How to deal with race and standardization

The issue regarding how to deal with race in the classroom and school is a very tough one, but it can't be ignored. I intend on incorporating some literature that deals with issues regarding race, and depending on the types of literature I use, I'll have to plan accordingly to the maturity level of my students. But it is always important to remember that students will be bringing with them into the classroom issues that they face everyday, which includes being exposed to racism (especially for those in an urban environment). In order to successfully teach the literature to my students, I want them to be able to connect to it somehow, that way I know there is a possibility of them getting something out of it. One of the ways to do this could be to include a book in which the characters live in a racist society and are the targets of the racism. I could see myself getting so much out of the students if they can connect their lives to the lives within the literature. From there they can get a different understanding of what it is like to be the target of racism. Also, as I am white, I can get perspectives I have never been exposed to before so I can have a better understanding of where my students are coming from. I think one of the fears in dealing with race in the classroom, especially for white teachers in an urban school, is how they perceive racism, as well as how their students perceive them. Like the article mentioned, just because we don't think our actions are racist doesn't mean they aren't taken that way. If that ever happened to me, that would tell me that I am not connecting with my students, that I don't truly understand where they are coming from, and that they probably don't feel safe.

In regards to the issue of standardization, I have always detested it. I have suffered for years from test anxiety, which I only recently was able to get under control. What was so upsetting about test anxiety is that when I got my scores back, I felt horrible, especially since I knew the content. It was the manner in which they tested us that could never reveal how much I actually knew. I feel as though standardized tests can also only assess a basic understanding, and to me that doesn't really reveal how much a student understands. Also, I had many classmates that always seemed to do well on any type of quiz, test, or standardized test without having to ever really be "present" in the class, nor did they have to study. I always wondered how much they actually knew about the subject. I have usually found that most of those classmates that went onto college ended up doing very poorly, and I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they just happened to be good at taking tests. That doesn't mean that every student that does well on a test doesn't really know the subject or didn't study or actually learn anything. However, I think that there are just too many factors that can affect how people actually perform on a test, which doesn't always reveal what was learned. Unfortunately, I feel that nothing can be done about it. And I feel horrible for the schools that don't do well with the standardized tests, and therefore don't get the funding they deserve that can improve how well the students learn. I do feel that for the schools that don't perform well with standardized tests reflects that those students aren't getting much out of their education. But because of that, they shouldn't be punished by not getting any help. I also don't understand how schools that do well with standardization should get money towards bettering the education that doesn't need much improving, but I don't see how any of that will change in the near future. But I guess I'll just have to get over my detest for standardized testing and accept the fact that I will probably have to cater my curriculum around standardization, but I won't let it take over what I really want my students to learn from me.

Making Use of Critical Pedagogy

Chapter 27 discusses how knowledge is socially constructed and I couldn't agree more, especially when I compare the rural school I attended and the urban school I did my CURRINS 100 field experience for. The schools that have more money are more likely to provide a better education because they can afford a multitude of books and supplies and can create an environment that is beneficial to the needs of the students. However, the urban schools, because they are in poorer neighborhoods and have this stigma attached to the community that there isn't much hope for success, really take a beating in a lot of ways. Because there is a lack of money, there aren't enough materials that can aide in teaching, and as a result, what the students are capable of learning suffers. But despite that, when I enter into an urban classroom, I won't let that get in my way of giving my students the best education they deserve. I will incorporate literature that is written from their perspective so they can make connections from their lives with what is portrayed within the text. Students will be bringing their home lives into the classroom, and it can be very beneficial to not ignore that. I can't just ignore real world issues that shapes their lives. And, that can help in building their knowledge and create a greater desire in them to learn. In order to achieve that, they need to know that they can be a part of the change in those issues to better the lives of the next generation. But because I will be an outsider in their community in the school, I will have to listen to them, to find where they are coming from, and then I will be able to go from there to decide what is in the best interest of the students and their education.

Homosexuality and Middle School

After reading Chapter 22, "Lesbian and Gay Adolescents: Social and Developmental Considerations", I was glad that this article was included in our book. However, I was kind of upset that this article was so outdated, especially when you look at the dates that all of the references that were used were published. Most of them were from the 1980s, while the newest article was from 1992. I was six years old in 1992, and times have definitely changed since I was six years old. The students we will be teaching won't have the same experiences that we had when we were in middle school or high school, as a result of the way our society is changing. We didn't even have the same experiences as our parents did when they were in school, and I think that has a lot to do with the way our society has changed. "Gay and lesbian teens do not see the same diversity of adults with whom to identify as heterosexual adolescents do, because so many lesbian and gay adults do not publicly acknowledge their sexual orientation." (340). Although I believe that gay and lesbian teens don't see the same diversity of adults with whom to identify as heterosexual adolescents do, there are more adults that are coming out, whether it is the adults we know personally, or the adults we see on TV, the internet, and magazine covers coming out or talking openly about being homosexual.

Because our times are changing, and more states are allowing homosexuals to get married, so are schools. I heard recently on a Daytime TV talk show that in Milwaukee there will be a Gay Friendly Middle School: http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-education/2008/12/17/milwaukee-to-form-gay-friendly-middle-school.html?s_cid=etRR-0305. I was shocked to hear about this on that show, rather than seeing it on the local news or reading about it in one of our local papers. I was also shocked that I found the article from U. S. News. According to the article, "The Milwaukee Public School System will expand the services provided by its gay-friendly high school and apparently become the nation's first school system to create a gay-friendly middle school." I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, I like the idea of there being a safe environment for homosexual adolescents, but what will happen to them after school? Also, what about other students that are bullied but aren't homosexual? Another thing, I hear a lot of people say, not necessarily homosexuals, that some homosexuals knew they were gay when they were little kids. While that may be true, it isn't true for every homosexual, because think about all the homosexuals that don't realize they are gay until college or later in their life. I also think about the homosexuals that have trouble in coming out to their families. There is so much to think about in regards to this issue.

I'd like to see how everyone else feels about this. So, how do you feel about there being a gay friendly middle school in Milwaukee? Is this a good thing or a bad thing, and why? Do you think other cities will soon be following our lead? I'd also like to know if anyone has heard about this before I had?