White Privilege

What makes each of these three articles different from one another? What is the most interesting idea from each? How can you think about your own privilege without feeling too guilty?

lesson planning for diversity

All the readings this week have to do with how teachers have created lessons that deal with diversity issues. What ideas are these articles giving you for how you might do the same? Which article or articles particularly impressed you?

I ain't doin that

What we have here is a case study. Does Apryl remind you in some ways of students you know? To me the most interesting part of a cases study are the hypotheses. When you really look closely at a student's words and actions, it is tempting to explain them in simplistic ways - "she's lazy" or "he doesn't care about school." But it is rarely that simple. How does this teacher develop a deeper and more complex hypothesis? Have you found yourself conducting case studies of a sort in your head? What did you learn from this case study that might help you improve your own case studies?

Finding Myself in My Students

What can you relate to in this story? If this is an example of a self-study, how would you define a self-study? Did you notice how pp. 56 & 57 are kind of like an entry in TWS section 1?

Tracking

How would you summarize the research on tracking/heterogeneous grouping? What did you think of the main article we read? Are you in favor of tracking or against it? Why?

The Gap

Between the two articles I gave you and the one I wrote you've seen gobs of possible reasons why an achievement gap exists. Of course the problem is complicated, and there isn't any one reason for it. Probably nearly all the theories provided do have some merit. But if you had to try to pinpoint the most significant theories you've read, which combination would you choose? Which seem to be the ones at play at your school? Pull together ideas from the three articles to create your personal theory of the gap. Then come back later and comment on someone else's theory.

Gay Marriage

How did you feel about Richard Mouw? Can you think of other public figures who are open to truly respectful debate, people who deeply consider and try to admire the views of their opponents? Can you think of public figures who have been willing to take a side that is unpopular with their political party or religious group? Have you ever changed your mind completely about a commonly debated issue? How did that happen? If you are Democrat, is there at least one issue where you can say, “The Republicans are more in the right on this” or vice versa?

What makes people gay?

In your first post, explain one study in this article that another student hasn’t explained yet. Hopefully by the time everyone posts, all the various studies will be summarized. Then in your second post, what do you think of all this research? Do you think homosexuality is innate or chosen? If a study were to come out that definitively proved that sexual orientation is innate and unchangeable, do you think that would change the opinion of Americans who currently feel homosexuality is morally wrong?

From Teasing to Torment

Are the statistics in this study higher or lower than you would have expected? What have you noticed about teasing, harassment, or use of gay slurs in the schools you have been working in or in the schools you attended?

What Should Teachers Do?

I like this article because it is very practical. What ideas does she suggest? What ideas do you have now that you have read hers?

If Ebonics isn't a language...

After reading this, do you agree that Ebonics is a legitimate language? Why or why not? What did you learn about the Oakland Resolution after reading this? What questions do you have about the resolution? Do we need a resolution like this in Georgia?

Linguistic Profiling

How do you feel about the linguistic profiling described in the article? Should something be done about it, or should landlords, employers, etc. be allowed to discriminate if they see fit? When is it OK to practice linguistic profiling and when is it not?

Chideya Ch. 2

What are some of the major points Chideya makes about people of mixed race? What did you learn from this chapter about what it might feel like to be of mixed race? What ideas did this chapter give you about how we might best support students of mixed race?

Chideya Ch. 1

What was the most interesting thing you learned about the new face of race in America from this chapter? What insights does Chideya have from being a reporter? What questions does this chapter raise for you?

The Gender Wars

What do you think of the famous (and still on-going) battle between Summers and Sadker? What good points does each make? What questionable points does each make? How likely is it that both genders have different but equally significant problems in school?

Savage Inequalities

Jonathan Kozol's book "Savage Inequalities" is perhaps the most famous book written on education in the past 50 years. Basically in each chapter he looks at two public schools both in the same city - one might have no toilet paper while the other has an indoor swimming pool. How can it be that public schools could be funded so unequally? Have you ever noticed this phenomenon in places you have lived or visited? Should all public schools be funded equally?

Ruby Payne

Ruby Payne has made a business out of tourning the country speaking to schools about the "culture of poverty". Many people love her and many people detest her. What is it about her theories that you would imagine would upset so many people?

Moving beyond the bad news

• So much of a child’s personality and skills are set in the early years. It is kind of depressing when you are a middle or high school teacher. But should we throw up our hands and say there is nothing we can do? What hope do we have with a student who has had low grades for years and has lost all motivation?
• What ideas do you have after reading the chapter and listening to the TAL episode about how we can better help our students succeed in life?

Who is a "good parent"?

I have a big problem with both the Gladwell chapter and the TAL story. While they make important points, they can’t help but make it sound like middle and upper class people are good parents and lower class people are bad parents. But here is what I think is actually the case: middle and upper class people have more power, and they created this society and our schools. So naturally kids who are raised in homes that mimic this society and its schools are going to fit into them better and be more successful. If lower class children and their parents moved to a culture that rewarded people who have the traits associated with their parenting style, they would be more successful than a middle class child in that society. The founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone clearly thinks it would be easier to help low income parents change their parenting style than to change our schools and society, and he’s probably right. But do you see how this is unfair? What do you think of my theory?

Increasing time on task for success

If “time on task” is key to success, how can you increase that time? The best artists are those who have spent the most time practicing art. The best historians are those who have watched the most history channel, spent the most time pouring over primary documents, read the most historical fiction. The best writers are those who have written the most and gotten the best feedback on their writing. How can you help students put in more hours in your subject? And perhaps more importantly, how can you get them interested enough that they are willing to put in the time?

Being "Smart"

Students tend to believe that being smart is something you are born with and they believe only the smart people are successful. How can you help them realize that these are myths? How can you help them see that “smart” is mostly a matter of how many hours you put in and that often people who seem really smart aren’t successful and those people thought weren’t so smart do great?

The Matthew Effect

1) What can you do to help your students who have suffered the Matthew Effect? What can you do for those who, through some stroke of bad luck, got behind early on and then received less and less while the seemingly “brighter” students got more and more?