In Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning: by Kahne and Westheimer

     Right away this article started out with a great quote. "...ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Said by John F. Kennedy.

     This goes so well to all that this article is saying about service learning. Service learning is getting people out there to help others. This is what we can do for the people in our community, in our schools. By giving our services to the schools, we are helping everyone, including the country. What Kennedy said is being defined today by service learning. We are doing it for a class as well as for those children and teachers that benefit from our help in the classroom. RIC has us do 30 hours of community service. That 30 hours is changing our lives. It's making us go out there and give our time to those in need. It's also changing the lives of those we are giving our services to. Here is a link to a timeline of Caroline Kennedy who wants to "redefine that commitment for our time."

 

     "In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning activities seek to promote students' self-esteem, to develop higher-order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences- all goals of current curriculum reform efforts."

     In my opinion, this quote sums up our experiences pretty well. We are all helping students to learn and grow. We are helping the teacher. We all seem to be growing and changing gaining more confidence as we go along developing more self-esteem. Higher-order thinking skills are being developed as we teach and grow in the classroom following instruction and instincts. There are so many abilities that are being used that we don't even think about from handling the office situation when first arriving in a professional manner, to dealing with the interesting and at times very challenging situations that arise unexpectedly. We are also all most definitely providing and being provided with "authentic learning experience." There is so much we learn by being in the real situations, taking action, instead of just sitting listening to a lecture.
    Here is from a blog I found, what an outstanding post, you should really read this(warning, may make you cry like it did to me). "This UP Program made my college experience worth something," Abby, an UP Program student employee, explained. "College isn't just about hanging out. I feel like I'm helping a cause." 

     "To be critical thinkers, students must be able to consider arguments that justify conclusions that conflict with their own predispositions and self interest." 

     This is how one gets stronger and really learns what they believe. By challenging what one may have grown up with or may not have addressed in the past, one can talk about and figure out for sure what they think is right. By doing so it makes them sure and able to back up what they say. This statement is very true and very important.  Here is a link to an in debt definition of what critical thinking is. Also this relates to Delpit when she speaks of those in power being less aware of the culture of power's existence. It relates because being told about what is happening around the world and in our own communities is important so we know how to help. By requiring service learning it is making students go out and see first hand what maybe they didn't realize was actually happening or that they needed to be more aware so they could help. 

 

"Rather than assume, erroneously, that all educators share the same vision, we think that it is better to be explicit about the numerous and different visions that drive the creation and implication of service learning activities in schools."

     We each have our own take of service learning. We all have a different vision for this as well as our goals for the future. Its really cool and awesome that each one of us has a different experience with service learning. This is what will make us such great teachers. Having our own experiences, goals and visions will make the classrooms fun and exciting for the students. One of my main goals is to inspire my students. To inspire them to love and want to learn. That is one of the keys to life. Learning is a powerful and necessary tool for life. Another goal is for them to know that they can do it,( whatever it may be) and not to give up.

 

For class: What's your teaching vision? Do you agree with what I said about us all having a different one? What does this whole service learning project mean to you?

Justice Event: African American Culture Society

So I went to this event on Thursday February 19th. Yes This is a late response to it but life is crazy, I'm sure all of you can relate.

     So first off I noticed that there were only 17 people there. There was me and Julienne then another class sitting on the other side. The class was required to go and I believe it was during their class time, their teacher was there as well. He asked a lot of questions (making what was supposed to be an hour lecture turn into a few..). Besides the class there was a couple African American men, one women and that was it. I have to admit I was not too surprised, but what was sad was the woman who helped with the presentation asked and assumed that we came because of a class. I felt bad saying yes. Right at the beginning of the event they had us choose a ticket for a raffle where they gave out a couple shirts and that built up to a sweatshirt. I am always afraid to win things because I am shy to say that it was me. Is anyone else like that? So I had a feeling that I would win the sweatshirt.. and sure enough I did! I was shy but of course told them and received a nice sweatshirt in honor of Trayvon Martin!
     There is so much I could go into about the history but what I really took out of this presentation was Keith Stoke's main purpose that people need to think of the lives that were affected by slavery. What he means is not as "oh it was so long ago they are just a story now." But instead that we take time to think of what happened almost as if it were happening around us, to people that we know. He wanted us to relate to the people back then. On the graves that he told us about and showed us, there were angels engraved at the top that had African features! One thing that was really powerful was the pictures of the graves with pictures along side of them of the children and people mostly under the age of 18 that were buried there. It was so sad. It really brought the history alive and made me think about it in a different way. Before this event I really hadn't thought much about slavery except for what I was required to in school. This presentation made me think about it longer than I would have otherwise. So this shows that as Delpit says, those with power are less aware of its existence. I didn't think much about slavery and those issues because it doesn't affect me but Stokes speaks how it did happen and to real people like you and me. He wants us to understand that.

    One thing I learned and was quite surprised by was how much slavery was in Rhode Island. Particularly in Providence, Bristol and Newport, all of which I am pretty familiar with. It actually wasn't as bad here in Rhode Island as it was in the South. Here's some more about Newport and this topic (By Keith Stokes). Slave owners here would use the South as a threat because of the huge difference there was. I really appreciate people that are well spoken. I think it is because I take a while to say my thoughts the right way. I also will stumble over my words and not be able to get out what I want to say fluently. It doesn't happen too often but often enough that I pay attention to others way of speaking. Keith Stokes spoke with confidence and passion. It was cool to hear what meant so much to him. History has really never been an interest of mine but I could see that it was more that just history for him. I know that because when I understand something or feel strongly enough about something, I have a strong and confident voice that is clear. Also I will be able to talk for an endless amount of time about it and want to answer every question relating to it. What is really cool is that this voice of mine that I just described comes out when I am teaching! Its amazing and something I developed recently that makes me really excited! I also found that it comes out when I am frustrated and need to get my point across in a straight forward manner that demands the attention of who I am talking to. I didn't know I would go into this so much but there you go!

     Having a strong voice relates to what Rodriguez went through. He started out lost and quiet because of the language barrier. Slowly but surely he found his voice and was able to speak English and join in the class without being afraid. It's like me when I found my teaching voice. (Finally!!) Suddenly I was able to help more and wasn't as shy. A break through! Rodriguez spoke when he had confidence in himself just as Stokes spoke so fluently and confidently in what he knows so well. It meant a lot that Rodriguez had finally accomplished learning English so well and he was proud. Stokes had to learn and research to know all the history and things he knows now. Being fluent in history is a challenge just as learning a language. Each subject we learn is a language. Like science for another example. You can have a full conversation in how it works in debt with scientific terms and someone who does not know much about science would hear blah blah blah. Or an even better example is learning an instrument. When I first got my clarinet I was intimidated and so confused. I couldn't even get a sound other than an ear piercing squeak to come out! After a lot of learning and lessons, I learned to play. Music tells a story, there is a lot to understand in it and it is not easy. Just like learning a language or learning enough about a subject to speak about it confidently enough and teach it to others so that they understand.                   
  

     Here's a quote from Amazing Grace by Kozol, "There's a whole world out there if you know it's there, if you can see it. But they're in a cage. They cannot see." (Page 24) This made me think of the white people during the time that many of them owned slaves. No, not the slaves. The slaves were trapped in the position that they were in but they were not the ones that could not see. The slaves knew what was going on. They knew that they were supposed to be treated equally and free. It was the slave owners that convinced themselves that they knew how things were supposed to be. Slave owners could not see the world out there as anything different than what it was. They could not see that what they were putting the slaves through was so terrible because they were consumed by their greed.
    

Understanding the Myths That Bind Us by Linda Christensen

     So there's a million things I could say about this article I'll touch on one of the main things that really stuck out to me. On page 132 they told the story of Cindy Ellie. This is a version of Cinderella where she is black and "celebrates the beauty, culture, and language of African Americans." This was pretty cool and made me think of the African American version of The Wizard of Oz *Click TO WATCH PREVIEW* If you get the chance to watch the full movie you should check it out! (You'll recognize some of the actors in it!) Its really different and made me think about how an African American must feel watching the Wizard of Oz that we know. It's sales got half the amount of The Wizard of Oz. It was a culture shock to me to see the story I grew up watching done in a completely different way. No one really knows about the other version of The Wizard of Oz. It wasnt as big and well known as the Judy Garland version we all know and love. 

 

     This made me think of in Johnson how he talks about "the luxury of obliviousness" as well as Delpit with her Culture of power number 5. "Those with power are frequently least aware- or least willing to acknowledge- it's existence. Those with less power are often most aware of it's existence." The majority of movies that are out in the theaters or just the popular films we grew up with are of all or mostly white people.  That goes for cartoons as well. This is not something that is typically though twice about to a white person. But I would imagine that to a black person, they are extremely aware of this and it must frustrate them at times.

Safe Spaces Reflection

My response to this is a bit of frustration at how rude and ignorant people can be. I guess this will be more of a rant rather than entirely a reflection but here I go..
     Most importantly what people need to understand is that no one has the right to judge another person. This is key. Once a person understands that, then they are golden. I truly believe that. We are all here on this earth trying to survive the best we can. Each and every one of us has things going on in our lives and has something that makes us different than someone else. Because we all have something that makes us different, doesn't that really make us all the same? Yes. If a person is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, that does not mean they should be judged or treated differently. They may not have the same sex life as you but that is their business and it doesn't make them any different than you.They need to be treated with respect just the same as any other person you come across. I don't even like using the word "they" because it really is "we". People need to stop separating others and just join together accepting one another.
We are all equal. This all goes back to SCWAAMP, no matter what, if all categories describe you or if not even one of them does, it should not make a difference. Remember the golden rule? The Golden Rule Yeah the one where we treat everyone equally and as we ourselves want to be treated? That is still important and true. 

                                                                                     

Aria, by Richard Rodriguez

"From the doorway of another room, spying the visitors, I noted the incongruity-the clash of two worlds, the faces and voices of school intruding upon the familiar setting of home." (page35)


     This is such a sad moment. Rodriguez is witnessing school coming in on his home life. This moment changes everything for him and his family. The nuns intruded on the Rodriguez's family in a sense that they changed the dynamic. It was originally a safe place for the children to speak freely in Spanish and be understood. After that visit however, they started speaking
English at home so they could better speak it outside in school and other places. Home should always be a safe place where you are free to be you. Having the nuns come in and change that is not right. Also the parents did not have to go to such a drastic change. They could have spoken English at certain learning times then have the rest of the time in Spanish.


 

  "But my father was not shy, I realized, when I'd watch him speaking Spanish with relatives. Using Spanish, he was quickly effusive. Especially when talking with other men, his voice would spark, Ricker, Rare alive with sounds. In Spanish, he expressed ideas and feelings he rarely revealed in English. With firm Spanish sounds, he conveyed confidence and authority English would never allow him." (page 37, 38)

     People are usually not shy when they are confident and comfortable in the situation or with a certain group of people. His father was not shy but didn't feel at ease speaking in English. It's something foreign to him as another language may be to us. There is a fear to mess up or be made fun of when learning another language when others know it or pick it up easily. Mr. Rodriguez spoke with a spark and detail in his own language. It is a part of who you are.
     For me I can only kind of relate. I am half Syrian and grew up in a church with all Arabic speaking people. For the majority of them, Arabic is their first language. Their accents are strong and there is even a different Mass at 11:00 that is in Arabic. I never knew what they were saying despite hearing it all the time when I went there. I knew a select few words my dad taught me but he doesn't know too much either. Often times I would be standing by someone I knew and they would have a full out conversation with another person in Arabic and I would just be awkwardly standing there. I don't think they ever realized I couldn't understand a word they said. 
     When I started college I choose to take Arabic for my language requirement so I would maybe know some of the things they are saying and that I have been hearing growing up. I felt like a baby in that class. Arabic is an incredibly difficult language to learn because it does not relate to English or anything I know at all. There is a different alphabet with 28 letters and sounds some of which if you don't speak Arabic you can't pronounce. You would have to train your mouth to pronounce and make the correct sound. The alphabet is different symbols, there is no abcdefg.. I had to learn the letters individually and sound out the sounds of Arabic words with all the different rules and accents. There's so much to it! If you ask my friends and family how I did with that class they will tell you how frustrated I was. . Here is the alphabet.. (You read from right to left.) 

 

     I struggled alot in that class (Arabic one and two) But it gave me a glimpse into how challenging it is to try to learn a different language! It was the coolest hing to be able to slowly progress and understand bits and pieces here and there. I was so excited at the rare times when I actually knew the answer. I have so much respect for those who learn other languages. It's truly incredible.

" Weeks after, it happened: One day in school I raised my hand to volunteer an answer. I spoke out in a loud voice. And I did not think it remarkable when the entire class understood. That day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier. The belief. the calming assurance that I belonged in public, had at last taken hold" (page36)

     That is so cool! That must have been so satisfying for him! After weeks of trying to understand and speak easily in English it finally clicked! I never reached this point in Arabic but I can only imagine how amazing that was for him. His life had become so much easier in a sense of communication in school at that moment. Something to point out here is how he used the word "disadvantaged". In the conversations that we have been having in class, this word has been talked about a lot. There are different ways to be disadvantaged but it is all the same concept of trying to get to or fit in the advantaged group. It would be the same situation if, say, we went to China and tried to jump in the school system. We would try to understand first off some parts of the language or what they were saying to us and then try to learn what the fluent speakers were learning on top of it.
     I felt disadvantaged in my class when two the the three other students in the class spoke fluent Arabic having moved here from Syria. They would have conversations in Arabic with each other and the teacher sometimes. All I could do was sit there and wait until they switched to English. It's actually like a claustrophobic feeling. It's an interesting experience and I definitely felt disadvantaged and left out. And I didn't speak in class half as much as I do in this FNED class. I often wondered if they felt cool or superior because they knew something so well that I didn't at all. That's probably just me but again, who knows. Here's a cool link to check out of someone else's experience with this..      storytimewithjohn

Below is the word disadvantaged in Arabic :

المحرومين

Remember it reads right to left, that is why it is set up like this   

For class: 
     Do you think the family handled the situation in a good way? How about the nuns, should they have talked to the parents about Richard learning English at home? 

 

Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol

     First off let me just say wow.. There are so many quotes that really struck me that I could comment on but I'll pick three of the most thought provoking ones.

" There are children in the poorest, most abandoned places who, despite their miseries and poisons that the world has pumped into their lives, seem, when you first meet them, to be cheerful anyway." (Page 6)
     This always interested me. How a child could be in the worst scenario you could imagine, and still be happy. Those children appreciate all the good that there is in the world, possibly because there isn't much of it for them. What they do have they treasure. Those children make the best of what they have instead of making a wish list of the things that they want. The more a person has, the less happy they seem to be.

"The pastor tells me that the place is known as 'Children's Park.' Volunteers arrive here twice a week to give out condoms and clean needles to addicted men and women, some of whom bring their children with them. The children play near the bears or on a jungle gym while their mothers wait for needles." (Page 12)
     This quote makes me tear up. That is so sad. Innocent children are playing near the bears that were probably stolen and put in the tree hanging as some sort of sick joke. All this while their mothers wait for needles, how devastating. Another thing that struck me is that there are volunteers that come to the "Children's park" to give out condoms and clean needles. That is promoting the wrong actions. Especially having volunteers to give them out? I don't understand. Volunteers are people that give their time to help others but to do good. Not to encourage using needles!
Volunteer opportunities (I don't see giving out condoms and needles on here.. just saying)

"I believe that we were put here for a purpose, but these people in the streets can't see a purpose. There's a whole world out there if you know it's there, if you can see it. But they're in a cage. They cannot see." (Page 24)
     After reading this I agreed right away. Those people are not living. Without a purpose, one is lost and has no reason to even try. That is what they fell into. Those people cannot see. I think that is why this article is titled Amazing Grace. Here is the verse that connects to the story, the verse those people need..

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."

Topic to talk about:

"I think they hate you because you are not in their condition. 'I am in hell and you are not and so I hate you and I have to try to bring you down where I am.' I feel pity for them, and fear, because they're lost." (Page 24)

     This is true in many situations. It's from jealousy, they resent people that are in a better situation. Which is a part of human nature. Do you agree? Has anyone tried to bring you down with them? 

Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit

"To clarify, this student was proud of the teacher's 'meanness,' an attribute he seemed to describe as the ability to run the class and pushing and expecting students to learn." Page 37

     This quote really stood out to me because of how I fall into this. This is basically saying that students will have more respect for teachers that put their foot down. This can be considered mean however it isn't, it's just the teacher acting as a teacher. Being able to run and control the class is vital. Its hard for me because I have a soft voice and am afraid to be mean. Its something that bothers me because I want to be a successful teacher but I realize that requires a teachers voice. I've gotten better but still am afraid to be mean.


"The students became the experts in explaining to the teacher the rules for creating a new rap song." Page 33

     When students learn something really well, they have confidence and are more likely to be confident in helping others learn it as well. Having a student explain their own research to the teacher makes them feel good and like they really know something. It also gives the student inspiration to keep learning. I know that when I learn something well that I am proud, its a really good feeling that everyone wants to feel. Having the students teach what they learned is also a great way to get them engaged to learn more.  It is perfect to have a lesson plan to follow along.
  

"This does not mean separating children according to family background, but instead, ensuring that each classroom incorporates strategies appropriate for all the children in its confines." Page 30

     I am shocked that this needs to be said. That's really sad. No matter what, the classroom needs to be appropriate and useful to all students. That is one of the main goals and responsibilities as the teacher.This pertains to all aspects of teaching and will be a priority of mine as a teacher.

Lisa Delpit:

http://eharman.jigsy.com/lisa-delpit-author-s-page

To bring up in class:
     This kind of upset me and I'm not sure how to take it. Does this bother anyone else?
"The biggest difference between black folks and white folks is that black folks know when they're lying!" According to this, whites are really terrible and have bad unconscious motives.