talking points #5

well first off i didn't realize that a blog had to be done today until i got to class. i thought that the only thing that was due today was the midterm letter which now i know that that isn't true. the article by oakes and lipton was about the way things in classes are handed. during class today i said that if something within the class isnt fun and or something that can keep a student paying attention it makes it harder on the teacher because it the students have trouble paying attention. for example my class at west broadway had trouble paying attention last week because they were told they were going to have a party at the end of the day. every kid that was in there was all riled up and it made it very hard for me to teach my students because i know that all they were thinking about was that party. a teacher would have trouble because the students don't seem to care so why should they? they are getting paied to be there and the students arent listening which in turn could lead to them being affected.

a few more to say

A few more things about today lesson that I was thinking about during the rest of my day. First off McDonald's commercials use very skinny people as their models to eat their food. They are portraying that if you eat McDonald's you will not become obese. We all know that it isn't true. Obviously it aids in a person becoming obese if you eat it too much. Secondly, there is a new song that is out by Wyclef Jean, Akon, and Lil' Wayne called Sweetest Girl. I am going to add the song to the end of this post, so please listen/watch it if you haven't seen it before. You will soon see why I feel that it is appropriate for our lesson right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PxBGHjABnU

Talking Point #4 on Christensen

After completing "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" I have a few different feelings about what I read. First off, he started off talking about how cartoons are portrayed people in many ways. He says that most use "hidden meanings" and younger people don't realize that because they don't understand. He uses many examples like Popeye, the Ninja Turtles, and Duck Tales. Now since I use to watch all three of those cartoons when I was a kid, and not once did I ever consider any of them to be "offensive". I was well educated considering I would turn it on here and there even when I was in middle school.
Now after reading this, I feel a tad different about all three of those cartoons. I do indeed realize that Duck Tales did indeed focus on nothing much money. Popeye did make it seem like fighting was alright. Ninja Turtles do indeed show that fighting is alright. I think that Christensen is exactly right when he says that cartoons portray many things to the younger children. We need to make sure that things like that are taken out of cartoons because if some children begin to catch onto these hidden messages, they could begin to use that as a way of their own lives. I believe that it could lead to something dangerous. I believe that cartoons using hidden messages within their shows need to notice all that and rid that of all of their shows for the sake of every young person in this world.

Talking Points #3 on Carlson

After reading "Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community" by Dennis Carlson he talks about how a Homosexual is portrayed within the community and argues that portraying a person like that is wrong. It seems like he believes that portraying someone like that is against not only himself but God. Being only a sophomore in college, I do indeed know what being portrayed like that was like because there was quite a few homosexuals in my school and they were always the center or jokes, comments, and ridicule. He talks about how "throughout much of this century, the dominant idea of community in America was represented by what I call the normalizing community." I think that what he means is that most people in society live life using a "normal" system. I think that since someone is homosexual they are not considered to be normal because people consider them to be different than they are. Since I believe that it is wrong to look at someone differently because of a lifestyle choice that they have made I feel that people should learn to consider everyone to be equal. I mean think about this, Blacks were considered "different" at one point, so why can't we see a gay person and consider them to be one of us just like we did in the past with blacks when Martin Luther King told us that everyone was created equally. I believe that this is his argument during this whole piece.

Talking Points #2 on Richard Rodriguez

Why is this story called Tongue Tied? This story is called that because Richard Rodriguez feels in a way violated because he wasn't addressed in Spanish like he would have liked to be when he was in school. He felt that since he was Hispanic that he would have felt more comfortable if he were addressed in his native tongue. I feel that he makes a great point because I know that if I were to go into a different atmosphere and had to speak a language that is not comfortable for me I think that I would feel the same way as he does. I find it to be a bit odd that at his very own dinner table they would practice their English and not speak in Spanish. I feel that school is a different place than at home. Home is where you should be able to not worry about a language barrier and should be a place where you don't have to worry about fitting in just because you don't speak the "common" language. I agree with him when he states that "he hears bilingual educators say that children lose a degree of individuality by becoming assimilated into public society." I feel that if an person cannot express themselves then they are being discriminated. I have to say that I absolutely agree with this piece because I believe that everyone should be able to express themselves the way that is most comfortable. Everyone lives in this country together and everyone should be able to work with each other in order to have a most comfortable society.