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
Words, Terms, and Meanings
Windows help people see others who live in the world. By watching others, we can see similarities and differences in them that we can compare to our own selves.
Mirrors help people see themselves in a story. A story that shares the disparities, struggles, and even accomplishments of someone like the reader. The reader can gain encouragement and more so - strength by understand someone's life experiences.
Mono-racial Families where all children and parent is of the same ethnicity
Trans-racial Families where the children are of another ethnicity
Bi-racial Family in which the parents are of different ethnic groups.
Singular identity exclusively black or exclusively white
Border identity exclusively biracial
Protean identity sometimes black, sometimes white, sometimes biracial
Transcendent identity no racial identity
“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)
Cisgender: Types of gender identity where an individual's experience of their own gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
Genderqueer: A term which refers to individuals or groups who “queer” or problematize the hegemonic notions of sex, gender and desire in a given society. Genderqueer people possess identities which fall outside of the widely accepted sexual binary (i.e. "men" and "women"). Genderqueer may also refer to people who identify as both transgendered AND queer, i.e. individuals who challenge both gender and sexuality regimes and see gender identity and sexual orientation as overlapping and interconnected.
Pansexual: A person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities/expressions, not just people who fit into the standard gender binary (i.e. men and women).
LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQA, TBLG: These acronyms refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Asexual or Ally. Although all of the different identities within “LGBT” are often lumped together (and share sexism as a common root of oppression), there are specific needs and concerns related to each individual identity.
Here are more words that I use with my students to introduce multicultural books:
Multicultural
Multiculturalism
International
Global
Globalization
Culture
Cultural
Cross-cultural
Intercultural
Diversity
Social aspects
Social Issues
Ethnic
Ethnicity
Gender
Sexual orientation
Disability
Handicapped
Barrier-free design
Apparatus for the handicapped
Rehabilitation technology
Religion
Religious aspects
Multiethnic
Race, racial
Discrimination in employment
Minority
Aged
Elderly
Older People
Mirrors help people see themselves in a story. A story that shares the disparities, struggles, and even accomplishments of someone like the reader. The reader can gain encouragement and more so - strength by understand someone's life experiences.
Mono-racial Families where all children and parent is of the same ethnicity
Trans-racial Families where the children are of another ethnicity
Bi-racial Family in which the parents are of different ethnic groups.
Singular identity exclusively black or exclusively white
Border identity exclusively biracial
Protean identity sometimes black, sometimes white, sometimes biracial
Transcendent identity no racial identity
“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)
Cisgender: Types of gender identity where an individual's experience of their own gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth.
Genderqueer: A term which refers to individuals or groups who “queer” or problematize the hegemonic notions of sex, gender and desire in a given society. Genderqueer people possess identities which fall outside of the widely accepted sexual binary (i.e. "men" and "women"). Genderqueer may also refer to people who identify as both transgendered AND queer, i.e. individuals who challenge both gender and sexuality regimes and see gender identity and sexual orientation as overlapping and interconnected.
Pansexual: A person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction for members of all gender identities/expressions, not just people who fit into the standard gender binary (i.e. men and women).
LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQA, TBLG: These acronyms refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Asexual or Ally. Although all of the different identities within “LGBT” are often lumped together (and share sexism as a common root of oppression), there are specific needs and concerns related to each individual identity.
Here are more words that I use with my students to introduce multicultural books:
Multicultural
Multiculturalism
International
Global
Globalization
Culture
Cultural
Cross-cultural
Intercultural
Diversity
Social aspects
Social Issues
Ethnic
Ethnicity
Gender
Sexual orientation
Disability
Handicapped
Barrier-free design
Apparatus for the handicapped
Rehabilitation technology
Religion
Religious aspects
Multiethnic
Race, racial
Discrimination in employment
Minority
Aged
Elderly
Older People
Initial Diversity Perspectives
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
When I first became aware of my gender. (by Tom Collins)
I think when I realized that boys and girls were different is when I got the chicken pox. My brother and I stayed with Ms. Silvia (who we always called Ms. Sillvy) and maybe two or three other sets of siblings stayed with Ms. Sillvy and we all got the chick pox together. I could not have been older than four, but I remember taking communal oatmeal baths with all the girls in one tub and all the boys in another tub with Ms. Sillvy’s older daughter Ms. Tracy that worked with her. Jimmy McIntosh was my little boyfriend and best friend at Ms. Sillvy’s and I could not understand why we could not endure these yucky oatmeal baths together. It was then that Ms. Sillvy informed me that the reason we could not take a bath together was because he was a boy and I was a girl, and little boys and little girls aren’t supposed to take baths together, thus my new found awareness of my gender.
When I first became aware of my social class (by Tom Collins)
This took me longer to figure out than other things. I never really thought that there was a social order or structure until I met someone who had less than me. I remember having this family that lived near my Aunt Maggie that had to come and stay with her every once in a while because their power would get cut off. I couldn’t fathom the thought of not having power and why her power was getting cut off so often. I remember my mama explaining to me that not as many people were as fortunate as us and not everyone had the means to pay all of their bills every month without help. A couple Christmases after that I remember my parents buying the little boy whose lights got cut off frequently a bike, reminding us the reason for the season is to give back to those less fortunate than you. I’ll never forget that and I’ll never forget the boy who put a face on poverty or a lower social class for me. His name was David. I'm glad.
Websites and Other Resources
http://blog.leeandlow.com/2013/06/17/why-hasnt-the-number-of-multicultural-books-increased-in-eighteen-years/
This website is tasteful because it gives me a little bit of the history of the problems and issues of why multicultural books are not selling or even in demand. It offers solutions to what needs to be done to get these book back on the shelves.
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
Morton, J. K., Siera, M., Grant, K. L., & Giese, B. (2008). Confronting Dispositions toward Diversity through Children's Literature. Southeastern Teacher Education Journal, 1(1), 67-76.
OBESO, D. (2014). HOW MULTICULTURAL IS YOUR MULTIVERSE?. Publishers Weekly, 261(40), 24-31.
Naidoo, Jamie Campbell, ed. (2011). Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children’s Literature
and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries. Libraries Unlimited.
Stephanie Weisenburger (2009). Using Readers’ Theater with Multicultural Literature. Education
Digest
Jani L. Barker (2010). Racial Identification and Audience in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and The
Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. Children’s Literature in Education
Exploring Diversity and Children’s and YA Books with Interracial Family Themes (retrieved from
http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/diversity/multiracial/multi_race_intro.html
KaaVonia Hinton & Theodorea Berry (2005). Literacy, Literature, and Diversity. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy
The First Amendment in Schools
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103054/chapters/Part-II.-Core-Issues-for-All-Schools-to-Consider.aspx
Taylor, C., & Gutmann, A. (1994). Multiculturalism: examining the politics of recognition / Charles Taylor ... [et al.]; edited and introduced by Amy Gutmann. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1994.
Bery, S. (2014). Multiculturalism, teaching slavery, and White supremacy. Equity & Excellence In Education, 47(3), 334-352. doi:10.1080/10665684.2014.933072
Sung, Y. K. (2010). A post-colonial critique of the (MIS) representation of Korean-Americans in children's picture books. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 70, 2424.
Conkright, L., Flannagan, D., & Dykes, J. (2000). Effects of pronoun type and gender role consistency on children's recall and interpretation of stories. Sex Roles, 43(7/8), 481-497.
Prentice, D., & Carranza, E. (2002). What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn’t Be, Are Allowed to Be, and Don’t Have to Be: The Contents of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 269-281.
Kerr, B. A., & Multon, K. D. (2015). The Development of Gender Identity, Gender Roles, and Gender Relations in Gifted Students. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 93(2), 183-191. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2015.00194.x
Klein, E., & Hollingshead, A. (2015). Collaboration Between Special and Physical Education: The Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle for All Students. Teaching Exceptional Children, 47(3), 163. doi:10.1177/0040059914558945
Collier, R. (2012). Person-first language: Noble intent but to what effect?. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L'association Medicale Canadienne, 184(18), 1977-1978. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-4319
Collier R. Person-first language: what it means to be a "person". CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L'association Medicale Canadienne [serial online]. December 11, 2012;184(18):E935-E936. Available from MEDLINE with Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 14, 2015.
Check out some of these links to find out more disabilities and diversity
http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/ Disability is Natural with information from Kathie Snow
http://www.asha.org/ American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
http://ncdj.org/resources/organizations/ From Arizona State University’s National Center on Disability
and Journalism; a list of organizations
http://www.ncld.org/ National Center for Learning Disabilities
https://www.cec.sped.org/ Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.kidneeds.com/diagnostic_categories/physical_lnk.htm information dealing with physical
disabilities
http://aspitude.blogspot.com/2009/03/autism-first-language.html a blog about Autism First
This website is tasteful because it gives me a little bit of the history of the problems and issues of why multicultural books are not selling or even in demand. It offers solutions to what needs to be done to get these book back on the shelves.
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
Morton, J. K., Siera, M., Grant, K. L., & Giese, B. (2008). Confronting Dispositions toward Diversity through Children's Literature. Southeastern Teacher Education Journal, 1(1), 67-76.
OBESO, D. (2014). HOW MULTICULTURAL IS YOUR MULTIVERSE?. Publishers Weekly, 261(40), 24-31.
Naidoo, Jamie Campbell, ed. (2011). Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Children’s Literature
and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries. Libraries Unlimited.
Stephanie Weisenburger (2009). Using Readers’ Theater with Multicultural Literature. Education
Digest
Jani L. Barker (2010). Racial Identification and Audience in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and The
Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. Children’s Literature in Education
Exploring Diversity and Children’s and YA Books with Interracial Family Themes (retrieved from
http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/diversity/multiracial/multi_race_intro.html
KaaVonia Hinton & Theodorea Berry (2005). Literacy, Literature, and Diversity. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy
The First Amendment in Schools
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103054/chapters/Part-II.-Core-Issues-for-All-Schools-to-Consider.aspx
Taylor, C., & Gutmann, A. (1994). Multiculturalism: examining the politics of recognition / Charles Taylor ... [et al.]; edited and introduced by Amy Gutmann. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1994.
Bery, S. (2014). Multiculturalism, teaching slavery, and White supremacy. Equity & Excellence In Education, 47(3), 334-352. doi:10.1080/10665684.2014.933072
Sung, Y. K. (2010). A post-colonial critique of the (MIS) representation of Korean-Americans in children's picture books. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 70, 2424.
Conkright, L., Flannagan, D., & Dykes, J. (2000). Effects of pronoun type and gender role consistency on children's recall and interpretation of stories. Sex Roles, 43(7/8), 481-497.
Prentice, D., & Carranza, E. (2002). What Women and Men Should Be, Shouldn’t Be, Are Allowed to Be, and Don’t Have to Be: The Contents of Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 269-281.
Kerr, B. A., & Multon, K. D. (2015). The Development of Gender Identity, Gender Roles, and Gender Relations in Gifted Students. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 93(2), 183-191. doi:10.1002/j.1556-6676.2015.00194.x
Klein, E., & Hollingshead, A. (2015). Collaboration Between Special and Physical Education: The Benefits of a Healthy Lifestyle for All Students. Teaching Exceptional Children, 47(3), 163. doi:10.1177/0040059914558945
Collier, R. (2012). Person-first language: Noble intent but to what effect?. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L'association Medicale Canadienne, 184(18), 1977-1978. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-4319
Collier R. Person-first language: what it means to be a "person". CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L'association Medicale Canadienne [serial online]. December 11, 2012;184(18):E935-E936. Available from MEDLINE with Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 14, 2015.
Check out some of these links to find out more disabilities and diversity
http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/ Disability is Natural with information from Kathie Snow
http://www.asha.org/ American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
http://ncdj.org/resources/organizations/ From Arizona State University’s National Center on Disability
and Journalism; a list of organizations
http://www.ncld.org/ National Center for Learning Disabilities
https://www.cec.sped.org/ Council for Exceptional Children
http://www.kidneeds.com/diagnostic_categories/physical_lnk.htm information dealing with physical
disabilities
http://aspitude.blogspot.com/2009/03/autism-first-language.html a blog about Autism First
When I first became aware of my ethnicity (by Tom Collins)
I think that my earliest recollection of someone being different from me is when an African-American family moved in next door to my grandparents. I think I was in kindergarten and one day I was climbing the tree in my grandparent’s front yard and the new girl from next door came over to say hello and to play. Her name was Keya. Keya had an older sister and I cannot remember her name, but she would come over from time to time to play. We would chase each other around the yard, climb the tree, play hide and go seek, find and catch role-policies and jump the cracks in the sidewalk order to not ‘break our mama’s back’. I knew that Keya didn’t look like me, but that didn’t matter what I do remember is my papa describing her family as a ‘nice Negro family’. I had no idea what a Negro was, but later I realized that that was another term for African-Americans and was actually an older P.C. term, thus my papa’s usage. I know that he wasn’t a racist and meant no harm in the statement, but this is my earliest recollection of someone of a different race than me being called or addressed as ‘different’.
I would never be the same.
I would never be the same.
Final Reflection
Multicultural books are a bridge that shortens the gap between misunderstanding in diversity. Between class, age, ethnicity, culture, race, color, religion, achievement, and disability, diversity is something that needs to be addressed. The way we do that in schools as early as kindergarten is through multicultural books. Immersing students at a young age greatly increases their chance of forming unbiased opinions and being empathetic toward others that are different.
The class gap is something that is problematic. Students that have better means can hire tutors and go to better schools; Upper-class parents will probably not challenge their kids to read multicultural books, thus our next generation will not understand citizens with fewer means. The achievement gap can parallel the sentiment of the class gap. Achievement is greatly increased with more exposure to educational tools, highly qualified teachers, and more time spent on learning. Reading multicultural books might not seem important to parents who have kids that are succeeding. Why add an element of knowledge if everything seems fine.
The age and disability gap is something a bit different. People are living longer. People with disabilities are now living at home or on their own as all the mental hospitals are closing or already closed. Even people with severe disabilities are told they have to fend for themselves. Loved ones are burden with the daunting task of taking care of their family members. People living longer will be problematic. What will they do? Will they work longer? What about health care? Our youth needs to understand our older society and out disabled. Younger people may have to work with these diverse people or have to make the decision about them in politics. We need our youth participating in government and not only to participate but understand we have a diverse country. Multicultural text can bridge this gap of understanding by immersing our children into diversity through reading. It's our next generation we have to think about.
I read that by 2060, the U.S. Will be a “majority of minorities”. This means that the future generations of Latino-Americans and African-Americans will make up the majority. If this is the trend, then we need multicultural books more now that we ever have before. It has only been since the 1960s, that minorities have had fair and equal rights. Not even then did they really have equality. The more we expose our children to other races, ethnicity, and cultures, the better off we will be as a society.
Religion can parallel the people of color sentiment. The U.S. Is a melting pot of different religions. Faith is not going away. We must learn to see our neighbors as “us” and not “them”. We can do that by looking through the “window” and understanding other people. We can do that by reading meaningful and entertaining stories about other cultures and different religions. These stories will take meaning, and we can understand that people are different, but we also share many of the same dreams and desires. We must educate our students that people of different faiths shouldn't be a frightening thing. We can live in peace together.
Finally, what can I do as a teacher? I've never been one to define the problem without trying to tackle it and find a solution. I have a couple of ideas. I would need to spread these ideas to my colleagues. Hopefully, my ideas will be heard and built upon. If teachers will be banned together, we can get more books into more students hands. I have picked up these ideas from many readings I have had to do in this class. My sources are listed in the resource section of my blog.
My first idea is something I thought about just the other day. I have noticed over the last few years that Amazon has free kindle books. I have read many. I wondered how could they be free, so I did a little investigation. These free kindle books come from authors that are unknown. No one wants to take a chance on them, thus they write a few free kindle books, so people will start to take notice if they enjoy their works or not. After a person gets notoriety, then he/she can start writing to make money. Authors of minority status could work in this fashion. They could offer stories that were free to start out. Our school systems could hire someone to read these free stories over the summer and make a recommendation to the school board. We could then bring them to the school library and make them available. I know I'm not filling in every gap, and I realize there are problems and issues I'm not considering; however, this is an idea. All ideas take a time to shape.
I believe that economics and “supply & demand” are what is keeping our multicultural books off the shelf. I believe that parents and children alike want stories about themselves. If not themselves, then something mystical to read about. We are caught up in a Hollywood generation, so authors and storytellers are always under the burden of creating something more exciting each time. Lastly, every problem I've ever tackled seems insurmountable when I first looked at it. However, through years of practice, I know that problems get a lot smaller as we work at them and chip off barriers as we find the answer needed to solve these issues.
The class gap is something that is problematic. Students that have better means can hire tutors and go to better schools; Upper-class parents will probably not challenge their kids to read multicultural books, thus our next generation will not understand citizens with fewer means. The achievement gap can parallel the sentiment of the class gap. Achievement is greatly increased with more exposure to educational tools, highly qualified teachers, and more time spent on learning. Reading multicultural books might not seem important to parents who have kids that are succeeding. Why add an element of knowledge if everything seems fine.
The age and disability gap is something a bit different. People are living longer. People with disabilities are now living at home or on their own as all the mental hospitals are closing or already closed. Even people with severe disabilities are told they have to fend for themselves. Loved ones are burden with the daunting task of taking care of their family members. People living longer will be problematic. What will they do? Will they work longer? What about health care? Our youth needs to understand our older society and out disabled. Younger people may have to work with these diverse people or have to make the decision about them in politics. We need our youth participating in government and not only to participate but understand we have a diverse country. Multicultural text can bridge this gap of understanding by immersing our children into diversity through reading. It's our next generation we have to think about.
I read that by 2060, the U.S. Will be a “majority of minorities”. This means that the future generations of Latino-Americans and African-Americans will make up the majority. If this is the trend, then we need multicultural books more now that we ever have before. It has only been since the 1960s, that minorities have had fair and equal rights. Not even then did they really have equality. The more we expose our children to other races, ethnicity, and cultures, the better off we will be as a society.
Religion can parallel the people of color sentiment. The U.S. Is a melting pot of different religions. Faith is not going away. We must learn to see our neighbors as “us” and not “them”. We can do that by looking through the “window” and understanding other people. We can do that by reading meaningful and entertaining stories about other cultures and different religions. These stories will take meaning, and we can understand that people are different, but we also share many of the same dreams and desires. We must educate our students that people of different faiths shouldn't be a frightening thing. We can live in peace together.
Finally, what can I do as a teacher? I've never been one to define the problem without trying to tackle it and find a solution. I have a couple of ideas. I would need to spread these ideas to my colleagues. Hopefully, my ideas will be heard and built upon. If teachers will be banned together, we can get more books into more students hands. I have picked up these ideas from many readings I have had to do in this class. My sources are listed in the resource section of my blog.
My first idea is something I thought about just the other day. I have noticed over the last few years that Amazon has free kindle books. I have read many. I wondered how could they be free, so I did a little investigation. These free kindle books come from authors that are unknown. No one wants to take a chance on them, thus they write a few free kindle books, so people will start to take notice if they enjoy their works or not. After a person gets notoriety, then he/she can start writing to make money. Authors of minority status could work in this fashion. They could offer stories that were free to start out. Our school systems could hire someone to read these free stories over the summer and make a recommendation to the school board. We could then bring them to the school library and make them available. I know I'm not filling in every gap, and I realize there are problems and issues I'm not considering; however, this is an idea. All ideas take a time to shape.
I believe that economics and “supply & demand” are what is keeping our multicultural books off the shelf. I believe that parents and children alike want stories about themselves. If not themselves, then something mystical to read about. We are caught up in a Hollywood generation, so authors and storytellers are always under the burden of creating something more exciting each time. Lastly, every problem I've ever tackled seems insurmountable when I first looked at it. However, through years of practice, I know that problems get a lot smaller as we work at them and chip off barriers as we find the answer needed to solve these issues.
Experts in the Field
Kathleen T. Horning,
Director of Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madis
Angela Johnson
She is an African American author of multicultural books for children and young adults.
Louis Sachar
An award-winning author of over twenty-one fiction and educational books for children. Louis's book, Holes, won the prestigious National Book Award and the Newbery Medal.
Deb Caletti
An award-winning author and National Book Award finalist. Her many books for young adults include The Nature of Jade, Stay, The Last Forever, and Honey, Baby Sweetheart, winner of the Washington State Book award, the PNBA Best Book Award, and a finalist for the California Young Reader Medal and the PEN USA Award. Her first book for adults, He’s Gone, was released from Random House in April of 2103, and will be followed with The Divorce Ranch in 2015.
Meg Medina
An award-winning Cuban-American author who writes picture books, middle grade, and YA fiction.
Malinda Lo
Critically acclaimed author of several young adult novels, most recently the duology Adaptation, a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of 2013, and Inheritance, winner of the 2014 Bisexual Book Award. She is the co-founder of Diversity in YA, a project that celebrates diversity in young adult book
Marcin Żyła
Polish journalist and an op-ed columnist, currently working for Tygodnik Powszechny weekly. He is the author of numerous articles, interviews, and reports from countries of former Yugoslavia and South-East Europe. His main area of interest includes issues of multiculturalism, migration, and contemporary history.
Joseph Bruchac
He is the author of more than 120 books for children and adults. The best-selling Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children
Jacqueline Woodson
The author of "Brown Girl Dreaming"; She is a multicultural, African American writer of young adult literature.
Tracey Baptiste
She has written 100 books that are well-known throughout as New York City's favorite author of librarians. She is a former teacher and textbook editor.
Kathleen Benson
is the coauthor of many picture books, including "John Lewis in the Lead".
Tonya Bolden
She has won the Coretta Scott King Honor Award, the James Madison Book Award, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, YALSA Best Book of the Year, and CCBC Best Book of the Year.
Tricia Brown
is an author, editor, and book developer. She travels often and is a popular speaker in schools. Her multimedia presentations, which include lessons on Alaska natural history and culture.
Director of Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madis
Angela Johnson
She is an African American author of multicultural books for children and young adults.
Louis Sachar
An award-winning author of over twenty-one fiction and educational books for children. Louis's book, Holes, won the prestigious National Book Award and the Newbery Medal.
Deb Caletti
An award-winning author and National Book Award finalist. Her many books for young adults include The Nature of Jade, Stay, The Last Forever, and Honey, Baby Sweetheart, winner of the Washington State Book award, the PNBA Best Book Award, and a finalist for the California Young Reader Medal and the PEN USA Award. Her first book for adults, He’s Gone, was released from Random House in April of 2103, and will be followed with The Divorce Ranch in 2015.
Meg Medina
An award-winning Cuban-American author who writes picture books, middle grade, and YA fiction.
Malinda Lo
Critically acclaimed author of several young adult novels, most recently the duology Adaptation, a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of 2013, and Inheritance, winner of the 2014 Bisexual Book Award. She is the co-founder of Diversity in YA, a project that celebrates diversity in young adult book
Marcin Żyła
Polish journalist and an op-ed columnist, currently working for Tygodnik Powszechny weekly. He is the author of numerous articles, interviews, and reports from countries of former Yugoslavia and South-East Europe. His main area of interest includes issues of multiculturalism, migration, and contemporary history.
Joseph Bruchac
He is the author of more than 120 books for children and adults. The best-selling Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children
Jacqueline Woodson
The author of "Brown Girl Dreaming"; She is a multicultural, African American writer of young adult literature.
Tracey Baptiste
She has written 100 books that are well-known throughout as New York City's favorite author of librarians. She is a former teacher and textbook editor.
Kathleen Benson
is the coauthor of many picture books, including "John Lewis in the Lead".
Tonya Bolden
She has won the Coretta Scott King Honor Award, the James Madison Book Award, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, YALSA Best Book of the Year, and CCBC Best Book of the Year.
Tricia Brown
is an author, editor, and book developer. She travels often and is a popular speaker in schools. Her multimedia presentations, which include lessons on Alaska natural history and culture.
My Thoughts and Journal through this Class (Part 6) Religion Diversity
Religion and this week topic of 10/15/15
Can we really be neutral? Who are “we”? We all are chipped, framed and shaped my something. Whether our parents were an atheist, Christian, or something else. Do the school systems try to stay away from religion because it is such a “hot” bed of controversy? If they stay out of it, then they avoid the spotlight and/or the lawsuits that follow. I don't know. I'm just posting these questions and suggestive answers on the topic.
I do believe religion should be a topic in schools. I parallel the idea with the chaplain in the armed forces. He/she has the job of teaching others of all faiths. He doesn't suppose to conform to a certain idea, but except all equally. Of course, we know human beings can't do that very well, but, in theory, that is what suppose to take place. Students need to know why people think certain ways. They need to understand what drives certain people to act and behave in certain ways. They too need to have choices that they can choose from. Anxiety, trials, and hardship come into all our lives. It is important people have options when choosing how to deal with this certainty in life. That is just two reasons. There are many others that could be rightfully argued. Ruyter, D., & Merry, M. (2009)
In my social studies classroom, I cover it just like I do everything else. Most of the time students are curious enough to ask questions. I get the chance to give them my opinion and beliefs on the matter, and that is far as it goes. I believe firmly that people have to see the works of a man rather than a man that just pays lip service to something. We have to module good behavior. That is what kids need. If they ever take it a step further and ask what helps us do good, then we share with them. I believe the curriculum needs to include the subject of all religions, then students can decide for themselves what they want to do with the information. We have to be careful, though. Living “good” is subjective. Can we teach the golden rule and leave it at that, or can we take it further? I think we need to teach the golden rule as an opinion; however, ask students to talk about some alternatives if that is not true. I think teaching the alternative can have a reverse effect on students and bring them back to the truth. Each student finds his/her own truth, though. Ruyter, D., & Merry, M. (2009)
The example of how school systems decide when to close for the holidays was a baffling issue. It never occurred to me, living in a predominately Christian country in a particularly Christian run South that this could be problematic. If schools choose not to observe any religious holidays, then they open themselves up to issue of having enough substitutes to cover a particular religious observance. That is if there are enough teachers that do observe it. Another issue is if there are enough students and parents that observe certain holidays. Missing 20% of the students on a given day wrecks havoc for teacher planning. Should those days be used as enrichment days? That is what I would do; however, administrators already put us under a time crunch to teach so much content. Purinton, T., & Gunther, V. (2011)
I like this article. The reading has open my eyes to more than just the problematic issues with what to teach when to teach, and how to assess. I never thought about other people's religions, traditions, and observances in this manner. I called myself UN-biased and muti-culturally driven. I believe in the democratic process; however, after reading this article, I'm going to have to reevaluate my beliefs and ideologies. Purinton, T., & Gunther, V. (2011)
Purinton, T., & Gunther, V. (2011). Closing school for the holidays - whose holidays?. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(4), 33-37.
Ruyter, D., & Merry, M. (2009). Why Education in Public Schools Should Include Religious Ideals. Studies In Philosophy & Education, 28(4), 295. doi:10.1007/s11217-008-9120-4.
Can we really be neutral? Who are “we”? We all are chipped, framed and shaped my something. Whether our parents were an atheist, Christian, or something else. Do the school systems try to stay away from religion because it is such a “hot” bed of controversy? If they stay out of it, then they avoid the spotlight and/or the lawsuits that follow. I don't know. I'm just posting these questions and suggestive answers on the topic.
I do believe religion should be a topic in schools. I parallel the idea with the chaplain in the armed forces. He/she has the job of teaching others of all faiths. He doesn't suppose to conform to a certain idea, but except all equally. Of course, we know human beings can't do that very well, but, in theory, that is what suppose to take place. Students need to know why people think certain ways. They need to understand what drives certain people to act and behave in certain ways. They too need to have choices that they can choose from. Anxiety, trials, and hardship come into all our lives. It is important people have options when choosing how to deal with this certainty in life. That is just two reasons. There are many others that could be rightfully argued. Ruyter, D., & Merry, M. (2009)
In my social studies classroom, I cover it just like I do everything else. Most of the time students are curious enough to ask questions. I get the chance to give them my opinion and beliefs on the matter, and that is far as it goes. I believe firmly that people have to see the works of a man rather than a man that just pays lip service to something. We have to module good behavior. That is what kids need. If they ever take it a step further and ask what helps us do good, then we share with them. I believe the curriculum needs to include the subject of all religions, then students can decide for themselves what they want to do with the information. We have to be careful, though. Living “good” is subjective. Can we teach the golden rule and leave it at that, or can we take it further? I think we need to teach the golden rule as an opinion; however, ask students to talk about some alternatives if that is not true. I think teaching the alternative can have a reverse effect on students and bring them back to the truth. Each student finds his/her own truth, though. Ruyter, D., & Merry, M. (2009)
The example of how school systems decide when to close for the holidays was a baffling issue. It never occurred to me, living in a predominately Christian country in a particularly Christian run South that this could be problematic. If schools choose not to observe any religious holidays, then they open themselves up to issue of having enough substitutes to cover a particular religious observance. That is if there are enough teachers that do observe it. Another issue is if there are enough students and parents that observe certain holidays. Missing 20% of the students on a given day wrecks havoc for teacher planning. Should those days be used as enrichment days? That is what I would do; however, administrators already put us under a time crunch to teach so much content. Purinton, T., & Gunther, V. (2011)
I like this article. The reading has open my eyes to more than just the problematic issues with what to teach when to teach, and how to assess. I never thought about other people's religions, traditions, and observances in this manner. I called myself UN-biased and muti-culturally driven. I believe in the democratic process; however, after reading this article, I'm going to have to reevaluate my beliefs and ideologies. Purinton, T., & Gunther, V. (2011)
Purinton, T., & Gunther, V. (2011). Closing school for the holidays - whose holidays?. Phi Delta Kappan, 93(4), 33-37.
Ruyter, D., & Merry, M. (2009). Why Education in Public Schools Should Include Religious Ideals. Studies In Philosophy & Education, 28(4), 295. doi:10.1007/s11217-008-9120-4.
Unique Literature Entries
Esperanza Rising (by Pam Munoz Ryan) 2000
This children's book is about a Hispanic (Mexico) girl that has to move to California and is forced to experience hardships through servant-hood. This is a great novel because it cover many subjects. This story is set during the Great Depression of America, and readers will be immersed in the fate of someone to experience culture shock by migrating not only to a new place, but also experience a different way of life that what he/she was used too.
The Outsiders (by S.E. Hinton) 1967
This is a story of friendship, loyalties, and betrayal. Who you trust might mean the difference in life or death? The protagonist must make many choices that will change hid destiny forever. Social issues such as gang violence is a topic. Characters die a violent death, and other topics are explored like depression and anger. Revenge is a central topic that is explored.
The Polar Express (by Chris Van Allsburg) 1985
This story excites the imagination about a little boy trying to make it to the North Pole. Many themes are present here such as friendships, disappointments, and mysticism. There are magic things that happen and can't be explained. The children on the train come from all walks of life. It is a good feeling book and no one dies or is injured. The ending is predictable with all good feelings in the end.
Blackberries in the Dark (by Mavis Jukes) Grades 3 - 5
This is a mirror book. Nine-year-old Austin and the blackberries have come back to the farm, but Grandpa is missing. Austin and his grandmother try to begin new traditions without sacrificing their memories of his grandfather.
The Hundred Penny Box (Sharon Bell Mathis) (Grades 3 - 5)
This is a mirror book. Michael loves his great-great-aunt Dew, even if she can't always remember his name. He especially loves to spend time with her and her beloved hundred penny box, listening to stories about each of the hundred years of her life.
The Friends (by Kazumi Yumoto) 1996
Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends. This is a look into understanding the perspective of older people as well as looking into the mirror of the boys who befriend him.
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Patridge (by Mem Fox)
This story is another book that looks into the life of an older person at the end of his/her life. It also mirrors a boy life in which he questions the world around and him and starts to discover the true meanings of the world around him. I re-told this story on YouTube. This is a good book to teach graphic organizers, recall, social respect, etc, ...
Singing with Momma Lou (by Linda Jacobs) 2002
Nine-year-old Tamika Jordan dreads visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Momma Lou has Alzheimer's and always forgets who Tamika is. This is another reflection of older people, and uses windows or mirrors, depending on what gender and race the reader may be as the lead in the story is a African-American little girl.
Toning the Sweep (by Angela Johnson) Grades 7 - 12
On a visit to her grandmother Ola, who is dying of cancer in her house in the desert, fourteen-year-old Emmie hears many stories about the past and her family history and comes to a better understanding of relatives both dead and living.
Children of God; an American epic (by Vardis Fisher) 1939
Fisher tells the story of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, who, respectively, founded and preserved the religion of the Latter Day Saints.
Evensong (by Gail Godwin) 1997
Story of a young girl's devotion to her father, the rector of a small Virginia church, and of the hope, dreams, and love that sustain them both in the wake of the betrayal and tragedy that diminished their family faith.
Lane Smith, Grandpa Green (2011, Roaring Book Press)
Joseph Bruchac Rose Eagle.
This children's book is about a Hispanic (Mexico) girl that has to move to California and is forced to experience hardships through servant-hood. This is a great novel because it cover many subjects. This story is set during the Great Depression of America, and readers will be immersed in the fate of someone to experience culture shock by migrating not only to a new place, but also experience a different way of life that what he/she was used too.
The Outsiders (by S.E. Hinton) 1967
This is a story of friendship, loyalties, and betrayal. Who you trust might mean the difference in life or death? The protagonist must make many choices that will change hid destiny forever. Social issues such as gang violence is a topic. Characters die a violent death, and other topics are explored like depression and anger. Revenge is a central topic that is explored.
The Polar Express (by Chris Van Allsburg) 1985
This story excites the imagination about a little boy trying to make it to the North Pole. Many themes are present here such as friendships, disappointments, and mysticism. There are magic things that happen and can't be explained. The children on the train come from all walks of life. It is a good feeling book and no one dies or is injured. The ending is predictable with all good feelings in the end.
Blackberries in the Dark (by Mavis Jukes) Grades 3 - 5
This is a mirror book. Nine-year-old Austin and the blackberries have come back to the farm, but Grandpa is missing. Austin and his grandmother try to begin new traditions without sacrificing their memories of his grandfather.
The Hundred Penny Box (Sharon Bell Mathis) (Grades 3 - 5)
This is a mirror book. Michael loves his great-great-aunt Dew, even if she can't always remember his name. He especially loves to spend time with her and her beloved hundred penny box, listening to stories about each of the hundred years of her life.
The Friends (by Kazumi Yumoto) 1996
Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends. This is a look into understanding the perspective of older people as well as looking into the mirror of the boys who befriend him.
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Patridge (by Mem Fox)
This story is another book that looks into the life of an older person at the end of his/her life. It also mirrors a boy life in which he questions the world around and him and starts to discover the true meanings of the world around him. I re-told this story on YouTube. This is a good book to teach graphic organizers, recall, social respect, etc, ...
Singing with Momma Lou (by Linda Jacobs) 2002
Nine-year-old Tamika Jordan dreads visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Momma Lou has Alzheimer's and always forgets who Tamika is. This is another reflection of older people, and uses windows or mirrors, depending on what gender and race the reader may be as the lead in the story is a African-American little girl.
Toning the Sweep (by Angela Johnson) Grades 7 - 12
On a visit to her grandmother Ola, who is dying of cancer in her house in the desert, fourteen-year-old Emmie hears many stories about the past and her family history and comes to a better understanding of relatives both dead and living.
Children of God; an American epic (by Vardis Fisher) 1939
Fisher tells the story of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, who, respectively, founded and preserved the religion of the Latter Day Saints.
Evensong (by Gail Godwin) 1997
Story of a young girl's devotion to her father, the rector of a small Virginia church, and of the hope, dreams, and love that sustain them both in the wake of the betrayal and tragedy that diminished their family faith.
Lane Smith, Grandpa Green (2011, Roaring Book Press)
Louis Sachar, The Card Turner (2010, Random House)
Deb Calleti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart (2004, Simon & Schuster)
Karen Lord the Galaxy GameDeb Calleti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart (2004, Simon & Schuster)
Joseph Bruchac Rose Eagle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)