Literacy With an Attitude

QUOTES:

"First there is empowering education, which leads to powerful literacy, the kind of literacy that leads to positions of power and authority. Second, there is domesticating education, which leads to functional literacy, literacy that makes a person productive and dependable, but not torublesome."

-Honestly this quote kind of made me angry. Yes education plays a HUGE part in everyone's lives just about, however it does not mean in any way that education helps you with literacy. Yes obviously you learn to read through education but it does not mean you are a better reader or writer. Also, by reading certain types of literacy that does not mean you are a higher authority than everyone else in this world. Literacy should be based upon what a person enjoys and what is in their heart and they should not have to read or write something because they are told to, or told that it will make them "better". 


"They must understand the relationship between society, culture, language, and schooling."

-I really like this quote because in our class I have learned SO much more about society, culture, language, and schooling and I have realized that everyone and every enviroment is different. I think literacy would of course help students understand and realize a lot about people and this world today and I think it would interest them more and want to read and write more.

"I made the assignments easy so the least able students could do them. l had "extra credit" assignments for students who finished early, usually not too challenging but time consuming." 

-I really like this quote because when I was growing up in my elementary school I had esl students in my school. And a lot of them needed extra help and time. I think it is only fair to the whole class if everyone recieves them same work. And if that means it will be easy for some and harder for the others than so be it. Everyone learns at different paces so giving these children who need the extra time the same work as the others it shows them that they are very capable of doing the same thing. 

 

Becoming Something Different

REFLECTION:

After reading this article I automatically connected it to the 'Hunger of Memory' piece. Esme is a Latina who is coming into a new school and has to experience new things. She has no idea what people are going to think of her. Would they judge her for her ethnicity? Would they be friends with her? When she was asked to describe herself she obviously said she she was a lot smarter, last year she used to just go to school and come home and repeat every day. Now she wants to start staying after school and joining things. As I read that I asked myself "why is it that her routine was the same every single day last year?". As I reflected back to the Hunger of Memory piece I then realized it is because people are judged not only for their color but for their ethnicity, their background, and the language they speak. Is this a reason she could have been doing that every day? Were students and teachers not accepting of her? I think it is really great that the school incorporated Latino opportunities into their school. It really helps Esme be connected with other students as well as her culture. As the reading says "As our analysis demonstrates, students such as Esme, who may see themselves as only "kind of smart" and as dependent on others for guidance, are nonetheless actively engaged in the process of becoming and responding by ceding to and resisting their positioning in the school". Spanish as well as every other language SHOULD be offered in schools for students to take. So they can branch out and learn other things because not every student is the same. Everyone comes from a different background. Students like Esme coming in to this school where not one person is accepting is not right. Like the Hunger of Memory the teachers should incorporate a second language in their classrooms so every child has a chance to learn. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWP8-yBAcnY 

^ this link shows students joining a SLC (swiss language club) enjoying it, and learning new things. This should be available in every school. 

Between Barack And A Hard Place:

HYPERLINKS:

After watching this video it gave me a whole new outlook on racism in schools. How is it that we as Americans can be so racist? Why do teachers and principals make it acceptable to put black kids in a lower standard class just because they are black? It doesn't mean they are not as smart as someone who is white. Why is it that some people can make fun of black people and think its totally acceptable because they are "just joking around". What if a black person was joking around with a white person? It would be completely looked down upon. Every American can claim they are not racist, and they might not be. However there are a lot of people out there that even make comments to themselves and just think in their head racist thoughts. As the speaker in this video said if he were to ask a white person how many black friends they had the person would respond oh a lot of them because they don't want to appear racist. The speaker said if he were to now ask the person what the black friends' names are, their phone numbers, and what their moms name was the person may or may not be able to answer. Although there are people out there who do have a lot of black friends there are others that are just simply lying because they don't want to seem racist for saying they do not have any. I think that in schools starting at a young age we need to focus on racism and make it apparent to parents and students that it is a big deal and we need to end racism now. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJUAvHwdb6o


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ2xOILD38E

In The Service Of What?

QUOTES:

"Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students"

-I believe what this quote is about is that all students should be participating in community service. Not only is it good for them, it helps open their eyes and have a different outlook on life. They can learn a lot from doing some community service whether it is volunteering at a nursing home, or helping out with some cleaning at a local shelter. Either way they are seeing how another person lives. They may need some extra help with things and they can be more educated by learning how to serve. 

"The class discussed the growing economic disparity between rich and poor, the impact of homelessness on children, and the difficult balance between individual rights and collective responsibility"

-This quote is really powerful. Not all children can see how other people are living. They may be living in a home where their parents make a bit more money than other families they may be eating more than three times a day, and they may have some more material items than other children. The child may not be able to get it past them that there are children who do not have any of that at all. They may not have a home, food, or toys to play with. It is good that this class is having a discussion on how important this topic is because they may be able to do some community service and help them out. 

"The moral domain, service learning activities tend toward two types of relationships. Relationships that emphasize charity we will call "giving". Those that aim primarily to deepen relationships and to forge new connections we will call "caring"."

-This quote really made me think about life. I realize that there are people out there who will give to charities as community service just because they feel bad and want people to acknowledge them for what they do. They want to be the center of attention when in reality there are families that need more attention than the person that is doing the "giving". Then there are families that not only give, but they care. They will go out of their way and do whatever they can for families in need. Around Christmas time my church sets out a Christmas tree with paper ornaments and at the end of mass you can go down to the tree pick off an ornament with a present you need to buy for a child in need on it. I do this every year but reading this piece made me realize that I do really care about these people and want to be able to do everything I can to help them because I wouldn't want to end up in this situation. I think it is good to teach children in school how this can effect them and how they can help.
     

Unlearning The Myths That Blind Us

HYPERLINKS:

Reading this article honestly made me really angry. Media has such a big impact in today's society. Children are watching Disney movies about Princesses and Princes thinking that is the way their life should be. That every young girl should be this tall, skinny, beautiful girl, who will meet her Prince Charming and everything will be perfect. Also, young boys are seeing this and thinking that they have to chase after a girl and wait on her hand and foot. This is not true whatsoever. Today there is so much independence and we now realize and try to teach kids at a young age that you need to be yourself. If media didn't have such a big part in our every day lives this generation wouldn't think and act they way we do.

https://filmandmedia12.wikispaces.com/Gender+Roles+and+Stereotypes+Found+in+Disney+Films        

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFn81_HAvWg  

 

The link above is really powerful, it really makes you wonder why people think this way and why cant every child be accepted for who they really are, and who they want to be. 

Speaking The Unspeakable:

HYPERLINKS:


After reading this piece I had multiple different thoughts. I always thought that a child wouldn't start to ask questions about being gay or lesbian at such a young age. I thought maybe you should just avoid the subject until they are older to understand what is going on. However, children are not as innocent as they may seem. They are hearing the terms gay, lesbian, homosexual in so many different places it would only be so long until they start to wonder what it means. They also hear hurtful terms like "fag". As future teachers we are going to experience this, and after reading this piece I thought how would we as teachers approach this. I think teaching a student at a much younger age about homosexuality is much better because they are so much more open minded than a child in middle school who already knows what the term means. All in all, I think there are so many different ways you can teach a child about this topic and make them fully understand what the terms mean whether they accept it or not. 









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJxnYgP6D8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG0yqhzVuYA

HUNGER OF MEMORY

HYPERLINKS:

After reading Rodriguez's piece I realized how lost a child can be at school. Not knowing when they are going to be able to speak a language they are familiar with. They have to go in to class with the knowledge they have and learn a whole second language so they can fit in with everybody else. My dad is fluent in Portuguese so when I was a lot younger and I went to his mothers house to visit her and the rest of the family on his side I was always so scared. None of them spoke English. It is scary going into an environment where the only language you know is English. Not knowing what anybody is talking about, or if they are even talking about you. It also doesn't help that none of them spoke English so they would have no clue what I was saying. It's scary. It's like you are in a whole new world. These children in this school must be scared out of their mind. Nobody can understand them, and they are trying their best to understand everybody else. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOODZjZRaHI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob4gcERZfv8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-TMa8ZObl4

These links are really worth watching because it shows how interactive these students are with each other. They don't realize the difference between one another at all. They are all intrigued to learn another language and it is amazing that their parents want this for them as well. It teaches the students and the families to be diverse and they shouldn't only be learning English, but they should be learning another language as a second option.