Monday, October 25, 2010

Between Barack and a Hard Place,Tim Wise-Reflection

After listening to the Tim Wise interview, I realized that racism in today's society is more blinded and sophisticated than when the Brown vs. Board of Education case was settled in 1954. In today's society, there is no segregation, for the most part, but racism still lingers throughout our country. One thing that I totally agree with what Wise talks about is the difference between racism 1.0 and racism 2.0. Racism 1.0 is what most people would call "open eyed racism" or racism that is noticeable. Racism 2.0  is now evident since Obama has been president. This is when people support him because he is different than the norm and is something new for the country. The issue with this racism is that it can be turned onto every race and can put people down who are not up to the standards that have been set by Obama.

I found a little article about racism in politics and how it is pushed under the rug and not completely noticed by everyone.

In class I'd like to talk about racism and how it is still very known and seen in our society today.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Kahne and Westheimer, "In The Service of What?" Extended Comments

After reading the article by Kahne and Westheimer, I wasn't completely sure what I thought about it. So I decided to look at what other students wrote about the article and do an extended comment. When I read Kathryn's blog I knew exactly what she was talking about and that it is true.

My favorite part of Kathryn's blog is when she talks about her definition of service learning, and community service. she states, "One example they give in the article is giving survival kits to the homeless. I think this is one way of service learning to help improve the community. Or is it just community service? I also think that it means not only helping people in need but you benefitting from helping those people." 

I completely agree with this quote because a lot of times the act of just giving people stuff is considered the greatest way to help. For many years I've watched ESPN and sports channels daily. I love to see all the different shows and athletes away from their jobs and interacting with the hosts. One great example that I've gotten from watching these different shows is one in particular show called My Wish. On this show, there is a child who has had either life threatening complications or a type of disease where they are unable to do stuff they love. All the kids love a certain athlete or professional team and their wish is to either meet them or do something with them. The athlete will come in and take the kid to have a whole day of fun and doing normal things. It's amazing to see how happy the kids get when they see their idol or favorite athlete walk through the door and say they are going to hang out for the day. I believe it's so much better for people to help out by going to the problem instead of just giving to it. Another example is when celebrities support charity's or foundations by giving donations of money or supplies. I believe it is a lot more beneficial and special to have that celebrity be there in first person, helping out with people and showing they care. Anyone with money can write a check and say they care, but people who actually help the problem by taking time from their life and going to the problem really and truly help.

This is a youtube video of the show My Wish  

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community, by Dennis Carlson (Hyperlinks)

While reading this article I immediately thought of a recent incident that occurred at Rutgers university. There was a student who was gay and he asked his roommate if he could have the dorm room for a little bit. His roommate said it was alright, but before he left he decided to turn on his computer web cam. After the roommate left he turned the camera on and began streaming what was happening in his room on the internet. Later, when the student who was in the room found out about the video he decided to take his own life. I found a recording of this story online and believe it describes in good detail the issue of privacy and homosexuality.

Recently I have seen commercials on MTV talking about this Rutgers incident and on their website they actually show a video of kids from Rutgers university talking about this new issue of cyber bullying and the affects it can have on kids these days. Many people do not even realize that what they are doing is wrong because they are saying it on facebook or they are just discussing things over the internet with friends. However, it's gotten to the point where homosexual teenagers are taking their own lives because of these actions and something must be done to stop it. In the past month there have been four suicides with gay students across the United States.These numbers are continuing to go up and will continue unless something is done.

In class I would like to discuss what we can do, as future teachers, to stop or at least make an effort to stop this new type of bullying and growing issue of homosexual suicides.