Talking Point #5 - Kahne & Westheimer

Argument: Kahne & Westheimer argue that SL projects, though sharing a common goal, should have subliminal learning letting students take away what they need and perhaps even choosing what they want to do as an SL, making them take more from the experience

1. " For example, one student worked in a center for babies whose mothers had high levels of crack cocaine in their blood streams during pregnancy. Another worked in a hospital, running errands for doctors and helping patients locate the sites for their appointments. A third student prepared and distributed survival kits for the homeless. By finding and engaging in community service activities, Mr.Johnson explained, students would interact with those less fortunate than themselves and would experience the excitement and joy of learning while using the community as a classroom."

I feel like all three of these are very good SL projects but I think i would appreciate the first as an SL project more.  in a class in HS, we did a project in parenting class with a doll that was programed to be like a real baby (even though it was not just like it at all and it only pissed me off) and before we were handed our 3 day babies, we were shown a doll that would be the same in comparison to the dolls we got except this baby was a crack baby. we got to hear the difference in cry's, in weight, in size, basically everything. that baby comes out of the womb yearning for crack. that baby is born addicted. nothing in the world except for crack and soothe that baby. i would 110% love to work with those babies. my heart aches for them  and i think for a young adult to see the cause and affects of something like that would  be great.

2. " Ms. Adams, a seventh-grade teacher at Lexington Middle School, took a different approach. Working together, Ms. Adams and her students identified issues of common concern and then voted to focus their energy on the issue of homelessness."

This woman's approach to work together as a team i guess works well. i feel like i like the path where the kids choose themselves. of course it works better for the older kids but maybe for the young ones a group would work out. i don't fully think that children will learn a variety of things with a common cause if they have to do the same thing. comparing and contrasting would be more beneficial i think.

3.  Some of the middle school parents object, saying that they were concerned for their childrens safety. In a written evaluation, the students said that they had imagined 'horrifying children running around on a dirty campus"

I dont quite understand why parents act like that sometimes. that just instills in our children how to be prejudice and in some cases racist. why would you do that and then tell them not to pick on other kids because they are different? its the same thing to me.

how frustrating. 

i guess this article was ok. its the blogging that irritates me. i feel like such a conformist when i blog. my sister blogs and its about stupid crap all the time. ive been against them for forever and to be forced to do them to get a good grade is crappy to me. my efforts in them are usually the bare minimum. o well.

Talking Point #4 - Christensen

Christensen argues that children learn from a very early age stereotypes from the everyday media. she expresses that it is the parents and teachers jobs to help the children differentiate the difference between what is real and what is not and to teach them the correct values and morals.

1. "When we read children's books, we aren't just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated."

i feel like this is true not only in books but especially in movies like Disney. Fairy tales usually have the young beautiful girl with flowing perfect hair winning over the heart of prince charming and the villain is usually disgustingly ugly and covered in warts with terrible fingernails. the common town folk are usually dressed in tatters or just arent that beautiful. children think that you need to be beautiful to have everything and get through life and i feel like we need to teach them that that isnt true at all. look at Bill Gates.

2. "Cartoon images , in particular the Disney movie Peter Pan, were cited by the children {in a research study} as their number one source of information. At the age of three these children had a set of stereotypes in place"

  Since i posted my blog a tad late i can relate this to a clip of Beauty and the Beast that we watched in class

together. i can understand why children get all their information from movies, parents think that Disney is great and

wholesome for their children to watch {i have to agree} and while they watch it they absorb all the information

about how people are viewed in their sponge of brains. i know that in most early movies african americans were

the only ones working and poor old Dumbo was dubbed that because of his oversized ears and i have heard

many children pick on others that have bigger ears by calling them Dumbo. it made me feel bad. so perhaps the

good 'ol wholesome movies parents think are good for their kids, aren't so good at all. i remember my friends mom

would only let her watch Disney movies. i wonder if she would have changed her mind if this was revealed to her

then.

3 "After viewing a number of cartoons, Kenya scolded parents in an essay, 

"A Black Cinderella! Give Me a Break." She wrote: "Have you ever seen a 

black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon! Did they have a leading 

role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child's 

mind?" 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 a society that rarely acknowledges the wit or beauty of 

women of her race."

I wonder if DIsney will ever have a Black or Hispanic main character. They got an Asian one a few years ago in the movie Mulan. yet Mulan was not really considered a princess like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or Ariel were.  i think the best thing Disney could ever do would be to make a handicapped main character. so many little girls and boys go to Disney {especially those who go via make a wish foundation} have disabilities or conditions and i feel like those children, more than others, need a little prince or princess like them.

i suppose i liked this article. it made me realize little things about Disney movies that i normally wouldnt have. when we were in group i learned a few things about disney movies too. like on the cover of The Little Mermaid theres penis's and in another movie for 2 quick frames, you could see a woman in a window with no top on. i guess the artists go a little crazy drawing happy little cartoons all day

Talking Point #3 - Carlson

i really do not feel like doing this blog. i dont want to be a negative nancy but i am still not thrilled about blogging. 

Gayness, Mulitculutral Education and Community 

Dennis Carlson

Authors argument Carlson argues that its the teachers job to educate people that individuality is ok (just like our parents should be teaching us);and to not accept it would be wrong. People  should learn to roll with differences and not suppress the people who are different. 

1. "Three techniques of normalization and (hence) marginalization have been of primary importance in this regard: (1) the erasure of gayness in the curriculum (2) the "closeting" and "witch hunting" of gay teachers"

the only reason i chose this quote was because of the second point. Schools were keeping gayness in its "place" by not allowing gay teachers to be who they are. witch hunting gays because of who they are just doesn't make sense. we are supposed to be teaching our children that being different is ok and that we should embrace it; so what is a school system closeting gay teachers going to do for them? i feel like its just hypocritical. i'm sure the teachers aren't going to prance around the classroom yelling fabulousss, i'm sure they would be professional just like every other teacher (maybe even the ones who are gay but haven't come out of the closet yet! oh my that is a possibility now isn't it?)

2. All of this takes a considerable toll. ... among gay youth are likewise high"

All of the pressure  on gays and especially the youth gays of today have lead to a higher rate of  suicide. i think that its terrible that children have resorted to suicide because people don't accept the fact that they are different. no person, especially a child should feel like death is the only way to escape the scorn of society. it makes me want to cry.

3. "The president of district 24 local school board in Queens declared, among other things, the board would not 'accept two people of the same sex engaged in deviant sexual practices as 'families' ' "

WHYYY!!!! that is so frustrating. i feel like a family should consist of people supporting other members of their families. screw this president. pardon my french. why do people have to be so close minded. so what? if a child is being cared for and loved by two grown ups then what is wrong with that? a child could have 2 opposite sexed parents and be neglected and unloved and thats not good at all. i think if a child is loved and is taken care of then who cares.

fun fact: as i was watching the discovery channel while i was writing this blog, there was a show about mid-evil torture devices and one was called the pear. it was a pear shaped piece of metal that was expanded. for not believing in god or putting his name to mud it was put in the mouth and screwed open until the pressure broke the jaw. for homosexuality it was put wherever the "dirty deed" was done.

even then homosexuality was not accepted and people were actually punished in crazy ways if they were caught. crazy!!!