Talking Points #3

I spent some time looking at the website. I read different articles to get a sense of what the website had to offer. I was able to read several articles to see if one in particular stood out to me and they all actually did. They all had something different to offer with helpful articles, advice and activities to make issues in schools more helpful for teachers. I really enjoyed how GLSEN showed all the possibilities for educators to deal with certain situations in specific ways. For example, how educators can talk about touchy topics but this website guides teachers the right way. I feel like this website taught me a lot of issues that I did not know existed in elementary schools, but sad to say it does happen & there are some teachers who do not address it especially if it is happening in their classrooms. As I was reading "Ready, Set, Respect!" It made me think about the students that I work with in my Service Learning. They are so young & it is hard to imagine that they could be bullying eachother or calling eachother names and there is not someone telling that it is not the right thing to do. This website has so many helpful tools not so much for teachers but even for students to deal with certain situations and how they can deal with these issues if they do not know who to turn to or if they need a little bit of a push to talk to someone when something is going wrong. I really did like how GLSEN offered lesson plans and special workshops  like No Name Calling Week. I feel like this particular activity would be so helpful because it is all of students working together to make a difference. I feel as if teachers took the time to recognize this website and took time to make it work in their classrooms and if administration did the same for their students, issues like the ones discussed would not be as high much so the students would understand how to deal with issues if they are faced with them or if they are experiencing it themselves.

Virginia Collier- Teaching Mutilingual Children- Reflection



In Teaching Mutilingual Children, reminded me what it was like when I went to school growing up. I was the student who spoke only Spanish at home and spoke English in school. It was such a challenge when my mother would ask me what I learned in school because she really did not understand. It was difficult when I struggled on a subject in school and my mother could not help me because she only spoke, understood and knew Spanish. I can remember in kindergarten when I was first learning to read. I was so frustrated because it was a struggle code-switching trying to communicate with my teacher because English was still a working process for me. Although Spanish was my primary language, I was able to shift from both languages when neccessary quite easily. Virginia mentions in her article that students and "code-switching by students should be accepted not penalized." (page 230) I agree with this quote because I was that student who was comfortable with both languages and Spanish was better for me. I enjoyed this article because I was able to relate and make connections because most students feel uncomfortable to speak English because it is not their strongest. I think students should be themselves and speak which ever language they desire just along as there is a time for their language and English..My teachers always motivated me to do my best and work as hard as I could. I think because of them, Spanish and English are both my strengths. I hope to be that teacher who can teach both Spanish and still teach English and hope to motivate them as my teachers did for me.

 

Quotes: McIntosh Article

Peggy McIntosh
 White Privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack.

1. "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege. So I have begun in an untutored way to ask what it is like to have white privilege. I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that I can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious."

In this quote she explains how males have male privilege but do not realize it because they are males. Since she is a white woman she does not realize what white privilige is because she was never faced with critical situations where she had to think twice about her privileges because she was born with her "knapsnack." When she describes her white privilege as an "invisible package of unearned assets" because she never had to work for it as hard as a woman of color who was not as fortunate to have a knapsack.

2. "Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the United States think that racism doesn't affect them because they are not people of color; they do not see "whiteness" as a racial identity. In addition, since race and sex are not the only advantaging systems at work, we need similarly to examine the daily experience of having age advantage, or ethnic advantage, or physical ability, or advantage related to nationality, religion, or sexual orientation."

 
McIntosh initates how racism is seen in the United States. Racism still exists today but others do not notice it because they are above others. Same goes for those who are of a different sexual orientation or physical ability because they do not notice anyone else below them. I like how she says white students in the United States, racism is not an issue for them because they only know whiteness as a form of racism.

3. "For this reason, the word "privilege" now seems to me misleading. We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned of conferred by birth or luck. Yet some of the conditions I have described here work systematically to overempower certain groups."

Peggy in this last quote describes that her view on privilege is misleading because most of us who do not have privilge think it is favored to the ones who have never experienced it on our own terms. Most of us who do not have privilege is because only the upper class or white people are only allowed to have it. In reality, some of us do not realize the difference because we do not think of ourselves as different where in this life. Everyone is equal. According to Peggy, she begs to differ where there is such a thing as white privilege and a handy knapsack.

A little about me!

Hello there! My name is Vanessa. I am a Junior at RIC. I love to talk & once I start, its hard for me to stop. I am very social and love meeting new people. I love coffee and food very much. I have a big sweet tooth for candy and sweets! I am a die-hard Red Sox fan! My nephews, Julius and Jayvien and my little sister Jazenia, are my everything. Hopefully this post gives you a sense of who I am. If you see me around campus, don't be shy to say hello! :)