Blog #3: GLSEN (Reflection)
I was unaware that the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network is an accessible group and resource for anyone seeking guidance, a supportive community or research material. I am disappointed that there is not a Local Chapter for GLSEN in Rhode Island. I know that there is a group at my local high school (Cumberland High School) that LGBT students can join for a supportive environment. I recognize a couple of the groups and organizational activities such as The Day of Silence, Ally Week, and No-Name-Calling week. I wish that I had taken the time to show the students I went to high school with that I care and support them in their struggle for acceptance.
I remember my Sophomore year of high school was the first time the LGBT group participated in the Day of Silence. I do not remember there being a lot of advertisement or signs explaining what a “Day of Silence” meant before the event took place. The students participating in the event walked around school with a shirt that had the logo for a day of silence and duct tape on their mouths. Unfortunately I think the event was not as accepted as the LGBT student group thought it would be. I think it was due to the fact that the student population was not well informed before the event took place. I remember seeing students walk up to the LGBT students and ask them why they had duct tape on their mouths. When the students didn’t answer it was because they couldn’t, not that they didn’t want to give an explanation.
As a future educator I feel that training workshops for educators and community leaders should be part of the educators training to better prepare teachers to create a more accepting environment for all their students. I also support GLSEN’s Safe Space Campaign to place a Safe Space Kit resource in every middle and high school in the country. Its important to introduce to children at an early age that bullying and name calling is never acceptable behavior anywhere especially in school and will not be tolerated. I support the idea of No-Name-Calling week but I believe it is something that should take place in the classroom everyday.
Teaching in my own classroom no matter the grade level will hold many challenges for me but knowing that there are resources like GLSEN helps me feel better prepared for the difficult and challenging situations that I will face in the future.
Thinking Point: As a future educator what will you do in your classroom to educate your students about GLSEN or GLBT people?
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Voices and Silences: Language is Power
Blog #2 Rodriguez / Collier ( Quotes)
The articles for this week Aria by Richard Rodriguez and Teaching Multilingual Children by Virginia Collier discussed bilingual education from a student and educators point of view. These articles worked together to borden my understanding of what it is like to teach or participate in an ESL learning environment. By connecting Richard’s personal experience of being an ESL student and some of the seven guidelines mentioned in Collier’s article I will demonstrate the importance of being bilingual in today’s society.
Richard Rodriguez was taught by nuns. When he was in first grade the Sister’s visited the Rodrigueze’s home and made a request, “Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are home.” In my opinion the parents took the nuns request too literally because they stopped speaking spanish to their children all together.
For my Placement this semester I am working with ESL students in a kindergarten classroom. On my second week at the school I had the opportunity to work with 1st grade students. And the first thing 2 of the students asked me when I sat down to work with them at their center was, "Miss Stephanie, do you speak Spanish?" This question did not make me feel uncomfortable and to be completely honest I think my past self would have been out of my comfort zone. But I understand that this language is a part of their culture and it is another way that these children communicate and get their points across to their teachers, families, and friends.
The third guideline mentioned in Collier’s article states, “Don’t teach a second language in any way that challenges or seeks to eliminate the first language.” It is essential for families and communities to recognize the importance and opportunities that being bilingual has to offer them. If Richard’s parents had decided to continue to speak spanish in their home a language barrier would not have been created when the children became Americanized.
Collier’s fifth guideline states, “Do not forbid young students from code switching in the classroom. Understand the functions that code switching serves.” Code switching occurs when bilingual people use both languages in speech and they alternate between the two languages. When code switching occurs it does not mean that students do not understand the difference between the two languages. In many ways it demonstrates that the children are making an effort to communicate using everything they have learned.
As explained in guideline seven, “Providing a balanced and integrated approach to the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.” Children become aware very early of the importance of written language through books, the media, signs, printed containers, and endless forms of environmental print. The main goal of an ESL instructor is to teach her students to be able to communicate verbally and understand written words. Communication is of vital importance if foreign speaking parents and their children want to be successful.
Thinking Points: Have you had any experiences working with Bilingual students in your placement settings? Have you ever had experience working with bilingual people in everyday life?
The articles for this week Aria by Richard Rodriguez and Teaching Multilingual Children by Virginia Collier discussed bilingual education from a student and educators point of view. These articles worked together to borden my understanding of what it is like to teach or participate in an ESL learning environment. By connecting Richard’s personal experience of being an ESL student and some of the seven guidelines mentioned in Collier’s article I will demonstrate the importance of being bilingual in today’s society.
Richard Rodriguez was taught by nuns. When he was in first grade the Sister’s visited the Rodrigueze’s home and made a request, “Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice their English when they are home.” In my opinion the parents took the nuns request too literally because they stopped speaking spanish to their children all together.
For my Placement this semester I am working with ESL students in a kindergarten classroom. On my second week at the school I had the opportunity to work with 1st grade students. And the first thing 2 of the students asked me when I sat down to work with them at their center was, "Miss Stephanie, do you speak Spanish?" This question did not make me feel uncomfortable and to be completely honest I think my past self would have been out of my comfort zone. But I understand that this language is a part of their culture and it is another way that these children communicate and get their points across to their teachers, families, and friends.
The third guideline mentioned in Collier’s article states, “Don’t teach a second language in any way that challenges or seeks to eliminate the first language.” It is essential for families and communities to recognize the importance and opportunities that being bilingual has to offer them. If Richard’s parents had decided to continue to speak spanish in their home a language barrier would not have been created when the children became Americanized.
Collier’s fifth guideline states, “Do not forbid young students from code switching in the classroom. Understand the functions that code switching serves.” Code switching occurs when bilingual people use both languages in speech and they alternate between the two languages. When code switching occurs it does not mean that students do not understand the difference between the two languages. In many ways it demonstrates that the children are making an effort to communicate using everything they have learned.
As explained in guideline seven, “Providing a balanced and integrated approach to the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.” Children become aware very early of the importance of written language through books, the media, signs, printed containers, and endless forms of environmental print. The main goal of an ESL instructor is to teach her students to be able to communicate verbally and understand written words. Communication is of vital importance if foreign speaking parents and their children want to be successful.
Thinking Points: Have you had any experiences working with Bilingual students in your placement settings? Have you ever had experience working with bilingual people in everyday life?
Sunday, September 16, 2012
White Privilege....Who Knew?
Blog #1 : White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack By: Peggy McIntosh (Hyperlink)
I feel as through I have lived in a “bubble” (small town Rhode Island) for the last 20 years. I have lived in the same house and neighborhood, went through school ( K-12) and even some college with the same group of people, and I was hesitant to explore places outside my comfort zone. The articles presented to us in this class so far have opened my mind in a way that high school and the Community College of Rhode Island never came close to achieving. Spitting back facts to teachers is one thing but reading material about a world you live in while experiencing discrimination without even realizing it is another.
In the article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, the author Peggy McIntosh, discusses the advantages of “white privilege”. My initial reaction to this article was best described through her quote, “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage but had been taught not to see that white privilege puts me at an advantage.” In some ways I feel that this quote could be used by certain people as an excuse to be oblivious to what is going on in the world around them.
I found the 26 examples of white privilege described in the article helped me connect my personal experiences with white privilege. For example number 26, “I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color that more or less matches my skin.” Two weeks ago in class when we where discussing S.C.W.A.A.M.P and Dr Bogad said that the ideal white female has blond hair and blue eyes I was instantly uncomfortable. I have always had a hard time understanding why humans have to have boundaries, labels and high expectations in order to be successful in life. What I did not realize before reading this article is that white privilege is setting the stage for society.
It brings me great sadness that discrimination and racism is still going on around us. I am grateful that the United States no longer promotes slavery or abuses our “help”. As demonenstrated through the best selling Book and hit movie The Help we have come along way from discriminating and abusing those we hire to help us. But as a country we are far from being free from ourselves. It is articles like this that create awareness and once the knowledge is out there it is up to the public to decide what to do with their newly found “power”.
Thinking Points: When we discussed S.C.W.A.A.M.P in class did any of the 26 examples the author introduced make you as the reader feel uncomfortable or self conscious?
I feel as through I have lived in a “bubble” (small town Rhode Island) for the last 20 years. I have lived in the same house and neighborhood, went through school ( K-12) and even some college with the same group of people, and I was hesitant to explore places outside my comfort zone. The articles presented to us in this class so far have opened my mind in a way that high school and the Community College of Rhode Island never came close to achieving. Spitting back facts to teachers is one thing but reading material about a world you live in while experiencing discrimination without even realizing it is another.
In the article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, the author Peggy McIntosh, discusses the advantages of “white privilege”. My initial reaction to this article was best described through her quote, “As a white person, I realized I had been taught about racism as something that puts others at a disadvantage but had been taught not to see that white privilege puts me at an advantage.” In some ways I feel that this quote could be used by certain people as an excuse to be oblivious to what is going on in the world around them.
I found the 26 examples of white privilege described in the article helped me connect my personal experiences with white privilege. For example number 26, “I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color that more or less matches my skin.” Two weeks ago in class when we where discussing S.C.W.A.A.M.P and Dr Bogad said that the ideal white female has blond hair and blue eyes I was instantly uncomfortable. I have always had a hard time understanding why humans have to have boundaries, labels and high expectations in order to be successful in life. What I did not realize before reading this article is that white privilege is setting the stage for society.
It brings me great sadness that discrimination and racism is still going on around us. I am grateful that the United States no longer promotes slavery or abuses our “help”. As demonenstrated through the best selling Book and hit movie The Help we have come along way from discriminating and abusing those we hire to help us. But as a country we are far from being free from ourselves. It is articles like this that create awareness and once the knowledge is out there it is up to the public to decide what to do with their newly found “power”.
Thinking Points: When we discussed S.C.W.A.A.M.P in class did any of the 26 examples the author introduced make you as the reader feel uncomfortable or self conscious?
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