Social Justice Event....(Sexual Violence and Assault)

A few months ago i attended one of the mandatory social justice events and it was the event that involved sexual assault and sexual violence. When i walked into this event i expected to sit there and just have someone at the front of the room and talk for two hours and that everyone just had to be there for a class or something. Boy was i wrong. This topic affects a lot of people in society and people at Rhode Island College. There were a few girls at this event that have been raped and it really hits home for them. One girl that was there has been effected for years, 5 years ago she was raped at RIC and there cause still hasnt been closed and this poor girl gained a lot of weight and she had to see the guy that raped her everyday, the pain that she must have felt must have been unbearable. People were standing up and yelling, raising there voices for the cause. This was not what i expected at all. The speaker that arrived was also a victim as well and she straight up told us right before she started talking i am a gay lesbian and i have been effected by this as well. People were coming up with ideas of how to stop this in our RIC community and in our town. Also ways to prevent it by events and things involving different clubs that are around at RIC. Going to this event it was a little intimidating because i dont know how it feels to be raped, i know it is an ongoing problem and i know it needs to be stopped. All we can really do is start with  ourselves and try to spread the word and effect peoples lives around us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMm6rpLXM3w

Should Children be Grouped?

I feel as though that the reading did a great job explaining the cons of people being grouped together. People will be more likely to stereotype the students when they are all grouped together, rather then them being separated individuals. But what about the pros of grouping children and students together. They might be less stereotyped rather then when they are in a group with other children. Or if a colored child was in a honors class would he be stereotyped? I feel as though that no matter what people will be stereotyping other individuals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w34zsEWNys

Becoming Something Different

Becoming Something Different
Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail

I can connect this reading to Kozol and Rodriguez, it is another story of how a child is growing up in a school system and they speak or act with their nature culture or tongue. Society views on people that have different cultures isn't the best in my mind, so for a student to try and change their culture and them selves to fit in, they would probably view that as accepting. While in the process they are forgetting their fist language or their first religion, etc. This reading is just another example of how a student that is in an ESL system/school and are forgetting their old views and learning new ones.

I feel that they should have teachers in the ESL class rooms like they do at my school at Broad Street Elementary that can speak many languages. That way the teacher may have the same cultural or language background as the students and they are able to understand their students and teach them new languages and cultures through their native tongue. Well so they don't forget their first language and culture. When I went into my ESL classroom on my first day, I felt as though my teacher had no clue what was going on all she was doing was yelling at the students. No one was learning anything. So it is really important to know some good tips while teaching in an ESL Classroom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g_fntkqf5s

Between Barack and a Hard Place

I really enjoyed the talk on Racism and the talk that he gave with the differences of colored people and white people. The park in his speech where he talked about how many white people where in america and how many white people said they were friends with colored people. Then he said how many colored people there where and there was only a certain amount of colored people to go around. i really like his political humor and a lot of people need to ease up and accept that you can have colored friends and still be Racist.I also totally agree with him when he talked about the different stereotypes with the doctors at the doctors office and the way that white parents would take care of their children vs. the way that colored parents would take care or punish their children and he joked about that they wouldn't know what to do and that it was a stereotype. Here is an excellent video showing that it is tough to go back on what many generations have stereotyped different races as, and kind of the baseline of our racism i feel.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyCnJLNhQeE

In the Service of What???

     In "In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning" written by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer, They talk about a lot of the policies and proponents to Service Learning. "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." First of all i really like that Quote by JFK," . . . ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."  That doesnt even need to apply to our country it can apply to your family, your town, your school, your friends, everything and that all applyes to service learning. I fell as though that a lot of students need more than just academic education they need Life education "Street Smarts", so they take what they learn in class and implement it in the field. It is all good and well to be able to find the derivative 3x + 2y, but when are you going to use this in real life. This is why Service Learning is a great way to further your education that you are able to use for the rest of your life not just in that moment of time. It will help children be able to process further goals and realize more in depth what they want to do with there life. By doing this service learning the students will be more exposed to a higher-order thinking as well.

      Personally I enjoy having to do community service because at the end of your service you are more experienced at what you have done, you feel better about yourself, and you know have a better understanding about that one subject and what you can do or what you want to do to better yourself or that subject. I always had a tough time in the class room with work that you had to think about, I much rather do visual hands on activities that makes you have to think more higher in depth without knowing that you are thinking.Weather this service learning is charity, volunteer work, government work, ect, I really fell as though people will have a better understanding in life by the more they volunteer their time into the service about that one subject and where they want to be in life. So taking what the students have learned in school and going out into the community and using it doing volunteer work or what ever they will learn from what they have experienced and the action they took during their work.

This is a great video that applies service learning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t30ZMX8uGw

Unlearning the Myths that Blind Us

My think piece is on Christensen's, Unlearning the Myths that Blind Us. I think it is extremely important how society and Disney films and everyone that back them up how they display their "Happily Ever Afters" and how they pursue happiness in these Disney movies. For instance for a young woman watching Cinderella, their views on the out come of the movie would be that you will find a man one day and be truly happy,  their is magic that is involved in the story, and everyone will live happily ever after. Well for one we do not have magic in reality i can not summon a dragon to ride to Dunkin Donuts. Children view magic in a bunch of Disney movies which is besides my main objective. One day you will find happiness in a human and get married either a man with a women or a woman with a man. Not many Disney movies or shows would set the plot on two men or two women finding love. The majority of society view that homosexuality is wrong and against gods will based on a strong catholic heritage, but with many LGBT's groups and organizations have started to form a movement where more and more children's books and movies are viewing more and more gays together. But the majority is still showing Princes marrying Princesses. I would love to see how our next few generations form and adapt to the world and our new views and ways. I just would love to see into the future to see what it holds if we have say, half the Disney movies homosexuality oriented and the other have straight oriented. I would love to see how society and children will act and view people that are homosexual in the next 20 so years.

I was streaming through videos on youtube about homosexuality inferred into Disney movies. Through my searches i found a bunch of videos that promote "Gay Day" in either Disney World or Disney Land, people video tape their times at these events. I'm cantankerous about Disney having these days because gays are aloud to go all the time just to have a day for homosexuals is just a little silly, i fell like it just points out that they are different  but that is just me. A youtube page called "Nerd Alert" touched base on some important  facts about Disney and some connections with the new movie Frozen. If you have a second you should read the comments on the bottom of the video. Its sad to see how inconsiderate and harsh society is after reading some of the comments.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sYAGOfAAeA

Speaking the Unspeakable

"Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places..."
Alexandra Allan

      In "Speaking the Unspeakable..." they talked about a research project called, "No Outsiders". This allowed 15 researchers to go into schools and observe teachers and the reactions of their students on the subject of heterosexuality. I really enjoyed "The Paper Bag  Princess" the lesbian Cinderella story. The teacher explained it very well and i liked the way that she dressed like the princess and didn't get all dolled up with make up and a dress, instead she wore a leather jacket a shirt and things you would see a lesbian wear but not totally looking like a lesbian. People have the image that all lesbians look like men and Lauren the teacher was trying to show her students that lesbians can be princesses and they don't have to look like men.

     I totally understand why there are groups like the "No Outsiders"but there are people that are against everything that these people do and stand for. My cousin is gay so this hits home and I love my cousin to death i don't care if he is gay, straight, likes dogs, or aliens he is still my cousin and i will always support his decisions, maybe not the liking dogs that's kind of sick.... But there are people out there in this world that do not want people teaching their children that being gay is okay and teaching them what homosexuality is. People are religious and have different cultural values and this also goes along with everything that we have been talking about in class. We have to also look at all aspects of peoples culture, religion, parenting, teaching, etc.  I found this debate site that ask parents and people of the community if it is okay that teachers teach their children about hetero and homosexuality.

 i found very interesting because it also had some nice worded reviews.http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-students-learn-about-homosexuality-in-school

Also here is an awesome video of one of the problems that students and teachers will face, this proves my point very well, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYAUZ3CSqXw

"Why cant she remember that?"

Terry Meier
"Why cant she remember that?"

Meier did a great job with explaining all the connections in the research that she done and found with the children in the multicultural and multilingual schools. When Meier mentioned Lindsey and Lem for instance and there back rounds and how they were perceiving the books and reading in school it really hit home. Lindsey was constantly read to when she was a child and picked up on the skills and abilities quicker then the students like Lem which either his family couldn't afford books or his family just lost their cultural beliefs. I can connect with the students because in elementary school I was deficient in reading. I could read just like everyone but I couldn't understand what I read, but when i was younger my parents read to me and we would talk about the things in the books I just had a reading problem.

When Meier said, "Despite their diverse backgrounds, all children bring to school rich Linguistic abilities acquired through social interaction in theirs homes and communities." After I read this part in the reading I instantly thought of "An Indian Fathers Plea". Why couldn't the people in the schools and the communities realize this. This makes me so angry how in the last reading people can be so cruel and powerful and in this reading everyone has there differences and it is okay but we are all equal. I enjoy reading this much more.

Another point I connected with was the whole section of the reading "Make the books come alive".That is all what I am about different ways to have fun. How the teacher made the books come alive with cheep props so students could understand and connect with the reading in a more visual way was applaud-able. At the end of the reading when Meier mentioned that a little girl pointed out a "white girl" in the book they were reading and all the students started discussing this topic. Groups talked about skin color, friendship, and incidents that have happened to them involving these issues. Just pointing something out like that in a book that started up a hole class room discussion was a great tool to talk about equality and differences and things people deal with in everyday life.

An Indian Fathers Plea Reflection

An Indian Fathers Plea
Robert Lake

                That is a typical stereotype for the teacher to already call Wind Wolf a slow learner. Children maybe learn in different ways and in a school setting sitting down it may be hard for Wind Wolf because traveling he saw a lot of things and learned from seeing his surroundings by touch, sight, smell, and his spiritual surroundings. His father really stuck it to the man! The education in the school systems are totally different from the way Wind Wolf learned how to count, he can speak other languages, tell you 40 different kinds of birds. Wind Wolf has the knowledge that his tribe and culture may teach their children and he just has to go in the school system by law and they are not giving him enough credit and attention that he needs.

                I think that the teachers at the school should have at least talked with the parents first because no one knows what goes on at home, you don’t live with the child. So Wind Wolf definitely is learning in a different way know. His family was teaching him how to count sticks, fish, beads, etc and in school they are learning different methods so if he is struggling with different activities in school the teachers should at least have the courtesy  to call home and see if there is something that the school can do to help with the transition to the new school with new people rather than just calling him a slow learner.

                This is also the teachers job to make the school or the classroom a better learning environment for all of the children. If this child is getting harassed and bullied it needs to be stop. Coming home 3 times in 2 weeks crying because people are making fun of him is not okay something should have been done the first time and nothing has happened. Now the child is ashamed of his heritage and his culture and doesn't want to go to school any more.

                I think that Wind Wolfs father did an exemplary job telling the teacher off but also telling them that he can help if they are not that well educated in different heritages. That was a well needed well written letter that needed to be wrote. I can only imagine the pain of the family knowing that the child is starting not to like his culture and doesn’t want to participate in their religious rituals. That alone is partly the teachers fault for not working with the child and making him feel more involved with the class and his fellow students. A lot of children around the world must be going through the same problem so that is an essential topic to be educated on if you are going into a teaching profession. You will need to be educated on different cultures and make the children feel more welcomed than more different. 

White Privilege Reflection

White Privilege 

Peggy McIntosh

                The beginning of this article started by talking about "white privilege". I honestly have never thought that whites were much more privileged that African Americans. The color of your skin shouldn't  show how privileged you are in the community or where ever you are. McIntosh stated, " I have often noticed men’s unwillingness to grant that they are over privileged, even though they may grant that women are disadvantaged." This statement is really funny because I don’t think we are over privileged at all, men are more wanted in the business world, for jobs, and for lots of other things. But while people are looking for men, woman don’t get the full credit that they deserve. Woman are just as hard working and half the time more knowledgeable then some men. Well I am a white male and I have not yet to get my invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, cloths, tools, and blanks checks. I must have missed something?

                I agree when McIntosh and her colleague Elizabeth talked about how the schooling system kind of preached and lectured us on how we won't really make it big, we will live "morally normal, neutral, normative, and average " lives and it isn't fair. Why would we want to work our whole lives to make the wealthy happy? What about our happiness?

                McIntosh states 26 racial and privileged statements and conditions on which she views and sees people of the world look and act towards others of a different race, gender, class, religion, etc. I find that some of these conditions are extremely romanticized. Some of these sound like they are coming from someone with a chip on their shoulder. "I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to 'the person in charge,' I will be facing a person of my race." I do not think this is correct at all you will be faced with the person in charge not someone that is white, come on now. Some of these things that she mentioned are kind of nonsense. Although the one where she mentions that he neighbors will be pleasant, they will be for a while I agree. A lot of these that she mentioned can be debated for sure.

                

                I believe that we all really need to check ourselves and take a look in the mirror no one on this planet is perfect and no one will ever be. Just because our skin is a different color and whatever happened hundreds of years ago with slavery and history should be dropped. Today is a new day and we are in a new year. I don’t think anybody is more privileged than another person and you are only racist if you make yourself racist. Everyone needs to start with checking themselves, forgetting the past, looking forward to a better and brighter future where everyone on this earth is equal. 

A Little About Nick Barboza

Hello my name is Nicholas Barboza and I am a student at Rhode Island College just like all of you that aree probably going to read this. I am 20 years young and plan on persuing a career in Health or Physical Education. I work with children with disabilities and teach some of them how to go through every day life like they didnt have a problem at all. I am a gym rat and if im not at school i am at the gym, my monthy gym fee is pretty much my rent. The semester is going good so far, cant complain. And i cant wait to meet most of you and read up on your bloddies too! :)