inclusion

theres this place...
its perfect.
you know that one place?
where you dont have to think twice
about being yourself
no hiding
no covering
no effort to pass
or concerns when you dont
do you know that place?
i dont.

Carlson's "Gayness" Talking Points

Author: Dennis Carlson

Title: Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

Argument: Carlson argues that gayness is not discussed in schools and should be. He says that in our changing scoiety, a new age is upon us where we need to (Johnson) talk about each other and ourselves freely. He argues that it is time to stop the walking on eggshells political corectness and teach about ALL aspects of diversity.

• Quote #1- "English literature anthologies still go out of their way to avoid agknowlaging that certain famous writers were gay like Walt Whitman, Gertrude Stein, James Baldwin" *cough* Shakespeare *cough*. Its so true that when a historical figure is gay we run around afraid to say that they were, becasue "gay" has anegative stigma in our society. We can't agknowlage that Joan of Arc was a raging tomboy (and quite possibly into holy dykedom territory) even though she wire men's clothes, cut her hair, darkened her face, and led an army. We can't mention that Shakespeare wrote love letters to men. One of the hardest points of "growing up gay" is the lack of role models- not because they don't exist- but because they are shunned into silence or because talk of their sexuality is taboo.

• Quote #2- "The abuses get tolerated because gay students and teachers operate in an envirement where they are afraid to stand up for themselves...and homophobia is not interrogated." In one single day in my highschool, i heard the word "gay" used in place of "stupid" or "unjust" 346 times. In one day. In none of those instances did a teacher step in, in none of those instances did a student step in, in fact, when i stepped in i was told they were using "ghey" which means "stupid" not "gay" as in "homosexual" and it was stupid for me to take offence anyway because they didn't aim it AT me. Yep, and nigga is acceptable in a job interview, 'cause i didn't say nigger.

• Quote #3- GLBTQQI kids in support groups report they are afraid they are "out of their minds, full of sin/sickness, doomed to dress as transvestites, molest childeren, hate the opposite sex, or contract AIDS." When the dominant culture gives you no role models and no positive examples- and the only time you hear about the queer community is from doctors saying you "arent stable", religous learders calling you "full of sin", you own parents calling you "sick" and disowning you, dominant culture associating homosexuality wiht the "otherness" of "molesting childeren" and "beastiality", or the notrious link to gay men and AIDS that still means men who have sex with men can't donate blood to the red cross, its no wonder one third of all adolescent suicides are made of those identified as GLBTQQI.

My feeling: It is hard enough to grow up not sure if you accept yourself, much less trying to come out when your educators and own parents don't support you, you have no role models, and the dominant ideology is to assume everyone is straight. I love the idea that GLBTQQI matters can be discussed up there with cultural diversity and not the sidenote at the bottom. If being gay were a disease, i would call in queer to work. If it were a choice, i would not choose to be a second class citizen. School has so much power in the formation of our views of our world. It is the chance, from very early on, for a challenge to the upbringing dominated by our parent's ideals. With a simple one-liner reference to the fact that the GLBTQQI identified community lives functional, happy, safe, and productive lives and relationships woudl go a lot furthur then many people realise or are willing to admit. And maybe i would be able to hold my girlfriend's hand without the fear of being beaten up for indeciency, even though straight couples suck face on the regular and no one says a thing.

Talking Points 2.15.09

•Author: Richard Rodriguez

•Title: Aria

•Argument: Rodriguez argues that we need to teach bilingual children to appreciate both their languages, but to make sure to teach them the culture of power, too. He agrees with Delpit that to succeed you need to be able to talk that culture of power. He also shows, however, how family is important and needs to remain encouraged as well.

•Quote #1- pg 36 “We remained a loving family, but one greatly changed- No longer so close, no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness.” This goes to show the pain of not participating in the dominate, English-speaking culture, but how it served to unite them together. True, he learned English, but in doing so had less and less in common with his parents as he was never taught to appreciate his own culture, and slowly lost it more and more the less he communicated with his parents.

•Quote #2- pg 37 “Though his English somewhat improved, he retired into silence.” The parents were told to help the children learn English by speaking it at home, and they did but in doing so, were finally surpassed by their children who didn’t want to talk with them anymore. The father, who was no longer able to pass his culture onto his kids (who were only interested in the dominant culture so they could fit in) had nothing left to do but become quiet and crawl inside himself, pulling away from interacting with his family.

•Quote #3- pg 39 “…while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality.” This is exactly what Delpit is saying- that understanding the dominant culture is so important to success. Individuality may be good, but if you are never taught how to get along in the mainstream, your future, mainlining a career, may be very hard to come by.

•My feeling: I do not totally agree with what he seems to be saying. I do agree that everyone should be taught how to get along in the mainstream society, that makes perfect sense: equity. But I am a big supporter on not forgetting who you are and where you come from. The last quote especially shows this, how the development of public individuality is the ultimate goal, but I don’t see why your public and private self have to be so different. Be who you need to be to do what you need to do, but be who you ARE as well and don’t forget where you’re coming from. At the end of the day you still have to live with yourself.

videos to watch

why do we have to make fun of women?
THESE women suck at driving.....
but THIS man is also a raging dick
so... it is ok to generalize that ALL men are raging dicks?????




a video posted on the blog for another of my classes by a classmate
made by a transman about transgendered people
but it relates very well to the entire GLBTQQ community
i'm not gonna lie, i cried the first time i saw it




and if you haven't seen prop (h)8 the musical... you need to!!!

Service Learning #2

2/13/09
One of the reasons I wont have the same kids every week is that the same classes don’t meet every Friday for periods one two and three. I got new shoes after my old ones shit out, and they were my only choice of walking shoes for today. I am sorry to say that I now have horrendous blisters on the back of my footsies, and it hurts more with every step. I had to call out of work between that, my heel pain, and my arch trouble.
Today was the day before vacation so focus just wasn’t going to happen. In addition, the reading is fun program was going on (25% school and 75% government funded kids can go pick out one book each to own, this happens three times a semester). My advisor, Mr. Mitrelis, was nowhere to be found, so I teamed up with another teacher for periods one and two. Period three I was back with Mr. Mitrelis. The other teacher makes a lot of jokes and doesn’t have the same tone, but he doesn’t control the class as well as Mr. Mitrelis does. Notes:

· Pictures:
Earn “greenebucks” for good behavior redeemable for activities and things from the school store

I notice that rule number 1 is to attend school. I never had this as a key rule at any of my schools. It is posted all over Nathanael greene

“Rosa sat so martin could walk so Obama could run so we can fly as one” iconic imagery = good

The classroom rules as a mural on a wall. The students shown here are majority of color, just like the school it is in. I would not see something like this, where I come from school pictures and murals would be lucky to have “the token black kid” somewhere in a back corner

Does anyone else notice that the boys get the manly john deere esque hunt camp shirts with the greene “deer” and the girls get Barbie pink with butterflies? Also minority representation I wouldn’t have seen at bacon academy.

School greeter, carved Indian. Seems out of place. What is the actual mascot of Nathanael Greene?!?



General Suggestions/ How to be a good teacher:
Music in background- different from what they are used to
Schedule of class on syllabus/ board everyday
Teach about rules of society/ culture of power/ common sense- “don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your principle to read”
Make it interesting (writing prompts: 1. Romeo and _?_ 2. the memorable meal 3. I just got a car but I forgot to learn how to drive 4. first day my way)
Start harsh-> easen up more effective then start lax-> try to get harder
Set rules on the first day, reinforce and repeat them.
Stick to what you say… be consistent
Ask kids at end of activity what worked and what didn’t- evaluations
No assumptions (if you tell the story of charnoble, you have to explain what charnoble was/ give background)
Encourage kids to make connections (personal life->in class) (class->class)
Hands on learning effective to teach self- not others
Keep kids involved- check in with entire room and pull attention back together

Questions/ Talking Points:
Kids of color loud/ confident vs. white kids withdrawn/ quiet (general trend)
Let kids pick their own groups vs. picking for them (pick own= someone is always left out, pick for them= a bunch of unhappy kids. Help the majority or the minority- who is more important)
Group projects- do all members to learn information/contribute?
Presenting to class instead of having teacher teach it-> effective/lazy?
Singling out one group as example over and over-> good/bad?
Teacher that makes jokes and is a little less firm= less control over room, teacher that is firm but a bit boring and strict= has good control-> healthy balance?

Talking Points 2.9.09

• Author: Muwakkil
• Title: Data Shows Racial Bias Persists in America
• Argument: Muwakkil argues that not only does racial bias still heavily exist in America, but that the majority white population does not realize it. They go on to perform a study about job opportunities with people with white and black sounding names, and further proves through statistics how skewed many whites in power still are to those of color.
• Quote #1- "The study found that applicants with white-sounding names were 50% more likely to get called for an initial interview then those with black-sounding names." This is very pathetic statment about the state of the social equality in our nation. That just becase your name is Jamal, you must autamatically be a low-income drug dealer with a prison record making meth in your basement? Or, further, that because your name is Mary that you must not be low income, without a prison record, and not making meth in your basement. The study went on to say that even when the black-sounding name's applicant had a more impressive resume, it still didn;t improve their chances. I would be interrested to know who the employers were, what region they were located in, and what jobs they were hiring for, though none of these validate such prejudice in the workplace.
• Quote #2- "White applicants with prison records were still more likely to be called for a job interview then blacks without them." So, Billy-joe the convicted rapist can bag your groceries better then Lakisha who doubles as a preschool teacher. It is scary to think that employers would be more concerned with skin tone and not history or felony. Again, I am skeptical of the company, job at stake, and region of the country the interview took place in.
• Quote #3- "...blacks constitute 13% of America's drug users, but make up 58% of those sent to prison for drug posession." So, either cops are letting more whites go for having the drugs that we all know they have, or the cops are focusing their persuit on mainly black-inhabited areas for drug convictions. Also it could be likely that blacks are convicted more once in court and more whites are found not guilty or given lesser sentences for the same crimes.
• My feeling is that this clearly shows just how much racial bias does still exist in America. People like to say that since we have a black president then there is clearly no more bias but it simply isnt true. While people of color still feel their color when they negotiate society, then we are still inequal. I hate to think that we live in a society where such hue inequalities still exist, but cultures don't change overnight or without will do do so by dominant groups, so we may have a president of color, but he is a huge exception. Just because other countries have had female presidents doesn;t mean they have gender equality. We have to own what we are before we can start to move to where we want to be.

• Author: McIntosh
• Title: White Privilage: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
• Argument: McIntosh argues that white poeple have been carefully taught not not recignise white privilage and that it is wrong. They argue that privilage must be brought down but this can only be achieved by recignizing it, owning it, and working together to stop it.
• Quote#1- "(Men) say they are willing to work to improve women's status, but that they can't or won't support the idea of lessening men's." Privilage is a balence system, in that one side gets more then the other gets less, and in order to even it out, those with power will loose some and those without it will gain some. This means that in the workplace straight white christain able bodied males will loose some of their jobs, in order for gay latino buddhist disabled (but just as qualified) females to take their place. This scares the people of power to death because they cannot bear the thought of loosing their status, even though it wasn't really theirs to being with but was just handed to hem because they happened to be born straight white christian and male.
• Quote #2- "(Whites) can walk into a hairdresser's shop and assume someone there knows how to cut their hair." It is all about owning your prejudice and calling it out so you know what you need to improve upon. The things we take for granted in the dominant group far outnumber the things that aren't taken for granted. But, like Delpit said, "the things that make us different stick out like sore thumbs, and the things that make us 'normal' we take for granted."
• Quote#3- "Obliviousness to advantage is kept stongly enculturated in the US as to maintain the myth of metiocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally availible to all." This is exactly what Mwukkail is saying that we are kept blind about the inequities and so we don't believe that they exist. We need to bring them out in the open if we ever hope to change them.
• My feeling is that all forms of prejudice are holding us back as a society, but becasue they won't be obliterated today or tomorrow, or probably in my lifetime, we need to learn how to accomodate to them. We need to learn to speak other people's "languages", relate to people "on their level", own the things that give us undue power, own the things that don't, and work as a unit to speak out against things that hold us down so that we may realize as a society our goal and work to fix it.

Service Learning #1

2/6/09

I went to Nathanael Green Middle School to meet my teacher Mr. John Mitrelis. I was unable to find a bus to take me close enough at the time I needed to be there so I bundled up for the forty minute walk in nine degree weather. The ground was mostly snow and ice, and the sidewalks were shovel very poorly, and some not at all, so the walking was difficult. I had been out with some friends the night before and didn’t come to bed until 2:30am. I woke up at 6:30am, and left the dorm at 7:00am. I arrived at the school at 8:00am to find that the school was having a fire drill. I was mistaken for a student when I asked where the office was.
I arrived at the office and signed into my VIPS volunteer sheet (Volunteers in Providence Schools). I changed into my dress pants, cowboy boots, and collared shirt, and went to meet my teacher. He is a history teacher who was “downgraded” to social studies with sixth graders. He has been doing it for a number of years and told me a few things about himself. He doesn’t believe in homework because the kids have crazy lives and it won’t come back in, so all work is done in class. He does a lot of hands on projects, and the stuff hangs all over the room. He says that the kids don’t put much value in behavior but they do care about their grades. Therefore, punishment is not calling home but dropping grades and having to turn things in without chance to complete them.
I did see him punish one girl by making her go stand outside. I was there for three classes. As soon as the first class entered I noticed that he was very authoritative. I was expecting a more direct style then I had as he was teaching low income students, but I wasn’t expecting how harsh it was. Even the kids that weren’t really misbehaving got yelled at the same as the rest. Same tone. It made me a bit uncomfortable because if I were the student that wasn’t really doing anything wrong I would be pissed to be yelled at and put on the spot when I didn’t deserve it. Anyway, the kids listened. He wouldn’t start class without a certain order in the room.
My first class was actually not with him but with the “gifted” students in a neighboring classroom. This was aimed at giving me a perspective. It seemed like the “smarter” kids in the other room had more to prove. It was like they know they were in a “gifted” class and had to tell their peers they were still cool. They were the worst behaving kids I saw that day. They wanted nothing to do with the class or the teacher. He had a very different style, too. Not as much hands on, more sitting and reading form the front of the room. They wanted none of it. He, too, had a very direct style. I would be interested to know how a female teacher controlled the room.
Anyway, back to Mr. Mitrelis. He won’t answer you if you don’t say his last name. He won’t answer you if you walk up to his desk. I have a hard time remembering being in the sixth grade and I wonder how different the style really is from what I am used to. Perhaps I will try to set up a service learning-like experience back in my home town and see how it all goes over.
After observing for two periods I had a certain comfort level in the classroom, which may have been a bad thing, but maybe not. At the start of third period a girl walked in and no sooner took her seat then started yelling obscenities. She called another child a “God Damn fucking faggot” and said “You faggot don’t be a sissy”. It was then that I had heard enough. Without screaming, but in a loud, clear, and direct voice I walked over to her saying “Hey! We don’t use those kind of words in the classroom.” She looked at me with distain but said no more. I immediately felt horrible. I had done something wrong, It was out of place, she was going to hate me now and be even worse around me. But when the class started, she acted like nothing happened. I went to her table to look at her project and talk to her about it and she very pleasantly told me all about it. She was very friendly and even helpful. Could this style really work? It felt out of place.
The teacher asked me what I wanted the kids to call me and I said Miss Hale. He introduced me as Miss Eva in front of the class, though and I wasn’t sure I wanted to correct him and undermine his authority. It was weird having them call me by my first name, and mostly they just called me “Miss”. That will be an ongoing project I guess.
Instead of working with two or three kids, I’m working with whole rooms of 25 or better. Maybe this will prove to be an issue? We’ll see. So far I’m having a lot of fun. I went to sign out at the end of the day and I asked if the principle was available. A very nice lady behind the desk said “Yes, I suppose.” Thinking that was a strange and rude way to talk to me I was spellbound and just looked confused replying “You suppose?” She half smiles and informed me that she was the principle. I smiled at my mistake and introduced myself as a VIPS volunteer explaining that I just wanted to say hi and give her a face to associate with a name. Quick and painless. Chris picked me up in form of the school at 11:03am.

smell that strong scent of sexual undertone??

Of coarse you don't. If you are a hetero, this wont sound strange to you. but put yourself in my shoes for a minutes and try to feel how much this makes me cringe....

the following is an article about a man who is explaining why he loves his wife...

Some of you might remember me as the (charmingly!) equivocating Jake who almost two years ago gave up the single-guy gig writing this column to get hitched to a woman known as Orange Blossoms, my longtime on-again, off-again girlfriend. I want to assure everyone that, even with a ring on my finger, I'm just as confused by love as I was when I was single. But I'm happy — and here are the reasons why:
The drama is over. And that's a good thing. Because while we still have thorny issues to negotiate — the little problem of how we both try to control each other, for example — the anxiety is gone. The whole business of "Is this the right relationship?" and "She talks on her cell phone inside of elevators; she must not be the woman for me," and "If I don't make her spontaneously combust in bed tonight, she's never going to sleep with me again" — all that stuff? Up in a puff of smoke. I have to say, life without the question of something being a deal-breaker is pretty amazing.
We can share our fantasies — even the ones about other people. Yes, I have sexual thoughts that don't include my wife. I've discussed this with lots of men, and they've agreed that extracurricular attraction never goes away. However, now I can talk to Blossoms about them. Not explicitly (the fantasies are rarely that graphic — it's more of a feeling, like, Yeah ... her ... yep, for sure), but we joke around about which women I'm drawn to, and then I hear about men she's checking out at the moment. Before marriage that kind of openness would have been impossibly threatening. Now? She's even taken to having lunch with guys in an attempt to keep things exciting but not dangerous. It probably seems unorthodox to a lot of you, but, weirdly, I'm in favor of it.
I successfully battle "we"-dom. In an effort to not be one of those husbands who use the word we too much ("We love risotto!" "We hate Beyoncé!"), I make sure that Blossoms and I keep our individuality as a man and a woman who will never have the same quasi-male haircut or unisex shoes. In her own related attempts, Blossoms encourages me to spend time alone or with my friends because we most enjoy each other when we have our own lives. That said, it feels more us-against-the-world than it ever has in the past, perhaps because ...
It is us against the world. Take the economy. I can't tell you how much more terrifying the prospect of losing my job or the reality of our decimated 401(k)s would be if I didn't know we had each other's backs. And it's an enormous comfort to know that as much as things change, I still have a few familiars to hold on to, like:
Being with her now turns me on the same way it did the first time. I am still a bit obsessed with her palpable intelligence, her curiosity and her sense of mischief. And nothing puts me at ease as much as getting into bed with her at the end of the day, shutting off all the lights, pressing against each other and talking until we fall asleep.
My wife continues to smell unbelievably good. She's switched perfumes (no more orange blossoms!), but there's still something about her scent. I don't think it can be reduced to what comes out of a crystal bottle; it's human chemistry. And no matter how many columns I write, I'll never be able to explain it.


EWWWWWW.
commitment: fine.
marriage: dandy.
hetero love: cool.
being hetero: more power to ya. literally. (hahahaha)
"not being hetero=bad" undtertones: i am so not liking that....

Ohhhh.... Delpit

I dont even know where to start on this peice. If you just read the surface, it seems very confrontational and it reads as if she is being very accusational and judegemntal. It hurts to read, and it's hard to see past this. On the underbelly of the piece, however, i undertsand the point that she is trying to make. That not every teacher has cultural competance, and that if you are raised with privilage and think the only way to teach is with one "language" then you will never be able to reach all your students, especially those that were not riased with that privilage, that may not understand that "language" and to them you need to keep this in mind.
I heard another FNED student with a different instructor say the other day that doing service learning in an underprivilaged school is a waste of their time. That becasue they are planning to teach in a very specific envirement, close to that of their own upbringing, it would not benifit them to have an alternate experience to that which they have had all thier life. It hurt to hear that, becasue I can appriciate how good it feels to know that even in a dominatly midlle class white school, there are teachers that are willing to speak to more then middle class straight white students. The simple agknowlagement in class that other people exist, as dumb as that may sound, can mean so much for making the classroom a more comfortable place to be.
I also think about the experience I am able to have as a member of ALLIED, a class on campus for underrepresented students in education majors, and how much of a better person that has made me. In ALLIED, we are able to have thses open conversations about what words are tolerable, what references hurt, what it feels like to be singled out as a student, what it can be like to be underprivilaged, etc. The professor often comments that being a white female she almost doesn't feel "qualified" to mediate these discussions alone, but doesnt realise that by the mere fact that she is enthusiastic about running the class, and open to the idea of having the conversations, she is VERY qualified. Relating to students of different backgrounds is not about have to BE a member of their group to understand them, but simply being able to LISTEN to what they have to say and use their constructive criticism to better your classroom.
This is unltimatly what Deplit is saying. Though at times it may feel like she is singiling out those of us wo are members of privilaged groups as "bad", she is really just trying to get across that we need to look past our own experience and teach to our fullest potention in an effort to include everyone. She is begging for us to not only listen but to hear those around us when they offer to better us as teachers and speak everyone's "language" to our students. I completely agree with her that cultural competance is one of the most important and benificial things for teachers to include in ther repitoire as they share their knowlage with their peers and students.