Social Justice

For my Social Justice event I watched "The Hate U Give". This movie didn't change how I looked at the black lives matter movement but it gave me a more visual representation about what the black community faces on a day to day basis. This movie show cases what it means to be a black citizen in the united states. Starr Carter watches as her friend Kahlil is shot after being pulled over for failing to signal a lane change. He had asked the cop too many questions as to why he was getting pulled over and when he pulled out a hairbrush, the cop assumed it was a gun and pulled the trigger. It was heartbreaking to see this type of thing happen knowing that he was innocent. As time passed after this incident the audience watched how Starr coped with this trauma. We also watched how her friends and community reacted. Protests happened often among the black community while Starr's white friends at school just used it as an excuse to skip school. I didn't understand the importance of speaking out and being passionate until I saw how much these people have to fight for the same treatment that I am born with. This movie is one that gives a multitude of reasons as to why the Black Lives Matter movement is important and should be fought for.

Pecha Kucha

Link to my Pecha Kucha:


https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTwDgG-YS3lq5H8UeDATxNlJcpRvNmyZFemyNvbDSGfa6rDWaeK-I26gK9L23nFpT2h-c7Y1yfOo9aT/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=20000

Oakes

Quotes:

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route by Jeannie Oakes explains what tracking is and how it is affecting the youth of today's schools.

"One fact about tracking is unequivocal: tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school." Students that are separated by achievement level differ greatly. Minority students tend to achieve lower and are given less resources because they are expected to do worse in general. On the other hand, high achieving students, usually white, are given better resources and teachers. They are basically bred to succeed.

"In low-ability classes, for example, teachers seem to be less encouraging and more punitive, placing more emphasis on discipline and 'behavior and less on academic learning." These kids in low- ability classes are at an unfair disadvantage. They are almost forced to achieve less based on the environment that they learn in. I believe that if they were given the same resources as the higher-level students that they would achieve closely too them or at least better than where they are at now.

"Some rules of thumb can help teachers judge whether the lessons they plan are likely to help students of all ability levels succeed. First, lessons will probably be most successful if they require active learning tasks rather than passive ones, and if they have students working together rather than alone. Second, learning tasks are probably most helpful when they are full of complications and when they require multiple abilities - thinking, discussing, writing, and visualizing - to accomplish. Third, learning tasks will suit most students if they are modeled on complex and challenging "real world" problem-solving. These guidelines keep the curriculum from drifting too far into the highly technical and abstract world of "school" knowledge and too far away from "the real thing."" These few techniques can help teachers to give students a good education regardless of ability level. It is important that all students are given the opportunity to succeed. Many students learn at different levels and in different ways and it is important to be accommodating to all of them.

An interesting article on tracking:
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/108013/chapters/What-Tracking-Is-and-How-to-Start-Dismantling-It.aspx

Map the Authors, relation to field placement

SCWAAMP, Johnson, and Delpit all have this idea of privilege and power within our culture. In my classroom it is easy to see how they all relate. The white (female) teacher holds all of the power and control. She has control over what takes place in the classroom and makes sure that the students act accordingly. There is not as many black teachers within the school and the students tend to respect them less than their main, white, teacher. There is a sense that maybe they disrespect their parents at home but that leads to the question of why wouldn't they disrespect all authority? Although these students do not seem to see race when I walk in the classroom as a young, white, female, it is made clear that they look at me differently than other teachers. They respect me and listen to me and tend to walk all over the black teachers/ teacher assistants. At first it seemed like a normal thing in the classroom, I was new so why wouldn't they treat me differently. But then I understood that somewhere along the lines of their lives they were taught to treat white people as higher up than colored people. They gave the white adults and children in their lives more power over them and more privilege. The codes of power in the classroom go hand and hand with this. Although the students may not realize that they are doing it, they submit all sense of individuality and control in their classroom once a teacher, specifically a white teacher, takes over the classroom. 

Kliewer, McDermott and Varenne

Reflection:

Kliewer's article: Citizenship in Schools: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome discusses the importance of children with disabilities being included in the public atmosphere. The article showcases different students that would have benefited being with other children instead of feeling like outcasts. Children with disabilities are looked at differently by students and teachers to the point where it's hard to make them feel normal. No child should feel like they are on the outside. The opportunities given to each child should be the same regardless of disability or not.

McDermott and Varenne's article: Culture as Disability, discusses the relation between our culture and how it views people with disabilities. They make it known that it is the culture that decides if people are disabled or not and treats them accordingly. People who are disabled will not feel as though they are until the culture around them decides that they are. The focus of education is shifting from victim-blaming to how we can improve how things are viewed around the individual. It is important to understand that the individual did not ask to have a disability and should not be treated as though they had a say in it. Along these lines is that separating children with disabilities from mainstream culture does not help them learn and actually prohibits them from integrating into society. There is a way to help them and guide them without creating a separate path for them.

Both of these articles were easily understood because of how they related to my life personally. My uncle has a physical disability but didn't always. So growing up he lived a normal life. Now that he is older and in a wheel chair he has certain things that he can not do alone. Even though he has these handicaps we do not treat him any differently. This also goes for the students in my elementary with learning disabilities. They learn at a different rate than the other children but that does not mean they aren't just as cable of achieving the same goals as the other students. If children are treated differently at a young age they will perform worse over time because they think that they cannot achieve as much or as well as other students. I believe that it is important to help them understand that this is not the case and that they are just as capable as others.
 This link describes what our cultures definition of a disability is. https://adata.org/faq/what-definition-disability-under-ada

TAL, Herbert, and Brown vs. Board of Education

Quotes:

These three reading question the idea of integration and what that would mean for poorer, minority driven, communities. 

Herbert says in his article "Separate and Unequal": 
 "Breaking up these toxic concentrations of poverty would seem to be a logical and worthy goal. Long years of evidence show that poor kids of all ethnic backgrounds do better academically when they go to school with their more affluent — that is, middle class — peers." 
Although integration was difficult and unappreciated when it was first implemented, studies showed that the black children that were mixed into white schools performed better and achieved more closely to the white children. 

In this American Life, the difference between minority driven schools and white based schools is discussed. Nikole and Ira spend time discussing why integration works for both types of children. They mention how the achievement gap was cut by almost half. Nikole states, " I think it's important to point out that it is not that something magical happens when black kids sit in a classroom next to white kids. It's not that suddenly a switch turns on and they get intelligence or wanting the desire to learn when they're with white kids. What integration does is it gets black kids in the same facilities as white kids, and therefore it gets them access to the same things that those kids get-- quality teachers and quality instruction." 
In order for minority children to have a better chance at success they need access to the same type of education that white students have. Integration provided that for them and it would be interesting to see the results if it had been continuously implemented up to now. 

The Brown vs Board of Education case inspired different groups of people to come forward and protest for what they believe in. The idea that separate is not equal was widely spread and forced the government to look the treatment of (mainly) African Americans. One quote written states, " 
Today, thanks in part to the victorious struggle in the Brown case, most Americans believe that a racially integrated, ethnically diverse society and educational system is a worthy goal, though they may disagree deeply about how to achieve it."

Many things have changed over the years since Brown vs Board of Education. Integration is more widely discussed and considered now. Although it would prove to be difficult I think that the data should not be ignored. Children that are integrated perform better in the classrooms. If integration isn't a viable solution to the problems at hand then another option would be getting these kids better resources and a quality education. 

Kahne and Westheimer

Reflection:
In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

The article brings attention to service learning and what that means. Service learning is the idea that students can learn outside of a traditional classroom setting and do so by helping others. The article says, "Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to

respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students." This is an important concept because it fights traditional learning styles. Service learning allows students to connect with their community and become more well-rounded on their knowledge of the world around them. Kahne and Westheimer state, "Our goal is not to replace consensus with conflict, but rather to point out the various ideological, political, and social goals that can be promoted by service learning activities in schools." They directly state that they want students to learn different and more lessons from this type of learning. Service learning gives students an opportunity to come up with their own ideas and reap the benefits directly. In my own life I can already see the benefits from working with the kindergartners. I found out how good I am with younger kids and that I want to be more involved with them. I also discovered that I do not necessarily want to be a high-school teacher and am considering working more with younger students. Seeing this kids is also giving me insight as to how the younger generations see the world. They are more insightful than I thought and have a lot to say about the world around them. Service Learning Projects help students experience the world in a different and more independent way.

More information about Service Learning:
http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-resources/engaging-students-in-learning/service-learning/