Blog #10

 Blog #10

Samantha Marsella

        Card Game

This was the game that we played at the beginning of the semester where we had to all remain silent and read a set of directions and try to play this card game. Each group had a different set of directions and while we played there was a lot of confusion. This game was part of Delpit's culture of power and we saw who took control and who were the followers. Society is built with people that follow the rules and others go against them.

        Kohn

In the video Learning to See I learned a lot about what to look for in a classroom. Watching this helped me understand what to look for when I started my service learning. I knew the good signs and the things to worry about in a classroom. Seeing group work and lots of materials to be used are good signs, but blank walls and bored students are things to worry about.

        Queering Our Schools

This reading had a lot of meaning to it because it shows that people aren't the only thing that needs to be more accepting of people who identify as something else but schools need to as well. Teachers learning to be open about talking about people who are gay, lesbian, etc. needs to be done. This is important to have a more inclusive school. People need to feel welcomed and comfortable in school to be able to get a good education.

Blog #9

Queering Our Schools

The Editors of Rethinking Schools

Samantha Marsella

Argument

        The authors argue that we need to create classrooms and schools with accepting arms with students who identify as something else. Another thing is that communities are built by working through differences and not pushing them away. Lastly, students need to be able to openly talk or ask questions about gender and sexuality.

         This reading is all about being open to students who have a different gender or sexual preference. Schools are the place where a lot of bullying happens about these things. Schools need to take action to make these students feel more comfortable and safe. Doing things like having a gender-neutral bathroom, not lining classes up by boys and girls, changing gym classes and locker rooms, etc. Another thing is opening teachers up to be able to have these conversations with the students who need it. That can then lead to more lectures on the LGBTQ community and history. This will allow students to feel more comfortable in schools knowing that they will be accepted and not judged by teachers or other students. We have to remember that these people are human too and just want to be treated the same, but in their own skin.

        This video below is about teaching identities in schools and how the students feel safe and can trust. There is a lesson about people being visible or invisible. The things we see on the outside are visible but the things on the inside are invisible.

Exploring Perceptions About Identity Through Self-Portraits - YouTube

        Have you ever thought about what you identify as? If you haven't then you don't understand the difficulties that these people go through. No one truly understands that they are standing in those shoes. Just like the video talks about we never know the invisible of people and shouldn't assume.

 

Blog #8

 Eliminating Ableism in Education

Thomas Hehir

Samantha Marsella

Quotes

        "Cyndi Jones, a disability activist and former poster child, argues that “the poster child says it’s not okay to be disabled . . . but it says if you just donate money the disabled child will go away” (p. 4)."

This quote is saying that money is an easy solution for people to not have to worry about children of disability. They can easily pay to not have to look at them or even see them out in public. The poster in the quote is implying that these people deserve pity as well. They want you to feel bad for them instead of respecting them for the way that they are. Until they can prove that they can overcome their disability and not be affected by it anymore.

"By using American Sign Language (ASL), the school demonstrated that literacy could be raised impressively among the deaf (Baynton, 1996) (p. 5)."

Thomas Gallaudet had found a deaf teacher, Laurent Clerc. They had opened an American Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. They used American Sign Language (ASL) which improved literacy greatly. Another thing they had found was that these people were achieving higher levels in literacy than the neighboring schools. This then led to many deaf people holding leadership positions in their communities.

"I contend that negative cultural assumptions about disability continue to have a negative influence on the education of children with disabilities (p.4)." 

When people have negative thoughts and do negative things to people with disabilities then they think down on themselves. If a teacher never calls on them in class, then they are going to think that they aren't smart or know the answer and this is why they are never called on. If a child is always in the lower classes because of their disability, then they will think they aren't smart enough to be in the higher classes.

Below is a video on how to change the way we talk about people with disabilities. That people come first before their disability.

Bing Videos

Have you ever encountered someone with a disability? Did you change the way you looked or spoke to them? We find that people feel bad for these people and give them a different type of treatment. But all these people want is to be treated like everyone else so that they can feel normal.