Johnson

Premise:

-priviledge
-power
-difference
-community
-rejection
-schools
-problem
-answers
-hatred
-acceptance

Authors Argument:

Johnson argues that the more aware and the more people talk about roblems we have in society the more likely we are to be able to face the problem and solve it.

Evidence:

-"The problem of privilege and oppression is deep and wide, and to work with it we have to be able to see it clearly so that we can talk about it in useful ways"
-"We won't end oppression by pretending it isn't there or that we don't have to deal with it"
-"Dare to make people feel uncomfortable, beginning with yourself"
- "It simply means acknowledging an obligation to make a contribution to finding a way out of the trouble we're all in and to finding constructive ways out of the trouble we're all in and to finding constructive ways to act on that obligation"

Comments:

I felt that this peice was very easy to understanding and read. Also i think that the topic was great and caught my attention right away. i agree with him 100%. problems cant be solved if we dont realize the proplems and run into them head on. there is no point running around a topic, it is easier to just face it. Also i loved the quote "dare to make people feel uncomforatable, begining with youself", this quote is sooo true. Some things are hard to face and talk about but if we can crack open our hard outershell we can get down to the problem without feeling awkward adventually and it will be easier to talk to others once we can comfortable face it ourself.

P.S. ~ things went great on thursday :) all of the group was there and we got a game plan ready and a day to meet up to finish everything up

Orenstein

Premise:

-gender
-inequalities
-girls
-boys
-comparisions
-self confidence
-self esteem
-education
-community
-families
-schooling
-statistics
-fairness
-hidden curriculum

Authors Argument:

Orenstein argues that teachers need to watch how they teach curriculum differently with different genders. She warns that we need to be fair for both girls and boys with out making one stand out as better. Also we ned to stop assuming what we see as feminine or masculine. She also talks about the "hidden curriculum" that can effect girls self-esteem and self-confidence.

Evidence:

-“ Boys perceive equality as a loss”
-"Curriculum should be both a window and a mirror for students , that they should be able to look into other's worlds, but also see the experiences of their own race, gender, and class reflected in what they learn."
-"Sexual harassment is part of the hidden curriculum for girls, and for boys, too, because they learn whether it has anything to do with them or not"

Comments:

I thought that this article was a great read. It was easy to understand what Orenstein was trying to get across and it proved so many point si never thought of. Schools, media, ect. all point men out as the masculan and dominating type and show women as silent. This article also helped to teach me about things i was blind to. I did not even realize how much the media and schools effected the way i view myself as a women and view men. It was a great read and i feel it will help me a lot not only in the classroom but in my life experiences.

Tim Wise

Premise:

-race
-minorities
-priviledge
-real action
-income/money
-opportunity
-cause and effects
-invisibleness
-treatment
-differences

Authors Argument:

Wise argues that white people have always been priviledged so they do not see the inequalities that others have. The ideas white people have are ingraved into them that they do not even rocognize the racism around them.He also believes that the progam of affermative action we have now is only furthur benefitting whites, not truely helping the problem.

Evidence:

-“privilege, to us, is like water to the fish: invisible precisely because we can not imagine life without it.”
-"We strike the pose of self-sufficiency while ignoring the advantages we have been afforded in every realm of activity: housing, education, employment, criminal justice, politics, banking, and business."
- “White families , on average, have a net worth that is 11 times the net worth of black families, according to a recent study; and this gap remains substantial even when only comparing families of like size, composition, education, and income status.”

Comments:

I really enjoyed this article. It was easy to read and it really opened my eyes. Whites get priviledges everyday, but blacks only get a few and the few they do get, people complain about. Another thing i like about the article is how anyone can relate to it. Everything in the srticle i backed up with substancial evidence which makes it even more eye opening.

Charles Lawrence

Premise:

-race
-truth
-lies
-hate
-denial
-seperation
-power
-labeling
-inequality

Argument:

Lawrence argues that there is still much segregation in schools. The laws and court ulings alone can not do enough. People need to realize how much this effects children in schools and there needs to be change.

Evidence:

- “Segregation’s only purpose is to label or define blacks as inferior and thus exclude them from full and equal participation in society.”
-"Equality of education is not enough, there can be no equality under a segregated system. The American negro is not a dominant minority; therefore he must fight for complete elimination of segregation as his ultimate goal."
-"If one views the Brown case narrowly, as a case intended to desegregate the nation's schools, history has proven it a clear failure."

Comments:

This reading was very very hard. I continuously needed to go back and re-read thins and at times even look up words. I am still not to sure that i fully comprehend the message that Lawrence is trying to get through. But overall i do not think there is much segregation in our generation, i feel the difference lies mostly in the hands of our grandparents. The more and more generations being born will hopefully lead to less and less segregation.

Oakes

Premise:

-student abilities
-teaching methods
-classroom atmosphere
-opportunities
-learning speeds
-grouping
-skills
-curriculum

Author's Argument:

Oakes argues that children are placed into "lower level" classrooms at an age that is too young to truely show the childs ability. Also she argues that children in "lower level" classrooms do not get equal treatment and education as those in "higher level" classrooms.

Evidence:

-"In low-ability classes, for example, teachers seem to be less encouraging and more punitive, placing more emphasis on discipline and behavior and less on academic learning"
-“No wonder we find a “rich get richer and poor get poorer” pattern of outcomes from tracking.”
-"Sterotyped as "less-able" and have fewer opportunities to learn."
-"Obviously, the kinds of changes likely to promote high quality learning for all students in heterogenous classrooms go far beyond mere fine tuning of current practice. These changes also require fundamental changes in the structure of schooling and teachers work."

Comments:

I really enjoyed this article, it was an easy read and easy to understand. The idea of the article was also great. It really brought attention to the needs ALL children have in the classroom and how they ALL need to be treated equally. All of the labeling teachers and school put on children only put a disadvantage on the children and do not let them perform to their best abilities. We assume to much. I see this in my VIPS classroom, there are children who leave to go see a resource teacher everyday. Lately the resource teacher has been absent, my techer does not take his very well. She says things lie "they are so hard to handle and they hold the rest of the class back because of all the attention and time they need". Also she talks about how desperatly they need that other teacher to help them, but instead of teaching "them" and helping "the students who need more help", she puts them on the computers with head phones on. This leads to them missing the lesson and actually placing "them" furthur behind the class, not because they could not to the work but because unfortunatly these kids where not even given a chance to learn it. I think this was a wonderful acticle and pointed out a crucial (spelling :/) point for all teacher to consider, including special education teachers.

Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Premise:

-charity
-community service
-volunteering
-experiences
-learning
-politics
-morals

Author's Argument:

The author's argue that service learning should become part of all school chriteria because it build character and help the community.

Evidence:

-"In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning activities seek to promite students' self-esteem, to develop higher-order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences"
-"However, there are numerous ways in which a curriculum focused on giving provides opportunities for students to develop caring relationships, especially when compared to a traditional academic curruculum."
-"Efforts to integrate service learning activities into the curriculum have great potential and deserve the support they are now receiving."
-“They stress the importance of compassion for those in need, and they encourage children and young adults to find ways to help.”

Comments:

This article was a little more difficult to read than I exspected but once i got through the introduction it got easier to understand what the author's where trying to get through. Also this article brought up a really good point that servise learning should become more manditory in school systems. This would be a wonderful help to communities in need and also give students great opportunities to discover things they would have never imagined they would have enjoyed.

Christensen

Premise:

-stereotypes
-children books/ movies
-media
-gender
-racism
-minorities
-myths
-inequalities
-learning lifestyle
-change
-hidden message/ secret meaning

Authors argument:

Christensen argues that the media greatly impacts and effects the minds of children and what they see and learn from the media change how children view others. He feels similar to how Carlson felt along the lines that he thinks we need to change how the media portrays people but it might not be very realistic at times.

Evidence:

- "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream." this quote is a great quote to see what Christensen is trying to get through from this piece. It demonstrates how much he feels the media impacts our children and their outlook on the world.
-"Although these stories are supposed to merely entertain us, they constantly give us a secret education.”
-"But I want students to understand that if the race of the character is the only thing changing, injustices may still remain."

Comments:

As both a child and now as a teenager, i have ALWAYS! loved DISNEY movies and TV shows. This makes it very difficult to fully agree with what Christensen. There is so much i think she is looking to deeply into, also she keeps making exceptions for the princess and characers in TV shows tht arent white like saying "...I show a Popey cartoon, "Ali Baba and the 40 Theives," that depicts all Arabs with the same face, same turban, same body,--and they are all thieves swinging enormous swords." She is making an exception to the fact that there is a Arab Disney Princess. There is also Pocohontis, Mulan, Jasmin, Ariel, SnowWhite, Arorah, Bell, Cinderella just to name a few, and they al have different traits like poor white girls and rich arabian girls that all have a different meaning behind the story. But i do agree that the media does afftect the way that children percive the world and demonstrate the culture of power.

Law & Order:SVU- Transgender issue

i was watching TV and Law & Order:SVU came on which is a show about the special victims unit (SVU) and it sually deals with rape victims. What i thought was interesting was the fact that in this episod there was a transgender man who dressed like a women, her name was Charlie and she now called herself Charlette. She had a boyfriend but the boyfriend did not know that she had the phsical parts of a man. She wanted to get surgury to phsicaly make her into a woman but her boyfriends brother found out before she could get the surgury and tried to rape her in the bathroom. To protect herself she hit him over the head and accidentally killed him. While Charlette and her boyfriend were being interigated the cops told her boyfriend that she was a man and this drove the boyfriend crazy and eventually killed himself for loving a man. Also by the end of the show the jury found Charlette guilty of man slaughter in the first degree. The prosecuter did not even believe she should be but away for this crime so tried to take it easy on her to help her be found not guilty, but the jury saw her as a not normal MAN and but her away.
The worst part was that even after she was convicted they placed her in a male prison, she pegged to at least be put into a womens prison but because of her phisical sex she was bu ino a male prison because she did not get her surgury in time. While she was in the all male prison she was beaten so badly and gang raped so badly that she was but into critical care in a hospital, and that was how it ended.

This really shows how hard transgender and transexuals have it in society. The fact that she testified saying that she was scared to leave her house because she never knew what people would say or do to her is very sad. Also the fact that her boyfriend killed himself because he was in love wih a "man" is horrible.

Also this leaves a weird impression about transgenders on the viewer. You could look at this sympathetically and realize how hard some poeple have it in,life or riticruel them even more beauce of their personal choices.

One quote i thought was great was when Charlette said to the prosecuter "I dont regret anything, I did not chose to be this way... This is just the way I am, this is how i feel whole."

Just though this was interesting and wanted to share :)

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community by Dennis Carlson

Premise:

-homosexuality
-heterosexuality
-gayness
-straighness
-lesbianess
-American culture
-tolerance
-gender
-race
-class
-school
-normalness
-democratic
-secret lives
-misunderstanding

Argument:

Carlson argues that school systems do not educate our children enough about sexual orientation and ignore an important issue that is at hand.

Evidence:

-"Public schools in particular have often promoted such "normalizing" conceptualizations of community that are based on defining a cultural center or "norm" and positioning class, gender, race, and sexual Others at the margins." (234) Carlson is asking why teachers are pushed to talk about some things and exclude others that are not concidered "normal". (who decided what was normal in the first place??)
-"It is now estimated that up to one third of all adolescent suicide vitims 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..." Carlson is trying to show how hard people are on homosexuals and how there is no ned for it.
-“Abuses get tolerated because gay teachers and students operate in an environment where they feel afraid to stand up for themselves, and because any discussion of gay people continues to be absent in the curriculum so that homophobia is not interrogated.”

Comments:

I felt that this article was a little more difficult at times than some of the others, but it brought a very good point to our attention. Homosexuals have a difficult life because people do not understand how they feel. It is ubsetting to know that so many people have to deal with such hard lives just because of who they are and having to hide who you are to try to act "normal" is very sad. I agree with Carlsons feeling about this topic and i feel that a person sexual orientation is there own business and we should understand other peoples views more openly.

Aria

Premise:

-children
-parents
-teachers
-school systems
-language
-private/ home life
-public life
-struggles
-learning barriers
-trust
-communication
-sacrifice

Argument:

The author, Rodrigues, argues that children should not be forced to learn english because thats what "america speaks". He belives that the language is more than just a way of communication but a way to identify oneself.

Evidence:

-Rodrigues states that language is what holds a family together and if that is taken away then the family is torn apart
-People start to become ashamed of themselves for not knowing english so change who they really are
-children learn to "silence" themselves, "unsmiling, ever watchful, my teachers noted my silence"
-Children where no only silenced in public but also at home. "The families quiet was particular due to the fact that, as we children learned more and more english we shared fewer and fewerwith their own parents.
-today children lose a sense of individuality when bilingual because they want you to conform to what society wants
-hard to exspess oneself in a foreign language

Comments:

This article really made me focus on how much of an impact language has on children. Although I understand that a child may have a dominant language, I also feel there needs to be a common language between teacher and student, not always englsh but a language both parties can understand. This will give children better and more opportunities to do well in both their public and private lives. Its sad for a child to have to lose a language, especially at home, but i think parents could take some more responsibility in making sure the child does not lose their first language and communication with their family.

For my service learning i help out in a ESL class. It is very sad for me to think that some of the children i teach can be going through this same situation at home. Also this does bring a hhuge learning barrier into the classroom because even the children in the class do not all speak one language, there is a variety of languages so it is very difficult to communicate in many situations. I just hope that their parent are reinforcing their language at home.

Kozol and Goldberg

Premises:

-Enemies
-Whites Vs. Blacks
-STDs
-Religion
-Rich vs. Poor
-Education
-Poverty
-Every day life
-living facilities
-Family
-Friends
-Death
-Sickness
-Drug abuse
-Sex
-Jobs
-Opportunities

Argument:

Depending on the amount of money you make, determines how you are treated in society. Kozol thinks that the amount of poverty in our society and the amount of racism that goes on is affecting the learning abilities of the children. America does not want to face the facts and is blinded by what they have in front of them and do not consider what their neighbors might be living through. They are simply only concerned about themselves.

Evidence:

"You see alot of prostitues down there as well. Furthur down. By the express way... Then we get illegal dumpers. People who dont live here come and dump thing they dont want: broken televisions, boxes of bottles, old refrigerators, beat up cars, old pieced of metal, other lovely things. They do in the wee hours of the morning."... "I've got quite a few nice things that way. Not long ago, somebody dumped a pile of chairs and tables in the street. Brand-new. I was offended but i was also blessed. I took the two chairs." (11)

"I believe that what the rich have done to the poor people in this city is something that a preacher could call evil. Somebody has power. Pretending that they dont so they dont need to use it to help people- thats my idea of evil." (23)

"I am in hell and you are not and so i hate you and i have to try to bring you down to where i am. I feel pity for them and fear becuase theyre lost."...."My teacher says we came here in chains and now we buy our own chains and we put them on ourselves" (24)

Comments:

Its sad to know that the poverty is so high in some places. For people to just dump their trash in someone elses home, is not right. But hey, one mans trash is another treasure.. haha.. Anyways, the idea of children having to also live in these conditions and view the world as such a horrible place is not the way the world should be viewed. This makes it difficult for them to have a "normal life and education". I was also shocked by the enviness people have by one another always needing to be better than the other person and keeping others down is not good.

My first post

My names Heather, Im 18 and a freshmen @ RIC, im currently majoring in Elementary Ed and Math or Special Ed. This semester has been going pretty good so far. Im starting to adjust to college life. I hope to get alot of experience out of this class working with diversity and actually working with kids. I hope to have an amazing semester :D