Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Diversity Event!

The Drag Show!

so for my diversity even i went to the drag show that was a few weeks ago. it was defiantly something different and i thought i would never go to one in my whole life, but im glad that i did because it was hilarious and plus i got a free t-shirt. it was such a good deal. lol i went with a group of girls from the basketball team, we all seemed to like it a lot. 

I was a little nervous going to it, but as we were walking over we ran into a group of the drags(if thats what you call them) and they were so nice. we all took pictures together and we told them we were the girls basketball team, and they were so excited. they loved getting their pictures taking, i think we took at least 100 haha but since that happened when we finally got into the ballroom...and we saw all the drags, it was starting to get exciting. 

going in, i wasnt sure if i should call them she's...but i did any ways because i felt like they took the time to change themselves to what they feel comfortable being. they identified themselves as girls, so i felt like it was the right thing to do by calling them she's. it was a little uncomfortable for me at first because my group of friends are straight and there where definitely not a lot of people there were straight, so i felt like a minority. it wasnt even a bad thing, but it was weird at. first. i started to think about how these groups of people dont sacrifice their identity. they have the same identity in public and in private and i thought that that was very cool. i would relate that to rodriguez because he talked about how people should hide their true identity no matter what.

the show was amazing. they started of with an amature drag contest, where they had people that have never been in drag do their thing and then be judge by the professional drags. it was fun to watch these people try to impress the crowd, most of the shows were funny and i felt proud of these people that got the courage to come and present their identity. after that, the true drags came out and they were dancing and singing. some even came into the crowds and dance with the audience. i think that was very cool because it got us engaged in what was going on. they all had a different personality and i didnt song and dance which made this experience a lot of fun. the drags were awesome and i really enjoyed the show. 

i had a lot of fun at the drag show...i didnt think i would have fun because i thought it would be awkward but it wasnt. the girls were so nice, they came up to us and said hi, and asked us what we like to do, our favorite food and what was our favorite colored dress...lol that was fun. it was definitely a new experience but i am glad that i decided to go. this is some thing that i will never forget and i took some pictures so i can show people what they missed out on. 


Monday, April 27, 2009

talking point #10

"What Can We Do?"
BY: Allan G. Johnson

in this article, Johnson talked about how we need to be the solution in changing the patterns of harassment, privilege, discrimination and violence. people shouldn't get as defensive when some words are spoken. and it gives out strong points to fix the broken. 

"A key to the continued existence of every oppressive system is unawareness, because oppression contradicts so many basic human values that it invariably arouses opposition when people know about it."
when people use the words of racism and sexism, they aren't complaining, they are trying to get
other people to use the words too. I know a lot of people that use these words and people look at
them as if they need to shut up and there is no point of using the words because no one is racist or
sexist any more. but that's not true there are many of people out there that still are. people that aren't
using the words are oblivious of what is going on in today's society.

"Make noise, be seen." "Find little ways to withdraw support from paths of least resistance and people's choice to follow them." "Dare to make people feel uncomfortable, beginning with yourself."
People shouldn't be afraid to be their selves. everyone needs to stop being afraid of being different and needs to start doing what they need to do. by making noise and having people look at you will make others realize what is happening. people shouldn't just try to blend into the society, we need more people to take a stand and be seen.

"Healing wounds is no more a solution to the oppression that causes the wounding than military hospitals are a solution to war. Healing is a necessary process, but it isn't enough."
A lot of older people think that all the wounds are healed, like the women rights and black rights conventions that went on in a earlier time period. yes, there has been change in history, women can vote and get jobs, black can vote and get jobs too, we have a black president, history has changed but i don't think we an say that the wounds have been healed. there are still a lot of problems out in the world that are just being covered up and need to be fixed.

I liked this article because it talks about solutions that can be used to fixed problem in today's society. it was easy to read, and it did repeat in some places but over all it was good. you could really get into it if you wanted to and the points that were made were very strong.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

talking point #9

Citizenship in School: Re-conceptualizing Down Syndrome By: Christopher Kliewer

I really liked this article because it talked about how children with down syndrome shouldn't be separated from the other children, they should be allowed to go to school with the normal children. i can relate to this because in my high school we had a kid  who had down syndrome and he was treated just like everyone else. he went to normal classes and did normal homework. the only thing that was different was that when it was independent work time, he would go to another class and work one on one with a teacher. i feel like this is a very good thing to do because children with disabilities shouldn't be excluded from anything. my best friends twin brother has a disability, and he is also in all the same classes as everyone else, and does all the same things as everyone else.  it shouldn't matter if you have a disability or not, the students should be treated as a person and nothing else.  

"No child was inherently an intellectual burden to a classroom, in fact, she argued each student contributed a unique and potentially valuable dimension to the web of relationships that formed a school community."
i liked this quote because i feel like it really targeted the main point of this article.
every student that walks into the class room should be seen as a student and nothing else. every student is there to learn and they should feel like they are not welcomed in the class room.
the teachers should see the students as individuals and that everyone has special needs that they need
to be filled.

"Now we know that people with disabilities can learn and have a full, rich life. The challenge is to erase negative attitudes about people with developmental disabilities, get rid of the stereotypes and break the barriers for people with disabilities"
People with disabilities have a huge challenge in their life. everyone that sees them look at them
with discuss and don't want any thing to do with them. people see them as if they are not human and
are not as smart as anyone else, but really they are just as smart. i feel bad because whenever im with
my best friend and brother people don't even bother to even come up and say hi. it is really sad.

 "How do we erase these negative attitudes?" In light of the fact that "people without disabilities are judging us." 
People without disabilities are definitely judging people with them. when someone that walks by a person with disability something goes through their mind that isn't nice. they think how smart they are, how can live their lives like that and many other things. people shouldn't judge anyone because everyone has something wrong with them, no one is perfect. judging wont get you any where in life.

it shouldn't matter if you have a disability or not. people should be treated all the same. the golden rule is "treat others the way you want to be treat." people should live by this rule because then i feel people wont judge everyone and everyone will be equal. this world is a hard place to live in and it doesn't help when you have people going around  treating others like crap. 

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Talking Point #8

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work by Jean Anyon

IN this article Anyon argues that students that come from a better social class are able to get more out of schooling. they are more likely to succeed more in the working world because they are being taught how to succeed in schools. they are being more prepared in their school compared to students from a more poorer social class.

"The teachers were expected to be available before school, after school, and for part of their lunchtime to provide extra help if needed."

Teachers that are willing to dedicate as much as their free time towards the students will definitely help the students in the long run. teachers that don't spend time to help the students will hurt the students in the long wrong. their job is to help the students in any way they can, but by not even willing to spend some free time with them, it shows that they are'nt willing to be the teacher that they need to be. 

" The first two schools I will call working class schools. Most of the parents have blue-collar jobs... The incomes of the majority of the families in these schools are at or below $12,000." 

these school that are being talking about, are the schools that cant afford books, or any kind of supplies for the students. teacher can only write the information down and hope that the students are willing to copy everything she says. you can see many school that are considered in the lower class. schools that look run down, that are more diverse. these schools have to barrow books from other schools or have a very old edition of the books. 

" The identification of different emphases in classrooms in a sample of contrasting social class contexts implies that further research should be conducted in a large number of schools to investigate the types of work tasks and interactions in each to see if they differ in the ways discussed here and to see if similar potential relationships are uncovered."

I think that if they do further investigation, they will find out the same results. there is a lot more to be fixed and over time something good could happen. teachers that are working in these poorer schools are mainly the teachers that cant get the job in the higher schools, so the poorer schools get the teachers that are not qualified for the better schools. there are many issues that need to be solved. 

i enjoyed reading this article because it was interesting t hear about the different schools, and how they are being seen as. how higher class schools get more credit then the lower class schools. how students in the lower class schools wont be able to get the same jobs as the students in the higher class schools, which is so wrong, because those students could be just the same, and the only problem is, that one is poorer then the other.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Talking point #7

 “Anita Hill is a Boy” by Peggy Orenstein

This article talks about...so i couldnt blog yesterday but i went back and looked at the article and it wasnt that bad. it talks about how educators around the country are working to develop a gender-fair curricula, they are offering self defense to young girls, sex ed classes to elementary students and setting up a class about sexual harassment. 

 When boys feel like they're being forced to admire a women they try to pick one that they think behaves sort of like a man. Thats what they can best relate too."
i find this quote very true because if boys tries to admire a girly girly he feels "gay" so by picking a girl that is more rough around the edges and likes the same things as him...it is a lot easier for him to admire that girl.

"If I told them I was interested in women’s history, they’d call me a fag. So I just take it and don’t talk about it." 
Men are embarrassed about showing off women history because they wont feel mascatlent because they dont have the history men up there. plus most men dont know a lot about women history or their rights that they fought for. most men just research and learn about male history. men should study more on women and learn the about equality.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Talking Point #6

"One More River to Cross"- Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown: A Prerequisite to Sharping New Remedies. By: Charles Lawrence

This reading By Lawrence talks about how blacks where separated from whites students and how America has been struggling from equality. There was a very big focus on Brown vs Board of Education and blacks where not able to get the same education as everyone else. This has caused many people of color to not get the education that they should of gotten, so with that they aren't able to proceed into a greater field of education.

"Once blacks are labeled as inferior, they are denied access to equal societal opportunities. The resulting inadequate educational preparation, poverty of cultural backgrounds, and lack of experience constitute real limitations on their ability to contribute to society, and the prophecy of their inferiority is fulfilled."
I found this quote very interesting because it reminds me of Haven because once the black students are labeled no one wants to help them. people seem to stop caring and look the other way. no student should feel inferior or even superior to anyone else. school should be a place where they should feel comfortable and able to learn because if they get taught that they are inferior that will carry on into their life and then their lives might turn out the way they should of.

"The small cadre of lawyers who formulated and implemented the BTCYWIl strategy were well aware that the desegregation of schools would not be a panacea. Their ultimate goal was full political and civil equality for Blacks; they knew that this could not be achieved until the entire system of segregation had been destroyed."
Even though segregation was not really solved during this case, it did mix things up and kind of influenced the world on segregation. in today's world i feel like we should take a chance and stand up for things instead of being afraid that what we are fighting for might be shot down. but if you take a chance, the issue might not fully be solved but something might come out of it. 

"The ultimate goal was full political and civil equality for blacks; they knew that this could not be achieved until the entire system of segregation had been destroyed.Equality of education is not enough, there can be no equality under a segregated system. The American negro is not a dominate minority; therefore he must fight for complete elimination of segregation as his ultimate goal."
Segregation should be fought against, people of color should never feel inferior to anyone. whites shouldn't feel superior to people of color. everyone should be equal and everyone should get the same equality. a colored persons goal should never be to eliminate segregation, segregation should not even exist so should be no goal or it shouldn't be the person of colors goal, it should be the white persons goal because they are the ones that are doing the segregation.
Over all i think that this article was focusing on how people if color have been fighting for segregation for the longest time and they have been hurt during the segregation of schools because they weren't getting the same opportunities as everyone else. this article was a little confusing but over all segregation has caused a lot of problems that need to be fixed. 

Monday, March 16, 2009

talking point #5

In The Service Of What? The Politics of Service Learning by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

 
Kahne and Westheimer argue in this article that service learning helps the students that are being taught and also help the people that are working with the students. Not only do they talk about how service learning helps the students and teachers it also helps show the aspects and ideas service learning brings.

"Efforts to integrate service learning activities into the curriculum have great potential and deserve the support they are now receiving. To date. however, little attention has been given to sorting out the goals and motivations that underlie the spectrum of service learning projects emerging in schools throughout the country. Is it beneficial to point out such differences and risk creating some opposition to service learning? We think so. Clarifying different goals provides educators with an opportunity to consider systematically a range of possible priorities (including some they might otherwise not consider) and the relation of these to their practice. "

service learning is something that you cant just walk through and not be interactive with. you need to be active and motivated because you will get a lot more out of the whole experience. You cant just walk through things because then you wont get the important things out of it. when i do my service learning through VIPS i cant just walk through things because that wont help anyone. yeah i might be going through the process but I'm not interacting with the students so they are getting anything out of it. Service learning is a great thing and people need to put more into it because you aren't just helping the children, you are helping yourself too.

"Service 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."

i think that this quote really explains what the article is talking about. it supports the argument well because it pretty much says that service learning is good and is not bad in any way.

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

i think this quote is talking about how legislators and educators believe that service learning is a great way to get children to more involved and to help them get a better education. it in riches the educational experience and allows the children to get one on one help. it challenges the students in a great way and makes them learning in a better community. 

over all it was kind of hard to read this article, it was a little weird for me, i didn't understand everything but i think i got the  main idea but its hard to tell. Service learning is a great experience and that people should put more effort into it. it defiantly helps everyone because not only are the students learning and also helping the teachers. when i do my service learning, i kind of want it to last longer because it is so great to see the children so eager to learn and do more games with me, and when it is time for them to leave, they want to stay longer. this really shows that service learning is a great experience and it is a great thing to do.