May 12, 2010
This was my 9th visit to my school. I have now logged 22 hours, and I plan on making one more trip into the Bat Cave. Today, the students Declaration project was due. They needed to memorize the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence, and be able to recite it to Mrs. Qwerty. Between the two classes that I help out in, only three students were able to successfully.
The problem that I saw with this process was that Mrs. Qwerty was grading these students completely arbitrarily. The students would either finish reciting what they had memorized, or they would do the best that they could, and she would randomly assign them a grade. I was there when the assignment was first given to the students, and there was no rubric given to the students. A student would go up and present it, and she would give them a grade like a “78” or a “96,” or whatever the grade was, but it did not seem like there was any rhyme or reason to it.
Today was also the day that the deficiencies were due. Deficiencies are given to the families of students who are not doing well in the class, so that their families will know how they are doing in class before report cards come out, in order to get their child to do better in school. Students were freaking out about getting deficiencies. Students who normally ignore their work were struggling to get half a quarters worth of work done in just one class.
I worked with one student in the second period that I tutored in, named “Ladybird.” I was working with her, answering questions at the end of the chapter as usual. I found that the could follow directions, but she could not think critically. I told her where to find an answer, or what paragraph she would need to read, and she would read it, and tell me that she did not understand what it said. She was constantly asking me what sentence she needed to copy to get the right answer. I would ask her what she thought each paragraph meant, and try to get her to understand what she was reading instead of just copying an answer.
I also finally learned Mrs. Qwerty’s creed today. She claimed loudly that school is designed to do nothing but teach students about deadlines. This, coupled with the fact that she only gives book work, and does nothing else in class, is exactly what Anyon was describing in her working class classroom. The students are not learning the value of thinking critically, but instead are learning to follow directions, and to get their work done on time, neither of which many of these students have been very successful at.
Friday, May 14, 2010
School Visit 8
May 7, 2010
This was my second visit where I stayed the entire day. I arrived for the second period again, and stayed for two classes, took lunch during the students lunch, and stayed out during Mrs. Qwerty’s planning period, where she was out of the school. Then I came back at 12:40 for the last two classes of the day. The board for the 8th graders read “*Journals Due Yesterday*, Word Wall, Finish p. 319 (1-7), Do Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 10-4, Quiz Monday.”
The first of the classes that I worked with were 8th graders, in which I worked with two students. These were students who normally do not do well in this class, and I had no problem working with them. What I was not expecting, was that these 8th grade students would be using the same text books as the 7th grade students. The 8th graders were further along in the book, chapter 10 compared to chapter 6, but the book was the same. This may explain why all of the books were in such terrible shape, with about a hundred students flipping through them every day. This also explains why none of the students are allowed to take any of the books home, there simply are not enough of them to go around.
This just makes me curious... If there are not enough text books to go around, then why does Mrs. Qwerty assign the students nothing but bookwork? This does not make any sense to me. I guess it is easier for her to grade, but I think it may have more to do with her being lazy than anything else.
The board for the 7th graders read “Projects Past Due, Exchange City Forms, Presentations, Declaration of Independence Due 5/12, Read pp. 181 – 185, Do p. 185, Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 6-3.” The presentations coincided with a larger project that the students needed to complete, which was comprised of a research paper, a poster, and an oral presentation. I saw only two students present in all three of the seventh grade classes that I tutored in this session. Many of the students readily admitted to me that they did not do their project. After reading some of the projects, I was forced to ask myself “where did these students learn to write?” The writing skills were very poor. Some examples of their writing (this is verbatim): “[about Patrick Henry] during the revolution war he create the stamp act. This all started as him being a farmer.” Another read “Elizabeth kept the household running like clockwise… soon of a later, Elizabeth passed away in 1829.”
One poster in particular was clearly plagiarized from Wikipedia. There were footnotes that did not lead to anything, and words that were clearly links to other pages. Yet I do not entirely blame the students. I heard testimonies from them that they did not know what was expected of them, and Mrs. Qwerty was little help. I know that many of the students have limited resources that they can use to get their information, and it is difficult for them.
It was during this session that I learned about Deficiencies. Deficiencies are given out in the middle of the quarter to students whose grades are a D, E or F. These are given to the students families, so that they are forewarned that their child may be failing the class. I am getting the feeling that a lot of students will be getting deficiencies, but as of now, most of them are treating them nonchalantly.
This was my second visit where I stayed the entire day. I arrived for the second period again, and stayed for two classes, took lunch during the students lunch, and stayed out during Mrs. Qwerty’s planning period, where she was out of the school. Then I came back at 12:40 for the last two classes of the day. The board for the 8th graders read “*Journals Due Yesterday*, Word Wall, Finish p. 319 (1-7), Do Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 10-4, Quiz Monday.”
The first of the classes that I worked with were 8th graders, in which I worked with two students. These were students who normally do not do well in this class, and I had no problem working with them. What I was not expecting, was that these 8th grade students would be using the same text books as the 7th grade students. The 8th graders were further along in the book, chapter 10 compared to chapter 6, but the book was the same. This may explain why all of the books were in such terrible shape, with about a hundred students flipping through them every day. This also explains why none of the students are allowed to take any of the books home, there simply are not enough of them to go around.
This just makes me curious... If there are not enough text books to go around, then why does Mrs. Qwerty assign the students nothing but bookwork? This does not make any sense to me. I guess it is easier for her to grade, but I think it may have more to do with her being lazy than anything else.
The board for the 7th graders read “Projects Past Due, Exchange City Forms, Presentations, Declaration of Independence Due 5/12, Read pp. 181 – 185, Do p. 185, Guided Reading W.S., Ch. 6-3.” The presentations coincided with a larger project that the students needed to complete, which was comprised of a research paper, a poster, and an oral presentation. I saw only two students present in all three of the seventh grade classes that I tutored in this session. Many of the students readily admitted to me that they did not do their project. After reading some of the projects, I was forced to ask myself “where did these students learn to write?” The writing skills were very poor. Some examples of their writing (this is verbatim): “[about Patrick Henry] during the revolution war he create the stamp act. This all started as him being a farmer.” Another read “Elizabeth kept the household running like clockwise… soon of a later, Elizabeth passed away in 1829.”
One poster in particular was clearly plagiarized from Wikipedia. There were footnotes that did not lead to anything, and words that were clearly links to other pages. Yet I do not entirely blame the students. I heard testimonies from them that they did not know what was expected of them, and Mrs. Qwerty was little help. I know that many of the students have limited resources that they can use to get their information, and it is difficult for them.
It was during this session that I learned about Deficiencies. Deficiencies are given out in the middle of the quarter to students whose grades are a D, E or F. These are given to the students families, so that they are forewarned that their child may be failing the class. I am getting the feeling that a lot of students will be getting deficiencies, but as of now, most of them are treating them nonchalantly.
School Visit 7
May 5, 2010
This visit took place on May 5, and was just the normal two classes that I usually do. In large writing on the board was “Projects Due Yesterday.” Mrs. Qwerty told me that she would accept the projects up until that Friday for full credit, and after that the students who did not do it will begin to lose credit. The students also needed to copy a portion of the Declaration of Independence, which they needed to memorize, and recite from memory the following week. The passage started with “we hold these truths to be self evident” and ended with “ruled by the consent of the governed.”
I was sitting with “Lee” while he was copying the Declaration. He did not understand any of it, and was content with just copying the words. I worked with him, breaking down the individual sentences, and defining for him the words that he did not know, until he understood what the entire passage meant. I think that it is more beneficial for the students to know what the Declaration of Independence means, and what it is saying, rather than just memorizing the words on a page. This leads me back to Anyon (one of my favorite readings). This is a working class classroom, and the skill that they are learning is memorization. These students do not know how to analyze, or understand anything; all they do is copy what is in the book. Mrs. Qwerty is not teaching these students, she is just having them memorize phrases, regurgitate them back to her, and then grading them on it. I wonder, what purpose does memorizing the beginning portion of the Declaration of Independence serve?
No student presented a project today, so it was straight to bookwork… again…
One of the questions in the book this week was about Nathaniel Hale, who was a Revolutionary War general who went behind British enemy lines, and took the British plans. On his way back to the camp, he was captured and searched. He hid the plans in the soles of his shoes, and they were not found. The British let him go, without ever realizing he actually had their plans. One of the students that I was working with read his name, and that he was a general, and started to copy just that, without reading anything about his story. I told him to read a little more to see what Hale did. After he read about hiding the plans in his shoes, “Lee” was amazed. He thought it was the coolest thing that he had read all year. He kept asking me questions about how he got away, and why they did not search his shoes, and if those plans were influential in the war. The student was excited about this person. I am now forced to wonder, how much knowledge has slipped between the fingers of these students because all they ever do is book work.
In the second class that I was in, a student told me that they got a bad grade in one of their classes. I told I was sorry to hear that. He then asked me if he could still get into classical with one bad grade. This student was worried about his future. This was one of the first times any of the students that I work with has shown any interest in their immediate future. They all talk about one day going to college, or playing professional sports, but in the here and now, most of them have shown a lack luster attitude toward school. This was the first time that one of the students was worried about their immediate future.
At the end of this session, Mrs. Qwerty asked me if I would like to go on a field trip with the class in June, to a place called Exchange City. She explained to me that Exchange City was a place in the city, where students get to act like adults. One student is the mayor, there are bankers, and accountants, and business owners. The trip is supposed to teach them about economics, and the value of a dollar and how the world works. I told her that I would be able to go, and I am looking forward to the trip.
This visit took place on May 5, and was just the normal two classes that I usually do. In large writing on the board was “Projects Due Yesterday.” Mrs. Qwerty told me that she would accept the projects up until that Friday for full credit, and after that the students who did not do it will begin to lose credit. The students also needed to copy a portion of the Declaration of Independence, which they needed to memorize, and recite from memory the following week. The passage started with “we hold these truths to be self evident” and ended with “ruled by the consent of the governed.”
I was sitting with “Lee” while he was copying the Declaration. He did not understand any of it, and was content with just copying the words. I worked with him, breaking down the individual sentences, and defining for him the words that he did not know, until he understood what the entire passage meant. I think that it is more beneficial for the students to know what the Declaration of Independence means, and what it is saying, rather than just memorizing the words on a page. This leads me back to Anyon (one of my favorite readings). This is a working class classroom, and the skill that they are learning is memorization. These students do not know how to analyze, or understand anything; all they do is copy what is in the book. Mrs. Qwerty is not teaching these students, she is just having them memorize phrases, regurgitate them back to her, and then grading them on it. I wonder, what purpose does memorizing the beginning portion of the Declaration of Independence serve?
No student presented a project today, so it was straight to bookwork… again…
One of the questions in the book this week was about Nathaniel Hale, who was a Revolutionary War general who went behind British enemy lines, and took the British plans. On his way back to the camp, he was captured and searched. He hid the plans in the soles of his shoes, and they were not found. The British let him go, without ever realizing he actually had their plans. One of the students that I was working with read his name, and that he was a general, and started to copy just that, without reading anything about his story. I told him to read a little more to see what Hale did. After he read about hiding the plans in his shoes, “Lee” was amazed. He thought it was the coolest thing that he had read all year. He kept asking me questions about how he got away, and why they did not search his shoes, and if those plans were influential in the war. The student was excited about this person. I am now forced to wonder, how much knowledge has slipped between the fingers of these students because all they ever do is book work.
In the second class that I was in, a student told me that they got a bad grade in one of their classes. I told I was sorry to hear that. He then asked me if he could still get into classical with one bad grade. This student was worried about his future. This was one of the first times any of the students that I work with has shown any interest in their immediate future. They all talk about one day going to college, or playing professional sports, but in the here and now, most of them have shown a lack luster attitude toward school. This was the first time that one of the students was worried about their immediate future.
At the end of this session, Mrs. Qwerty asked me if I would like to go on a field trip with the class in June, to a place called Exchange City. She explained to me that Exchange City was a place in the city, where students get to act like adults. One student is the mayor, there are bankers, and accountants, and business owners. The trip is supposed to teach them about economics, and the value of a dollar and how the world works. I told her that I would be able to go, and I am looking forward to the trip.
School Visit 6
April 30, 2010
This was my first extended visit to the Bat Cave. The first class that I was there for took place in the library. It was Law Day, and Mrs. Qwerty had gotten the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the President Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association, and a lawyer to come and talk to the students. These three people talked about laws, especially cyber bullying. They talked at length about the girl from Massachusetts who recently committed suicide because of bullying. At the end of their presentation, they offered all of the student’s free legal advice. The students (all 8th graders) asked different question about family court, and how long people go to prison for different offences. One student asked how hard it was to go to law school, and another asked how much money the Chief Justice made.
After this class disbanded, it was back to Mrs. Qwerty’s room for the 7th grade classes. I was there for the rest of the morning, and for the two afternoon classes that I am usually there for, the only difference being that it was a Friday, and not a Wednesday (when I am usually there). The students were given book work, and a work sheet that they needed to complete.
In one of the classes that I had never been in before, a student, “Columbus” would not stop talking to me and do his work. He wanted to know everything about me, where I went to school, where I worked, what I was going to do in the summer, what I was going to do when I graduate… the questions never stopped. After a little while, he decided that he wanted to give me a verbal tour of the city. He told me about every street, and which streets connect to which streets, and how to get to different sections of the city, and then where to go to get the best ice cream (a woman with a cart, and it’s actually Italian ice). I thought that this student might be ADHD, or have something wrong with him, but within the last 10 minutes of class, he sat quietly, on his own accord, finished all of the work for the day, and had plenty of time to spare. He told me that at his old school he was in the gifted program, but when he transferred in, there was no room in the classes that late in the semester. He told me that all of the work that he was doing was too easy, and he is bored in class all of the time. He then asked Mrs. Qwerty if he could look at his grades in the grade book, then found his average out to five decimal placed to show me that he was smart. He was rather proud of how intelligent he was.
One student that I was working with “Spike” would not stop talking about God. I would get him on task, and within five minutes, he would tell me “there is not God but Jehovah.” The child who kept saying this was Asian, and Mrs. Qwerty asked him “isn’t your family Buddhist?” he replied that the whole family was, and then went off about Jehovah again… It was a very weird conversation.
In another class, I walked through the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense with a student. This was a case where they would copy what they read in the book, and did not think about the information. When I went through it with them, they would ask questions, and offer opinions, and get a much better understanding of what it was that they were learning.
This was my first extended visit to the Bat Cave. The first class that I was there for took place in the library. It was Law Day, and Mrs. Qwerty had gotten the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, the President Elect of the Rhode Island Bar Association, and a lawyer to come and talk to the students. These three people talked about laws, especially cyber bullying. They talked at length about the girl from Massachusetts who recently committed suicide because of bullying. At the end of their presentation, they offered all of the student’s free legal advice. The students (all 8th graders) asked different question about family court, and how long people go to prison for different offences. One student asked how hard it was to go to law school, and another asked how much money the Chief Justice made.
After this class disbanded, it was back to Mrs. Qwerty’s room for the 7th grade classes. I was there for the rest of the morning, and for the two afternoon classes that I am usually there for, the only difference being that it was a Friday, and not a Wednesday (when I am usually there). The students were given book work, and a work sheet that they needed to complete.
In one of the classes that I had never been in before, a student, “Columbus” would not stop talking to me and do his work. He wanted to know everything about me, where I went to school, where I worked, what I was going to do in the summer, what I was going to do when I graduate… the questions never stopped. After a little while, he decided that he wanted to give me a verbal tour of the city. He told me about every street, and which streets connect to which streets, and how to get to different sections of the city, and then where to go to get the best ice cream (a woman with a cart, and it’s actually Italian ice). I thought that this student might be ADHD, or have something wrong with him, but within the last 10 minutes of class, he sat quietly, on his own accord, finished all of the work for the day, and had plenty of time to spare. He told me that at his old school he was in the gifted program, but when he transferred in, there was no room in the classes that late in the semester. He told me that all of the work that he was doing was too easy, and he is bored in class all of the time. He then asked Mrs. Qwerty if he could look at his grades in the grade book, then found his average out to five decimal placed to show me that he was smart. He was rather proud of how intelligent he was.
One student that I was working with “Spike” would not stop talking about God. I would get him on task, and within five minutes, he would tell me “there is not God but Jehovah.” The child who kept saying this was Asian, and Mrs. Qwerty asked him “isn’t your family Buddhist?” he replied that the whole family was, and then went off about Jehovah again… It was a very weird conversation.
In another class, I walked through the Declaration of Independence and Common Sense with a student. This was a case where they would copy what they read in the book, and did not think about the information. When I went through it with them, they would ask questions, and offer opinions, and get a much better understanding of what it was that they were learning.
School Visit 5
April 28
At the beginning of this class, Mrs. Qwerty announced that there were only 37 school days left until summer vacation, and there was not a lot of time for students to get their grades up. She told the students that she was not at all happy with the grades in her last class, and that there was a limited time for improvement, and only so much that they could do to get their grades up. She also warned that the projects that they had to do (research a famous historical person, and write a paper with a bibliography of at least three sources, a poster, and an oral presentation) were due in six days.
There was book work that the students had to do today, again about the Revolutionary War. One student that I was working with, “Zeek” was further along in the class, and was a couple of assignments ahead. He was answering a question about the attack on Cromwell’s army on their march to Princeton, and he asked me to help explain it to him. I took a piece of notebook paper, and drew him a diagram of what happened, about how the Americans left the fires in their camps burning to make it look like they were still there, while secretly they snuck behind the British troops, and took them from behind. After “Zeek” realized what happened, he likened it to the game Risk, which he said he liked to play at home with his family. Later on in this class, the same student complained to me about the amount of bookwork that they have to do. He told me that I would get really bored (just like he always is) in that class. He said that it is easy because there are no lectures, but it is not fun doing nothing but book work day in and day out.
In the last class of the day, I worked with a student that I had never worked with before. “Beth” told me that she was worried about failing the class, and wanted to know if I would work with her. I told her that I could, and would be happy to do it. I asked her what assignment she was working on, and she pulled out the work sheet. It was from before I ever came into the class… This girl had a LOT of makeup work to get done. I helped her answer all of the questions that I could in the time that we were allotted, but I was not able to help her accomplish too much work.
All in all, I am not a fan thus far of how this classroom is run. It seems like there is too much emphasis on book work, while there is no room for intellectual development, or critical thought. I see many of these students getting frustrated as they go through the same assignments class in and class out.
At the beginning of this class, Mrs. Qwerty announced that there were only 37 school days left until summer vacation, and there was not a lot of time for students to get their grades up. She told the students that she was not at all happy with the grades in her last class, and that there was a limited time for improvement, and only so much that they could do to get their grades up. She also warned that the projects that they had to do (research a famous historical person, and write a paper with a bibliography of at least three sources, a poster, and an oral presentation) were due in six days.
There was book work that the students had to do today, again about the Revolutionary War. One student that I was working with, “Zeek” was further along in the class, and was a couple of assignments ahead. He was answering a question about the attack on Cromwell’s army on their march to Princeton, and he asked me to help explain it to him. I took a piece of notebook paper, and drew him a diagram of what happened, about how the Americans left the fires in their camps burning to make it look like they were still there, while secretly they snuck behind the British troops, and took them from behind. After “Zeek” realized what happened, he likened it to the game Risk, which he said he liked to play at home with his family. Later on in this class, the same student complained to me about the amount of bookwork that they have to do. He told me that I would get really bored (just like he always is) in that class. He said that it is easy because there are no lectures, but it is not fun doing nothing but book work day in and day out.
In the last class of the day, I worked with a student that I had never worked with before. “Beth” told me that she was worried about failing the class, and wanted to know if I would work with her. I told her that I could, and would be happy to do it. I asked her what assignment she was working on, and she pulled out the work sheet. It was from before I ever came into the class… This girl had a LOT of makeup work to get done. I helped her answer all of the questions that I could in the time that we were allotted, but I was not able to help her accomplish too much work.
All in all, I am not a fan thus far of how this classroom is run. It seems like there is too much emphasis on book work, while there is no room for intellectual development, or critical thought. I see many of these students getting frustrated as they go through the same assignments class in and class out.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Video Blog
This is a link to a clip of a Broadway musical called Avenue Q. The play is basically the muppets grown up. They sing a song about racism. (it;s a little racy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQiSVeQwVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbQiSVeQwVQ
Arizona School Teachers
As most of you already know, there are some crazy new immigration laws in Arizona. This is an article about the latest law in Arizona. This article talks about how teachers in Arizona can be fired for having an accent. This begs the question, what kind of accent can get you fired? If you have a New England accent can you be fired? Or a Southern accent? This article discusses aspects of the new law, which are pretty interesting.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/heavily-accented-teachers-remo.html
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/teachers/heavily-accented-teachers-remo.html
Tim Wise Article
This is a link to the Tim Wise article “A Particularly Cheap White Whine.” The article is about race and meritocracy. In it he talks specifically about the differences in scholarship opportunities between black students and white students. I realize that the semester is pretty much finished, but if any of you have the opportunity, I suggest reading it.
http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/cheapwhitewhine.html
http://www.lipmagazine.org/~timwise/cheapwhitewhine.html
Monday, April 26, 2010
Talking Points 10 - Shor
1. “The students’ most inmost morality remains fundamentally directed toward obedience rather than autonomy.” According to Anyon, a students’ inclination toward obedience or autonomy is dependent on that student’s socio-economic background. The upper-class students are allowed the autonomous learning, while the lower classes are forced into the obedience training. Shor is suggests that students learn best in a class that focuses on participation, leading to autonomous learning; unfortunately, most teachers, especially in lower socio-economic schools, are not based on a participatory model, and thus perpetuate the classic obedience training.
2. “Through day-to-day lessons, teaching links the students’ development to the values, powers, and debates in society.” This is fundamentally why we go to school. However, depending on where we go to school, we will learn these lessons differently. I have two more thoughts about this quote. The first is that the development of the “values, powers and debates,” will assimilate all students (rich or poor) into Delipit’s culture of power. The second is that the upper and lower class students learn different values. The upper class students learn to communicate with their superiors (their teachers); while poor students learn that they need to be subservient.
3. “While schools may in fact serve the interests of many individuals, empirically they also seem to act as powerful agents in the economic and cultural reproduction of class relations.” “Schooling supports existing power and divisions in society by sorting students into a small elite destined for the top and a large mass destined for the middle and bottom.” These quotes echo the conclusions that I made after reading the Anyon piece. Schools are currently designed to perpetuate current social statuses, and vehemently protect the status quo. As it stands, the elite are destined to get richer, while to poor are destined to remain so.
I thoroughly enjoyed this reading. It was perhaps my favorite of the entire year. This reading can be connected to so many of the others that we have worked with. It is essential to interweave everything that we have read, in order to understand how education and society is constructed all around us. When pairing this article with Anyon and Oakes, it becomes obvious how students are divided. The rich and powerful elite are allowed to participate in the classroom, and get a better education, while the poor students are forced to attend schools that teach them to do nothing but obey. Bringing in Johnson, it becomes obvious that white privilege helps students get into the better schools, where they are taught in a participatory setting, which Shor claims is the best for educational purposes. Delpit tells us of the culture of power, which is constructed by the elite, who get to go to the better schools. The lower socio-economic students, who go to the lesser schools, get their dialogues silenced their entire lives, because they are not high ranking enough in the culture of power. This process repeats itself in a vicious cycle. People born into the elite culture, are destined to grow up, building copious amounts of cultural capital, and remain at the top of the social hierarchy, while those born into a poor socio-economic family will be destined to go to sub-standard schools, build little to no cultural capital, and grow up to work in menial jobs. The industrial complex system is designed to perpetuate the current social structure.
In this country, there is a shrinking middle class, and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. At this point in time, the average white family makes a median income of nearly $125,000 per year, while a black family has a median income of $17,000 per year. This is one example of how the current system is failing. If all schools offered the same level of education, as Shor suggests in a participatory classroom, then perhaps we can change the cultural deficit in the country. This is our purpose, to educate students on a level playing field, preparing them to enter the ‘real world.’ We could pour buckets of knowledge on students, making them memorize facts, or we can operate discussion based classrooms, giving more respect and responsibility to the students, as Shor and Anyon suggest, giving all students, regardless of their cultural or economic background an equal opportunity to succeed in this white, elitist, culture of capital world.
2. “Through day-to-day lessons, teaching links the students’ development to the values, powers, and debates in society.” This is fundamentally why we go to school. However, depending on where we go to school, we will learn these lessons differently. I have two more thoughts about this quote. The first is that the development of the “values, powers and debates,” will assimilate all students (rich or poor) into Delipit’s culture of power. The second is that the upper and lower class students learn different values. The upper class students learn to communicate with their superiors (their teachers); while poor students learn that they need to be subservient.
3. “While schools may in fact serve the interests of many individuals, empirically they also seem to act as powerful agents in the economic and cultural reproduction of class relations.” “Schooling supports existing power and divisions in society by sorting students into a small elite destined for the top and a large mass destined for the middle and bottom.” These quotes echo the conclusions that I made after reading the Anyon piece. Schools are currently designed to perpetuate current social statuses, and vehemently protect the status quo. As it stands, the elite are destined to get richer, while to poor are destined to remain so.
I thoroughly enjoyed this reading. It was perhaps my favorite of the entire year. This reading can be connected to so many of the others that we have worked with. It is essential to interweave everything that we have read, in order to understand how education and society is constructed all around us. When pairing this article with Anyon and Oakes, it becomes obvious how students are divided. The rich and powerful elite are allowed to participate in the classroom, and get a better education, while the poor students are forced to attend schools that teach them to do nothing but obey. Bringing in Johnson, it becomes obvious that white privilege helps students get into the better schools, where they are taught in a participatory setting, which Shor claims is the best for educational purposes. Delpit tells us of the culture of power, which is constructed by the elite, who get to go to the better schools. The lower socio-economic students, who go to the lesser schools, get their dialogues silenced their entire lives, because they are not high ranking enough in the culture of power. This process repeats itself in a vicious cycle. People born into the elite culture, are destined to grow up, building copious amounts of cultural capital, and remain at the top of the social hierarchy, while those born into a poor socio-economic family will be destined to go to sub-standard schools, build little to no cultural capital, and grow up to work in menial jobs. The industrial complex system is designed to perpetuate the current social structure.
In this country, there is a shrinking middle class, and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. At this point in time, the average white family makes a median income of nearly $125,000 per year, while a black family has a median income of $17,000 per year. This is one example of how the current system is failing. If all schools offered the same level of education, as Shor suggests in a participatory classroom, then perhaps we can change the cultural deficit in the country. This is our purpose, to educate students on a level playing field, preparing them to enter the ‘real world.’ We could pour buckets of knowledge on students, making them memorize facts, or we can operate discussion based classrooms, giving more respect and responsibility to the students, as Shor and Anyon suggest, giving all students, regardless of their cultural or economic background an equal opportunity to succeed in this white, elitist, culture of capital world.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
School Visit 4
Date of Visit - 4.14.2010
This day started like all of the others, I arrived in the parking lot, and walked around to the front of the building. I arrived at the classroom a few minutes early, and the door was locked. I waited a few minutes, and Mrs. Qwerty arrived.
The class came in; most of them after the bell had already rang. It took perhaps five more minutes before they were all seated. The students were all given a ditto worksheet, which was the first quiz for the quarter. Because this quarter just started, there was no make-up work for the students to do. In theory, the students could quickly finish the quiz, and then have the rest of the class to relax. This however did not happen. Most of the students spent their time talking with one another, and not focusing on their work.
I worked with two students in this class; “Red,” and “Blue.” Blue would work on a question on the quiz, and then lose focus. I would remind him of his assignment, and get him back on track. Red worked consistently on his work. Most of the questions Red could answer himself, but some he needed help with. Blue however, needed more help. All of the questions could be found in the textbooks that the students had. There were headings in the book which corresponded with the questions in the quiz. I would find the heading, read the paragraph with the answer, and then show the student where to find the answer. It took Blue almost the entire period to finish the quiz, because he was busy talking to other students, and doing anything besides work. Red on the other hand was the first student to finish. He worked diligently, and with little help from me, he quickly finished his assignment. Mrs. Qwerty told him that because he had no make-up work (the previous quarter having recently ended) that he could read, or draw a picture. He decided to draw, and then he proceeded to show me how to make an origami balloon. He told me that he learned how to do it at an after school program, and was excited to teach me something cool that he knew.
The second class mirrored the assignment of the first class. The attitudes were different however. I do not know if it was because it was at the end of the day, or because it was close to summer vacation, but these students were off the walls crazy. I worked with one student, “Green,” who had transferred into this class from a special education classroom. I do not know why this student was in special education, he worked diligently, and intelligently. He did not seem to have any mental defect, or show, at a first encounter at least, that he belonged in a special education classroom. The other students were up walking around, and leaving the classroom without permission. Two of the students got into a fight part way through the class.
Both of the classes are starting a new project, in which they research a person of historical significance, write a report about them, and give an oral presentation about that person’s life. Mrs. Qwerty gave me a paper that all of the students needed to take home and have signed by a parent, and bring back for credit in the class. The paper had all of the due dates, requirements, and rubric for the project. I liked this idea; it gets the parents involved, so that they know when their child’s work is due, and what is expected of them.
I noticed some aspects of Anyon’s theory when I was in class. The Bat Cave subscribes to a tracking theory, with an advanced program, generic program, and special education program. The classes that I work with are both on the generic track. Almost all of these students are minorities, and are part of a working class family. Most of the students in the advanced program are white, or Asian. Everyone else is left behind in the generic or special education level. The conditions of the materials in the generic level classes are in bad shape. All of the books are tattered, and many do not have covers. The students are not allowed to take the books out of the classroom for two reasons. The first is that they may damage the books further, and the other, is that there are not enough to go around. I have not been into the advanced classes, but I am expecting that they have a better range of materials to use in class.
This day started like all of the others, I arrived in the parking lot, and walked around to the front of the building. I arrived at the classroom a few minutes early, and the door was locked. I waited a few minutes, and Mrs. Qwerty arrived.
The class came in; most of them after the bell had already rang. It took perhaps five more minutes before they were all seated. The students were all given a ditto worksheet, which was the first quiz for the quarter. Because this quarter just started, there was no make-up work for the students to do. In theory, the students could quickly finish the quiz, and then have the rest of the class to relax. This however did not happen. Most of the students spent their time talking with one another, and not focusing on their work.
I worked with two students in this class; “Red,” and “Blue.” Blue would work on a question on the quiz, and then lose focus. I would remind him of his assignment, and get him back on track. Red worked consistently on his work. Most of the questions Red could answer himself, but some he needed help with. Blue however, needed more help. All of the questions could be found in the textbooks that the students had. There were headings in the book which corresponded with the questions in the quiz. I would find the heading, read the paragraph with the answer, and then show the student where to find the answer. It took Blue almost the entire period to finish the quiz, because he was busy talking to other students, and doing anything besides work. Red on the other hand was the first student to finish. He worked diligently, and with little help from me, he quickly finished his assignment. Mrs. Qwerty told him that because he had no make-up work (the previous quarter having recently ended) that he could read, or draw a picture. He decided to draw, and then he proceeded to show me how to make an origami balloon. He told me that he learned how to do it at an after school program, and was excited to teach me something cool that he knew.
The second class mirrored the assignment of the first class. The attitudes were different however. I do not know if it was because it was at the end of the day, or because it was close to summer vacation, but these students were off the walls crazy. I worked with one student, “Green,” who had transferred into this class from a special education classroom. I do not know why this student was in special education, he worked diligently, and intelligently. He did not seem to have any mental defect, or show, at a first encounter at least, that he belonged in a special education classroom. The other students were up walking around, and leaving the classroom without permission. Two of the students got into a fight part way through the class.
Both of the classes are starting a new project, in which they research a person of historical significance, write a report about them, and give an oral presentation about that person’s life. Mrs. Qwerty gave me a paper that all of the students needed to take home and have signed by a parent, and bring back for credit in the class. The paper had all of the due dates, requirements, and rubric for the project. I liked this idea; it gets the parents involved, so that they know when their child’s work is due, and what is expected of them.
I noticed some aspects of Anyon’s theory when I was in class. The Bat Cave subscribes to a tracking theory, with an advanced program, generic program, and special education program. The classes that I work with are both on the generic track. Almost all of these students are minorities, and are part of a working class family. Most of the students in the advanced program are white, or Asian. Everyone else is left behind in the generic or special education level. The conditions of the materials in the generic level classes are in bad shape. All of the books are tattered, and many do not have covers. The students are not allowed to take the books out of the classroom for two reasons. The first is that they may damage the books further, and the other, is that there are not enough to go around. I have not been into the advanced classes, but I am expecting that they have a better range of materials to use in class.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Talking Points 9
1. “Those who appear not to make use of these conditions (supposedly open to all), or who appear to lack the potential to accrue privileges, are systematically devalued as less than full citizens – charged as they are with having the differences that matter.” Kliewer suggests that people with mental disabilities, such as Down syndrome are denied full citizenship rights. This claim has validity. People with Down syndrome should have the same rights as people without any disability. However, at the same time, I do not see how it would be effective to bring students into the classroom that have Down syndrome. I feel that if you are going to participate in a class, then you need to be able to linguistically communicate with your peers. I understand that many people with Down syndrome are intelligent, but basic communication within the classroom is key.
2. “Then, in the following two chapters, I closely analyze the meaning of school citizenship for students with Down syndrome as it relates to (1) literacy development (Chapter 5), of central importance in experiencing school success and (2) friendship formation (Chapter 6), a possible consequence of being recognized as communally valuable.” I believe that these two goals are important for all students, and are vital in the first few years of schooling. Here it makes sense to keep all students, Down syndrome or otherwise, in the same environment. All students need to develop valuable social skills in the early years of schooling. This is a strong argument for keeping all students in the classroom together.
3. “Seven valued patterns for solving problems… (1) logistical mathematical thinking… (2) linguistic capacities… (3) a spatial – representation intelligence… (4) musical intelligence… (5) kinesthetic intelligence… (6) interpersonal intelligence… (7) intrapersonal intelligence.” Society values these seven principles, so it makes sense to teach these in class. Students learn to develop patterns, which are used throughout their lifetime. Kliewer suggests that people with Down syndrome develop patterns differently than normal students do, thus still making them beneficial to society.
I find myself at an intelectual crossroads. After reading Anyon, McLaran and Oakes, I am against tracking students into specific paths, which are dictated by the color of your skin, family net worth, and culture. This reading suggests putting Down syndrome students into mainstream classroom. Anti-tracking thinking would agree with this theory, keeping all students together to benefit everyone. However, I feel that as a student with Down syndrome develops, and students move up in the grade levels, I don’t know how they will be able to cope. I believe that having a conversation is of the upmost importance for students, and in society, and many Down syndrome students cannot do that. I believe that a Down syndrome student in the lower grade levels (i.e. kindergarten) would be beneficial. They will be able to learn some basic socializing skills, but after that I don’t know how many of them could keep up with the work, or function in the classroom.
2. “Then, in the following two chapters, I closely analyze the meaning of school citizenship for students with Down syndrome as it relates to (1) literacy development (Chapter 5), of central importance in experiencing school success and (2) friendship formation (Chapter 6), a possible consequence of being recognized as communally valuable.” I believe that these two goals are important for all students, and are vital in the first few years of schooling. Here it makes sense to keep all students, Down syndrome or otherwise, in the same environment. All students need to develop valuable social skills in the early years of schooling. This is a strong argument for keeping all students in the classroom together.
3. “Seven valued patterns for solving problems… (1) logistical mathematical thinking… (2) linguistic capacities… (3) a spatial – representation intelligence… (4) musical intelligence… (5) kinesthetic intelligence… (6) interpersonal intelligence… (7) intrapersonal intelligence.” Society values these seven principles, so it makes sense to teach these in class. Students learn to develop patterns, which are used throughout their lifetime. Kliewer suggests that people with Down syndrome develop patterns differently than normal students do, thus still making them beneficial to society.
I find myself at an intelectual crossroads. After reading Anyon, McLaran and Oakes, I am against tracking students into specific paths, which are dictated by the color of your skin, family net worth, and culture. This reading suggests putting Down syndrome students into mainstream classroom. Anti-tracking thinking would agree with this theory, keeping all students together to benefit everyone. However, I feel that as a student with Down syndrome develops, and students move up in the grade levels, I don’t know how they will be able to cope. I believe that having a conversation is of the upmost importance for students, and in society, and many Down syndrome students cannot do that. I believe that a Down syndrome student in the lower grade levels (i.e. kindergarten) would be beneficial. They will be able to learn some basic socializing skills, but after that I don’t know how many of them could keep up with the work, or function in the classroom.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Talking Points 8
1. “Bowles and Gintis for example, have argued that students in different social-class backgrounds are rewarded for classroom behaviors that correspond to personality traits allegedly rewarded in the different occupational strata--the working classes for docility and obedience, the managerial classes for initiative and personal assertiveness.” Schools are deciding what a child will do with their life while they are in the fifth grade… What they do in elementary school, will decide what will happen to them for the rest of their lives. To elaborate, this means that the rich white kids will be evaluated highly, and go to superior schools, while poorer students will be left with the lesser schools, and be forced to live a life of mediocrity. The inherent white privilege here is palpable. Anyon even said that there were no minority students in the upper echelon classrooms, proving my point that the white students, who come from parents with money, are afforded an astounding amount of opportunity, while everyone else is left behind.
2. “The foregoing analysis of differences in schoolwork in contrasting social class contexts suggests the following conclusion: the "hidden curriculum" of schoolwork is tacit preparation for relating to the process of production in a particular way.” Anyon is stating that schools are teaching students in particular ways, which will help them further along in life, but will do nothing to foster their advancement in society. The students of the elite are allowed to build cultural capital, and are able to converse with their teacher, while students of the working class are taught the value of following directions. The rich students are being prepared to problem solve, while the working class students are being prepared to take orders, which they will be doing for the rest of their lives.
3. “Teachers made every effort to control the movement of the children, and often shouted, "'Why are you out of your seat??!!" If the children got permission to leave the room, they had to take a written pass with the date and time.” Doesn’t Delpit tell us that we need to be explicit with the rules in order to establish the culture of power? The elite class did not have to deal with a strict teacher, they were allowed more freedoms. Maybe this is because they are privileged, and are already aware of the culture of power, and what is expected of them, and how to utilize what they have in order to attain the best results (i.e. a successful future).
4. “The children had no access to materials.” What? Seriously?
This reading was closely related to the McLaren reading, in that it discusses how different classes utilize different pedagogical approaches to educating members of different classes. The elite get the most effective education, which prepares them to one day rule the country, while at the opposite end of the spectrum, the working class students get prepared to take orders, and are effectively turned into drones, which is what a powerful upper class wants. Anyon enters the theory of a “hidden curriculum” into her discourse on educating the different classes. The “hidden curriculum” is the elevated differences in the way that students are being educated depending on their class status. This reading reflects, and projects the discourse of Johnson, who writes about power and privilege. The people in power, the white people, get the most privilege, white privilege. White privilege will bring you to a better school, and open up more opportunities for you as you build more cultural capital.
2. “The foregoing analysis of differences in schoolwork in contrasting social class contexts suggests the following conclusion: the "hidden curriculum" of schoolwork is tacit preparation for relating to the process of production in a particular way.” Anyon is stating that schools are teaching students in particular ways, which will help them further along in life, but will do nothing to foster their advancement in society. The students of the elite are allowed to build cultural capital, and are able to converse with their teacher, while students of the working class are taught the value of following directions. The rich students are being prepared to problem solve, while the working class students are being prepared to take orders, which they will be doing for the rest of their lives.
3. “Teachers made every effort to control the movement of the children, and often shouted, "'Why are you out of your seat??!!" If the children got permission to leave the room, they had to take a written pass with the date and time.” Doesn’t Delpit tell us that we need to be explicit with the rules in order to establish the culture of power? The elite class did not have to deal with a strict teacher, they were allowed more freedoms. Maybe this is because they are privileged, and are already aware of the culture of power, and what is expected of them, and how to utilize what they have in order to attain the best results (i.e. a successful future).
4. “The children had no access to materials.” What? Seriously?
This reading was closely related to the McLaren reading, in that it discusses how different classes utilize different pedagogical approaches to educating members of different classes. The elite get the most effective education, which prepares them to one day rule the country, while at the opposite end of the spectrum, the working class students get prepared to take orders, and are effectively turned into drones, which is what a powerful upper class wants. Anyon enters the theory of a “hidden curriculum” into her discourse on educating the different classes. The “hidden curriculum” is the elevated differences in the way that students are being educated depending on their class status. This reading reflects, and projects the discourse of Johnson, who writes about power and privilege. The people in power, the white people, get the most privilege, white privilege. White privilege will bring you to a better school, and open up more opportunities for you as you build more cultural capital.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Talking Points 7: Gender Specific Schools
1. “Among advocates of single-sex public education, there are two camps: those who favor separating boys from girls because they are essentially different and those who favor separating boys from girls because they have different social experiences and social needs.” (p. 3) Supposing that boys and girls develop neurologically differently, then in a co-ed classroom, one of the groups (boys or girls) dialogues may be silenced. If there is a female teacher, they may, unwittingly cater to female learning needs, and dismiss the problems of the boys as behavioral or otherwise, and not consider that they indeed may learn differently, because their brains are wired differently.
2. “They discussed how annoying it is when you’re out hunting, to be swarmed by yellow flies. Meanwhile, in Michelle Gay’s fourth-grade class, the girls sang a vigorous rendition of “Always Sisters” and then did a tidy science experiment: pouring red water, blue oil and clear syrup into a plastic cup to test which has the greatest density, then confirming their results with the firsthand knowledge that when you’re doing the dishes after your mother makes fried chicken, the oil always settles on top of the water in the sink.” (p. 5) It sounds to me like these classes are reinforcing traditional gender roles for their male and female students. The boys all had hunting experiences, which are glorified as examples in the class room, while the females all had to relate to doing the dishes at home. This model of teaching enforces the manly stereotypes for the boys, and the home maker stereotype for the females.
3. “While you’d end up with a better-than-random sort, the results would be abysmal, with unacceptably large percentages of students in the wrong place… ‘There are just too many exceptions to the rule.’” (p. 10) While it may seem to some that gender exclusive classrooms may be a good idea, it would be a logistical nightmare. As is said in the text, there are just too many problems that would arise. Separate gendered classrooms are just not practical, at least at the normal public high school level.
If the research is irrefutable, which, according to this reading, I do not believe it is, then it would be beneficial to keep boys and girls separated in school, supposing that it will raise test scores. It would be best to do this at a young age. I believe for this to truly be effective, it would need to be implemented early. Keep students separated while they are in grammar school, where they are developing at different speeds. According to this reading, both boys and girls are developmentally equal at around age 15, or right around the time they should be entering high school. So I propose keeping them separate up to grade 8, so that they can both thrive in their separate environments, and then bring them back together in high school. A fear that I had while reading this article was that students would start separate but equal, but eventually, the school system will begin to favor one group, creating an unequal learning environment for boys and girls. I am left wondering what repercussions a program like this could have in the public realm.
2. “They discussed how annoying it is when you’re out hunting, to be swarmed by yellow flies. Meanwhile, in Michelle Gay’s fourth-grade class, the girls sang a vigorous rendition of “Always Sisters” and then did a tidy science experiment: pouring red water, blue oil and clear syrup into a plastic cup to test which has the greatest density, then confirming their results with the firsthand knowledge that when you’re doing the dishes after your mother makes fried chicken, the oil always settles on top of the water in the sink.” (p. 5) It sounds to me like these classes are reinforcing traditional gender roles for their male and female students. The boys all had hunting experiences, which are glorified as examples in the class room, while the females all had to relate to doing the dishes at home. This model of teaching enforces the manly stereotypes for the boys, and the home maker stereotype for the females.
3. “While you’d end up with a better-than-random sort, the results would be abysmal, with unacceptably large percentages of students in the wrong place… ‘There are just too many exceptions to the rule.’” (p. 10) While it may seem to some that gender exclusive classrooms may be a good idea, it would be a logistical nightmare. As is said in the text, there are just too many problems that would arise. Separate gendered classrooms are just not practical, at least at the normal public high school level.
If the research is irrefutable, which, according to this reading, I do not believe it is, then it would be beneficial to keep boys and girls separated in school, supposing that it will raise test scores. It would be best to do this at a young age. I believe for this to truly be effective, it would need to be implemented early. Keep students separated while they are in grammar school, where they are developing at different speeds. According to this reading, both boys and girls are developmentally equal at around age 15, or right around the time they should be entering high school. So I propose keeping them separate up to grade 8, so that they can both thrive in their separate environments, and then bring them back together in high school. A fear that I had while reading this article was that students would start separate but equal, but eventually, the school system will begin to favor one group, creating an unequal learning environment for boys and girls. I am left wondering what repercussions a program like this could have in the public realm.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Between Barack and a Hard Place
1. “When the perpetrator of a particular act is a person of color, then that entire race is to blame, and placed under suspicion. That does not happen to those people who are white.” This is the epitome of white privilege. White culture, the culture of power, has the ability to blame an entire race for the acts of one or a few individuals. Some African American kids join a gang, and commit a crime, the entire race is blamed and stereotypes, but if a white person shoots up a school, it is the singular act of a mad man. White privilege allows for anonymity in society that is not granted to people of other races.
2. “White privilege allows us to view criminals of the dominant group as individuals, while too often viewing black and brown folk through the lens of a group pathology whenever one of ‘theirs’ violates one of ‘our’ legal or moral norms” This statement reiterates what was said in point one. White privilege allows for a white person to commit a crime as a singular act, white if a person of a different race commits a criminal act; their entire race is to blame.
3. “Job applicants with white sounding names were 50% more likely than job applicants with black sounding names to get a job – do we feel what that means” Another privilege of power, having a white sounding name. This correlates to a reading that we read earlier in the semester, which gave similar statistics. People with black sounding names do not get call backs for job interviews. In order to get a job, you need to subscribe to the culture of power, part of the culture of power, is having a white sounding name, which is considered to be ‘normal.’
Even in a ‘post-racial’ society, where we have a black president, things are still not much better for African Americans. Having a black sounding name means that you will have a harder time getting a call back for a job interview. A person or color committing a crime is incriminating their entire race. We do not live in a post racial society, even though we have a black president. There are still massive problems that stem from white privilege.
2. “White privilege allows us to view criminals of the dominant group as individuals, while too often viewing black and brown folk through the lens of a group pathology whenever one of ‘theirs’ violates one of ‘our’ legal or moral norms” This statement reiterates what was said in point one. White privilege allows for a white person to commit a crime as a singular act, white if a person of a different race commits a criminal act; their entire race is to blame.
3. “Job applicants with white sounding names were 50% more likely than job applicants with black sounding names to get a job – do we feel what that means” Another privilege of power, having a white sounding name. This correlates to a reading that we read earlier in the semester, which gave similar statistics. People with black sounding names do not get call backs for job interviews. In order to get a job, you need to subscribe to the culture of power, part of the culture of power, is having a white sounding name, which is considered to be ‘normal.’
Even in a ‘post-racial’ society, where we have a black president, things are still not much better for African Americans. Having a black sounding name means that you will have a harder time getting a call back for a job interview. A person or color committing a crime is incriminating their entire race. We do not live in a post racial society, even though we have a black president. There are still massive problems that stem from white privilege.
Monday, March 29, 2010
School Visit 3
I entered the Bat Cave for a third time. After parking, I was faced with a little annoyance, all the doors to the school were locked, and the doorbell was not working, or rather, no one was answering it. It took me five to ten minutes to finally get into the school. When I got into the school, Mrs. Qwerty was not in her classroom. It was another ten minute wait until she finally got to her room, and then another few minutes until the class began.
The third quarter is winding down, and grades close in the beginning of April. Both classes were assigned some book work, and then had the opportunity to do makeup work, and then some extra-credit work in order to boost their grade.
I worked with two students in the first class. One of the students was ‘Domino,’ who I had worked with before, and the other, I will call ‘Blue.’ The students were all given a Chapter Review sheet, and had to answer several questions about colonialism. I would read the question with the student, and then look through the text book to help them find the answer. I would find the answer, and point out the page number, and section that the answer could be found on.
The second class was much like the first one, where I helped two students complete the same assignment that the other class had to do. In this second class, I worked with ‘Red’ and ‘Pony Tail.’ ‘Red’ was very quiet, and once he finished working with me went back to his desk, and talked with a few friends. ‘Pony Tail’ on the other hand was very talkative. He told me about the sports that he plays, and his aspirations of playing professional basketball, and, failing that, a career in architecture. We talked about different aspects of school while completing the assignment.
The most interesting part of this visit came in the second class. One of the students, ‘Warlord’ was causing nothing but problems. He was failing to conform to Delpit’s culture of power. He was ignoring the rules, and asserting his own principles in the classroom, namely, he could talk to whomever he wanted, and do whatever he wanted in the class, while ignoring his work. Just as that second class, which was the last for the day, was wrapping up, his mother came into the classroom, and he, his mother, the Mrs. Qwerty and an assistant principle had a discipline meeting with the student, where they stressed the importance of following the rules of the classroom. The adults were reinforcing, and making known, clearly defined rules for the classroom. Hopefully the student will understand these rules, and start behaving better in the classroom. However, I got the feeling that this was not the first meeting of this sort to be had, and this makes me think that there are time constraints on the rules of power. If the rules of the culture of power are not clearly defined early to the child, then they may not ever be able to follow them, or it will be more difficult for them to conform to those rules.
The third quarter is winding down, and grades close in the beginning of April. Both classes were assigned some book work, and then had the opportunity to do makeup work, and then some extra-credit work in order to boost their grade.
I worked with two students in the first class. One of the students was ‘Domino,’ who I had worked with before, and the other, I will call ‘Blue.’ The students were all given a Chapter Review sheet, and had to answer several questions about colonialism. I would read the question with the student, and then look through the text book to help them find the answer. I would find the answer, and point out the page number, and section that the answer could be found on.
The second class was much like the first one, where I helped two students complete the same assignment that the other class had to do. In this second class, I worked with ‘Red’ and ‘Pony Tail.’ ‘Red’ was very quiet, and once he finished working with me went back to his desk, and talked with a few friends. ‘Pony Tail’ on the other hand was very talkative. He told me about the sports that he plays, and his aspirations of playing professional basketball, and, failing that, a career in architecture. We talked about different aspects of school while completing the assignment.
The most interesting part of this visit came in the second class. One of the students, ‘Warlord’ was causing nothing but problems. He was failing to conform to Delpit’s culture of power. He was ignoring the rules, and asserting his own principles in the classroom, namely, he could talk to whomever he wanted, and do whatever he wanted in the class, while ignoring his work. Just as that second class, which was the last for the day, was wrapping up, his mother came into the classroom, and he, his mother, the Mrs. Qwerty and an assistant principle had a discipline meeting with the student, where they stressed the importance of following the rules of the classroom. The adults were reinforcing, and making known, clearly defined rules for the classroom. Hopefully the student will understand these rules, and start behaving better in the classroom. However, I got the feeling that this was not the first meeting of this sort to be had, and this makes me think that there are time constraints on the rules of power. If the rules of the culture of power are not clearly defined early to the child, then they may not ever be able to follow them, or it will be more difficult for them to conform to those rules.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
School Visit 2
This was my second visit to the Bat Cave, and my first time meeting the classroom teacher, Mrs. Qwerty. The assignment for the classes, both 7th grade and 8th grade, was test corrections. The students were allowed to use their text books, to find the answers that they either skipped on the test, or answered incorrectly. The students were allowed full credit for all of the questions that they were able to answer using the text book.
I sat at a table in the front of the classroom, adjacent to the teacher’s desk. I worked with one of the seventh graders in the first period that I was there for. I worked with “Domino,” who answered almost no questions at all on his first attempt at the test. We would read the question together, and then each look through a text book. I would find the answer, and then tell “Domino” which paragraph he would need to read in order to find the answer.
I did this same thing with the same test and the same textbook, for the 8th grade class, which had the same assignment. I worked with two students in this group, doing the same thing. I would find the answer, and lead them to the paragraph that contained the answer.
All three of the students that I worked with were all very polite, contrary to the rest of the class. The classes were just as loud and obnoxious as they were last week. There were times that day, where Mrs. Qwerty was begging and pleading and threatening the students in order to make them quiet, and doing their work. The eighth graders were more rambunctious then the seventh graders were. Students were constantly getting up out of their seats, yelling across the room, and playfully shoving each other. Mrs. Qwerty also carries a whistle on her keys, in order to get the attention of the class when yelling is not enough.
It was nice working with small groups of the students, who, when I was working with them, were able to stay quiet, and work for the entire period. I believe that if a teacher was able to work with a smaller group of these students, it would be easier to keep them under control, and keep them on track more often then not.
I sat at a table in the front of the classroom, adjacent to the teacher’s desk. I worked with one of the seventh graders in the first period that I was there for. I worked with “Domino,” who answered almost no questions at all on his first attempt at the test. We would read the question together, and then each look through a text book. I would find the answer, and then tell “Domino” which paragraph he would need to read in order to find the answer.
I did this same thing with the same test and the same textbook, for the 8th grade class, which had the same assignment. I worked with two students in this group, doing the same thing. I would find the answer, and lead them to the paragraph that contained the answer.
All three of the students that I worked with were all very polite, contrary to the rest of the class. The classes were just as loud and obnoxious as they were last week. There were times that day, where Mrs. Qwerty was begging and pleading and threatening the students in order to make them quiet, and doing their work. The eighth graders were more rambunctious then the seventh graders were. Students were constantly getting up out of their seats, yelling across the room, and playfully shoving each other. Mrs. Qwerty also carries a whistle on her keys, in order to get the attention of the class when yelling is not enough.
It was nice working with small groups of the students, who, when I was working with them, were able to stay quiet, and work for the entire period. I believe that if a teacher was able to work with a smaller group of these students, it would be easier to keep them under control, and keep them on track more often then not.
Talking Points #5
1. “In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning activities seek to promote students’ self-esteem, to develop higher order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences – all goals of current curriculum reform efforts.” The theory of a service learning project is not simply to give a service to a community, but to develop new societal skills. Service learning projects, such as those we are doing in class, provide a gateway that gives us insight to educator experiences. We not only help the students that we are working with, but we develop the most rudimentary skills that we will need when teacher, i.e. interacting with children.
2. “By finding and engaging in community service activities, Mr. Johnson explained, students would interact with those less fortunate than themselves and would experience the excitement and joy of learning while using the community as a classroom.” When students enter the community, and work with those less fortunate, then the veil draped over white privilege may be lifted, and those students may realized how unequal many of our current societal norms are.
3. “[Ernest Boyer] endeavored to create ‘a new Carnegie unit,’ the requirement that all students take part in volunteer activities in either their school or community as a condition for graduation from high school.” I agree with this school requirement. I believe that students need to have experience in the ‘real world’ before they leave school. Have students work with other people, who are not privileged, like the students may be. Students need to be able to work with people (i.e. the homeless, the poor, and the disenfranchised) to advance society in the world that we live in.
It seems as if our class is comprised of a mix of the two methodologies that are discussed in the reading. We are all working in the same field, working with students, but we all work individually, within our own schools. I’ll take the time now to reflect on how we have progressed in class. We have discussed white power, and privilege, and the differences among different races, and social structure. Now, after reading this, it seems as if it is our responsibility to go into our own classrooms, as part of our own service learning projects, and project what we have learned to our students. We need to observe white privilege, and silenced dialogues, and then work to correct it.
2. “By finding and engaging in community service activities, Mr. Johnson explained, students would interact with those less fortunate than themselves and would experience the excitement and joy of learning while using the community as a classroom.” When students enter the community, and work with those less fortunate, then the veil draped over white privilege may be lifted, and those students may realized how unequal many of our current societal norms are.
3. “[Ernest Boyer] endeavored to create ‘a new Carnegie unit,’ the requirement that all students take part in volunteer activities in either their school or community as a condition for graduation from high school.” I agree with this school requirement. I believe that students need to have experience in the ‘real world’ before they leave school. Have students work with other people, who are not privileged, like the students may be. Students need to be able to work with people (i.e. the homeless, the poor, and the disenfranchised) to advance society in the world that we live in.
It seems as if our class is comprised of a mix of the two methodologies that are discussed in the reading. We are all working in the same field, working with students, but we all work individually, within our own schools. I’ll take the time now to reflect on how we have progressed in class. We have discussed white power, and privilege, and the differences among different races, and social structure. Now, after reading this, it seems as if it is our responsibility to go into our own classrooms, as part of our own service learning projects, and project what we have learned to our students. We need to observe white privilege, and silenced dialogues, and then work to correct it.
Talking Points 4
1. “Young people, unprotected by any intellectual armor, hear or watch these stories again and again, often from the warmth of their mother’s or father’s lap.” Young children are often predisposed to the images on television, which are not meant for them to see. Children do not realize the racial undercurrents that are present in modern media, and will believe it as truth. If a child, who does not know any better, see’s a black man acting like a buffoon on television, he or she may believe that is how all black people behave all the time.
2. “When women do appear, they look like Jessica Rabbit or Playboy centerfolds – even in many of the new and ‘improved’ children’s movies.” One of the most popular stereotypes in our society. The classic “Barbie” look is what all young girls aspire to attain. The problem with this is that it is almost unattainable, and it is often unhealthy for women to maintain this figure.
3. “After viewing a number of cartoons, Kenya scolded parents in an essay, “A Black Cinderella? Give Me a Break.” She wrote: “Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon? Did they have a leading role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child’s mind?” She ended her piece: “Women who aren’t white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess.” As the student said, there are no black princesses. This is an extension of white privilege. If you are not white, then you are not allowed to be a princess. There are very few examples of black people, Hispanics, or Asians being represented as anything other than a side character.
As I am reading this, I am thinking of Delpit’s reading. Delpit outlines how the culture of power works, but Christensen shows, through the media, who utilizes the culture of power, and what the culture of power looks like. In the culture of power, the princesses are white, and skinny, while the powerful men are white and attractive. The side characters, who are made up of people of color, work to foster racial stereotypes among minorities.
2. “When women do appear, they look like Jessica Rabbit or Playboy centerfolds – even in many of the new and ‘improved’ children’s movies.” One of the most popular stereotypes in our society. The classic “Barbie” look is what all young girls aspire to attain. The problem with this is that it is almost unattainable, and it is often unhealthy for women to maintain this figure.
3. “After viewing a number of cartoons, Kenya scolded parents in an essay, “A Black Cinderella? Give Me a Break.” She wrote: “Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon? Did they have a leading role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child’s mind?” She ended her piece: “Women who aren’t white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess.” As the student said, there are no black princesses. This is an extension of white privilege. If you are not white, then you are not allowed to be a princess. There are very few examples of black people, Hispanics, or Asians being represented as anything other than a side character.
As I am reading this, I am thinking of Delpit’s reading. Delpit outlines how the culture of power works, but Christensen shows, through the media, who utilizes the culture of power, and what the culture of power looks like. In the culture of power, the princesses are white, and skinny, while the powerful men are white and attractive. The side characters, who are made up of people of color, work to foster racial stereotypes among minorities.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
First School Visit : Opposites
On Wednesday I went to my school for the first time. It is a middle school in Providence that I will refer to as The Bat Cave. The teacher, Mrs. Qwerty, was not in class, so there were two teachers, on covered the first period that I was there, and another to cover the second period that I was there for. I was amazed at that the two teachers that covered the classes were polar opposites of one another. The first one, Mrs. Absolutesilence demanded that the class be silent, and no-one made a sound. You could hear a pin drop. The students all worked hard on their assignments. I helped two students, Chevy and Honda, and they were both well behaved, respectful, and worked hard the entire class. Whenever they were having trouble, I would point them in the right direction in their reading, and they were able to find their answer. The classes lasted for about 45 minutes, and then another class came in, and another teacher to cover. This teacher, Mrs. Pleasewalkalloverme, was an embarrassment to the school. There were only 16 students in the class, and I was counting the minutes until the class was over. For 45 minutes, there was constant talking, yelling, and literally no work got done. The assignments for the two classes were exactly the same, but the effort was completely different. At one point, a student, Godzilla, picked up a globe, tried to throw it at someone, and it hit the floor and broke. Another student, Tyrannosaurus Rex started pushing another kid, and it looked like they were going to get into a fight. Mrs. Pleasewalkalloverme had no control over the class. To call that class a zoo is an insult to zoo’s. As bad as it was, one student did approach me and ask me for help on his work, which I was more than happy to provide. I did appreciate this visit, even though I did not get to meet the teacher, because I got to see two different teaching styles. Mrs. Absolutesilence ascribed to Delpit’s rules of the culture of power, asserting herself and the rules of the classroom immediately, and keeping order throughout the class, while Mrs. Pleasewalkalloverme, never did anything to assert authority, or to make clear the rules of the culture of power.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Calson Talking Points
Beyond Black and White by Dennis Carlson
1. “Three techniques of normalization and (hence) marginalization have been of primary importance in this regard: (1) the erasure of gayness in the curriculum, (2) the ‘closeting’ and ‘witch hunting’ of gay teachers, and (3) verbal and physical intimidation of gay teachers and students.” These three points of normalization are all forced onto gay people within contemporary community. This is an example of silencing an entire group of people. The dominant, straight, culture silences the dialogue (Delpit) of homosexual people.
2. “Straight teachers often participate in silencing practices because they are fearful of raising a controversial issue that might provoke conflict in the classroom.” This quote, again, exemplifies the silenced dialogue that Delpit writes about. The powerful culture, straight culture, has control over society, and do not let the other (homosexuals) advance in society.
3. “‘Being yourself’ celebrates individualism and the autonomy of individuals to construct their own lives according to their own values and achieve goals they set for themselves – a deep foundational value in American culture.” The problem with being yourself is that if you do not conform to traditional social norms (i.e. straight, catholic, white, able bodied, male, property-owning) then you will be ostracized as an outsider, or an other, rejected and suppressed for your way of life, or beliefs. This is an example of privilege, not just for white people, but for straight people.
Being straight, catholic, white, able bodied and male, it is impossible for me to know what it would be like to be discriminated against as a homosexual, or any other group that is not part of the culture of power. I am not surprised however, that many people have worked to conceal who they really are, in an effort to act like members of the dominant group. People always preach to “be who you are,” but it is difficult to do so, because anyone regarded as an other by the culture of power has been historically shunned and degraded. In a perfect world, everyone should be able to be themselves without worry about persecution, not having to hide your identity in order to continue living your life. Unfortunately we live in a culture of power, one in which being an other is a crime.
1. “Three techniques of normalization and (hence) marginalization have been of primary importance in this regard: (1) the erasure of gayness in the curriculum, (2) the ‘closeting’ and ‘witch hunting’ of gay teachers, and (3) verbal and physical intimidation of gay teachers and students.” These three points of normalization are all forced onto gay people within contemporary community. This is an example of silencing an entire group of people. The dominant, straight, culture silences the dialogue (Delpit) of homosexual people.
2. “Straight teachers often participate in silencing practices because they are fearful of raising a controversial issue that might provoke conflict in the classroom.” This quote, again, exemplifies the silenced dialogue that Delpit writes about. The powerful culture, straight culture, has control over society, and do not let the other (homosexuals) advance in society.
3. “‘Being yourself’ celebrates individualism and the autonomy of individuals to construct their own lives according to their own values and achieve goals they set for themselves – a deep foundational value in American culture.” The problem with being yourself is that if you do not conform to traditional social norms (i.e. straight, catholic, white, able bodied, male, property-owning) then you will be ostracized as an outsider, or an other, rejected and suppressed for your way of life, or beliefs. This is an example of privilege, not just for white people, but for straight people.
Being straight, catholic, white, able bodied and male, it is impossible for me to know what it would be like to be discriminated against as a homosexual, or any other group that is not part of the culture of power. I am not surprised however, that many people have worked to conceal who they really are, in an effort to act like members of the dominant group. People always preach to “be who you are,” but it is difficult to do so, because anyone regarded as an other by the culture of power has been historically shunned and degraded. In a perfect world, everyone should be able to be themselves without worry about persecution, not having to hide your identity in order to continue living your life. Unfortunately we live in a culture of power, one in which being an other is a crime.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hunger of Memory
Patrick Wygant
Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez
1. “Those gringo sounds they uttered startled me. Pushed away. In that moment of trivial misunderstanding and profound insight, I felt my throat twisted by unsounded grief. I turned quickly and left the room. But I had no place to escape to with Spanish. (The spell was broken.) My brother and sisters were speaking English in another part of the house.” (Rodriguez, 21) This quote asserts the dominance of the English language, and white culture. In order to assimilate into Delpit’s Culture of Power, “the rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of those who have power.” Those who have power are the English speaking white people, and in order for Rodriguez to properly assimilate, he must abandon his Spanish speaking culture. This is similar to Wind Wolf, and how he needed to abandon his culture in order to “be white”
2. “My mother! My father! After English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents.” (Rodriguez, 23) This quote is a sad depiction describing Rodriguez’s life after his assimilation into white culture. Rodriguez no longer has the privilege of addressing his parents. Being forced to learn the English language destroyed Rodriguez’s own culture, and way of life. It forces one to think, how good is white culture if it can destroy families.
3. “Most of those people who called me pocho could have spoken English to me. But they would not.” (Rodriguez, 30) After Rodriguez has worked to get into white culture, he is shunned, and taunted by his family. The culture of power allows Rodriguez to work publically, but he is now denied a private life with his family.
I enjoyed this reading, but felt bad for Rodriguez throughout the piece. He was forced into the white culture of power, and the price he paid was his relationship with his family. This text is similar to the reading about Wind Wolf, who was also forced to abandon his culture in order to become something, that other people want his to be. This article seems to make an argument for teaching more language classes in school, in order to preserve other people’s cultures.
Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez
1. “Those gringo sounds they uttered startled me. Pushed away. In that moment of trivial misunderstanding and profound insight, I felt my throat twisted by unsounded grief. I turned quickly and left the room. But I had no place to escape to with Spanish. (The spell was broken.) My brother and sisters were speaking English in another part of the house.” (Rodriguez, 21) This quote asserts the dominance of the English language, and white culture. In order to assimilate into Delpit’s Culture of Power, “the rules of the culture of power are a reflection of the rules of those who have power.” Those who have power are the English speaking white people, and in order for Rodriguez to properly assimilate, he must abandon his Spanish speaking culture. This is similar to Wind Wolf, and how he needed to abandon his culture in order to “be white”
2. “My mother! My father! After English became my primary language, I no longer knew what words to use in addressing my parents.” (Rodriguez, 23) This quote is a sad depiction describing Rodriguez’s life after his assimilation into white culture. Rodriguez no longer has the privilege of addressing his parents. Being forced to learn the English language destroyed Rodriguez’s own culture, and way of life. It forces one to think, how good is white culture if it can destroy families.
3. “Most of those people who called me pocho could have spoken English to me. But they would not.” (Rodriguez, 30) After Rodriguez has worked to get into white culture, he is shunned, and taunted by his family. The culture of power allows Rodriguez to work publically, but he is now denied a private life with his family.
I enjoyed this reading, but felt bad for Rodriguez throughout the piece. He was forced into the white culture of power, and the price he paid was his relationship with his family. This text is similar to the reading about Wind Wolf, who was also forced to abandon his culture in order to become something, that other people want his to be. This article seems to make an argument for teaching more language classes in school, in order to preserve other people’s cultures.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Patrick Wygant
Jonathan Kozol Amazing Grace
1. “‘Five of those seven,’ says the principal, ‘get reduced-price lunches, because they are classified as only ‘poor,’ not ‘destitute.’” (Kozol 3) This quote creates a snapshot of the unbelievable poverty that the people of the South Bronx are living in. Jonathan Kozol is writing this piece in order to inform people about the absolute poverty that people are living in, and this quote offers a quick, and concise example of how poor life is in this area of New York.
2. “‘You just cover up… and hope you wake up the next morning,’ says a father of four children, one of them an infant one month old, as they prepare to climb into their sleeping bags in hats and coats on a December night.” (Kozol 4) After reading this, I wondered why someone would bring a child into a place of such absolute poverty, let alone four. I know that if I were to bring a child into the world, I would only want to do it if the conditions were right, not if I were going to go to sleep in a sleeping bag wearing hats and coats, just hoping to wake up in the morning.
3. “‘The point is that they put a lot of things into our neighborhood that no one wants.’” (Kozol 10) This is an example of white privilege, as described by Alan Johnson. The wealthy section of New York, populated by white people, decided that they wanted to put the incinerator into the poor section of New York, largely populated by black people.
I found this reading to be very powerful. I was amazed at the living conditions of people in these neighborhoods. I was especially shocked to learn that many police officers just let a lot of the people do drugs in the parks without bothering them, contributing to the wickedness of this area. The mere fact that young children are exposed to these environments is appalling. I only question if there have been any steps taken since the publishing of this book in order to better that section of New York. I was able to make connections with Alan Johnson’s piece, and with the Lisa Delpit reading. All of the white people who live in New York, and have more money, do not want their children exposed to things like the incinerators, so they have them built in the black neighborhoods. Lisa Delpit writes about a culture of power. The South Bronx is an example of the culture of power. The white people live in nicer neighborhoods like Manhattan, white the black people, who may not be assimilated into the culture of power live in rundown neighborhoods like the South Bronx. Then when the black people who do operate within the culture of power start to make money, and become successful, they leave the Bronx, and move into nicer neighborhoods. There is no-one within the culture of power that will stay in places like the South Bronx in order to improve it.
Jonathan Kozol Amazing Grace
1. “‘Five of those seven,’ says the principal, ‘get reduced-price lunches, because they are classified as only ‘poor,’ not ‘destitute.’” (Kozol 3) This quote creates a snapshot of the unbelievable poverty that the people of the South Bronx are living in. Jonathan Kozol is writing this piece in order to inform people about the absolute poverty that people are living in, and this quote offers a quick, and concise example of how poor life is in this area of New York.
2. “‘You just cover up… and hope you wake up the next morning,’ says a father of four children, one of them an infant one month old, as they prepare to climb into their sleeping bags in hats and coats on a December night.” (Kozol 4) After reading this, I wondered why someone would bring a child into a place of such absolute poverty, let alone four. I know that if I were to bring a child into the world, I would only want to do it if the conditions were right, not if I were going to go to sleep in a sleeping bag wearing hats and coats, just hoping to wake up in the morning.
3. “‘The point is that they put a lot of things into our neighborhood that no one wants.’” (Kozol 10) This is an example of white privilege, as described by Alan Johnson. The wealthy section of New York, populated by white people, decided that they wanted to put the incinerator into the poor section of New York, largely populated by black people.
I found this reading to be very powerful. I was amazed at the living conditions of people in these neighborhoods. I was especially shocked to learn that many police officers just let a lot of the people do drugs in the parks without bothering them, contributing to the wickedness of this area. The mere fact that young children are exposed to these environments is appalling. I only question if there have been any steps taken since the publishing of this book in order to better that section of New York. I was able to make connections with Alan Johnson’s piece, and with the Lisa Delpit reading. All of the white people who live in New York, and have more money, do not want their children exposed to things like the incinerators, so they have them built in the black neighborhoods. Lisa Delpit writes about a culture of power. The South Bronx is an example of the culture of power. The white people live in nicer neighborhoods like Manhattan, white the black people, who may not be assimilated into the culture of power live in rundown neighborhoods like the South Bronx. Then when the black people who do operate within the culture of power start to make money, and become successful, they leave the Bronx, and move into nicer neighborhoods. There is no-one within the culture of power that will stay in places like the South Bronx in order to improve it.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Post 1
I am a sophomore, and my semester is going well thus far. I am planning on applying to the School of Ed at the end of this semester. I commutte to RIC from Newport everyday. When not in class, I enjoy relaxing with friends.
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