Education is Politics by Ira Shor

1. "A school year that begins by questioning school could be a remarkably democratic and critical learning experience for students."

This quote struck me as a great thing to do as a teacher. This would set up trust with students and have them understand why they are in school. I do not remember any of my teachers asking us why are we in school. If my teacher asked us to brianstorm why we were in school I think it would make things better for all of the students to focus from day one.

2. "Education can either develop or stifle their inclination to ask why and to learn."

When I read this statement I did not think too much into it. But I think I did this because education developed my inclination to learn and I took it for granted. So as I read the sentence again I thought like a kid who did not like to learn and what education did mentally to them. Since kids start education so early in life they grow to either hate or love school. This does not vary through out their lives. I do not know the statistics but my assumption is that kids who do not like school at the beginning will not like school when they age as well. Education is important but kids can be shut off by learning and it is hard to turn them around.

3. "Eucation is more than facts and skills. It is a socializing experience that helps make the people who make society."

I related this quote to the article that Delpit wrote. It is kind of like her teaching the rules and codes of power to develop the people of the future. Yes, students learn facts and knowledge but there is a whole other side to school that involves relationships and socialization. I like the fact that Shor recognizes this and tells her audience. Teachers often tell students that you are not here to socialize but to learn. I never did like those teachers because it was impossible for kids not to socialize.

I did not like this piece by Shor because I just could not get through the whole article. It just seemed so wordy and as I read I had to go back and say what in the world did I just read. I found this piece to be the most difficult to understand. I got her point somewhat but I know I will have to read more blogs in order to get the point. But what I did get out of the article was that education molds a person. If a student is turned off my learning then they will be the troubled students and not want to learn. These are the kids who become labeled as problemed and never see success in school.

Random Post 2

I know it is a week later but I keep comming across the ditto sheet that Dr. Bogad handed out to us. I remember the feeling I got when she handed them out and started to explain what to do. The more and more she explained and the more and more I read the sheet I thought it was a test. It seemed like she did not think we read the article like we were suppost to and now wanted to show us that we better do what she tells us. My nerves were sky high and I am not usually like that. I mean I read the article but was certainly not ready to take a test on it. I was ready to count off and get into groups and explain bits and pieces of it. When we were told to stop I still had two questions that I had yet to answer. Then Dr. Bogad asked us how we felt about the hand out and I knew something was up.

She told us that we should never put up with worksheets as classwork. Dr. Bogad crinkled the paper up into a ball and tossed it away and said that is what we should do when we are handed one of those. We should stick up for ourselves and say that we are offended by the worksheet. As college students we are more intelligent than doing worksheets and we should not have to do them. When Dr. Bogad crinkled the paper up and threw it to the side I was taken back a little by her reaction to the ditto sheet. But, as I kept listening to her reasoning I thought "Wow! that is so true." Who wants to do worksheets every day and feel like how I felt.

I can not imagine being given worksheets every single day. I do not think I would be able to put up with that. Some kids actually are given these ditto sheets every or most of the days. Can you imagine how that class must be? Wouldn't you dread going to that period every single day? Is that a good learning environment when each student knows that they are just going to be given a worksheet? I feel bad for those kids who are given worksheets for every lesson they have. That ditto sheet really affected me and made me think about every worksheet I am given.

Social Justice Post

I attended "Healthy Kids Day 2010" at my local YMCA in Seekonk, Ma. The Newman Y is part of the Greater Providence YMCA district and I happen to belong to it. Last Saturday they ran an informational session about keeping kids healthy throughout their lives. There were all sorts of tables set up with pamphlets and information about everything and anything. I stopped by after going to the gym to check things out. I noticed a huge diverse crowd and tons of activities going on. I checked out each station and talked with the person who was running them. I asked what their station was about and what information was being passed on to the parents of the kids. The most relatable table to our class was the table on disabilities. I read over some of the pamphlets and was shocked at the similarities to the things we talked about. There was a pamphlet on schooling and the disabled which told a parent to fight for equality at school. There were all sorts of articles about learning disabilities and how to cope with and help your child through their young lives. I stayed at this table for a while reading and understanding the views of this particular group.

Along with the Healthy Kids Day, the YMCA put on a show that their dance camp created. The girls and boys danced for a large crowd a dance they had been working on since last summer. My sister works at the YMCA camp and sees the dance camp so she informed me of them. She gave me background on the kids and how they come from underprivileged parts of East Providence and Providence. She told me about some of their families and about how some grow up without a father or mother. After the show she introduced me to one of her favorite campers who just happens to not have a father. The boy is eight years old and as I approach him me smiles at my sister. When she introduced me he reached out to shake my hand and looked me in the eye and asked how I was doing. I was taken back by the greeting but smiled happily and said good. This reminded me of Delpit and teaching the rules and codes of power. Somewhere this kid without his father was taught to shake a persons hand and greet them. I thought this was fascinating and I wondered where he had learned this. I did not want to ask him and my sister said she did not know either. Here is this boy at eight years old, underprivileged and without a father in his life shaking my hand and asking me how I am doing. I was impressed by him just by that moment and spoke with him for a few minutes. Without knowledge he was using the rules and codes of power to gain my respect and acceptance right away.

Finally, I noticed a great deal of languages being spoken at the event. The pamphlets and papers were there in both English and Spanish but I also heard other languages being spoken as well. This just shows the population of the particular YMCA as being very diverse. I really enjoyed the event and was so happy that I stopped by to check it out. The YMCA is a great place to enjoy movement with a variety of different people. Healthy Kids Day 2010 was a great success and really a diverse event.

Citizenship in School by Kliewer

1. "Community acceptance requires opportunity for individual participation in the group, but opportunity cannot exist outside community acceptance."

I chose this quote because I think it applies to every difference that people see. The quote is saying that without being accepted by the community a person who is seen as different has no chance to participate in a group. This quote really spoke out to me. I had to read it a few times but it really does make sence even beyond the context of the article.

2. "I started to notice that I didn't like the classes I was taking called special education."

This quote was taken from a girl who started to realize what these "special education" classes were all about. I chose the quote because I have always wondered if "special education" students hated being in different classes. I think I would hate it because I would just want to be in a regular classroom with all of my classmates.

3. "I don't tend to see Down syndrome as something. If you look at those three kids running around the room, they're incredibly different from one another... And with those three kids in the room it would be hard to say, "This is how you should teach kids with Down syndrome." They are not at all alike."

I chose this quote because I found it interesting that a person would say "This is how you shouls teach kids with Down syndrome." Not all kids without a disability learn alike so what makes this person think Down syndrome kids learn alike. Just because they share a disability does not mean they are totally alike.

This article was difficult for me to read. The beginning was hard to get through and I found myself skipping whole sections. Reading about the children's experiences was the only part I enjoyed. Kliewer is trying to say that students with Down syndrome should be treated just like any other student. They are thinking, creative individuals who have a lot to offer. These children should be welcomed into communities and groups just like kids without the disabilty. School citizenship only includes "normal kids" as part of their definition of diversity. This reminds me of SCWAAMP. It all goes back to this model and the different opportunities people get depending of what they are like. Able-bodied is one thing that is valued in life. What makes this the person's fault? I do not understand what people think the problem is with people who have a disability. I read some laws about disabilities in the school system.

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Anyon

1. "While the teachers spend a lot of time explaining and expanding on what they textbooks say, there is little attempt to analyze how or why things happen, or to give thought to how pieces of a culture, or, say, a system of numbers or elements of language fit together or can be analyzed."

I chose this quote about the middle class schools because it is something that creates problems for kids. Kids are taught the basics and how to get the right answer without understanding why. Critical thinking is vital to school and it is not always easy but that is what makes kids learn.

2. "The teachers rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might be connected to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or signigicance."

I chose this quote because of the last few words in the sentance. How can teachers expect to get through to their students without the work being meaningful or significant. That shocked me because I know for a fact that in middle school, if work was not meaningful to me I would not do it.

3. "If one accumulates enough right answers, one gets a good grade."

I feel like this is how many teachers teach. It seems to me like it is the easy way out for them and it requires little effort. Difficult for students though because it does not allow for much error. Learning is the same thing over and over again for these kids.

I enjoyed reading this article but was not surprised by the information. I knew there were differences in teaching in different social classes. Higher social class schools prepare the kids for life and success. Meanwhile the lower social class schools prepare the kids for order and disapline. Some of the vocabulary used in the article was shocking however and the language the teachers used with the students was also surprising. Telling them to "Shut up" I know some people have experienced that but I do not think in fifth grade. I would have liked to read futher into this topic and seen some of the results of the students later in life.

Gender and Education

I struggled to find information regarding gender and education issues that involved the United States and present day. A lot of the information was for other countries and from awhile back in time. There was also information about higher education and gender differences that pertained to that. On common theme I noticed was a difference in technology between boys and girls. The ratio of boys and girls using computers was 4 to 1. The website also explained that girls were less likely to be successful in math and science than boys. Many different websites also agreed with this information. I have heard this information repeated many times in the past. Boys excel in math and science. Girls excel in writing, English, and history. There are statistics that support these theories but I can not say that I agree with them. I have had more male history teachers and more female math teachers throughout my schooling.

"Title IX mandates that schools not deny any students participation in any educational program or activity on the basis of sex." The introduction of this website gives great information about how schools follow the legal rules of Title IX but not offer the same educational opportunities to girls. Also, it goes through gender issues in education like:

• Girls at risk of dropping out of school.
• Gender bias in teacher/student interactions.
• Gender bias in standardized testing.
• Gender difference in learning styles.
• Teen pregnancy and parenting.
• Self-esteem of girls in adolescence.

I found some of these to be interesting and read further into them within the website. I always wondered about college issues pertaining to gender differences. I know RIC is something like 60 percent women to only 40 percent men. I wondered if that was true with other institutions and if women were going to college more than men.

This chart shows that the gap is increasing between females and males over the years in college enrollment. I was not at all shocked to see this for many reasons. In the end I was not surprised by the information that I found during my search. There is most definitely a gender bias throughout education but not many people notice.

Tim Wise and Brown v. Board of Education

Tim Wise explains that racism in America has not improved much since the decision of Brown v. Board of Education. He says that the United States took a large step towards equality when we voted Barack Obama as the president but there is a double standard when it comes to the views of whites towards people of color. People of color are compared to Obama and have to be as great as he is in order to accepted by the whites. Wise says that racism will be less significant when whites allow people of color to be as mediocre as other whites.
Denial is one of the points that Wise speaks of being a huge problem for whites in the US. Wise also talks about asking whites if they think racism is a problem in the United States today. He said this is not a credible question because even back in the 60's whites said that they thought blacks were treated equally as well as whites. It is not a question to ask whites because it is not affecting them. They are 0blivious to the racism like Johnson said. The real person to talk to is the people of color who are receiving the opression. Lastly, Wise talks of all the events in the history of race and opression. He says that each moment in time was important to history but there is still so much more to do.
I did not mind the video but I am more of a visul learner so I always like to have the piece in front of me to look at. The video was interesting and engaging but I just found it difficult to listen and take notes then get back into the conversation. Wise was making so many great points all in one sentance or in a few sentances so it was just difficult to remember it all. But in the end it was something different and I did enjoy that. I am really considering the picking up his book. He also has a blog which is pretty cool to read.

Class Discussion Post

The past two classes have been really interesting with everyone's input on their SL project and charity vs. change. The first point I want to comment on is the story that Beth told the class about. She said that her teacher used the words "It's Obama's rule not mine." when explaining the rules to the class. At first I saw this as offensive and wrong for her to do but as the class kept discussing it, it became less and less offensive to me. She could have been using President Obama as a scapegoat blaming all of the rules on him. But this just does not seem rational to me when Beth told us that all of the students were of African American decent. The teacher was white so I just do not see her blaming the president but actually using him as a role model for the kids. She takes the presidential situation as a plus for the students and the bond they have together makes the "blame" she is putting on him okay in the eyes of the students. I just cannot see this teacher trying to be offensive right in front of her students.

The second point I want to comment on is the reason why my service learning project is more "change" rather than charity. I am not saying that I am doing this project solely to change these children. Of course I am doing this project because I have to and without it I would not pass the class. And as others said, most likely I will never see these kids again for even go back to the school after the project is over. But the reason my project is more change than charity is because I am not teaching these kids to read at all. What I am teaching them is to have fun with reading and the WANT to read and the WANT to learn as much as possible in school. If a child is not willing to learn something new it is almost impossible to teach them. A child can learn anything if they want and are eager to learn no matter how difficult the material. So, I am not entirely focused on if the kids are becoming better readers as much as I am trying to show them that learning is fun and they should want to learn. It is difficult to do and I do not even know if I am doing a good job because, as Dr. Bogad said, "There is no measurement of it." But even so I still think my service learning project is more change than charity.

"In the Service of What?" by Kahne and Westheimer

1. "The experiential and interpersonal components of service learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of "otherness" that often separates students-particularly privileged students- from those in need." (p.8 Kahne)

Working with and creating bonds is the first step in making students think they everyone is very similar. "Otherness" is the crucial word in this quote and the diminishing of the word is key. Service learning is important in creating experiences for students of all races and classes in creating interpersonal interactions with other races and classes.

2. "It is the combination of service and critical analysis, not either by itself, that seems most likely to promote interest in and insight into these complex social issues." (p.11 Kahne)

I chose this quote thinking about our FNED class. We are participating in a service learning project and as well doing critical analysis with the article reading to coincide with out tutoring and future education careers. We learn and analyze student's behaviors, differences, privileges, as well as other components to create our own image of education.


3. "Students tutor, coach softball, paint playgrounds, and read to the elderly because they are interested in people, or because they want to learn a little about poverty and racism before they head out into the waiting corporate world..." (Kahne)

There is more to service learning than just tutoring and coaching. Doing these services just for your own experience seems selfish to me. People should do these things to make a difference and create bonds. Service learning is not just charity work.

I was not particularly engaged by this article due to the language and overall writing of the article. I did like some of the points made in the article because I am currently doing my service learning project. The point about service learning being just charity work to some people is a little disturbing to me. They think they are doing a good service without knowing who the people the are helping really are. I think FNED has helped me understand who the people I am helping really are and what they experience day to day. Along with being aware of the children's daily difficulties, FNED has taught me how to make myself a better educator towards all students no matter their background.

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us, Linda Christensen

1. "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream." (Christensen p. 126)

I chose this quote because it gives a topic to what the author is talking about. She tells it how it is to her. Christensen says that the movies, cartoons, and books show kids how perfect life is or how life can become perfect. These media items teach children unrealistic things that they see and hear and then think is true. Once they see these films and cartoons they live their lives and compare them to their favorite cartoons and films.

2. "First, I want students to critique portrayals of hierarchy and inequality in children's movies and cartoons. Then I want to enlist them to imagine a better world, characterized by relationships of respect and equality." (Cristensen p. 127)

This quote shows the author's purpose for her writing. She tells her students to write about the cartoons and then think about the world differently then the cartoon's world. Christensen wants the children to see the flaws of the cartoons and then understand what the reality of the situation is. She calls this "unlearning the myths." Personally, I like her approach but her constant analysis a little too much for me.

3. "But what am I teaching them if the lesson ends there? That it's enough to be critical without taking action? ... I want to develop their critical consciousness, but I also hope to move them to action." (Christensen p. 134)

This quote is the "now what" of the article. It explains that it is not enough to say something is wrong with these cartoons and that action must be taken in order to make a difference. Christensen has her students take action and make others aware of these cartoons and media items.

This article was very interesting to me and I found it very easy to read. It was engaging because it had to do with cartoons and movies that I grew up watching. But to listen to the criticism of the films and cartoons was difficult. As a child I never really thought of the prejudices in these films. But also I can see how they can affect a child negatively for the future and giving them wrong outlooks on life. Looking back on some of the films and cartoons, I do see some of the negatives of them and how offensive some of them are. People in the article take their opinions to the extreme a little assuming that all children are going to be negatively affected. In the end, this piece made me think of where children are getting their information and influence. Parents influence is becoming less and less and the media is becoming more and more powerful.

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community by Dennis Carlson

1. "Within normalizing communities, some individuals and subject positions get privileged and represented as "normal" while other individuals and subject positions are disempowered and represented as deviant, sick, neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and in other ways "abnormal." (p233 Carlson)

When I read this quote I thought of Johnson and the culture of power as well as his topic of privilege. I found this quote to be important because it talks of all the positions that are under-privileged. This quote seems to come right out of Johnson's article. Carlson seems to be very similar to Johnson. Carlson seems to be troubled by the word "normal" and he seems not to like to use it.

2. "To the extent that gayness is recognized in the curriculum, it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease. For example, one of the most popular health texts on the high school market is Health: A Guide to Wellness, which mentions homosexuals or homosexuality once in acknowledging that "the first group in the United States diagnosed with AIDS were male homosexuals." (p.237 Carlson)

This quote was shocking to me but then when I thought about it, the quote was so very true. Being a freshman, its only been a few years since I've had health. I do not remember ever talking about homosexuality besides AIDS. The quote is unfortunately true. If students were educated more about this topic then maybe it would be more accepted if it was taught effectively.

3. "It is now estimated that up to one-third of all adolescent suicide victims are gay, approximately one-quarter of all homeless youth in the United States are gay, and dropout and drug abuse rates among gay youth are likewise high." (p.239 Carlson)

This quote is important to the text because it shows the damage that oppression does to homosexuals. These statistics are shocking to me and when I read them I could not believe that the numbers were that drastic. Carlson also puts quotes into his texts that are from high schools showing how students are tormented. These quotes were sad and I could not believe that kids have put up with hearing those words.

Carlson's article difficult to read because the ignorance that people have in the United States towards the gay population. To those people the word "gay" means different and not normal. I do not like this and this article makes me watch my words as well as friends words. The word "gay" has become a word meaning bad. I never understood why people used it but it became part of most everyones vocabulary. I'll admit that I was a user of the word "gay". I never thought it was a big deal because I was not against the homosexual orientation. With this article I found that anything like that is wrong and should not be said or done. Reading this article was hard because it was not the narrative that I like to read. Kozol and Rodriguez were narratives and I liked their work better. But, in the end I liked Carlson's article because he talked about things that people do not like to talk about and was not afraid to make his opinion known.

Aria, Richard Rodriguez

1. "So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality." (p.39 Rodriguez)

Rodriguez here is explaining his whole piece in one sentence. He talks of how bilingualists do not like assimilation but he does because he sees this as a way to become individualized. The quote explains how a person might become less of an individual by being assimilated but that assimilation makes a person more of an individual in public.

2. "Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are home?" (p.35 Rodriguez)

The nuns are speaking to Richard's parents about trying to help him speak English at home. I found this quote important because they are asking Spanish speaking parents to help their child speak English. It's crazy that the teachers can not help the child more, instead they go right to the parents for help. I do not know how the nuns thought the parents were going to help the children successfully.

3. "On official business, it was she, not my father, one would usually hear on the phone or in stores, talking to strangers." (p.37 Rodriguez)

The quote explains how the father, who never really took to the English language, becomes silent because he does not understand what people are saying. He no longer can take control of family or household business. He also does not talk to his children much because they are speaking English and have forgotten much of their Spanish. They also refer to their parents in English instead of papa and mama.

I found this piece to be an easy read that kept me interested. I like how it was a narrative about Rodriguez's life as a child and how he had to learn English. I think he is taking learning English as a great thing for his life. He finds assimilation to be good for an individual even though their individuality may become less noticed. His Spanish language was part of his individuality and he liked that when he was a child but when he learns English he finds out how much that helps him in public and school. Although Rodriguez does explain his hard times at home after he and his siblings learned English. His mother and father never had to learn English but their children had to because of school and their future. To me, Rodriguez has a change of heart in this piece about learning English and becoming Americanized. I really liked this story and his rational of the positives of assimilation.

Jonathan Kozol's "Amazing Grace"

Johnathan Kozol's "Amazing Grace" was a really astounding piece. The story was about children's lives in some of the most dangerous and poor streets of New York City. I found it crazy that a person could go from the seventh richest district in the nation to the poorest in nine stops on the train. It only takes 18 minutes to get between these two districts. The stories of families and people of St. Ann's Avenue are crushing to me and I just can't imagine people living that way. Unfortunatly, these people are never in the minds of most people in the US. Hardly any national news comes from those parts that people don't even know they exist.

1. "Were your parents mad at you?" He looked surprised by this. "Why would they be mad?" he asks. "God told us, 'Share!' " (p.8 Kozol)

This quote comes from a conversation between Kozol and a child named Cliffie. His family is very poor and his parents ask him to go out and get pizza. A poor man on the side of the road does not even ask him for the pizza but Cliffie knows that is what he wants. He shares the pizza because he has a very strong religious belief. Eventhough he knows how poor he is and how much he and his family needs those slices of pizza, he sees a man that is worse off that he is and helps him because God said to share. I found this quote inspiring knowing that a child so poor puts his needs aside to help a total stranger.

2. "Most of the addicts and prostitutes are black. Some are Hispanic. But they're all people of color. It made me feel frightened for my race." (p. 23 Kozol)

This quotation I found to be central in the text. The boy, Cliffie, is talking about his block and the demographic of the users and prostitutes. He says that he is worried for his race and I find this fascinating that such a young boy and realize the big picture. He knows wrong from right and many people group these races together labeling them as troubled. For this boy to understand that these people have a problem and that he needs to stay away from them is very positive and bright for his future.

3. Wiping a cloth across her throat, she says, "It was 93 degrees today. The air was so sticky you could hardly breathe. Hotter inside-but I'm afraid to open up the windows." (p. 19 Kozol)

This quote is from Mrs. Washington who is struggling with a sickness and is getting no relief with the heat. She is afraid to open the windows because she could be robbed or shot through them. I found this sad because she had to stay inside where it is hotter rather than get fresh air.

This reading was very easy and was very gripping. I found that I could not put the piece down and I was waiting for the next story. Although the stories many times were depressing, I found each of them to be a great insight into a world that not many of us think about on a daily basis.

By the end of the piece I found myself asking questions. What is next for these people? Who is going to help them? Why are we as fellow Americans not trying to help these people more? How come these people are not on the forefront of our help within the government?

ABOUT ME

My name is Kyle Harper and I am 19 years old. I am in the second semester of my Freshman year here at Rhode Island College. I am a Phys. Ed and Health Ed major looking to teach in a high school setting. My semester is going very well so far even though there is a ton to do. I enjoy the outdoors when I am not in the classroom. Winter is not a fun time for me because I dislike the cold weather. I play golf here at RIC as well as all throughout the summer. Golf is pretty much my life and I enjoy it with my family and friends. I am looking forward to a great class and a great future at RIC.