Rain, Rain, Rain....EVERYWHERE. The drive to Providence was very slow today, the torrential downpour made everyone very cautious. I arrived at the school at 930 sharp and hurried across the puddle filled parking lot and rang the doorbell, luckily it only took one ring today. I signed into the office and met with the other volunteers in Mrs. Del/Mrs. Smith's room. They told us that are classroom might be extra filled today because many teachers were absent and there were not enough substitutes. Also, they told us not to do the sight word game today, but to just review the words and make sure our students knew them. Eventually, it was time to go to the classroom.
When we walked in the room, it seemed extra chaotic and noisy. I hurried over to see Sarah, Billy, and Jared patiently waiting for me. They were so excited that I brought the poem "Humpty Dumpty." They read it aloud with me and Billy even added in his own beat to the poem by tapping his lap. I thought that was creative. Next we did some activities with the poem, like identifying rhyming words. Then it was time to do the activity, "Picture Dominoes." This activity had several dominoe shaped papers with two pictures on it, the students had to choose a dominoe say what the picture was and what its beginning sound was. Once the figured that out they would place the picture on the table matched up with another dominoe whose picture had the same sound. I felt all the students did well with this. Occasionally, Sarah would confuse the beginning and ending sounds but she was able to correct herself. Lastly, we reviewed the sight words Billy and Sarah did great with these, as soon as I held up the word they would immediately say it. Jared, however, had trouble recognizing some sight words. He would look at the word and say another sight word that he had remembered but was far off from the one I was showing him. I brought this to Mrs. Del's attention and she said she would look into it. After all that, I said good-bye and told them I would see them next week.
When we got back to Mrs. Del's/Mrs. Smith's room we filled out the paperwork and discussed our session. Then we figured out what the rest of the tutoring schedule would be and we made our way back through the rain and to our cars.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Talking Points #6
An interview of Tricia Rose, an expert on hip-hop by Tavis Smiley
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Of course it matters because its on the one hand a profound cultural force, I mean you just can't look in American society today and not see its impact everywhere: marketing, advertising, representation, images."
I agree with this hip-hop and other types of music do matter. It is a force in our culture and sociey that is everywhere. Its a major influence on our society and some people still don't understand why it matters.
2. "It also matters because we have a whole generation of young people, not just African Americans, who see themselves as apart of something called the 'hip-hop generation.'"
I also agree with this. There is the generation that see themselves as the 'hip-hop' generation. Many people don't think it matters, however, when a whole generation is influenced by something then it really does matter. Hip-hop is all around and a major influence to a lot of young people.
3. "Remember the blues and jazz were just completely ignored by higher education for decades and decades and in fact music departments today, you only get a very small slice of these traditions taken seriously. So, theres an effort to change that and again, African American studies are at the heart of that change in the academy there not the only ones but its very important we take seriously the world we are living in and take seriously all human beings cultural creativity."
I feel that it is important to take all people and their cultures seriously. I remember learning very little about music genres, such as jazz and the blues, and it's nice to see that people today are talking about the genre of hip-hop because it is a major influence in our society.
This was an intersting interview. I always thought music was important but this interview made this thought even stronger. It is extremely important for the people of our society to learn about differnt cultures. Music is a great way to do this because within a song are lyrics that usually tell a story and give background on a culture. Furthermore, people need to be more open to different types of music especially when a genre is almost defining certain generations and making a big impact on society's youth.
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Of course it matters because its on the one hand a profound cultural force, I mean you just can't look in American society today and not see its impact everywhere: marketing, advertising, representation, images."
I agree with this hip-hop and other types of music do matter. It is a force in our culture and sociey that is everywhere. Its a major influence on our society and some people still don't understand why it matters.
2. "It also matters because we have a whole generation of young people, not just African Americans, who see themselves as apart of something called the 'hip-hop generation.'"
I also agree with this. There is the generation that see themselves as the 'hip-hop' generation. Many people don't think it matters, however, when a whole generation is influenced by something then it really does matter. Hip-hop is all around and a major influence to a lot of young people.
3. "Remember the blues and jazz were just completely ignored by higher education for decades and decades and in fact music departments today, you only get a very small slice of these traditions taken seriously. So, theres an effort to change that and again, African American studies are at the heart of that change in the academy there not the only ones but its very important we take seriously the world we are living in and take seriously all human beings cultural creativity."
I feel that it is important to take all people and their cultures seriously. I remember learning very little about music genres, such as jazz and the blues, and it's nice to see that people today are talking about the genre of hip-hop because it is a major influence in our society.
This was an intersting interview. I always thought music was important but this interview made this thought even stronger. It is extremely important for the people of our society to learn about differnt cultures. Music is a great way to do this because within a song are lyrics that usually tell a story and give background on a culture. Furthermore, people need to be more open to different types of music especially when a genre is almost defining certain generations and making a big impact on society's youth.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
My Sixth Visit...
Today was my sixth visit to the elementary school. It was rainy so I ran to the door and waited with a parent who was going into the school for what seemed like forever. The man had to ring the doorbell three times. Eventually we made it in and I signed into the office and made my way to Mrs. Smith's room. However, today I found out that Mrs. Smith was a teacher assistant and the real literacy coach, Mrs. Del, was out on maternity leave. So it was a bit of a change, but Mrs. Smith came into to talk to us too. Mrs. Del explained what we should be doing and how she is really happy that we come because it is so helpful to the students. We then picked up our folders and materials and made it to our classrooms.
When we go to room 14, the students were sitting on the carpet singing some song about the 13 colonies. When the teacher saw us,she sent the kids to their intervention tables. Billy, Sarah, and Jared were all there and excited to see me. We started with a poem, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five," which they all enjoyed. We did some activities with the poem, but they were all excited about starting the new activity we hadn't done yet. Starting this week, we are able to an activity based on the skill level of the students. Billy, Sarah, and Jared are on the Identification/Categorization skill. We did the activity "three-in-a-row" which they all enjoyed. One at a time, each student would pick up a square paper that had a picture on it. They would then identify the picture (ex. bear) and give the beginning sound of the word (say the sound of "b"). It the student said the letter as well that was great, but the main thing was to get them to recognize the sound and the beginning sound at that. After we played three rounds of that we did the sight word game. Each week, the students are getting better and better with there sentences. Furthermore, they did very well recognizing the beginning sounds and what they are. Finally, it was 10:35 and time to go.
As I walked back to Mrs. Smith's/Mrs. Del's room students were all around the halls walking to their classes or a special. When I got to the room, I filled out the behavior and log sheets and put my materials away. The other volunteers came back soon after and we all discussed what we did with our students and how they behaved. Soon it was 11:00 and we made our way to the parking lot. Next week, I'm excited to go back and do another activity and read either "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Humpty Dumpty" per request of Jared, Billy, and Sarah.
When we go to room 14, the students were sitting on the carpet singing some song about the 13 colonies. When the teacher saw us,she sent the kids to their intervention tables. Billy, Sarah, and Jared were all there and excited to see me. We started with a poem, "One, Two, Three, Four, Five," which they all enjoyed. We did some activities with the poem, but they were all excited about starting the new activity we hadn't done yet. Starting this week, we are able to an activity based on the skill level of the students. Billy, Sarah, and Jared are on the Identification/Categorization skill. We did the activity "three-in-a-row" which they all enjoyed. One at a time, each student would pick up a square paper that had a picture on it. They would then identify the picture (ex. bear) and give the beginning sound of the word (say the sound of "b"). It the student said the letter as well that was great, but the main thing was to get them to recognize the sound and the beginning sound at that. After we played three rounds of that we did the sight word game. Each week, the students are getting better and better with there sentences. Furthermore, they did very well recognizing the beginning sounds and what they are. Finally, it was 10:35 and time to go.
As I walked back to Mrs. Smith's/Mrs. Del's room students were all around the halls walking to their classes or a special. When I got to the room, I filled out the behavior and log sheets and put my materials away. The other volunteers came back soon after and we all discussed what we did with our students and how they behaved. Soon it was 11:00 and we made our way to the parking lot. Next week, I'm excited to go back and do another activity and read either "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Humpty Dumpty" per request of Jared, Billy, and Sarah.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Miscellaneous Post #1
For the past two weeks our class has been working on a project based on the stereotypes we see in the media (movies, music, television, etc.). My group for this project consists of Thanh, Jenna, Alicia, and Josh. This project has been extremely interesting and has really opened my eyes. After reading, "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us," I realized how the media has given us this "secret education." It was hard for me to look at childhood movies and see what stereotypes were portrayed and how that may have influenced the way I react to certain things. Furthermore, by looking into these movies I have been able to connect things to the Delpit reading and many more that we have looked at. I'm interested to see what media the other groups bring up in our presentations on Tuesday.
Talking Points #5
"In Service of What?: The Politics of Service Learning" Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "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." (1)
Service learning can "invigorate the classroom," as well as provide educational and eye-opening experiences for people. I have done loads of community experience and as I have gotten older, I have valued more the experiences I have had in the past and present. Service learning can be for all ages, and I believe that all student should participate in some type of service learning. This is because it will give them perspective on how people live, as well as making themselves better people.
2. "Rather than tie the service curriculum exclusively to moral development, some advocates of service learning talk about developing citizens for our democracy." (8)
I believe that service learning should be for both moral development and the development of becoming a citizen. I think that service learning can help a person grow and become more compassionate, but also, service learning can open a person's eyes to the needs of our society. By doing service learning, I hope that I, and others, can continue to grow as people and also to contribute and help our society grow in a positive way.
3. "This interaction led some students to report marked changes in their beliefs about children from this neighborhood. Moreover, when asked what they gained from the experience, many students said simply that it taught them "that people can be different" from what you expect." (12)
I can relate to this quote. For this class, we needed to do a service learning project with schools in Providence. Before I arrived for my first visit, I had tons of things going through my head about what I thought it would be like. I was nervous to go, however, when I arrived and met with the students that all changed. I think it's important to do service learning projects in places that need the most help. Furthermore, people should try to get over the fear or notion that an area is a certain way until they have seen it themselves. This is a way service learning can help people broaden their horizons and find out which places in our society need the most help.
This article was interesting, yet,it didn't grab my attention like our previous reading. It was interesting to find out how people view service learning differently. By reading this article, I was able to connect to it because of the service learning project I am participating. Furthermore, I was able to articulate how I feel about service learning. I feel that service learning is very important. Furthermore, I feel that it helps a person grow inside and helps people See what needs to be done in our society to help it grow as well. Service learning is a great thing and all students and people should participate in it.
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "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." (1)
Service learning can "invigorate the classroom," as well as provide educational and eye-opening experiences for people. I have done loads of community experience and as I have gotten older, I have valued more the experiences I have had in the past and present. Service learning can be for all ages, and I believe that all student should participate in some type of service learning. This is because it will give them perspective on how people live, as well as making themselves better people.
2. "Rather than tie the service curriculum exclusively to moral development, some advocates of service learning talk about developing citizens for our democracy." (8)
I believe that service learning should be for both moral development and the development of becoming a citizen. I think that service learning can help a person grow and become more compassionate, but also, service learning can open a person's eyes to the needs of our society. By doing service learning, I hope that I, and others, can continue to grow as people and also to contribute and help our society grow in a positive way.
3. "This interaction led some students to report marked changes in their beliefs about children from this neighborhood. Moreover, when asked what they gained from the experience, many students said simply that it taught them "that people can be different" from what you expect." (12)
I can relate to this quote. For this class, we needed to do a service learning project with schools in Providence. Before I arrived for my first visit, I had tons of things going through my head about what I thought it would be like. I was nervous to go, however, when I arrived and met with the students that all changed. I think it's important to do service learning projects in places that need the most help. Furthermore, people should try to get over the fear or notion that an area is a certain way until they have seen it themselves. This is a way service learning can help people broaden their horizons and find out which places in our society need the most help.
This article was interesting, yet,it didn't grab my attention like our previous reading. It was interesting to find out how people view service learning differently. By reading this article, I was able to connect to it because of the service learning project I am participating. Furthermore, I was able to articulate how I feel about service learning. I feel that service learning is very important. Furthermore, I feel that it helps a person grow inside and helps people See what needs to be done in our society to help it grow as well. Service learning is a great thing and all students and people should participate in it.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
My Fifth Visit...
This morning I had to get up extra early because I was brining my cousins to school for 8:30. Then I traveled to my elementary school and arrived 15 minutes early. This was the earliest I had ever been, so I decided to wait until I saw another volunteer to go in the school. Ten minutes later I walked in, rang the doorbell, and signed in at the office. After arriving in Mrs. Smith's room we gathered our materials and waited until 10 o'clock. This morning Mrs. Smith shared stories about her kids so the time we waited went by quickly. Before we left, Mrs. Smith reminded us to get back her room on time becasue we were going to have a meeting with the principal...we all wondered what it would be about.
When I arrived in my classroom, the students were doing a sight word activity and when the teacher saw us she hurried to get everyone to their tables. When I got to mine, I saw that Sarah was absent so it would be just me and the boys. We started off with the poem "Humpty Dumpty" and the boys liked it. Billy and Jared were both very chatty but completed all the activites correctly. Finally, we got to the sight word game and before we started I held up the words and had them recite it out loud. Billy knows his sight words very well and Jared seemed to be struggling with some but I could tell he was going slow on some of them on purpose. The actiity went well and the sentences were much better than last week. Jared and Billy were so enthusiastic. At 10:35, I said good-bye and made my way back to Mrs. Smith's room.
First, we filled out our paperwork on the poem and activity and then we completed the behaior charts out. Soon after, the principal came in. Mrs. Patrick was very nice. She came in to thank us and find out how we were doing in our classrooms. She wanted to know how the students were and how or if the teachers interactaed with us. The teacher in my room barely says hi to me and Mrs. Patrick said that she was going to be holding a meeting with the classroom teachers and to let them know they should be open and interact with us. Overall, it was a good visit and next week we get to meet the literacy coach.
When I arrived in my classroom, the students were doing a sight word activity and when the teacher saw us she hurried to get everyone to their tables. When I got to mine, I saw that Sarah was absent so it would be just me and the boys. We started off with the poem "Humpty Dumpty" and the boys liked it. Billy and Jared were both very chatty but completed all the activites correctly. Finally, we got to the sight word game and before we started I held up the words and had them recite it out loud. Billy knows his sight words very well and Jared seemed to be struggling with some but I could tell he was going slow on some of them on purpose. The actiity went well and the sentences were much better than last week. Jared and Billy were so enthusiastic. At 10:35, I said good-bye and made my way back to Mrs. Smith's room.
First, we filled out our paperwork on the poem and activity and then we completed the behaior charts out. Soon after, the principal came in. Mrs. Patrick was very nice. She came in to thank us and find out how we were doing in our classrooms. She wanted to know how the students were and how or if the teachers interactaed with us. The teacher in my room barely says hi to me and Mrs. Patrick said that she was going to be holding a meeting with the classroom teachers and to let them know they should be open and interact with us. Overall, it was a good visit and next week we get to meet the literacy coach.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
My Fourth Visit...
On Tuesday morning, I arrived at 9:30 and met with Thanh in the main office. After I signed in, we walked down to Mrs. Smith's room and found our group folders. I am group E so I grabbed that and then my materials for the day. Those materials included the sight word game and a new poem, I chose "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." After we gathered our materials, the other volunteers and me sat around the table and discussed our students and the similarities and differences we saw in their learning ability. Many of our students recognize their sight words, but then have difficulty putting it into a fluent sentence. Furthermore, many of our students end up using the same sentences with different sight words over and over again. At 10:00 we took the trip to our classroom.
Myself and two other volunteers made our way down to room 14, now very familiar with the school and where everything is. When we walked in our students were having snack and working on some sort of writing activity. As soon as everybody saw us, they went into a frenzy cleaning up and the students dispersed to their assigned seats. Sarah and Jared fought over who would sit next to me, so I had to get a little tough and tell them to stop fighting and sit down. First, I asked them how everyone was and if anything exciting had happened over the weekend. Jared talked about his cat and Sarah talked about going to the movies. Billy sat quietly with nothing to say. Soon after, we started the poem "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." All three students loved it and joined in with me when I started reading it. They also did the hand motions that went with the poem. After reading it, we did some of the activities on the poem. One that they all enjoyed was searching to find the letter "s" in the poem and underlining it. Then they asked to find another letter. After we did that a few times, we started with our sight words. First I held up the words one at a time and had them say it out loud as a group. They recognized the words quickly. Then I put them face down and each student picked two words. The six words total would be the ones we played the game with. This week all the students had a dice so they enjoyed that. We played the game for about 15 minutes, the students did better with their sentences which I was happy about. After the sight word game, Billy, Jared, and Sarah wanted to read the poem again. When it was time to go, I gave Sarah and Billy and feather (equal to money at the school) because they were very well behaved and helpful. Jared didn't get one because he had trouble listening.
When we got back to Mrs. Smith's room, we filled out a paperwork and behavior sheets. Some of the other volunteers had trouble with their students, I was happy that mine for the most part are very well behaved. I am excited to go back next Tuesday and see what progress the students have made.
Myself and two other volunteers made our way down to room 14, now very familiar with the school and where everything is. When we walked in our students were having snack and working on some sort of writing activity. As soon as everybody saw us, they went into a frenzy cleaning up and the students dispersed to their assigned seats. Sarah and Jared fought over who would sit next to me, so I had to get a little tough and tell them to stop fighting and sit down. First, I asked them how everyone was and if anything exciting had happened over the weekend. Jared talked about his cat and Sarah talked about going to the movies. Billy sat quietly with nothing to say. Soon after, we started the poem "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." All three students loved it and joined in with me when I started reading it. They also did the hand motions that went with the poem. After reading it, we did some of the activities on the poem. One that they all enjoyed was searching to find the letter "s" in the poem and underlining it. Then they asked to find another letter. After we did that a few times, we started with our sight words. First I held up the words one at a time and had them say it out loud as a group. They recognized the words quickly. Then I put them face down and each student picked two words. The six words total would be the ones we played the game with. This week all the students had a dice so they enjoyed that. We played the game for about 15 minutes, the students did better with their sentences which I was happy about. After the sight word game, Billy, Jared, and Sarah wanted to read the poem again. When it was time to go, I gave Sarah and Billy and feather (equal to money at the school) because they were very well behaved and helpful. Jared didn't get one because he had trouble listening.
When we got back to Mrs. Smith's room, we filled out a paperwork and behavior sheets. Some of the other volunteers had trouble with their students, I was happy that mine for the most part are very well behaved. I am excited to go back next Tuesday and see what progress the students have made.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Talking Points #4
"Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" Linda Christensen
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live,and dream. This indoctrination hits young children especially hard. The "secret education" as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children's books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these societal blueprints." (126)
The society we live in, as well as the media that presents itself (movies, television, books, etc.) does indeed tell the people of our world how to "act,live, and dream." It shows what is acceptable and what is not, but by who's standards? I believe that this does hit children hard because some will realize that the culture they are from is not represented at all, or in a positive way through the media. This is difficult, and I like the term used by Ariel Dorfman, "secret education." I think that is a perfect way to describe the way the media teaches children and others to live their life. Furthermore,it is secret because many aspects through the media are not straightforward and a person has to read into a little more to see the message it is sending.
2. "She ended her piece: 'Women who aren't white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess.' Kenya's piece bristled with anger at society that rarely acknowledges the wit or beauty of women of her race. And she wasn't alone in her feelings. Sabrina wrote, 'I'm not taking my kids to see any Walt Disney movies until they have a black woman playing the lead role." (131)
I have seen very few movies where women other than white women were playing a princess. I think that society needs to do a better job of acknowledging the women and men of different races. I believe that many people, like Kenya and Sabrina, feel this way. Furthermore, when she says she won't take her children to see Walt Disney movies, it's funny because Disney just came out with "The Princess and the Frog" with a black woman as the lead role. However, even with that step, Tatiana (the lead role) is from a poor family where her mom is a maid for a wealthy white family. In the end, she does become a princess, however, before that she is how many black characters are portrayed as in other movies (poor and maids).
3. "Turning off the cartoon doesn't stop the sexism and racism. They can't escape, and now that they've started analyzing cartoons, they can't stop analyzing the rest of the world."(134)
This is true. Despite hoping when you turn off the television the racism and sexism will stop, it won't. It's been around for too long and people without realizing will constantly say something that could be offensive. Furthermore, after reading this article, like those students, I find myself analyzing more and it does get frustrating.
This article was very interesting and another eye-opener. It makes me analyze more aspects of the media and question things as well. I like how this article gave examples and most of them I knew and after thinking about it realized how true and stereotypical these movies and cartoons are. I believe that the media is dangerous to the youth of our society. If young people see this portrayals as real, nothing will ever be done to stop them. Like Johnson said, everyone is a part of the problem and everyone needs to be apart of the solution.
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live,and dream. This indoctrination hits young children especially hard. The "secret education" as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children's books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these societal blueprints." (126)
The society we live in, as well as the media that presents itself (movies, television, books, etc.) does indeed tell the people of our world how to "act,live, and dream." It shows what is acceptable and what is not, but by who's standards? I believe that this does hit children hard because some will realize that the culture they are from is not represented at all, or in a positive way through the media. This is difficult, and I like the term used by Ariel Dorfman, "secret education." I think that is a perfect way to describe the way the media teaches children and others to live their life. Furthermore,it is secret because many aspects through the media are not straightforward and a person has to read into a little more to see the message it is sending.
2. "She ended her piece: 'Women who aren't white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess.' Kenya's piece bristled with anger at society that rarely acknowledges the wit or beauty of women of her race. And she wasn't alone in her feelings. Sabrina wrote, 'I'm not taking my kids to see any Walt Disney movies until they have a black woman playing the lead role." (131)
I have seen very few movies where women other than white women were playing a princess. I think that society needs to do a better job of acknowledging the women and men of different races. I believe that many people, like Kenya and Sabrina, feel this way. Furthermore, when she says she won't take her children to see Walt Disney movies, it's funny because Disney just came out with "The Princess and the Frog" with a black woman as the lead role. However, even with that step, Tatiana (the lead role) is from a poor family where her mom is a maid for a wealthy white family. In the end, she does become a princess, however, before that she is how many black characters are portrayed as in other movies (poor and maids).
3. "Turning off the cartoon doesn't stop the sexism and racism. They can't escape, and now that they've started analyzing cartoons, they can't stop analyzing the rest of the world."(134)
This is true. Despite hoping when you turn off the television the racism and sexism will stop, it won't. It's been around for too long and people without realizing will constantly say something that could be offensive. Furthermore, after reading this article, like those students, I find myself analyzing more and it does get frustrating.
This article was very interesting and another eye-opener. It makes me analyze more aspects of the media and question things as well. I like how this article gave examples and most of them I knew and after thinking about it realized how true and stereotypical these movies and cartoons are. I believe that the media is dangerous to the youth of our society. If young people see this portrayals as real, nothing will ever be done to stop them. Like Johnson said, everyone is a part of the problem and everyone needs to be apart of the solution.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
My Third Visit...
On Tuesday morning I left my house a little after 9, which would give me just the right amount of time to make it to my elementary school. This, unfortunately, did not go as planned. As I drove on the highway I soon encountered 5 mile per hour traffic; I am suppose to be driving 55 miles per hour and soon realized I was going to be late. This made me really nervous, but I took out my cell phone and told Thanh to tell Mrs. Smith I would be late and felt a little better. I finally arrived at the school at 9:45 and had to ring the doorbell twice in order to get in. Luckily, we don't start seeing our students until 10:00. I signed into the office and took the now familiar route down to Mrs. Smith's classroom. When I got there, the other volunteers were discussing what poems we would be reading and I found out that we would only be doing the poem and sight word activity when we tutored. This was because Mrs. Smith wanted our students to really be able to recognize these sight words quickly. This bothered me a little. I want my students to be able to recognize these words, however, doing those same two activities each week gets boring for the students. We are able to change the poem, which does help keep interest, however, the students do get bored with the sight word activity and it really shows at some points.
When I walked into Room 14, Jared, Billy, and Sarah were all sitting at our table by the window. They were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. This time, the students got me a bigger chair so that I would fit more comfortably at the table. They were so excited to tell me, it was really sweet. We started off with the poem, "Little Miss Muffet," which they all thought was funny. We did a rhyming activity and a word pairing activity that all the students did well on. Then I asked them to identify upper case and lower case letters (such as Aa) throughout the poem and they did really well with that. After the poem, we worked on sight words. Sarah wasn't too excited and Billy and Jared were excited but mostly about tossing the dice I think. They still struggled with creating sentences, however, they did very well recognizing the words (some were: come, for, and). In the middle of our tutoring the four of us to a trip to Room 24 because Mrs. Smith thought I was suppose to be in that room. It was mixed up because one of the volunteers did not show up. It was a nice break for Sarah, Billy, and Jared to take a walk. At the end of our session Sarah helped me clean up and because of this I gave her a paper feather, which represents money for the school store at this school. She was really excited; I then said my goodbyes and walked back to Mrs. Smith's room.
In Mrs. Smith's room we filled out our logs and behavior sheets on each of our students. Then, we talked about how as volunteers we need to be strict with our students and let them know when they are doing something wrong (behaviorally). I felt I was lucky with the three students I got because they all listened very well. After we discussed that, we signed out at the office and walked to our cars. I'm excited to go back next week and continue to see the progress my students make.
When I walked into Room 14, Jared, Billy, and Sarah were all sitting at our table by the window. They were excited to see me and I was excited to see them. This time, the students got me a bigger chair so that I would fit more comfortably at the table. They were so excited to tell me, it was really sweet. We started off with the poem, "Little Miss Muffet," which they all thought was funny. We did a rhyming activity and a word pairing activity that all the students did well on. Then I asked them to identify upper case and lower case letters (such as Aa) throughout the poem and they did really well with that. After the poem, we worked on sight words. Sarah wasn't too excited and Billy and Jared were excited but mostly about tossing the dice I think. They still struggled with creating sentences, however, they did very well recognizing the words (some were: come, for, and). In the middle of our tutoring the four of us to a trip to Room 24 because Mrs. Smith thought I was suppose to be in that room. It was mixed up because one of the volunteers did not show up. It was a nice break for Sarah, Billy, and Jared to take a walk. At the end of our session Sarah helped me clean up and because of this I gave her a paper feather, which represents money for the school store at this school. She was really excited; I then said my goodbyes and walked back to Mrs. Smith's room.
In Mrs. Smith's room we filled out our logs and behavior sheets on each of our students. Then, we talked about how as volunteers we need to be strict with our students and let them know when they are doing something wrong (behaviorally). I felt I was lucky with the three students I got because they all listened very well. After we discussed that, we signed out at the office and walked to our cars. I'm excited to go back next week and continue to see the progress my students make.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Talking Points #3
Dennis Carlson, "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community"
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Public schools are being drawn into the battle brewing between "new right" fundamentalists and progressives in America culture as older forms of community and family are beginning to disappear and cultural diversity is increasing." (233)
I believe this is true. As time goes on, cultural diversity is increasing quickly. Today, there are all different types of families...not just the two loving parents and 2-3 children who are perfectly behaved. Times are changing and public school have to decide if they publicly accept homosexuality. This decision will be difficult and there might never be a solution because of people who still don't accept homosexuality. Although there may never be a clear solution people need to work together and show equality towards everyone because we are all people.
2. "I want to suggest that public schools may play an important role in helping build a new democratic, multicultural community, one in which sexual identity (like other markers of difference including class, gender, and race) is recognized, in which inequities are challenged, and where dialogue across difference replaces silencing and invisibility practices." (233)
I believe that this could happen. If we teach our students throughout their schooling that everyone is equal and despite differences we are all people who want similar things in life, I believe a change could happen. I actually think it has started. This is because in my own experience from high school, everyone was really accepting of others. We had multiple people who ended up "coming out" in high school and everyone accepted them and treated them like they treated them before they came out. Furthermore, this does relate to Delpit and the Silence Dialogue, everyone deserves to be heard and hopefully we can start doing that.
3. "...the dominant idea of community in America was represented by what I will call the normalizing community. Within normalizing communities, some individuals and subject positions (i.e. white, middle class, male, heterosexual, etc.) get privileged and represent as "normal" while other individuals and subject positions (i.e. black, working class, female, homosexual, etc.) are dis empowered and represented deviant, sick, neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and in other ways 'abnormal.'" (233)
This quote relates to S.C.W.A.M.P and how throughout our society the white middle class men represent normal. How is this fair? Who gets to say who is normal? I keep saying, we are all people who want similar things. How in society where we can love and accomplish so much...hate so much? Sadly, this quote is true. However, there have been steps in the direction but not as many for homosexuals. My generation is the one where homosexuals fight for their rights, similar to when the Black and women did in previous generations. Hopefully, people will show equality and openness and maybe we could all get along.
This was definitely an interesting piece to read. It opened my eyes even more to the total inequality and privilege people in our society show. I believe that schools and educators should work on showing equality for homosexuals and also for opening discussion on it in class. If no one talks about it, how will there be a solution as Johnson wrote in his reading. Furthermore, I believe society is coming along and opening their eyes a little more to the fact that homosexuals may be different in one way but are the same in another. Moreover, within our media we are seeing more and more popular gay and lesbian characters and I definitely think that is helping move our society in the right direction.
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Public schools are being drawn into the battle brewing between "new right" fundamentalists and progressives in America culture as older forms of community and family are beginning to disappear and cultural diversity is increasing." (233)
I believe this is true. As time goes on, cultural diversity is increasing quickly. Today, there are all different types of families...not just the two loving parents and 2-3 children who are perfectly behaved. Times are changing and public school have to decide if they publicly accept homosexuality. This decision will be difficult and there might never be a solution because of people who still don't accept homosexuality. Although there may never be a clear solution people need to work together and show equality towards everyone because we are all people.
2. "I want to suggest that public schools may play an important role in helping build a new democratic, multicultural community, one in which sexual identity (like other markers of difference including class, gender, and race) is recognized, in which inequities are challenged, and where dialogue across difference replaces silencing and invisibility practices." (233)
I believe that this could happen. If we teach our students throughout their schooling that everyone is equal and despite differences we are all people who want similar things in life, I believe a change could happen. I actually think it has started. This is because in my own experience from high school, everyone was really accepting of others. We had multiple people who ended up "coming out" in high school and everyone accepted them and treated them like they treated them before they came out. Furthermore, this does relate to Delpit and the Silence Dialogue, everyone deserves to be heard and hopefully we can start doing that.
3. "...the dominant idea of community in America was represented by what I will call the normalizing community. Within normalizing communities, some individuals and subject positions (i.e. white, middle class, male, heterosexual, etc.) get privileged and represent as "normal" while other individuals and subject positions (i.e. black, working class, female, homosexual, etc.) are dis empowered and represented deviant, sick, neurotic, criminal, lazy, lacking in intelligence, and in other ways 'abnormal.'" (233)
This quote relates to S.C.W.A.M.P and how throughout our society the white middle class men represent normal. How is this fair? Who gets to say who is normal? I keep saying, we are all people who want similar things. How in society where we can love and accomplish so much...hate so much? Sadly, this quote is true. However, there have been steps in the direction but not as many for homosexuals. My generation is the one where homosexuals fight for their rights, similar to when the Black and women did in previous generations. Hopefully, people will show equality and openness and maybe we could all get along.
This was definitely an interesting piece to read. It opened my eyes even more to the total inequality and privilege people in our society show. I believe that schools and educators should work on showing equality for homosexuals and also for opening discussion on it in class. If no one talks about it, how will there be a solution as Johnson wrote in his reading. Furthermore, I believe society is coming along and opening their eyes a little more to the fact that homosexuals may be different in one way but are the same in another. Moreover, within our media we are seeing more and more popular gay and lesbian characters and I definitely think that is helping move our society in the right direction.
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