Identity in Curriculum

After reading these chapters about students and their multiple identities (racial, sexual, etc) it's no wonder some students totally shut down. No one has ever shown them how to react to the world and the things they may or may not understand. Being a future English teacher, I am lucky that I will have the opportunity to use the curriculum like "The Bluest Eye" to discuss identities and hopefully the characters' identities will reflect on my students. And hopefully, I will develop a safe environment where my students and I can feel free to talk about these issues (possibly using border theory and concentrating on the "outsider") The one quote that expresses all of these goals I envision can be found on page 269 (chapter 17) "Teachers and administrators seeking to be supportive of this venture toward identity development and self-understanding can help students make sense of who they are and where they are going." When students can see someone (even if it is a character in a book) that they can connect to or identify with, then they can become a more confident, independent thinker - just the kind of student we are looking for in our classrooms.

Why our groups' topic is so important!

This following quote really made me realize that the issue we are presenting in class on Monday is very important and WILL pertain to all teachers.
“Salary aside, the number one reason teachers leave their school divisions or the teaching profession is a lack of administrative support, both at the district and the school level”
Imagine leaving the profession altogether! After working in college for five years, you finally get your "dream job" and you quit - not because you don't like or care for the kids in your classes but because you feel that the principal or other people in the administrative position are not helping you with what you need in order to get your job done. This will msot likely be an occurence with at least one of us (if not all of us) and it's important to find out how you can change your situation without getting so frustrated and discouraged that you simply quit! I can't wait to do our presentation and see all the others! Good luck everyone! :)

Communties

In chapter ten, there was great emphasis on what we can do to ensure our teachers and schools are the best for the future generations. This chapter describes adolescence development and what they need to best make their transition from childhood to adulthood. In the many lists and explanations that were provided the one that interested me the most was the concept of community. It suggests in chapter ten that in order to transform our middle grade schools we need to "create small communities for learning," "reengage families in the education of young adolescents," and "connect schools with communities." (171) There were others listed but the concept of community seems to be so important because we as teachers only get our kids for 8 hours out of the day. The rest of the day, and every Saturday and Sunday, our kids may not be in such a safe environment or they may not be getting the influence and role models they so desperately need at this age. Therefore, the idea to reinforce the sense of community as an environment that cooperates and reinforces the importance of education can really have a great effect on our future students. (Especially the future students who go to school in an urban setting.) You always hear older people say things like "that would never fly when I was in school" or "I was more afraid to get my punishment at home when I got in trouble at school." I think that this is true, and it's not that we should enforce the idea of kids being afraid of going home after they get in trouble at school, but maybe if they understood that people cared...or rather...adults cared outside of the school walls, in their community, they would take their lives and their schooling more seriously. For instance, when my mom went to school, the police officers in the area knew the students and their families, so if someone ever skipped school and was seen around the area, they better have permission from their parents. I think that if more schools communicated with and established a relationship with the surrounding community then students would have a better time staying on task and realizing how their education directly affects the world around them and their future. My question is, how do we get our communities to want to be involved and want to help our schools when some people in the surrounding community don't have kids in school or don't think they are responsible for helping our middle schools?