promising practices

My first workshop was about having health class in schools. The workshop was about how many teachers in Rhode island is comfortable about teaching health to students. it also was about how many teachers think that health shouldn't be taught until the student reach a mature stage. Now when i say health, i mean having the conversation of the birds and the bees. Now what this professor did was have all teachers in Rhode Island take a survey, of course not all teachers took the survey but the ones that did basically said health shouldn't be taught at all, very few said that it should.

My second workshop was about youth. i was sort of confuse because it wasn't like i learn much from it. It was run by student which was amazing, they had us do a activity of these pictures from the past to present of crouches and wheelchairs and we had to put them in order. It was interesting to see but at the same time when they went over it, they went over each picture one by one. (over 15 pictures). As the workshop went on, the youth was talking about how they do groups after school to make youth stay out of trouble and become leaders.

PECHA KUCHA

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1e-5-K9Thx3UWBe8nGXOLBkumZYUKVtnzHszJJNE9LCA/pub?start=false&loop=false&delayms=2000

I never thought of education being a part of political, not equal yes, but never political. Is crazy to even have that in mind because it is already horrible how education in classrooms are not equal based on income and the neighborhood you are in.

My blog post is based off Mary Abby. The points that she picked out and talked about really stuck and made it clear in what was being said in the article.
 "funding is another political dimension of education, because more money has always been invested in the education of upper-class children and elite collegians than has been spent on students from lower-income homes and in community colleges." As what we always talked about in class discussion how education is never equal because of how funding and donations happens in upper income education schools vs how none of that happens in lower income neighborhood schools.  Not equal because both status of schools don't have the same equipment, books, computer help like many other schools do.

Having those words being shown in the article that School is Political is all about the system.. the system in how cruel education is to kids based on whatever the issue can be. cruel in every type of way you can think of. 

"Now we know that people with disabilities can learn and have a full, rich life. The challenges is to erase negative attitudes about people with developmental disabilities, get rid of the stereotypes and break the barriers for people with disabilities. (kingsley, 1996, p.6)"

Reading this really hit home, it hit home because going to school and being in middle school with students who had disabilities everyone in a way looked down on them, and when they would walk in the hallway sometimes people will just stare. & not even in school, but in public places, restaurant, store, etc. I always saw the looks on people faces, it wasn't the look of confusion, angry it was more of a look that was more to feel sorry for. I never really had knowledge on how smart students with disabilities are. It wasn't until I started working with children who has disabilities. Working with them really was a eye opener because you hear other talk down on them but truly is not until you work with them, have a friendship with them or some kind of bond  that you start to notice other things that are not so stereotypical. anyone who has disabilities are smart and is capable of so much and more when given the chance. 
The reason why I wanted to talk about the quote i picked was because it to me i saw it clear. It starts with you, it starts with yourself to become a better person and not have such a negative view on ANYONE. To start a change you have to change yourself on how some points of view is. 

Finn's Blog

I felt more connected to the text in the middle of the preface. i felt connected in the part where Finn mention how as a teacher there was a for sure accommodation of having the students have a not so challenge work so that the students who had more of a problem completing the work that they felt accomplished with also having "extra credit" for those who did finish early to do more in class work to give those who ended extra time their time. To me i felt more connected in that way because as i use to intern for four years with kindergartens i saw the frustration in these kids eyes when they couldn't spell or read a word right. i remember trying many different things to motivate the group i was working with to not have them give up.
I would always go back to school trying to come up with reading games (bingo, word search etc.) to have the kids do and have some what fun with the words they had to learn. and it wasn't any words that you can sound out, it was sight words which are words that you have to mesmerize in order to know them, there wasn't a easy way out of it basically.What I got out of this text is that students no matter where you teach or go to observed, there will always be students who have a struggle in learning and you might have to stay there and explain a couple of times in different ways how to do a certain problem or how to under a paragraph. literacy with attitude or not, there are always struggles and is up to the teacher and student to come up with different ways to have resources to meet the goal to meet the standards that you have for yourself and for the students to have for themselves, Never give up as a student and never give up as a teacher

Service Learning Project Week

Collier - Honoring students first language skills, helping one another in classroom; students and teacher wise. Students help one another with directions and work and the teacher explains directions and other things in English and Spanish multiple times.

August - Safe places, talking about bullying, what is bullying and what is happens when you bully someone.

Delpit - Rules and codes of power; repeating the rules in the classroom; the teacher saying how she is the boss in the classroom and no one else. tying back to bullying when students don't listen to each other and or the teacher.  ( ties back to August - safe places)

Separate and Unequal

First of I want to say before connecting all three, that the Separate and Unequal really open my eyes. It open my eyes in a way that I never thought about our generation now, being in a school because we can't afford the tuition being separated because of someone's income. I saw it as in I guess you pay what you get and make the best of what you have. Reading this article really made me know now that even to this day we are separated because again of income, because certain families cant afford a fancy private school that gives us "better education" although I feel like all education is the same just in a different environment.  

Listening to the two stories, I heard two different themes, one saying that integration works but schools are scared to even talk about it. I heard in part one that being in poverty and having your kids go to school is really a mission every morning. Black and Latinos lives in poverty that has really "bad schools", bad schools that tend to try to catch up to the "good school"; test scores, academic, education wise. While the "good schools" have the best teachers and material wise. they talked about a scoring " 10 out of 140" They mention to look at that as in ACT scores, someone once said you get points to just write your name, in this case you get points for even just existing in such a school, in mine and probably many others will say, "That sucks and is really sad to even think and or say such a thing." 

In part two, I heard the story of a school where no whites ever went to, but one day students came from a different school to check it out, and this girl came over and started talking to them, DIFFERENT IS CHANGE. instead of wondering why they are there in such a negative way, she had lunch with them and started talking to them and till this day they're still friends. She mentioned when you get a feel of a different person your environment changes/ makes you. of course you become aware of everything because of such a change like how she said they wait for her and hold the door for her even if she is 20 feet away, everything changes and is accounted on you to make the best of it. 

I believe that these 3 things all connect because even though they have different stories to them, is all about education, race and making a difference in poverty or not. A change makes you a better and stronger person. it does hurt that sometimes life hits you hard and you have to be in a environment that you don’t truly ask for, but the way I see it is that you make that your strong point and move from that and it becomes your go to, your go to be and improve your life style to move from poverty.

IN THE SERVICE OF WHAT?

Extended comments:
Response to Sydnei

"Serve 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 quote explains how service learning is important because it helps students and teachers with having an extra hand in the classroom or just helping the community in general with whatever service learning they decide to go into. It also helps the actual student doing the service learning better themselves. It gives the student a better understanding of the things that they will experience when they actually go out into the field. This also helps the student because it helps them really decide if this is the path that they want to go down. 

      I agree with what you had to say about the quote. I believe that having the opportunity to go out and help the teachers with an extra hand including helping students with extra support is such a great thing because not only you better yourself in what way of teaching you want to do, but you get to see what you can improve on.   


 "By finding and engaging in community service activities, Mr. Johnson explained, students would interact with those less fortunate than themselves and would experience the excitement and joy of learning while using the community as a classroom."   


When this teacher explained that the students were going to help people that were less fortunate than they were, he explained that they are going to feel happy about doing this. By having the chance to use the "community as a classroom" just gives students a chance to explore their options and see how many opportunities are truly out there in the community. 

      Having someone by your side to just see what you're learning is such a great feeling. I remember being in first grade and having a "buddy" from a upper classman to come in and we got to show off what we was learning and got extra help from them if we needed. having someone to support you and be there every step of the way makes any one happy.    

"By engaging in meaningful service - whether tutoring children for whom English is a second language, helping patients in a hospital, doing difficult chores for the elderly, or supervising younger children's recreational activities - students will have opportunities to experience what David Hornbeck, former Maryland state superintendent, referred to as 'the joy of reaching out to others.'"

   This quote is meaningful because it shows that there is joy when you each out to helps others. From something as little to helping a student solve a math problem to helping elderly people move from a chair to a bed any of those things can be so rewarding. When you find something that you love doing it just starts to naturally come to you and you feel that joy throughout the entire time you're engaged with it. 

         I feel like this is a great explanation for the quote. I work with kids who have autism and seeing them laugh and giggle after a long day of lessons brings a smile on my face because I can see the frustration they have. it is such a rewarding feeling because you are making such a difference in their lives by being there and helping them with every step that you can. 

Being able to have the opportunity and going out into these classrooms for our service learning is such a great experience because we learn so much with just being there and helping our groups out. I had a internship before in high school for 4 years at a kindergarten classroom and every year that I was there, I learned different ways within myself to teach in the classroom, different ways to praise and motivate them as I get to know how they learn.  

Christensen

Let’s start off with I never liked dolls in the first place but as I grew older I always wondered why dolls were never any other race but white. This probably hit me when I was a teenager; I started to question and did more research on it.  I started to see my cousins play with dolls and never once growing to actually realize that none of the dolls I played with and the dolls that my cousins would start to play with looked like us. all dolls I seen was white, straight hair, very slim and tall never Caramel skin, curly hair, somewhat weight etc. doll. Being in middle school and the topic being brought up to everyone and being asked “why do you think dolls don’t look like others, others as in a different race?” someone answer, “Because that is the ideal image.” When everyone agreed to that there was a dead silence in the room. It was honestly sad in a way to think about how society is, how we grow up watching shoes where it is already stereotype for us to “learn” how every race “lives” to standard.

Is a feeling of frustration because in my view, no one is perfect. No one is perfect because there is always judgment, judgment of how someone looks, dress and or expresses themselves.  This goes back to society because we grow up with that, trying to be up to date on style and having the latest things. As a girl I always seen and notice that, just how we saw that video in class where the experiment of having a child pick the nice doll between the white and black doll. We grow up with that, we learn that and we carry that on ourselves. “Trying to be perfect”

Safe Places

Hyper Link:

From the five action steps, these two were the two that stood out to me because in a way is screaming no one talks about LGBT until something tragic happens.

Action Steps

• Do the schools in your community include LGBT topics in their curricula? Participate in school committees where you can ensure that LGBT-inclusive curriculum is discussed.
• Do you know of teachers who have been discouraged from or reprimanded for using LGBT-friendly resources? If so, consider writing a letter to the principal or superintendent.

These two action steps stood out to me because never once in my years of school I heard about someone meaning teachers, counselors, nor principle trying to make a difference to help and have a great view on LGBT because everyone is equal regarding what their preferences are.  Also in these two action steps, I remember when I was in middle school and someone came in for a Halloween costumes that the student made herself which was to be a lesbian super hero and was sent home because she came to school dress as a superhero that she customize herself.

It wasn’t until high school that I saw such a huge difference. My high school was a school where you can come to school expressing yourself (of course no inappropriate things, like drugs, sex etc.) but if you wanted to come to school in a Halloween costumes in the middle of spring that was fine. My high school was very supportive in anything that you felt should change in the environment in our school.

Is sad to say that society doesn’t show little kids from the start about how someone CAN HAVE two moms or two dads or even one mom and dad, gender shouldn’t change anything meaning no one should hold something back because of whatever believes they have in general. To me everyone is equal and it sucks that we live in such a society that judges everything and everyone 24/7/

Rodriguez's Reading

argument:

I believe what Richard Rodriguez is trying to get through is that when you come to America with English being your second language comes with  cons. Everything that comes with being new to America when you are from another country is difficult at first when you first arrive and notice many different things like language, pronouncing things etc. I consider myself as English being my second language and I can agree with Rodriguez because I always half the time have trouble pronouncing words the right way.

As a individual having to have the opportunity to speak two different language is such a great honor because is not that it makes you unique but is like a tense of privacy of having conversations that many around you might not understand and you sort of feel the privacy and comfort to talk to someone knowing someone might not truly understand what you’re saying.

Growing up I was literally the only Spanish student in the classroom, I remember sitting in first grade pronouncing words that was not quite right and everyone sitting in class would just stare. I would go home and make myself go through a list of words and practice them because I didn’t want anyone staring at me the way they did that way.  Walking into school not knowing if someone new would show up as a new student would speak Spanish, a simple language turns into fear when you don’t have many classmates having the opportunity to speak another language. When you’re a American, you lose so many culture facts that you have to try extra hard to remember how things really play out in your culture because you’re so caught up in trying to “fit in” that you lose the touch of being a individual.  

McIntosh's Reading

As I was reading White Privilege , the only thing that was coming to mind was last week's reading, Land Of limitation By Kristof and what we went over in class, SCWAAMP. As I read these words "Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability."

I thought about Kristof's reading because he talked about opportunities and it comes from us as individual to make those opportunities to happen. Kristof talks about making things happen and not feeling so low about ourselves and trying to make things happen to move forward.

I also thought about SCWAAMP because as we went over in class is about the skin color. Being able to do and get away with things as we follow the codes of "rule". Also having the opportunity and privilege to accomplish so much and being able to have support and being acknowledge on things that happen around us and or when we shine more.

In my opinion, it sucks how everyone is so judgmental on everything that everyone does. Is a very historic thing only because racism comes from such a huge background that no one really let anything go which is very hard and understanding but at the same time nothing should be base on skin color.

Kristof's Blog

“The chance of a person who was born to a family in the bottom 10 percent of the income distribution rising to the top 10 percent as an adult is about the same as the chance that a dad who is 5 feet 6 inches tall having a son who grows up to be over 6 feet 1 inch tall,” Krueger observed in a speech. “It happens, but not often.”
When I had read that the first thing that came to mind was is true about the chance of a father having a soon who is taller then him. "which often barely happens." Is something you don't really think about until is said, to me this sentence means that not everyone has the privilege to be brought up in a family that is wealthy and taken care of.


I hear from people who say something like: I grew up poor, but I worked hard and I made it. If other people tried, they could, too.
Something I feel about this sentence is that not everyone has the opportunity to accomplish their goals plus more. they way I look at it is that is true, you can accomplish so much more and work as hard to accomplish your dreams and be somebody but not everyone has that mind set, and if they do, they began to feel like they cant complete that goal because either one, someone is bringing them down and see other wise and two, they begin to have such a high standard of themselves and they begin to doubt themselves because they don't see the deadline being met.




So let’s just drop the social Darwinism. Success is not a sign of virtue. It’s mostly a sign that your grandparents did well.
Something that I can't help but to agree is seeing certain generation being brought up and parents not showing them how hard life can be. while I watch movies and see how the rich family get brought up by parents and grandparents v.s. the family that works a 9-5 just to survive in a world, I get to compare the "struggle" of someone's life just by watching and seeing how life can be so cruel.


Life has so much opportunities but is up to us as our own person to accomplish that  one thing, is time to began to take part of something to make a change and not just depend and rely while we don't get experience and not work hard for what we want.

About me

My name is Daisy. I am from California but I came to Rhode Island when I was 5. This past summer I worked fulltime with a private agency which I am still currently working at. I work for Perspective Corporation, Perspective Corporation is a company that trains others to work with adults and children with disabilities. When I am not in class, I am either at home doing homework or I am working. I love sitting back and watching football, now that is football season again. other then that, I just love to relax, be by the water and enjoy my time with family when I am not working or doing homework.