their language skills to get them out of trouble or get adults to do things for them. Much like Maria who got herself out of trouble with her father by saying she will hit every family members as a simple joke and not just her dad to cause disrespect, making him laugh.
In classrooms multilingual students also question the teacher on why he/she ask questions that everyone knows, because in their culture they are usually straight forward and do not ask the obvious questions. In addition, teachers has to engage students with books that interest them and they will be hooked into that book that they will memorize it to the core. Also make the book come alive and that will make their imagination blossom and they will comprehend the book even more. This includes using puppets to get the children to connect with the book and create a conversation with teacher.
Questions/Comments/Point to Share:
I can definitely relate to the little girl that ask the author on why her teacher is asking the obvious question when everyone clearly knows the answer to. I really hate that method of teaching because whenever that question comes up in my elementary school days, I would not raise my hands because I assume everyone knows it and it will be pointless to answer. My question is that does everyone feel the same way and is that method necessary in kindergarten level classes?

 http://www.readingrockets.org/article/literacy-rich-environments
 

An Indian Father's Plea

Reflection:
This piece of writing reflects on almost every individuals of different cultures whom is struggling to adapt. Minorities in the U.S education system are sometimes considered "slow" in learning when in reality they are capable human beings that can be taught, just in a different way. It is the educator's job to recognize this and provide support for these children. In addition, an educator needs patient because as the text describe learning in different environment takes times to adjust(263). It makes me think about the special programs in schools such as ESL( English Second Language) that I was in during elementary school. The program provided helped so many kids including myself learn at our own pace. I was really thankful for the teachers that was kind enough to understand that different culture learn differently and cannot be forced to make immediate change. The boy in this reading was tired of schools and started to abandon all his heritage and culture because he was being teased at school. This in my opinion is not right because each and every culture has something to contribute and we need to look at it with an opened-mind to appreciate it's values. Children that were raised in cultures are "...a full basket coming into a different environment and society with something special to share"(265).


Questions/Comments/Point to Share:
The boy in An Indian Father's Plea lost his heritage because of being teased at school. I can relate to his struggles to make friends and fit in. I was the same back in elementary school, struggling to adapt to the new environment and I changed a lot because of it. I would always bug my mom to buy new clothes in the style that everyone else wears and have the same phone as them. When I left High School not a lot of those things matter to me anymore and I realized that being who you are is what makes you shine from the rest.

http://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/culture/cultural-competence/building-relationships/main

Peggy McIntosh "White Privilege"

Reflection:
I definitely agree with the author's opinion on white privilege. When someone is born with this  privilege, they do not recognize it because they are raised to do so. It makes me think about my experiences in my own country before I moved into the United States. I had both male and race privileges because I am a native of that country. I would always hear people around me whisper badly about anyone that were from overseas, such as tourists and visitors. Furthermore, they would stare at them in a weird way just because those people were different. I did not really thought much of it until I moved to U.S where I experienced the same feeling. I was always afraid to speak out loud because I might get judged by other people or make a mistake and get laughed at. I was always the quiet kid and it was difficult to make new friends because I did not share any similarities with white children.
So it is true that anyone can be born with privilege they do not know about; until they learn what it is like not having it. In this country, it is white privilege and it gives advantage over those who does not have it.

Questions/Comments/Point to Share:
As one become more mature, does it become more obvious that white privilege exist? It did not really occur to me until later on in Junior High School. I was too young and naive in elementary school to notice it. I want to know what it is like from a white person perspective and when did they know they had this privilege.

http://occupywallstreet.net/story/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person

Introduction

 Hello, my name is Thien Nguyen but I prefer Kevin as my American name. I am 19 years of age and I was born in Vietnam. I go to college to pursue my teaching career in the second education level . I'm like how this semester is turning out. All my classes are satisfying and fun. I get to engage in a lot of conversation and share my opinions with my fellow classmates. Besides school I work at JcPenny and I love it there. The feeling of helping people is what gives me my energy to go through the day.