Talking Points #5

In the Service of What?

The Politics of Service Learning

By Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

1.    “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.”

I think that it is great for kids to do community service and help out in the community. Sometimes you never realize what is out there until you are faced with it or experience it firsthand. In order to understand life, and all its hardships one needs to see it, and if you can help someone in need why not? In order to move toward change, fix problems, we need to acknowledge their existence. Of course some issues like disabilities you cannot really do anything about, but issues of poverty and such we can help.  It develops compassion and rids ignorance. This is very much an authentic learning experience.

2.    “We create opportunities for changing our understanding of the other and the context within which he or she lives.”

I completely agree. People are so quick to judge others and their way of life when they have no idea the hardships that person might be going through. By doing these projects we get to know people, their lives, their feeling, and how they truly live rather than assuming what we believe to be true. A lot of times I think people are surprised by the unknown, which is usually not as it seems.

3.    “A music director at a middle school we studied wanted her suburban, upper-middle-class students to perform at a nearby elementary school in a poor neighborhood…they had imagined "horrifying children running around on a dirty campus." They had expected them to be "rude, tough, noisy, and very unfriendly," and they even thought they would be "mean, gang-related blacks." One of the students wrote, "I was scared because my mom had told me it was a bad neighborhood and to be careful."

So often we hear this term “bad neighborhood” and with it comes all these stereotypes listed above. What is a bad neighborhood? What makes this neighborhood good, and this bad? It is so weird to think about. Perhaps these neighborhoods are bad because they are always labeled as such. Why are “bad neighborhoods” always related with “gang-related blacks”. Nobody can deny that when they hear the term “bad neighborhood” they think this, but it’s wrong. I hate it when I hear this.

This article was okay. It wasn’t my favorite out of all the articles that we have read, but I understand it. Service Learning is very important, not only for the community, but for us as individuals. It can teach us about life and bring us to the very core of reality. It’s amazing.

Sexism, Strength and Dominance: Masculinity in Disney Films

I found this video after class today and I think it does a good job at analyzing all the stereotypes in Disney movies. Check it out!!!

Talking Ponts #4

Christensen, "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us"

1. “When we read children’s books, we aren’t just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated.”

Books, magazines, cartoons, and movies all project images to young children. They teach children what is accepted and what is the ideal man/woman. You never see ugly princesses who are happy. They are always pretty. You never see a handsome prince who cannot get a maiden. It projects the idea that looks provide happiness. These ideas and much more are leaking into the minds of children everyday, and everyday children are adapting to these "ideals"

2. “As Tinker Bell’s obsessive vanity in Peter Pan. These seemingly innocent stories teach us to look for our faults. As Tinker Bell inspects her tiny body in a mirror only to find that her minute hips are simply too huge, she shows us how to turn the mirror into an enemy….. and this scenario is repeated in girls’ locker rooms all over the world.”

I had never considered this before, and I love Tinker Bell. It does however send off the wrong message to young girls. It makes them believe that if they are not like this then they are not pretty or are not what society wants. Even Tinker Bell thinks her hips are too big and that is a problem for her. This is why girls become anorexic, because they want to be what society expects from them. They want to be "Barbie" so to speak. Everyday one sees girls walking down the street with bleach blond hair, big boobs (fake, stuffed, etc),a fake tan, and a stomach that looks like they hadn't eaten in months. This is all because girls are projected to look like this in the media so it must be right.

3. “Both of these tales leave young women with two myths: Happiness mean getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumtion…”

This is definitely true. Whenever I consider what the American dream is it always includes being with a man. If I'm not married it is almost as if I have failed in some way. I know that I have been with someone now for the past almost 5 years and I wonder when I will marry. It has become almost a requirement toward happiness. Cinderella was a perfect example. She was only happy once she met the prince. As far as the transformation, she was only accepted after she wore nice attire. This teaches kids that happiness is gained through materialistic items, such as clothes.

It is really sad to think that our world is like this and that society does this to us, but it is true. We are materialistic and obsess over our looks. Happiness is not built on love, but on appearances. Many times people date not because of the other person's personality, but if they are cute enough, or not embarrassing. Another quote that I liked was,“…like the absence of female characters in many of the older cartoons. When women do appear they look like Jessica Rabbit or Playboy centerfolds” Women have become toys to mold and fashion, little dolls. Of course, it is only getting worse.

Yay, I did it!

Okay I am a lot happier now that my assignment seems to not be disappearing on me. Things seem to be looking better. I'm ready for the debate tomorrow so competitors BEWARE. Just kidding :) Good luck.

Talking Points # 2 ...Hopefully it stays posted this time! :)

Terry Meier's "Why Can't She Remember That"  
   
1. "...the teacher asked, 'How many mitten's are there?' Gabriela (a pseudonym0, the bilingual Puerto Rican child sitting next to me, turned and asked me, in an exasperated tone, 'Why can't she remember that?'"

This amuses me because I never thought of what children are thinking when teachers repeat things multiple times as if they don't understand. I love the way this girl says that she cannot understand why her teacher keeps asking a question that she has already been told the answer to twice. It makes you think how many other kids are thinking the same thing. Maybe it's not that they don't understand the material, but that they don't raise their hands because if the teacher cannot remember why should they. I can see how a child might see it this way. It is a bit funny to think about.

2. "I turn the pages, book after book, and ask where are we?"

One Asian American educator wrote this when reflected on the books she read as a child. When teachers read books they always read safe books with white perfect characters. children of other races often feel as if they are excluded, or rejected from this "white world". It is important to read books that show all types of families of all types of races. If teachers continuously only read stories representing white people then children of other races tend to feel that they are different and not what they should be and this is not the message we want to be teaching children.

3. "If books are not compelling to children, then no amount of time spent on rhyming games, phonemic awareness exercises, or any other kind of literacy activity will result in them becoming proficient and empowered readers."
If you asked me a few years ago what books I read over the summer I was the one who never read them until the week before the summer reading tests. I hated to read. I don't anymore, but I will say that not reading for fun made it hard in other subjects. reading helps strengthen vocabulary, makes you more knowledgeable in other subjects, and helps with grammar in a way too. Once I began to read I found that I did better in these areas too. I always got good grades but I had to work even harder for them because not reading all those years held me back in the sense that I was not as familiar with vocabulary, and other things that reading helps with. I completely agree with this quote.

This article made me think of my boyfriend and the experiences that he has had to go through as a Hispanic coming to America not fully knowing how to speak English. I remember when he was learning how to speak English and people would talk very slow and loud to him saying, "DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? HELLO MY NAME IS..." People would treat him like an idiot like somehow speaking louder and slower was going to get him to understand. It always amused me. He would respond "YES I DO." yelling back at them and making them realize how they were acting. What made me think of this is Gabriela and how she doesn't understand why her teacher keeps asking the same question again and again.

Ugh...

OK Sometimes this site does not want to work for me. I swear I posted my Talking Points #2, but yet it is not on here. I don't even know where it is. Hopefully I can find it if not I'm going to have to write it again because I definitely do not want a zero. Is anyone else having trouble like this? This is the first time for me but it is definitely stressful only because I know I posted it. What happened?

Talking Points # 3

Dennis Carlson's "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community"

1. "Nevertheless, normalizing texts systematically exclude and neglect the culture of those outside the norm for the purpose of ratifying or legitimating the dominant culture as the only significant culture worth studying."

This is definitely true because I have had many teachers who skip over the discussion of homosexuality whenever possible. I believe they did this to avoid not only opposition, but the tension that enters the room when talked about. It is that same tension that you feel when people are faced with the discussion of racism. Everybody wants to avoid any discussion of something that may be new, or never looked at before. People fear change and being "different".

2. "...signing into law of a Minnesota bill that makes it illegal to discriminate against lesbians and gay men in employment and housing. Yet what got ignored in all the celebrating was a provision in the bill that prohibits teaching about homosexuality in the public schools."

This is something I never realized and really struck me when I read it. It is like giving people some hope, but not all. I don't understand how people can have some rights, but not all. I do not understand the big deal about teaching homosexuality. I'm not saying that we should have a whole subject dedicated toward it, but don't ignore it's existence because the more you ignore it the more it is ever present.

3. "...it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease."

The only association that seems to be made toward homosexuality is disease. I hope that this is not true because if so, that is sad. Why does it have to be seen so negatively. I don't have to be a lesbian to respect the choices the others make. Why do people care so much what other people do with their lives. This never seemed to make sense to me.

4. "Don't ask, don't tell." (Sorry I had to add one more.)

It should not be like this. This just promotes the idea of homosexuals being silenced. People should not have to be afraid to come out. I really don't like this saying because it brings about discrimination. To me it is like saying, "I like you and accept you as long as I believe you are not gay." That's wrong and it should not be a big deal what people's sexual orientation is.

I am glad to say that in my high school it was a lot better then others. Of course there will always be those opposed to the life styles of homosexuals, but when I attended Attleboro High, the teachers did talk of homosexuality. I remember talking in my English class about Emily Dickinson and how many people believe she might have been a lesbian. As a class we analyzed her poetry and had in-depth conversations about it. My school also had "A Day of Silence" where students would sign up and receive a pin that they would where for the entire day to show respect to all homosexuals who are fighting to come out of the closet. It was a day to show respect. When wearing the pin you were not allowed to talk and none of the teachers could call on you. This was so you could show respect and feel like homosexuals feel, silenced, before they come out. I was fortunate that my school was like this, but I have seen many that are not.