Integration: How do we achieve this?

Integration is beneficial for all young learners because it will help to eliminate biases that are formed during development due to ignorance. If you are not exposed to people whom are different than you, it is likely that you will accept your reality as the norm. Growing up without the realization that many people's life experiences are much different than yours causes a lot of close-minded thoughts and ethnocentric behaviors. Integration is really the only way to minimize the biases we pass on to our future generations.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,984468,00.html

This is the actual Jack White article that the controversial quote discussed in class came from. It is from 1996, but it still applies today. How do we actually desegregate when the white population won't stay still long enough to be integrated into? De Facto segregation will continue until the differences between upper and lower class are somehow minimized. Perhaps the differences were never meant to be minimized. How do we change this then?

I found this incredibly interesting news clip at NPR about this exact topic. If you have a few minutes, you should really listen to it. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5169990 It talks about de facto segregation and white flight. It also discusses how our government and the established class system have contributed to the further segregation of our schools.

In spite of the fact that it is in the best interest of our nation to integrate, our elected officials continue to turn a blind eye to this delicate matter. What can we do to change this problem? I believe it was Hillary Clinton who said that it takes a village to raise a child. Perhaps we need to approach those members of our larger village who are in a position to fund the schools that need the most help.

An idea born during a side conversation in class included calling ABC to ask if Extreme Makeover would like to consider a School Addition. Another idea is to go to local businesses and ask for donations to cover the cost of new text books. Each major corporation has a lot of money it allots each year to donate to worthy causes. Let us find these corporations and help them see the schools that need the most help as the worthy causes they should confer their funds upon.

Please Help Eliminate No Child Left Behind

This topic is so immense. The two weeks that we discussed it in class were really not enough to really get the full picture. I have talked with so many teachers about this initiative and the many problems that they face daily as a result. It is so amazing to me that those who make these major educational decisions for our country are so oblivious to the negative consequences that their decisions have on our society. What sounds good in theory must be proven to work in real life. The No Child Left Behind Act is proving to be more of a problem than a solution. I urge all of you who care about the future competence of our nation's children to write your elected officials and urge them to reject this law as it is currently up for re-authorization. (See the links below for Senators Clinton and Schumer in New York.) Signing the petition is another way to show that you are eager for change. It is imperative that we eliminate this act in order to better help the very children that we are leaving behind.

Here is a video of Teachers of the Year from several different states discussing why it is essential to try something different. Check it out!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QqTJvpfv6J4

For those of you who wish to revisit some of the issues, here are links to the other videos we watched in class on 10/10/07:

NCLB:Truth and Consequences: http://youtube.com/watch?v=hSTzLILQx3c

No Child Left Bilingual: http://youtube.com/watch?v=AlUEEdj6lkw

Inequity of Curriculum

Wednesday in class we talked a lot about passion. I have a lot of it. I am a very passionate person. I love with all my heart. I am extremely loyal. When I like or dislike something, pretty much everyone knows. When I do something, I put my all into it. I love learning. I always have. Has my passion for learning always been abundantly clear when reflecting upon my grades? Certainly not! In fact, my passion for my various love interests, my friends, my family, and so many other things often were of greater importance to me, especially in high school.

Being passionate about learning does not mean you do well. It does help for the student to be impassioned about the topic to be learned and have an eloquent, expressive, and effective teacher on said topic. However, this does not mean that this student will do well. There are so many outside forces which effect us each as students and teachers alike. All of the time, there are forces beyond our control or even within our control that take precedence to doing well scholastically. There is no way to guarantee success without eliminating these variables.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that unless your baser needs are attended to, you are unlikely to do well at much. I have a very personal and recent experience with this. Doing well in school is only possible when physiological needs and also those for safety are met. In a lot of situations, no matter how much a child may want to learn, if their needs are not being met, they might not "do well". I am sure that many children learn while hungry. Being cold or scared, I'm sure many students still learn. However, there are many situations in which students are hindered from "doing well" because of unmet needs, whether physiological or psychological.

What does it mean to "do well" anyway? Does it mean in the grand scheme of things you are successful in life? Can it mean just passing the class you're taking right now? For some might it mean being a CEO of a major corporation? Could it mean avoiding trouble? It might mean surviving for some. "Doing well" is just so subjective.

There are ways teachers can design their curriculums to make subject matter more relevant and useful to students. Usually in doing so, teachers inspire their students to excel and thrive, and by some people's standards, "do well." Enrichment programs and integrated curricula are methods of achieving just this. Here is a video I found of a school using an integrated curriculum to empassion and empower their students.

Check this out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=m2wgzLEpECI

I hope my passion helps me to be an inspiring and effective teacher. I know how important it is to instill in youngsters a thirst for knowledge and a love of learning. Perhaps that will help them to achieve good grades in my class, but more importantly to succeed in life. That is what I consider "doing well."

The Dynamics of Our Classroom

Our conversation in class yesterday was frustrating because I often feel apprehensive saying what I am thinking. It's not because I am afraid of hurting someone else's feelings. It is also not because I don't want to share my opinions. Most people naturally long for ease and comfort. I am one of those people. I do not enjoy conflict and am not convinced that everyone in our classroom is really interested in respecting every one's opinions.

It is so much easier and to sit here in the comfort of my home and type out how I feel. First of all, I have a back space key. Anything I type can be edited which is not the case in the classroom. Here in cyberspace, I have the time to process my thoughts and be critical of myself and careful to say exactly what I mean. I don't have the huge lump in my throat and I don't feel at all defensive. I also can roll my eyes all I want at myself, at my computer, and the price of gas without anyone thinking it is because of them. There is no one here to offend and no one here who will make me defend my thoughts immediately.

What we are asked to do in class is speak up and may the loudest voice win! This is great for all of those confident people who are passionate about the topic being covered at the time. There are several people in our class whom we rarely hear from and I don't think it's because they don't have good ideas. Even those who are passionate about what we're talking about say things that come across all wrong in the heat of the moment. We need to take all of these things into account when we are talking in class. We need to respect one another's ideas and thoughts and understand that we are not here to judge one another.

Like Kerri-Ann said, we are all coming from vastly different backgrounds which is what makes our class so wonderful. We should try to learn from one another's different experiences, instead of taking things personally and getting defensive and confrontational. I am guilty of this myself and I think this might be why I haven't spoken in class as much lately. I want my thoughts and ideas to come out clearly and precisely, the way they can here in cyberspace. I don't want to roll my eyes at anyone or be accused of doing so either. Being fair to and respectful of others in our class is my intention and my desire. It is important to me that this fact is obvious to everyone in our classroom.

My real post is yet to come. My feelings and thoughts about our classroom dynamics really don't qualify for an actual post, so if you're reading this and thinking I took the easy road, I'm not done yet! Please check back for my post regarding the actual content of the class yesterday. I promise it will be worth reading. :-D

And any comments you have regarding this post will remain private unless you request them be made public. If you have thoughts and feelings about what I've written, but do not wish for the entire class to know what you're thinking, I understand and will listen to whatever you have to say and keep it to myself. I've already received several comments and appreciate each one of them. I value honesty and candor and openness and it may help us as a class to voice our thoughts to someone. . . anyone.