Service Learning - Reflection

The article In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning by Joseph Kahne and Joel Wertheimer defines service learning as "Making students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students". I choose to make this blog a reflection considering both of the service learning cases discussed in this article  essentially share the same goal, to give to the community and have the community give back to us in some sort of way. 

The first type of learning service is "Serving Those in Need" where students can choose the type of service learning they wish to participate in that engages in the community. 

Ms. Adams, a middle school teacher, took a different approach to service learning with her students. She had her students identify common issues in the community for her students to research and to be more knowledgable on these issues.

All of us in FNED are fortunate to be given the opportunity to take part in the service learning project in a public school, many of which experience issues such as poverty or minority. As I am speaking for myself here, but I feel like this service learning project has opened my eyes to many different things, some of which are internally and about my community. So far, this service learning opportunity has made me apart of something much bigger. Although that is what I plan to do in the future, it is nice to be able to feel this way while still being a student. I am able to see and pick up on things that I may wish to do when I am a teacher. By taking part in this project, I am able to help these students that do not have the best home life. Many of which I have already built connections and relationships with. There is a bittersweet feeling knowing that even though I only spend roughly two hours a week with these children, I am still making an impact in their lives. Relating this back to the article, I feel as though anyone interested in some sort of community service/ service learning can do research on their own about the issues that interest them. Actually going out into the community, making relationships, and physically trying to make a change can be more impactful on not only the community but on yourself as a volunteer. 

Questions/ Points

Does anyone else feel this way? Im not trying to get real deep about it, but I feel like there really is a difference when you actually put yourself out there and try and make a difference. Its a different type of reward. 

Does anyone else find themselves favoring one service learning case over the other?

Soloway and Abrams

Jill Soloway is an American television creator, show runner, director and writer. In her article, Soloway addresses the issues facing the way men tend to speak about woman. She paints the scenario in which she refers to as "locker room talk", which is when "Two or more men get together and play an alpha game in which they join their gaze upon any ol' chick, and let their inside-brain thoughts come out". According to Soloway, men tend to have the idea of woman split into two, the good and the bad, or the hard to get and the easy. These "good" woman would consist of wives or family members, where the "bad" would be any other woman outside those two categories.

How may a man perceive a woman as "easy to get"?

• Being single
• Being alone at a bar
• Wearing revealing clothing
• Being drunk
• Having a promiscuous history

Women should be respected, regardless. Relating this article back to Underlying Myths That Blind Us, humans have the tendency to judge, make assumptions, and label others wether we know the person or not. We make these judgments to feel better about ourselves in some sort of way. Some men tend to make these assumptions to make themselves feel "like a man", like they can have any girl they want if she's easy enough. It also brings me back to reading all of the statements that woman cannot do in comparison to the white man, such as not being able to walk on the street at night, not being able to walk alone, etc. I do not think this fair. A woman's outfit does not define her. A woman's history does not define her. Women need to be respected. 

Abrams article was about how woman are getting more involved in politics and what obstacles they may face when running for office. Her argument is that woman do face more challenges when running against the stereotypical white man considering there is this stigma that woman will not do as good of a job. One quote that really stuck out to me was "I feel this year we are seeing far more woman who woke up one morning, turned on the TV and said, if he can be president I can run for the state legislature, congress, or governor." I normally never express my opinion about politics outside of my close friends and sometimes family, but I agree entirely. Considering Donald Trump can become president, how could that not inspire woman to use their voice and try to run for some sort of congress? This had reminded me of the quote "Much oppressiveness is unconscious," as said in McIntosh's article. Men have been running the political world since the very beginning. I feel now more than ever woman have been using their voice for the better, and considering all of the issues our nation is facing in regard to politics, woman are choosing to not be silent any longer. 

Safe Spaces / 11 and Gender Fluid

11 and Gender Fluid: Suits, Ties and Other Staples From my Daughters Closet by Erin Zelle is a personal story of a mother and her daughters journey towards finding and expressing her true self. 

Safe Spaces - Making Schools and Communities Welcoming to LGBT Youth by Vaccaro, August, and Kennedy is an article covering and discussing ways that educators can validate the experiences of the LGBT youth.

Below are some quotes I have pulled from each article.

_________________________________________________________________________________

The quotes "My 11 year old daughter Sullivan's style is defined as gender fluid, which translates as a "fluid" shift between masculine and feminine, depending on how one feels. The first time Sullivan mentioned it, I'm embarrassed to admit, I had to google it", (11 and Gender Fluid), and "Powerful social messages are responsible for this noncritical allegiance to traditional perspectives, (Safe Spaces), seem to go hand in hand. 

The only way to get children knowledgeable about the LGBT community and different ways of expression is by communicating it with our youth. This, of course, means that adults need to be knowledgable as well. This includes both parents, and teachers. As a child, it may seem hard to speak about these feelings if they feel as though the people who care about them most will not understand. It is important that these role model figures become more open and willing to listen, wether they agree or not. 

Another quote I want to add is "... As her blond hair hit the ground in cascading clumps, I knew she was becoming more herself that she'd ever felt", (11 and Gender Fluid).

Self expression is important. As children grow, they are learning who they are, what their likes/dislikes are, what they want to be in the future, etc. It is important that we encourage children to be nothing but themselves and to express their uniqueness. Some may find this expression in art, fashion, writing, and more, but the overall point is there is no right or wrong way to express yourself. 

Here is a a great video featuring someone much more fabulous than myself explain their experience as gender fluid. This is a great video to watch to learn a little more about gender fluidity, and ways to respect this community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYDhvocCpH4

Unlearning the Myths That Blind Us

My blog this week is an extension of my classmate Emily. Check out her blog post here; 
https://emilyvieira1527.blogspot.com/2018/10/blog-4-unlearning-myths-that-blind-us.html?showComment=1539134617022#c8796865585467683792

The reason why I had decided to do my extended comment blog on Emily's post was because I really like the quotes she had picked and I agree with the points she has raised.
"We are not only taught certain styles of violence, the latest fashions, and sex roles on TV, movies, magazines, and comic strips: we are also taught how to succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how to forget the past and suppress the future. We are taught, more than anything else, how to not rebel," was one of the quotes Emily had picked. She had pointed out that this quotes represents how the media controls people in their everyday life, and I agree. Humans rely solely on group formation. To explain, many people do not like stepping outside of the norm. Many people choose to dress the same, listen to the same music, wear the same makeup, etc. Not many people like being an outsider. Although, when there are outsiders, people tend to judge, make assumptions, or label others. The media really tries to shape society into this lifestyle that most of the time, is not realistic.

Another quote that Emily had picked that really opened my eyes was “As TinkerBell inspects her tiny body in a mirror only to find that her minute hips are simply too huge, she shows us how to turn the mirror into the enemy.."

Here is a link to the video Emily provided;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0y76gV2LL4

After watching this, I am honestly SHOOK. Peter Pan was my all time favorite movie. I would watch it day and night until my parents had enough for the day. I totally forgot about this scene. In the video, it shows Tinker Bell passing by a mirror and grabbing her hips with disappointment. She has a face of shock once she looks at how "big" they are.

Let me break this down as a little girl who may look up to Tinker Bell after watching this movie;

"If Tinker Bell has big hips, and she doesn't like them, then that means I shouldn't like mine. I bet everyone doesn't like mine either."

This alone sets up a bad habit for girls as they look in the mirror. Even today, girls and woman are constantly comparing themselves to others on social media. Some getting frustrated that they do not look like the models that, most of the time, don't even look like that without photoshop or mass amounts of makeup. Woman need to appreciate having curves instead of hating them. There is no right or wrong body type. This will only stop if we begin to teach children that they should love themselves, and their bodies, for who they are.

Economy Powerpoint

Economy Powerpoint

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tb2uiA5f11MkcYy_z9FnHY3g_DLMK--JpZy77Mv3104/edit#slide=id.p

Bilingual Students

Aria by Richard Rodriguez

This article is from the author Richard's point of view, explaining the positives and negatives of being a bilingual speaker in the American school system.

Quotes to share;

"... it would have pleased me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom". 

I picked this quote because I believe it is something that is often overlooked. I used to work with children and I had a Spanish student named Mariana. Her name was pronounced "mardi-ana", although the whole staff besides myself pronounced it "mary-ana". They made it sound very white. Most of the time, she would not respond to it, because thats not how you say her name. Regardless of her language background, if her name is pronounced a certain way, a way that is it not pronounced in english, why are we changing it? There is a difference in a name and a vocabulary word. These types of actions in school can make children feel uncomfortable, and not confident considering the teacher is not only changing their whole language, but changing their name as well. 

"Is it possible for you and your husband to encourage your children to practice English when they are home"?

To some extent, I completely understand why the teachers had this conversation with Richard's parents. A child will have a very hard time learning english if they are only exposed to it at school. Parents should be teaching their kids, or speaking to their kids in english to help them learn. Although, this is not an option for all students. I believe that instead of banning the child's primary language, the teacher can use different strategies in the classroom to help the student understand. There could also be a Spanish speaking TA. The teacher could also try learning some key words in Spanish that may help her communicate with the students. 

Points to share;

Being understanding of a chads cultural background is very important. We can not teach the student if we do not know the student. As stated in the article, we should be encouraging the parents to speak english with the children at home, but teachers should not be against learning basic words in other languages their students are speaking to help their students learn and engage during class. Children can be easily shut down, so we should think of ways to be lifting them up and not making it seem like their culture or language is "wrong". 

#Blacklivesmatter

"Much of oppressiveness is unconscious" says McIntosh in her article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack". McIntosh had identified 50 ways in which her daily life is impacted by her race (as a white female), all of which begin with "I can..."

What if these quotes began with "I can't?" For Example;

"I can't buy that brand of foundation, they do not have my shade." 

"I can't get my hair done for prom, none of the hairdressers know how to treat my hair." 

"I can't ask to speak to the manager without being judged or having it reflect my race."  

"I can't walk around at night, I might be stopped by a police officer."

There are more than just the 50 statements McIntosh had mentioned. The problem is that we do not understand certain things unless they hit us on a person level. For example, a heartbreak, or the loss of a family member. When comforting a friend for the loss of their grandfather, we are there emotionally. We listen to their feelings. We engage. We do not say, "Well, my grandfather died last year, its not all about you." Unfortunately, those types of friends exist. "All Lives Matter" is that friend. It is a distraction from the issue that black lives are not mattered enough in comparison white lives. We want attention too. 

Black Lives Matter does not mean all other lives do not matter. 

"Saying 'All Lives Matter' as a direct response to 'Black Lives Matter' is essentially saying that we should just go back to ignoring the problem," says reddit user GeekAesthete in the article written by Kevin Roose (which is definitely worth the read). He mentions at the beginning cases of black men that were killed by white police officers. 

Even though these cases do not effect you personally, please read them as if this was your brother, father, uncle, grandfather, or friend. 

Alton Sterling, a 37 year old African American man from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was shot and killed by one of two white police officers who had confronted him outside of a convince store where he was selling CD's. He was shot on the ground while resisting the force of both officers on top of him. Neither officers are being charged. 

A heartbreaking case that occurred at the beginning of this month is the case of Botham Jean. He was shot and killed in his own apartment when police officer Amber Guyer had mistaken his apartment for her own. Her reasoning was that when she entered Jeans apartment thinking it was hers, she had seen a "large silhouette". Thinking there an intruder was in her home, she shot Jean twice. Jean was unarmed. A search warrant was then released for Jean's apartment after his death, where officers found marijuana, a marijuana grinder, as well as two fired cartridge casings. It is not clear if any of these belongings belong to Jean. 

Theres are just two of the 102 African Americans shot by Police officers in 2018 so far. 

These cases, along with many others, are bringing the Black Lives Matter movement back in full force. 

"We are working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically targeted. We affirm our humanity, our contributions to this society, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression. The call for Black Lives Matter is a rallying cry for ALL black lives striving for liberation." (www.blacklivesmatter.com)

The only question I have is when we will realize that there is a difference, a privilege barrier, and racism present today? When we will realize that we are the only ones who can change it? When will we take action? When will #blacklivesmatter? If you're not seeing the issue here, then you are part of the problem. 

Here are the links to Roose and McIntosh;

McIntosh

https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos/5af05a7aa8cfe/1118243?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27McIntosh%252C%2520White%2520Privilege-%2520Unpacking%2520the%2520Invisible%2520Knapsack%2520-%2520The%2520Feminist%2520eZine.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20180922T004445Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ%2F20180922%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=0d985e0fed12684307afe7654a1d3b4db624411dd7ddbc32be5dabedf480fc3c

Roose

https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/learn-us-east-1-prod-fleet01-xythos/5af05a7aa8cfe/1118244?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27%252522All%2520Lives%2520Matter%252522%2520The%2520next%2520time%2520someone%2520says%2520%2527all%2520lives%2520matter%252C%2527%2520show%2520them%2520these%25205%2520paragraphs.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20180922T004513Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=21600&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBGJ7RCS23L3LEJQ%2F20180922%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=6591326cba3b85580d4b598455da35e4f43125f009bb156e5ae7bf1070087d01