Tuesday, November 17, 2015
My Thought as I Journey Through this Class (Part 3) Class Diversity
I didn't understand why we were reading about class structure in America in relationship to why we need to expose our students to more multicultural books. I know that these books will enrich their understandings of different people and construct more meaning into who they are. I read a couple of the articles given, and I didn't see the tie end until now. Children of poor means have fewer chances of making it. They have fewer chances of finishing high school let alone going on to a good college and beyond into a successful career. All of a sudden, the light came on, and I wanted to keep reading.
It seems the gap between high achievers and lowest achievers is now a class gap, as opposed to an ethnic gap 50 years ago. Wealth is becoming a stronger predictor of success in school today than ever before. The question is what can we do about it. It is our job as educators to bridge this gap. What tools do we already possess to do this? Or, do we have to find it through petitioning the school system or beyond through legislation to clear more money for education. Those are the questions I'm always asking myself when I'm reading about a problem in education. My mind goes straight forth to, “Okay, now what?”. “You have convinced me there is a problem, but will you tell me a good way to solve it.”
I like the idea of chat clubs. Parents can share strategies on how to give their kids the most learning opportunities. Parents that can't afford to send their kids to many extracurricular events can use other means to expand their child's mind. Having a social network of parents sharing is something that we could have a lot more of. We need to find a way to transcend the social network to include the middle class and the working class. I also like the idea of home visit programs. An expert that can teach parents how to give their kids more opportunities would be similar to the use of a chat room to get the information. I also believe that putting money into stronger pre-school experiences give kids more opportunities to build more knowledge before going to regular school.
I'm not sure if I agree with the notion that the bottom tier of families put 20% of their saving up for their child's future compared to 5% of the well to do's. I don't think personally that redistributing wealth is the answer. I believe the government should be for all people equally, not just the less fortunate. I was shocked to hear the studies on the success and failures of charter schools. I'm not all that familiar with charter schools and how they compare and contrast with public schools; moreover, it was interesting to hear that there is a mixed success and fail rate. I would assume the charter school was going to turn out higher performances than public school consistently. I will be interested in reading more about why some of them are failing.
Finally, I am starting to build a concept in my mind. This may be a little premature. Can I, as an educator, be a resource in decreasing the gap in achievement by putting more books into students hands? Not only putting them there but teaching them why it is important to read about other cultures and about more their own. I am looking forward to requiring more knowledge on multicultural literature, and how to effectively use it in the classroom.
Thanks
Tom Collins
My Thought as I Journey Through this Class (Part 2) Age Diversity
Age Diversity
I keep going back to the windows and mirror analogy because it is such a good one. We suppose to act the way in which the culture does around us. We are expected to live out culture norms. When we don't do that we stick out, sometimes even ridiculed. Deciding on who to be and how to act is our sovereign choice. The way others ostracize us can be dealt with using literature. Using literature to start dialogues between people who are different, but have many similarities. Literature is a good “door opener” to start a new conversation between people who might not otherwise try to understand each other.
A challenge when writing literature and knowing what to write is to understand that our culture is fluid and every changing. Authors have to create something unique when writing new literature. Realizing the methodology of teaching literature has to be done in a way that challenges the mind. Multicultural books need to be taught in a way that is not a reminder of reading strategies past. We also need to be cognizant of student attitudes. The desire is to promote appreciations among different people by allowing groups to identify with one another through a dialogue of literature. Sometimes this can go wrong. I, myself, a white man can remember not enjoying reading about other cultures. I wanted to identify with my own. Being forced to read something was not fun, and I didn't learn as much. Teachers today must not force the issue, but make it fun and exciting. When I did read books with people from other cultures, I didn't always accept them. I often finished reading, glad I was not in that group, and I even ran wild with my prejudices after such reads. When teaching students why multicultural literature is important, we need to make sure are not talking to students in a way that suggest we want them to learn about aliens. I over dramatize this point. We are all we, not us & them. (Lerer, S. 2015)
I had a friend once that came from India. He was the second generation, so he really was a patriot of America. He wanted nothing to do with India, and he often had spats with his dad about cultural issues. I have not met 3rd generations yet, so I have no evidence to speak about.
I like the idea of teaching literature. Using the correct strategies can open students up to pride in one's self, country of origin, and even nationalism here. We can all learn about prejudices, biases and how fear and anger has lead to these negative qualities. As a teacher, I don't want students to be anxious about learning about other cultures, beliefs, and people. I want to teach acceptance, equality, and empathy. (Shiffman, 2010)
Lerer, S. (2015). For Grown-Ups Too: The Surprising Depth and Complexity of Children's Literature. American Educator, 38(4), 37-41.
Shiffman, D. (2010). Mapping Intergenerational Tension in Multicultural Coming-of-Age Literature. Multicultural Perspectives, 12(1), 29. doi:10.1080/15210961003641369
I keep going back to the windows and mirror analogy because it is such a good one. We suppose to act the way in which the culture does around us. We are expected to live out culture norms. When we don't do that we stick out, sometimes even ridiculed. Deciding on who to be and how to act is our sovereign choice. The way others ostracize us can be dealt with using literature. Using literature to start dialogues between people who are different, but have many similarities. Literature is a good “door opener” to start a new conversation between people who might not otherwise try to understand each other.
A challenge when writing literature and knowing what to write is to understand that our culture is fluid and every changing. Authors have to create something unique when writing new literature. Realizing the methodology of teaching literature has to be done in a way that challenges the mind. Multicultural books need to be taught in a way that is not a reminder of reading strategies past. We also need to be cognizant of student attitudes. The desire is to promote appreciations among different people by allowing groups to identify with one another through a dialogue of literature. Sometimes this can go wrong. I, myself, a white man can remember not enjoying reading about other cultures. I wanted to identify with my own. Being forced to read something was not fun, and I didn't learn as much. Teachers today must not force the issue, but make it fun and exciting. When I did read books with people from other cultures, I didn't always accept them. I often finished reading, glad I was not in that group, and I even ran wild with my prejudices after such reads. When teaching students why multicultural literature is important, we need to make sure are not talking to students in a way that suggest we want them to learn about aliens. I over dramatize this point. We are all we, not us & them. (Lerer, S. 2015)
I had a friend once that came from India. He was the second generation, so he really was a patriot of America. He wanted nothing to do with India, and he often had spats with his dad about cultural issues. I have not met 3rd generations yet, so I have no evidence to speak about.
I like the idea of teaching literature. Using the correct strategies can open students up to pride in one's self, country of origin, and even nationalism here. We can all learn about prejudices, biases and how fear and anger has lead to these negative qualities. As a teacher, I don't want students to be anxious about learning about other cultures, beliefs, and people. I want to teach acceptance, equality, and empathy. (Shiffman, 2010)
Lerer, S. (2015). For Grown-Ups Too: The Surprising Depth and Complexity of Children's Literature. American Educator, 38(4), 37-41.
Shiffman, D. (2010). Mapping Intergenerational Tension in Multicultural Coming-of-Age Literature. Multicultural Perspectives, 12(1), 29. doi:10.1080/15210961003641369
My Thought as I Journey Through this Class (Part4 ) Disability
I want to think about disability groups since I'm a special education teacher. Many of my students would never share these thoughts, but I know they often wonder why they are different. They want to know if other people are like they are. They want to know how these other people make it. Do they struggle with their thoughts as well? After they get to know me, I sometimes get a glimpse by what they share. I think about deaf students. I love picture books. I think picture books are good for both people that can hear and people that cannot. I believe picture books influence a way a child perceives things. Picture books also have a direct correlation with text comprehension. (Golos & Wolbers, 2012)
I also believe that the purpose of children books that depict students with disabilities are not for the sole purpose of “mirror watching”. While it is beneficial for children with disabilities to learn about others with the same disabilities, I think it is also equally important that student without disabilities read about their peers with disabilities. There is a lot of discrimination in today's world, and we need to educate people (looking out the window). If we can get our kids without disabilities to read about kids with disabilities, then we can close the gap of knowledge that leads to discrimination later in the highways and byways of our communities and workforce. (Smith-D'Arezzo & Moore-Thomas, 2010)
Golos, D., Moses, A., & Wolbers, K. (2012). Culture or Disability? Examining Deaf Characters in Children's Book Illustrations. Early Childhood Education Journal,40(4), 239. doi:10.1007/s10643-012-0506-0
Smith-D'Arezzo, W. M., & Moore-Thomas, C. (2010). Children's Perceptions of Peers with Disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children Plus, 6(3), 1-16.
My Thought as I Journey Through this Class (Part 5) Race is Not Defined by Color
I didn't know many of the words in one of the articles. I could figure it out my taking the root, but I had never heard them before. Mono-racial, trans-racial, and bi-racial are all three words I had to double check the meaning of. I was also intrigued when reading how African American children with white parents (trans-racial) didn't have the same kind of buffers that they would have with both black parents. I never thought about the fact that white people don't know anything about the racism that goes on in many minorities circle of life. (Butler-Sweet, 2011)
I never thought about the social institution that is the family as something that protects or buffers against the effect of racism. I've always heard people say that old familiar phrase, “they are at it again” “they are trying to get more rights”. If I heard the word “they” in my household, it was always referring to African Americans. It never dawned on me that was what these civic and religious organizations were partly for, to give a people, culture, an ethnicity a voice. (Butler-Sweet, 2011)
It is also interesting to think how so many people on earth do stereotype. We have all labeled someone at one time or another in our lifetime. We see people with too many tattoos or piercings, so we put them over in the “them” column. Women who cut their hair short, we put them in the “gay” category. The list goes on. The most surprising part is how children with parents that are not of the same ethnicity will not be considered white even if their skin is white, nor will other ethnic groups accept them either. This is in many cases, not all. This is sad that we behave in this way as a nation and even on a bigger stage, world citizen. (Butler-Sweet, 2011)
Other terms I was not familiar with were singular identity, border identity, protean identity, and transcendent identity. I didn't even know that people identify themselves in this way. I have always agreed that ethnic groups should shy away from cross racial boundaries when raising children; however, I've come off as sounding racist when giving this opinion. My opinion was based on what biracial kids have shared with me. They mostly say it is problematic. The issue is who to identify with. Do they consider themselves white or black, and does it even matter how they see themselves because it is others that are going to treat them according to what label they receive?
(Butler-Sweet, 2011)
My favorite quote from both these journals I read came from the Monica Brown article. “Although I've described myself as "half-Peruvian" or "half-Jewish" as a shortcut in the past”, “I am not half of anything.” “I am made of multitudes, not fractions.” This is an awesome statement that promotes self-identity and self-awareness. (Brown, 2014)
Brown, M. (2014). Not Part, Not Half, But Whole. School Library Journal, 60(5), 32.
Butler-Sweet, C. (2011). ‘Race isn't what defines me’: exploring identity choices in transracial, biracial, and monoracial families. Social Identities, 17(6), 747-769. doi:10.1080/13504630.2011.606672
I never thought about the social institution that is the family as something that protects or buffers against the effect of racism. I've always heard people say that old familiar phrase, “they are at it again” “they are trying to get more rights”. If I heard the word “they” in my household, it was always referring to African Americans. It never dawned on me that was what these civic and religious organizations were partly for, to give a people, culture, an ethnicity a voice. (Butler-Sweet, 2011)
It is also interesting to think how so many people on earth do stereotype. We have all labeled someone at one time or another in our lifetime. We see people with too many tattoos or piercings, so we put them over in the “them” column. Women who cut their hair short, we put them in the “gay” category. The list goes on. The most surprising part is how children with parents that are not of the same ethnicity will not be considered white even if their skin is white, nor will other ethnic groups accept them either. This is in many cases, not all. This is sad that we behave in this way as a nation and even on a bigger stage, world citizen. (Butler-Sweet, 2011)
Other terms I was not familiar with were singular identity, border identity, protean identity, and transcendent identity. I didn't even know that people identify themselves in this way. I have always agreed that ethnic groups should shy away from cross racial boundaries when raising children; however, I've come off as sounding racist when giving this opinion. My opinion was based on what biracial kids have shared with me. They mostly say it is problematic. The issue is who to identify with. Do they consider themselves white or black, and does it even matter how they see themselves because it is others that are going to treat them according to what label they receive?
(Butler-Sweet, 2011)
My favorite quote from both these journals I read came from the Monica Brown article. “Although I've described myself as "half-Peruvian" or "half-Jewish" as a shortcut in the past”, “I am not half of anything.” “I am made of multitudes, not fractions.” This is an awesome statement that promotes self-identity and self-awareness. (Brown, 2014)
Brown, M. (2014). Not Part, Not Half, But Whole. School Library Journal, 60(5), 32.
Butler-Sweet, C. (2011). ‘Race isn't what defines me’: exploring identity choices in transracial, biracial, and monoracial families. Social Identities, 17(6), 747-769. doi:10.1080/13504630.2011.606672
My Own Personal Read along and Story Book on YouTube
This is the story of Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge. This is a multicultural picture book that gives us a closer glance at elderly people and their disabilities, and a youth with certain qualities and curiosities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3BOiW8rZfs
This was my favorite picture book when I was between 5 and 7 years old. I have remastered it and used my voice as narration. Enjoy. This is Grover from Sesame Street in "Monster at the End of this Book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ5rCApTCYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3BOiW8rZfs
This was my favorite picture book when I was between 5 and 7 years old. I have remastered it and used my voice as narration. Enjoy. This is Grover from Sesame Street in "Monster at the End of this Book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJ5rCApTCYE
My Thoughts and Journal through this Class (Part 1) Achievement Gap
My understand of the achievement gap due to class in society.
I didn't understand why we were reading about class structure in America in relationship to why we need to expose our students to more multicultural books. I know that these books will enrich their understandings of different people and construct more meaning into who they are. I read a couple of the articles given, and I didn't see the tie end until now. Children of poor means have less chances of making it. They have less chances of finishing high school let alone going on to a good college and beyond into a successful career. All of a sudden, the light came on, and I wanted to keep reading.
It seems the gap between high achievers and lowest achievers is now a class gap, as opposed to a ethnic gap 50 years ago. Wealth is becoming a stronger predictor of success in school today than ever before. The question is what can we do about it. It is our job as educators to bridge this gap. What tools do we already posses to do this? Or, do we have to find it through petitioning the school system or beyond through legislation to clear more money for education. Those are the questions I'm always asking myself when I'm reading about a problem in education. My mind goes straight forth to, “Okay, now what?”. “You have convinced me there is a problem, but will you tell me a good way to solve it.”
I like the idea of chat clubs. Parents can share strategies on how to give their kids the most learning opportunities. Parents than can't afford to send their kids to many extra curricular events can use other means to expand their child's mind. Having a social network of parents sharing is something that we could have a lot more off. We need to find a way to transcend the social network to include the middle class and the working class. I also like the idea of home visit programs. An expert that can teach parents how to give their kids more opportunities would be similar to the use of a chat room to get the information. I also believe that putting money into stronger pre-school experiences give kids more opportunities to build more knowledge before going to regular school.
I'm not sure if I agree with the notion that the bottom tier of families put 20% of their saving up for their child's future compared to 5% of the well to do's. I don't think personally that redistributing wealth is the answer. I believe government should be for all people equally, not just the less fortunate. I was shocked to hear the studies on the success and failures of charter schools. I'm not all that familiar with charter schools and how they compare and contrast with public schools; moreover, it was interesting to hear that there is a mixed success and fail rate. I would assume the charter school were going to turn out higher performances than public school consistently. I will interested in reading more about why some of them are failing.
Finally, I am starting to build a concept in my mind. This may be a little premature. Can I, as an educator, be a resource in decreasing the gap in achievement by putting more books into students hands? Not only putting them there, but teaching them why it is important to read about other cultures and about more their own. I am looking forward to requiring more knowledge on multicultural literature, and how to effectively use it in the classroom.
Thanks
I didn't understand why we were reading about class structure in America in relationship to why we need to expose our students to more multicultural books. I know that these books will enrich their understandings of different people and construct more meaning into who they are. I read a couple of the articles given, and I didn't see the tie end until now. Children of poor means have less chances of making it. They have less chances of finishing high school let alone going on to a good college and beyond into a successful career. All of a sudden, the light came on, and I wanted to keep reading.
It seems the gap between high achievers and lowest achievers is now a class gap, as opposed to a ethnic gap 50 years ago. Wealth is becoming a stronger predictor of success in school today than ever before. The question is what can we do about it. It is our job as educators to bridge this gap. What tools do we already posses to do this? Or, do we have to find it through petitioning the school system or beyond through legislation to clear more money for education. Those are the questions I'm always asking myself when I'm reading about a problem in education. My mind goes straight forth to, “Okay, now what?”. “You have convinced me there is a problem, but will you tell me a good way to solve it.”
I like the idea of chat clubs. Parents can share strategies on how to give their kids the most learning opportunities. Parents than can't afford to send their kids to many extra curricular events can use other means to expand their child's mind. Having a social network of parents sharing is something that we could have a lot more off. We need to find a way to transcend the social network to include the middle class and the working class. I also like the idea of home visit programs. An expert that can teach parents how to give their kids more opportunities would be similar to the use of a chat room to get the information. I also believe that putting money into stronger pre-school experiences give kids more opportunities to build more knowledge before going to regular school.
I'm not sure if I agree with the notion that the bottom tier of families put 20% of their saving up for their child's future compared to 5% of the well to do's. I don't think personally that redistributing wealth is the answer. I believe government should be for all people equally, not just the less fortunate. I was shocked to hear the studies on the success and failures of charter schools. I'm not all that familiar with charter schools and how they compare and contrast with public schools; moreover, it was interesting to hear that there is a mixed success and fail rate. I would assume the charter school were going to turn out higher performances than public school consistently. I will interested in reading more about why some of them are failing.
Finally, I am starting to build a concept in my mind. This may be a little premature. Can I, as an educator, be a resource in decreasing the gap in achievement by putting more books into students hands? Not only putting them there, but teaching them why it is important to read about other cultures and about more their own. I am looking forward to requiring more knowledge on multicultural literature, and how to effectively use it in the classroom.
Thanks
Who am I?
I am a white middle-class male of 43 years old. I've always read about myself through authors like Frankly W. Dixon who wrote the "Hardy Boys". I'm looking forward to finding out what this class is going to be all about.
I'm assuming I'm going to learn about books that teach us through stories about other cultures. I'm looking forward to finding out.
Tom Collins
08/28/15
I'm assuming I'm going to learn about books that teach us through stories about other cultures. I'm looking forward to finding out.
Tom Collins
08/28/15
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)