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 really loved all of the articles, they each gave really great ideas on different subjects that can and should be raised in the classroom. One idea/lesson that I would love to teach in my classroom, is breaking stereotypes. I though it was a great idea for students to right down a stereotype and then draw how that stereotype can be broken. I will definitely use this lesson in my teaching in the future. I was also inspire by the second article about the hunger issues in the community that are not spoken about. In the art room this is a great opportunity to teach students about getting out there and making changes. Art can be used to promote these ideas, we could make posters to hang around the community to get the word out there along with phone calls, etc to raise awareness of specific issues in the community in which we live.
I really liked these articles. I love the fact that students came together in all of them. It is a sense of community that is needed to make these changes.
Breaking stereotypes is very important for students, especially at a young age. I never noticed how many kids realized the stereotypes in magazines.
I loved the school community coming together to fight hunger in their own area. I would be able to incorporate that idea in a Health class easily. Community health is just as important at individual health. Students realized that it was students at their own school that didn't have food to eat even though the families had jobs. Getting the senator involved was a large step for students, and they do need to be able to gain skills necessary to make changes.
In one class, students are debating issues that are not necessarily relevant to their age group based on when some situations occurred, i.e. Kennedy's assassination or Israelis and the Gaza Strip (a situation where a group of people are alienated), but the kids have really been able to debate both sides of the issues, and it has become a huge eye-opener for them. They develop communication skills and are able to hold their own and think on their feet. This is very important when breaking stereotypes. They have also researched information to make intelligent comments. It is assignments like this one that allow students to gain confidence and go out into the community to make a difference.
All of the articles raised some awareness of just how much kids can really understand things better than most give them credit for. I appreciated the hunger piece the most. I came up with, what I think, are some great ideas to raise discussion in my classroom and to incorporate those ideas into murals or even just projects. It would be a good lessons on symbolism and be a good way to have my students use more divergent thinking.
I also really liked the coloring book idea that the stereotype article gave. Something like this is great to get students to try to communicate through drawings...which takes skill and practice. But, helps a student to think outside of the box.
The Stereotype article was great inspiration for getting your students more involved in activism. It does a lot for a students confidence level when they can see that they had an effect on something as big in their eyes as a national magazine. It let's them know that their voice is important and that they are worthy enough to express themselves.
Robin Cooly's "Beyond Pink and Blue" really struck a chord with me. I was actually almost moved to tears by reading it because the students involved were only 9 or 10 years old and were able to identify more examples of gender stereotyping than their teacher! Most adults I know are incapbable of seeing gender bias in print, on film, or in front of their faces, let alone 4th graders! It is encouraging to know that children are being taught, at such a young age, to identify stereotypes, especially considering all the teen idols of the world bombarding children with images of how they should look or be. The younger we begin to talk to children about stereotypes, the sooner they learn to form their own opinions about the world and their place in it. I applaud teachers like Robin Cooly, and the school she works in, who've begun to have honest discussions about stereotypes and are fighting to change them.
I loved the stereotyping article! We have read some articles previously in class that gave some of the same ideas, but I really loved how 4th grade students felt like they could change a popular magazine by writing to them and describing different examples that were using blatant stereotypes. It also made me think of ways I could incorporate unbias examples in history.
I agree with Christy in that sometimes children are able to see bias' that adults don't seem to notice. Becuase of this it is important that we all realize that even the smallest of bias' are noticed among are students.
I really enjoyed reading these articles. All of these articles showed that, when given the right tools and encouragement, students can come together and make a difference and I think that is probably the thing that I would like to bring to my classroom the most. So many times kids come to school, do the assignments, go home, and come back to do it all over again. The social studies classroom is a great place for students to learn about their duty as citizens to make a difference in their community. I want to help my students realize that if they feel there is something wrong in the world, then they CAN do somethin to change it and I also want to be sure that I can help them make that change. Overall, I want to incorporate more lessons that deal with civic responsibility in my classroom.
I agree with the previous posts that it was amazing that the students were so young and could make such an impact. What I think was even greater was the fact that the Pottery Barn Kids executives actually listened to 4th graders. It is people in those positions that can really make a difference in these kids' lives. The students are able to see that even older people are open to change, and this will allow them to be more accepting of changes in the future. I applaud every individual involved in this change.
I believe Cj made a great point! So many times people in general don't do something because they feel like it wont make a big enough difference anyway. It is important to make sure our students can make a difference even if they think they can't. For example, in my social studies class we have talked about elections on several occasions. One of the biggest points I stress to my students is that they should always vote, even if they don't think it will make a difference. Voting is our opportunity as citizens to make a huge change and if you don't try than you will never know what might have happened. Another example for this could be recycling or turing your lights off when you're not in the room. All these things may seem small, but enough people do it it can really make a change in our world.
It was pretty amazing to me that some 4th graders were able to compose letters to a major company and received a letter back from the companies president and most importantly saw that the magazine actually made changes in some of their advertising- even thought there were still plenty of biases. Hearing this amazing tale of 4th graders in action I couldn't help but wonder where are all of these kids in high school! I think a lot of these students abilities had so much to do with the type of environment that was facilitated by the teacher. We have to and want to facilitate this- even more so in our high schools. We can't let our students get burned out which could happen really easily if they are not seeing that their actions are making differences.
These articles really give me the ability to see that student's can change/make a difference. I think that when you begin a project like this with your students. Read these articles to them, to show them what they are doing can and will make a difference. Especially if they are negative about making a difference. By giving them these examples we are backing up and showing proof that they can help and make a change.
My favorite article was the one concerning hate/discrimination being spread through propaganda. One of the best courses I have taken in college was my Philosophy 1101 class because the entire first quarter we studied nothing but logic and fallacies. Though it seems boring and tedious, I almost think it should be a required course. It teaches people to really think for themselves instead of buying into meaningless or vague slogans and generalizations. (see "yes, we can"/"country first" come on what does that even mean??)
I think when I was in high school I thought of propaganda as something the Nazis/Socialists did a long time ago to brainwash the citizens of Germany and Russia into compliance. While this is true, it is also true that the "Uncle Sam wants you!" posters demonstrate 'ad populum' and 'bandwagon' fallacies. Every company, candidate, and public speaker has at some point demonstrated some predisposition to propaganda (otherwise, they couldn't have become famous!)
Teaching students to differentiate between vague statements that lead to hatred and segregation and true logical arguments is an important aspect of learning.
I agree with Lee, and the bias article, about how important it is to teach students the art of identifying rhetorical devices and fallacies. The class where I did my student teaching was totally centered around finding the rhetorical devices and falllacies in texts and deciding what purpose each device/fallacy served in the overall work. Those kids were trained! They could tear apart ANYTHING and discuss their opinions about the rhetoric/fallacy involved. I know that my host teacher teaches her other classes similar techniques but not in as much detail as the AP langauge class. I definitely think that all students should take a propaganda class, of some sort, and that these kinds of classes shouldn't be limited to students at the college level.
I agree that the articles were very informative on the power and ability of our students' voices. I gained a lot of ideas that I could use in an English class as far as having students voice their opinions and discuss stereotypes in a variety of formats.
I also like what Jenn said about using these examples of what other students have accomplished as a way to back up the lesson and provide validity to assignments and ideas.
I thought that all of the articles were really interesting. What all of the articles had in common was educating kids about social issues, and finding ways to get them to take action because of these issues. I loved the one called “Teaching Tolerance”. I think that this could be especially good in an art class. Creating videos is a new art form that a lot of kids are interested. I would love to incorporate video editing about social issues that the kids are interested in into my lesson plans. I also loved the article “Someone Else’s Problem”. I think that getting kids to actually get out there and make a change, propose ideas, and implement those ideas is a great way to open your students eyes to things going on in their own community.
I think Katey is right. Creating videos/using technology is only increasing as time goes on, and we should use it to our advantage. When we utilize the technology at our disposal we grab the attention of the students in a way that they are used to. Students spend tons of time in front of the tv and computer, so why not give them a medium they are familiar with?
There is indeed a place for this in the English class, as Amanda says. Letters to elected officials and newspaper editors are a good means to take students' concerns and voices to a public domain. A "Fresh Take" concerning the shortcomings of media projects and a/v clubs should open eyes to the fact that the infrastructure is in place for such activism. The focus now is on the nuts-and-bolts of putting together a/v projects and the accompanying vocational aspects, rather than on the content of the projects. Thus, what do we focus on for our letters and our projects? Filling out all the categories on the rubric? Grammar? Or do we look at the quality of the content therein?
Lee, I must say that I too am a fan of logic having a place in the classroom. I hope that the burden is not placed on English, but I have a feeling that we'll get it anyway. Moving away from the sloganeering predilection begins, though, by critical thinking and reading from a far earlier age. Students can recognize specious reasoning from a White Supremacist site, but dare they turn their eyes toward Obama, McCain, and the rest of the politicians so quickly? We have a culture whose attention spans are built for slogans (and, for better or worse, blogs), and discourse will only shorten from here. Gone are the days when the soundest reasoning won the battle; the winner is now the one with the cleverest soundbyte.
I really loved all of the articles, they each gave really great ideas on different subjects that can and should be raised in the classroom. One idea/lesson that I would love to teach in my classroom, is breaking stereotypes. I though it was a great idea for students to right down a stereotype and then draw how that stereotype can be broken. I will definitely use this lesson in my teaching in the future. I was also inspire by the second article about the hunger issues in the community that are not spoken about. In the art room this is a great opportunity to teach students about getting out there and making changes. Art can be used to promote these ideas, we could make posters to hang around the community to get the word out there along with phone calls, etc to raise awareness of specific issues in the community in which we live.
ReplyDeleteI really liked these articles. I love the fact that students came together in all of them. It is a sense of community that is needed to make these changes.
ReplyDeleteBreaking stereotypes is very important for students, especially at a young age. I never noticed how many kids realized the stereotypes in magazines.
I loved the school community coming together to fight hunger in their own area. I would be able to incorporate that idea in a Health class easily. Community health is just as important at individual health. Students realized that it was students at their own school that didn't have food to eat even though the families had jobs. Getting the senator involved was a large step for students, and they do need to be able to gain skills necessary to make changes.
In one class, students are debating issues that are not necessarily relevant to their age group based on when some situations occurred, i.e. Kennedy's assassination or Israelis and the Gaza Strip (a situation where a group of people are alienated), but the kids have really been able to debate both sides of the issues, and it has become a huge eye-opener for them. They develop communication skills and are able to hold their own and think on their feet. This is very important when breaking stereotypes. They have also researched information to make intelligent comments. It is assignments like this one that allow students to gain confidence and go out into the community to make a difference.
All of the articles raised some awareness of just how much kids can really understand things better than most give them credit for. I appreciated the hunger piece the most. I came up with, what I think, are some great ideas to raise discussion in my classroom and to incorporate those ideas into murals or even just projects. It would be a good lessons on symbolism and be a good way to have my students use more divergent thinking.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the coloring book idea that the stereotype article gave. Something like this is great to get students to try to communicate through drawings...which takes skill and practice. But, helps a student to think outside of the box.
Great Articles
It's been day, so I'm posting again...
ReplyDeleteThe Stereotype article was great inspiration for getting your students more involved in activism. It does a lot for a students confidence level when they can see that they had an effect on something as big in their eyes as a national magazine. It let's them know that their voice is important and that they are worthy enough to express themselves.
Robin Cooly's "Beyond Pink and Blue" really struck a chord with me. I was actually almost moved to tears by reading it because the students involved were only 9 or 10 years old and were able to identify more examples of gender stereotyping than their teacher! Most adults I know are incapbable of seeing gender bias in print, on film, or in front of their faces, let alone 4th graders! It is encouraging to know that children are being taught, at such a young age, to identify stereotypes, especially considering all the teen idols of the world bombarding children with images of how they should look or be. The younger we begin to talk to children about stereotypes, the sooner they learn to form their own opinions about the world and their place in it. I applaud teachers like Robin Cooly, and the school she works in, who've begun to have honest discussions about stereotypes and are fighting to change them.
ReplyDeleteI loved the stereotyping article! We have read some articles previously in class that gave some of the same ideas, but I really loved how 4th grade students felt like they could change a popular magazine by writing to them and describing different examples that were using blatant stereotypes. It also made me think of ways I could incorporate unbias examples in history.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Christy in that sometimes children are able to see bias' that adults don't seem to notice. Becuase of this it is important that we all realize that even the smallest of bias' are noticed among are students.
I really enjoyed reading these articles. All of these articles showed that, when given the right tools and encouragement, students can come together and make a difference and I think that is probably the thing that I would like to bring to my classroom the most. So many times kids come to school, do the assignments, go home, and come back to do it all over again. The social studies classroom is a great place for students to learn about their duty as citizens to make a difference in their community. I want to help my students realize that if they feel there is something wrong in the world, then they CAN do somethin to change it and I also want to be sure that I can help them make that change. Overall, I want to incorporate more lessons that deal with civic responsibility in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous posts that it was amazing that the students were so young and could make such an impact. What I think was even greater was the fact that the Pottery Barn Kids executives actually listened to 4th graders. It is people in those positions that can really make a difference in these kids' lives. The students are able to see that even older people are open to change, and this will allow them to be more accepting of changes in the future. I applaud every individual involved in this change.
ReplyDeleteI believe Cj made a great point! So many times people in general don't do something because they feel like it wont make a big enough difference anyway. It is important to make sure our students can make a difference even if they think they can't. For example, in my social studies class we have talked about elections on several occasions. One of the biggest points I stress to my students is that they should always vote, even if they don't think it will make a difference. Voting is our opportunity as citizens to make a huge change and if you don't try than you will never know what might have happened. Another example for this could be recycling or turing your lights off when you're not in the room. All these things may seem small, but enough people do it it can really make a change in our world.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty amazing to me that some 4th graders were able to compose letters to a major company and received a letter back from the companies president and most importantly saw that the magazine actually made changes in some of their advertising- even thought there were still plenty of biases. Hearing this amazing tale of 4th graders in action I couldn't help but wonder where are all of these kids in high school! I think a lot of these students abilities had so much to do with the type of environment that was facilitated by the teacher.
ReplyDeleteWe have to and want to facilitate this- even more so in our high schools. We can't let our students get burned out which could happen really easily if they are not seeing that their actions are making differences.
These articles really give me the ability to see that student's can change/make a difference. I think that when you begin a project like this with your students. Read these articles to them, to show them what they are doing can and will make a difference. Especially if they are negative about making a difference. By giving them these examples we are backing up and showing proof that they can help and make a change.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite article was the one concerning hate/discrimination being spread through propaganda. One of the best courses I have taken in college was my Philosophy 1101 class because the entire first quarter we studied nothing but logic and fallacies. Though it seems boring and tedious, I almost think it should be a required course. It teaches people to really think for themselves instead of buying into meaningless or vague slogans and generalizations. (see "yes, we can"/"country first" come on what does that even mean??)
ReplyDeleteI think when I was in high school I thought of propaganda as something the Nazis/Socialists did a long time ago to brainwash the citizens of Germany and Russia into compliance. While this is true, it is also true that the "Uncle Sam wants you!" posters demonstrate 'ad populum' and 'bandwagon' fallacies. Every company, candidate, and public speaker has at some point demonstrated some predisposition to propaganda (otherwise, they couldn't have become famous!)
Teaching students to differentiate between vague statements that lead to hatred and segregation and true logical arguments is an important aspect of learning.
I agree with Lee, and the bias article, about how important it is to teach students the art of identifying rhetorical devices and fallacies. The class where I did my student teaching was totally centered around finding the rhetorical devices and falllacies in texts and deciding what purpose each device/fallacy served in the overall work. Those kids were trained! They could tear apart ANYTHING and discuss their opinions about the rhetoric/fallacy involved. I know that my host teacher teaches her other classes similar techniques but not in as much detail as the AP langauge class. I definitely think that all students should take a propaganda class, of some sort, and that these kinds of classes shouldn't be limited to students at the college level.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the articles were very informative on the power and ability of our students' voices. I gained a lot of ideas that I could use in an English class as far as having students voice their opinions and discuss stereotypes in a variety of formats.
ReplyDeleteI also like what Jenn said about using these examples of what other students have accomplished as a way to back up the lesson and provide validity to assignments and ideas.
I thought that all of the articles were really interesting. What all of the articles had in common was educating kids about social issues, and finding ways to get them to take action because of these issues. I loved the one called “Teaching Tolerance”. I think that this could be especially good in an art class. Creating videos is a new art form that a lot of kids are interested. I would love to incorporate video editing about social issues that the kids are interested in into my lesson plans. I also loved the article “Someone Else’s Problem”. I think that getting kids to actually get out there and make a change, propose ideas, and implement those ideas is a great way to open your students eyes to things going on in their own community.
ReplyDeleteI think Katey is right. Creating videos/using technology is only increasing as time goes on, and we should use it to our advantage. When we utilize the technology at our disposal we grab the attention of the students in a way that they are used to. Students spend tons of time in front of the tv and computer, so why not give them a medium they are familiar with?
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed a place for this in the English class, as Amanda says. Letters to elected officials and newspaper editors are a good means to take students' concerns and voices to a public domain. A "Fresh Take" concerning the shortcomings of media projects and a/v clubs should open eyes to the fact that the infrastructure is in place for such activism. The focus now is on the nuts-and-bolts of putting together a/v projects and the accompanying vocational aspects, rather than on the content of the projects. Thus, what do we focus on for our letters and our projects? Filling out all the categories on the rubric? Grammar? Or do we look at the quality of the content therein?
ReplyDeleteLee, I must say that I too am a fan of logic having a place in the classroom. I hope that the burden is not placed on English, but I have a feeling that we'll get it anyway. Moving away from the sloganeering predilection begins, though, by critical thinking and reading from a far earlier age. Students can recognize specious reasoning from a White Supremacist site, but dare they turn their eyes toward Obama, McCain, and the rest of the politicians so quickly? We have a culture whose attention spans are built for slogans (and, for better or worse, blogs), and discourse will only shorten from here. Gone are the days when the soundest reasoning won the battle; the winner is now the one with the cleverest soundbyte.
ReplyDelete