When I think of the word troublemaker, I think of children, young adults and other adults doing things that they should not be engaging in or just wanting someone or others to be in trouble with them. 

Zora, stood out to me as a young girl with a lot of energy and just wants to be a part of her school community. She is different from the rest of her peers as she should be. We all know that in school we have expectations and rules in our daily classes. Sometimes we forget to use the common rules or choose to engage in them. I know I often forgot, and I did not raise my hand in class and yes, I had to be reminded to do so and not talk over others. 

I truly admired Zora, and her will and strength to stand her ground and what she believed in. I loved that her family allowed her to have her own space and do her and explore the world around her.

As an educator, I want my students to experience all that life has to offer, and I do not want them to be limited to just what is in their environment, when there is so much more in their environment to learn.

I have never seen this documentary before. I have taken education courses, and this documentary never was shown in any of my classes. I enjoyed watching this film and I admire all the young people in it for standing up for themselves. It is nice to go somewhere and everyone else understands what you are truly going through without others asking you questions, wanting you to tell them how, when, and what happened to you.

I quote the statement that one camper said," It was utopia, and it felt like an outside world." He had found his people, and they all were just teenagers. This camp empowered them to put their words in action. They all went back organized, established disability equal rights the same education for regular students as well as disabled students. I thank them for having install handicap railings, ramps, and parking spaces. Never as a child did, I think that I would become handicap. I have just learned now that my disability is just another part of my beautiful life.

Both articles highlight the importance of being different and wanting to be accepted. It truly is ok to be who you are in your own skin. The book and film did a great job of bringing the happiness of childhood and young adulthood into beautiful joy, and adventure regardless of each circumstance. It does have us look at our own daily life and wonder what we are truly missing out on in life?

ENJOY LIFE                                      ENJOY LIFE                                ENJOY LIFE

Literacy with an Attitude: Educating Working Class-Children in Their Own Self- Interest

 

Three Talking Points: 

Literacy with an Attitude: Educating Working Class-Children in Their Own Self-Interest

1. First Anyon noted similarities among the schools. They were nearly all white. They were all located in northern New Jersey and subject to the same state requirements. They all used the same arithmetic books. They had the same language arts course of study. Two of the schools used the same basal reading series. There were startling differences, however, most of the teachers were born in the same city as the schools but lived in better sections. Most of them were young and had graduated from the local teachers college; many of them were single.

2. In each category of school, Anyon observed what she called a "dominant theme". In the working class schools the dominant theme was resistance. Students vandalized school property and resisted the teachers’ efforts to teach. Boys fell out of chairs; students brought bugs into the classroom and released them; children lost books or forgot them; students interrupted the teacher. They showed no enthusiasm for projects into which the teacher put extra effort. They refused to answer questions and were apparently pleased when the teacher became upset. There was less resistance to easy work, and so assignments were rarely demanding.

3.The teachers in the middle-class school varied from strict to somewhat easygoing, but, for all of them, decisions were made on the basis of rules and regulations that were known to the students. Teachers always honored class dismissal bells. There was little excitement in the school work, and assignments did not seem to take into account the student’s interests of feelings, but the children seemed to believe that there were rewards: good grades lead to college and a good job. Remember, these were fifth graders.

Argument Point

The point of school work was to achieve, to excel, to prepare for life at the top.

💁💁💁💁💁

Armstrong and Wildman "Colorblindness is the New Racism" ; " All Lives Matter"

 

" This authors (Armstrong and Wildman) argue that White privilege includes the assumption that White people define a societal norm that people of color are "other" often considered inferior or dangerous because Whites represent the societal "normal" benchmark " the White person has an everyday option not to think of him/herself in racial terms at all".

Three Quotes:

"Whites fear creating the impression that they are insensitive or prejudiced" (Johnson et al., 2009 p.559) pg. 67

• I fell that this quote represents that whites try to hide their prejudice and insensitive. They have to maintain a formal appearance.

Whites need to learn about its accompanying privilege (Case, Iuzzini, & Hopkins, 2012) pg. 67

• This quote speaks for itself. That whites have the accompanying privilege and need to learn how they acquired the privilege.

To draw the harmful operation of colorblindness into relief and to counter the idea of colorblindness or the notion that society is post-racial, the authors propose utilizing "color insight". ( Armstrong & Wildman, 2008, 2012)  pg. 67

• The authors want us to become open to all colors.

Connections to other Articles:

Reading this article I connect this to Lisa Delpit "The Silenced Dialogue: Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children

I think of  words as Power , Privilege, and White, Society. Delpit speaks about white educators understanding the world that African-American children live in and where they come from and how to open yourself up beyond your own world and look into their world on different levels of life, and education.

White Privilege

“The unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed upon people solely because they are white”

Race

“Race” is a social construct, but the experience of racism is real

Racism

“Racism is different from racial prejudice, hatred, or discrimination. Racism involves one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination through the institutional policies and practices of the society and by shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices” (DBWorks).

Whiteness

“a dominant cultural space with enormous political significance, with the purpose to keep others on the margin”

Anti-Racism

What is “anti-racism” and why does it matter?

https://www.huffpost.com/topic/critical-race-theory

https://www.theroot.com/white-privilege-cards-lead-high-school-students-to-st-

1849507992https://nypost.com/2019/06/23/white-privilege-survey-posted-in-mostly-minority-school-in-manhattan/

Other People's Children ( Cultural Conflict in the Classroom) By Lisa Delpit

Cultural Conflict in the Classroom 

Three Talking Points

 1.The author maintains that black students do not advance with this method, and that the direct teaching of skills is crucial to  their success. Delpit suggests that black educators recognize that black students are already fluent and are anxious to teach them the “correct” conventions so that they can achieve success in mainstream white society.

2.Delpit shows' how nonwhite educators have passionately spoken out about being left out of the conversation concerning  how to best educate children of color. Delpit examines the issues that create these complete communication blocks through the lens of   her theme, “the culture of power.” The author suggests that although she believes that a culture of power exists in this   country, she does not advocate for passive mass compliance, but rather “a diversity of style” and that each cultural group should   be allowed to maintain its own language style. 

3. All teachers must teach all students the explicit and implicit rules of power as a first step toward a more just society.

Argument Statement

Those with power are frequently least aware – or least wiling to acknowledge – its existence. Those with less power are often most aware of its existence.

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