#sadpug On the Eve of our last class.

Going to miss everyone in this class. This has been such a wonderful experience. Thank you to everyone for being great fellow class mates and friends.Also thank you to Dr. Bogad for creating such a wonderful environment for all of us to learn.

-Shanelle

Thank you everyone for being such an attentive audience today!

Here is the link to our Prezi :

Won't you be my neighborhood?

When the links are clicked on sometimes they open in a new tab that can be found in your browser. ( I think I used all those words correct).

I want to thank again my amazing group of Cathy and Jocelyn you girls were so great. Enjoyed working with you so much.

Do as I say not as I do. Connections #10 Education is Politics- UPDATED

Talking Points #10-Connections -Ira Shor Empowering Education Critical Teaching for Social Change.Eduction is Politics

  In reading Ira Shor Empowering Education Critical Teaching for Social Change my gears were turning. I had so many connections that I was feeling to the readings that we have had before. Working through this reading the first had come very early on......  

Starting with the sentence "to educate is to adapt a child to an adult social environment....The child is called upon to receive from outside the already perfected products of adult knowledge and mortality". One prior reading shouted out to me louder than the others: Other People's Children by Lisa Delpit. I thought of Delpit when reading this passage because to me they seemed to be one in the same. These two authors seem to be in tune with the same ideas.Lisa Delpit teaches us that children need to be taught explicitly the" rules and codes of power",using a direct stylized method.  As a future teacher I do agree we have to be clear and concise when delivering our lessons,however adding further detail Shor does for warn of an issue "copying an external model". We want to teach lessons however we also want to encourage independent thought. Delpit states we want information to sink in however Shor puts emphasis on not wanting students to duplicate their teacher. Simply being able to repeat information is not indicative of learning or understanding. When we teach the rules and codes of power we want students to understand them and to also be able to form their own opinions.We do not want obedience to take the place of self expression, ideas or individual thinking.                                                                            

Ira Shor goes on to speak of another familiar theme.The"Performance Strike". With the sound of these words I immediately thought of Herbert Kohl: I won't learn from you. Refusal to learn can often appear as inability however things are not always as they appear. Shor makes a poignant statement "mass education has become notorious for the low motivation of many students". In those words there are so many ideas that could be conveyed however Kohl's ideas summarize it precisely. As a teacher we need to be able to distinguish willful not learning with failure and not just assume that they are one in the same. Teacher-centered classrooms according to both authors do not work. In a classroom setting students often "tune out " in a lecture scenario . A teacher-centered classroom according to Shor does not work for many reasons mainly because of the lack of participation. Real learning takes place in a participatory environment. In the type of classroom where students are the center more learning is cultivated. When a teacher is lecturing not everyone is always listening. If a teacher is in the front of the room and speaking on a topic they know like the back of their hand students are often not following along. Often times the performance strike can be happening and the teacher does not even know it. The fact that they are talking and well talking a great separation is being created and cannot be broken unless dialogue can take place.Cooperative exercises can engaged students attention and help them to understand lessons often better than a lecture or lesson.

Teacher-based classrooms do not work students often "performance strike".

As future teachers it is going to be our responsibility not only to teach what we know but to teach why it's important. We must remember what worked in classrooms we were in and what didn't.

  Question for the class

How do we keep students motivated? This seems like such a simple question however the answer is anything but. How do we create a learning environment that encourages individualism inside and institutional setting?

 

Trisomy 21: Another drawing in the "Genetic Lottery"

Citizenship in School :Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

Talking Points #9-Quotes

 

Down syndrome/trisomy 21, is caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21.

Quote #1

We need to stop trying to fit students into boxes much like this kitty it doesn't work.

Society itself is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines- locations that "justify a competitive ethic that marginalizes certain students or groups of students".  

This quote is a short but powerful statement. A cultural sorting machine is the perfect complimentary analogy to the idea of the public school system being a "large machine". A machine rolling on no matter what is in front of it. The school system could be thought of as a tractor traveling along to a work site or goal (in this case to educate the masses) however because it is so large it tramples everything in it's path grass,flowers(or in our case students) .In this concept the idea of individualism is lost along with something of equal importance; the wonderful gift that each child brings ,no matter their perceived intelligence.  Down Syndrome students are similar to the flowers in our analogy, beautiful and special however like many other students for various reasons can get trampled by the "machine". It is not one size fits all. Down Syndrome students should be celebrated and not segregated from the mainstream classroom. Integration into classes as well as letting them choose what they would like to learn is something that would give these children an environment to thrive.  The idea of perceiving a young person's intelligence based on having Down Syndrome is no better than making that judgement based on race. The population effected by this syndrome should not be made to seem all the same. They are individuals just like anyone.

                                                   Quote #2

It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here-kids,teachers,parents,whoever-it's about all of us working together,playing together,being together,and that's what learning is. Don't tell me any of these kids are being set up to fail.

Children go to school to learn and feel safe. No matter what their condition children want to feel like they have somewhere to belong. As future teachers it is our responsibility to show children yes we are all individuals,however were not that different in many ways.Children that have Down Syndrome want to fit in just like any other. When working with children it is important to teach acceptance of everyone. A teacher wants to feel like all of their students are being given the same tools to succeed. There is a hard enough time between schools and districts being on un-level playing fields. As a teacher we should not want to create any more of a divide then children are already facing.

   Quote #3 

The Wild Things production was not an add-on to a preexisting curriculum. Within the web of activities ,Shayne and her co-workers systematically develop opportunities for their students to engage with literacy and numeracy skills , problem-solving and critical thinking processes , and interpersonal capacities. Though the children may not have been aware of it,learning was always the central concern.

This is one of my main dogmas for being a future teacher. I feel learning can be in anything. Any opportunity/activity can teach us something. Learning does not have to be necessarily sitting in a classroom being "talked at" by a teacher , it can be found in many environments. The Wild Things , play that the students partook in became a fortune of experiences. The creation of the set,costumes,script these are all lessons. Children sometimes do not even realize that they are learning skills that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives ;found in simple activities. Real world learning I believe is the best form. Children benefit from seeing things first hand. This does not just apply to children with Down Syndrome but all children.

Question for the class.

What are some of the benefits of having students of all learning stages in classes together? What are some of the down sides to separating children based on "perceived intelligence"?

Some things to expect

15 Things I wish I'd know before becoming a teacher.

Interesting article,thought I would share.

#HappyVeteransDay

#helpothers