Blog #8

 The author, Richard Rodriguez, argues that children who don't speak the "public" language where they live have to trade away some of their private life and private language in order to learn the public one. He argues that while it isn't easy and can be very difficult, especially for a young child, the payoff of being able to speak the language of others in public will be worth it. Despite most of his writing leaning towards the negative side, he does conclude that the overall benefits outweigh the negatives. In the text, he recalls his experience with language at home. He describes how only being able to speak English affected him and his relationship with his family. He says he was angry and frustrated with them, but later on realized the value learning English had and was grateful to be able to speak the language of so many other people he lived with.

Blog Post #6

 In Shalaby's "TroubleMakers" she describes how some students are labeled as "troublemakers" without giving them the benefit of the doubt. Throughout my experience through school, I've witnessed many students who struggle with this experience. Many of my friends had a difficult time in school just because they didn't like it. Some people knew they wouldn't want to go to college and thought school was a waste of time. They acted out because of the fact they didn't want to be in school. It was these students that constantly got in trouble or became a disruption in class. Reflecting on it now, many of these people have been very successful, whether they went into a trade or some other job where school wasn't required. When these people were out of school they were well behaving and good people. It was just in school that they actd like this because the system did not work for them. Teachers would give up and send them to the office nearly every day or have them miss out on lessons or interactive experiences and asignments. This text resonated with me because I've seen people I know very well be a victim to this system and way of thinking, and teachers and administrators should do more to try and fix the problem without harming the student in their growth and development. 

Questions about AI in Higher Education

 1. What will be AI's role in the classroom in 5-10 years?

2. As a student, is there a way to respond to a teacher/professor if they do not allow any use of AI in the class

3. Will AI ever be able to take the place of educators in our schools at any level?

Literacy With an Attitude

 Reading this text made me reflect back on my own experience in school, and which one of the schools mentioned most resembled my own. I think my own school in particular is interesting because there was a mix of all of these different examples, with the middle-class and upper class schools resembling mine the most, but the other two were also represented. The most significant thing I remember was doing a lot of projects and creative assignments. Most of my teachers would have us do something creative for each unit/lesson we did in class. Obviously some classes were different, but most of them were like this. I personally didn’t like this very much, as I was never a very creative kid, but most of the other students did. Another example I can think of that ties back to this text is my We The People class my freshman year of high school. This was an optional class in American government, as it was very fast-paced, and at the end of the year we would compete against other schools in a debate-style competition. The class was intended for high school seniors, and we were the only school in the country to compete as freshmen. Obviously we did not win, but we were closer to the top than the bottom. I look back on this and realize that our school had very high expectations for us and the class was fast-paced, something the text discusses in the more affluent schools, something my school and town were. My school also encouraged us to think about abstract ideas and discuss current events. In that government class and in history classes especially, current issues were almost built into the class and what the teacher taught us. Even in my service learning, I see the way that the teachers treat students is different. In the school I am volunteering at, the teachers are more direct and will raise their voices, something my teachers would rarely ever do. 

Video Analysis

 

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

 In the chart, Kohn distinguishes between a positive learning environment and a negative learning environment. The central themes of the chart show that a space that is more open and welcoming to students will facilitate more learning and a better learning environment. My biggest takeaway from the chart is how valuable a well-decorated classroom can be. In my own experiences in school, especially in elementary school, every one of my classrooms was covered with decorations and furniture. The chairs and tables were often put in spots where we could work with others. The chart was relatable to me because nearly everything from my classes that made them memorable for me are a part of that. 

In the video, it discusses culturally relevant pedagogy, which is the idea that schools have to take students’ culture and use it to connect to them. Schools have to be understanding of students’ culture and take it into account. An example of this would be how students from a low-income family and from a culture that doesn’t have a lot of wealth wouldn’t be able to connect with a teacher from an upper class culture easily. It’s important for the teacher to understand students' culture and teach them relevant to what they know and understand. This video goes somewhat against the ideas of Delpit because the video says that students’ culture should be taken into account in education, whereas Delpit argues that students should be taught to be successful “in the white man’s world.” I personally align more with what the video describes because it’s easier for students to learn when they are given references or examples they understand. While it’s important for students to be taught the culture of power, students still need to learn by using what they know, and I believe a mix of these two strategies would be the best option. In regards to the chart, I believe that there can be a dramatic difference between a well set up classroom and a "boring one." From personal experiences, a classroom that is well-designed is much easier to learn in.

10 Best Classroom Setup Ideas

The Silenced Dialogue

 In the text, Delpit argues that there is a “culture of power.” She describes this in five steps. The theme of these five steps are that the rules of culture and power stay with those who have the power, and people with power often don’t realize they are in possession of power while people who don’t possess power are more aware that they don’t. Delpit applies this to education, where she argues that there are two main ways of teaching. One of the methods is Distar, which is being direct with students and being explicit when instructing. The other method is using indirect ways of communication, such as asking questions and implying directions. Delpit also discusses the value of different learning styles for students of different racial and cultural backgrounds. One of the biggest things she points out is how the system is designed for students who come from middle and upper-class families and have already been exposed to power and the codes/rules that come with it. She says how students who come from a family that is not in this power structure have difficulty interpreting the non-verbal cues from society. In addition to learning academics, people outside of the power structure have to learn all of the cues and non-verbal actions given by people of power. Delpit suggests that students be taught these codes during their time in school in order to function in mainstream American society.

In my time in school, this was never something that I thought about. I never thought about the certain social cues that we learned and where we learned them from. I always assumed that everyone could understand them like I did and I never put any thought into what they are and how I learned them. I also never realized how the system was set up for me, personally, to succeed, coming from a white middle-class family. 

The Academic and Social Value of Ethnic Studies

Sleeter argues that schools today in the U.S. do not offer students opportunities to explore different cultures other than Euro-centric American history. In a majority of textbooks, the history of America is told through people such as the founding fathers and other white historical figures. Not a lot of room is added for other cultures within the United States, such as Native American, Latin, African or Asian cultures. Many of these cultures and the people from them played big roles in the founding and development of America and they are not talked about nearly as much as other White figures. As a result of this, many students who have different backgrounds other than European find it difficult to relate to these figures in class, and are often left wondering how their culture played a role in American history. When they reach high school, many students become aware of the bias towards European and White American history and can become disinterested with what they are learning. 

After our class on 2/13, the ideas of Sleeter’s writing became more apparent to me. The film Precious Knowledge gave me great insight on how classes in Ethnic studies could be a great solution to the problem Sleeter discusses. In my own experience, my textbooks in k-12 did have a predominately Euro-centric theme, with books occasionally mentioning people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, but certainly not more than other white figures. We had a European history class in high school, but no other options other than U.S history. As a predominately white school, I never saw anyone be upset with what the classes offered and I thought most people in my school were represented in class. One question I would have for class would be if anyone had a different experience in school, especially if the school was diverse. 

Link to article about California Ethnic Studies requirement:

Link to Article

The Broken Model

     Chapter 2 of Salman Khan’s “The Broken Model” explains how the idea of the modern school came to be. It begins with Khan posing the question of why we do the things that we do, such as eat three meals a day. It then transitions into the idea of why schools were created they way they were. The United States took their education model from Prussia in the mid 1800s. It was designed to create a large workforce, with some students excelling and becoming highly intelligent leaders and innovators while most students became middle class factory workers or worked other menial jobs. Schools were also used to “Americanize” immigrant children. Schools taught all students the same subjects and at the same levels, giving all students a baseline level of knowledge. Early schools in America wanted to remove creativity from students and give them structure and discipline, something that we can still see remnants of in our schools today. The chapter also discusses testing, and why it should not be used to determine a students intelligence. It argues testing can be good to see where students are at a certain point in time, but they cannot be determining factors in how “smart” a child really is. 

Timeline of American Schools

Shifting The Paradigm

The authors, Shannon Renkly and Katherine Bertolini, argue that schools need to change their model from a deficit model to an asset model. They argue that this would have a profound effect on the quality of education throughout the US at all levels. 

    In today’s schools, an emphasis is put on knowledge and what students can learn, primarily through the repetition of information. This article makes the case that instead of focusing on what students can’t do, we should instead focus on what they can. Schools today focus on preventing students from creating problems, and don’t encourage students to be the best version of themselves that they can be. In the article it describes this as the deficit model. The model is one in which schools focus on the “deficits” of students and not their strengths. An example of this is the student who excels in areas such as art and music, but is weak in math or science. Through the deficit model, the emphasis would be put on that students struggle in math or science and not their abilities in music or art. This creates an environment in which that student is more likely to be a “problem child” due to them not enjoying those subjects. Using the asset model, a school might focus on that student's abilities in art and music and create a plan around that, rather than forcing that student to be good at math. The asset model allows students and teachers to create a plan revolving around a student's strengths, or assets. The model does not take away a student's weaknesses to provide them all strengths, it simply focuses on those strengths more. Instead of a teacher telling a student’s parents that he or she needs to improve in math, they may tell them how their child is excelling in other subjects first. In my experience in school, I agree that this model would most likely benefit students more than the deficit model commonly used in schools today. I think this is something schools should take and use within the schools and communities. In my own education, especially elementary education, my teachers did well with this model, as they catered to all kinds of students and allowed students to be themselves in class. As I moved up into secondary education, they did not allow students to show their capability outside of the main classes, and it was difficult to find classes to take I was interested in. There was such an emphasis on doing well on state and national testing and doing well in core classes that the other classes outside of that were seen as unimportant, which is where I believe this asset model would really help.

Link to good article explaining the asset model and how educators can implement it: https://acue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/MSWTA_Toolkit_Assets.pdf

Me

                                                             Me with my dog, Oliver

                                                                    

                                                            Me pitching in high school

                                                  Me at my job at the Y over the summer