Kahn and Westheimer

In this article the discussion of service learning comes into play, two different examples are used to get their point across. One of a 12th grade history teacher named Mr. Johnson, and the other of a teacher named Mrs. Adams. Johnson explained that his children's projects, would "interact with those less fortunate than themselves and would experience the excitement of the joy of learning while using the community as a classroom". Mr. Johnson did  not require any extra reflection upon completing their projects, therefore in my eyes, almost defeating the purpose. Even though they were getting a hands on experience and that is always a good way to apply learning, it is also good to have something in the end to help you reflect, otherwise I would feel as though I was just doing community service, instead of a learning project.
Mrs. Adams, had her students work together as well as having a main topic which was "the issue of homelessness in America". During their projects they had to write journals and reflections. I feel as though Mrs. Adams way is more effective. I think this because her has more of a learning process, not only are they working in their community and getting the hands on experience, but they are also able to relate it back to the classroom. This is a whole learning process in itself.
I was able to relate this to my service learning project. I was placed into different classrooms where I felt as though the work that I was doing was like charity, but find ing my place in the classroom, I was able to make connections and write journals and blogs about my experience to connect to other aspects I had learned in class.

Promising Practices

My time at Promising Practices was honestly better than expected. I wasn't sure what to expect signing up for this forum. At first I really didn't know what to choose for my workshops. The one's that caught my eye were "When you fail you're learning", gross mindsets in everyday Elementary school lessons, as well as Stress Management, technique's to building resiliency. These honestly were both extremely good choices.
I was able to really grasp some good thoughts and ideas from the keynote speaker Robert Brooks. Some quotes from him that really stood out to me were, "If people don't feel welcome in your heart, you really can't help them." Another quote that I heard him say that really resonated with me was, "I may not want to go to work today, but today might me the day that I say or do something to make a difference in someone's life". As a keynote speaker he kept me really engaged and I was not guided away from his words at all.
Going to two different workshops the one that mostly resonated with me was the growth mindset one. When I got there we were able to listen to two elementary teachers talk about how you can find the ideas of growth mindset in children's books. As groups we were then challenged to see if the books we were given were open mindset or closed mindset. We were also given a bag with pasta and marshmallow's and we were told to try and make a tower as high as we could. It was challenging and we didn't know that the whole time the teachers had been going around listening to some of the key words that we were saying as we did these projects and judged whether we were thinking with an open mindset or a closed mindset.
It did not take long for me to be able to relate this workshop to one of the authors that we had read for our blog articles, and that was Lisa Delbit. Her ideals have to do with teaching our students the rules and codes of power, and that is exactly what the teaching of open and closed growth mindset is. Delbit would have been extremely happy to sit in on that presentation. The thought of teaching open and closed mindset at young ages is exciting, because it can change the way children look at the work they do. Its like positive and negative thinking and working through and problem solving from there.

The following are links that were given as tools to understand and use as supportive resources..
http://imaginationsoup.net/2016/05/10/30-biographies-model-growth-mindset/
https://www.mindsetworks.com/Videos
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/learning-from-failure-ainissa-ramirez

Tracking (Jeannie Okes)

 

Reading the Oakes article, I thought back to when I was younger. The memories were of teasing and joking and the feeling of not being good enough. Jeannie Oakes explains the ideas of different leveled classrooms and "tracking". In middle school we all started at the same level in math. My grade was all in the same class and then they split us all up. From this one class, came an accelerated math, moderate math, and "math". Except this "math" by all the other kids was called SPED math. I was decent at math and was placed in the moderate math class where we did worksheets group work etc. except at some points the other kids in my group and class were understanding things a bit faster than me, scared to ask questions because I didn't wan to get laughed at, I fell behind and was placed into the "math" class. This class consisted of maybe at most 7 of us. We would work in a big group with one teacher. It was difficult in that classroom as well because I was able to have more one on one time with the teacher but from that I was excelling in this math class but was stuck in it. It was also difficult because we couldn't really move on from what we were doing until everyone was on the same page which took up a lot of time. It was a lot of give and take and I really see that being one of the reasons for some of my learning gaps. Towards the end of middle school this idea of "tracking" evened itself out a little better. More of us were at the same level and there was an even medium found. I understand the idea of having higher and lower courses, but I wonder too that if I was challenged a little bit more and given the comfort in asking questions in class if it would have placed me in a different direction.

   http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/oct92/vol50/num02/On-Tracking-and-Individual-Differences@-A-Conversation-with-Jeannie-Oakes.aspx

Empowering Education (Shor)

I think all together, Shor was my favorite author to read. I really appreciated her ideals. The point of Shor's mentalities were to develop children for the world rather than have them just memorizing an reciting material. I think that Alex really gave good examples from his high school experience in his blog post. After reading his it really made me think about my high school experience as well. It made me think of how I really wish it was more like the college I went to before RIC. All of our classes at Wheelock were discussion based and included hands on activities and internships. By doing these activities and internships I was able to understand the material being taught better, as well as appreciate exactly how I can apply what I had been learning in my classes to real life. These ethics made me appreciate being in school and getting good grades. If my high school had more of this and explained how I could use what I was learning for actual parts of life, I think I would have put more time and effort into my high school work. I think that the quote that Alex used at the end of his explanation of his high school also really applied to me and how I felt of mine as well. "Education can either develop or stifle their inclination to ask why and learn (12)." Again if it was explained to me, what I was learning in high school, how it would be transferred to my adult life, I would've appreciated learning it more instead of it feeling like a hassle.

Alex's blog really helped guide my thought process and really helped me relate my feelings towards the education system. The quote that Alex included in the end of his blog really summed up what I learned from Shor's writing, "students in empowering classes should be expected to develop skills and knowledge as well as high expectations for themselves, their education, and their future (Shor 16)."

This really made me stop and think of where I am today. If I had pushed harder and questioned my teachers more in high school would it have effected my outlook on the material I was learning at the time? Also, if they did explain to me how it can be applied later in life, and it changed my outlook on what I was learning, would it have set me on a different path I am on today?  It makes me appreciate how a lot of my college classes, especially FNED 346, have been based around discussions. Many times I have come to class with things that have happened and have been unknowingly confused about them, but by bringing them to class, I was able to talk them out with my classmates to better understand them.

 

 

 

 

Centers and Margins

"Youth who struggle with lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender identities, or are bullied for the mere perception of being different, often feel as if they have nowhere to turn"
From this, many youth suicidal incidents are from this statistic.

"Refusing to talk about LGBT issues or showing discomfort when LGBT topics arise are nonverbal messages that tell youth that being LGBT is abnormal or wrong"
This is the reason that so many are afraid to show who they really are and feel isolated from everyone else.

"Teaching young people to 'read the world' goes a long way toward nurturing sophisticated and democratic thinkers"
Teaching people to be more open minded and accepting at a younger age can allow more of a sophisticated and safe feeling environment for everyone.

("Safe Spaces" Gerri August)


https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=lgbt&&view=detail&mid=150FED36065E2FAFCB18150FED36065E2FAFCB18&FORM=VRDGAR

Education Beyond the Classroom: Media Literacy

It was so interesting to read unlearning the Mets that bind us by Linda Christensen. I never really thought into the facts of different myths and stereotypes within children's cartoons and books. For example ducktails at first glance apparently they are looked at to be cute then when you look closer into the show the whole show is based on money and that's the important thing in life. Also Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles they're fighting the bad guy and they solve their problems using fists and swords instead of words. It is so interesting to think that the shows are created for children's entertainment but when you actually think of the deeper meaning that is being taught to the children, it is completely disgusting. No wonder why people are complaining about generations and generations to come your painting a message in media of ways for kids to be acting and thinking and these ways are completely disgusting. Girls don't have to be a damsel in distress having men be princes and come to save them and provide for them men don't have to be strong knights they can be whatever they want to be. The media from the beginning has painted what everyone should think why can't the prince wear a dress why can't a princess where are sword and shield why does there have to be a town clown why does somebody have to profit from money in the end. Not only did Christensen educate us on what media has been secretly been doing all these years, she also taught her students to make the change and they have the opportunity to make a difference into unbind the myths that bind us. 

Voices and Silences: Language is Power

This reading is called "Aria", it was written by Richard Rodriguez. Richard Rodriguez and his family were immigrants from Mexico, in coming to America they adopted the English language as their main language. Rodriguez explains in his writing that all That all immigrants should try and adopt English as their main language because they will be more successful in their new country. It will be hard and it will be difficult but it is rewarding in the end. At school he spoke mainly English and even though his teachers said that he wasn't speaking as well, the family did everything that they possibly could to help them in school. By doing this and taking on this challenge the family spoke complete English at home. It led to frustration because the parents weren't as advanced as the children in the English language. This led to a strain in the family and their family closeness was lost. "So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality" (Rodriguez, 39).
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2010/09/01/8385/assimilation-today/