Blog Post 6

Going into Freire's description of what the banking method was, I remembered learning about the process from a previous class last semester. When I reread about the banking method, it only reemphasized how strongly I felt against it. Banking is a form of dehumanization. It allows control over the student making the student oppressed. In my honest opinion though, I feel that after having read the entire book of Pedagogy of the Oppressed earlier this year, I learned that both the oppressed and the oppressors are oppressed and neither one can be liberated until there is a mutual understanding between each of the parties. Thus speaking, unless the oppressors (in this case the teachers) are aware that they are oppressing the students through the banking method (students are the oppressed) nothing can be addressed to fix the communication between the two. It is crucial and the job of the oppressed to aware the oppressors that what they are doing is wrong. Unless the students let teachers or someone of higher power, that the method is not a beneficial method, nothing can be fixed and handled. The more society is aware of how the banking method dehumanizes students, the less that banking will be allowed to be used in school systems. It is all about control and those who have the power to do something, have the responsibility to do something.

Blog Post 5

Homophobia is a term that describes an unsettled/uncomfortable feeling, that a heterosexual has against a homosexual or the presence of a homosexual. All throughout my years of grade school, I never came across an individual who was homosexual. However in high school I became close friends with two gay gentleman who were afraid to come out about the true identity of their sexuality was gay and Alex had done a very good job hiding it. Jake was more open and acted more feminine which led to him being bullied a lot in high school. And at a private school, it was sad to see people bully this kid. Jake always had high expectations for himself and for a kid as young as he was, he knew what his future had in store for him and it was enough to have him get through high school with all of the jerks surrounding him. I always stuck up for him and even to this day continue too. Alex however is one of my best friends from home to this day. Alex always hid his sexuality but he unlike Jake was popular and had a lot of friends. I always stayed away from people in high school and only hung out with Alex and a few other of our best friends. Alex eventually came out on twitter that he was gay and no one made fun of him. Alex is the least flamboyant person and homosexual guy I have ever met and I respect him for it. Alex never showed any public display of affection in society unless it was to our friends in our friend group giving one of us a hug. He always kept it private which is why no one knew he was gay for a while. 

In my honest opinion, I feel as if everyone needs to accept everyone that is gay. There will always be gay people in this world, or people who live their lives differently than the typical civilian. I always was a bystander in bullying situations, and tried to stick up as much as I can. Teachers don't realize the psychological damage the cruel words of kids can do to someone. Gay people have feelings too, and kids in high school and grade school treat them like dogs from my own experience. I feel that it is a serious lack of maturity. The words queer, fag, flamer are all negative discriminations against homosexual people even if it is said in a joking manner. Teachers need to find disciplinary standards to hold upon, in situations where kids bully homosexual students. 

Children who are girls, are raised to play with baby dolls and children who are boys are raised to play and watch sports. Well what if a girl wants to play and watch football and a boy wants to watch a Disney princess movie? Families all over America raise their children in their own eye and don't always realize the importance of children expressing their own self. If a parent let their son go to school in a dress or allow their daughter to wear guy clothes to school, the parent would go against the sociological norms of society. In the eyes of some and most individuals it is considered unethical to do so. The end result is when the child gets teased and made fun of for going outside the box. I believe that Rofes article is written for the acceptance of all individuals. The more bullying and gay harassment ends, the more patience it brings amongst the acceptance of homosexuality.

Within the years to come, I plan on attending a school to teach that ensures discipline to all students. Regardless of age, if a student in my classroom makes fun of a gay student or makes a joke, they will be punished. Bullying is not only morally wrong, but psychologically damaging and I refuse to tolerate it. 

Blog Post 3

The Quote "We do no really see with our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs" could be defined in a few ways one being that understanding one another comes from understanding where they came from. In schools today, there are some students who are from different countries or places whose language and culture differ than the average American citizen and child. American schools teach languages such as Spanish, French, Chinese and others. For students whose primary language isn't taught in schools, it becomes more difficult for them to learn. The most important thing a teacher can do in a situation with a student who does not speak English, is to nurture them and help them learn English without deculturizing the student and telling the student their language is wrong. Helping the student learn another language on top of their primary language is not an easy task but telling the student that their language is wrong only puts the student in an unsettled state. If a teacher were to do this the student feels as if his/her own life was wrong and that everything growing up was wrong. The end of the quote that says "through our beliefs" means that true seeing is through culture and where we all came from. Everyone has a different story and has a different family with different beliefs. It is what makes everyone unique. Taking a part of someone away to be ordinary isn't ethical and teachers today need to continue to help students without taking away parts of where they came from. Through understanding and patience this can be achieved but without either of these helping the students can't be done.

Field Blog 1 at Boulevard Elementary School

Within the past three weeks, I have learned in class about the importance of teachers helping and being patient with the students in class. Labeling students in schools only lower the self-esteem of students in the classrooms that are trying their very best to learn. I also learned that the best ways to learn in a classroom are to find creative ways to learn and retain information. On my visit to Boulevard Elementary School, I saw a lot of things that I learned about in class such as watching how the teachers teach their class, the learning environment they worked in and I saw how patient and creative the teachers were with the students.

The first classroom I observed was a kindergarden classroom being taught by Mrs. Reynolds. The first thing I noticed when I went in the classrooms were that there were no walls. Instead of walls I noticed how cabinets and shelves were divided to separate the rooms. When Mrs. Reynolds was trying to teach it got a little noisy from the students next door and their class trying to learn. I noticed how the teacher found fun and creative ways to teach her students. When the students were learning the A, B, C's they were eager to continue learning. The students were also learning parts of the body and about animals in the animal book they were reading. The students were all well behaved and all eager to learn which made the class fun to observe. It gave me ideas to help teach my future kindergarten class one day.

The second room I observed it was Mrs. Bilini's fourth grade class. I noticed how Mrs. Bilini was super strict in the classroom with the students. She was explaining to the students about a group project regarding American Indians and I noticed how she went into discussing to us a little about Study Island which is an online learning program ran by the district. It was interesting to see the technological ways that the student learned from. I noticed that Mrs. Bilini was stern with explaining the projects and directions to the kids and that she was strict with questions only being answered after she gave directions. The class was very well behaved and Mrs. Bilini was doing a very good job teaching.

When I observed Mrs. Curry's third grade class I noticed how her room was filled up with educational posters and different signs for helping the student learn better. When I walked in the room I immediately got the vibe of learning and that it was noticeable that the teacher cared about the student and teaching all of them. I liked how she split the kids into groups so they could get help from each other and also get help from her too. It also was a room with walls and it was easy for the students to sit in the room and discuss the Ruby Bridges book that they were reading. Each student worked hard with one another in groups and Mrs. Curry did a good job communicating with the students in the groups.

In Mrs. Preston's second grade classroom I saw that she was stern with the students as well. I liked how she had a "Wall of Fame" where the kids would place clothes pins where they're behavior was. I noticed how Mrs. Preston gave no warnings to the students when they were not behaving. In my opinion I liked this disciplinary style because it automatically instills on the kids that the classroom isn't a place of learning not fooling around. I also liked how she read a story to the students and then had them all discuss it with one another. 

Overall from my visits to Boulevard Elementary School was both an interesting and enlightening experience. It opened my mind to think of new and creative ways to learn in a classroom and how to come up with those ideas of learning techniques. It made me happy to notice that the more happy the teacher was to teach a class, the more eager the student was to learn. In all of the classrooms I went to I never saw the teacher shut down the student I saw them lead the student to the right answer. The teachers were all patient and creative with their styles of teaching. It was an over all good visit.