Race and Gender - Gender and Race

So let me get this straight:

     Girls can't be who they are because of girls, boys, adults and society

     Boys can't be who they are because of boys, girls, adults and society

     Adolescents can't be who they are because of stages and development and schema, boys, girls,            adults, and society

     Anyone who has race can't be who they are because of others like and unlike them and stages and        development and schema, and boys and girls, and society

     There is really no such thing as race, but we live in a world that is racial, in fact "a fundamental          organizing principle, a way of knowing and interpreting the social world."(121)

Is it any wonder that Nakkula and Toshalis describe the identities of the young people we work with as "performances" (121)?

We often discuss race and gender issues in my classroom, especially in the early part of the year and here is a link to a website my students and I discussed recently:  Understanding Race

Whenever possible, we try to distinguish the language of race from culture in my classroom, as culture is generally associated with pride and family, and race is usually associated with racism.  One of my students suggested today that we all check the "other" box when filling out demographic info, and write in "human" in the space provided.  I thought this was an excellent suggestion, and was even happier when it led to a spirited classroom discussion.  My favorite part was one student who steadfastly refused to consider that racism played a role in his life (white male) and while we never came to consensus as to why it might, neither did he eject or shut down from the conversation.  I can't wait until tomorrow.

How can anyone be expected to demonstrate "authentic" when what is expected of them is in such conflict with anything individual and personal?

I think that probably the most important task of adolescence and the one that causes the most stress to the individual is discovering who they are authentically, and allowing that to drive decisions and be seen by others.  I would contend that when young people pretend to be like others, act like the crowd, and it is not authentic to their true selves, that it causes massive internal conflict, which is apparent to others and the source for insecurity and beacons ridicule.  This in turn, rather than influencing the adolescent toward more individual pursuits, causes them to refine their attempts to fit in, with a shut down period in between.

It is only when adolescents make honest attempts to share their authentic selves regardless of the reinforcement they get from peers, that they are seen as individual, and respected.  This causes a conundrum for teens, the fear to be original leading to more adaptive behavior, which in turn leads to reinforcement of adaptive rather than individual behavior.  Whether assimilating to gender, race, or other social stimulus, young adolescents trend toward and desire inclusion, when in fact, it is the authentic individual that will attract true friends and commandeer respect among them.

One area in which chapters 6 & 7 fail to give enough room for is the manifestations of gender and racial pressure, which often show themselves in sex, and drug and alcohol use.

When young people experience frustration with gender and race roles, they often turn to risky behaviors in an attempt to fit in.  Adolescent boys as well as girls feel enormous pressure to engage in sexual relationships because of the stories and encouragement they feel from peers, often even more so than because of curiosity or raging hormones.  Girls and boys both feel pressure from their peer groups to experiment with drugs and alcohol, and as much as we may want to separate this from gender and race study, they are intertwined.

We hear about Antwon listening to rap, and wearing counter culture clothing, but not of hanging out with his crew smoking weed?  We discuss Lorena building muscle and flipping off classmates who question it, but not cries of "dyke"?  Predators (socially, sexually, and racially) know about the incredible pressure sex-alcohol-drugs have on teens, especially those in conflict, and we as educators need to be realistic in our outlook as well, have open conversations, and build strong foundations within our young people in order for them to have the necessary tools to face these daily challenges with more than just hope.  Building those skills is complex, and requires a strong sense of self, but also a flexible and open approach that is geared toward the individual.

Possibility Development

In attempting to connect Nakkula and Toshalis chapters 4 and 5 to my practice, I find myself continually circling back to one idea, that "problems are not rooted in the students, but rather in larger systematic issues."

To begin with, I don't think we can look at the conditions in which we teach, as "problems" but rather circumstances filled with opportunity.  If we think about our students through an asset based lens rather than a deficit model, we can begin to think about what is possible rather than what is wrong. That being said, there are some inequalities facing the most economically challenged students in our schools, many of whom I work with.  While thinking about this post, I came upon the following article, which ran in the Providence Journal today:

Parents' Talk is the Key to Learning

In it, Dana Suskind, proposes that the single most determining factor in the ability of our students to learn is formed before they ever step foot into a classroom.  It is the number of words they hear spoken to them in their first three years of life.  Her research has shown that children growing up in poverty may hear as many as "30 million less words spoken to them by age three than their affluent peers."

This is an astounding number to me, and as this number bounced around inside me for a while, I began to consider not just the quantity, but the quality of the words my students hear over the 17+ years before they arrive in my classroom.  I was surrounded by words as a child, and I in turn have surrounded my own children.  I wasn't, and we are, by no means affluent, but that never got in the way of household literacy.  In considering my recent assignments for ELA class, and for my program in general, I must honestly think about the fact that I am literally drowning my students in words.

What seems like a pedestrian 300 word response to a chapter in The Outsiders that we have read, in reality is an assignment that contains thousands of words, many of which, I suspect, my students have never encountered before.

In talking to them, over many years, I realize that many come from single parent households, many have an elderly caretaker during the afternoon and evening hours while parents work second shift, and most do not even have a single book in their homes.  Now here I am tossing them into the deepest of oceans, without a lifejacket, instruction manual, or even a floaty.  No wonder the blank page sitting in front of them seems so daunting.

Nonetheless, I can't go back and read to them as infants.  So what to do?

The Possibility Development Model, allows us to immerse my students in rich conversations, connected lessons, and with peers who are co-creating models simultaneously. Vygotsky and Sullivan tell us that together they can begin to imagine possibilities, and that if I listen and reach, we can together build skill sets that can make those possibilities a reality.  There is a great book by Daniel Coyle, which details the possibility of the right conditions creating possibilities that far exceed the typical, and it is in these foundations that I can find inspiration to be optimistic.

I think that is why it is so important for me to build a community within my program, even at the expense of academic curriculum in the early going.  Rather than spend the beginning of the year assessing and defining my students by their struggles, I choose to assess their connectedness to each other, and to themselves.  I feel like the students I see are so seasoned as to the way our schools have failed to recognize them, that to continue on that path would be pointless.  So we read the outsiders, and talk and talk.  We prioritize the trust we can build in each other through the "second classroom" and we build belief in ourselves, and the space we create together.  Some days (like last Friday)  we push everything aside, and cook together (homemade chips and salsa).  Other days we fight about the expectations of how to treat each other and co-exist with the general school population.  Soon we will be our own family, and we can start catching up on those 30 million words.

The Fractured Landscape of Adolescent Education

Elementary schools are largely set up to be warm, welcoming places for young students.  Primary colors, hopeful books, and consistent teachers make up an academic world, where 6-year olds learn what to expect, when to expect it, and how they should participate.

Imagine the shock to the system, when you start to have different teachers, in different classrooms, for each subject.  Rotating schedules, bells, and constant variety rule, where once consistency was the major theme.  

Are our middle and high schools set up purposefully in response to changing adolescent needs?

Does the variety serve a need for excitement and experimentation as the young develop?

Are we helping our students figure out WHO THEY ARE?
As Nakkula and Toshails recommend as the pivotal task of adolescence?

I am not sure our schools are purposefully doing this.  It may be a by-product of some administrators and many teachers who devote their careers to building young people up, but to me it feels less the primary goal than creating conformity in the most efficient way possible.

Our education system is often driven by economics, and linear solutions, rather than sound individual student based practices.  I hear the question "how many students can we fit in a classroom?" much more often than "how can we inspire our students to crave knowledge?"  I still see more rows and desks, than tables and learning centers.  School boards and unions discuss test scores, salary and benefits much more contentiously than the citizens who graduate from their programs.

As Erikson takes us through the adolescent attempts to fit or MISfit, we can see how our model would allow students to sample various classroom settings, interact with adults who have very different styles, and experience a range of course offerings, hopefully connecting in one or more areas, and discovering elements of their identity.  The unfortunate reality, is that far too often, the school day is something to "get through" and many students are lucky to connect with one or two teachers in middle and high school, whose "co-authoring" resonates valuably.

In place of these connections, we have standards, and test scores, and limitations (for a variety of reasons), and lose sight of the fact that we are in the critical position of growing humans.  I found myself, throughout the reading of the text this week, reminiscing over my teaching practice, and core beliefs over my career.  I found this snapshot of the essential questions driving my first semester work from two years ago, and if I still had the same phone from 10 years ago, I think I would be able to pull up a similar whiteboard:

I have always been interested in learning about my students, and helping them develop through their adolescence.  I was fortunate enough to have a couple of teachers, mentors, and coaches in high school who were there to help me question and figure out the path I was on, and the path I wanted to be on, and how to get there.  I hope to be that person for my students as well.  This is often, though, in conflict with the academic tasks I have been given as a teacher, and I have had to creatively restructure my practice to accommodate my requirements with my beliefs.  Thankfully literature lends itself perfectly to this task, and young adult literature specifically offers the chance to explore risky themes, and deep questions in safe environment.

I believe deeply in the transcendent possibilities of literature, and that a young person who is searching, and maybe not able to trust other humans with risky questions, can find connections and the collective mind/flow experience detailed in the Nakkula and Toshails text.  

Risk is discussed in depth in chapters 2 and 3, and we adequately cover the normalcy of teenage risk taking during this period.  What I think needs to be taken further, is the role peer pressure plays in the types of risk that is being taken.  There is powerful motivation found within the need to fit in, and when coupled with the natural desire to test the limits of adult parameters, can often lead to what was referred to as spontaneous or intuitive risk taking.

Check out this video on Peer Pressure and Risk:

I am reminded of my own efforts in tanking exams so as not to stand out academically, which probably began in 6th or 7th grade, and my first experience with power drinking in the 9th grade, and it is clear to me that peer pressure was more of an influence in those cases than risk taking on its own. Marcia touches on this in the Erikson extension, but I believe it is an even bigger factor than what is stated, and much more complicated to intervene in.

A Sacred Place

When I was in middle school, I had a stock lecture on "A Sacred Place" and when Ayers mentions it on pg. 102, it took me back to that almost word for word. That being said....

Heady stuff this week!

For a comic book (I know, I know, a graphic novel), there was not much comedy to be found in the 2nd half of Ayers Journey.  He asks us to consider what it takes to be a GREAT teacher.  Not a competent teacher, or a decent teacher, or even a professional teacher.  Ayers uses the qualifier GOOD for schools, and gives us amazing examples of the community schools that made their world the way they wanted/needed it to be.  Clearly the word GOOD was not enough for what is expected of teachers, Ayers again and again demands that we push to be GREAT.

Of course this makes perfect sense.  I never set out to be adequate anything.  I never dreamed that when I grew up, I could be a serviceable cog.  If we don't aspire to greatness, how can we inspire our students to do so?  If we survive day-to-day, then no matter what words we put on the board, or literature we introduce, or magic rabbits we try to pull out of the hat, we send the message that manageable is the expectation and the norm, and our students are learning that lesson over and over each time we project it.  I think the competitive opportunities I experienced as a young person formed me in a way to push to be excellent, and that to accept mediocrity was to accept losing.  But there were many other influences as well.

There were two films, whose images I could not shake while reading the 2nd half of the Ayers, and whose influence in my decision to become a teacher are deeply intertwined.  In 1989, Robin Williams played Mr. Keating, a counterculture teacher in the stodgiest of schools for boys.  From ripping pages out of schoolbooks, to marching in the courtyard, to giving the boys sneak peaks at the hidden imagery found in the best poems, Keating does everything he can to inspire their young minds.  I believe in the transcendent possibility of film (and literature, and art, and music...), and the way this teacher builds relationships, and cares so obviously about his students resonated with me.  

Mr. Holland's Opus took a different route, but to the same destination.  In this film, Richard Dreyfuss' character goes into teaching reluctantly, after a lack of success as a professional musician.  Mr. Holland struggles for years, and the movie comes very close to losing the viewer because there is just no movement toward resolution of his rote classroom practices.  Thankfully, help comes.  In the form of other teachers who Holland builds relationships with, and thankfully with the students, the first of which is an unfortunate girl who he is tutoring in the clarinet, and despite no natural ability and no discernible aptitude, she will not give up.  In a monumental scene, he decides to throw the instruction out the window and learn about her.  Armed with this new information, he tries a non-traditional approach to the music lesson, and he reaches her - scaffolding as high art - and she gets it.  As begrudgingly as his teaching career began, Mr Holland figures out that it is about the people, and his students' lives become his master symphony.  

When I think of great teaching, these are two of the references (of many) that I draw on. Although I often fall short of greatness, as we all do, I think the concept of desiring to be great, and striving for improvement continue to benefit my classroom, my students, and myself. 

Understanding Youth took me in a completely different direction.  I could not read through the introduction and first chapter without flashing back to so many moments I have had with my students over the last 15 years.  How many Antwon's have I known?  How many have I helped? How many have I pushed further into their own negative convictions about the way teaching and learning happens.  How many throwaway comments have found sensitive ears?  Thanks Dr. Horwitz for making me feel crappy and guilty and awful. (kidding) I guess what I take away most from the first chapter of Nakkula and Toshails, is that we are intertwined within the lives of young people for a set amount of time, but the effects of what happens in that time do not end when our time together is up, it becomes part of both of us, and affects us, and molds us, and shifts us, and we should be more mindful of how we choose to spend it together.

Jose LaLuz has such a sad, sad face

"School failure fit Jose and followed him like a shadow." -pg. 6

Ayers captures in this image and quote, a face I have seen far too often in my lifelong relationship with education.  If I go back far enough, I am sure there were many, many moments when this look of despair appeared on my own mug.  It starts with excitement, an attempt to connect and respond with a force that could move the world, and with just a comment, or the failed recognition of the moment, is exhausted like the wind billowing out of the sails, only to be replaced by the emotion of giving up.  This feeling, if fueled, can manifest in the permanent wearing of this mask, and the longer it continues, the more permanent it becomes.

Luckily, we are uplifted in the next slide, and we see Jose with a different face, one of concentration, full engagement, and excitement, why he almost looks happy.  Our hero Bill sees this, but for so many Jose's, educators never do; and while Jose triumphantly fulfills the leadership role that might just re-engage him with school, for too many of our students, this opportunity never comes.

I am lucky enough to be working in a program where the focus and size require me to get to know each student deeply as an individual.  My first month of school is spent probing their successes and stumbles, and finding the reinforcements that draw them out of the protective shells they have built to buffer them from an education system that is not working for them.  I often mark the breakthroughs by the arguments that we encourage, because they allow the students unfiltered moments, and often times room for growth.

This is in stark contrast to Quinn, who we are introduced to on pg. 14.  The "weirdos with the clipboards" observe him in his classroom without enough background knowledge, compassion, competence, or empathy, and discuss him, making judgements that have no bearing.  In a tell-tale slide, one of them is incapable of cutting an apple with the plastic knife supplied by the school and while ignored, Quinn makes a peanut-butter mess.  Left to his own devices, Bill would most likely have sliced the apple, engaged Quinn, and rolled right along.  Ayers challenges us to "see each other generously and whole, rather than bit by behavioral bit" and this section speaks to the mistrust, and autocratic system, which tries to apply black and white rules and assessments to people who come in all shades.

The building bridges section felt a little disconnected and jumpy to me, as I read it straight through. It was only when I finished and re-skimmed it, that the metaphor of a twisting road, with many stops along the way, occurred to me. As Ayers describes to us the importance of finding ways to reach from the content to our students, and from our students to the content, he is interrupted by memories of skillful teachers who made those connections.  The more I consider the chapter, the more I connect with the idea that we are constantly assembling what we know with what we are learning, and sorting and shifting the entire time.  You listen to a story, and think of one similar, then it continues, and you make other connections.  I often read now with google open, and by the end of the session I have multiple tabs open to more deeply connect with the content.  I think Ayers is trying to get us to this conclusion when he asks us to "speak with the possibility of being heard, and listen with the possibility of being changed" which is a useful way of considering the way we learn constantly from those around us, and a positive connection to the Smith article from last week.

One final link, thank you for expanding my vocabulary Dr. Horwitz:   Mushfake it til you make it

SOMETHING is being learned, WHETHER WE WANT IT OR NOT, ALL the time.

   While reading the Smith article for this week, I found it eerie, how deeply it resonated with me, and more specifically, how tangibly it brought me right back to a situation I was involved in a few years ago.
     Smith speaks concretely about what students are learning, and how it can be very contrasting to what is the intended lesson, and while I was at the middle school, there was a conscious push to revise the manner in which we dealt with discipline and student behavioral expectations.  In theory, the changes made sense, when a student was misbehaving or acting out, the classroom teacher would call for support, and a behavior specialist would remove the student for redirection and re-engagement.  The student would then be returned to class, when the specialist deemed they were "ready to learn."  The intended message of this style of intervention, was that by supporting our students more, and listening to them, rather than punishing them or dictating to them, we would better serve the needs of the individual, and, in-turn, the whole.  In practice, this turned out to be a disaster. There were not enough supports (staff and training) to execute this system as thoroughly as it needed to be, and students quickly LEARNED, that there were no consequences for their behavior.  The change started slowly, but as a snowball turns into an avalanche, it progressed quickly from there.  Initially students started to roam the halls, talk back to faculty, and disrupt class somewhat more frequently, but as the message got out that there were no actual consequences for their behavior, the escalation began, and before the end of the year, students - middle school kids - were lighting fires in the bathroom, jumping out second story windows, threatening teachers with violence, and destroying school property in shocking degrees.

   The school maintained a 0% out of school suspension rate that year, and our in-school suspension room was shut down due to lack of staffing.  These students (about 10% of the 7-8th grade, and 5% of the 6th grade) were in-class, in front of the teachers they had threatened, every day.  We learned many things as a school community that year, some students learned they could do whatever they wanted, and could disrupt teaching constantly with impunity, students who wanted to achieve learned that their needs would be pushed off to accommodate a few troublemakers, borderline students learned it was easier to follow their peers who were disruptive and not get picked on, than to listen to their teachers and be subject to relentless bullying.  Teachers learned not to call for support, because it was unlikely to come, better to just try and ignore as much as you can, then quietly give up...a little each day.  We learned to shut our doors and keep our heads down and our mouths shut rather than make waves and risk being labeled "inefficient."  These lessons were effortless, and have never been forgotten.  Many teachers left that year and since, and while things have never been quite that difficult in the following years, the students and faculty bear scars to this day from the "lessons" we learned that year.
     On a more uplifting note, I have been thinking about all the things I know how to do, in relationship to our class discussion last week.  I have also been thinking about what my children can do, and what my students can do, and the universal thread through all of those things, is the excitement and growth that accompanies all of the learning involved.  I learned to read, because my parents read to me, my children read because I read to them, not once in a while, but as a norm.  I went to a varsity soccer game this week, and I watched as our boy's team showed a deft ability to keep spacing, and exhibit tremendous "touch " with the ball, and it was obvious that this was not something coach had taught them in practice, but something that was their norm.
     I memorized my times tables in fourth grade, and I can recite my Hail Mary in French because we chanted those things every day, but I resist math at every turn, and can't speak or understand French at all.  That type of learning was isolated and stagnant, and I struggle now to watch my daughter (who is in 7th grade) carry a 5 pound math text to and from school every day, and grind through 40 or 50 homework problems every night.  Is this "broccoli", and she should partake of it because it is good for her, or is this type of "official learning" stifling her creativity and desire to learn?  I found it interesting that Smith used the word "archetypal" to describe the official process of learning, because it immediately connected with a presentation from Sir Ken Robinson which deems our system of education as "outdated and detrimental."
     I aspire to guide the students I teach to a process of authentic learning, and have intentional elements of prioritizing the second classroom in my practice, but I worry about the space between the material, when much of the learning takes place, and desperately want to ensure that the lessons that last from my time with them are valuable and worthwhile.
   

Non-Conformity or Natural Human Diversity

This week's article by Christopher Kliewer struck a very personal chord with me.

I believe my first moment as a teacher came in 1987, when as a 16 year-old lifeguard at the MacColl field YMCA, I was offered the chance to teach a swim lesson with an outside group from the Spurwink School.  Every Wednesday, for 10 weeks that summer, a group of 10 severe/profound students, and their staff, showed up at the pool, and I got 90 minutes to work with them.  Three of the children were diagnosed autistic, two had Cerebral Palsy, two others had Spina Bifida, and the other three were Down's Syndrome.  Before the first lesson was over, I knew I was in for a very special summer.

A combination of things were in play that first day, the staff that worked with these kids were amazing, I was 16 and knew nothing and was therefore very impressionable, and we all loved the water.  The first thing I learned, was that these were not children with disabilities.  They were children.  The second thing I learned was that the water provided them with an exceptional medium in which to move and communicate.  As straps and harness were removed, and bodies entered the pool, their faces and their voices lit up.  I was blown away by the energy, enthusiasm, and excitement, and before I knew it, our time was up.


Max, My Coaching Idol

This group of students were secluded in their year-round school, but the staff that worked with them did not accept these limitations, one of the gentleman told me they put about 15000 miles on the van each summer, we were just one stop.  As the summer progressed, I integrated families and children from the pool club, and summer campers into our weekly time together, and without having the words for it, witnessed those young people "claim significance through dialogue" and "contribute to society's mosaic."  What they did was change my life, and the lives of the other kids I introduced to them.  The differences they had in their minds and bodies, made no difference to us, because of their spirits.  They were kids, we were kids, and the last three weeks of the summer when we had water polo matches with our integrated group were unforgettable.  We had started alone, in the zero entry, shallow end of the kiddie pool, and finished in the 10 foot well, with an audience of over a hundred, as we celebrated a championship in which everyone won.

I had plenty of interactions with special needs individuals before that summer, but that was the time in my life when I recognized that the special needs were mine, not theirs, and I lost my labels, and thank goodness, have never been the same since.

The Multilingual Aria

Teaching in a multi-cultural-lingual-tasking district and community, I am always challenged to find the Aria within.

Aria:  The term 'aria' was frequently used in the 17th and 18th centuries for instrumental music used for dancing or variation, and modeled on vocal music.


The melody that my students create, is often a combination of a variety of language and dialect, past experiences that vary wildly, and learning styles and attention spans that are as individual as the students themselves.

As I read this week's articles, I am struck by just how many pieces we, as teachers, need to conduct and weave together to create a single symphony.

In the Collier article, we are given 7 guidelines for teaching multi-lingual learners.  We discuss the merits of bilingual teaching, single-language teaching, and the blend of the two.  We are asked to consider how "caregivers" are speaking to our students, and reminded not to teach to their deficiencies, but rather their strengths.  We are encouraged not to challenge the validity of their first-language, while empowering their code-switching as a valuable learning technique.  Ultimately we are asked to build balanced literacy based on their first-language, while developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing in academic English simultaneously.

Synthesizing all of the methods, and practices, with the varying student abilities, begins to seem like conducting an orchestra to find one sound.  The question becomes, how to respect the student, and all of their individual and unique characteristics, and maintain a "one sound" that is meaningful and valuable.  Sarah Hudelson offers us insight on page 233, "the goal of reading and writing is to enable students to learn about and interpret the world and reflect upon themselves in relation to people and events around them...to explain, analyze, argue about and act upon the world.  If as ELL teachers, we can start a student down this road, and inspire them to find their place in this literate world, we have done a service we can be proud of, because the focus is where it should be, on the student.

The Rodriguez article took me into an entirely different kind of Aria, a sad, sad, operatic tragedy, where the loss of "home" is replaced by a spot in a new existence.  This provides different opportunities for the student, but at what cost?  We are introduced to our young hero of the song, as he finds himself dazed, diffident, and afraid, at the prospect of his parochial classroom forcing him into silence and dismay.  As the calming assurance that I belong in public has finally taken hold (36) Ricardo has finally morphed into Rich-heard.  But is this a Pyrric victory, coming at the loss of "my father, who in Spanish was quickly effusive, but has now retired into silence?"(paraphrased 37)  The inevitable slide into this new reality is the result of the family, giving up their private individuality, for a public identity, because "HOW CAN YOU QUESTION THE CHURCH'S AUTHORITY?" (35)
This second article had me channeling Delpit, and my own ideas about who gets to decide what success means.  If our hero and his family have assimilated to the point of "losing their home" have we simply silenced an important dialogue rather than respecting the individual?  Perhaps if we had been more respectful and inclusive this tragedy could have turned out comedy instead.

Happiness is your truth.

Reflection on Facilitating Digital Kids

Facilitating in SED 561was, for me, an experience we refer to in the Central Falls School District as a "learning stretch."  That term is bandied about among the faculty and leadership to describe putting someone in an uncomfortable position, in order to help them grow intellectually or professionally. Needless to say, as the date for Tina and I to present "Digital Kids" to our cohort drew near, my level of trepidation correspondingly increased.  Dr. Bogad and Tina, my co-teacher, were tremendously helpful in prepping some of the nerves out before class began, but Tuesday night and Wednesday day still felt an awful lot like the night before coaching my first High School game ten years ago.  I am very comfortable in the leadership roles I have chosen, but stepping into a new situation always comes with some anxiety, I am thankful that I have such an exceptional group in SED 561 to allow me to grow in new ways.

The authors we had read prior to 10/29 provided us with a map of effective, inclusive, equitable teaching practices, and the topic was interesting and important.  The challenge is, with so much information and resources available, how to keep the discussion and presentation of materials focused and purposeful.  Tina and I struggled throughout our planning with just how much material to bring in, in support of our article (then of course I made copies of the wrong article).  In our discussions, we both had links and connections we thought were valuable, and "takeaways" which we have used in our teaching, that we thought would be interesting.  I really liked the idea of making people uncomfortable with the idea of checking in and "being in the same space, but separate" and felt like the group was generally uncomfortable with the change to our check-in.  Tina's choice of opening video was powerful, and her Tweet took us into conversations that segued perfectly into the class discussion.  I felt like the flow of the class (timing, materials, transitions) went very well, although it always feels like there is so much pressure to fit a few more things in.  I sometimes struggle with allowing everyone the opportunity for equal time, and not dominating conversations in my classroom, but I have been working on this, and facilitating this class really helped me focus on actively listening, to be able to respond to each other, rather than try to make a point.  It definitely helps that we have such an insightful and responsive cohort.  

As Tina mentioned in relation to the Todd Rose talk, we are not asking if you want technology in your classroom, it's already here.  I was thinking about the rain, and inequality, and the idea of being a digital immigrant trying to operate in an classroom filled with natives.  My takeaway from the week, therefor is to learn the native language, stay relevant, and introduce the natives to each other more often, so that they can play in either world, and feel right at home, and so can I.  

Safe Spaces

So this week's reading, was actually two readings for me. I had never read about or heard of the events of Stonewall, and when I got to the reflection points on page 89, I decided to do so. While I normally tend to avoid Wikipedia for primary source references, I think the detail in which Stonewall is discussed at least gave me a base of knowledge I did not have prior to tonight.


Stonewall Riots Wikipedia


I was specifically enlightened by the words of Dudley Clendenin and Adam Nagourney, who wrote wrote this about homosexuals prior to the time of the Stonewall Riots:


"a secret legion of people, known of but discounted, ignored, laughed at or despised. And like the holders of a secret, they had an advantage which was a disadvantage, too, and which was true of no other minority group in the United States. They were invisible. Unlike African Americans, women, Native Americans, Jews, the Irish, Italians, Asians, Hispanics, or any other cultural group which struggled for respect and equal rights, homosexuals had no physical or cultural markings, no language or dialect which could identify them to each other, or to anyone else... But that night, for the first time, the usual acquiescence turned into violent resistance... From that night the lives of millions of gay men and lesbians, and the attitude toward them of the larger culture in which they lived, began to change rapidly. People began to appear in public as homosexuals, demanding respect."


The idea of prior movements for equality prior to June 1969, was mainly (with a few exceptions), for homosexuals to assimilate and fit in, and the confluence of events in Greenwich Village seemed to mark a distinct moment of change, where people felt empowered and were able to stand up for themselves proudly, I was reminded of our first reading with Alan Johnson, and how we need to have the conversation, pay attention, and make noise about inequities.

I found this short film which asks:

What if gay was the norm, and straight made you the minority?

The comments were telling, and challenge the cultural norms which pervade society

I suppose my parochial education, contributed to the lack of awareness of the riots of Stonewall, as the Roman Catholic church is notoriously 50 years behind cultural change, but as the Safe Spaces article points out, it is the subtle ways, rather than the obvious discrimination, which often most reinforces our day to day norms. The ways family is described, or omissions in their description, the prevalence of heterosexual preferences in society's structure that cause those who are not included to feel purposefully excluded in the wake.


I liked the idea of John Kellermeier introducing enough inclusive materials so that the discussion of LBGT references became commonplace. In order for equity to exist, topics of those without privilege must become common rather than "token" or forced.


There are many approaches to increase the idea of equity for LGBT individuals discussed in the article. Curriculum inclusion, and teachable moments, clearly are important, as is the removal of the stigmatism that anything related to homosexual is deviant or abnormal. Teaching students the power of language as "Patrick" did with "Derek" is an approach that is straightforward and clear, and addresses the issue in a way that neither ignores it or places undue discipline on it.


I feel as if the LGBT community has made important gains in equity over the last 5-10 years, while I don't think there are more or less individuals who are LGBT, there are certainly more who are openly and proudly affirmative of who they are. However much improvement we have seen though, the silent curriculum, and the culture of power still combine to create an environment of inequity among all our students. This is probably seen in no larger way, than in bullying in schools.


On page 97, the article states that in the face of bullying among students directed toward homosexuals, teachers, parents and leaders often scold, snicker, or join in. The article also correctly points out that to ignore these types of bullying implicitly implies consent. I would propose that all of these approaches are harmful. Obviously snickering or joining in, would suggest gross misconduct on the part of a teacher, but scolding and ignoring speak to the subtly ways in which we can sometimes reinforce stereotypes and maintain the status quo. While lawmakers have made it popular to "take a zero tolerance policy" on bullying in schools, in reality, it exists prominently in the school culture everywhere. A major part of this is the use of the word gay to describe something in negative. As stated, reprimanding students for this will not solve the problem, it will push it further into the subculture, instead we need to be teaching our young people to look at and respect each other as individuals, and to realize that each of us with all of our characteristics, talents, and differences, contribute to a greater whole when we all have a common place from which to operate. We can accomplish this with open conversation, attentive empathy, and inclusive behavior. If we could do that, schools wouldn't be the only safe spaces.

weather check-in

So today I feel that there are many weather systems roiling inside me today.

I am partly sunny because it was a nice day, which always lifts my mood, and I am at SED 561, which always makes me feel sunny.

I am also partly cloudy, because it has been an awfully long day, I was in school to meet with someone early, taught straight through to 245, then had a faculty meeting until 345, then fought mineral spring traffic to get here for class, only to have to fight it again to make a fundraiser meeting at St. Ray's in Pawtucket after class.

There are also storms forecasted for me, because a number of my students are going through difficult life situations, and I want to help, but know that there is only so much I can do.

Finally, when Al Roker predicted snow on Sunday, I thought "Why not?"  So I'll claim snow in my check in, and attribute that to feeling old in yoga today.

Social Media Silence Challenge

This is happening 12-13-14

follow the link:

SMS Challenge

Thanks

Brian

link to the Turkle article

Turkle NY times article

The Discipline Games

Patrick Finn describes a teacher preparation class roll playing exercise, where he has the students (all teachers) play a student, teacher, and jury.  They have dialogue regarding the negotiation of student desires, and teacher responses, and after a pre-set amount of time, the jury rules on the item at hand.  I found this to be an interesting exercise, and I loved the idea of dialogue vs. anti-dialogue, but I opened with this description, because I thought the title "The Discipline Games" would make an apt title for the article selection. 

Finn opens in chapter one, discussing various considered titles for his book, and while we did not have access to the entire book, the selection we read could have been titled "The Discipline Games" because of the in-depth study and description of the set-up and inequality found in schools and how that inequality funnels students into their roles in life following.  The set-up of schools, and the idea that it could be intentional (conspiracy GASP!) by those with privilege, evokes powerful connections to that other title so popular in today's classrooms and society "The Hunger Games."  So in honor, I will be peppering my blog today with movie references for those of you who love the cinema.

In "The Book of Eli" Denzel Washington's character carries a bible through the apocalyptic world, where very few can read, and those who can hold all the power.  The main antagonist, is on a mission to collect and/or destroy all books, especially the bible, because it is the most dangerous of all books.  When he finally gets it from Washington's character, it is useless, because it is in Braille, which renders the villain functionally illiterate.  Eli continues on the a society of pacifists, and proceeds to recite, word for word the entire contents of the King James Bible, which he has memorized.  Finn opens by telling us of the power of literacy, and access to books, and continues throughout his book to describe "literacy with attitude."

We go on to read Finn discuss how students in working and middle class schools are taught to follow directions, get the right answer, and exhibit acceptable levels of resistance, mixed in with some hope for opportunity.  This type of learning is directed toward a future of wage labor, or service labor, such as teaching, law enforcement, nursing, and "accountantry(my word)."  There were two phrases that stuck most with me in this section, the first, concerning working class students and a science experiment was:  "what did we find" of course this came after the teacher performed the experiment in front of the students who were expected to sit quietly at their desks and observe.  The second was "There was more excited patriotism around holidays here than in any other school." when referring to middle class students.  This screams to the "caste system" of our society.  While hourly wage workers and working class people have little reason to look forward to the holidays, and those who are affluent don't need to have their holidays and gift-giving dictated to them, the middle class "managers" grind ploddingly forward, waiting for a chance for a little extra moment of what appears to be joy, in the form of a three day weekend.  What more appropriate image than a Disney classic:

The ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food, and nobody gets squished.  These ants don't even know enough to know that they are oppressed, or to question their lot in life, until one renegade ant screws up and has no choice but to force change.  I think Finn and Friere might have moonlighted on Disney's writing team for this one.

The last idea I wanted to touch on was the idea of students from working class schools being hosted by those in affluent schools, and the differences between the food, and the classes, and the hallway expectations, and the rules, etc.  I have often rebelled against the popular idea that if you took a student from a poor community, and dropped them in an affluent one, they would prosper, or that if you took a teacher from an affluent community and dropped them in a struggling urban school, they would fail.  I'm just not sure the issue is that simple, but I do understand how he felt that he had let the urban students down by reinforcing the image they already have of sub-ordinance. Here's two last hollywood pics that deal with that idea:

Can't wait for class this week!

From the Three R's to the Three C's

First a video from this week's Saturday Night Live, just for fun, but which talks about the rain:

Now on to the discussion of the Ira Shore article.  

It seems as if we are discussion the movement/revolution in education from pedagogical "readin' ritin', rithmatic" and the role of teacher as lecturer, to a newer model of teacher as "problem poser" and the idea of students as creative, critical, and curious.

What teacher would not like to describe their students with these words?  What teacher actually describes all their students with these words, check out the 2nd video, by Sir Ken Robinson, who discusses exactly the model of schools we have been accused of in the Shore article:

The first time I ever saw this, I was ready for the revolution.  It helped that, the same year, I was moved from a middle school reading classroom, to a high school multiple pathways program.  I was in fact asked to energize, motivate, and engage a group of students, for whom the educational process had become "endullment"(my favorite term from this article).  I chose project-based learning as my format for ELA class, and we read Into the Wild by John Krakauer.  My first year in the program was spent in students self-discover, and despite a few hiccups, was quite successful.  To my surprise, many students found that school was engaging, and worthwhile, and that learning at their own pace, and being asked to figure out what topics meant to them, and then being asked to apply this knowledge in a practical way, inspired them to want to pursue new knowledge.  

In many ways, this style brought me back to my 2nd grade classroom, where Sr. Beatrice, rolled out the Scholastic Reading Leveled System.  Which to this day remains my favorite unit in any school experience (except of course for SED 561).  In this unit, there was a box with 50 or so colored levels. Students would all begin at level 1, then proceed through as quickly as they could test out.  Our teacher allowed us to choose our readings, and supported us all individually.  I flourished, as did many other students in class, but it was the expert facilitation of our beloved Sr. Beatrice that allowed this to happen.  

I believe the art of teaching, is the student focused-student centered support of learning, with citizenship, empowerment, and participation at the core.  This article hits me right where I live, and leaves me with the question: How do we make this the norm rather than the exception?

Civil Disobedience BY CHRISTY STEVENS

The title of this article could just as easily have been "creating community with your students" or "the way teacher's really get compensated ."

Christy Stevens article touches on many of the points we have discussed in class, while at the same time, bridging our discussion towards that of socio-economic inequities, and the challenges of teaching students with emotional, learning, or behavior disorders.

Teaching in an alternative setting, and working with students who remind me of those mentioned in the article, made this article personal for me.  In my practice, I have found students who are working class, and especially those with additional academic challenges, can get overwhelmed with the idea of fairness.  To read this article and see how they responded when faced with a substitute who broke the norms they had created within the group, really hit home.  I empathize with how let down they must have felt, and am inspired by the way they rallied to protect one another.

The most heartening paragraph was when the teacher was so supported by her administrator.  I am sure all the hard work felt justified at that moment, not to mention the feeling of having tangible evidence that some of the lesson you work so hard to advance, have taken hold.  These are the moments we teach for.  Despite the fact that her students had to go through a difficult day, what they were able to accomplish as a team, and how much closer they must have ended up as a result of the eventual outcome seems a pretty fair trade to me.

here's the link:

civil disobedience

Colorblindness, Color Insight, and Oppositional Consciousness. How Trayvon Martin and MIchael Brown play into the short game and the long game.

Ok, so the Ferguson Curriculum is mind blowing, so much information, so many different directions to go with it, and conversations that spiral deeper and deeper into important societal issues, that it becomes easy to lose your way, and get sucked into the vortex and never find which way is up.

I am going to try to make sense of what I read in two ways.   First, by addressing the Armstrong and Wildman article and the idea of colorblindness vs color insight, then by looking at the idea of oppositional consciousness in relation to Michael Brown, and Trayvon Martin.

The Armstrong and Wildman article contests that the idea of colorblindness as political policy came about and grew in popularity only when it helped the cause of those in power already.  In effect white people denying race problems because they chose to look at the world without color as a factor.  In effect pronouncing "racism is not my problem because I am someone without race."  One of the problems with this philosophy is that it ignores the privileges afforded by simply being white, and places the focus only on those who are not white and the lack of privileges afforded them.  The flaw turns a blind eye toward inequality, in favor of lack of segregation.  White people have race.  This fact cannot be disregarded, when we as Armstrong and Wildman suggest, acknowledge this fact, and can discuss what having race means, then we can also discuss what it means to be of a different race, and place the focus on the "me" instead of the box checked on the application.  When we can discuss openly the broad inequalities that come with race privileges, then we can begin to build bridges toward true equality.

I chose the Mansbridge and Morris article "Oppositional Consciousness - The Subjective Roots of Social Protest" because the idea of revolution and change appeal to me on a base level.

In this article, the authors/editors suggest the idea of change is brought about by the feeling of wanting change being coupled with a catalyst that is capable of organizing the masses under a common idea, and forcing society to change.  Like others, this article clearly points out that the ruling norms and ideas of a society are tightly shared with its ruling class. Ascendent classes may have the power to change the predominant power or ideology, but that power is always present.  Whenever it is asserted, there is conflict, and our primal human response is either that of shame or anger.

In the cases of Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown (which I have chosen not because they are the only examples, but because they are recent, well-known, and share common messages) I believe there are clear indications, of examples of the type of thinking that indicate the flaws of colorblindness, and oppositional consciousness.  Check out the video:

Hand's up, don't shoot!

While the speaker Phillip Agnew, from the Dream Defenders, explains to us all that (sic)"from the time you are born, this action speaks to the idea that I give up, I want to live" we are keyed in to a mentality, that I believe exemplifies the type of thinking that we need to discuss.  We have a white network anchor, asking the black man to explain the message of hands up.  Agnew explains, the problem is not in his explanation, but in the underlying message that black children are brought up to know this, and that they are all told explicitly from a young age how to handle interactions with police.  Is this the same conversation happening routinely with white families?  Why, if this "hands up"motion is universal, does Agnew need to explain it?

The idea of the long and short game unfolding here is also interesting to me.  Subordinate groups are often taught intrinsically and explicitly to rebel in small ways toward groups in power/privilege.  This is woven into the fabric of their consciousness, as Mansbridge and Morris point out "in crisscrossing routes with frequent collisions and cross-fertilization."  So individuals grow up learning to be suspicious of those in power, and find small ways to rebel.  This is what I refer to as the "long game" the idea of opposition.  When there are galvanizing incidents, such as the cases of Martin and Brown, leaders use the opportunity and timing to organize groups of like-minded individuals, and push change, banking on the notoriety of riots and outrage to educate, inform, heighten awareness, through slogans, protest, etc.

This is what I refer to as the "short game."  The seeds of unrest have been planted and fertilized all along, and when opportunity presents, you capitalize on it, and drive change.  The civic leaders in the cases of Martin and Brown understand the timing and cultural significance of major events, and rightly use these occurrences to further a movement.  Individuals decide, perhaps based on shock, or just new information, to back a movement, and at a base level, change can happen.  The role of the media in this process cannot be disregarded, nor can the role of popular perception.

I am left with the questions.  If the ruling group in society is replaced with a different group, and the ideas that rule are changed, how do we ensure that the new rules are better?  If the goals of change are to provide a structure of equity, can there ever be a ruling group?  Are we better served with fewer but better laws to address inequity or does everything need to be spelled out?

The Silenced Dialogue

"In this country, students will be judged on their product regardless of the process they utilized to achieve It." - Lisa Delpit

This, might possibly, be the best sentence I have read in the last 20 years in reference to education in America.  For far too long, the trend in our society has been to mollycoddle, to nurse, and cater to our students.  The current group of learners has matured in an age where everyone gets a trophy, where your personal choices and actions are valued equally right or wrong, where if you get a grade you don't like, have mommy and daddy go yell at your teacher and change it, and where discipline is mostly served with a timeout chair and a blanky.

While reading this article, I felt consistently reminded of my experiences as a basketball coach.  On the court, I am always giving purposeful, connected feedback (positive and negative) to my players.  Behaviors have consequences in practice, i.e.- if you don’t hustle after a loose ball, we, as a team line up and run, if you make a free throw, you can save your team from the same sprint.  My players respect me because I have earned the right to tell them when they make a mistake.  My expertise is in an area where they are desperate to show growth and their own ability, and we are always judged by the final product.  On the practice floor, we work to gain proficiency, and our games are a public, quantifiable way to measure that.  I have to constantly prove my ability in order to keep the team working forward, and they each have to constantly prove their commitment to justify playing time. 

This is not so different from what Delpit is saying about how teachers need to prove their ability in the classroom to earn the respect of working-class or African-American students.  I would suggest that this approach benefits ALL students.  Knowing what is expected and valued in a society benefits ALL its members, not just the ones seen as having obstacles.

When we create and maintain a "culture of power" that is based on middle-upper class, racially biased ideals, we are doing a disservice to everyone.  Some of the best practices described in this article apply to all students.  I am currently in the process of becoming certified in the SIOP model (Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol), which is intended to address the challenges of English Language Learners.  Its best practices are recommended for all students, not just ELL's, here is a link: SIOP info

We respect our students as experts in their own lives when we allow them multiple opportunities to apply language in informal and formal settings, and teach them the rules and the differences.  I have found some of the best results as a teacher come when we help a student figure out what needs improvement in their academics, either through conferencing or with a class assignment that has connected value.  Stand-alone practice is seen as busywork.  In summary, I think Delpit’s article suggest we expect all our teachers to earn the respect of their students, while at the same time, allowing them to earn the same respect, the process should be constant.  If we expected this kind of behavior from all teachers, it would be beneficial to all students without costing any students.