Empowering Education by Ira Shor (quotes)

“Empowering education is a critical-democratic pedagogy for self and social change” – Shor pg. 15.

There were a few re-occurring points that really stood out for while reading Shor, having the students question and participate.


“People are naturally curious. They are born learners Education either develop or stifle their inclination to ask why and to learn.”

I certainly agree with everyone being naturally curious and that is an important factor for learning. It keeps the student interested and encourages them to ask questions.  If all the student does is memorize facts and spits them back on a test, how is that empowering? It isn’t. Curriculums should enforce more critical thinking which allows the students to participate more in class. Also critical thinking is a skill that students will use in the outside world, like learning tasks in a future job, asking questions to learn to proper way to perform the specific task.

 

“Education is more than facts and skills. It is a socializing experience that helps make the people who make society.”

Education is the foundation of a successful society.  It is the method we learn these facts and skills that while help us in the future. Students who are fully engaged in class, for example socializing among one another and being active during a lesson will benefit society in the future. Beneficial because it will lead towards a knowledgeable society and provides a stable environment for young learners.  Basically it will create a growing chain for intelligence. Students today will take their early education and apply as they move on in life.

“Student involvement is low in traditional classrooms and because action is essential to gain knowledge and develop intelligence.”

What I experience in a poorly executed lecture class is an example a “traditional classroom”.  When I think of a traditional classroom I think of teachers that just talk at their students. In the lecture classes that I experienced, the professor would talk for the entire time and leave students out of the discussion. If the professor does decide to have room for questions they rarely give the appropriate response time for students to come up with their questions. As a result their students remain unengaged and confused. “Any questions? No? Let’s move on.”

I feel student involvement is the most important factor to keep students engaged and get the most out of learning.  This is especially important in an elementary setting because students get easily distracted. Keeping students engaged will increase productivity. For example calling on student who doesn’t raise their hand often is a good way to keep that student on track so that they don’t fall behind.

I found this article about how getting the attention of your students is difficult. It also shows steps on what you can do to keep your students engaged. How can students participate if they are not totally in to it right?

In class I would like to discuss more ways to challenge students so that they can participate in class.

Promising Practices Conference

Even though I had to wake up early on a Saturday morning I was pretty excited about the conference. It was the first conference I I’ve ever been to. Arriving to the conference it was pretty empty but once 8 o’clock approached more and more people arrived. Right when I got my folder I immediately looked through and was glad to see I got my first picks.

My first workshop was Connie Horton: Digitally organizing your thoughts. I chose this workshop because a friend of mine said she had the presenter as a teacher and was very nice. The workshop was about using this program called Inspiration 8 to organize our ideas. I never heard of this program before and wasn’t really how it could be helpful. I could just go on word and make a chance BAM graphic organizer but this program was specifically for it. She even prepared a slide show for us to go along with our session. Usually I cringe over slide shows but I felt this was the most informative and useful one I’ve seen in a while. This program was so versatile you can basically use it for ANY subject. During the session we used Inspiration 8 to organize our “Sunday” which I at first I thought was pointless, Sunday, what do I need to organize for Sunday…turns out I forgot a lot was going on and using a web totally helped me straighten things out. This program is great for inside and outside of the classroom.

There are so many gadgets that you can play with, you can change the color, size, shape and style. You can virtually make any kind of chart, this is THE chart program, and the creating ability is endless. You can create Venn diagrams for math or English, webs for history and great graphic organizers for future students to plan their writing and your own. If you didn’t know all RIC computers have Inspiration 8 so if you’re curious about what this program is like check it out! I recommend on downloading the free  trail just to test it out, you never know you it could be your go to program for charts in the future.

My second work shop was Julie Horwitz Is it worth more than a Thousand words? : Photovoice as a self-study Research Tool. This work shop focus on a different method professional educator can go about teaching a topic through photo graphs and simply using your words to explain them. This was my favorite workshop. Not only did Ms. Horwitz speak about her current RIC students did as well.

PHOTOVOICE- A method to get ideas out; topic based on pictures.

This Work shop also had a Power point which intimidated me a bit but I was able to grab some main points from it. The influences of photo voice are mostly of the community, sharing and speaking from your own experience. Another main factor of it is a from a feminist theory have a voice. Just as Johnson would say “We must learn to say our words” with the use of a photo you can easily be explicit about the main topic of your photo.

GOING PUBLIC- Images and words created or put together in a created form and shared with a public Audience. This was another main point from the presentations.

When Horwit’s student went up to present their Photo voice projects, their topics were about Literacy in Rhode Island.

The first presenter took photographs of graffiti in a Hispanic area. In that neighborhood literacy was presented through art and culture. This made me think about my main connection to my SL project Collier. That art was honor their first language through their art which makes it a very important part of literacy. In the end all of the presenters made the same observations. Literacy is everywhere. You can apply this method again to any subject. For math have students take pictures of geometric shapes. For English have they take pictures that relate to a story you are reading. Also I good topic I thought of was health/social studies take pictures an issue or problem going on in your community. I truly believe that a picture is worth MORE than a thousand words.



More about Photovoice.

Citizenship in School by Christopher Kliewer (Hyperlinks)

I felt this article was very interesting. IT’s important to make all students feel comfortable in the classroom. No student should feel out of place because they are considered different. In reality every single student is different in their unique way but of course there may be student who aren’t able bodied and it is our job as teacher to make those students feel they are safe in the class room environment.

We should never pity students who are disabled but we should be aware of their conditions.

This video shows an awkward situation where the teacher makes the disable students uncomfortable. The fact the teacher told the disabled student were not “normal” gives the students the wrong idea and makes them feel separated from the rest of the class. In a elementary school setting if a student asks if there anything wrong with another, i here this a lot in "sally is just being sally" i feel that is a good explanation because it doesn't make anyone uncomfortable and you can go on with your day. I feel its very important for teachers to

  “[community] requires a willingness to see people as they are---different in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic society"
This was my favorite quote of the reading it really stood out for me. Its absolutely true we are all the same in spirit and our differences makes us who we are but still in the end our spirits bring us together. I feel as a future teacher I need to emphasize that statement, even tho we appear different we are all the same and all students deserve the same treatment in the classroom




I found this video interesting as well it doesn't take place in the classroom but it shows how a disabled may feel awkward when going on an interview and people treat you as the minority but its actually the opposite, an able bodied person is seen as the minority.

I also found this document where it teaches awareness about disabilities. Its a rather long web page but its simply a suggestive packet with many ways to introduce this topic to a class, In five steps.

• Step 1:  Do activities that show how students are alike and different.
• Step 2:  Teach how to interact with people with disabilities.
• Step 3:  Talk about disabilities in general (what, what, why)
• Step 4:  Teach what it is like to have different disabilities through hands on activities.
• Step 5:  Celebrate the abilities of people with disabilities.

In class I'd like to discuss ways to make student with disabilities feel more comfortable in the classroom.

Finn & Oakes (quotes)

Darlene accidently printed out two copies of the Finn article and gave me the extra one. I thought she was kidding when she said it was printed on both sides. I was extremely overwhelmed, but having the article reduced was a mind easer. In Finn’s article I feel like its talking about the issues and I Oakes a possible solution.

(Finn)“We don’t worry about a literate working class because the kind of literacy they get doesn’t make them dangerous”

This quote was confusing to me but I think it means how working class have a domestic way of learning and that they are more dependable in a working area and as Finn puts it they are “not troublesome”.  That worry is present because if one person is weak we are all, which can be datable. The working class can be moldable in a way if there needs to something changed or improved it can be. But if it’s a Authority figure they must be the example one should strive to be and if they not powerful in literacy the company or business crumbles, just like in a classroom if they teacher can’t teach how can the students learn.

(Finn) “I was schooling these children, not to take charge of their lives, but to take orders”.

 I felt this was very Delpit, He related with the children by being from a working-class but also took charge of the classroom. The results were that the students were working they took well to authority and worked. He would asked “what are you doing?” he say “stop that, and get to work.”  He was straight to the point didn’t let the student get the chance to goof off.

(Oakes) “Many educators and parents assert that when schools group by ability, teachers are better able to target individual needs and students will learn more.”

I actually see my classroom for my SL project set up this way. One large group has no strugglers but one student, one group has a mix and two groups who struggle the most. As I notice the one student who struggles in the large group leads to cheating off of classmates papers while the group of all strugglers try to help each other. I feel that grouping the kids in groups by ability can be but helpful and not. Helpful in the way of individual help, the teacher knows what the student needs to approve on. It can be negative in a way that the student would know they are different, or think they are dumb.

This article discusses the pros and cons of using ability grouping as an educational tool.

In class I’d like to discuss more about grouping by ability, is it best to have a whole class be on the same level or have a class of variety of levels.

Youtube Finding

Have you ever went on youtube..find something cool watch a bunch of the related videos.....find a reoccuring channel watch a bunch of their vlogs and or projects, and that channel tells you to check out another friends vlog/channel? I had one of those days lol

It totally made me think of SWAAMP

Gender and Education (extended comments)

I decided to do an extended comment on Anne-Kelly’s Blog. As I read first line…“ I have heard that girls tend to do better in school than boys do and this website says that they are unsure why this is, they only have theories.” I instantly remembered a popular quote from the playground…Boys go to Jupiter to get my stupider, Girl go to college to get more knowledge. This made me realize that even kids in elementary school recognize this unclear phenomenon at an early age.

The first article Anne-Kelly used was from the New York Times. It discussed how girls usually “prevailed” in the gifted programs. The reason is unclear, one of the theories Anne-Kelly mentioned was girls were being favored by the standardize test and as a result “not many boys are placed in the gifted programs.” The blogger also mentions a study done by The National Academy of Sciences, where boys in general “overrepresented in programs for learning disabilities, mental retardation and emotional disturbance, and slightly underrepresented in gifted programs,” I found that a very interesting point to bring up, Girls usually excelling yet boys are represented as students who happen to struggle more.

The second article Anne-Kelly use is also from New York Times, Anne says “This article is about how girls and boys use different senses and learn by different ways. And schools generally teach their students certain ways that tend to be more suitable to the girls than the boys.” In the article it discussed Anne-Kelly’s observation from the article that boys and girl simply have a different way of learning. Research from Northwestern University and the University of Haifa states that girl have a “built-in neurological advantage over boys when it comes to language skills” which means boys naturally have a more difficult of a time understanding language when generally girls pick up quicker. Personally, I have horrible grammar and have to proofread some more than most :/

Gender Bias in Education

I found other article that well represent our topic for this week, some facts from the article are: boys usually are the ones causing trouble and girls always seem to be quiet and tidy.



In class i hope to disscuss other reason why this is so. Is it real a neurological advantage? or is it simply a coincidence?

Brown vs. Board of education & Tim Wise (connections)

This week’s Videos about Tim Wise book “Between Barack and a Hard and the website of brown vs. board of education was a nice change from reading & highlighting key facts from our articles. I found  many connections  from our SCWAAP exercise and even my political science class last semester(-.-)

The website give a brief background and states that in 1954 was the turning point in American history, segregating wasn’t fair and the statement “separate but equal” was completely false. For example in my political science we discussed Plessy vs. Ferguson a lot. This case was but “separate but equal” Two train carts, one for black one for white yet the carts were exactly the same. Plessy was arrested for being on the white train, for this case, this was seen as constitutional. Thanks to the case of Brown vs. Board of education that case was able to be re-looked and seen as unconstitutional.

“What is real…..We are nowhere near a post-racial American” statement made by Wise
I understand what Wise is portraying in the interview and his book. He says that just because we have a black president does not mean racism is over. Though, he does state that we have come a long way from then “racism 1.0” and we are now progressing in our “racism 2.0”, it’s still an issue but getting better.

Tapping the glass of SCWAAMP , The show host and Wise talk about how one day will be able to see that there are exceptional black or brown people just as bright as Obama but the dress differently or have a different style so others see them as unimportant or not worthy of acknowledgment.


“If a problem is still a problem… talk to the ones that are the target of it, not the ones who doesn’t have to know about it” Tim makes a comment at 3:53 of the second part video about able bodi-ness another connection to SCWAAMP. He states how we should understand the others point of view on issues, if the issue doesn’t target you doesn’t mean you should be ignorant about it.

                                                                                                                                            

Another Flashback of Political science!

If you haven’t go look at Beckah’s page she has a great video that represents the experiment that Kenneth Clark did in 1957, where he showed dolls to black children and asked which one looked like them and which wanted they wanted to play with. Also if you look on Nessa's Page you'll see that same expirement done today.

I found this article on a Dallas Columnist views on modern racism i found very interesting.

In class I hope to discuss where we other think where we stand on racism are we really that far away from complete post racism or are we getting a bit closer.

Running into my SL student at work!

I saw one of the students from my Service learning project at my work (Fantasyland-mini-golf & family center) yesterday. I'm operating the Ferris wheel, when, all of a sudden...

"OMG it's Miss Jewelry! She's my teacher! Miss Jewelry!  Miss Jewelry!".

Now, I tell the class constantly my name is Julie but for some reason some of them think it's Jewelry. The little girl goes on and on about how I help with math. Her and friends are on the ride and each time they go around  hear the words..."Miss Jewelry" "helps" "math" & "nice". They finally get off, all her friends are calling Miss Jewelry and even some other costumers in line. "Bye Miss Jewelry! see you at school!"

I found that to be an interesting visit:)

In the Service of what?? By Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer (quotes)

The article this week by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer made me think a lot about my service learning experience and how important it truly is. I feel like I am learning a lot through my experience and I’m anxious to see how it will end and hopefully I’ll take what I’ve learn and apply it to the future.

Educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorates the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling.
 

A very popular quote this week and agree that it’s important. It’s like give and take. The experience that service learning provides is great, the observer and student get so much out of it.  One learns how to understand the workings of a community, see what the students see. In my service learning experience I help a class with math, I can see that the students struggle greatly but will the one on one help in seeing an improvement and excitement in the students that they are understanding the material in class.

 

The importance of a meaningful reflective component becomes clearer when one considers the kind of deliberation and student empowerment that such a curriculum can foster.

The example given after this quote was Ms. Adam’s class. The student is given the power to take the topic they were exposed to and understand a different lifestyle for children can greatly affect them. Service learning is basically you teaching you a different situation people deal with, putting yourself in that situation and understanding the obstacles others must go through. The learning is in your hands, you have the power to interpret your experiences, just like the middle schoolers did with their essays.

““In what service of what” is a question that inevitably merits the attention of teachers, policy makers, and academicians who take seriously the idea that learning and service reinforce each other and should come together in America’s schools.”


The very last line but is a powerful quote to me, straight to the point. Just break down the phrase “service” volunteering for a community, “Learning” learn from your experience.  I feel that having Service learning in schools does in fact help the students so much especially the youngest ones. Also it gives a glimpse of what educators see daily in their own classroom, which for me is extremely valuable since I plan to be a future educator.

In class I hope to discuss everyone’s view on service learning and see if their experiences are helpful to them.
Service Learning Ideas :)

Forgot a link :)

Ah!! forgot to put a link!! I found a blog that talked about the problems of Disney princesses and talked about some of the "Missing Disney princesses" I thought it related and was interesting to read.

Problems with Disney princesses! =o

Unlearning the myths that bind us By: Linda Christensen (Arugment)

This author Linda Christensen argues that the media that children are expose to ideas that can control what they want to believe, whether it is through Disney movies or in cartoons in general.  Stereotyping in cartoons automatically lead children to believe that they are certain roles in life; women need saving, the beautiful are successful, the fat and ugly are buffoons and people of color are always the servant. 

“At one point of the cartoon, Popeye clips a dog collar on helpless Olive Oyl and drags her through the desert.” Children are affect so much by cartoons, this example alone gives girls the idea that it’s perfectly fine to be the damsel in distress and gives boys the idea that girls can’t do anything for themselves just let the men do everything and save the day.  

“people of color and poor people are either absent or servants to the rich, white, pretty people” is a comment one of Christensen students points out during the film viewings. It is this kind of ideas that can in lead a child to be racist, which is another point Christensen makes. Having people of color shown as a set down from the main characters will have children think they are inferior if they are not white or rich.

Christensen points were not to prove how horrible cartoons are and shouldn’t be shown, it was to help and have people notice the hidden messages that kids might pick up and believe.

“Instead of…..standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, I provided them the opportunity to make a difference.”

In class I hope to talk about what differences can we make and if anyone else feels affected by watching cartoons with hidden messages (knowing what they are now.)

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community by Dennis Carlson (reflection with video)

As I read this article I originally planned to do just do quotes, but as I continued reading I thought of a great friend from middle and high school. He was the nicest guy you’d ever meet, and a few days after graduation he came out to me. I was shocked but I didn’t think any different of him. There have been moments where he was accused of being gay but never confirmed or denied. He told me there were many times he wanted to tell but was fearful of my reaction.  He even explained one of the days he felt ready to “come out” and knew I would be accepting, it was one of the last days in our homeroom class he asked me to make him a rainbow bracelet for a gay/straight parade he was attending and he wanted some colorful gear (because….instead of catching up on important reading for my classes I would make a bunch of bracelets during homeroom) so of course I pleased to help out.  As he told me this I remembered his face when I gave it to him he was so happy I did this for him, it even seemed like he wanted to share something with me but the bell rings, he smiles and says thank you.

I never thought the simple gesture of making a bracelet would make my friend so happy. He told me it wasn’t the bracelet itself but the fact I got out of my way to make something that represented something he believed in.  Another reason why I thought of him throughout the article was because he plans on becoming an elementary school teacher and I know he be a great teacher. J

There was a quote from the article that bothered me. “the dismissal of gay teachers was legitimated as a way of keeping young people from being exposed to improper role models…”

I find that to be so false, I never had a homosexual teacher(so I thought) but ones sexual orientation cannot be seen as a factor of an improper role model, that’s just nonsense. There is more to a person than if they're gay or straight, anyone can be inspiration to a child, they just have to have to right character.

I hope to bring up in class if anyone has ever had gay teacher? I'm curious to see what expirences other classmates had in high school.

I found this on YouTube video about teachers in the UK I thought was related to the topic.

Aria By Richard Rodriguez (Reflection)

Richard Rodriguez's article sounded extremely familiar in the best way. It reminds me of my own life. Both my parents were born in Portugal and decided to come to America after they were married. My parents wanted to give my brother and I every opportunity possible. Today we still use Portuguese as our main language at home yet from time to time switch over to English.

Before for starting school my brother didn't know a word of English because my parents only spoke Portuguese to him. I feel like after he started school he brought the English language home. When I was born I would speak Portuguese with my parents and English to my brother which started the habit of going back and forth from English to Portuguese.

Once I starting school my mother had a difficult time speaking to me, she would say something in Portuguese and I would stare blankly at her. “I easily noted the difference between classroom language and the language at home” this quote made by Rodriguez perfectly sums up how I realized the difference between the languages I was exposed to. Afraid of losing our culture my mother enrolled my brother and I in a Portuguese school so that we could learn to read and write in Portuguese. At the time I dreaded going only because it would be regular school, then after school, more school….that was in Portuguese. Today I’m glad my mom enrolled us because I know how important Portugal is to my parents and to able to share the language of their homeland is really special to me.

The difference between the author and I was that my parents wanted to keep our original language at home yet still be able to use the “public language” every now and then. I believe learning languages is extremely important, it gives an individual the opportunity to travel one day simply be well knowledge. I am so passionate about languages that I decided to take French in high school instead of Portuguese because I wouldn’t be helping myself if I just took a class of a language I already know.

I am so pleased to know that I haven’t lost connection to my culture. My father tells me daily how he is proud of my brother and I of how we appreciate our language and where we came from. One day when I have a family I would like to teach my children the language my parents taught me and share with them the saying my mother always tells me “Eu Quero que fazes bem” I want you to do well.

I went to Canada this weekend for my cousin’s wedding (a very Portuguese wedding of course) and thought it would be fun to share a link about a daycare in Toronto that offers to teach French to young children of bilingual families.

Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol (Quotes)

     Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol was an extremely emotional reading. It broke my heart reading about what the people especially the children mentioned in the story and ones not mention, and what go through day in and day out. Clearly a different read from McIntosh's "White Privilege" article. It bothers me to know this truly happens in our world and how unjustly it is.

      My first quote is one that stayed in my mind during the whole reading “You just cover up…and hope you wake up the next morning”, made by a father of four during a cold night in December. I feel this is the thought of every family has in winter. It’s frightening to know that one is aware of their poor surrounding and can’t do much but hope to pull through it all. It makes me think twice about complaining about the cold ever again.

      “The medical waste incinerator, a new-looking building, is gunmetal blue on top and cinder block below. From one its metal sliding-doors, which is half-open, a sourly unpleasant odor drifts into the street. Standing in front of the building, Cliffie grumbles slightly but does not seem terribly concerned. “You sure that you don’t want a cookie?”” The fact that Cliffie walks by that building everyday knowing what happens there and doesn’t seem to frighten is one of disbelief. It’s like doesn’t bother him a building like that is in his community. I’m sure other children aren’t as brave as young Cliffie. If I were a child growing up there I’d be so afraid and would probably take extra measures to avoid that building and the smell.

     “The bed is covered with blood and bandages from someone else. Flowers are scattered on the floor. Toilet’s stopped with toilet paper. Bed hasn’t been made. I’d been through this once before. Either you wait hours until someone cleans the room or else you clean the room yourself.” This third quote illustrated to me the conditions of hospital rooms many from this area have witnessed time and time again. But what shock me the most was “clean it yourself” isn’t the point of a hospital to help? This isn’t a comforting area for people in need of help. So many don’t seek help probably because of the poor conditions presented. Also the set up in the waiting room, Why stay in the waiting when there’s a chance you’ll catch an extra something from the man next to you coughing up blood or the child behind you vomiting. 


One point I’d like to bring up in class is about the children. I feel that children experiencing such a traumatizing environment should  not happen in our society.

Me!

Hi! My name is Julie E. Gonçalves. I am extremely connected to my Portuguese heritage, I'm fluent in Portuguese and have been to Portugal many times. I am very close to my family especially with my older brother Michael :) and my cousin Lucinda from Canada. I tend to mash Portuguese and English together once in a while and my family still understands what I'm trying to say. I am a sophomore at RIC and my semester is going very well, of course some classes are more stressful then others, but I'm confident I'll make..i hope.....0.0 When I'm outside of school I take dance classes, I'm currently in Tap and Pointe, dancing is definitely one of my favorite things to do! I've been dancing for 10+ years and i don't see myself stopping anytime soon. When I'm not dancing around, I work at Fantasy Land which is like a big Chuck e. Cheese's and time tends to go slowly. But thankfully, my shifts go by faster with a little humor from my co-workers and the silly complaints from silly costumers. I also spend my time hanging out with my AWESOME co-workers outside of work and with Best Friend Anne Kelly (sound familiar?)

Random fact: I think snoopy is adorable:)