Prompt 5

Anything can be turned into a lesson, especially in the classroom. I witnessed an example of this while observing this week. The classroom teacher was reading a story about an elephant. E was their letter of the week and that was the theme of the book. There was also a little mouse featured on some of the pages. The teacher explained that the elephant and mouse are very different in some ways, but very similar in others. Even though they were so different, they could still be friends. I thought that this was a very important lesson and a great way to sneak it in to a group of 5 year olds. This also relates to Carlson's idea of rupturing the borders that separate individuals and emphasizing the multiple subject positions we occupy; we are different but we are also the same.
It is important to work with the students' families and community so that they get the most out of their education. It is then vitally important for teachers to understand the diverse family dynamics that are out there. A family does not have to be a mom, a dad, 2.5 kids, and a dog. This stereotype would be part of what Carlson calls, the "normalized community." He says that for the most part, public schools have often promoted these normalized conceptions based on a defined norm. As modern teachers, we need to change that. Some families can have no mom or dad, maybe a grand parent or an older sibling. Some families may have two moms or two dads. We as teachers need to be sensitive to this. I overheard a teacher in the hallway talking to her class about what they did over the weekend. She asked about their moms and dads. This immediately sent a red flag up in my head. I thought to myself, "what if these kids don't have a mom and/or dad???" How would they feel if they were posed this question and they didn't have a mom and dad? A better way to phrase a question like this would be, "What did you do this weekend with your family or those people closest to you?"
In this particular classroom, my biggest challenge again would be language. The majority of the students are Hispanic and probably speak at least some Spanish. I could invite both the students and their parents and their extended family to enlighten me about their language and culture in any way possible. Show and tell in the classroom could be targeted towards their language and culture and perhaps a parent or someone they know could come into the classroom and share their own expertise and experience with me and the other students. In one of the workshops I attended at promising practices, some teachers shared their social studies curriculum. They had a "world museum" where they learned about different countries around the world. Students and parents were invited to participate in any way to the museum. I thought that this was a great way to use the community and parents, especially in a diverse, cultural way. Carlson would suggest a democratic, multicultural education and community.
In order to achieve this democratic multicultural community, there are many things we need to do as teachers. We need to provide space for identity groups to form but at the same time find common ground through dialogue about difference. We need to redefine community in way that celebrates and difference and diversity. We have to challenge dominant ideology. Its not who we are but how we live our lives. Teachers need to redefine groups, and emphasize that we belong to many groups, not just one. We need to help students form alliances between one another. We must allow all voices to be heard in our classroom and help build meaningful relationships based on caring. Teachers must protect the rights, virtues, and freedoms of their students as well as the parents. It is important to be respectful of the parents and their needs. It is important to never make assumptions about parents. We need to make ourselves available to them. This may mean by email or phone. It may also mean that we need to give them other options to communicate with us, especially if there is a language barrier. We might need to give them contact information with someone who is bilingual in the school or maybe even within the community. We owe it to the students to make their family and their contributions important to us, our schools, and our community.

Prompt 4

I'd like to start off by saying how this class has really opened my eyes to the privilege and oppression that takes place in our society. I have really become more aware of the stereotypes and how society portrays certain people. I have really been picking up on a lot more. For example, this past week I was visiting one of my friends. Her two year old daughter was watching "Lilo and Stitch," a Disney movie. I instantly noticed that the "bad guy" in the movie was a very large, black man who was wearing sun-glasses and a gold chain. I could not help but question this.
Everybody has a personal history and nobody is free of bias. I think a lot of this bias stems from society and how we perceive things, like the Lilo and stitch thing. This two year old who has very little interactions with anybody except her parents and their immediate friends and family, can already associate the bad guy with the black guy even if she does not realize it. The best thing to do is go out and interact with people that are different from us. This will help nullify these stereotypes. As teachers, we can do this in the classroom by having our children work in groups, bringing in guest speakers, and maybe even field trips. We could start a pen-pal program with children in a different part of the country or even the world. This means I also need to question the statements made in the classroom and make sure it is a safe place for students to talk, as Megan Boler would suggest. I need to hold my students accountable for what they say and investigate where these opinions stem from. I would like to give my students the critical agency they need when they encounter the hardships of the real world.
My personal history could possibly be very different from my students. I did not have a perfect life by any means but I did have both of my parents home, I had a bed to sleep in and food on the table every night and breakfast every morning before school. This could be way more than some of the students. This means I need to be an advocate for the students and be there for them. We hear over and over again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You cannot learn and pay attention if you are hungry. I think most schools now have some sort of breakfast program, but if not, I will personally make sure one is implemented in my future school.
One challenge I might face, especially in this particular school, is miscommunication. Many students in this school speak Spanish among many other languages. This means that their parents also speak Spanish or another unfamiliar language to me. I need to be sensitive to this in the notices I send home or even homework assignments. I could ask another colleague or maybe even a bilingual student help me put directions in both English and Spanish so that their parents can understand and help guide them, making their school experience more interactive.
A misconception that I have confronted during this experience is that inner-city schools are "scary." I was extremely nervous and anxious before we started this project. I had these preconceived notions that the students were going to be mean to me and misbehaved. I envisioned fights and arguments between the students. This could not be any further from the truth. The students are very happy and happy to have me there. They are full of life and eager to learn. They are also very polite- they always hold the door open for me! The kids wave to me in the hallway and want to give me a hug when they see me and when I have to leave. The girls in my group argue over who is going to sit next to me and then when they do sit next to me, they are practically on top of me. I am happy that I was wrong.

Prompt 2

According to Infoworks, the elementary school where I tutor is 85% Hispanic, 30% African American, 7% White, and 4% Asian. I go to this school twice a week and I would say that this is accurate from my observations. I work with two different groups of kids once a week. I have no white children and only one little boy that is Asian. The rest are either African American or Hispanic. There are bilingual classrooms in the school which indicates that there are enough students themselves that English is not their first language and they would perform better academically in a classroom that is conducted both in English and Spanish. One little boy in one of my groups comes from the bilingual kindergarten class. Although I can understand him very clearly when he speaks, he very rarely does so. He is the quietest of the bunch and it usually takes him longer to warm up and start participating than the other children. I wonder if this is because Spanish is his first language and he is somewhat uncomfortable or if it is because he is just shy. Also 85% of the students at this elementary school are eligible for free or reduced lunch according to Infoworks. This information and my observations made me think of Johnson in "Our House is on Fire." He discusses that most people grow up in "monoracial" neighborhoods or environments. 85% of the students in this school are of Hispanic descent. I would say that is pretty monoracial. My own personal environments growing up were overwhelmingly white, also monoracial. He also says that this segregation makes us ignorant of each other. I could not agree more. I have had little interactions and experiences with Hispanic people and their culture. I have just as much to learn from my students and their experiences as they do from me. The culture capital that they bring is priceless. I can learn what they value at home, in education, in themselves, and in their families. This can give me a better insight to their lives and learning styles, allowing me to better understand the students individually and form a better relationship with them. If I am educated in their culture, I can better serve them and be sensitive to their needs. Hopefully I will not offend them or turn them off from learning. This goes for society as a whole, if we are more sensitive to each other and more willing to learn from each other, the world would be a better place.