"Becoming Something Different"

I really liked this reading for this week. It was very interesting and I liked how they included all the dialogue from the little girl. From doing that it gave a better perspective of what this young girl was like. Throughout the reading I had the feeling that this young girl did not have the confidence she needed. Because she was Mexican and had just moved to Texas she was obviously not up to speed with the rest of the children but she was certainly capable. When they started talking about how she made a group of friends that were really supportive of her academically and socially it was a good turning point in the reading. It is really important to have people that become close to you that can relate to you and that can help you. You cannot do everything on your own and it is okay to ask for help.  For me, it was very scary coming to college I felt like I was going to be completely on my own but that is not the case. I met so many people last semester and have many friends that I have been friends with for years that go to RIC. Being in FNED 150 last semester really helped a lot also. I have a very generous and caring teacher that really just wanted to help us. I know that I can email her with any question I have and she always gets back to me. Things started changing for the better for Esme in the reading when she met these friends. It is better to go through things with someone else there, always.

*Does anyone else have someone that they go to at school that they can get help from, like a friend or a previous teacher?

Wise - 3 Quotes

  1 . "In other words, whites are fully capable of competing for and receiving any of the other monies-, roughly 99.75 percent of all the bucks out there for college. But apparently, that's just not good enough for the likes of the BU Republicans."
This quote stood out to me because this is what this article is mainly about and I feel like whites are capable of recieving most scholarships. It is disturbing that people can actually complain about something like this.
2. "In truth, only 3.5 percent of college students of color receive any scholarship even partly based on race, suggesting that such programs remain a pathetically small piece of the financial aid picture in this country, irrespective of what a gaggle of reactionary white folks might believe."
This second quote stood out to me because what these people are argueing about isn't even worth it due to this fact.
3. "Of course, on an even more basic level, to complain about so-called unfair preferences for students of color, be it in terms of scholarships or affirmative action policies in admissions, is to ignore the many ways in which the nation's educational system provides unfair advantages to whites, from beginning to end."

This last quote stood out to me because it made me think of all that has been done wrong to african american in general with racism especially in schools. Being segregated, harassed, only being allowed to sit at the back of the bus and whatever else was done to them in the years of Martin Luther King Jr. This should not even be in the running for arguement with what they have been put through.

Gender & Education

http://gender-issues-in-schools-today.wikispaces.com/Goal+1+-+Academic+Achievement

"Tips for teachers :

1. Make sure our expectations are the same for all of your students. Both genders can succeed in math and reading (Parents' Source, 2010).
2. Do not accept anything less than every students' best work.
3. Be sure to call on boys and girls equally for every subject and praise them equally for a job well done.
4. Try to put girls and boys in non-traditional situations (Parents' Source, 2010)."



"In Service of What?" Kahne & Westheimer

 

I really liked this reading. It made me think a lot about how I never had opportunities in High School to do service learning and community service. When I started tutoring it made me feel really good that I am do something to help other people. It is a good feeling of self-satisfaction and I also love doing things for other people. My group of friends I have call me the mom of the group because I am also doing things for other people and most of the time, for them. I love the feeling of doing something for someone else and I love to see smiles on people’s faces due to something I had done for them.

The only type of service learning I did in High school was a graduation requirement that was done in my sophomore US History class. We got into groups chosen by the teacher. I didn’t really know anyone in my group so we were kind of all miserable and just wanted to get it over with. We decided to collect food cans at the local Stop & Shop for hungry children around the US. So on a Saturday morning my group of four other teenagers got up on our day off from school at seven in the morning. It was definitely not a fun experience.

               When I started tutoring I got the feeling of regret. I wish that I had done more service learning projects and community service in High School and even Middle School. It is hard to tell if people actually really enjoy something like this or if they do it just for a grade or whatever it may be. I guess the only way you can really find out is if they do it for own experience or something like that.

http://youtu.be/NVs22pLzCoo

Talking points: Did anyone do some kind of service learning or community service that was really interesting or touching?

Post # 4

 Michaelson, “Inclusion and Social Justice for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Members of the Learning Community in Queensland State Schools”

I liked reading this article. I felt that it was very informative and interesting. This reflection is mainly about the experiences that I unfortunately haven’t had. When we first started talking about this topic in class I was very curious and intrigued due to my lack of knowledge on the subject. Watching the video in class and reading the children’s books on the subject of GLBT, I wasn’t aware of schools that taught about Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender. I thought in my head while watching the video that this may have been after I got out of elementary school but the clothing the children in the video were wearing made me think otherwise. I never knew that there were schools around the United States that had Gay Pride day and I also was not aware of the books on GLBT.

 I went to public school my whole life and I was never taught anything about this subject in any of my classes, or ever had a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender teacher that would be open to talking about their sexuality. Not until High School, did we have a group called the “Gay/Straight Alliance” and every year we have a day of silence for Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual and Transgender people. On this day if you supported the GLBT idea you would wear a sticker and not talk all day unless needed. I always thought this was such a good idea for support and almost the whole school would do it.  Learning about this, this week, I feel very unfortunate to never have been able to discuss this topic in school. I think that kids should talk about it openly to become more comfortable with the idea and learn more about it before they are so quick to judge. But, while having our discussion in class the whole time I was wondering how do you really get into this topic with young children?

http://gaylife.about.com/od/gayteens/ss/studentteacher.htm