Dr Billing in the video The Classroom Mosaic: Culture and Learning has a belief in Social Political Consciousness. She stated "It is not enough to know something and be smart or to know about yourself. You also have to understand that knowing information relates to the larger social and political picture." I am still letting that sink in. I thought it was pretty good to know something and be smart.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
I really, really liked the video in this week's module: The Classroom Mosaic: Culture and Learning. I loved the project where the kids had to research their family history and they all discovered the "celebrities" they came from such as the kid whose forefather had his own orchestra with Count Basie as a member or the other child who boasted James Buchanan as a part of their tree.
I also loved the Middle Eastern mother who brought her story to class. OK, it wasn't the greatest prose in the world, but the heartfelt pride behind it made up for this fact. Also, I was amazed at the kids listening to the gentleman who was explaining why the people in the Middle East could not vote a solution in.
Also, I was inspired by the teacher (Kathleen Hays Parvin) who taught the memoir module. She loves what she does and it shows.
I would encourage everyone to read the article Khmer rap boys, X-Men, Asia’s fruits, and Dragonball Z: Creating multilingual and multimodal classroom contexts. This wrapped up the whole entire point of the module this week. They were kids from every culture you could imagine but the teacher was able to reach them on their own level of understanding. OK, I like X Men too so that may have had something to do with my affinity for this.
I also loved the Middle Eastern mother who brought her story to class. OK, it wasn't the greatest prose in the world, but the heartfelt pride behind it made up for this fact. Also, I was amazed at the kids listening to the gentleman who was explaining why the people in the Middle East could not vote a solution in.
Also, I was inspired by the teacher (Kathleen Hays Parvin) who taught the memoir module. She loves what she does and it shows.
I would encourage everyone to read the article Khmer rap boys, X-Men, Asia’s fruits, and Dragonball Z: Creating multilingual and multimodal classroom contexts. This wrapped up the whole entire point of the module this week. They were kids from every culture you could imagine but the teacher was able to reach them on their own level of understanding. OK, I like X Men too so that may have had something to do with my affinity for this.
OK, I have read the introduction and the first chapter of Readicide. I'm not sure, but I do not think that Kelly Gallagher was the Campaign Chairman for George Bush. Apparently, he has problems with the "No Child Left Behind Act" and I have to say that I am in agreement with him. It is no secret from anyone that is in the classroom that the legislation has been a huge fiasco that has not helped further the education of any student. However, at least someone tried to do something about the overwhelming problem of education in this country. Also, Ted Kennedy was right along with George Bush crafting this bill so both parties have their fingerprints all over this mess. That is the problem I have with ALL politicians------they live in their own little bubble and craft solutions to problems that are not based in reality.
The most highly educated children in the world today are the kids that go to schools without the luxuries that we have in our schools. A book is highly coveted by these children and is treated as such. They realize the value of a traditional education and understand that it will improve their lot in life. Children in America do not have the same reverence. We learned in the video that we were shown in class that our kids do not like to read and will find ways to avoid it when made to do so. They will go to the computer websites that will provide the "Readers Digest" version of a novel just to get by in class. Who can blame them??? School gets in the way of texting, Facebooking, socializing, making out and many of the other extracurricular activities that are rampant in high school today. I believe that we are trying to use the ideas from previous generations to access the skills of a post technology generation. Think about it----we say students can't read or write but ask yourself, how can a child sending and receiving 4000 text messages in a month not read and write quickly?? Granted, the grammar is probably atrocious with the advent of ROTFL and WTF (OK, perhaps not the best example....I pray Dr. Webb is not hip to the lingo yet) and the use of U in the place of the word "you" but, nonetheless, reading and writing is going on.
So, Mr. Gallagher spent the first chapter suggesting that the biggest problem we have in reading education is not teaching kids to read something relevant or educational, such as the novels we were taught to read, yet they are taught to pass a test. He is right and he is wrong. We should not teach to receive a test result but are we going to have them sit and read a book? I argue that our society is quickly moving away from the printed page. If we want to see students read to find information (as most corporations are requiring), lets text them a message asking the top ten ways to cut a class or to find out which city the hottest rapper will be in next week and we will get a 2000 word texted essay with every bit of information we need in a fifteen minute time span. Reading is going on..............writing is going on..................we just do not realize it and God forbid a student should show us that they know how to do it. Do not get me wrong. I believe in the kids today but we must learn from the cultural backgrounds these kids present. After all, this is what is in this week's modules. We must teach to relate on their terms. We must use the Ipods rather than the books. We must use the computer screen rather than the sheet of paper. We must catch up and access with this technology or we will fail.
The most highly educated children in the world today are the kids that go to schools without the luxuries that we have in our schools. A book is highly coveted by these children and is treated as such. They realize the value of a traditional education and understand that it will improve their lot in life. Children in America do not have the same reverence. We learned in the video that we were shown in class that our kids do not like to read and will find ways to avoid it when made to do so. They will go to the computer websites that will provide the "Readers Digest" version of a novel just to get by in class. Who can blame them??? School gets in the way of texting, Facebooking, socializing, making out and many of the other extracurricular activities that are rampant in high school today. I believe that we are trying to use the ideas from previous generations to access the skills of a post technology generation. Think about it----we say students can't read or write but ask yourself, how can a child sending and receiving 4000 text messages in a month not read and write quickly?? Granted, the grammar is probably atrocious with the advent of ROTFL and WTF (OK, perhaps not the best example....I pray Dr. Webb is not hip to the lingo yet) and the use of U in the place of the word "you" but, nonetheless, reading and writing is going on.
So, Mr. Gallagher spent the first chapter suggesting that the biggest problem we have in reading education is not teaching kids to read something relevant or educational, such as the novels we were taught to read, yet they are taught to pass a test. He is right and he is wrong. We should not teach to receive a test result but are we going to have them sit and read a book? I argue that our society is quickly moving away from the printed page. If we want to see students read to find information (as most corporations are requiring), lets text them a message asking the top ten ways to cut a class or to find out which city the hottest rapper will be in next week and we will get a 2000 word texted essay with every bit of information we need in a fifteen minute time span. Reading is going on..............writing is going on..................we just do not realize it and God forbid a student should show us that they know how to do it. Do not get me wrong. I believe in the kids today but we must learn from the cultural backgrounds these kids present. After all, this is what is in this week's modules. We must teach to relate on their terms. We must use the Ipods rather than the books. We must use the computer screen rather than the sheet of paper. We must catch up and access with this technology or we will fail.
Monday, August 23, 2010
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