"Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome" by Christopher Kleiwer
I think that what Kleiwer is trying to say is that children with down syndrome should not be separated from the rest of the general school popullation in order for them to feel more accepted in society. If a person is excluded from the general public, they feel neglected and are also treated as such from everyone else when they go out.
1.) "The presence of a thoughtful mind has been linked to patterns of behavioral and communicative conformity associated with competence in logical-mathematical thinking and linguistic skills. "
This quote puzzles me. If a person with this type of mind has all these skills, like some kids with down syndrome, then why are they in remedial classes or classes that are separate from the rest of society and such.
2.)"the manner in which a child conceptualizes the world ~ does not exist first in an objective fashion apart from the child as a rigid boundary within which his Or her thoughts must fit. Rather, the mind is forever dynamic, emerging through the multiple relationships formed and re-formed between children and their surroundings."
This quote is important because it reinforces my argument that children should be exposed to the general school population in order to benefit not only the children with down syndrome but also the children with no disabilities. This way, the children with no disabilities can actually get a taste of what the world is really like since they are guarded for most of there early life.
3.) "School citizenship requires that students not be categorized and separated based on presumed defect."
This quote also puzzles me. I feel that this quote is important because it contradicts what the entire school system is doing everywhere, day in and day out.
The last quote that i put up really bothered me. If we are not to categorize students based on a "defect" then what the hell are we doing with the children with special needs in our school systems. Shouldnt they have rights just as much as any other "normal" student.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Talking Point #7
"Tracking: Why Schools Need To Take Another Route" By Jeannie Oakes
Jeannie Oakes' main point is that she gives two perspectives of the teaching strategy called tracking and i feel like she is trying to say that tracking is a bad thing and that it needs to be changed in order to help everyone in the school system and not just the "smarter" kids.
1.)"Many express particular concern about tracking's effects on poor and minority students, who are placed in low-ability groups more often than other students and are less likely to be found in programs for gifted students or in college preparatory tracks."
This quote is important to the article because it is one of the primary reasons that people are opposed to tracking. Tracking limits the abilities of students that, for all we know, could have gone on to do great and powerful things if they were not held back from their full potential.
2.) "One fact about tracking is unequivocal: tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school. Moreover, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups bave access to far richer schooling experiences than otber students."
This quote is important to the article because it reinforces the quote that i had coppied down above. The students in the higher level classes are taught to think the way that they do and the same goes for the lower level classes. This is also one of the reasons that children that seem so smart are held back or that they say that they arent having a good experience in school. They are either not "priviledged" enough or that they are held back to the point where they are bored with the work that they are doing and they would like to be challenged once in a while.
3.) "Creating constructive alternatives to tracking presents technical as well as political problems."
This quote kind of got to me. if something is bad for students, wouldn't it be the right thing to do to change that problem as soon as possible. I know that it says that jumbling the students together is not the correct way to do things, but isnt it better than the way that students are already learning.
I thought that this article was very interesting and fun to read. This article basically summed up by entire educational career up to college. They always separated the "smarter" kids in my schooling environment and the same with the "slower" kids. If someone were to come up with a different method than tracking in order to give the smarter kids a challenge, the slower kids an easy enough time with the material and the kids that are in the middle enough time to handle it. If someone was to come up with a teaching method to incorporate all these things, then they should win the nobel prize since, at least in my perspective, this feat is next to impossible.
Jeannie Oakes' main point is that she gives two perspectives of the teaching strategy called tracking and i feel like she is trying to say that tracking is a bad thing and that it needs to be changed in order to help everyone in the school system and not just the "smarter" kids.
1.)"Many express particular concern about tracking's effects on poor and minority students, who are placed in low-ability groups more often than other students and are less likely to be found in programs for gifted students or in college preparatory tracks."
This quote is important to the article because it is one of the primary reasons that people are opposed to tracking. Tracking limits the abilities of students that, for all we know, could have gone on to do great and powerful things if they were not held back from their full potential.
2.) "One fact about tracking is unequivocal: tracking leads to substantial differences in the day-to-day learning experiences students have at school. Moreover, the nature of these differences suggests that students who are placed in high-ability groups bave access to far richer schooling experiences than otber students."
This quote is important to the article because it reinforces the quote that i had coppied down above. The students in the higher level classes are taught to think the way that they do and the same goes for the lower level classes. This is also one of the reasons that children that seem so smart are held back or that they say that they arent having a good experience in school. They are either not "priviledged" enough or that they are held back to the point where they are bored with the work that they are doing and they would like to be challenged once in a while.
3.) "Creating constructive alternatives to tracking presents technical as well as political problems."
This quote kind of got to me. if something is bad for students, wouldn't it be the right thing to do to change that problem as soon as possible. I know that it says that jumbling the students together is not the correct way to do things, but isnt it better than the way that students are already learning.
I thought that this article was very interesting and fun to read. This article basically summed up by entire educational career up to college. They always separated the "smarter" kids in my schooling environment and the same with the "slower" kids. If someone were to come up with a different method than tracking in order to give the smarter kids a challenge, the slower kids an easy enough time with the material and the kids that are in the middle enough time to handle it. If someone was to come up with a teaching method to incorporate all these things, then they should win the nobel prize since, at least in my perspective, this feat is next to impossible.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Talking Point #5
" In The Service Of What? The Politics of Service Learning" by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer
I think that this article is comparing what service learning is: the act of giving charity to the less fortunate for that moment, or the act of change which can be forever helpful.\
1.) "In contrast, much of the current discussion regarding service learning emphasizes charity. not change."
I think that this statement is false. im not going to get too into the discussion right now but i will say that the fact that people like to give charity more than change is disturbing to me and we most definitly need more people to help with change rather than charity. ill get more into this discussion in my ending comment
2.) "The ability of a service learning curriculum to foster authentic, experience-based learning opportunities, to motivate students, to help students engage in higher-order thinking in contextually varied environments, and to promote interdisciplinary studies has led some, such as John Brisco, a leader in the field, to label service learning "the Trojan horse of school reform.""
This quote is important because it shows that (what i think service learning was created for) change was the real purpose for service learning and that charity is helpful but change overall is what is wanted and needed
3.) "However, there are numerous ways in which a curriculum focused on giving provides opportunities tor students to develop caring relationships, especially when compared to a traditional academic curriculum."
This quote shows that people that help create change and do charity also recieve something in return, knowledge. it maybe something small but it is amazing what you can learn from another human being in one day compared to a textbook.
I think that the main thing that this world needs is change. Dr. Leslie Bogad said in class once " charity is like giving fish to a starving person while change is like teaching that person how to fish" Change is more permanent and more needed while charity, dont get me wrong its good and all, is just a "band-aid on a broken leg"
I think that this article is comparing what service learning is: the act of giving charity to the less fortunate for that moment, or the act of change which can be forever helpful.\
1.) "In contrast, much of the current discussion regarding service learning emphasizes charity. not change."
I think that this statement is false. im not going to get too into the discussion right now but i will say that the fact that people like to give charity more than change is disturbing to me and we most definitly need more people to help with change rather than charity. ill get more into this discussion in my ending comment
2.) "The ability of a service learning curriculum to foster authentic, experience-based learning opportunities, to motivate students, to help students engage in higher-order thinking in contextually varied environments, and to promote interdisciplinary studies has led some, such as John Brisco, a leader in the field, to label service learning "the Trojan horse of school reform.""
This quote is important because it shows that (what i think service learning was created for) change was the real purpose for service learning and that charity is helpful but change overall is what is wanted and needed
3.) "However, there are numerous ways in which a curriculum focused on giving provides opportunities tor students to develop caring relationships, especially when compared to a traditional academic curriculum."
This quote shows that people that help create change and do charity also recieve something in return, knowledge. it maybe something small but it is amazing what you can learn from another human being in one day compared to a textbook.
I think that the main thing that this world needs is change. Dr. Leslie Bogad said in class once " charity is like giving fish to a starving person while change is like teaching that person how to fish" Change is more permanent and more needed while charity, dont get me wrong its good and all, is just a "band-aid on a broken leg"
Talking Point #4
"Unlearning The Myths That Bind Us" by Linda Christensen
I feel that what linda Christensen is trying to say is that Everyone needs to live their own lives and stop trying to dictate to people how to live their lives. Everyone needs to stop trying to conform to society and just live your life to the fullest and how you want to live it
1.) "we are also taught how t0 succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how we forger rhe past and suppress the future. We are taught, more than anything else, how not t0 rebel."
i feel that this one quote puts in perspective my whole summary of the article. W are told how to live our lives, even on a subconsious level. we are told what "ropes" to cross and what not to. We are told "how high to jump" and so on.
2.) "I don't want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman's life is an "I do" that supposedly leads them to a "happily ever after."
This quote is important because it shows how our society is today. This shows that we think that any problem can be fixed with just some material value, which is absolutely false. If a man loses his wife in a car accident, and the driver of the other car that hit her pays the man a million dollars, does it make the accident any better to deal with for the man, absolutely not.
3.) "They assure me that they make their own choices and the media has no power over them -as they sir with Fubu, Nike, Timberlands or whatever the latest fashion rage might be."
I think it is funny that the children, in this case, contradict themselves as they are talking to the teacher. It is true that some kids can get away from the "media brainwash" but most do not. They conform to society whichever way that the media wants them to and they do so quickly and unwaveringly.
I think that this quote was a fun ready for me because it was short and to the point. It allowed me to interpret all the information that was put in front of me without me going into "overload."
This article shows you how much the media and even people with some form of power have over other people and it honestly makes me sick to think that someone can and will take advantage of another human being in that way, to almost the point where most of us are treated like dogs with out handlers saying " buy this" and "get that." it honeslt makes me sick
I feel that what linda Christensen is trying to say is that Everyone needs to live their own lives and stop trying to dictate to people how to live their lives. Everyone needs to stop trying to conform to society and just live your life to the fullest and how you want to live it
1.) "we are also taught how t0 succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how we forger rhe past and suppress the future. We are taught, more than anything else, how not t0 rebel."
i feel that this one quote puts in perspective my whole summary of the article. W are told how to live our lives, even on a subconsious level. we are told what "ropes" to cross and what not to. We are told "how high to jump" and so on.
2.) "I don't want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman's life is an "I do" that supposedly leads them to a "happily ever after."
This quote is important because it shows how our society is today. This shows that we think that any problem can be fixed with just some material value, which is absolutely false. If a man loses his wife in a car accident, and the driver of the other car that hit her pays the man a million dollars, does it make the accident any better to deal with for the man, absolutely not.
3.) "They assure me that they make their own choices and the media has no power over them -as they sir with Fubu, Nike, Timberlands or whatever the latest fashion rage might be."
I think it is funny that the children, in this case, contradict themselves as they are talking to the teacher. It is true that some kids can get away from the "media brainwash" but most do not. They conform to society whichever way that the media wants them to and they do so quickly and unwaveringly.
I think that this quote was a fun ready for me because it was short and to the point. It allowed me to interpret all the information that was put in front of me without me going into "overload."
This article shows you how much the media and even people with some form of power have over other people and it honestly makes me sick to think that someone can and will take advantage of another human being in that way, to almost the point where most of us are treated like dogs with out handlers saying " buy this" and "get that." it honeslt makes me sick
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Talking Point #3
Dennis Carlson "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community"
I think that was Carlson is trying to say is that there needs to be more diversity in the schools and not keep everything under wraps. Basically talk about our world for what it really is, a diverse and interesting one.
1.) "However, as those marginalized within this normalizing discourseon community have begun to 'speak out' and challenge their marginalization,and have also begun to develop collective movements and communities of support"
This quote is important to the text because it shows that our world today is starting to open up and become more and more accepting if things that were hated 20-30 years ago. This quote is one of the prime examples of why our country is so great to live in, because it shows that we can be accepting, forgiving and sometimes ignorant and forgetful (which in this case, is a good thing)
2.) "Before proceeding, it seems important that I say something more about myuseofthe terms 'gay' and 'gayness' in this essay."
I feel this quote is important because it shows how we have grown as a people in this world. As a kid the term "gay" was used as a derogitory term and used to make fun of someone. In this essay, the term is not used in that way at all. It is strictly ised to just describe a group of people that are diverse, many and growing.
3.) "Like communist States,they have been based on the presumption that if students in the school community can be kept shielded from 'bad influences' and provided only 'positive' representations of community life, that they can be molded into 'good,' 'well-adjusted' citizens and workers.
This quote is important because it shows what a few bad apple can do to spoil a good thing. It is people that think and act like this in the world that make this place so diverse and also so hard to live in. Since when is being gay a bad influence on someone. its not like gayness is like strep throat and can be spread through touching and other things. I feel that people that say this need to grow up in a huge way and they need to do it fast in order to see the bigger picture.
I feel that this article was actually a hard read for me, although i really do not know why. I think that the main reason was that it was, in my opinion, a little too long. i like articles that are short and to the point and not too long. Other than that i thought the article overall was pritty interesting and hit the nail on the head. i felt like the article was an exact depiction of the world that we live in that is both amazing and stubborn at the same time.
I think that was Carlson is trying to say is that there needs to be more diversity in the schools and not keep everything under wraps. Basically talk about our world for what it really is, a diverse and interesting one.
1.) "However, as those marginalized within this normalizing discourseon community have begun to 'speak out' and challenge their marginalization,and have also begun to develop collective movements and communities of support"
This quote is important to the text because it shows that our world today is starting to open up and become more and more accepting if things that were hated 20-30 years ago. This quote is one of the prime examples of why our country is so great to live in, because it shows that we can be accepting, forgiving and sometimes ignorant and forgetful (which in this case, is a good thing)
2.) "Before proceeding, it seems important that I say something more about myuseofthe terms 'gay' and 'gayness' in this essay."
I feel this quote is important because it shows how we have grown as a people in this world. As a kid the term "gay" was used as a derogitory term and used to make fun of someone. In this essay, the term is not used in that way at all. It is strictly ised to just describe a group of people that are diverse, many and growing.
3.) "Like communist States,they have been based on the presumption that if students in the school community can be kept shielded from 'bad influences' and provided only 'positive' representations of community life, that they can be molded into 'good,' 'well-adjusted' citizens and workers.
This quote is important because it shows what a few bad apple can do to spoil a good thing. It is people that think and act like this in the world that make this place so diverse and also so hard to live in. Since when is being gay a bad influence on someone. its not like gayness is like strep throat and can be spread through touching and other things. I feel that people that say this need to grow up in a huge way and they need to do it fast in order to see the bigger picture.
I feel that this article was actually a hard read for me, although i really do not know why. I think that the main reason was that it was, in my opinion, a little too long. i like articles that are short and to the point and not too long. Other than that i thought the article overall was pritty interesting and hit the nail on the head. i felt like the article was an exact depiction of the world that we live in that is both amazing and stubborn at the same time.
Talking Point #2
Richard Rodrigues "Aria"
I feel that the main thing that Mr. Rodriguez is trying to say is that we need to respet children, their wishes, and where they come from. It is always easier to simplify things we do not understand and things that seem different but to actually take the time to understand it is something else entirely and something that everyone should try and do.
1.) "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address mein Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid. Iwould have trusted them and responded with ease."
I think that this quote is important because it is very significant to alot of children. i feel that this quote is very similar to what alot of bilingual children say to themselves when they are forced into the same situation as rodriguez was as a little kid.
2.) "I would have been happier about my public success had I not sometimes recalled what it had been like earlier, when my family had conveyed its intimacy through a set ofconveniently private sounds."
This quote is important because it shows that he did not have a good start to his childhood and that he still remembers it. I feel that no matter what race, gender, sexual prferance, religion, etc..., that everyone should be treated with the same amount of dignity and respect so that instances like this will not happen which is that children have bad experiences as children and those memories stick with them forever.
3.) "while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality."
this quote is important because it shows that our world today is slowly and slowly diminishing in privacy and it is becoming a more "open to the public" world. not everyone's personal lives need to be on display, especially shy minorities. i say this because i feel like americans today and mainly white people are trying to pry into minorities lives and figure out every little thing that they are doing, all because of the September 11th attacks.
I thought the article, as a whole, was very easy to read and it was short and to the point. I feel that alot of minorities felt and actually still feel the same way that Rodriguez felt as a little child. They feel that they do not belong in that setting because they do not speak english "properly" or that they have a very thick accent, so much so that it is hard to understand them. I feel that everyone needs to be seen and treated with the same amount of dignity and respect that everyone else should be treated with.
I feel that the main thing that Mr. Rodriguez is trying to say is that we need to respet children, their wishes, and where they come from. It is always easier to simplify things we do not understand and things that seem different but to actually take the time to understand it is something else entirely and something that everyone should try and do.
1.) "Without question, it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address mein Spanish when I entered the classroom. I would have felt much less afraid. Iwould have trusted them and responded with ease."
I think that this quote is important because it is very significant to alot of children. i feel that this quote is very similar to what alot of bilingual children say to themselves when they are forced into the same situation as rodriguez was as a little kid.
2.) "I would have been happier about my public success had I not sometimes recalled what it had been like earlier, when my family had conveyed its intimacy through a set ofconveniently private sounds."
This quote is important because it shows that he did not have a good start to his childhood and that he still remembers it. I feel that no matter what race, gender, sexual prferance, religion, etc..., that everyone should be treated with the same amount of dignity and respect so that instances like this will not happen which is that children have bad experiences as children and those memories stick with them forever.
3.) "while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality."
this quote is important because it shows that our world today is slowly and slowly diminishing in privacy and it is becoming a more "open to the public" world. not everyone's personal lives need to be on display, especially shy minorities. i say this because i feel like americans today and mainly white people are trying to pry into minorities lives and figure out every little thing that they are doing, all because of the September 11th attacks.
I thought the article, as a whole, was very easy to read and it was short and to the point. I feel that alot of minorities felt and actually still feel the same way that Rodriguez felt as a little child. They feel that they do not belong in that setting because they do not speak english "properly" or that they have a very thick accent, so much so that it is hard to understand them. I feel that everyone needs to be seen and treated with the same amount of dignity and respect that everyone else should be treated with.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Talking Point #6
"One More River To Cross-" Recognozing The Real Injury In Brown: A Prerequesite To Shaping New Remedies. by Charles Lawrence
Charles lawrences main argument, I feel, is that he wants to see if you can consider the case of Brown vs. Board of Education as a success or not. he gives valid reasons for both the failure and success aspects.
Charles lawrences main argument, I feel, is that he wants to see if you can consider the case of Brown vs. Board of Education as a success or not. he gives valid reasons for both the failure and success aspects.
- This intentional misunderstanding had its roots in Brown, and has judicial, political, and social attitudes which are crucial to Blacks today.
- i feel that this quote set the mood for the rest of the article. This quote caught the most attention from me because it used the words "intentional" and "misunderstanding" in the same sentence. This quote almost seems racist to me because it seems to say that the non minorities were being ignorant.
` 2. Segregation violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment not because there is no rational relationship between the classification and the purpose-it is a supremely rational system-but because its purpose is illegitimate.
- This quote is important because it basically says what alot of people that are segregated or are fighting against segregation are thinking. This quote is speaking out for all the quiete people in the world and it is shouting.
3. that it was actionable defamation in the South to call a white man a Negro, that placing of a white person in a Negro railroad car was actionable humiliation, and that a small portion of Negro blood put one in the inferior race for segregation purposes.
- This quote was very intrigueing to me since I had previously not known about this during the times of slavery. This quote was also important in order to almost set the mood for the rest of the article about how having slavery as a reference for Mr. Lawrence in the rest of the paper
Overall i thought that this article was intersting yet hard to read at the same time. I thought that the content of the paper was interesting and that he had a very ligitament argument to make about how the Brown case was a success or a failure. I did like the way that he kept like, almost, reminding us what he was talking about through the boring parts or the article so that we could basically remind ourselves of the bigger picture instead of just focusing about how boring the text is at that moment.
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