Cougador Mask: To Be or Not to Be?

While I was on Facebook, I came across a petition to stop the distribution of the "Cougador" mask at the October 31st football game due to "devaluing  and decontextualizing a part of the Chicano/ Latino cultural identity." What do you guys think of the petition? Are people taking this too far? Do you guys think it is ok to be able to dress up like a Mexican for Halloween?

http://www.change.org/petitions/wsu-athletics-department-stop-the-distribution-of-cougador-masks-at-the-oct-31-football-game




Ivan Valdovinos

Week of October 22: Physical Environment

Weinstein states in Chapter 2 "Often, school environments provide physical security but fail to offer psychological security- the felling that is a good, comfortable place to be. Psychological security is becoming increasingly crucial as more and more youngsters liver in impoverished, unstable, and sometimes unsafe home environments. For the, in particular, schools must serve as a haven" (p. 34).

IN WHAT WAYS DOES PSYCHOLOGICAL SECURITY CONNECT TO SADOWSKI AND DELPIT DISCUSSION OF "SCHOOL DEPENDENT CHILDREN?"  Using both the reading and your own experiences, WHY IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SECURITY important to be aware of and WORK FOR? Can you think of examples in your own life as students in middle or high school? 

Physical Environment: Freedom Writers, Couches and Penguins

     Last night I watch the movie Freedom Writers and those student began to feel the classroom as a home. The teacher, Mrs. Erin Gruwell allowed her students to share their stories and incorporated their struggles into the classroom. This allowed the students to first see the teacher as a human who genuinely cared for them which facilitated the students to be open with one another along with the teacher, who initially knew nothing of their upbringings. The desks were initially set up in lines facing the front of the room. This set up did not allow the students to discuss with one another and further broke up the cliches/groups. As I watched, the desks moved to the sides and the desks faced each other. This set up allowed the students to discuss more with each other. This built a better community because were encouraged to debate and their views mattered in Mrs. Gruwell's class.
     During my practicum experience, I have a teacher I observe who had couches in his classroom. I never asked why the couches or how do you decided who sits at the couches but I see that this makes the room 'homey'.
     Lastly, I had a teacher in high school or who had a stuffed class pet; it was a penguin.  This penguin went on trips with the students and became a mascot. For example, two students went to Hawaii during Christmas break and the penguin went along on the trip. The penguin became a symbolic identifier for the class.

"Some Study That I Used to Know"

I totally just nerded out to this song. It doesn't really add much to any kind of learning on your part, but its fun to listen to and pretty easy to relate to. Its sad that I find this stuff hilarious now. - Jenny Harris

Kid President Song

Hey everyone. I know at the beginning of the semester we showed a kid president video in class and everyone seemed to like it. Here is a song version of a couple of his videos mashed up. I think the message is a good one to be sending out into the world. Even though this is for everyone trying to do better, I feel this can totally be related to us becoming teachers. I view this as a way to help create a safe environment for our students, because of a couple of lines such as "keep going, keep going, keep going" and "it's love gives us hope". As talked about in class and my own personal experiences, the best teachers are those who show interest in their kids. Both those lines from the song are encouraging for people and if we can encourage our kids, than hopefully that will help with the environment of the class. What do you all think about this? Agree or disagree? I posted the link below. ~ Andrew http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFGcrYPdrJU

"How Movies Teach Manhood"

I really like this video. The movies that students watch are dominated by the "stand alone hero" and don't promote working together as a team. While it may be a jump from movie themes to sexual assault statistics, it does bring up an interesting point. Why are we seeing this increase of sexual assaults? Is there a correlation between pop culture and these statistics? Just something to think about

At what point are we doing a disservice to our students? By Tim

We have been learning how we need to change our teaching strategies so we can meet the needs of all our students. Personally, I agree with this to a point but I can also see the downside as well. Putting the material in a context so the students can better understand it is one thing but providing too much assistance or holding their hand to insure success isn't helping them. Since I coach soccer at the high school, I get to see the differences in the students of today compared to when I was in high school. The kids today have a hard time dealing with adversity. One student in particular was enrolled in a math class, after the first test that he did poorly on, his parents allowed him to drop the class because it was a hard class. What happens to him when he is in college or has a job and is given a hard task? He will have no idea how to deal with the situation because he has always been bailed out of any uncomfortable situation. Where is the line of modifying lessons to help the students without making it easy for them? How do we make sure we are giving every student the opportunity to succeed and prepare them for their future lives where accommodations will not be present?

Justs doing some research on culturally responsive classrooms

After we're done with college I know it's going to be impossible to recall everything we've gone over, but here is another post on a different blog, National Equality Project, that discusses briefly 5 ways to create a culturally responsive classroom.

http://blog.nationalequityproject.org/2012/08/22/5-ways-to-create-a-culturally-responsive-classroom/


- Nick Johnson

White Privilege

Watch 11:05-13:20

http://vimeo.com/25637392

ALL FOR A PAIR OF SHOES

ALL FOR A PAIR OF SHOES

I was thinking about the video we watched in class the other day by Macklemore and it really made me think about my own experiences with this topic. I touched on it a little in my autobiography but fashion really does have a huge impact not just in school but in society as a whole and when you really think about it, they are just clothes and shoes. I mean, what is the purpose of clothes and shoes in the first place? To keep up warm and feet protected? Unfortunately I do not see us as a whole abandoning these ways and fashion will always be a big priority. Even with songs like "Thrift Shop" where famous stars say its ok to shop at Goodwill and other second hand stores and the increase in "hipster" living, the same stars still have high end taste. Macklemore is a great example of this because even though he sings about wanting to take his Nike shoes off because he doesn't want them to consume him and create his identity, in real life he is a huge sneakerhead meaning he loves to have the new Air Jordans and other high priced shoes.

I am guilty of falling into a sneakerhead category and do have shoes I have not worn or tried on but I feel I have other motives. When I was in school I wasn't able to have nice things and I had to sit back with my brothers and watch more fortunate families provide for their kids with the best everything while we had to make due with whatever we could afford. I think that has made me appreciate things so much more and while I may have a lot of shoes, most wouldn't know that I have almost every pair of shoes I have ever owned. I try and take care of my stuff so it will last. I have saved my money and bargained and searched for the good deals to get what I wanted and that includes shopping at thrift shops too, but that's not to say I have spent a pretty penny on something that caught my eye. Either way, I think as long as you are smart with your money, have your own sense of identity and aren't letting society and companies cloud your judgement by telling you what is "popular" or "in" then its ok to have nice things and reward yourself every once in a while. Just be conscious of your decisions and never resort to violence. It is sad to see and hear violence happen over something silly like shoes. Just a few of my thoughts on the topic, here's a link I remember seeing a while back and although sad, its true.

http://www.khou.com/news/crime/Mom-of-teen-murdered-for-Air-Jordans-launches-campaign-to-stop-violence-212396861.html

A Cartoon describing our school system

I thought that this picture sums up the need for differentiating instruction.

-Lizzie

Using tech from the past as a psychomotor assessment by Stephanie

I know I wish I could use this as an assessment. What about you guys? I know a lot of us feel like we're over-worked right now, so I thought a super awesome idea for an assessment courtesy of a Grad student somewhere out there in the world would help ease the stress a little.

How much fun can we bring into our classrooms? Check the link below. It's actually pretty cool.

An Educational Pwn Up by Dorkly

12-year-old Girl Arrested for Bullying

While reading news articles, I came across this article about bullying. I thought that it was interesting that a pre-teen got arrested for constant bullying. I think that this can be a great article to share with students because it can open up conversation on the topic of bullying. This article can possibly show students the repercussions of bullying. Even though the article claims that all severe bullying cases can go under investigation, I believe that it is biased due to the fact that the school where this incident occurred was a private middle school. I am curious to see if this would to happen in a public low-income school would the same actions be taken? 

By Ivan Valdovinos

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/02/20791972-12-year-old-girl-arrested-for-relentless-bullying?lite=