Meyer's "Understanding Teachers’ (non) interventions”

“Through open discussions with all youth about feelings of isolation, feeling "different" from their peers, or being misunderstood, the classroom atmosphere can empower youth to discuss options for troubled youth and help students to watch over each other”(thetreavorproject.org).

The Trevor Project Trailor

The Trevor Project Film Trailor

Meyer’s “gendered harassment in secondary schools; discusses the issue of LGBT bullying in high school and the teacher’s role in preventing this harassment problem.  Meyer gives her reader a good overview of what determines gendered harassment and the many influences that are associated with this every growing problem. Meyer explores specific realities in high school regarding the bullying epidemic in high schools. She states that,” These studies have shown that sexual and homophobic harassment are accepted parts of school culture where faculty and staff rarely or never intervene to stop this harassment. Students report that teachers stand by and allow biased and hurtful behaviors to go unchallenged.”  

Although,  I do not want to believe that some teachers and administrators do not address all forms of bullying, I do realize that that in many cases there is neglect, ignorance, or laziness when it comes to the prevention and or the allowing of such bullying. Johnson, Kozal, and Delpit would argue that the “dominant society” has the upper hand again here. However, “the privileged” are at stake here also. LGBT does not discriminate against race, culture, sex, or socio-economic status.

I respect and applaud Meyer for the time and energy that was invested in this essay. Although upon reading I  feel as though her tone is not appropriate to the content of her study. Her tone is somewhat nonchalant. This topic she explores is so current with consequences of teen suicide I did not feel any urgency or passion on her part for the cause.  The teachers who were interviewed also did not seem to express knowledge of the seriousness of LGBT bullying. I quote Martin Luther King Jr. when I say there is a “fierce urgency of now” in this fight against high school bullying. This essay is missing this passion.

I feel the need to inform the reader to create an urgency. As a result of bullying there has been unnecessary loss of life, heart braking statistics of suicide and depression, and teens who turn to drugs and alcohol. There needs to be a “fierce urgency of now” from teachers, administers, and parents to help everyone understand that LGBT people are brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, granddaughters and grandsons. They’re being bullied in school because they are not of the “dominant” society. They do not fit into the norm, therefore they are alienated and many feel unworthy

The Trevor Project.Org : The leading national organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBT youth.

http://www.thetrevorproject.org/suicide-resources/suicidal-sign

“The Trevor Project believes that the high rates of suicide are preventable. To this end, we created The Trevor Workshop Guide, a classroom tool to be used in conjunction with the short film, Trevor, to constructively generate discussion about the myriad of issues surrounding suicide, personal identity and sexual orientation.”

Teacher FT03 “If there’s an incident in my classroom in my classroom I have to seek out the administration to get the follow-up on it. You just have to het to know the system and know what the expectations are cause they’re stretched.  They don’t have any time... I personally had a few issues during the year with discipline and the VP wasn’t there, and the principal dealt with it , and I always felt the same, that he just wasn’t firm enough.”

It is imperative that administrators get the resources they need to educate themselves, their student body and their teachers on the prevention of bullying in schools and the “fierce urgency of now.”

“Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year-olds, accounting for over 12% of deaths in this age group; only accidents and homicide occur more frequently” (National Adolescent Health Information 2006).

Teacher MT01:”(I don’t stop name calling) if I’m too tired., if there are set things I need to get through in a lesson. I know my lesson is going to take 60 minutes, I’ve only got 70 minutes to deliver it, I’ve got 10 minutes to waste.  Right now my job is being a teacher adn I have to get through the math before the end of the year. It;s not on my priority list.”

Student safety is on the top of my priority list.

“Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers” (Massachusetts Youth Risk Survey 2007).

“More than 1/3 of LGB youth report having made a suicide attempt” (D’Augelli AR - Clinical Child Psychiatry and Psychology 2002)

Teacher MT06: I’ve had no training on how to address bullying...The educational degree was really worthless.  I felt that we didn’t really get that kind of necessary education.  How to deal with certain issues like bullying.”

All teachers are adults and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that when someone is bullying and if you don’t personally know how to handle it, I think the safe thing to do, at the very least, is to report it to the administrator. At the very least give a detention. At teh very least have classroom rules that state NO BULLYING! You don’t just brush it off because you haven’t been TRAINED.  

“Nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about taking their lives and one quarter report having made a suicide attempt. “(Grossman AH, D’Augelli AR - Suicide and LifeThreatening Behavior 2007 

                              

Teacher FT02: “I spent the first couple months enforcing all of the (uniform policy, swearing, and name-calling) and there are some teachers that just never enforce it and so you realize that out of 20 teachers, we have about five who do all the enforcing and you just can’t anymore You can’t do it”

Why? It always starts with one person. Why wouldn’t this teacher continue to enforce the rules?

In my opinion this is a great excuses for not doing the right thing. The following statistics say we  don’t have a choice but to do the right thing.

“Nine out of 10 LGBT students (86.2%) experienced harassment at school; three-fifths (60.8%) felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation; and about one-third (32.7%) skipped a day of school in the past month because of feeling unsaf)” (GLSEN National School Climate Survey 2009)

“LGBT students are three times as likely as non-LGBT students to say that they do not feel safe at school (22% vs. 7%) and 90% of LGBT students (vs. 62% of non-LGBT teens) have been harassed or assaulted during the past year” (GLSEN From Teasing to Torment 2006).

“Almost all transgender students had been verbally harassed (e.g., called names or threatened in the past year at school because of their sexual orientation (89%) and gender expression (89%)” (GLSEN: Harsh Realities, The Experiences of Transgender Youth In Our Nation’s Schools 2009).

As the advisor to the GSA in my school, I have never met a group of young people with more heart, talent, passion, empathy and love for human kind.. These kids do not have hatred in their heart but  many of them have sadness and hurt in their hearts. They only show love for one another and they support one another. As one student  said yesterday. “This is the only place that I can totally be myself and feel accepted.”

                                                                 

Extra Blog: Reflecting on my lesson plan.

Reflection on Facilitation

I feel very fortunate to be in this class with such talented, smart, and passionate educators. There is nothing better then to be able to learn from your peers and really learn important information from graduate classes. Knowing I would have to facilitate, I was definitely nervous but also very excited. I think we all come with some confidence that we are good educators and that we are always striving to improve. Although, I do know that I am smarter than “most” of my students, I definitely felt a little intimidated “teaching” this graduate class. All went well and as planned, for the most part.

Jim and I emailed and spoke on the phone to initiate the lesson plan. We decided that breaking up the text in two would be a great way for the two of us to be “experts” on that specific section. Therefore, we would be able to have good, leading, and follow-up questions. We met for a couple of hours to go over the lesson plan and the logistics of how we would implement it. Writing out an outline/lesson plan was crucial in keeping us on task and organized. We even put how much time each mini-lesson would take. It was important that we had enough time to discuss the essential question that would lead us back to the text at the end of class.

Each section of the plan was exciting.  Any time technology is involved we take the risk of it not working correctly. However, it worked great and I think that this tool in the classroom is essential in keeping kids focused and on task, especially for the visual learners. I was really excited about the Socratic Seminar at the end. This strategy of student led discussions doesn’t always work as planned. I was very confident that this group would have plenty to say, but we, as facilitators needed to make sure that the essential question was the main focus of topic.

Overall it was a positive experience. Jim was very easy to work with and he was also very dedicated to putting out the best lesson plan so that the group fully understood Prudence Carter’s “Keepin it Real.” I learned that overpreparing is always a good thing. Staying on task and giving myslef a time frame is essential, and understanding the text very well is crucial.  It was nice to get the constructive criticism at the end. It was also a great compliment when I was asked to share parts of my lesson plan with a few of you. I have included the videos below.  I also have included below the Socratic Seminar Questions for the outside circle. Obviously these questions can be changed. This tool often is used to keep the kids in the outside circle interested and focused while the inside circle discuss the text.

1. Make a text-text or text to world connection to comment someone makes.
2. Keep track of the number of times each person speaks.
3. Observe two peoples body language. Describe their gaze and the position of their hands.
4. Who facilitates. How do you know? What strategies to they use?
5. How many times do you here the phrase “I think” or “this reminds me of?”
6. Who connects their statement or question to a previous speaker?
7. What is one thing you wanted to say but could not?
8. What are two things you heard that you agree with?
9. What was the point of the highest energy? Why?
10. Did anyone make a connection to a previous text?

                                                       

Michael Wesch "Anti Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance"

“The only answer to the best questions is another good question. And so the best questions send students on rich and meaningful lifelong quests, question after question after question.” 

Michael Wesch

In his article “Anti-teaching: Confronting The Crisis of Significance” Michael Wesch starts off by stating “Students – are struggling to find meaning and significance in their education.” I totally agree with this statement. This past week I discussed the significance of education to one of my students who did not think what she was learning had any significance to her future. Although she made a good argument (for a 17 yr. old) she was met with a counter argument that was better. This word ”significance” however is very vital to what we teach, how we teach, and how kids learn.  According to Wesch, students want to know that what they are learning has meaning.  Fortunately Wesch does give his reader the answer to this “significance “problem. “If our students are not “cut out for school,” perhaps we have made the mold too narrow or inflexible, or more likely, just not meaningful enough to inspire a student to fit in. That’s the significance problem”(5).

So we, as educators need to try and inspire these students to enjoy and feel more connected to their education. He states, “waiting for anybody interested in creating a meaningful learning environment to harness and bring significance back into the classroom”(6). Most educators try very hard. The new Common Core Standards of Rhode Island are educating teachers on how to do this; Informational Text. The fictional novels and short stories are out, and current events and world news are in. I do think that students will make good connections to current events. These types of readings can open up a connection to a student’s future and help  them connect to the world they live in. These connections would lead to critical thinking, and critical thinking would lead to questions, and questions would lead to a classroom of dialogicality, which Gerri August would fully agree with.  Wesch would also agree, as he says in his article. “Good questions are the driving force of critical and creative thinking and therefore one of the best indicators of significant learning.” Well, this would be wonderful if educators would just take out fiction and replace it with non fiction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that easily. But I do agree that informational text is crucial in teaching critical thinking skills.

As far as I am concerned, and I think Michael Wesch would agree, a vital tool that is lacking in American schools, both colleges and high schools, is the implementation of technology. In this article he discusses technology as a tool in the classroom. His video “A Vision of Students Today” is clearly a message of students who are craving that educators understand the vital importance of intergrading technology as a tool to teach. What is most unfortunate is that the only schools that have this opportunity are those that are “privileged” enough to afford the technology. Although, college classrooms need to be aware of the fact that many college students come equipped with their own digital tools. 

Michael Wesch below in this clip discusses the importance of the web Media in education.

“The principle goal of education is to create men and woman who are capable of new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done” Jean Piaget

 Technology

I read a quote by someone, I cannot remember where, but is stated something like this. Students do not need to know the capital of Florida anymore, their phones can tell them that, rather the students of tomorrow need to think critically. I think this is what Wesch is saying when he discusses the questions kids need to answer and the critical thinking that comes with the questions. Questions need to be different, teaching needs to be different. We educators may be afraid of this shift because we were not rasied as “digital natives” as Gary Small, a UCLA neuroscientist, has named the technology generation of today. We are comfortable in the ways we teach but seriously, kids learn differently today.

According to many different studies, kid’s brains are wired differently as a result of technology. They have become masters of multi-tasking, which has its benefits and  its disadvantages. However, the one thing most scientists agree with is that technology has had an impact on the way kids learn and focus. This  following  two video clips explore “Teens Brains on Technology.” It is extremely interesting, especially for those of us who are opposed to the fact that kids can thrive in the same lecture driven classrooms that we did as kids.

 

“Do not confine learning 
to your own learning, 
for they were born in another time” 
                         Chinese Proverb.








                                                                       According to Educause, an online E-book titled Educating the Net Generation, “The Net Generation has grown up with information technology. The aptitudes, attitudes, expectations, and learning styles of Net Gen students reflect the environment in which they were raised—one that is decidedly different from that which existed when faculty and administrators were growing up.”
Another important quote that I took form this online article “Growing up with Technology” As a member of the Net Generation, I have been surrounded by advances in digital technology, almost to the point where I cannot do my work as a journalist without it. In university, I have used assessment tools such as WebAssign and WebCT in classes as supplements to lecture and textbook. But now technology is advancing at such a rate that traditional ways of teaching and learning are not pushing students and teachers to their full potential. By using IT properly in the classroom, teaching and learning are enhanced and given a new dimension. Before curricula can be created to challenge the Net Generation, though, faculty must know how Net Geners learn and interact with each other, with technology, and with life in general. Remember that word—interact.”

http://www.educause.edu/Resources/EducatingtheNetGeneration/UsingTechnologyasaLearningTool/6060

Interaction is significant. If we want our students to think critically, connect the world they live in and think about their future, and be able to get a job when they graduate, then we need to make some advances in the classroom, well in the educational system overall.

"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow"

John Dewey

Prudence Carter: Keepin’ It Real

 

“Schools are more than institutions where teachers impart skills and lessons;

they are places where teachers transmit cultural knowledge. As a

child growing up in Mississippi and attending de facto segregated schools,

I did not realize that education is as much about being inculcated with

the ways of the "culture of power" as much as it is about learning to

read, count, and think critically. This culture of power, as scholar and

educator Lisa Delpit (1997) calls it, encompasses a body of rules, tastes,

appreciations and styles for success that are fashioned by the dominant

social classes whose members are mainly White, middle- and upper-class” (47).

This quote connects to many of the other texts we have read in class. The idea of race and culture as a factor in education; how one is educated, how one is perceived, and how one may be valued, is very powerful.  In this quote Carter suggests that the “culture of power” is integrated into the curriculum in our schools, as is learning our ABC’s. This “hidden curriculum” was not apparent to her growing up in Mississippi as it is to her now as an adult.  She did learn at a very early age, in sixth-grade when her teacher needed to instruct her on a specific cultural awareness when she stated “Always remember to look someone in the eye, especially Whites, when you are speaking to them’ (48). Why was this so important for a sixth-grader? Why is “Whites” capitalized in this sentence? Why are things still “Separate but equal?” I can’ t help but think about how far we have come as a nation of freedom and equality but also it is apparent how much we are not a nation of freedom and equality. Kozol really dives into this in his text when he discusses the segregated schools which are quite simply, de facto segregated schools today in America.  When Carter was in school in Mississippi I wonder if she realized at the time about the segregation. After all, segregation was illegal. To think about education as a privilege for those who grow up in the right neighborhood is absurd in itself.  But to think about creating schools in neighborhoods for the sole purpose of integrating different cultures only to have those schools become segregated, proves that the country has not come very far in its fight against racial equality. 

This is the trailer for the film Freedom Writers. In this clip we can see the racial divides that many schools have and the privileged education or in this case, the unprivileged education.

Identity: This word is very important to Carter’s “Keepin’ it Real.” In her text she discusses the point of “acting white and “acting black” as staying, or not staying true to ones cultural identity. Since most everything revolves around the dominant culture, it is important to understand what influences this. What or whom influences our identity? Carter discusses the use of cultural markers to help with ones identity. It is important to understand that “Keepin’” not “keeping” it real is vital to ones identity. Since the black race is not the dominant culture there needs to be a dominant culture within the race.  Carter refers to this as the “black cultural capital.” Although “keepin it real” is important for the culture of the race, we do live in a world where the dominant culture may be seen as a threat to those who are not in that culture, therefore, for one’s own race to “act white” is going against the core of keeping a “black cultural l capital.” 

NY Time article.
"For Children of Same-Sex Couples, a Student Aid Maze" Ny York times article. Will applications and other sort of documents be same sex marriage friendly?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/your-money/for-children-of-same-sex-couples-a-student-aid-maze.html?_r=1&ref=education

Gerri August

“We teach in real time with real distractions, and real pressures”

Gerri August

How is it that a 5 year old accentuates “different” behavior to a point where he/ or she thinks it’s funny?  I have always believed in the innocence of children; what they say and how that act are unscripted and “could not have been engineered” (166). How is it that when Zeke does ballet moves around the room, it makes the kids laugh? August analyzes this laughter as “the disaffiliative laughter as accentuating a difference in gender identification” (149). With this specific example I think we can make an argument that Zeke may have looked very silly dancing around the room, whether it was ballet, hip-hop- or the waltz, young kids think it is funny to see their teacher dance in class; innocence. In regards to the situation in” Do you speak Chinese?” when Shiloh mocks the Chinese language when she says “Chum, chum, chum, chum chung” and then laughs. This is not an innocent statement made by a curious little girl. Where do they learn this? August quotes Johnson “such expressions of dominant ideology, regardless of whether offense is taken, widen the paths of least resistance.” Obviously the innocence involved in this particular incident was that the offense wasn’t made intentionally to hurt someone’s feelings, however, like Johnson says, it doesn’t matter, “This is the stuff of which privilege is made. It is also the stuff of which oppression, privilege’s necessary counterpart, is made” (152). The privileged kids in this case study are the normal kids. The “otherness” is the different kids, according to the dominant ideology

As I read chapter six I started to wonder about August and Zeke’s motives about little Cody.  I do applaud the Designed Dialogicality lessons that Zeke engage his students but I got the feeling that he is prompting for a specific answer and August is waiting patiently for a specific mind blowing expression from Cody about his lesbian mothers.  In the section titled “Family” August states, “I argue that the data portray a child who, even in the context of a democratic, emancipator classroom, censored the speech and other expressions so as to downplay his non-dominant family structure’ (177). I am not convinced that is  true. There is only two small examples that I believe supports Augusts’ claim in this section. On page 181 “Having attended a Montessori preschool with other internationally adopted children, several of whom also had lesbian moms, Cody, nevertheless, found himself needing to explain his family constellation and his skin color.. In spite of the preschool teacher’s inclusive language, books, and representations, (she herself indentified as a lesbian), several of Cody’s classmates repeatedly questioned him about his two moms. He complained of this to Tamara and Ellen and repeatedly asked why his Cambodian family had given him up” (181). Cody seems more upset about the adoption and his really family then the fact that he has two moms.

“On at least one occasion, Cody expressed frustration that he couldn’t scrub off his color in the bathtub” (181).” Again, I see Cody being more aware and frustrated that his is different and that it is obvious he has been adopted.

“ I was present for 50 of Cody’s news shares. On five of those occasions, Cody made reference to one of his moms” (182). August then goes on to say that “this omission alone would have been an unremarkable fining. After all, rarely did a ZK student mention both parents in a news share. Dads made only occasional appearances in the students account” (183). I don’t think Cody’s omission is intentional, most kids didn’t mention both parents. Perhaps Cody notices his different color and the fact that he was adopted and this bothers him more than the fact that he has two moms. Since most kids don’t mention fathers, why would Cody be aware of his “different” family? Until it was brought up in the books they read, Who’s in a Family?and And Tango Makes Three.

               And Tango Makes Three The most banned book in America in 2008.

A school district in Charlotte, N.C. has pulled a children’s book off the shelves because some parents have deemed it inappropriate. This same book tops the American Library Association’s most banned books in 2008.http://logicalcomplexinfinitive.wordpress.com/2009/04/22/and-tango-makes-three-the-most banned-book-in-2008/

This book was written based on a true story about homosexual penguins in Germany. Watch the news footage video.

Here is just one review of Who's in a Family?. It reflects on the dominant ideoloy

F. Weinstock (Brooklyn, New York)

 As a white single mother of a bi-racial child, I'm always excited to find books that validate our family's composition. The problem with this one is that the main character whose family begins the book is a white girl who lives with her two white parents and sibling, has a dog and white grandparents. So the set-up is that her family is the "regular" kind and others are variations that aren't quite the same and are kind of exotic. I don't read this to my daughter 

 On page 195 it seems as though Zeke and August feel like they finally got Cody to divulge his true feelings. This evidence is the fact that Cody speaks quietly when he talks about his moms. “He said, I told you about me and my sister and my dog and then he kind of got quiet and he was like my two moms and he said it really quietly.”’ Zeke goes on to say that  “a reasonable interpretation of his hesitation and his lowered voice was that he was reluctant to go on, reluctant to identify his two moms.” However, his two moms were very busy in the school, in the classroom, at meetings, and helping out. It is mentioned that he greets them enthusiastically. I am not convinced that Cody was reluctant to talk because he has two moms.  “None had answered, “my mom and dad,” or “my parents.” Two in fact, had answered, “My mom.” If most kids do not mention their parents , why would Cody be expected to.

However, I can be convinced that the real issue is not his two moms but the adoption. At this point I can’t argue this. Perhaps in another blog post.

August suggest on page 188 that “using the word “different” three times in this short introduction, Zeke might have begun to disturb existential assumptions with family that would prevent students from hearing the meaning of the text.” Perhaps making young kids more aware of the difference makes kids more aware that they are different. Don’t we want kids to understand that different is the same?