standardization

The opening paragraphs of chapter 32 were enough to help me write my blog entry because I am totally againnst standardized tests that promote rote learning and memorization. My co-op in student teaching has really helped influence my decision on this because all of her tests are short answer/essay so that the students need to explain themselves and their thought process. At first I wasn't sure that short answer tests were the best for some of her regular freshman history course and were better suited for the college prep juniors, but after seeing some of the tests that the freshman have turned in I am sold that this is a truly effective way to assess learning.
Maybe this isn't true for all subjects, but with so much to cover in social studies and so little time to get through it all, having short answer questions that encompass multiple important events really become necessary. Also, a child can memorize that the 2nd amendment involves the right to bear arms all they want, but if they don't know what that amendment means in regard to their every day life, then what is the use of memorizing the amendment in the first place?
For the most part my early education was rote learning or memorization, and I truly believe that that kind of learning made my freshman year in college that much more difficult.

chapter29

Chapter29 was pretty interesting because I never really considered math to be a subject that could be used to teach about social injustice. I really think that Gutstein has changed my outlook on the things I need to be/want to be achieving in the classroom. While the social studies may cover social injustice more explicitly, Gutstein showed that even subjects that may be seen as boring can be made interesting solely because of teacher creativitity and enthusiasm. I do realize however that creating such a classroom or curriculum will take a lot of work. And let's face it, it's not always easy to be enthused about certain subjects or to be enthused every day someone goes out and teaches but this should be a goal all teachers strive toward.

As interested as I became in the curriculum and the classroom, I liked where the article went on page 441 when Gutstein discussed how the students are directly involved in stopping social injustices through this curriculum. After reading this secion I thought to myself that it's one thing to teach about subjects on social injustice and another thing to teach students to do something about current social injustices. Hopefully I can achieve this in my classroom but I wondered if this would be a teaching style that a conservative administration wouldn't embrace?

thoughts on 20

Most of this chapter I was not surprised by...but there is one section of it that I found really interesting. That was the section on page 320 that talked about the two images of black males, the criminal and the endangered species. I thought about how evident these images are in music, and as the article points out in the media in general. The discussion in the chapter also made me think about the black males at my student teaching placement. They're interesting, and for the most part very outspoken and while the things they say don't always have to do with what's being talked about, much of what the students say can be very negative in regards to class, school, and government. I thought that this really coincides with the article's definition of the endangered species image.
The criminal image, one many of my students seem to identify with is really troubling for me in the class. When I point out the times that they are being disruptive, they think I'm picking on them only because they're black not because they've done something wrong. I've realized that most of the time the arguments they make when I address their disruptiveness during class are just a front to put on a show for the class, because when I talk to them after class they understand what they did wrong and agree to try and be a little more respectful next time, and are sometimes apologetic. It can be really frustrating when the students think I'm picking on them for whatever reason-gender, race, intelligence...but I suppose that will be something that will become easier as I gain experience.

eighteennn

I liked chapter 17 pretty much right from the beginning. The quote on page 259 that says "For some black students, doing well in school is equated with "selling out" or becoing non-black thus for them, "the burden of acting white" was too high a price to pay for academic success." From this quote on I was really interested in what the author had to say because I really see this in my student teaching experience. I have several African American students in my college prep class and many of them are super intelligent and are very involved with the government and politics. The problem I have is that while when they participate in class or they're working on an in-class assignment, the work they turn in to me hardly reflects the things I'm sure they know. I can't begin to explain how frustrating this can be...I know which kids know the material and which kids don't, but I can't grade on perceived knowledge, only what they turn in right? So when I read this quote in the opening paragraph I said to myself YESSSS they're going to tell me how to fix this problem! This wish ended up being not so much but I really thought the article was interesting.
The other quote I really liked from the article came on page 261, "This is manifest most clearly in the blacks in the United States must all share the common social experience of racism and discrimination. In this nation, the visibility of one's skin color and of other physical traits assoicated with socially devalued groups marks individuals "targets" for subordination and discrimination by members of the white society. Thus most striking commonality among blacks is the oppression they share based solely on meanings attributed to the color of one's skin." This quote was really discomforting for me...because it's just so wrong....not that what it's saying is incorrect, but wrong like damn...this shouldn't be the case!!! How can it be that the commonality among a specific group of people is the feeling of oppression that they grow up with?!!?!? This is part of why I want to become a teacher, I want everyone in my class to feel welcome and engaged. I hope that when kids do well in my classes they don't have to feel like they're selling out, just that they're doing what they're supposed to be doing....

gangster!

For my portion of my group's presentation I am focusing on programs that combat gang activity not only in school, but in the community as well. When I first started reading the article I am posting about (which evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the GREAT program) I thought that fighting gang activity in and out of school is a huge bite for the program to try to take. I realized however that gang activity in and out of school virtually goes hand in hand. If gang activity wasnt so prevalent outside school the effects of gangs would probably significantly less within our schools....right??
So the article introduces GREAT- or Gang Resistance Education and Training, a program which was created in Arizona and raises awareness in students about the effects of gang activity through the coordination of a uniformed police officer and a curriculum which consists of nine planned lessons. I'd get into the whole GREAT program in more detail, but that will take away from our presentation!! Or at least my portion...
I really liked the article though, especially because it points out a few of the weaknesses of GREAT and provides steps for improving the weaknesses. I also liked the article because it outlines many of the reasons gangs have become so prevalent in our nation, and even shows the difference between male and female gang members (as far as their affiliation with gangs are concerned).

Combating gangs within our educational system certainly is not, and will never be an easy task. But keeping our students off the streets and in our schools is certainly a task all teachers must take accountability for....I hope...

Oh by the way...the other day while listening to the ole Ipod this Tupac song came through the shuffle and a lyric really stood out to me because of its relation with everything we have talked about so far in this class... he says "They say there aint hope for the youth, but the truth is there aint no hope for the future.."

the middle schools

I didn't think that chapter nine was that bad of a read, it was interesting to hear about the different formats districts have used to address problems such as maturity level in middle schoolers or obstacles to progress. Is a sixth grader ready to deal with issues that arise in middle schools? Are freshman mature enough to handle the freedoms and pressures of the high school? Certainly this is something that is highly individualized, some kids can handle what will come and some kids wont. I think that is where the teachers step in, on page 161 Alexander says that a role of the emergent middle school is to "provide optimum individualization of curriculum and instructionfor a population characterized by great variability" while that seems an idea the school of education has really entrenched in us, I also began to think about whether or not it is the teacher's job to foster a social well-being in the classroom as well as an educational well-being? Certainly we cannot just overlook those who are book smart and excel in the classroom but fail in social situations. While the role a teacher should take in assisting a child in this manner may be very difficult to define I really think that this is an important role a teacher should take.
Where then does the role of a teacher differ with freshman? From the readings, I wasn't too sure. Although chapter ten did discuss teaching students to become good citizens by "shaping and not simply being shaped by surrounding events."(175) For me this created more thought on the role of a teacher as a social facilitator, whether it be encouraging kids to join extra-curricular clubs or during group work making kids work with new people as much as possible. This is why I think that the 5-3-3 format is great, sixth graders and freshman are capable of dealing with middle and high schools it just takes an extra push from teachers who care especially since the sixth and ninth grade represent new levels of independence for adolescents.

What makes a seventh grader more prepared then a sixth grader for middle school?

teen bashing

After I read chapter 7 by Mike Males, I can't say that I was surprised. It's always easier to place blame on people who cannot publicly defend themselves. While reading this I wondered if such negative views on teens are part of the reason middle schools do so poorly? I can remember going into a store with my friends when I was a teenager and being looked at like I was going to steal, and in some cases even being followed to make sure that we wouldn't steal. Now that I work in retail, I've been asked to watch groups of teenagers who "aren't going to buy anything, make sure they don't take anything" which is something that because of my own experiences, can be really frustrating. That's not to overlook the fact that some teens do actually steal, and unfortunately those few ruin experiences for the rest of teens who just want to go hang out with their friends. The more we profile teens as menaces to society perhaps then they will feel compelled to act out in that manner? Especially since adolescents hardly get a fair shake in our society.

This chapter also raised some concern for me when I read about the teen pregnancy problem. I understand that babies born to teenage mothers and fathers may not have the same support as a baby born to two college grads, but that's not to say that the teenage baby is incapable of realizing the same potential as the college baby. I think that is a major issue with how people look at teenage pregnancy, the initial (and sadly in many cases ultimate) feeling is shock and outrage. HOW COULD THEY BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE AS TO HAVE SEX?? Like our past readings have pointed out, teens are a period of life where their bodies are going through such a wide range of changes and with these changes comes experimentation. Rather than pushing pregnant teens out of society, America must do everything it can to make sure that teen mothers and their children receive all the help they can get, especially since teenage pregnancy can often lead to the teen being kicked out of the house.

reading two

Readinng two put into words a lot of the thoughts I previously had about the adolescent period. It wasn't very easy for me to really get into this reading, I kept finding myself asking what point the authors were trying to make other than that being a kid in middle school is tough business. From my experience at least, middle school was an awesome time even with all the bodily changes we all go through. I did like the insights made about how other countries view the adolescent stage in contrast with how Americans view it because it was interesting to see another spin on the craziness of puberty.
The other part of the reading that I really found interesting was when the author discusses how boys and girls each handle/view reaching puberty. Especially how the author explains that boys very rarely discuss the changes they're going through with their parents, this was something that mirrored my experience and made me think about why this is so. I figured it's because puberty is such a less scary thing for boys, what do we really need to learn or be warned about when puberty hits? Which brings me to sex education and how much of a joke it really can be. I don't mean this to be an attack on the foundations of sex ed, but perhaps 4th graders haven't reached the maturity level to learn about the human body. I remember being in sex ed in the 4th grade and I don't think there was a time in elementary school that I laughed more during class. Not only was my teacher not prepared to teach it (he always turned red) but I don't think I was ready to hear all that. I was more worried about recess and pop-warner football than I was about the difference between girls and boys and where babies come from. HOWEVER, I do think that sex ed at the highschool level can be informative. It's definitely too late to begin sex ed, but the whole idea of intercourse is much more real as a freshman than it was in fourth grade, and unfortunately so are the risk of STDs which is why I would argue that sex ed in the highschool should remain mandatory.

reading one

I really liked Kumashiro's article because he presented the topic of representing the "other" in a way that portrays the complexity of the issue. Introducing the "other" to a classroom in a way that is respectful to everyone is not a task that is easily accomplished. Personally, I liked the way that Kumashiro presented the problems with each point of view in his article because in that way Kumashiro showed that anti-oppressive education is not something that will happen overnight, nor is it something that has a single or easy answer. Kumashiro talks about one difficulty of anti-oppressive education on page 34 when he discusses time restraints that make teaching difficult, "there is only so much time in the school year, and it is literally impossible to teach adequately about every culture and every identity, especially given the multiplicity of experiences within any cultural community." This is a problem that is very difficult to overcome, especially with expectations that accompany standardized testing, but Kumashiro does not disappoint. He goes on to explain that "lessons about the other need to include learning to resist one's desire to know, to essentialize, to close off further learnings. The goal is not final knowledge (and satisfaction), but disruption, dissatisfaction, and the desire for more change."(34) To me this is Kumashiro explaining that it may not always be possible to include EVERYONE in lessons but as teachers we must do our best to teach our students to be respectful of everyone regardless of their background.
Although I really enjoyed Kumashiro's article, I took issue with a passage on page 32. Here he is discussing reasons why the majority of students have such a poor understanding of the other, "schools often contribute to this partial knowledge through the selection of topics for curriculum, such as the celebration of industrial inventors and the relative absence of any discussion of labor exploitations in US history textbooks." This quote may not seem bothersome; in fact it makes a lot of sense. I actually took issue with the fact that in this instance, Kumashiro was quoting a source from 1979. I remember learning about these issues in high school, and my history books did cover these issues, maybe this was a true statement in 1979, but teaching of the Social Studies has come a long way in thirty years.
Reading Kumashiro's article was very helpful especially with student teaching a few days away because while this was an issue I was aware of, I never had the chance to see an article that discusses the complexity of introducing the other in a way that Kumashiro does. The article did leave me with a few questions though; first, what strides have been made since Kumashiro wrote this article in 2000? I graduated in 2004, and I can honestly say that the education I received discussed the other in a way that I had a strong grasp of other cultures and backgrounds when I graduated. Another question that I had after reading was what Kumashiro viewed as the strongest view? (maybe this was something I just read over??)