Kahne and Westheimer - Quotes

"To be critical thinkers, students must be able to consider arguments that justify conclusions that conflict with their own predispositions and self-interest."
--This is something that everyone should keep in mind when becoming educators. The only way you can keep the attention of your students is to teach and discuss things that spark their interest and get them thinking. This is definetly something I have come to realize during my own service learning experiences.

"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."
--Being a student in the service learning program, I completely agree with this statement. I believe that this opportunity of being able to go into the class even before having a degree of any sort and get to work with young students couldn't be anymore perfect. Not only is it a great experience for me and my fellow students but its also good for the students I'm working with; they get to work with someone besides their teacher and not only see me as another teacher, but also a "friend" of some sort in the classroom.

"The experiential and interpersonal components of service learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of "otherness" that often separates students-particularly privileged students-from those in need"
--This is talking about how there should be more opportunities for others to do something like student learning. If there were more there would be more acceptance for students.

OHNO! Cinderella Ate My Daughter

Arguement:
 
In Cinderella Ate My Daughter, the author Peggy Orienstien argues that both young boys and girls are influenced by the toys that they are surrounded by. She continues to argue about how girls feel that they must be, look, and act a certain way because of their influences. Peggy goes on and states how Disney, Nickelodeon and different toy industries influence young girls and boys. She talks about how these young kids see the characters in tv living there life without a flaw of any sort, but thats not how the real world really works. 
She goes on and talked about the influence Barbie has had on young girls over the years of her existence. I know that when I was a little girl I was always playing with Barbie dolls. I used to imagine my life just as perfect has hers with this big shot career and a very handsome husband. As I got older I realized life does not work the way I thought, and in order to get what I want, I have to work extremely hard for it. 
This also goes hand in hand with the Disney Princesses. The lessons given in those movies are that all you have to do is sit and wait, and if you wait long enough your prince will come knocking at your door. Yes these movies are great for young girls to watch because of its happy ending, but it is giving them the complete wrong aspect on life. 

Here's an article I found that coincides with Orienstiens arguement!
The negative effects of Disney on children 

Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us

"Quotes"

#1: Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising. No one wants to admit that they've been 'handled' by the media." (Christensen, 128)

I was able to really connect with this quote. Being a girl that grew up with Disney Princesses and other cartoons, I can say that I wasn't the slightest bit influenced by them but I would be lying. Growing up i always dreamed of my prince charming showing up at my door because that was what I was showed in everything i watched and what i thought was supposed to happen. Christensen explains that children need to know at a certain time that these stories are stories.

#2: "I want my students to question this accepted knowledge and the secret education delivered by cartoons as well as by the traditional literacy canon. Because children's movies and literature are short and visual, my students and I can critique them together." (Christensen, 127)

I feel very strongly about this quote because I am currently a student who questions this knowledge and I have questions about it. Because I will be an educator one day, I hope that my students will have the same kind of strong feelings about this or something relate able and ask the questions and do anything to find the answer to them. I've learned the only way your going to learn is if you wonder and question things. that is a message I hope to teach my students one day.

#3: "Both of these tales leave young women with two myths: Happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption- in their case, through new clothes and a new hairstyle" (Christensen 133).

This quote really stuck out to me while reading. I completely agree with the authors statement because it is 100% true. A great deal of children's movies are portraying that the only way to happiness is to be with a man and taking his money. One lesson that I learned growing up is that no women needs a man to keep their own in this world. I am on my way in life so that I am able to live on my own, without the help of a man by my side. All young women should have this same outlook on life because there was a day where women didn't have all of the same freedoms and opportunities as man did. We need to take advantage of what our past female leaders did for us show the world we are just as independent as men.

Talking Points #3: Tools and Tips for Education

GLSEN

(Connections)

Before this assignment, I never knew this site existed like this online. Yes I was surprised about it but I feel it is completely necessary for new or becoming educators such as myself to be aware of these issues and to always have a backup plan just in case a problem dealing with gay, lesbian, or straight issues comes up in our own classrooms.

I took a look at “The Educators Guide to LGBT Pride” part of this website. Here it talks about celebrating LHBT pride month one day in June before the end of the school year. This is so no matter what you are you are able to show it off and be proud of it. I feel that this is a great idea because there seems to be a holiday for a great deal of things in this country. I like the fact that this will give everyone a chance to celebrate themselves and others all together.

While I do agree with this method, I do think it would be a little challenging in an elementary classroom where I plan on starting my education process. At that age you’re still in the “confused” stage of what you are and where you think you belong. So I think if this was to be done, it should be at least with the other middle school kids if not start on the high school level.

While reading this, I thought about “Aria” by Rodriguez. In that article he talks about losing himself and his culture when going to school because he felt that he wasn’t able to be himself. Even though he wasn’t dealing with being gay, lesbian, or straight, he was still dealing with something that made him feel as though he was an outsider to everyone else in the classroom. This could always be related to “Teaching Multilingual Children” by Collier. She talks about the features teachers “should” use when dealing with students who don’t speak English as a first language at home. Here she makes it seems that those who don’t know English are the outsiders compared to everyone else in the room, and that shouldn’t be the case. Yes they are different, but the one thing that all of the kids in the desks have in common is that they are all my students. And because of that, no matter what language they speak, color they are, or sex they want to be with, they are still my students and should be treated as such.

Along with this site, I also found another site that coincides with this. It has another article that talks about teachers accepting homosexual students, and i felt it was very informational.

Teaching Acceptance in Schools-How Teachers Can Help Gay Students

Talking Points #2: “Aria” and “Teaching Multilingual Children”

“Aria” By Richard Rodriguez (Quotes)

This article was a very easy read for me. Rodriguez really reached me in the fact that I had sympathy for him for what he had to deal with during his time in school. School is supposed to be a fun place to learn and meet new people.  But for him it was a place were he felt uncomfortable and left out. 

Rodriguez came from a Spanish-speaking family. In this article, he talks about how when he was in elementary school, he was told he had no choice but to learn English like everyone else, and was told he must forget hat he knew about Spanish. I agreed with the fact that he needed to learn English so he would be able to communicate with the other English-speaking students, but to forget about Spanish completely was just a bit much. "The old Spanish words I had used earlier-mama and papa-I couldn't use anymore. They would have been too painful reminders of how much had changed in my life." This quote really stuck out to me. I really disliked the fact that he felt as though he couldn't use the words he was used to anymore. It hurt me even more that he was so young going through all of this and that jut makes it even worse. 

Something else Rodriguez said was "At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American Citizen." When I thought about this I wondered why this was present to him beforehand. I feel as though he should always know we is, was and always will be an American citizen. I feel like he thought this because he didn't do the same things at home as other students because he was Spanish. But part of being an American citizen is knowing that everyone is different but still part of one. 

Something that really bothered me was when he said, "Fortunately, my teachers were unsentimental about their responsibility. What they understood was that i needed to speak a public language." This didn't really make sense to me. He's making it sound like its a good thing that his teachers weren't completely aware of the situation he was really in. The thing is is that they should have been aware of this situation, and they should have done everything in their power to help him feel as equal as possible. If I was his teacher I know I would have. 

I took some time to look online about different situations such at Rodriguez' and I found a site that gives strategies about those kinds of situations.
Click here if you'd like to take a look. :)

My Thoughts on "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack"

"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" By: Peggy McIntosh (Quotes)

   When I first looked at the title of this reading, I thought the author was going to be talking about the issue between whites and colors people. But in the beginning she starts off talking about the privileges men have over women, then she takes that and relates it to the issues in schools between whites and colored students. I thought this was a clever comparison because its somewhat similar. Something she says as a transition was, "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege." Here she is seeing them as similar issues.  
   McIntosh continues to talk about what she thinks are white advantages, and her list really blew me away. I came to the realization that things that I was used to having and doing everyday, that I though were available to everyone, really isn't. There are people out there that feel that they are not equal as I, and people out there that make sure that separation is present. Its those kind of people that disappoint me about our society. After her list, McIntosh continues to say, "If these things are true, this is not such a free country; one's life is not what one makes it; many doors open for certain people through no virtues of their own." I completely agree with this statement. people say this is the best country to live in to have a great life, but if someone of color doesn't feel as though they can even buy a birthday card with someone of their race on it, free is not the word that should be used.
   Something that really stuck out to me was what she said about her colleague Elizabeth Minnich pointed out, "whites are taught to think of their lives are mortally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work tat will allow "them" to be more like "us". I really agree with this statement and I feel as though more people should know about it, especially those in or going into the educational field for work.
   This reading was very informational to me about the types of issues I might have to face and concur when I become a teacher in the working field. I'm glad I was able to see it can happen to everyone at some point. I feel as though this picture is very compatible with this reading as well.