Promising Practices

Like many people expressed today in class, I too was skeptical of the Promising Practices Conference on the third. Much to my excitement, the conference was fantastic. I was glad to get as much out of it as I did. 

I found myself taking a lot of notes while Dr. Fusco was speaking. The focal point of her presentation, as you will remember, focussed on the correlation between agency and equity in youth development. For me, the most compelling piece of the lecture was when she gave the "ying-yang" visual. One side represents "things that matter to children personally" and the other side represents "things that matter to children in the world". The two sides are divided by, but brought together by agency. The agency part speaks to the way we "act upon" teaching children through intrinsic motivation. Regardless of the age level or the teaching environment, children are most highly engaged when an educator "invokes dialog to get a solution". Dr. Fusco asked us to "support young people to be active curators in their own lives".  

By the way, there are some rad pictures of ying-yang signs on Google

The workshops were a cool way of breaking up the day. My first workshop was with Neil Anderson (check out this guys resume!) and the Southern Youth Commission about "youth lead initiatives". Although this workshop was focused on youth groups, I found almost all of his information useful and could see myself applying it in my classroom. He wrote out a series of standards to hold and also a few ideas to think about. Some things that resonated with me were when he said, "Make it REAL and make it FUN" and "to always invest in your [students] -- it's reciprocal" and lastly, to "not put youself in the way of the learning process".  Not only did I learn a ton from this workshop, it was a great networking opportunity. 

My second workshop was a little less successful. It was the lecture on service learning. Rather than learning anything knew, everything that we learned in class was reiterated. Dr. Ozcan, the speaker, did mention a term that sparked my interest. Rather than saying "community service" he said, "social responsibility". I think these terms can be applied pretty well to what we were saying in class. When I hear community service, I think of services I have to do in order to complete a requirement. For instance, National Honor Society required community service. When one performs a social responsibility there seems to be more prestige and meaning. 

After lunch, we had the "unconference" where we got to see a presentation from the A.L.L.I.E.D. student group. I thought that this portion of the Practicing Promises conference was very well done and very well placed. The presentation given by the A.L.L.I.E.D. group gave great closure to the day. Personally, I liked the tidbits of information from some of the various articles we've read in class -- especially the poem!

This is all I have time to write for now...on a later date I will post my connections to the readings!

Hope ya'll enjoyed the conference as much as I did.  

Talking Point #8 - Brown/Ed, Tim Wise: Connections

After reading the article, looking at the "Brown vs Board of Education" website, and watching the Tim Wise videos there was a lot to think about. There was plenty of information to synthesize but I think I was about to narrow the scope. The most common theme I noticed was cultural competency. Going back to one of our earliest readings, I think Delpit most accurately embodies all of these sources.

The article mentions school segregation on the level of poverty. This immediately goes back to the grounds of Brown vs Education. Segregation in schools on any terms is "separate and unequal." Delpit reminds us of privilege. Everyone has it. Rather than trying to separate children based on their financial status, it is the job of the educators to teach "the rules and codes of power." By acknowledging racial and financial differences you display a sense of cultural competency. By separating children with those particular differences you are not teaching them how to get ahead in life, you are showing them that they do not possess the means of success. When children of different ethnicities, backgrounds, and fiscal situations are integrated, they are provided with a more beneficial and well rounded education.

In Part 2 of Tim Wise's radio interview they mention Brown vs the Board of Education. They say that the passing of that act is one of many progressions towards ending racism. Wise points out that there is no single event in history that has ended slavery or segregation, established civil rights, or other national issues but it has been a culmination of events to get results. Barak Obama's presidency is one more of these examples. Having a black president has not ended political racism, however, it is a large step in the right direction for our country.

Above, I added a video with Dr. King. The first half of the video Dr. King discusses, in an interview, segregation, integration, civil rights, the Vietnam war, and most importantly, cultural competency. The last minute or so of the video is Dr. King making a public address on the war. We can all agree that Dr. King was a phenomenal speaker and this video very aptly sums of the contents of this weeks blogging topic.

Talking Point #7 - Obama vs Romney on Abortion, Election Issues: Special Format

Obama: Pro-Choice

Even since the 2008 election, President Obama has been unwavering on his abortion stance. Very early on, Obama has made it clear that he is pro-choice. The President is in full support of the Roe v. Wade act and is committed to protecting this constitutional right. In his healthcare plan, Obama has made so that contraceptives must be provided for women enrolled in workplace health plans. Recently, if you have noticed, the Obama administration and the Democratic party have aired adds directed towards women. These adds highlight Romney's support to repeal Roe v. Wade, quote him saying that contraception is a "war or religion" and the fact that Romney would like to repeal Obama's healthcare (or the term popularly coined by Romney - Obamacare).

Romney: Ah, Um, Well

To be honest, who knows where Governor Romney stands on abortion. Back when he ran for Senate in 1994, Romney was pro-choice - since that time he has flip-flopped between pro-choice and pro-life. Now, currently, as of November 1, 2012 Mitt Romney is pro-life...with EXCEPTIONS. It seems as the Governor has made his way through his political career, he has gone further and further to the right, if you will. Unlike the president, Romney is in support of repealing Roe v. Wade. If elected president, Governor Romney plans on ending Title X - the program which funds Planning Parenthood (this program supports women who need abortion services, birth control, breast cancer screenings, etc.). Not only does Romney oppose abortion, he opposes birth control. What is this the 50s? How 'bout you give women a say? Romney DOES, however, provide EXCEPTIONS to his pro-life stance. If a woman has faced rape, incest, or mortal danger, she would be allow access to abortion. 

If you can't tell by my biased pictures and sarcasm, I am in support of Obama's pro-choice stance. It is absurd to assume what is best for women and to not provide the tools and services necessary for a successful life (on both fronts - whether a woman decides to have a child or not). If Romney were voted into office I feel that this would be a giant step back for our country, especially on these social issues. 

I will, however, despite my opposition to Mitt Romney, quote him from his 1994 Senate debate against Ted Kennedy:

"One of the great things about our nation, Sally, is that we're each entitled to have strong personal beliefs, and we encourage other people to do the same. But as a nation, we recognize the right of all people to believe as they want, and not to impose our beliefs on other people."

I will give the man credit. I believe this is aptly put and put it into the context of yours and my political preferences. Let's all make a well informed decision come election day! Hopefully everyone votes! 

Here are the articles I used to support my blog:
Article 1
Article 2

These were pretty helpful. On the first one, there is a video of Governor Romney speaking on the issue.

More Disney Princess Madness

Hey ya'll...If you get a chance check this link out.

I was on Sparknotes...yes Sparknotes, don't judge...and saw a link to an article about a new Hispanic Disney princess, Sophia. Thought someone might be interested. This page has a bunch of articles so read away and tell me what you think!

Hope this is of some interest to someone -- at least it's pertinent to recent class discussion...
Hispanic Disney Princess

Talking Point #6 - In the Service of What?, Kahne: Quotes/Connection

This quote in particular resonated with me the most. Mainly because it reminded me immediately of our service learning, 

"Educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels o f schooling. Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students." 

That is exactly the purpose of our service learning. I know, it seems obvious, but I didn't think of it this way until reading this article. Yes, our service enhances the communities in which we are helping, we are active in our service, we are effective and helpful, and at the same time we are furthering our academic goals to become educators. 

This article made me that much more proud to do what we are doing.

"Ms. Adams' students, by contrast, began their work with a systematic and critical analysis ofthe causes ofhomelessness and ofthe strategies employed to prevent it. The class discussed the growing economic disparity between rich and poor, the impact o f homeless ness on children, and the difficult balance between individual rights and collective responsibility. Students read stories by homeless children and wrote essays assessing the impact of homelessness on people like themselves."

This most accurately relates to the process we have followed. Through our curriculum we have learned certain things that we will apply when in the classroom. I know many of us have shared stories on how what we have learning in class and through our readings has already been applied in our SL projects. For instance, my FIRST day I had a Delpit moment. A student wasn't following with the class during reading time...I almost asked, "Alex, is it time to be reading?" Disgusted with myself, I quickly changed my tonality and phrasing. I didn't even think I had a communication issue that Delpit talks about until I applied it to a real life situation.

"After they returned, the students' perspectives on these elementary school children had changed. They were "surprised at the children's responsiveness and their attentiveness," they found the children to be "extremely polite and surprisingly friendly," and they discovered that they "listened well and had excellent behavior." One student wrote, "Everyone at the school had good manners, and [ think more highly of [the neighborhood] now." The experiential and interpersonal components ofservice learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of"otherness" that often separates students-particularly privileged students-from those in need. In so doing, the potential to develop caring relationships is created." 

I found this part rather amusing. Maybe it was naive of me, but before I started my SL project, I didn't make any prejudgements on the demeanor of my students that I hadn't met. I wasn't nervous because I thought that they would be rude but rather I wasn't sure how they would react to having another adult in the room (more specifically -- a white male authoritative figure). I didn't think that they were going to love me or that they were going to hate me -- I just simply didn't know what to expect. Similar to the students in the article, I was relieved to be liked and accepted.   

Here is a picture of where I do my service learning -- Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary
Click the picture and it will send you to their website. If that doesn't work I've provided the link bellow.

Dr. MLK Elementary

Talking Point #5 - Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Orenstein: Hyperlinks/Connection

A large vocal point of Orenstein's writing is Disney. Most important to her purpose is Disney's marketing techniques for their princess line. I wanted to post a view pictures and see what kind of conversation sparked.

Orenstein talked about how by making the Disney princess merchandise so vast it was allowing young girls to play out the princess fantasies and take after the examples given in the movies. There are arguments throughout the article that rather than little girls wanted to behave and replicate the actions of these princesses, they just want to dress up because it is fun. We all have a pretty good sense of what the children Disney princess costumes look like and for the most part the adult Disney princess costumes are in the same fashion. There are a couple of exceptions -- oh hey Snow White. There are more just like that one. You can even see the pattern in adult Disney villain costumes. So although little girls are not necessarily playing the rolls of these princesses, what message are they receiving when they see some of the costumes that are out there. Does it play into their schema of femininity? ARE little girls just simply playing dress up? 

Talking Point #4 - Christensen: Reflection/Hyperlink

I have found a similar pattern in any article/discussion that has been related to class this semester. And that is I always have a recent story relative to the topic being discussed. As I immediately started reading this article, I was reminded of a conversation I had with some fellow theatre folk. We were discussing the Disney movies that we used to watch as kids. The conversation started with "The Little Mermaid." As a kid I enjoyed it, as an adult I can understand the sexist, misogynistic content --- A story about a young girl who is told that she doesn't need her voice to attract a man--in fact all she needs is her body. Okay Disney. The discussion moved to Disney female villains. "The Little Mermaid" came back to the conversation. As we all remember Ursula was portrayed as a larger woman -- in fact, most of the female Disney villains portrayed some sort of "SCWAAMP" based "flaw"...here are the Disney female villains as they were originally illustrated....THEN...and here are them NOW. Those were the best pictures I could find. But for the sake of the point, look at Ursula in both pictures. What kind of message does that send?

As Christensen would point out...these are childhood memories and many people would refuse to acknowledge their suggestive messages and characters. Disney movies, however, are prime examples of how the media manipulates our views.