This American Life

Reflection

I really enjoyed this podcast. When I took Political Science last semester I wrote an entire paper on Brown V Board of Education and this podcast talked about a lot of the points I made in my paper. In my paper I had to talk not only about what the court case was but the ways in which it still affects society today. This podcast talked about the achievement gap between schools that are primarily white and schools that are primarily black. The podcast talks about how we need to take a step back and try something that is actually going to work. They talked about how one of the only things that actually works is integration. To me, it was so shocking to hear that there are still statistics showing that schools aren't actually fully integrated. I understand that these kids may not live in the same areas and thats why they are technically segregated. But, black children need to get the same opportunities as white children. This podcast reminded me of Kozol because his whole article is about the privilege that white people have over black people right from the start because of geographical location. These minorities and disadvantaged people are continuously stuck in a cycle of oppression because of things they cannot control. These kids don't choose to go to these schools but then when someone tries to do something to get them the opportunities they deserve and integrate them, the people with privilege are outraged. 

People with privilege and power are the ones that write the rules, and then they get mad when people try to create a situation in which other people are given a chance. These people need to check their privilege  and take a step back and realize what they have just because of the color of their skin. Everyone should have the same opportunities regardless of the color of their skin especially when it comes to education.

Social Justice Event

Social Justice Event

TED Talk

How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend a social justice event in person. Instead I chose to watch the TED Talk about the health affects of childhood trauma. I have always had an interest in learning about childhood trauma. I could never understand and never will be able to understand how any one could hurt a child. However, this TED Talk didn't focus just on actual abuse to a child, it talked about a spectrum of different acts that could traumatize a child and affect them for the rest of their life. This includes sexual, physical, or emotion abuse, parental divorce, substance abuse, incarceration, or domestic abuse. This TED talk taught me about how extremely common it is for people to have at least one of these indicators and the affects of having one or more indicator. If a person has four or more indicators they are eight times more likely to have a depression and 12 times more likely to attempt and or commit suicide. This reminded me of the August article and the importance of safe spaces where kids feel safe and comfortable. The kids that have this childhood trauma clearly need a safe space and it makes me hope that my future classroom can be a safe space for my students where they can be given the resources to get the help that they need. I found an article that talks about the reasons why safe spaces are important to have on college campuses. I do not want to work at a college but I feel like if its important for colleges to have safe spaces, its just as important for kids in grade school to have them as well. If people have childhood trauma, this when that trauma would occur and in the TED talk it discusses how the sooner these kids get access to help and services, the better off they will be. This TED talk also reminded me of Kristof's theory that the US in the land of limitations. I related this to the TED talk because if these kids don't the help they need related to their trauma they will be very limited and face more challenges as adults. Kristof makes it clear in his article that if you have something working against you its almost impossible to catch up and get ahead, which I think is a point that ties right into the TED talk. The last author I felt like I could relate this TED talk to was Christensen. Christensen talks about how schools need to give students the tool to interpret oppression and stereotypes. While oppression typically corresponds to a group of people or culture being put down for something they cannot control I related this to children that have experienced traumas. They are a group of people who have been traumatized and limited by people that have more power than them. I think it is up to schools to help these students realize they can get help and take back their power. Children who experience trauma are victims to it their whole life due to the long lasting effects. Schools should have staff trained to help these kids, recognize what they're feeling, and do what they can to avoid the long lasting effects it can have on their health.

pecha kucha

Pecha Kucha

Blog Post #9

Reflection/ Connection

While reading this article I thought a lot about a classroom that I volunteered in through out high school. It was an inclusive kindergarten classroom that had a large variety of students with different abilities and skills. Volunteering in this classroom made me realize that I wanted to be a special education teacher and work in an inclusive classroom where I could integrate both general and special education students and teach them that they are all equal. I loved the culture of the classroom and how all of the kids learned from each other. In the article by Kliewer there is a section about John Dewey's beliefs that really spoke to me, "Dewey (1899) believed schools must serve as the sites in which children develop both a sense of commitment to one another and a sense of self-direction leading to 'the deepest and the best guarantee of a larger society which is worthy, lovely, and harmonious'". I enjoyed this quote because I feel like it speaks to the fact that when it comes down to it, students are humans, they need to be treated as such and the friendships and relationships that they form in school are just as important as the academic lessons that they learn.

In the classroom I visited, respect was the first thing that these students learned. They learned that their classroom peers are their school family and should be treated as such. They learned to protect one another in the hallways, cafeteria, and playground. I feel like this aspect of the classroom related to Shor's main idea of socialization in American Schools. One of the students in the classroom couldn't speak but her peers and teachers made it a priority to learn about her and the things that made her happy versus the things that made her mad. This simple act of just observing and being understanding made the little girl feel welcome and understood in the classroom. She was frustrated at the beginning of the year because she knew what she wanted to say but it was like she was trapped in her body. But by the end of the month she was like a whole new person. She no longer had temper tantrums and stormed out of the room. Her classmates and teachers had learned what certain motions and sounds meant and what to do about them and how to help her. This was something that was very heartwarming to see because as she became more understood in the classroom, she had more and more people play with her on the playground. This idea of socialization and allowing her into a classroom with general education students gave her the opportunity to make friends that she otherwise would have been segregated from.

I found an article that discusses more about what an inclusive classroom looks like in today's society and the benefits it can have for students. This article focuses on a specific student which I thought was a good idea in order to show exactly how this student was integrated and how it benefited him. It also talks about some of the challenges that are presented and how they can be resolved which I think is really good because naturally there will be some bumps in the road especially when its a new program or a new teacher.

Value's In the Classroom

Values are everywhere in life, society, and the classroom. Value is important to have in the classroom because it helps determine the hierarchy of importance. It helps teachers establish rules and boundaries for students. Teachers can purposely create these values by enforcing them, or they can do it by accident. Either way values can be a very tricky thing in the classroom depending upon what is decided to be or treated like the most important thing.

My teacher in my service learning placement does an amazing job of teaching and enforcing values. The students always come first. She makes sure that they know that their physical, mental, and emotional help are the most important aspect of her classroom. At the beginning of almost every day, unless something out of the ordinary occurs, she has the whole classroom sit on the rug. They sit on the rug and one by one pass around a stuffed globe and get to talk about how they are feeling this morning. The students can also tell her if they would like a minute out in the hall after the group meeting so they can talk more and she can give them a hug. All of her students know how much she adores them and that she is there for them if they need anything.  

My teacher has also done an amazing job of creating a loving and respectful learning community. The students do not have arguments and they do not make fun of eachother. And in the one instance where there was a scuffle between two girls, the teacher immediately pulled them out into the hall way and monitored them while they talked it out. It took all of five minutes and stopped what could have been a huge distraction for the entire class had the fight gone any further. Pulling them out and listening to both students also showed them that she respects them and values their side of the story. Due to this amazing learning community, all of the students genuinely feel comfortable sharing their feelings in the morning meeting. They feel safe, listened too, and respected. 

My teacher also values the curriculum of course, but never at the expense of her children. She knows what topics she needs to cover but purposely makes them appeal to her students. Every single kid in the classroom speaks Spanish at home so my teacher makes sure that their reading books have characters that represent them. Every book they have read has a character or a family that represents a different culture. This shows them, that even in the curriculum they are important and valued. 

My teacher calls her classroom the “kindness committee”. I think that this is just another example of the values she has created in her classroom. I love going there because the power is balanced throughout the classroom. The students know that their teacher is in charge but they also know that they will be listened to and their opinions will be heard. The values in this classroom are strong and structured so well.

AUTHOR/ CONCEPT	Overall claims and arguments	Key words	Connection to another author?	Story from my SL project
SCWAAMP	Leslie Grinner argues that there are some categories/identities that are most valued (dominant) in our culture and they are privileged, or given more access and opportunity than other categories/identities that are not valued.  These Most Valued categories are invisible to us unless we “tap the glass” to notice they are there. What kinds of things are valued at your SL site? Any evidence of taps on the glass of dominant ideology?	dominant ideology privilege tap the glass	Johnson talks about same concepts, Delpit’s culture of power	In my SL classroom, it is very easy to see exactly what Grinner is writing about. The kids in the classroom are underprivileged because they don’t meet all of the criteria she discusses and so they don’t have the same resources to succeed.
Johnson	Allan Johnson argues that it is important to talk explicitly about issues of privilege, power and difference so that we can work towards a more just and respectful world.  Do you see any examples of teachers or students talking explicitly about race, class, gender, sexuality, etc? What kind of outcomes do you witness? Is it productive or confrontational?  Would Johnson celebrate these efforts?	“Say the words” “Luxury of obliviousness”	Delpit (“good intentions are not enough”)
Delpit	Lisa Delpit argues that teachers need to explicitly teach the rules and codes of power to students who might not learn those rules and codes at home.  Have you seen teachers using a direct style? Have you seen teachers working to instruct students about the rules and codes of power? Have you come across “Delpit Moments” where there was a miscommunication that could be related to these issues?	Codes of power	SCWAAMP because Grinner’s whole argument is centered around power and privilege.
Kristof	Kristof argues that the United States claims that it is the land of opportunities and equality when it really couldn’t be farther from that. Kristof discusses how it is nearly impossible for people who are born poor to get out of poverty.  He also talks about how poverty isn’t just about the monetary aspect, it's more about the way the kids are raised and what they have access too.	“Land of limitations” “Escalator to a better life”	Delpit and SCWAAMP because they all talk about how people that are born into positions with less power stay there regardless of what intentions there are.	In my classroom, one of the teacher’s main focus is for the students to understand the value of the education that they are receiving. She explains the importance of why they should read at home and why they should keep trying even when they are home. This connects to Kristof because he talks about how a lot of kids growing up in poverty aren’t read to or explained the value of an education.
Kozol				Your first journal is in this style
McIntosh	McIntosh suggests that white people are taught not to recognize the way their race gets valued in the larger culture.  She says that unless white people actively pay attention to it, whiteness will go unnoticed and unacknowledged. Have you seen whiteness valued at your schools?  Does whiteness show its power in the leadership, curriculum, norms or expectations of the classroom?		Johnson
“All Lives Matter”	In “All Lives Matter” the author explains that the black lives matter movement is about gaining opportunities for the culture that has consistently been degraded for centuries. They argue that the black lives matter movement isn’t saying that all lives don’t matter, it is saying that black lives matter just as much as any other life. Do you ever see this in your classroom, where white students opinions are more valued?	“Fair share” “American face”	This connects to the Brown vs Board of Education website because the website is focused on the factual evidence of inequality and hardships that black people in America have had to face for years.	This article connects to my classroom because my teacher is all about helping her students that come from underprivileged backgrounds find their voice and learn that they are just as important as everyone else.
Rodriguez	Talks about the separation between his “home” language and culture and the language/culture of academia.  He feels he had to leave behind his home language to become fluent and successful in another.	“Speak to us en ingles” “Bilingual education”	This article relates to Garcia because it is all about bilingual students even though they are different takes on it.	I can tell that some of the students in my class feel this divide. They know that they are supposed to speak english at school but I can tell that sometimes it would just be so much easier for them to use Spanish
Garcia	Discusses the benefits of translanguaging, where students can use all available linguistic resources to discuss, learn, and understand concepts.	“Challenges monolingual assumptions” “Action and practice”	This article relates to Rodriguez but is different in that it focuses more on the beneficial aspects of being bilingual	There is a girl in my SL classroom that really struggles with English and is so smart. Instead of being left behind because she can’t keep up with the English aspects she is given translations of each sheet so she can see the English and Spanish versions of the same paper. When she feels comfortable writing in English she can but she can also write in Spanish when she isn’t fully understanding what to do with the English parts.
Christensen	Christensen argues that schools need to help students acquire tools to interpret the media and other cultural texts in order to recognize stereotypes and oppression.  Further, she emphasizes that teachers need to help students take action in expression their critiques.  Do you see any of this connection to the “real world” in your SL classroom?  Do students learn to take action and speak out?
August	August argues that people can’t learn if they don’t feel safe.  Schools need to work to make marginalized students (in her case students who identify as LGBT) feel more “normalized” into the school community.  She suggest we can do this by fighting the tendency to make these students erased, absent and invisible. Do you see these kind of efforts (around gayness or other issues) present in your school?
Zelle
Kahne and Westheimer	Charity vs. Change
This American Life
Hebert
Brown v Board website
Finn	Finn’s main argument is that schools with students who come from more impoverished and struggling areas, they on average attend lower quality schools than students that come from middle to upper class backgrounds. Finn highlights the lack of equality in the education system and how these lower quality schools lack resources and supplies in order to help their students best. This makes teachers not care as much about their students and just assume that they can’t learn.	“We keep them busy” “You can’t teach these kids”	Kozol because he focuses on the struggling areas of a city and talks about how they aren’t getting better because no one cares enough to put the money into them to improve them.	This relates to my classroom because most of the kids come from impoverished backgrounds and so the school is very run down. The difference in my classroom though is that my teacher believes in all her students and puts so much money into her classroom so that they have the things they need to succeed.
Oakes	Oakes’ arguments is that tracking students test scores is not a good way to actually help kids improve. It causes a divide between the students and hurts the ones that come from more impoverished areas. It causes people to make assumptions based on test scores and backgrounds that do not benefit anyone.	“Low ability groups”	SCWAAMP because Oakes is basically arguing that if students don’t fit the criteria in SCWAAMP that their quality of education is adversely affected.	This relates to last week when I was in my classroom and the teacher was testing two of the girls for her graduate course. She was then talking to them about some sort of testing they will do and how she hates that they don't do the verbal part with her because she knows their scores won't reflet their actually abilities due to their shy nature. She thinks they should get to be tested by someone who at least knows them so that they feel more comfortable talking to them.
Kliewer	Kiewer argues about the inequality in education for students with disabilities and special needs. His major claims are that they deserve (just like any other student) to be given the resources and opportunities they need in order to reach their potential and be their best self. He talks about how special education classes often lead to students with special needs being put in a box where they aren’t challenged to get better and smarter.	“Playing together”	SCWAAMP because student’s with special needs don’t fit the “able bodied” category of SCWAAMP so they face discrimination in the classroom
Shor	Shor focuses on the importance of students curiosity and how school’s curriculum is so restrictive and it doesn’t benefit the students or teachers. The curriculum is important in that it is a guide for what should be taught but that it shouldn’t restrict the students and teachers to the point that they don’t have time in the day to think about the things that interest them	“Sabotage the curriculum”	Johnson because this addresses problems of institutional power because people that don’t know the students are deciding what they should and shouldn’t learn.
Privilege	Privilege is defined as a special right or advantage granted only to a particular person or group which is a topic we discuss consistently in class. The big thing about privilege is that it separates groups of people for no actual reasons. It just decides that one group is better than another because of outdated thoughts and views. Privilege creates a clear divide in society and puts certain groups ahead of others immediately.	“Divide” “Special right”	SCWAAMP is all about privilege and different characteristics that make a person more privileged in our society.
Power	Power is the ability to influence others. In class we have discussed the ways in which institutional powers influence everyone. Power also relates to privilege because those in power and those who have privilege are often the same people and they oppress people that don’t fit the criteria without even  being aware of it.	“Influence” “suppress”	Kristof because his article talks a lot about how the people in power often decide what happens to the people that lack power.
Ideology
individuals vs institutions
social justice