Social class and the hidden curriculum of work

I really liked this article, I read it a little late because I had a lot going on but I'm really glad that I did decide to read it rather then just skip posting about it. There were a few lines right off the bat on page three that really caught my eye and have been making me uneasy about the way some teachers teach.

"The teachers rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance."

"Work is often evaluated not according to whether it is right or wrong but according to whether the children followed the right steps."

- I think the first quote really upset me because if a student doesn't know why they are doing something than why should they bother doing it in the first place? Students need to get the respect that they deserve, they have the right to know why they are doing something and how it connects to a lesson. That is what teaching is about, making connections to the outside world as well as in the walls of the classroom. Students need to have things explained to them more than once in order for them to learn and keep something with them. I'm in my second year of college and I know that I still need things repeated several times until I fully understand, for younger students this is more critical.

- The second quote is a little disturbing to me as well, just because a student doesn't follow instructions word for word even though their work is proven to be good should they be punished? I don't think so, you can not follow some of the right steps and still have a great outcome. For students they need a little leeway so they can do trial and error for what works best for them.

"In the middle-class school. work is getting the right answer. If one accumulates enough right answers, one gets a good grade. One must follow the directions in order to get the right answers, but the directions often call for some figuring, some choice, some decision making."

- I don't believe that it is always about getting the right answer, its about trial and error and seeing which method works best for you and your learning style. Yes getting good grades is about getting the right answers and doing well but I believe that it is also about the effort that you put in. Someone who tries with all they have and gets the wrong answer in my book should get just as much credit as someone who put in little or no effort and got the right answer.

"I want to make sure you understand what you're doing so you get it right"; and, when they go over the homework, she asks the children to tell how they did the problem and what answers they got."

-I personally think is is a great way to teach. You are letting the students tell you how they got an answer and if they happen to get the wrong one then you can go through it with them and see where they might have gone wrong rather then not paying attention to it.

Inclusion

This article was a little difficult for me to read, it took a few pages for me to get into it but ended up being good. I found it really interesting the way that people look at children that have disabilities and having them in your normal everyday classrooms.

"Colleen Madison agreed with Shayne that no child was inherently an intellectual burden to a classroom; in fact, she argues, each student contributed a unique and potentially valuable dimension to the web of relationships that formed a school community"

I have to agree with this, in order for students to really learn things other than what is being taught they need the opportunity to work with other students that might be different from them. Just because a child might have some set backs that aren't like the rest of his classmates that doesn't mean they should be excluded or feel like they are anything less than anyone else. Students with disabilities may not have all the same functions to speak or explain what they need to but they can contribute to a classroom just like anyone else could.




"I don't tend to see down syndrome as something. If you look at those kids running around the room, they're incredibly different from each other. They're different in terms of what their bodies are like, how they best communicated, what they're like socially, their interests. And with those three kids in the room it would be hard to say, "This is how you should teach kids with down syndrome." They are not all alike."

A few sentences after this it says "... down syndrome often obscures our ability to recognize the child as a child." which I believe is very true. Everyone is so worried about them being behind or causing disruption in the classroom that they forget that these students are still children. They don't want to be excluded because they are different, it could help them more to be in a normal classroom.

"Through citizenship they came to be recognized as thinking, creative individuals who added unique and valuable dimensions to the group."

I really like this quote because it is important for all types of students to be included. They give the classroom different learning experiences as well as challenges that can help students grow and learn to accept other children that might be different from them.

Promising Practices

My day started out pretty bad going out to the promising practices conference, kids in my neighborhood thought it would be funny to egg cars the night before. At 7:30 am I was washing tons of egg off my car and it took everything in me to not turn around and get back into bed I mean I didn't even have time to get coffee from dunkin donuts I didn't know how I was going to get through the day. I’m happy I didn't go back to bed though because of one thing during the conference – the A.L.L.I.E.D. workshop.

"Maybe the deepest part of who we are is what scares us or breaks our hearts, and we don't want to share that with anyone. And when we do, we don't want to lose those people."

My first work shop was for service learning projects, I didn’t really enjoy this one, I had a teacher with a heavy accent that was hard to understand, and it being so early in the morning I admit I may have not made the best effort of it. Although, it was informative I believe that it was stuff that I already knew and or we have gone over in class. It was a lot of group stuff and making up examples of project that we could do to help students as well as give back to the community. This reminded me of the reading we did by Westheimer and Kahne, “The the service of what? The politics of service learning.” In the article it talks about a child that goes and distributes "daily life kits" to the homeless, but the student failed to connect with the homeless and do any research before about what they might need. My professor at the workshop said a lot about this, that it is easier to help people when you know what they need and how it will make an impact rather then taking a guess about it.

"Because through love we feel the intensity of our connection to everything and everyone. And at the core, we are all the same. We're all one."

The first workshop really couldn't have ended fast enough for me, after that I went and walked around and looked at all the booths that they had set up around the dining area. I thought that was really great it gave me time to explore all the different things that people could offer and the materials they were handing out. I believe that I got something from every table which was nice because I can start a collection to look back on when I start to teach. There was one booth that was all about geography and those sorts that I found very interesting and they had worksheets for kids as well as a ton of maps for you to take so that was nice.

"I'm gonna show the world the strength in me that sometimes they can't see."

My second workshop I didn't really know what to expect, I only signed up for it because I knew that Tara and Dr. Bogad would probably be there. It was the A.L.L.I.E.D. workshop. I can't even explain how happy I am that this is what I went to this particular one. Starting off in this workshop was everyone that was involved said a poem about themselves. I couldn't believe what kind of inspiration you could get from just a few sentences and how much you could learn about people in matter of minutes. Later you learned that they created the poems because of Chris, she didn't know how she was going to express herself to the group and needed a way to feel comfortable. It was great to see that everyone came around her and supported the fact that she did need help and came up with a solution to fix it. I believe that you should feel comfortable in your own skin no matter what race, gender, or sexual preference you have. You are you and no one else can take that away from you.

"If there is no passion in your life, then have you ever really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you, and you will find that great things will happen for you, to you, and because of you."-T. Alan Armstrong

Society has such "norms" that they expect and it's time that gays, lesbians, transgenders, and unrepresented people feel like they have a part it "our world." During the whole presentation I'm pretty sure that I had tears in my eyes, it was so heart wrenching as well as I could connect it to my everyday life. A big message that they were trying to get out is sympathy vs. empathy. When you have sympathy for someone yes you feel bad but it's more of in a way you are like "you're life sucks, I get that but it's time to move on" without really addressing the problem. When you show empathy it is more of helping and devising a solution to the problem at hand. Having someones back when they feel like they are all alone and that they have a hand to hold no matter what. There was one student, Erik that made a great point that I have to share, you don't have to believe in something and think its right to be someones ally. You have your own values and beliefs, and they will understand but it's saying I may not believe what you believe but I don't think the way you are being treated is right and taking a stand against that.

I would love the opportunity to have the opportunity to go to an A.L.L.I.E.D. meeting, there was a lot of people that are transfer students and that might be right up my ally. I moved here this semester because last year I hate the school I was at. I have a twin sister and she goes to Johnson and Wales and I figured what would be better than moving to where she is so I did. We now live together on Pembroke so I don't have the dorms experience or that help to meet new people. I don't really have friends at RIC because the people I spend most my time with are from JWU. I mean don't get me wrong I love my friends from JWU and they are some of my best but when I'm on campus I always feel so alone. I never eat lunch here because I don't want to eat alone so I usually drive home and have something before I have to go to my next class. I think that A.L.L.I.E.D. would be a great way for me to meet people and have a better experience here.

I had to post this video because it reminded me of the book that Dr. Bogad brought into class about the two kings and I think that it's time more people accept things like this and let other find the love that they have been looking for without being judged. The whole presentation from this group was really just so moving for me it was great to see so many people that felt safe and open with their friends. They can be the support that you need when you might not have anyone else.

"I am who I feel like being today. For every day opens another chapter to the endless book of metaphors I've created for identity."

Gender and Education

UNICEF

UNICEF works for the equality of every student that is out there, and to bring about essential changes in their lifestyles that are necessary to achieve social justice and equality for everyone that is a part of it.

I found these bullets very interesting:

• Male students receive more of the teacher's attention (acceptance, praise, criticism, and remediation) and are given more time to talk in class from pre-school through college.⁸
• Although differences among subject matter areas have not been well examined, recent research has found student-teacher interaction in science classes to be biased toward boys.⁹
• Sex is a factor in the assignment of students to ability groups in mathematics, and males are more likely to be assigned to the high ability group.¹⁰
• Males receive harsher punishment than girls even for the same or a similar offense.¹¹
• Teachers ask boys more higher order questions than they ask girls.¹²

I believe that a lot of people still do find women inferior to men, and that male students are often looked at being the smartest or are able to answer questions better then a women. There has been studies that show that if a male and female have their hands raised 9 out of 10 times the male is the one to be called on.

The fourth point is also very true, if a male is to do something wrong in a classroom setting it is almost always that a girl could have "gotten away" with it. Everyone has had these experiences before and it's terrible. Everyone should be treated equally and fair no matter what gender they are.



I think that this movie is terrible, saying how we shouldn't allow gay marriage because then kids would have to be taught about it in schools. That is like telling that that there is something wrong with being gay and that there is nothing right about it, it's making the whole general idea invisible. At a young age they should be taught about how to accept people that might be different from them, not to make it absent from their lives.



Watching this video literally gave me goosebumps. It is terrible that children can not go to school and feel safe or cared about, but even more terrible that some teachers have witnessed the acts of cruelty and just stood by and watched. If a student can not feel safe at school to the point where they kill themselves then something needs to be looked at and action needs to be taken. I think the worst part of this movie for me is that Megan was bullied by the myspace account of a MOTHER of a student in her class that lead to her killing herself. What kind of monster could do that to a poor kid. Under title XI all of these students could have sued saying that they were being forced to be in a hostile climate that was affecting their learning and safety, maybe then someone would have listened.