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.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
"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.
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.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
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?
Thursday, February 11, 2010
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.
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