1-2-3-Magic!

When you were little and were acting up, did your parents used to say "1.2. Don't let me count to 3"? And if they got to 3, it would be he end of the world? Well, my dad used too, especially to my younger sister, in which she would repeat the numbers back to my dad, which would get her into even more trouble. Or have you ever seen a parent or teacher go about a different way to discipline their children or students that you didn't really like? I have seen that too. I work with a little boy who has disabilities and his mom invited me to go to a seminar all about ways to control a child's behavior, at home and at school, called 1-2-3 Magic! I immediately said I would go because what better way to learn about a good way to control students when I am a teacher? It was perfect!

1-2-3 Magic is "a simple, precise and effective way of managing children's behavior," created by Thomas Phelan. He has made this technique specifically for children between the ages of 2-12 and works well for kids who have minimal behavior problems, as well as more severe. Basically, it is easy to do. If a child is acting up or behaving in a way you don't tolerate, you say to them "that's 1". You will wait 5 seconds and if they are still doing it, say "that's 2". After waiting another 5 seconds and they are still behaving that way, you say "that's 3" and the child will be told to have "break time" (which is just a better way to explain time-out). These are called stop behaviors. If the kid does not cooperate with the break time, they might have something taken away from them or an additional chore.  On the other hand, there are start behaviors. These behaviors are good and positive actions, in which a teacher or parent notices the good behaviors and praises them, but not gives them a reward. This is to let the child know that you are aware of the good behaviors, not just the bad. However, during this whole process, the teacher/parent must remain calm and show no emotions due to the kids being manipulative and love to test. This whole method was created to give teachers/parents a "better" way to discipline bad behavior and so the students learn how to act. 

• During this event, all I could think about was Delpit's codes of power. This author created a method and was forcing it too parents and teachers. He explained that this was the correct way to teach your children and this was the way it should be done. Then the parents and teachers have the power to treat their kids in this way, which I know they have the power to do so, but that is power in itself. This is now the "code of power" for how the students and children are supposed to act and the way they have to follow it. The lady who was giving the presentation described students and children as "wild animals, who we need to train". I was so shocked by this statement! In basically sums up that teachers and parents have the power to train the kids, and this is the way we do it. We are training them to be the appropriate people in society, who are accepted. As parents and teachers, they have the power to do so.  Although there is 1-2-3 Magic, there are other ways that teach their students or children how to behave, and it doesn't make the adults seem so powerful, just as parents or teachers. 

• Surprisingly, I related this presentation to Aria's Rodriguez. For Rodriguez, nuns came into his house and forced his parents to start speaking english with Rodriguez so he learns the right way. It was wrong of them to do that because they changed Rodriguez's life. In the case of 1-2-3 Magic, I saw some of the similarities. Teachers, or Phelan even, "Demanded" this to create kids that are perfect and who will act int he right way so that they are successful. In Richard's case, the nuns said that he needed to speak English to be accepted, and like that, this guy created a method to make acceptable kids, who behavior the right way. I understand that we, of course, want students and children to behave the correct way, but this was just another method forced. Basically, instead of using language, we put in numbers, but it works the same way.

• I also related this to Johnson's Privilege, Power, and Difference. This was the first article we read about the differences relating to gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. However, when I was reading this article, I realized that Johnson missed a whole group who are different as well; people and children with special needs and disabilities. We understand that there are differences and how we act is what is different. I went to this event to get a better understanding of how to act with students with disabilities who are mis-behaving. I got little-to-no information about this group of students, which I was really upset about that. The mother I went with is apart of a group of women who have children with disabilities, and they come to these events to learn as well. I knew that they were upset as well. The presentation barely went over the students or children with special needs and when she did, she only brought up autistic children. She said that it works with them, but that's only if the child is higher functioning. She completely disregarded the children who have down syndrome, or higher levels of autism, and on. The author, Thomas Phelan, didn't even write a book based on those students, besides one for students or children who have ADD. (Important too, I know.) I just felt that, like Johnson, they failed to realize that there is a difference in behavior between kids with disabilities and "regular-ed" kids. I agree that if works with some special needs children, but obviously not all of them. The main thing is that you can't really put a special needs child in "time-out", because most likely they don't understand between right and wrong. Some students, who are older, have the intellectual age of a little child. So, as a teacher of a student with special needs, you must know the disability and what comes along with it. There are better ways to deal with children who have special needs, in my opinion. 

As I was listening to this, I thought of our service learning projects. If you are having trouble dealing with a student who's not behaving, this could be a technique that might work. I know its kind of later on, so it might be too late now, but for future classes or even when you're a teacher! One thing that it had in common with the SL, is that as a teacher, you NEVER give a gift or a present as a reward if they have good behavior. In our schools specifically, you never know what a gift may be to a student, and the same with this method. A reward is just a praise or a high five, something nice, but never a gift. 

To be honest, I was expecting a presentation that I was going to be blown away by. I thought that it was going to be so informational and it would be a good experience. Although I thought it was good, I didn't think it was great. I learned about a method to work to control behaviors of students and children, but there are other methods that I think are just as successful. This could be a great method, as a teacher and as a parent, but I wasn't that impressed. But maybe you guys thought it was cool, which is great! If you ever get a chance to read some of the books, watch the dvds, or even heard about it, what are your opinions?! I think that when I'm a teacher, I'll try a different approach, maybe this might be a last resort, but that's just how I feel! I found some reviews of the books; here's what others have to say.

I found a Ted Talk video all about education. It is about an hour long, but I watched a good portion of it and it was interesting! So if you have a few minutes here and there and really bored, watch it! 

Brown vs. Board of Education

Well, first off, I would like to mention that I had a difficult time doing this assignment for some reason. Not because I'm not interested in the topic, but I got easily distracted while watching the videos and I was all over the place, so I had to watch them a view times to get a good understanding. The article was really interesting though!

Anyway, Tim Wises' broadcast were pretty cool, once I got to listen carefully to them. Right from the beginning he said that we had to deal with what is real and that racism is still going on,  yet were pretending it is not. This made me think of Johnson's Power, Privilege and Difference. He said that we know that there are issues in the world, but we're afraid to confront them or talk about them. We don't use the word "privilege," just like we don't use the word "racism," which I think is true. He also said that people of color are wise, but they have a different style of showing it, which I thought was very smart because I didn't think of it like that. He then went onto say that people of color don't have to be like Obama to be successful, and I believe that but I want to know who told him that they believed that? What color person said that they can't be successful unless they are Obama, or like him in a sense, because that is not true at all. He said that "Individuals of color can accomplish great things, Even if they don't go to Harvard, and go to schools like University of Michigan, which is absolutely true! This relates to the Brown vs. Board of Education because all those students wanted was an education, and it didn't matter from where. But White's didn't believe that they should have equal education because they weren't "smart" or "potentially successful" as Whites. Later in the video he said that if the past was the present, people believed that Blacks had equal opportunities, CRAZY!! The people during the time of Brown vs. Board of Education didn't believe that Blacks needed schooling, because they already had the right to vote and those laws, so that's all they really needed. Even though it was successful, it took a lot of time to have a change, and Wise said that this case was probably the biggest, but it showed us that things still needed to be changed. The thing that Wise said that stood out to me was that "We see excellence". We should have noticed it in the past and we should be noticing it now, because no matter what, everyone can achieve excellence. And it still wasn't as simple as it should have been. 

Remember the Titans: First day of school! This is my favorite movie ever btw, watch it if you haven't!

When I read the article by Bob Hebert, I immediately thought about our Service Learning Program. In the first paragraph, he said that it is hard to get good educators in schools located in high-poverty areas and that is why they are not always the best. He then said "these, OF COURSE, are the schools with Hispanics and Blacks" He said it like it was automatically assumed that it is the schools with Blacks and Hispanics, it was kind of sad to read it like that. During the Brown Vs. Board of  Education,  no one wanted to be a teacher to the "black students," and they refused to teach them. Yet, here we are now. Hebert said "Schools are no longer legally segregated, but because of residential patterns, housing discrimination, economic disparities, and long-held custom, they most emphatically are in reality." Even after the case, we still see schools that are mostly White, like where most of you went to High School, or even mostly Black and it's all because of those reasons. But we stem from the root that there were segregated schools in the past. The main point of his topic is that students learn in a better environment, away from provish areas. 

Hebert said "The election of Barack Obama has not made a true integration any more palatable to millions of Americans". I believe that this speaks words and it is really important to understand. Because have things really changed for the better? Because according to Wise, people of color believe they have to be like Obama to be successful. I believe that the Brown vs. Board of Education was a huge milestone in 1954 and the election of Obama was a big milestone in 2009, but like Wise said there are still works that remain. I found an interesting article about the 60th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education case and how it was successful and not so much. Pretty cool to read! 

Topic Point: In Wise's broadcast, he said that we couldn't really understand how the African American's felt during that time because we weren't in their shoes. Only White's shared their opinions about how they felt they were in fact equal opportunities, which they weren't. But anyway, that's like saying we can't understand how someone feels unless we walk a mile in their shoes. If you were a student back then, how would you feel? Or sense we are all teachers, lets say we were put back in time during 1950's and this case, what kind of teacher would you be? 

In The Service of What?

The author, Kahne and Westhimer, argue that a Service Learning Project or community service is important to students in the school system. These authors who wrote “In the Service of What?” are explaining that they believe service learning is something that students should be doing. They feel that it is a good thing for three reason/domains: Moral, Political, and Intellectual domains. They would develop a stronger sense of morality, because they would be more caring and giving. The service learning would make them care for someone else, than just themselves. This would also teach them more about other people as well. They would gain a sense of a political view, meaning that they would become more responsible students and even citizens. And of course, the students would become more intellectual. The students would learn so much more than just the core subjects, that they would be transformed into a new person. Students could participate in any community serve they want, such as, volunteering at a homeless shelter or an elderly home, mentoring another student, tutoring, etc. These activities will teach them to become better citizens and they will learn more about the culture of other people. The authors believe that it will help them in the school setting as well. However, the authors make the point that the parents have an impact on the students. For example, a music director at a middle school wanted to take his students to perform for a school that was in a poorer neighborhood than them. Parents declined it because they felt their kids would be in an “unsafe area," and that reflected on the students views. However, they went and they did not feel the same way when they left, they enjoyed it. Political leaders, like Bush, Kennedy, etc, were noted for their powerful words, that the authors relate to service learning, which is a great point. The main point that the authors are trying to make is that they believe community service is important to students and it should be apart of the child’s curriculum.  This website states the top reasons why community service is important and should be in high schools. These reasons relate to the author's argument for this topic. 

As well as doing the argument part, I just want to add a view comments of my own going off about the main topic. The authors mentioned that community service is being put into place as a graduation requirement in schools. In my high school, we had to complete twenty hours of community service in order to reach a graduation requirement. To me, I thought that this was a great idea and it was easy for me because I volunteer at places often. I know that some students had a difficult time completing this task and I feel that it was because they did not find something they truly enjoyed, because they just saw it as they needed to get it done. Others felt that it was a great experience, which is what more people should believe. Here is a website that speaks of community service as a policy throughout Rhode Island (but you could look at other selected states), it's pretty interesting to read with all of the state facts and laws. Also in my school district, students could complete a Service Learning Project and complete tasks in order to graduate. However, they took that away and now we have to do Portfolios, which is I hope is all changed when we become teachers. The project was anything that a student wanted to do And was approved to do. They would volunteer in a work field and learn all about it, then complete a project. In some districts, this option is still available to do and they love it. I feel that it makes a lot of sense and it’s a great opportunity for them to grow as a person. I believe that our service learning project is one of the best things in this class. I absolutely love it and it has already taught me so much. I’ve always been into volunteering, whether it be for my old Church, Special Olympics, or mentoring children, but it has all shaped me into the person I am. If more students were aware of community service and learned how to do a service project, I think that those students would grow from it. They would learn all of the things that Kahne and Westhimer described because it would be such a great opportunity. I related this article to White Privilege Knapsack. In my previous blog about that I talked about a few quotes that McIntosh stated. She said that "I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will" I believe that being apart of community service makes you who you are because you get to experience so much great things. I know that it was about two separate topics but it made me think that being a volunteer was apart of your morals. Community service wouldn't be a "thing" if we didn't have problems or issues in the world that needed to be fixed. so I also related this to what McIntosh said as well "Individual acts can palliate, but cannot end these problems." I said before that I disagree with this quote because I believe it can, but each individual act of community service is a great thing that is working to make something better. (So I was just using quotes from McIntosh that made me think about this article, not so much the overall topic of her article). As you can see, I am big for volunteering, because I truly think it is a great experience that would effect someone in great ways. One of the people in the article said “The hope was that the students values and beliefs might be transformed by these experiences.” 

Topic Point: Did anyone else have community service as a graduation requirement? Did you guys like the idea of it or did you just feel it was something that had to get done? If you could do something like the Service Learning Project when you were in high school, do you thing that you would feel the same way as you do know? Although I am all in for volunteering, I also feel that it won’t have a huge effect on someone unless they are more mature and “grown up”. Like in elementary school, once a month we would all make blankets for the poor. I knew that it was a great thing to be doing, but I had more fun just making the blankets than understanding what it was truly about. Now I would appreciate that more. Anyone else feel this way?

Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us

When I was in preschool, I was asked what I wanted to be. Obviously, I responded with "A Princess", just like every girl at that age. And we have Disney to thank for that. We dream of the fancy clothes, the wonderful lifestyle, a prince, and a happily-ever-after. I remember when I reached elementary school, still having a mindset that I wanted to grow up to be a princess, my parents told me that it wasn't realistic and that they are just movies. They never happen in real life. Now I look back on what they said and I see a different reason why they said that. It is because of all the stereotypes in the movies, and now in our age, there are women and girls changing it. Sure there are some instances where fairy tales do come true, which means there are some instances where stereotypes do occur. But I believe that the more years that come, we begin to see what the Disney movies actually mean and it is kind of sad to watch.

 

So, both of these videos are about the stereotypes that the women in Disney movies are portrayed. I really don't want to give so much away in the videos because they are wicked cool and I really hope you watch them! But basically, they are about the typical women, who are domestic, they clean the house and cook, they change themselves for love, and they do what they must in order to do so. But the videos also show the different women: Mulan, Esmeralda, Tiana, Rapunzel. All who are supposed to follow the "rules of women", but who chose to go against them. What you say? Women going against stereotypes? Thats crazy!!!! But those are the movies we should be showing to young girls, so they know. 

I also wanted to talk about Frozen, which was a pretty good movie. But those stereotypes changed. Most of you know the movie, so I won't go into so much detail. But, Elsa was the queen and did not need a king to rule with her. Elsa became one of the first princess to say that Ana could not marry a man that she just met. This movie also showed that Elsa didn't need a man to save her, it was her sister who did. Unlike all the other Disney movies, they were not portrayed this way, rather the complete opposite. I believe that is why so many parents, or even young adults, saw this as a great movie because it changed everything. Kids should be growing up, learning the things that Frozen taught. I couldn't find an interesting video, but here is a website that speaks of the broken stereotypes. Also, I know that Brave was a movie similar to this, I think, but I never saw it so I don't know! I didn't want to leave that out.

I believe that girls should be brought up knowing that they can be whoever and do whatever they want. I think that this article and Disney relates to Delpit's rules of power number 2: There are codes or rules for participating power- that is there is a culture of power. The culture of power is that women are expected to be cleaners, as men are supposed to be the "man of the house", but why? Someone created it that way and everyone followed it. The rules:

1. Girls cannot do boy things

2. A girl must marry a man to be successful 

3. Boys are supposed to be seen as strong and powerful

4. Women are supposed to be perfectly dressed

5. Boys must save girls

AND SO MANY MORE!! But things are changing. 

This article makes me also thing of SCWAAMP (like everything else). The things that we find important in our society and that Disney also only shows. Society values Straightness. Have we seen a Bi/Lesbian/Gay couple? Society values Able Bodiness. Princess's are seen as very skinny, perfect hair, perfect body. Prince's are seen as strong, masculine, and powerful. Have we seen an imperfect looking Prince or Princess? Society values Maleness. Disney shows that a women cannot do male things or the other way around. But Mulan finally showed the difference. We need to show more of the differences to let society know that it is okay to show the differences. The media is a huge part of people's lives and that is a start to show the differences. 

So, here I am at 18 years old, and I believe I am absolutely Princess Kaileen. But I didn't get here because I cleaned the house, which I don't at all. I don't have fancy clothes or I'm not rich. Prince Charming didn't come and save me. But I am just starting my life and so far it is happy, so I believe I will have a happily ever after. I hope some girls just dream of that, and not everything in between. 

Topic Point- I found this really interesting video where someone spoke of 5 different incidents in schools disapproved of kids not following the gender roles. I was going to post it, but it had a lot of swears. But has anyone ever witness or heard about issues where kids got in trouble for not following the "rules"?