QTC chapter 3

 

Chapter 3

(3.1) Personal and social development can have a major influence on both individual student learning and the learning environment as a whole.  Identify a case from the CSEL guidelines* that you would like to address in your paper.  Then, examine the possible developmental factors that could be influencing your target student(s) or classroom in the case study.  Consider all dimensions of personal and social development, including cognitive, language, social, emotional, and moral development. *CSEL guidelines can be found under CSEL Artifact. Cases are included at the end of the document. Choose the case that best suits your desired grade level.

 

Lisa is a first grader who is unengaged in group work. She refuses to participate and withdraws from the group when she doesn’t get the group role that she wants.  Lisa may struggle with perspective taking, and may not consider the thoughts and feelings of the students that she is working with. She may not be thinking about how her peers feel when she refuses to participate. Lisa probably has greater concern for her needs than the needs of others. She wants to be in a particular group, and likely weighs her desire to be that “role” as more important than the needs and desires of the group of children that she is working with. I would encourage perspective taking and pro-social behavior to solve this problem.

 

QTC 3.22  I will be looking at Lisa’s case student in the CSEL paper, with Lisa being a first grade student. Students are at this stage of development are largely limited to creating a sense of self that is based concrete, easily observable characteristics. For example, Lisa might think that she is bad at a particular role because she failed at this role only once before, or because a peer made a negative comment on her abilities. I would need to provide Lisa with sufficient scaffolding to make success possible, as well as providing Lisa with other opportunities to succeed in the same area. Lisa would need to have concrete evidence of her success in order to increase her self-concept and self-efficacy in this area.

 I really like the idea of teaching perspective through story books. I would ask questions about characters’ thoughts, feelings, and motives when I read books out loud, or when students read books during silent reading time.

Barb

We so often (wrongly) believe that people with autism are somehow incapable of communicating with or understanding us that it can be difficult to attach wit and wisdom to the diagnosis.  Barb's presentation proved that not only do people with autism poses the capacity for both, but also the ability to reach each and everyone of us in a very meaningful way.

Many of my colleagues have spoken at length about Barb's inspiring life and story, and while I am also moved by her accomplishments, I am equally fascinated by the discussion of the implications autism has on the human race.  Last summer, I discovered a TED video by Juan Enriquez in which he proposes the theory that humans are currently undergoing an evolutionary change; one of the avenues for this change could be autism.  When viewed not as a disability, but as a new, hyper-active and hyper-sensitive response of the brain to the plethora of information and data available to us today, one begins to view autism in a brand new light.

Barb's "smiling shrink" discussed how advances in civilization were almost surely made by people with ADHD and/or autism.  It is easy to see the possibility of these "disabilities" as being responsible for moving society forward--without people who are willing to consciously think against the grain, norms go unchallenged and unchanged.  Enriquez goes one step further and suggests that humans will become the first species in history to not only undergo evolutionary change, but be in complete control of the method and outcome of that transition.  We have the technology to bend, break, manipulate, transmute, and clone nearly anything into nearly anything else; it is only a matter of time before a game-changer turns that technology on him or herself.

I thoroughly enjoyed Barb's presentation and the intellectual workout it gave me.  Her bringing up the idea of autism being simply a different type of neurology, not a disability, has inspired me to do more research into the possibilities of autism and how to best reach those students in my classroom.

 - B

-----

TED profile of Juan Enriquez:
http://www.ted.com/speakers/juan_enriquez.html

"Will Our Kids Be a Different Species?" TED Talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_will_our_kids_be_a_different_species.html

Chapter 2 QTC

Unit 3

Chapter 2

(2.1) One of the most cited theories of human development is that of Swiss biologist Jean Piaget.  After reading about Piaget’s basic assumptions (p. 27-32) look with particular attention at the stage of child development you would like to teach.  The other most cited theory of human development belongs to Russian developmentalist Lev Vygotsky.  Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development leads us to expect greater diversity among our same-aged students than Piaget.  Given these two influential theorists’ ideas on cognitive development, how might you accommodate students who are not yet working at the level of their peers?

I will be teaching first grade, and children will be bordering the preoperational and concrete operations states of development. It is likely that I will have students in my class at both stages, especially when considering that Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development leads us to expect some diversity among same age students. In my current placement, the first graders are learning basic fraction concepts. It is the end of the year, and many of the students are firmly in the concrete operations stage of development. However, some students appear to remain in the preoperational stage, and struggle with conservation of size. Some students easily grasp that fractions have to be composed of “equal parts,” but struggle with the idea that equal parts don’t have to be the same shape to have an equal area. For example, a problem with a cube divided into four equal parts (divided into two squares and two rectangles) stumped about half of the class. To accommodate various levels of development in this scenario, I would provide concrete shapes for kids to play with. For a cube, I would provide many tiny cubes that the students could lay over the larger cube. How many small cubes fit in the rectangles? How many fit in the small cubes? This will help all students learn to conserve area with different shapes. I would have students draw lines in to make equal parts in the shape, and then count the same-shaped parts within the whole. These experiences will move the students towards the next stage, but will allow them to complete the same coursework as their peers, working toward understanding fractions.

 

(2) Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development.  Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching.  Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

I want to teach students aged K-2. I will certainly read age-appropriate books as a way of enhancing both vocabulary and reading skills. Today, I read “Cat in the Hat” with a kindergartner who claimed he “couldn’t read.” He was able to recognize many sight words, and figure out the other words by context. He asked many questions, including “Is ‘I’ the name of the boy in the story.” I was able to use the story to explain that “I” signifies point of view, asking the student, “What do you say when you want a cookie… Who do you think is telling this story?” The student was able to understand perspective and have a better understanding of the word “I.” I will continue to use books as a way of enhancing vocabulary in my classroom. I will also ask follow-up questions to make sure that students accurately understand important messages. If I had not asked this student to summarize the story so far, he might not have responded by asking a question about something that he did not understand. Many first graders and kindergarteners can read things out loud without understanding the meaning of what they are reading. Asking follow-up questions is necessary to ensuring that students understand both written and spoken materials.

Barb

I found Barb and Dr. Prislovsky's speech/discussion to be very eye-opening, and I experienced many mixed emotions while listening. I think it is wonderful that Barb has been able to find her voice, and to help give a voice to so many people who live with Autism, but I also became sad when thinking of the many people with Autism who were never able to get their voice out and heard because there was no one there to help bring it out of them. I hope that Barb's story, and her writing will show the world that people with Autism do have voices, and emotions, and passions, and also help people not to feel sorry for people with Autism, but to see the up side to Autism, and to see what Autism has to offer the world.  I found Barb's positive spirit to be extremely inspiring and uplifting. She embraces her Autism and is working to make the lives of all who live with Autism better through her words, insight, and fantastic sense of humor. 

Connecting the Dots: How Race in America's Classrooms Affects Achievement

While reading this article I had many issues with the assumptions that people seem to make based on an individuals race. In the article it says from the beginning, American constructions of race and class have determined who had access to education. It goes on to talk about how schools ability group. Some of these groupings are inaccurate by language barriers, culture barriers and testing anxiety. The biggest problem I have with this is that students that are grouped in a lower class are being measured lower and are not expected to achieve. Another concept that is misunderstood by our community is that intelligence is something that is inherited. I have huge issues with this because the country as a whole is not only labeling your parents, but also labeling you based off of your parents' performance. If this is how it really works where did all the brilliant scientists come from? If it is hereditary how come their parents didn't come up with the ideas first? My next issue comes from IQ testing. This was supposed to be used as a test for an individual in their environment and should only be used as such. Again, there are barriers in IQ testing including language, culture and testing anxiety. To fix the issue teachers should use some of the following intervention ideas: Communicate your expectations in many ways, offer a genuine smile, greet the students by name, call on all students, prompt further thinking, and make effort to include the students culture in activity.

Barb

I have been around a fair amount of children and adults with ASD, and I have seen all ranges on the spectrum. With that being said, I would have to say that Barb Rentenbach was exceptional; her writing shows her unique wisdom and surprises those individuals who doubt the mental capabilities of those with ASD.From the first sentence she communicated through typing to us, I amazed. She typed, "Autism is my prism, not my prison. Those words, that simple sentence resided with me throughout the entire presentation. She does not view her Autism as a hinderance; it will not cage her in and confine her to not exploring every aspect of the world. Listening to excerpts from her book was entartaining and enjoyable. I admired her sense of humor and silently cheered her on as she proved to doubters that she was not "stupid", but indeed a witty woman with great wisdom.

Barb

I went to the first field trip with Barb and was totally taken back by how enthusiastic and engaging she really was. She listened intently when people were reading her writings and was excited when someone took the passage seriously and punctuated it as she had planned. Wow what kind of humor she has. She had my laughing through the whole field trip and I thought she was very pleasant and sincere to hear speak. The thing that stood out to me was when she spoke about not feeling sure about making friends and how she was reluctant to trust anyone. What a fear to have to have and what a shame that society has put that on someone that's a little different than what they consider to be "normal". I have learned that no one is normal and we each have a quirk that is unpleasing or that is different than others. I feel she has really brought the forefront to Autism and I applaud her for that. I look forward to seeing her again and was hoping to attend the second one.

Barb

I unfortunately was unable to see Barb in person but after watching the video online I was very moved. As a verbal communicator, I spent much of Barb's presentation thinking about how differently my life would be if I could not talk to communicate my thoughts or feelings. Barb is absolutely incredible and her large vocabulary is mind-blowing. As a teacher, it is important to consider Barb's struggles that my future students may relate to. Perhaps, my future students may be capable of learning but show difficulty in providing evidence of their knowledge. I need to consider alternative assessments to allow these students to demonstrate their knowledge like Barb eventually discovered. I did further research on Barb after watching the presentation. Her comments about friendship were touching. I believe that relationships are important to being a human being and it made me sad to think of Barb living much of her life lacking such connections. Communication is necessary to maintain relationships so it is a blessing that Barb is now able to communicate through written expression. My preconceived notions about Autism were disarray. I have researched Autism in SPED 402 and presented my findings of stereotypical autistic behavior and symptoms of autistic individuals. However, Barb changed the beliefs I used to have about autism in general.

Barb

I went to the first of Barb's presentations and even though it has been nearly two months since I saw her, what was said there that night has stayed with me. When I look back there are several things that have stuck with me.

The first among them is Barb's sense of humor, which relies heavily upon sarcasm. I loved it! To me humor is one of most normalizing elements of our existence. When she laughed, or more often made us laugh, she did not have autism. We often think that people with autism, or any other neurological disorder are incapable of adjusting to what is "normal". This proved that wrong. For it is "normal" people who have the problem.

The second thing that was really interesting was the fluency that she exhibited in her writing. Before the audience was a woman who is learning to talk, and yet when you read her work there is a level of intellect and emotion that is absent from a lot of work by "normal" individuals. Even when she was answering questions during the Q&A portion of the presentation, with little time to edit and refine her language, she was still remarkably concise in her language.

The last thing that really shocked me was the sheer force of her will. Although she said that she enjoyed giving presentations, it was clear that she was definitely out of her comfort zone. And yet, there she was proving everyone in attendance that she could it. I think even she was admit that she would have rather been doing something else, but there was a point to be made, and minds that needed changing. She was very aware that many of us in attendance were going to be future teacher and I think she changed everyone's perception of the person with "autism". She sure changed mine.

Barb

Like many others, I have little experience with or knowledge about autism.  Going to this presentation, put on by Barb and her "Smiling Shrink," has helped me better understand and appreciate autism and the people that struggle with it and other disabilities..  Going into the presentation I did not really know what to expect.  Before I watched the videos I expected the presentation would include Barb getting up and talking about autism and advocating for people affected by autism.  I was picturing a Temple Grandin type character.  After watching the videos I knew that the presentation would be a little different since Barb could not speak on her own.  I thought maybe the whole presentation would be done by her typing out responses that a computer would read.

The presentation was much different than I expected.  Although Barb was able to type out her thoughts and communicate, it takes her quite a bit of time to do so.  She gets her thoughts across well and has a great sense of humor in her responses.  I was honestly surprised at how comfortable she seems around people.  I was also very surprised by the little language that she does use.  I expected her to not be able to produce any sound, when in reality she just has no control of her voice.  Reading and hearing her writing makes it clear that she is a very bright individual that has a lot to share with the world.  She has a very positive outlook, despite her disability, that is very inspiring.

After the presentation I did what I always do when I want to find out more about someone: I googled Barb Rentenbach.  I found her website and blog and read more about her.  Along with this, and the job posting that Elizabeth sent us, I learned that she is a very active lady that loves to be social.  She lives in her own house and has many of the same wants and needs as everybody else.  She seems very happy with where she is in life, and wants to share her life with others.  I really appreciate her being so open in sharing her story and building activism for people living with autism.  They are important in this world.  They have their ways of bettering others and the world around them.

As I go away from this experience I hope to always remember the things that I learned from Barb.  People living with disabilities are people too, and have many of the same wants, needs, and fears as the rest of the world.  Although they may appear to be incapable of doing anything, many of them are very intelligent and can change the world if they are given the chance.  As I start my career as a teacher I want to always remember that all of my students have something to add to the classroom.  They can all learn and can all make a difference in the world.  They may need a little help getting there, and will have to find their own positive way to do it, but they can make a difference.

Barb

         I am so thankful to have had the privilege of attending Barb's lecture this week. I am still thinking about her words several days later. First of all, I am amazed by Barb and all of her accomplishments. Her perseverance in working hard to express her brilliant mind is inspiring. Barb's attitude is inspiring as well. She typed in the beginning of the lecture "...autism is my prism, not my prison".
         There are a couple of things that I will take from Barb's words that will shape the teacher that I become. One important piece of advice to us was to enjoy our lunch. Do not be like a businessman juggling chainsaws frantically running around, but rather be like a native sitting in the grass enjoying nature. I have to admit that I have been much like the businessman these past couple of weeks. I have been running around like crazy trying to keep my head above water and finishing all of my final assignments. Barb's reminder to be more like Mary rather than busy Martha was so refreshing. I know that when I have my own class I will be tempted to be the chainsaw juggling businessman. However, I believe that it is so important to take a pause and delight in the world that surrounds us. Children need to see adults doing this. Children need to know that life is to be experienced and enjoyed, not rushed through. I hope to set this example when I am a teacher.
         Another word of wisdom I will take away is that the world need autism. I need autism. I need those around me who think, act, and experience the world differently that I do. It is really easy for me to think that students I will have with special needs will need me. The truth is I will need them just as much. Barb also encouraged us to help students find out who they are and to help them be that on purpose. We must meet students where they are to connect with them. If students are mute or do not speak, join them in their silence until they are comfortable enough to express themselves.

Barb

When I arrived at the presentation thinking that I knew what to expect. I had watched the videos ahead of time, and I had worked with students with autism before on many occasions. I brought my boyfriend with me, but I didn't really think to explain to him what autism was before we showed up. I really should have put more effort into explaining to my guest what the presentation was going to be about, and what to expect during the presentation. However, I am almost glad I didn't. The presentation was that more intense for him because he wasn't prepared for it. Barb didn't act "normally." She rocked back and forth, and sometimes squeaked out noises and cuss words. If I didn't know Barb, and just saw her in on the street or in a restaurant, I would not guess that she is capable of communicating so artfully, effectively, and with such a big vocabulary. I suppose this reveals my unconscious prejudices - I should never assume anyone isn't capable of something, especially as a teacher. It should be up to the individual to determine what he or she is are capable of, and to themselves as individuals.

Barb seemed to get really uncomfortable and make more vocalizations when students did a less than perfect job of reading her writing (a few students mispronounced words or names, and a few stumbled over the unique syntax). It must be hard to have written a work of art with a unique voice and have someone else butcher it (or not read it with the same emphasis, intensity, and tone with which you intended it to be read). I wonder how Barb would have wanted her work to be read - even as her voice comes through powerfully in her writing, she has to rely on others to "read" her work and interpret it. Barb must share this with other poets and writers whose work has been performed by other people.

I was really interested in the story about the student with Autism who was really good at DDR. The psychologist reached him by doing something that she was really uncomfortable with and not very good at (dancing DDR in the mall). Many of the things that we ask students with Autism to do are difficult for them, and we don't think about how the academic tasks that we expect students to do can be extremely difficult and uncomfortable. This story also reminded me of the many ways that people and students can be intelligent. We should not assume that students aren't "smart" because their brains aren't wired in the "average" way. I agree with Barb that respecting not only racial and cultural but also neural diversity is really important. It also reminded me how important it is to develop good relationships with students.

Barb

I feel very fortunate to have been able to attend Barb's lecture. So many of her words have stuck with, even now a day later--after only 2 hours of sleep :( Yet, I'm still reflecting on the experience. I keep thinking about the excerpts from her book--how she takes the time to appreciate the rainbow of colors from a droplet of condensation on a cup or how she can feel her hair follicles expanding as she feels the warmth of the sun. This message couldn't have come at a better time for me. I often juggle so many things at once and forget to take time to just..be. 

Barb's words about there being a flip-side to every neurological coin really made me think. So often we jump to medication. Barb urges us to consider the fact that we don't what we are missing if we medicate it away. This made me think about how I will approach this matter in my own classroom. For example, a child with ADHD who can't sit still and wants to move--I should let them move. I want my students to be themselves and be comfortable. If that means standing up while they are taking a test while everyone is sitting because they are more comfortable, that is fine with me. Barb's favorite quote, by Dolly Parton "Find out who are, and be that on purpose"captures the kind of environment I want to have in my classroom. I want to inspire my students to be comfortable in their own skin and enjoy life. 

To do this, Barb suggests that teachers should not be afraid to meet these individuals where they are--get on their level, find out where they are comfortable, be patient, and be open to other communication levels.

What really stuck with me however, is how strong her voice really is. It is clear that Barb is remarkably intelligent, strong-willed, passionate, and equipped with a tremendous sense of humor. In her lecture, she mentioned that without the technology that Stephen Hawking uses, he wouldn't have a voice either.  No one would know. He would have been "another tree falling in the woods for no one to hear." This makes me think about how many other individuals are out there who are disguised as poor thinkers. How many other strong voices are out there? I will always remember Barb's. 

Barb's Lecture

     I was incredibly moved and a little stunned by Barb's lecture. Perhaps it is because my experiences with those with "disabilities" are very limited or perhaps it is because my perception of disabilities is so different than that of Barb's, but I can say with certainty that I walked out of the lecture with a very different and new perspective of Autism.
     My personal experiences with Autism are quite limited - I have some close family friends with very mild Autism, which only limits their socialization and desire to speak in large groups of people. What Barb said about people's perceptions of those with severe Autism like herself is true - people look at her (and them) with pity, patronization, repulsion, and fear. Though I believe myself to be an accepting and open-minded individual, I can admit now that I went in to the lecture with lowered expectations for Barb. How happy I am to be proven so very wrong! Though Barb cannot speak and takes a long time to type her thoughts, she is undoubtedly brilliant. It pains me to know that she spent so much of her life guised as a poor thinker merely due to her difficulties communicating. Likewise, after hearing about her 19 years of schooling that were, as she put it, worth nothing, I felt a sense of duty to prevent my future students slipping through the cracks academically and socially. Autism is not an intellectual disability per se, and should not be treated as such. However, what I learned from her lecture that is somewhat counterintuitive from what I have learned this semester in that perceptions and expectations do not make the person, but rather confine the one who is perceiving and expecting. Even if I have students come to me labeled as "profoundly retarded" (though unlikely in my general education classroom), I must look past that label and try to connect with the student as an individual, not as his or her disability.
     Barb's open acceptance and pride of her Autism is particularly meaningful - no one should feel regret or shame for who they are. Barb is happy to be Autistic, saying "the world needs Autism". The world is made up of individuals, and to attempt to weed out the individualism would inherently destroy society. As her SS said, "cloning" eradicates what is so special about an individual and can likewise limit the greatness of society. Her flower analogy really put labeling into perspective for me - by dubbing each oddity or difference in an individual as a limitation or something to be fixed, it lowers that individuals self-esteem and desire to play their necessary role in the world.
     I hope I can apply what I learned from this experience to my teaching - by emphasizing everyone's differences and being proud of those differences, those individuals are far more likely to grow and succeed to their fullest potential. If Barb's cause had been foregone, she would not have been able to bring her strengths to light and therefore would not have been able to help those like her.
     "Autism is my prism, not my prison."

Barb

What an incredible experience it was to learn about Barb, her experience, and amazing, insightful, intelligent perspective.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity and look forward to gaining more insight from her book, I Might Be You.  There were so many things that I took away...
I have many friends with children diagnosed as being mildly autistic.  Sadly, I don't think I ever really considered their future lives as adults partly because I don't know any adults with autism.  Becoming aware and leaning from Barb, gave me a different perspective.  For the children I know and the ones who may be in my classroom, how will their experiences, the expectations or lack there of that society places on them shape them as they grow into adulthood?  How will I, as a teacher, influence that?  As Barb stated, "Autism is my prism, not my prison."  How can I help to shape that same mentality in my students by understanding their structural and functional difference, not focusing on their challenges?  I liked the analogy that there is "no standard flower, no standard culture, no standard brain."  As Barb suggests, "We are all flecks of God, all diverse and all important in this world."

I believe as teachers we need to become more introspective of our teaching, our purpose, and our influence just as Barb has become through her typing.  It's a process but something that is highly important in understanding our role and how that effects our students.  Through this introspection, we can become more aware of our actions, particularly with how we approach students with disabilities or "neuro-diversities."  As Lisa, Barb's smiling shrink suggested, "Meet students where they are, build on their strengths, be comfortable with other forms of communication," and I think, of most importance, "be patient."  I LOVED the quote, "Everything is within walking distance, if you have the time."... How true!  And praise those who took the time to walk the distance with Barb.

And that brings me to my final take away related to time.  I truly admire Barb and her ability to find peace, purpose, live a happy life and give back.  I can't help but reflect on this week and the mad rush with time and obligations (many of which are self-induced).  I realize I'm often one of those "chain saw juggling normal" and all I can think of is "Martha, Martha, Martha... ", how much do I miss out on in this rat race and how jealous am I of the contemplative ability/ gift of Barb/Mary.

Therefore, in closing, through Barb and this semesters experience, as I approach my internship year, I'll become more mindful, introspective, contemplative in my purpose as a future teacher.  I liked the quote from Dolly Parton that said, "Find out who you are and be that on purpose."  In doing so, it will only better me as a teacher and allow me to encourage that in my students, as well.

Barb Rentenbach

     If I could describe Barb Rentenbach's lecture in one word, I would choose inspiring. I just think she is an amazing person and has the best outlook on life. She made me want to be a better person and reminded me how important it is for us to enjoy our lives. I almost envy her outlook because she enjoys everything she does to the fullest. She eats long lunches, goes for swims, journals, and really reflects on what is going through her mind. I on the other hand, I obsess over minute details and always feel stressed. I feel like the world is going to end if I do not get everything done, and she opened my eyes to what it truly means to "pause and take a breath." I don't take enough time to "smell the roses," and this is something I would like to work on. Therefore, I plan on following her advice.
   
     1) Discover-- figure out who you are as a person and do it on purpose
     2) Persevere-- don't ever give up
     3) Remember-- everyone is the same; we are all human beings
     4) Understand-- take time to reflect on your situations and give others time to gather their thoughts
     5) Open-- have an open mind about all people as well as all situations
     6) Empower-- give people the chance to succeed and celebrate people's differences

     Finally, I loved the part where Barb and her "SS" (smiling shrink) talk about how people with disabilities are capable of great things. For example, Bill Gates, creator of Apple, and Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, are Autistic. In addition, they are two of the most successful people in American, which goes to show you that people with Autism are capable of accomplishing great things. The one thing that really opened my eyes was when she talked about taking their creativity (disorder) away. What would happen if we tried to fix people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg? Would they have been able to come up with their creations? This is just something to think about, and I believe it is so important for people to embrace Autism. Therefore, I want to end this blog with two quote from Barb Rentenbach. She wrote this saying on the computer screen at the beginning of the lesson, and this is something I will never forget.

     "Dear UTK Autism is my prism not my prison!"

     "Autism needs the world, and the world needs Autism!" 

   
   

Barb

Before attending the Barb Rentenbach presentation, I held a somewhat narrow idea about autism, and although I have a close friend whose child has autism, I had never had the opportunity to note the differences in severity from personal experience. Barb is inspiring in that she has been able to rise above the views of others regarding her abilities and has proven that she is more than her autism. Having the type of disability such as Barb's that interferes with a person's ability to communicate must be more frustrating than most of us can possibly imagine, but Barb has put an enormous amount of time and effort into building alternative means of communicating with others. 

As someone who has studied literature for years in college, her writing is comparable with all of the writers that I have been exposed to, and I am excited about the prospect of having time to read her book as soon as classes are over for the semester. From the excerpts that we heard in the presentation, Barb has a type of descriptive language that is unlike anything that I have read in the past due to her ability to view the world differently through her "prism" of autism. This connects to one of my favorite parts of the lecture in which Lois discusses the idea of neurodiversity and how our differences in the way that we perceive the world should be seen as an advantage, not a weakness. When we think about disabilities, we often consider the negative aspects, or the things that a person is unable to do, rather than considering how a disability can create a strength for an individual. Lois and Barb are both able to look beyond that and have instead chosen to view Barb's autism as a powerful force within her that enhances her gift of writing and her creative energy. 

The most important thing that I am taking from yesterday's presentation is the mindset that despite our differences, we all bring our own unique abilities to the world, and like Barb, all of us have something to contribute. I think as future teachers, this is a perspective that should be ingrained in all of us, as we will encounter diversity in our students every day that we are in the classroom. We should learn not acceptance, but gain the ability to welcome these differences in our students and to consider how each of them can enrich the learning experience for everyone. 

Barb

Before attending today's field trip, I watched the videos to get an idea of what to expect. The videos however, did not do Barb justice. Being there in person today to experience it all was really eye opening. It took her nearly five minutes to type the statement, "Autism is my prism, not my prison." Combined, the effort it took to write the sentence and the message itself were a powerful way to begin the presentation. Barb's SS talked through the entire presentation, but that did not take away from the message. Autism is such a misunderstood neurological disorder, but today's presentation gave the audience such perspective. Barb is an inspiration because like the quote she said in the beginning, she doesn't see Autism as necessarily a bad thing. To her, all of the people in the world are over-stimulated. There is a weird fascination with being too busy to do one thing at a time; multitasking is the only option. Barb said that Autism is evolutions response to our current world. With Autism, Barb is able to pay attention to the dew on a blade of grass or the prisms of light in a drop of condensation. Instead of converse fervently with everyone around her, Barb takes in what she sees and hears and puts it into text. It took Barb ten years to complete her book, but it was a goal that she set and one that she met. It was so mind-blowing to me that someone so socially inept could say such intriguing, insightful, and true things on paper. She in her own way is a genius, despite her ability to act like everyone around her. She enjoys company and she has friends like most people, but her life is in a way more rich because she is able to take the time to listen and reflect, when most of us have a million things going on a once. I think what I took away from today was it is so wrong to just write off someone with Autism. Yes, from the outside those with the disorder don't look or act the same, but they have feelings and they're brilliant people. They feel like we do. They desire every basic need that we do and I don't want to forget that.

Barb

I would like to start off my response by saying I have found a new idol. Barb Rentenbach is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met. Prior to the presentation, I watched both videos. I also visited Barb's website for Mule and Muse Productions. I read some of her material, but not all of it. I came into the presentation not knowing exactly what to expect. I wasn't sure if it would be purely Barb or Barb with a panel of others with verbal difficulty. During the videos I watched the night before, I could tell that Barb was a very smart woman that had many thoughts and feelings. I also noted in the videos how much the commentators with verbal difficulty had to say. They were all very funny. When the presentation began and Barb began typing, I was expecting her to type "Autism is my prison." When she changed her sentence on me, I was surprised. She seemed, not to embrace, but at least learn to live comfortably with her disability. I wondered if she had always been at peace with her disability, or if took many years, if not decades to come to the place she is now in life. I have worked with many students with disabilities; many that I know comprehend the receptive language, but cannot respond or express much. So this was not a new phenomenon to me.  I personally feel that many people diagnosed with a disability are automatically treated differently because they cannot verbalize themselves. However, I have a feeling there are a lot more people that have feelings and thoughts like Barb, but are still trapped (or as Barb says their voices are still in the "shop.") During the presentation, I kept racking my brain for a question. I have this brilliant woman sitting in front of us, and I felt intimidated a little; not because of her disability by any means, but because she was smarter than almost the entire audience. This may be jumping to conclusions, but she has had her whole life to do what she says she does best "think." She has had her lifetime to contemplate, while us "normals" are always on the go. We are always doing or acting or speaking. We never shut up and watch, listen, relax. I think that was one of her most important lessons to me. How different would I be if for at least fifteen minutes a day, I just contemplated? Not necessarily about academics or work, about life. Her words were very carefully chosen, but they always had strong meaning. After the presentation, I had the pleasure of meeting Barb. There was no denying she could understand everything around her, even if she wanted to have lunch instead. 

Field Trip

A quote by Dolly Parton was said during the presentation; “Find out who you are and be that on purpose.” I think this is what Barb has done with her life. The presentation was a very power representation of the benefits of inclusion. In the last ten years Barb has made leaps in communication skill with the help of technology, she has made many friends and written a book. The question I asked myself way did it take till she was 30 for her to make these strides. Barb was considered mentally retarded till she was 19. It wasn’t until she started working with her “Smiling Shrink” did she began to break these communication barriers.

A portion of the book was read by her SS that described how people should approach people with autism. Give them opportunities to discover, always persevere, remember we are all the same, keep an open mind, empower them, and give chill time. Barb says people with autism have an amazing ability to focus on one life concept at a time and teachers should allow this to happen. As a general educator I want every student to be successful this is a great way to implement a successful inclusive classroom. I love the ways Barb never says we anything silly like “we aren’t that different” but instated emphasizes that are differences are a beautiful thing. Diversity allows for different perspectives and as teacher we need to find what works for our students, maybe, by using some of Barb’s advice so that people do have to wait till they are 30 to be heard.

Marginalization of Religion

My piece was by Boudreau and it was entitled the Marginalization of Religion.  In it Boudreau discusses how academia, in all of its supposed inclusiveness, has systematically removed any notion of the legitimacy of religion.
Boudreau says that in many respects this attitude permeates academia to the point where religion has become a primitive explanation for things that the human mind simply does not understand. He further discusses how at many Universities around the nation, religion is seen as something a well educated individual will eventually grow out of.
Boudreau says that this understanding of religion has even spread to much of the media, in which he says that religious persecution of majority religions such as Christianity and Islam is the last remaining tolerated form of persecution. "If any alien were to visit from another planet and listened only to media reports about religion, the creature would believe all Muslims are terrorists and all Catholics are pedophiles", says Boudreau.
He believes that this marginalization is not only a radical and intolerable view on religion but that it also runs directly contrary to the goals of education. How, asks Boudreau, can a person appreciate the inspiration of the Renaissance painters, the words of Shakespeare who repeatedly quoted religious scripture without at least a contextual understanding of Christianity. He insists, and I happen to agree, that a student cannot understand these things without first discussion the importance of religion. The supposed "evils of religion" that can be brought up may be true, yes, but that is no reason not to discuss it, nor celebrate the cultural richness that religion provides. Has radical Islam been the inspiration for modern terrorist activities? Yes, but Islam has also inspired beautiful poetry and wonderful music. Did Christianity serve as the precipitating factor for the horrible Crusades and Inquisitions, which cost the lives of hundreds of thousands? Yes, but Christianity also inspired Milton to write Paradise Lost, da Vinci to paint The Last Supper, and Martin Luther King, Jr. speak so eloquently in his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Creating Safe Schools for Queer Youth

• Who is the author? To whom was the author speaking and why?
• What do the author’s assumptions seem to be? 
• What sorts of evidence and methods are used? 
• What specific passages support your interpretation of the author’s argument?
• Where are you agreeing, disagreeing? 
• Where does the author echo your own discourses and/or challenge them? 
• Where are you surprised? (adapted from Allison Ander’s CSE 545 syllabus)
• How does this reading compare to how the issue was portrayed in the text? 

The author of this piece was Kimberly Cosier. The text is based on her research and experiences from her time as a queer student, teacher and researcher. Cosier is speaking to anyone who is a student, a teacher, or an administrator because she sees a multitude of flaws with how schools address the problems that have arisen in the LGBTQ community. She believes that a school can make a difference in a child's life, both positive and negative. 

Cosier's assumptions are that many schools do not always treat gender discrimination the same way they do other discriminations. She at one point makes the statement "If I had a nickel for every time I heard the word 'faggot' I could have retired early. She sees the major problems being that teachers and administrators let slurs like "faggot" and "dyke" slip and do not always enforce or come to the aid of queer students who are the victims of this discrimination. She assumes that more often than not students within the LGBTQ community feel threatened at school leading to lower grades and/or low attendance rates. 

Cosier uses her own experiences from time spent working in public schools as well as research conducted at two alternative schools: Alliance High School in Milwaukee and New Dawn Alternative High School. She also uses information from the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the Harris Interactive group. The statistics she uses from these two organizations and her own personal interviews show that a staggering number of students don't feel safe at their school and that a majority of those don't feel like the administration has their best interests in mind. 

There are several stories and vignettes throughout Cosier's article that support this interpretation. Numerous accounts of students being bullied and not receiving any aid from teachers or administrators. At the alternative school many students told Cosier that were it not for the ability to transfer to the accepting community environment they would have likely killed themselves because of bullying. One passage that really stands out is when Cosier gave a student detention for repeatedly using the word "faggot" after she asked him to stop. The student's parents were very involved and well-known in the community, and the mother came to the school explaining that she was very upset that her son had received detention. The mother told Cosier that she felt her "feelings were getting in the way and clouding her judgement." The principal of the school gave the student a "perfunctory talk about respecting others" and then let him go detention free. He then explained to Cosier that she should pick her battles. 

I agree with the author on all of her points. I don't really have any experiences of my own to counter hers, but the belief that schools should be a safe place for all students, well I just don't see an actual argument against that. Her method or arguing her point is well written in my opinion. She organizes the discussion well, breaking it up into different topics and uses plenty of sources to support her. I agree with her beliefs on principled run schools, mainly because the examples she gives back up that claim and I don't personally have any information that disagrees. 

I was most surprised at her story involving the student, the student's mother and the principal. It seems baffling to me to think of a principal undermining a teacher's decision instead of supporting it. I feel had the student said some sort of profanity or used a racial slur there would be no question about his detention. But getting punished for calling someone a "faggot" is too controversial an issue to punish the son of a prominent family. I would like to think that over time more schools will alter their policies and train faculty to address LGBTQ issues and not just let kids be bullied. Few things are sadder than an adolescent giving up on their education or, worse, their life because they didn't feel accepted. 

The book talks about a number of diversity issues including students who are homeless, impoverished, come from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and even the differences between boys and girls. However it does a very poor job of addressing the LGBTQ student population. 

QTC Chapter 2

2.1
As I understand Piaget and Vygotsky, I can think of two very important things to do with my struggling students. In accordance with Piaget, I would make sure my students had has many experiences as possible. Exposing students to a wide range of activities would allow them to develop certain skills that they had yet to experience, which will aid them in their cognitive development. I would also follow Vygotsky's recommendation and try to challenge students with the Zone of Proximal Development. In this, I would attempt to discover exactly what the student's were capable of, in respective to a given subject. I would then, without taking a grade, truly challenge them to the point where they may become frustrated. I would then back down the difficulty slightly, and allow the students to work through possible but still challenging material. Vygotsky said that this technique would allow students to rise to the challenge and grow from that challenging experience. I think these two strategies matches up very well with Piaget and Vygotsky's ideas.

2.2.
Language is especially important when considering the cognitive development of children and adolescents. In high school, I would make it a point to be sure the students are developing a mature and competent vocabulary. It is important that students are aware of the words that they are supposed to use in the classroom and that they understand those words, in various contexts. Another important skill in high school is public speaking. Students, even those who are not thrilled with the idea, need to be exposed to public speaking. Finally, I think written language skills are paramount to develop during this time. They now know how write and construct sentences and paragraphs. Being able to do so effectively and eloquently are invaluable to future academic success and employment.  

Aboud: Race and Ethnicity

"Modifying Children's Racial Attitudes" - Frances E. Aboud

Aboud has a PhD in Psychology and spent much time focusing specifically on the development of racism in children, which is what this article focuses on. I believe that Aboud is speaking to anyone who educates children, especially at an early age, and also to parents or guardians of young children. In this article Aboud's assumptions include the fact that children are capable of being prejudiced against people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds, contrary to some beliefs that children are not prejudiced, but just curious about people who are different from them. Aboud supports this assumption with research of children of different ages to determine their level of prejudice against people from different ethnic backgrounds. Aboud points out that children between the ages of 4 and 7 show the greatest amount of bias for their own group. She writes that preventative measures are difficult to implement because by the age of 5, most children are already biased. Aboud uses a study by Bigler and Liben to support this point. Bigler and Liben performed a study with children in 1993 and found that the children were unable to recall information about people who did not fit their stereotype, and sometimes even distorted information to fit the stereotype. I have always assumed if a child had some type of prejudice, it was a result of something they saw or heard from their parents, but I was surprised to read that children of parents who showed no sign of prejudice had young children with strong biases for their own racial/cultural group. Although the book does talk about ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom, and how to encourage appreciation of diversity, it did not directly talk about how to change the opinions of very young students who already have some racist or prejudice beliefs. I am glad that I had the opportunity to read this article because it discusses the most effective ways to change the prejudice opinions children have about other ethnicities into positive opinions. It seems that the most effective solution is to encourage friendships between students of different ethnicities. Aboud points out that friendship provides the necessary context for emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes to occur. 

Poverty and Education

             The article "Poverty and Education" by R.W. Connell discusses a topic that is a very controversial one for me personally, the impact of poverty on children's education. The discussion on poverty and education begins with the concept of power and education, and the author relates that schools are institutions of power, and this idea of control primarily effects lower class students. This portion of the article presented an argument that I had never considered, nor do I agree with. Although it is true that the dominant classes control the education system, I do not feel as if those in power have developed our nation's schools as a means to exclude the poor, as the article implies. One example of this power that the author provides is the creation of programs in more affluent schools that children of poverty do not have access to, such as talented and gifted programs. While it is true that a great deal of programs such as this depend on the school's funding, which is based on the tax income for the area, a large number of schools in poverty stricken areas are now receiving more funding than the wealthier ones. My son attends a Title I school and the students there have access to greater resources than many of the schools in the more affluent areas, and situations such as this seem to eliminate this argument of wealth determining power in education.

            The article also discusses some different strategies to help address the issues of poverty in the education system. One point that the author makes is that a whole school curriculum should be developed in which diversity is embraced, rather than a curriculum developed by the dominant, or middle and upper classes. I personally don’t feel as if this will produce any significant changes in regards to the issue of academic struggles among children living in poverty. In contrast, I think that beliefs such as this only reinforce the stereotypes of lower socioeconomic classes. Creating a curriculum that caters to a diverse group of learners is beneficial for many reasons, but I cannot see how accepting the differences between these students and more affluent ones will help them perform better academically. 

On a personal level, I generally disagree with a great deal of what I have read that addresses the topic of students in poverty and their academic performance. Most of the information I have encountered provides the typical stereotypes of those living in poverty and rarely gives viable solutions. There are a number of reasons why students in poverty struggle academically, and I frequently see these reasons generalized in education literature. Many assume that the parents are not involved in their children’s education, the children are rarely exposed to any type of educational resources outside of school, and that the schools in less affluent areas do not receive enough funding to support their students. While these are all valid reasons, they are not necessarily always the norm, and I think that although this article does express some very useful information, it is only a small portion of the whole picture of poverty and education. 

Alternate Assignment: Group Differences

Preservice Teachers' Beliefs and Practices: Religion and Religious Diversity  
By: Binaya Subedi

Who is the author? To whom was the author speaking and why?

What do the author’s assumptions seem to be? 

What sorts of evidence and methods are used? 

What specific passages support your interpretation of the author’s argument?

Where are you agreeing, disagreeing? 

Where does the author echo your own discourses and/or challenge them? 

Where are you surprised? (adapted from Allison Ander’s CSE 545 syllabus)

How does this reading compare to how the issue was portrayed in the text? 

 Subedi argues that religious aspects of diversity are typically neglected from research and such topics should be incorporated into preservice teacher curriculums. 

The author includes mostly evidence of Islamic religious diversity in schools. Due to the lack of research available, teachers feel uncomfortable addressing religious diversity. 

*** I agree with the author's argument. As a future teacher, currently enrolled in preservice teaching courses, I feel like the topic of diversity is a common area of discussion. I feel well-informed about how to differentiate and be respectful of minority groups and deter prejudice and racial discrimination. However, I do feel like our preservice teacher training neglects religious aspects of diversity. I would feel more comfortable addressing religious diversity prior to my exposure to children in the classroom. I know the reason that religious aspects of diversity may be neglected may be a result of Knoxville, Tennessee's demographic and lack of religious diversity. However, since we are getting our national teacher licensure, I think it would be helpful to address this topic more thoroughly. 

Good quote: "Pang (2005) points out that teachers can play a key role in helping all students learn about religious diversity and religious forms of identities so that students can become open-minded and respectful of differences." (pg. 227) 

I was surprised to read that most the participants in the study were "silent about how religious forms of discriminations took place in society and in schools". (pg. 230) 

Reflection on "Silence" paragraph:

Most participants in the study said they had experienced little interaction with people of different religious faiths. I find this to be a valid statement. I have been exposed to individuals of various religions but rarely does the topic of "religion" come up in conversation. Just like politics, religion is a touchy subject to bring up with someone who is only an acquaintance. I am open to learning and embracing different religions but I lack the means of communicating with such individuals. (pg. 231)

Reflection on "Stereotypes" paragraph:

I have to admit, like the participants in the study, I sometimes ignorantly express stereotypical beliefs towards various religions but it is only due to my lack of knowledge about them. I think that it would be helpful to not necessarily learn about the religion but about the everyday life of different ethnicities who practice various religions. (pg. 231) 

Reflection on "A More Political Religion" paragraph:

Participants in the study noted that religion ought to be discussed more in schools. I couldn't agree more! As a religious and spiritual person, I am open to different religious beliefs but I think that some type of spirituality would be beneficial in a school environment. The excerpt on the bottom of page 231 is a powerful statement. A participant wrote about schools resisting any sort of religious context at schools. I can appreciate various religious views and no one is forced to say the pledge of allegiance or pray before lunch. However, removing all religions from schools I believe is a mistake. We should, instead of acting ashamed of religion as a whole and being afraid to offend others, embrace all religions and be proud to practice various religions in the school context. I am not saying that religion should be a highlight in the public school system, but those who want to reference or discuss or take part in a religious act during school hours should feel comfortable to do that. Religion can be a defining role in forming a child's identity and telling a child to suppress that is wrong. 

The participants in the study were predominantly white, female, and Christian who showed little desire to teach in diverse or low-income communities which would support their beliefs about religious issues. Honestly, the participants seemed narrow-minded, ignorant, and sometimes discriminatory. I realize that this research study encouraged honest participation but I was surprised to read many of their responses. It became apparent that perhaps the circumstances of 9/11 may have affected the views of the participants because the interviews, discussions, and journal entries were collected 2003-2005. 

I am also a white, female Christian but being a teacher means you embrace the cultural differences present in a classroom setting. I want to be as open-minded as possible to make all my students feel comfortable and their religious beliefs to be appreciated and accepted in my classroom community. A important issue I read on page 234 is the controversy parents may bring up about embracing non-mainstream perspectives. 

Poverty

Templeton: Understanding Poverty in the Classroom

            After reading this chapter on poverty, many ideas and questions were formulated in my mind regarding poverty and how to teach children who face these unfortunate circumstances. I am currently interning at an at-risk school with 100% of the children receiving free lunch. This chapter provided many examples of how to encourage and effectively teach children in poverty. In regards to high residential mobility, children feel insecure in their current environments and often have trust issues stemming from constantly moving. Once these children become comfortable in one school and one house, they must soon move and be introduced to a new environment with new, unfamiliar faces. Children in these circumstances may also be at-risk for needing additional interventions, but since they do not remain in one school district for enough time, they do not receive the proper help needed. Overcrowded living arrangements are often prevalent in the homes of children in poverty because some families need additional adults living in the home to help with bills and other responsibilities. This hinders the children in these homes ability to find a quiet space to practice school material and do homework. Lack of access to basic resources proves to be troublesome with children in poverty. Research has proven that children who read more books during the summer are more prepared to begin school in the fall. Children in poverty do not always have access to books; therefore, they are more susceptible to the “summer slide” than their middle- and high-class counterparts.

            Reading this chapter proved to be very beneficial to me in regards to my future teaching environment. I plan to work in at-risk, high poverty schools. Seeing these problems from a teacher’s perspective and examining successful ways to help combat these problems in the classroom will better prepare me for the future. The author, Templeton, wrote this with teachers in mind and wrote as if talking or discussing these matters with a teacher.

            I agree with Templeton that we, as teachers, should not continuously make excuses for children in poverty, and to also have expectations for them. I have found that when I have had expectations for a child, he or she strived to meet those expectations, and ultimately succeeded. Also, Templeton discussed that poverty does not have to be a prescription for academic underachievement. If we know the factors that contribute to academic failures by children in poverty, then we can adjust our teaching and work even harder to try to decrease the likelihood of these underachievements occurring.

Connecting Religion and Teacher Identity: The Unexplored Relationship Between Teachers and Religion in Public Schools

I chose the article "Connecting Religion and Teacher Identity:  The Unexplored Relationship Between Teachers and Religion in Public Schools" by Kimberly R. White.  Published in the Teaching and Teacher Education Journal, I assume she is speaking to educators and those involved in educational policy.  Basically this article discusses how religious orientation may influence teaching  in public schools... How many choices a teacher makes are influenced by their own orientation as religious, unreligious, or anti-religious.  The author discusses the irony of multiculturalism which is defined in relation to one's ethnic or cultural group, gender, social class, religion, language, ability, and sexual orientation yet in relation to education, religion is omitted.  The author then discusses a series of research based questions including, how does the educational research community position the relationship between teachers' own conceptions of religion and the development and enhancement of their professional teaching identities?  Does this topic warrant investigation making it a potential area of contribution in the future? And, how might the study of religion and teacher identity, the interaction of private and public, be conceptualized?  Ultimately, the article was a lot of research based on these questions including what educational literature tells us about the topics of religion and education, what multiculturalism tells us, what government has historically told us, what media tells us?  All that said, I was hoping for an answer... as a Christian and soon to be teacher, how do I maintain that identity and not cross a boundary?  Am I crossing a boundary as long as I don't enforce my beliefs onto my students? Based on my beliefs, what if that boundary is something I perceive as an issue to one's salvation?  For instance, in the article it mentioned how previous Educational Secretary, Rod Paige had warned school officials that they may not, "compel students to participate in prayer or other religious activities.  Nor may teachers, school administrators and other school employees, when acting in their official capacities as representatives of the state, encourage or discourage prayer, or participate in such activities with students."... Does this mean I cant pray during the moment of silence?

Chapter 4 - Group Differences and Emotional Intelligence

Chapter 4 – Group Differences

Bobby Showalter

            In the article “Defining Emotional Intelligence in Music Education,” Kaschub describes multiple theorists’ approach to emotional intelligence, and how their theories compare to one another within the context of music education.  Kaschub frequently refers to Goleman’s theory and uses it for the basis of his arguments; I will discuss both Kaschub’s commentary and Goleman’s position.

            Kaschub notes that Goleman’s theory argues that social interaction skills “can be further developed through a knowledge of one’s own feelings and an understanding of how those feelings relate to the emotive life of others in particular situations and contexts.”  I couldn’t agree more.  An effective ensemble rehearsal is more than just the director barking out orders and micromanaging all aspects of performance; rather, a mature and expert ensemble will make those tasks interpersonal, relying instead on one another’s ability to understand the emotional state of others and respond accordingly.  The musicians in this setting understand that their actions have an effect on not only their personal performance, but also on the performance of those around them.  If they are not aware of those with whom they are playing, they stand to impede the growth and development of their peers.

            At the end of his article, Kaschub argues that the primary goal of music education is to “allow our students to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between feelings and music.”  While certainly the understanding of the way music speaks to us and impacts our lives and feelings is important, I would argue further that the primary goal of music education should be rather to encourage more meaningful interactions with one another—verbal intercourse in which the participants are more acutely aware of the other’s emotional state.  Simply developing emotional intelligence for one’s self is not enough.  I believe it is through interpersonal interaction that we truly develop our emotional intelligence and develop long-lasting, meaningful relationships and successes.

Eliot: The Myth of Pink & Blue

As soon as I saw this article title I knew that I wanted to read it.  I have often wondered about where the whole pink is for girls/blue is for boys idea came from.  Exactly how did it become uncool for a boy to like pink?  When was the last time you saw a baby girl dressed in blue?  Why do people go as far as to associate color with sexuality?  These are questions I often wonder about.

This article discussed the gender/color equation, but it mainly focused on the gender gap on educational performance.  I have often heard, even in education classes, that boys are better at math and girls are better at reading.  Until now I had never really looked into this or asked why.  I have been led to believe that it just innately happens.  I like how the article approaches the subject, and the ideas that it gives as to why there is a gender gap in education.  I was also particularly glad to see its suggestion that more men go into elementary education.

The author opposes the idea that girls and boys have significant brain differences.  By examining data the author has found that there is more difference in brain activity among boys and among girls than there is between boys and girls.  To combat the idea of brain differences the author looks at how the environment effects students actions and opinions.  I could not agree more with this idea.  I think children would act much differently if they were not continually influenced to like or dislike something based on their sex.  This goes from toys to school subjects.

As a child I never particularly liked pink, or wanted to play with dolls, but on the contrary I never cared much for super heroes or action figures either.  I loved playing with Legos and building houses.  I wanted to be an architect for most of my young life.  I once asked for a doll house, not because of the dolls, but because it was a life size model of a house!  What more could an aspiring architect want?  After much searching my mom found me a doll house that matched the stable they had already bought me prior to this.  The stable seemed appropriate for a boy to play with, why wouldn't the house be appropriate?  After I got the house I did not play with it much.  It wasn't because I didn't like it.  I did not play with it because I was afraid others would think I was girly if a played with it.  Looking back I wish I would have kept the house and played with it more.  As almost all children do, I was influenced by gender stereotypes.

Teachers and parents need to be aware of gender stereotypes, and strive to combat them when possible.  After all, there really isn't anything wrong with a girl playing with a monster truck or a boy loving the color pink.  As a future male elementary teacher I see that I am already going against a gender stereotype in itself.  I think I will be more prepared and aware of gender stereotypes because of my perspective and experiences.  Most importantly I hope I am able to show my future students that anyone, regardless of gender, can be good at any subject that they want to be good at.  One way that I want to do this is to show my students successful individuals across various jobs that have went across gender stereotypes.  I want to avoid labeling my students by their gender.  I want to give them all the tools to be good in whatever subject they will naturally be good it.  I do not want to hold them back by only giving them the tools to be successful in the subjects that boys or girls are traditionally good in.

Breaking containment – the power of narrative knowing

I read the article titled Breaking containment – the power of narrative knowing: countering silences within traditional special education research by David Conner. Recent research in the field of special education has been addressing the over-representation of students of color. Conner has countered this research with small excerpts from eight young people who are both of color and have diagnoses of disabilities. Conner's main audience seems to be the recent researchers that have been over-representing these students. His secondary audience seems to be anyone and everyone. Conner wants these stories to be read and passed around. I have very very mixed feelings about this article. This article is indeed controversial. First and foremost, the issue of race always makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Coming from a high middle class white family, I know that most other races think that white people, according to the article, "enjoy a better life" than other races. As much as colored people are set under higher prejudiced standards, whites are also. I grew up with loving and hard working parents; however, both my mother and father grew up in poverty and abusive homes. To say that whites "expect to be wealthy"  is a huge misconception among the colored population.

One thing that I really enjoyed from the article was the perspectives taken on having a disability. Some students melted it into their lives, they accepted it. Others, did not. After working for years with students with disabilities, I have seen this range. However, I never knew to what extent the internal chaos these students have. The research in this particular article dealt specifically with students with a learning disability. This is one of the hardest types of disabilities I have witnessed on a social level. When a student has a physical handicap, most people are more willing to be accepting or at least understand why they act the way they act. However, when someone looks normal and is acting 'funny' then people do judge. People just think they are weird, having a disability does not enter their minds.

Overall, the article was surprising. I felt that the author did not show too much of his own feelings; he was research based in every statement he made in the article. I assumed a lot from the article, and would have liked to have read the student's full statements. The article compares to the issue in the text with specifics in poverty and special education, but not together. So reading the text, the reader has to put both scenarios together to relate to this article. In conclusion, this article was very informative and very controversial; it makes a reader question a lot his/her own actions, perspectives and history.

Carol Brydolf - Getting Real About the Model Minority

The article that I read, entitled Getting Real About the Model Minority, talked about how Asians and those that fit into the broad AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) category, are often considered the “model” minority. I can definitely see this stereotype in my classes and even in my dorm room. People at UTK often joke about how “Asians” are the only people in the library during football games. I have personally witnessed people saying that Asians do well because they are “smart” and because they “work hard.” People expect Asians to do well because of their work-ethic, and tend to lump all Asians (as many as 50 different cultures) into one lump of generally hardworking and high achieving students. I have had Asian American friends joke and say things like "I'm not one of those smart A-sians. I am a B-sian." They find it hard to live up to the "perfect student" stereotype.

While there are many Asian Americans who come from affluent backgrounds, especially many Chinese Americans, there are also a large number of Asian Americans who are newly arrived refugees, linguistically isolated, who have never gone to school, or who have a limited ability to speak English. This article argues that some students and communities aren’t getting the resources and attention that they need because of the stereotype that Asian Americans are smart and don’t need help. The article argues that lumping all Asian Americans into the title “AAPI” hurts many groups of Asian Americans because of this reasoning. In reality, while Asian Americans are statistically more likely than “whites” to go to college, they are also more likely to drop out of high school before graduating. There are many families, communities, and children that need resources and support in order to succeed. I was really surprised to read this. I have often heard about minority students becoming victims to the “stereotype threat,” and performing lower than they should because of a stereotype threat. I had not heart of a minority and ELL groups getting overlooked because they were considered members of a “model” minority. I think that there is no such thing as a “model” minority, and that it is unfair and discriminatory to say that one set of cultures or cultural experiences is superior to another, especially when AAPI cultures can be so varied and different. I think that as a teacher, it will be more important to consider the individual needs of the children that I will work with, and the unique cultures that they come from. From a political standpoint, I think that categorizing all Asian Americans into one group is a bad idea, especially if we are going to make a value statement about whether a minority is a “model minority.” I agree with the main premises of this article, and support giving all English Language Learners and their families the support that they need to succeed in school and in the American economy.

Appalachian Culture and Schooling

I read the article Appalachian Culture and Schooling written by Eva Thaller. The article seems to be written in to inform the public of current issues in education in the Appalachian Mountains. There are about 20 million people living in these Mountains. In 1990 54% of the population over 25 had neither a high school diploma nor GED. The article addresses why and gives suggestions on improvement.

            In Appalachian Education students are educated “only for the outside world and not for building prosperity at home.” This is an idea I had never thought about. As I was reading through the article the author kept going back to this idea. In the physical setting portion there is a beautiful comparison between the mountains of Switzerland and the Eastern KY Appalachia’s. Pointing out the people of Switzerland became successful by using good judgment about the bad land while KY mountaineers have become poor sitting on rich land. The author also talks about how people of the Appalachians Mountains are taught next to nothing about their own culture or heritage. People are encouraged to leave mountains to find a better life elsewhere. As a reader I kept thinking about motivation. What could motivate these people to value education?

The author suggests some things that could be done to improve graduation and literacy rates. One may to embrace the culture. It is easy for us to forget that dialect can affect reading and learning. As the Appalachian people have their version of an English dialect teacher often correct their language instead of embracing it. The author suggests and I would have to agree, allow children to use their dialect. As a teacher learn how your students pronounce words and teach from there. Applachians need to become familiar with their roots to increase self-esteem and help them learn it is acceptable to stay in the Appalachian Mountains if they choose to.  

This leads to the next point the author made about schools in Appalachia. School and home life are often two different worlds for these children. A lot of time, energy and brain power is used trying to remember rules and social norms not leaving enough space for academics. The author suggests making school life a bit more thing home. Allowing children to speak in their own dialect and tell or write stories how they may at home. She also suggests teachers should have expectations for these children’s abilities and achievements.

Last semester I took CFS 405, a class on professionalism, we spent an entire week on the people of the Appalachian Mountains. Even since then I jump on opportunities to learn more about culture, the people, and educational difference. Therefore, I really enjoyed this article.  Before 405 I never gave a second thought to these mountain people. I was embarrassed that it took me till a junior in college to learn of the poverty, lack of education, and struggles of people who live in such close proximity to me. This particular article really opened my eyes to the fact that these people really have a lack of motivation to graduate because professionals are always saying the grass is greener somewhere else and teacher write students off before they even try to challenge them. I think the author gave great suggestions on how to improve the educational system in the Appalachian Mountains.

If you are interested in learning more there is a great documentary with Diane Sawyer on youTube we watched in 405. It is a 5 part series A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains. Here is the link to part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dXPuh15Vmc