Talk, Discuss, Listen

While reading Chapter 31, I could not help myself but constantly say, "Why dont they just talk about it?" It seemed that after each encounter that the teacher (s) had with a race issue, all the teacher had to say was, "well we just ignored it." Letting things go that and not confronting it head only leaves a child with more questions and unsolved issues. I know it is difficult for White teachers to bring race into the classroom, for the fear of maybe saying the wrong thing or not saying the right thing, but that fear needs to end. Bring up race into a classroom allows the students to think criticlly about themselves and their peers. In the chapter, when the teacher said that Bianca was a Latina, and all the students laughed, that would have been a great time to sit and discuss with the class why that was funny? Was Bianca a Latina? Does your culture always have to match your race and ethinicity? By letting these students at Pathway conclude what they want to think about race will only hurt them in the long run. They could beginto develop judgemental stereotypes and forever hold on to those beleifs if no one sets them straight. I think the main message in this chapter was that teachers, students and the community need to begin helping each other out when it comes to race and ethnicity. This chapter is not saying that we are all equal and need to be treated the same; what it is saying is that we are all different, and should be proud of it. We need to treat every race with respect and not be afraid to explore other cultures. I really liked this chapter because i come from a multiculture family and i was always excited to bring that into the classroom when i can.

Questions:

1. What are ways for us future teachers to bring race into the classroom positivily; fitting in the curriculum and such?

2. How can we form a teacher allience with our schools to make sure that all classes are discussing issues of race?

Its hard for all of us

In chapter 22, "Lesbian and Gay Adolescents: Social and Developmental Consideration" a great deal of growing pains were discussed. It is hard growing up in our society no matter who you are, but it has got to be double the pain growing up in a society that sees homosexually a taboo. These kids that have not yet "come out"are either hiding their true feelings, which just prolongs any consequences they see whether good or bad, or are engaging themselves in potentially harmful activities to prove their femininity or masculinity. Keeping your true self locked in for no one to see is extremely counter-productive to your creativity, emotions, and happiness. Everyone wants to express themselves in the way they personally want but in our society it is sad that these kids feel as if they cant do that. It mentioned in the book that homosexual adolescents have a harder time growing up because they don't have the same resources that heterosexual people do. They do not have outside help (like social groups/ help services), role models, or trusting adults (like a teacher or parent). It is great that our school and other have speicallized groups for these kids, and also role models now like Ellen or Pedro have been reaching the mass media, so maybe things are turning out for the better. But it is still a problem, hence Wisconsin passed the amendment still prevents homosexuals from getting married, and we as critical teachers need to step up and be our students' allies in this fight.

1. How can we as a class in Education help these students in our classroom?

2. How can we as individuals become allies of the LGBT community in Milwaukee?

teacher perceptions

I think the main point of this article is that teacher perceptions are being clouded by too many negative connotations of our youth lifestyle. The media and other forms of distortion like to label youths are "Troublemakers" or even "Unsalvageable" youths and we as critical thinking teachers need to end this. The part of this article that really stuck with me is the part on Trouble and Emotion: Attitude. It is sad that some students have to feel as if they are in a postion of little-to-no power when it comes to authority. Some authority figures in schools believe that just because they are the adult and the student is a child, the adult is automatically in the right. There was a time when i was in school that i fell into this predicament. I at least had the nerve to speak up and prove the teacher wrong, but i had to do it with the fear that the principal or who ever would take the word of the teacher before mine. A friend of mine and i were working on his english project in the computer lab. He had to make a poem and since he was the class clown, which probably what was going against us in the first place, he decided to make his poem funny. After we started laughing at his funny poem, the computer lab monitor got our teacher and the head librarian and told them we were looking at "inappropriate" websites. Since i knew he was lying, i flat out said, "I know you are lying about us and i just want to know why?" After that, we were not in trouble but just had to leave the lab for that day. It is sad that teachers get this power trip, which as the chapter points out is "asymmetrical" when the earn this licence and this it a serious problem. Students need to be able to express themselves and allow for us teachers to hear there stories (aslong as it is respect for both parties), because if this never happens, schools will no longer be democratic.

in class vs. out side classroom management

Our group project is on how to manage a classroom with strategies that are anti oppressive to students. While discussing on how to divide our question up, we decided on splitting the misbehavior strageties into two categories: outside and inside management. we came to the conclusion that there is a difference between the two. Outside management deals with outside the classroom, like interventions, groups with parents and/or social workers, or group discussions with students and parents/counslers, on how to deal with misbehavior. And the other, inside managment, is on dealing with misbehavior while in the classroom. Problems with misbehavior is a problem that im sure that all beginning teachers are worried about. We all have questions that are important to ask, "Whats acceptable to do when discipling?" "How do I discipline?" "When do I not discipline and leave it up to others"? Hopefully with our presentation, we can anwser a couple of your questions. And acutally, we are encouraging you to ask questions!! (its part of our presentation).

5-2-2-3

While i was reading this chapter on the "emerging middle school," i couldnt help but think about the effects of a school district that used the system of 5-2-2-3 system. I grew up in Menomonee Falls, Wi, which is about 2o minutes north west of UWM and this is the system we used. There were multiple elementary schools but all of them only went to fifth grade. And then we had one "middle school" that was 6-7th and then another "middle school" 8-9th and then the high school, 10-12. I personally believed that this was a good system. It divided up the ages in appopraite age levels to meet the needs for them. I think that having 8th graders in a school with 6th graders is a little belittling; 8th graders want to be treated like high school students and obviously 6th graders, who were just 5th graders a year before, are not ready to be treated like high schoolers. Sixth graders are not yet accostumed to having their own choices when it comes to picking classes or the developmental experimenation that goes on around the age of 14, like sex or drugs/alcohol. By dividing the schools like my district, allows the school to work closely with a smaller age group.
I also think that by having 9th graders in the same school as seniors is also a little dangerous. Allowing a young mind who is just starting to realize the independence and power they have to witness the life of a senior, who is being prepped for either the real world or college, is not going to understand fully what it means to have that kind of responsibilty. Seniors are allowed to smoke, for 18 is the average age of a senior and almost all upper-high school and college tv shows evolve around having sex. Allowing 9th gradestudents, who would be just leaving a school with students who were just in 5th and 6th grade, might be too much for them to handle; they might grow up too fast and try to impress others and act like the seniors. Letting the 9th grader out of the reaches of 6th graders but keeping them still with 8th graders gives them something to look foward to but not yet exposing them; and also being with an age group only one year younger does not make them still feel like a child.
Questions:
1. Does anyone see anything wrong with this set of 5-2-2-3 and if so what is wrong with it?
2. Do you think this is only to applicable to sub-urban districst and could not work for MPS or could it?

P.S. Go see Slumdog Millionaire! It is amazing!!!

Teen Violence in Milwaukee?

While i was reading the chapter on Teen Bashing, i couldn't help think about what kind of violence, in these over-aggergerted statics on teen violence, is applicable to Milwaukee, or Wisconsin in general? The chapter said that in 1993, "350,000 juviniles were arrested violent felonies and misdemeanors," (130). Now if we just divide that equally between each state, which is not accuate at but just for the purpose, that means that each state had around 7000 of these cases. With such a large school district as MPS, one wonders on what kind of violence occurs in our schools. But also one needs to think not on what happens but WHY it is happening. I saw a poster around school not that long ago that said like over 100,000 people in Milwaukee each night go to sleep hungry. What does this tell us? Maybe that there is a signicant number of people in poverty and maybe thats why that number of "350,000" children is so high.
In the summer of 2007, my car was stolen down town and found with broken glass, blood and shot gun pellet holes all over the back end. The person's blood they found on the passenger seat was that of a 16 year old boy. Now everyone i talked to's first reaction was "gangs" "drugs" "Black teen" and what not. But we don't know what was in the minds of these children who took my car. We dont know what was happeining in their lives. Maybe it was an adult white who took my car, I do not know. But the mear fact that these sterotypes of a Black, male, teen was the one who stole my car just is what our news and media has burned into our brains.
While doing our personal narrative project, i found a song to add to my list that fit this chapter perfectly. Its sort of a double edged sword point of mine but here it is. In the 8th grade i was starting my whole 'rebel against society' stage. But then came Columbine and all that entailed. The song i chose was Marilyn Manson's "Beautiful People." that song describes the whole concept of popularity and the deception it delivers to people and how the "others" are out casted from the Beautiful people in their lives. But then it got blamed for the massacre that happend in Colorado. The double-edge is that it just isn't Black male teens committing violent crimes, all races are succstiable to violence. And not just the poor, or urban. Columbine was a mainly white, sub-urban town. But it does show that some teens have problems that are serious and need to be dealt with in a positive manner. Maybe if politicians and the news/media stopped blaming out side sources, like Grand Theft Auto or Marilyn Manson, for our teens' problems, some real help and guidence can be directed to more postive attitudes for teens to make a difference.
A couple questions I had were: What are out-side sources being blamed today that cause teen violence? (since Manson or 2pac or Eminem arent really anymore) and How can we use teen pop culture as a guiding light to bring positive attitudes to the rest of society?

Where's the research?

Throughout reading this chapter, I noticed that it mentioned that there was little to no research available for writing this essay. After almost everything they mentioned, there would be a caption, like "...has not been studied," or "...is not known." I think there is an underlying message within this discussion. Too many people in our society are too embarressed to discussed the first time they masturbated or noticed pubic hair growing. Adolescents is a very difficult time for both boys and girls and the fact that there is not that much studies on it is pathetic. Society has delivered these "norms" and "perfections" that we all need to live up to and the stress and pressures are almost too heavy to bear sometimes. schools are a perfect place to introduce the changes and urges that accompany puberty.  But should parents just assume that all their children need is what they hear at school? Talks at home or anywhere are also needed. I remeber my parents talking to me about sex and sexual relationships but i recall learning the jists of it all at school.  Maybe psychologist or behaviorist could conduct research at schools to conjure up more information on this topic.  

But maybe there is too little information on adolescents because when does adolenscents begin and end? Everyone will have a different story on where and when they first discovered that they were in puberty.  But within the past decade or so, children are experiencing sex earlier and earlier. Sex in on tv and in the music. Are we supposed to introduce sex to an 8 year old just incase they hear wrong information? Or how about the older kids, when does adolescents end? Right after high school? college? marriage? People are graduating college and getting married than they used to. Too many changes in our culture prevent research and evidence to stay truthful for a long period time. A question I had was how can we as soon to be teachers can sympathetic to changing students or how can we help those changes evolve more smoothly with such little advice?