Literacy with an Attitude

Patrick Finn
Quotes

"We all participate in this social system as if it were natural, the way things were meant to be." 

Here Finn is relating to Delpit and the rules and codes of power. He is saying that we all do something that is natural because we were taught that is the way they are supposed to be. We do not go against these social norms we have because we do not want to be looked at as a “rule breaker”. This is related to Delpit because she says that there is a set of rules that everyone knows and follows without questioning why we have them.

"When rich children get empowering education nothing changes.  But when working-class children get empowering education you get literacy with an attitude." 

Empowering education “leads to powerful literacy” which will then lead to power and authority. When rich children receive this education nothing changes because they are all ready in power with being higher in the social class. When working-class children get this education they take as much as they can in and explore it.  As Finn describes it “literacy with an attitude” is the working-class children taking this empowering education opportunity and learning what it truly is about. 

"Teachers made derogatory remarks regarding the students. A principal was reported to have said to a new teacher 'Just do your best. If they learn to add and subtract, that's a bonus. If not, don't worry about it.' A second grade teacher said the children were 'getting dumber every year'”. 

This quote is demonstrating how schools do not care for the students education and that they are just there for the money. To have a principal saying not to worry is unbelievable because they should be the ones aiding the teachers in the direction to get the students to learn. Instead the teachers are disrespecting the students and where they come from. If they are from a lower-class they deserve the same education has a higher class student. Every child has a dream they want to fulfill and teachers should be the guide to reaching it. 

Points to share:

In this read I feel like I could connect to Delipt and the “rules and codes of power” , along with McIntosh’s “white privilege”. I really struggled at first with the reading but when I looked at other post I could follow along better.

The American Life 562/563

THE AMERICAN LIFE EPISODES 562 AND 563
"Separate and Unequal" by: Bob Herbert 
Extended comments

This week I chose to use Kate’s post as the center of my post.

Kate started her blog off with a few vocabulary words and their definitions, I believe that this is a great way to start off a blog because it showed that you learned some new words to use in conversations and that you had to do a little research on the topic and its meaning. 

The first quote she used was "One mother asked why residents did not get to vote on letting in Normandy kids..." -562 

I agree with her that when I heard this piece I was reminded of Kozol and his institution/individual acts. The example she uses about Mott have and comparing it to the radio broadcast I agree have the same issue, the lower class did not have a say in if they wanted something or not. The idea of segregation is still around, there are people who think they have the more rights and power than someone else. 

The next quote she used was "...how crazy white kids are or how much freedom they get to be crazy." -563

This quote reminded me of SCHWAAMP, and how in today’s culture we value whiteness. Like Kate said, we associate having a good time to being white such as “white wasted”. The example of how the students of the college flashed their butts at the opposing team to taunt the is a perfect fit for how being white is valued. No one questioned the act because they were white, if they were of a different race there would of been a fight. 

Points to share:

I agree with Kate about how the two radio shows and the article by Bob Herbert having a lot of great connections to the text we have done in class. I can also relate to there being a lot of Johnson in the radio shows, such as how “we wont talk about it (race)”, and how Kiana wasn’t afraid to question the white privilege and say the words. She stepped up and asked questions along to admitting to feelings and talking about things.

In The Service Of What?

Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
Reflection

While reading Kahne and Westheimer’s piece I was able to connect it to Kristof’s article and when he talks about Rick Goff. The quote “educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling.” demonstrates what we as students participating in service learning projects should be doing while we take part in this. When it comes to the different types of help the article did a great job of giving examples to demonstrate the two types. I believe each type of help had its benefits, but I think Mr. Johnson’s class had more of a benefit over Ms. Adam’s class. Mr. Johnson’s class was able to pick where they wanted to do their service learning and be able to explore the different lifestyles than they are accustomed to. 
Service learning is a way for students or an individual to give back and help their community. This is an opportunity where someone gets to explore outside of what they are used to, figure more out about themselves, and learn about those who are less fortunate than themselves. This opportunity can be an eye opener for many people if they are unaware of what is going on around them. 
What really caught my attention is when Kahne and Westheimer talk about how doing service learning we can “promote students' self-esteem,...develop higher-order thinking skills,...make use of multiple abilities, and...provide authentic learning experiences.” This was an attention grabber because I never really took a second to think about how the service learning I am doing can truly impact a student. 

Points to share: 

I think it is a great idea for students to have to do a service learning project in high school. This is the time when students will be able to understand what is going on and be more mature to walk into different settings. Yes, it can be a huge pain and another added task but it can really open someones eyes and make them see the bigger issues out there. 

Safe Spaces- Gerri August

Gerri August
Hyperlinks 

Gerri August has strong feelings about those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. He strongly feels that they should be accepted b everyone no matter where they are. He talks about how schools should be the safe place for  students of LGBT but the classrooms do not have much exposure to it and this makes students not feel safe. August says “Even teachers who describe themselves as social justice advocates fail to challenge homophobic or transphobic language and images in many early childhood settings” (p. 86). With this being said we set the image of an “ideal” family in young children’s minds, we neglect to show the importance of transgender or homosexual parents. 

Ellen DeGeneres
In this article Ellen talks about how it was a scary thing to say the words “I’m gay” on her show. She talks about the emotions she has and makes the connection to how it is difficult for anyone to say those words. This article fits into what August says because Ellen then says that the public opinion about being gay makes people feel ashamed. August raises the issue of those who are LGBT are not accepted and this is a perfect example of how society does not accept it. 

Stats
This article is about the statistics of LGBT students. All the stats in this article really shocked me, they showed the physical and verbal abuse students got, missing class, how they do not feel safe in school all because of their sexual orientation. This article relates to August’s issue of students not feeling safe in the classroom and how they are not accepted by their surrounding peers. It is upsetting to me to see such high percentages because it shows that nothing is changing for LGBT students and some are going to extremes such as suicide to escape the pain. 

Points to share:

I was able to connect August’s reading to Grinner’s SCWAAMP. I was able to us the straightness aspect here. This is because in America we only value those who are straight. Those who are LGBT are not accepted in our society, although the issue is not as bad as it once was it is still there. I believe this will always be an issue because not everyone will be accepting of those with a different sexual orientation. I think August’s article is a must read and after reading it I feel some research on LGBT issues should be done to see the reality of how we treat those who are either lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. 

Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us

Linda Christensen

Reflection

Reading Christensen’s piece was an eye opener to me. Before reading I know cartoons and movies had stereotypes and hidden messages, but I was unaware of how much each cartoon or movie portrayed it. Young children look at these films or cartoons and see a women needing a man to save her, or the only way to be liked it to have the “perfect” body image. Reading this article showed how much of a negative impact media has on people of young ages. When they see what is going on they think they have to be that way and go about making themselves that way to fit in. 

In this article I made the connection to Grinner’s SCWAAMP. I mostly connected it to straightness and whiteness. Straightness comes from every relationship in fairy tales being heterosexual. Not one is a homosexual relationship. This demonstrates that everyone has a happy ending when they are attracted to the opposite sex (which we know isn’t true). The connection to whiteness is every character with a major role is white and not of color. Other races were mixed into the princess role but it wasn’t until 2009 when the “Princess and the Frog” came out and changed the “white princess” aspect when they introduced a princess of color. 

Girls who watch the Disney princess films always see the princess in trouble and looking for a prince’s help or how they need to change to get their prince's attention. They show that a man must be the one who is strong and to be the hero at the end of the. When a young girl sees this message they get the idea that the only way they can be saved is by a man. This message was changed slightly in 2013 when the film “Frozen” came out. Yes, it showed a man trying to be the hero and save the day, but in the end it is the sister love that saves everything. 

Points to share:

I believe media has a major role in all our lives when it comes to we should fit into society and how we should act as both male and females. Disney has positive and negative impacts on children’s lives. It positively shows motivation and determination, but negatively shows body image and heroism is just being males. Knowing what I know now about the “secret education” that Christensen talks about changes my out look on children films and cartoons. 

"Aria"

Richard Rodriguez: "Aria"
Reflection 

While reading Rodriguez’s story I instantly thought of Johnson and his “just saying the words”. The issue being ignored is a language barrier, in America we believe that everyone should speak English and neglect to think that people come from different backgrounds and cultures with their own language. I thought Rodriguez did a great job telling his story, it made it a much easier read for me. This article also reminded me of Delpit and the “culture of power”. He had to give up his primary language and lose a connection with his Spanish speaking family to be accepted into society. 

Rodriguez and his family are part of a minority, the story reflected on how someone in a minority is at a disadvantage in the society due to not being “one with the society”. What I do not understand is why do schools stress learning another language for those who speak English. If they are telling those who do not speak English that they have to learn it and make it their primary language, then English speaking people are wasting their time learning another language. 

As a future educator I feel we should not push students away from speaking their native language. When Rodriguez said “The family’s quiet was partly due to the fact that as we children learned more and more English” (37) made me realize that we are corrupting other backgrounds and cultures to make everyone fit our “norms”. We as future educators should diminish this issue and do what Johnson says “say the words”. 

Points to share: 

Just like Carlene said, we should incorporate other cultures into the classroom so all students know they are important and where they come from is as well. We need to find a way to allow students who do not speak English be able to fit into society but not lose that family connection they have at home with their native language.

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack 
By: Peggy McIntosh
Quotes

1. "I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group"

Peggy McIntosh starts by saying this, she is implying that every one is taught racism at some point and its meaning. She brings up “white privilege” and how there is power that exist for white males, they have an advantage over everyone. Many whites are unaware that they discriminate those of a different race they grew up around isolation of those who are not “the same”, therefore they do not see themselves and racist. 

2. “We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck.”

Privilege is something we favor no matter how we received it. Living in the United States and being white we are privileged with jobs, homes, water, and so much more. We earned this privilege by being born into it. Without our family history we may have never been blessed to have this privilege. Privilege can be used in countless ways and some neglect to think that they are privileged in some way. McIntosh uses the term privilege throughout her article, she talks about the “Daily effects of white privilege” that she experiences throughout her life.

3. "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege."

Whites are taught not to see that they are privileged, to see what they have and do as the normal ideal life that anyone would want. The see that having a job and being served first as ideal and that they are not privileged. Males are taught to not see they have a privilege over women. For each dollar a man makes a woman non-hispanic or black will make $0.78 but hispanic black will make less than them but a hispanic will make the least. The two privileges are not that far off from one another.

Questions-Comments-Points to share:

While reading this article I made the connection to the activity we did by Grinner. Grinner talks about how the United States is symbolized by “Whiteness” and “Male-ness” which is also demonstrated throughout McIntosh’s article. I feel as a future educator I should teach my students that everyone is the same and should be treated with the same “privileges” as everyone else. If this was to be taught would it be carried to the generations after and considered the new “norm”?