Talking Point # 10 - Johnson

Johnson argues that the problems in the society we live in must be recognized and fixed by everyone; not just who it directly effects. The privileged need to recognize this now and in the past and help correct it for the future.

1. " The greatest barrier to change is that dominant groups don't see the trouble as their  trouble, which means they don't feel obligated to do something about it."

I think that it's kind of sad that people who have the most power to help, don't want to because it may inconvenience their lives. its actually pathetic really. how is that fair? if they were in their place, they would be wanting the help and not understand why no-one who could help them isn't. how inhumane and selfish.

2. "The more you pay attention to privilege and oppression, the more you'll see opportunities to do something about them. You don't have to mount an expedition to find those opportunities; they're all over the place, beginning in yourself. As i become aware of how male privileges encourages me to control conversations, for example, I also noticed how easily men dominate group meetings by controlling the agenda and objecting to it. This pattern is especially striking in groups that are mostly female but in which most of the talking none the less comes from a few men. I would find myself sitting in meetings and suddenly the preponderance of male voices would jump out at me. an unmistakable sign of male privilege in full bloom" 

Eh. i just think that a woman needs to speak up then. get over it, you're allowing oppression when you let a man dominate and if you do then too bad, don't complain. i know in high school, especially in english i usually dominated the discussions and there was plenty of boys in my class, they probably didnt care as much as me but o well. sometimes when i get interrupted in our class i get really pissed off especially when its by the same person and what not. and it happens to be a boy and i kind of just want to yell over him but instead i stop, raise my hand and wait because im not going to be rude.

"Support the right of women and men to love whomever they choose. Raise awareness of homophobia and heterosexism. For example, ask school officials and teachers about what is happening to gay and lesbian students in local schools. If they dont know ask them to find out, since its  safe bet that these students are being harassed, suppressed or oppressed by others at one of the most venerable stages of life."

I think that all people should feel safe and comfortable where they are. i actually got pissed to day in history class because the people on the side of me were making gay jokes and saying how much they disliked gays. i turned to my friend and said 'people are effing stupid and they piss me off with that crap" they didnt seem to care. whatever, theyre the steryotypical jocks and assholes of high school. they clearly need to grow up. i remember when we were talking about how some people identify as both male and female and i was just on an MTV website and it asked wut you were and the options were : male female other and i would prefer not to answer. i think thats awesome.

Basically i just skimmed this article. i dont like reading lengthy things and i still think i did fine blogging all this time. o well. blogging is done =] YAYYYY

Talking Point # 8 - Kliewer

Authors Argument:

Kliewer argues that it is unjust to take children out of mainstream classes just because of their disabilities (no matter what they are). to make judgements on a person with any disability is wrong and thats what this article goes into depth about.

1) "Shayne, however, did not see Isaac, or any of her students, as disabled (3 with down syndrome including Isaac) and 10 students considerably non disabled, Shayne and her associates worked to create a context that supported all children's full participation."

I thought this was strong. Shayne and her associates do NOT discriminate towards a child just because of their ability levels. i also think it is awesome to have them mixed in the same class so they don't feel like outcasts. i hated seeing the disabled kids in HS going to lunch together and sitting alone, staying in one classroom etc. it wasn't fair, they are people too who are at school for the same reason as anyone else. i would absolutely send my child to that school, i feel like it helps children understand that people are different and it is ok and how to act and interact with people who are different. i hate seeing a child scream and cry when they see someone who is different; it seriously breaks my heart. i feel like all school systems should have integrated classrooms in them.

2) "He tells the most amazing stories ... we were all Wild Things and it just came alive!"

This passage touched me. it goes to show that people with disabilities can still understand, interact and learn. Isaac just did it in a different way and i think that Shayne is an extraordinary person for embracing his learning style and i also think that Isaac is extraordinary for wanting to learn and expressing it the way he does. i would LOVE to work with a child like that; i feel like i would be able to embrace him or her and help the other children embrace and learn from it as well. good for Shayne and Isaac.

3) "John Mcgough experienced such a disability spread during his high school education in North Hollywood, California, where he attended a segregated school with other students who also had down syndrome . According to Andrews's (1995) detailed ethnography, John's North Hollywood existence was a lonely and isolated one. Outside of his family, he had few acquaintances and little community connection. His school experience was stagnant and filled with hopelessness. School personnel labeled him 'uneducable'"

This just proves that people with disabilities should be integrated into classroom with people who do not have disabilities. it makes the people without them realize that the people who do have disabilities are people too and that they should be treated as humans and be respected. they shouldn't be locked away by themselves in sad isolation. and shame on the school for labeling him like that, i bet they didn't even try to help him. people need to realize that you cant treat people like dirt just because they have disabilities or they are different. i honestly want to hit people like that. they tried that stuff with african americans and it was changed, they can now go to schools with us and do everything like they should be able to do. why discriminate against people with disabilities in this day in age. silly.

This article should have opened eyes and i think that all educators should be required to read this article. I hate that people are discriminated against because they are different, i think that i and other people would have learned and benefited from having people with disabilities in my classrooms and i think other people could have learned from it as well. this article is an eye opener. it was a little long but i liked it.

Talking Point #7 - Lawrence

Argument: Lawrence argues that Brown vs. The Board of Education was a bunch of crap because the courts did not address the segregation topic and african americans were still nervous. the courts basically hoped nothing would really pass. and I'm sure they didn't try.

1) "Once it is understood that the injury results from the existence of the label of inferiority, it becomes clear that the cure must involve the removal of that label. The mere placement of black and white children in the same school does not remove the brand imprinted by years of segregation." 

To me this quote means that in order to remove the label of black inferiority to whites, were going to have to do a lot more than stick them in the same school and hope for the best. Years worth of black inferiority is not going to go away in a day and those stinging years for the blacks make it difficult and scary to be put into the lions cage with hungry lions. Whites would have to accept the blacks but after years and years of hate; it doesn't seem like it would happen very fast. i mean there's still segregation to some degree today and there is absolutely still racism.

2) " It could be argued that the Northern and Southern cases are distinguishable on the basis of state action; in the South, state action is present because state laws required the operation of dual school systems, while in the North, state action is absent because segregated schools occurred as the result of segregated housing patterns. This distinction, however, neglects the entire history of segregation in America.

Segregation is Northern, not Southern in origin. The exclusion or segregation of blacks in public facilities was settled policy and reached considerable maturity in the North before moving South in full force"

I did NOT know that segregation started in the North. I mean, I'm sure i knew it but i certainly don't remember. I always was taught that the South was the big place for segregation, discrimination and racism. i know that it was in the north too but i always learned that it was huge in the south. RI was the last state to get rid of slavery and that kind of sucks but it proves this point in the quote i chose. Newport and Bristol were actually the biggest areas for slave trade in NE. i live in Bristol and i also think it sucks that slavery was so big there.

for people to be segregated out of white schools in the north was so common because there was a segregation on where they were allowed to live. it reminds me of jewish ghettos in the holocaust for christ sakes.

3) "Perhaps the most detrimental effect of the court's refusal to acknowledge the true nature and scope of the institution of segregation has been the resulting failure of the judiciary, and ultimately the public at large, to recognize a constitutional right to the affirmative destruction of that institution."

The courts failure to recognize segregation at the magnitude it is truly at is totally not helpful to trying to get rid of segregation in general. it is not helping the merging of blacks and whites in school one bit and  the general public (being white dominant) is surely not helping the cause. White parents do NOT want their white children to go to school with the enemy (basically how they are viewed) and Black parents were afraid to let their children go to school with whites even though it was their right legally because their children would be hated and in most cases harmed. It was basically a loose loose situation then and it took a really long time for acceptance to set in.

In all this article was ok. it was kind of lengthy but it stirred emotions about racism and i was appalled to learn that the town i live in was huge on slave trade. (it wasn't in the article but i used outside sources to further my knowledge on the subject). i think if the people then could see who our president elect was right now they would crap them selves; blacks and whites.

i think it would be great to go back in time and tell them that in the future the president will be black and alot of white people voted for him. to tell them that schools have all kinds of races and ethnicities now and its really not a problem. whites are best friends with blacks, blacks have the same opportunities as whites, blacks have the chance to be rich. they have the chance to be american icons like Oprah. its awesome. =]

HOW THRILLING

ok so im not one for blogging as you know but i cannot believe that Obama has just won.

the very first time i ever voted i like to think im part of history.

an african american president.

how fantastic. its great.

i have been stressed all night about this election and i cannot believe the relief that has come over me from this. 

thank god. i feel like our nation is going to change for the better. its going to get better.

i didnt know i would get this worked up over this election. but right after i voted, i started getting thrilled.

im watching McCain give his speech and its making me sick that people are booing.

what a historical day. i cant believe im here to experience it.

how proud i feel that i was part of that vote and that RI as a whole ended up getting his vote.

i can hear people out side my window running around screaming from excitement. i myself screamed when i read the bottom of my screen. i cant believe this. im so happy, im tearing.

America will improve =] finally. things are looking up

R.I.P to Obamas grandmother, i wish she could have seen this. 

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!

How Funny

http://stores.ebay.com/Auction-Cause_W0QQfsubZ481950014

yes those ARE cabbage patch kids dolls that look like Obama, Biden & McCain and Palin.

what a riot

Talking Point #6 - Oakes

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route.

Jeannie Oakes

Oakes argues that tracking separates the "less- abled" from abled in the classroom. grouping them only inhibits their abilities to meet what they can do. a more group environment should replace  tracking.

1. " In low-ability classes, for example, teachers seem to be less encouraging ... while students in higher-ability classes seem to be much more involved in their classwork."

i think that some of this isn't true. i know in high school i fought with alot of people in my class and sometimes it would be over answers but my teachers were always encouraging and motivating us to learn. so what was i? a low ability class or a higher ability class? malarky.

2. "other work suggests that what we conveniently consider "low" ability may not be as limiting as we generally think"

yes. i totally agree. because you label someone or something low ability right away, expecting it to be like previous cases, you aren't giving it a chance. a K reader may be thought to have a low ability if they are really in a lower reading level than other children but that same child may excel in math over the other children. it shouldn't be limiting. they should be given a chance.

3. "Most public displays are well-enough meant: good work shown as a matter of pride, intended to motivate and provide examples for others. But too often they are convenient and irresistible opportunities for comparison" 

i know that when i was younger in private school (bay view academy), only work that was worthy went up on the board. usually that didnt mean me. my math skills SUCK and none of my work was ever up, decreasing my morale and making me hate math just that much more.

however, i was above the reading level all throughout elementary school and i could impress people by reading my book upside down (seriously) or backwards (seriously again) and my work was always on the wall. i knew that our work was being compared and it kinda felt terrible when they went to the math wall but it felt great when they went to the reading wall. but i knew a few kids who stunk in the opposite subjects that i was good at and i knew they felt terrible when i was rewarded for doing well in the subject they sucked at.

i kind of feel like if any work is going to be displayed, it should all be displayed and everyones work should get an encouraging word. wether it be good job or i can see you're trying, keep up the good work.

soooo overall this was a pretty short article. i think i only lost interest about once but it was because there was some crazy thing about women who didnt know they were pregnant but were going into labor on tv. the last quote i used was the one that stuck out the most to me actually and i have alot more views on it but i didnt want to bore anyone with my elaborations.

peace out girlscout

PLEASE WATCH THIS. ITS GREAT

this made me laugh my hiney off.

k thanks