Journal entry 7

Journal 7

The chapter about revolutions makes me think about the resources that bilingual teachers have. The chapter states that “poor people did much of the fighting and suffering” but they were not given the rights they expected or the things that they were promised. This makes me think of how bilingual teachers have more tasks to do, such as translating stories or other work for students. Bilingual teachers fight every single day to help their struggling students, students who barely arrived to the US, and on top of that they are worried about not having enough resources to help those students. It is sad to see that bilingual teachers have more work to do, they are not given the resources they need, and they are still accountable for their student’s progress. In the story, the poor people fought to help win the war, and the teachers are fighting for their students, but yet they are not being helped. The poor people and bilingual teachers are in charge of doing the heavy work, work longer hours, and their efforts are still not enough to accomplish the positive change they want. The poor people were offered military rewards and they hoped to increase in rank but they never accomplished that. Just as these people who fought in the wars put all their effort and time, bilingual teachers are also spending more time to help bilingual students. Poor people never got what they were promised while the bilingual teachers effort is also being overlooked. It is disappointing to see that the people who are willing to fight for the benefit of others are being overlooked as if their efforts were worth nothing.

Journal entry 6

Journal entry 6

After reading a young people’s history of the United States, I feel like I have lived a lie all of my life. This has made me think that people are basically shaping our minds the way they please. People who write our history books are being benefited while the students learn misleading information.  This makes me think of my future students and me as a teacher.  Elementary students usually learn information the same way as I did. We all believe and learned that Christopher Columbus was the first to sight land while it was actually Rodrigo. Some people believed while some still believe that Christopher was a very pacific person and he is almost thought of as a hero. Students learn all of this misinformation but eventually they learn the truth. This makes we wonder whether my future students will come to believe that it’s fine to lie. If the people who write our books are being allowed to tell us lies, will they think its ok for us to tell lies too? If the government allows these types of history books in our schools, are they supporting the spread of these lies?  It is unbelievable to think that we trust our schools and the people behind our education, and they disappoint us by basically forcing teachers to lie to their students. We are the source of misinformation and through them; the lies continue to be part of our history. I find this so immoral because students should go to school to learn, and by learning I mean learning the truth. The lies in history textbooks should come to an end.

Journal entry 5

 Journal entry 5

 The podcast on history and culture made me reflect on the importance of names. I had never thought about the importance of knowing and properly saying someone’s name. This reminds me to an experience I had in high school. Teachers weren’t able to differentiate my sister and I apart. We are twins and have the same first name, and teachers called us  “G” and “F” or “Maria 1” and “Maria 2”.  When teachers called me this way, I initially had a negative response to it.  At a certain point in life I got frustrated and mad because other classmates began calling me just like the teacher did. People continued to call me “G” or “Maria 2” for a log time, which ended up being normal for me. I no longer got upset about teachers and classmates calling me different names. Now I have come to realize that some people may not understand or be conscious that nicknames or mispronunciation of names can harm others. This situation negatively impacted me for a short time, but there are other students that may be scarred for life. I will strive to be a teacher who asks how to properly pronounce a name, instead of just giving up as if the name of a student did not matter. I have to respect who they are and part of who they are is their name.  Maybe mispronouncing a name is not exactly the same thing as nicknaming a twin because they can’t differentiate us apart, but this is also affecting our identity.

Since we had the same name and we are sisters, people treated us as if we were the same person. If they mistakenly called me by my sister’s name, they thought it was funny and would say, “it’s the same thing”.  Each person is unique and we don’t only have to be aware of respecting him or her, their culture, and their ideas but also their name.

Teaching what really happened

After reading “teaching what really happened “one thing that caught my attention was that students spend more time with textbooks in history class. The author also mentioned that many teachers rely on the textbooks to teach (Lowen, 2009). I agree that in history class students spend a lot of time using textbooks because this is how I learned history. I spent an hour listening to the teacher lecture information from the book, we looked at the pictures in the book, and we also read the book as a class. This made me think about the reason why teachers rely so much on textbooks. I believe that teachers rely so much on textbooks because they are not given many resources. Textbooks are usually given to teachers as a main source to help them deliver their lessons. I also believe that history is a really complicated subject since it involves wars and other serious events. This may be a reason why teachers rely so much on textbooks. When schools or districts assign certain textbooks everyone tends to believe that they are appropriate and that they are portraying the material the correct way. If teachers were to rely less on textbooks and they were to use other materials, I believe that it would be harder. Teachers would have to be more aware of what is appropriate and what is not. They would be more concerned with how they describe certain events, what they should explain and what they should omit. This makes me wonder whether I will be like other teachers who rely so much on textbooks to teach history. Some districts do not have a lot of resources therefore I fear that my students will learn from textbooks that continue to have misconceptions. I also fear that they will never learn the truth about historical events.

A brief history of lawns

After reading a brief history of lawns I noticed how lawns were a symbol of wealth and power (Harari, 2017). This reminded me of an article that I read called the opportunity myth. The opportunity myth focuses on how students in wealthier districts receive more grade appropriate assignments, they have stronger engagement and instruction. Back then, the lawn was a symbol of power and wealth and I believe today, the type of education that students receive symbolizes their wealth and power. Students who receive more grade appropriate assignments throughout the year are more likely to achieve their goals and to perform better. Students who are given these fundamental resources are earning good grades but they are also being prepared for the outside world. It was mentioned that students who do not get these fundamental resources are usually taking college remedial courses, and are not fully prepared (TNTP, 2018). The students who were not provided the fundamental resources often earned high grades but the assignments never challenged them therefore they never got the opportunity to prepare for the outside world. This is why I believe that the type of education that we receive symbolizes our wealth. In this case, it does not symbolize monetary wealth but wealth in knowledge. Those who are receiving appropriate resources are developing their thoughts, they are being challenged, and they are better prepared for college and their future work. The lawn was also a symbol of power just like our education is also a symbol of our power. It was mentioned that those students who were challenged in high school tend to be the ones who are more prepared for the workforce (TNTP, 2018). This means that if we received a quality education we are more likely to meet our goals. Those who meet their goals are thought as higher educated and successful people, these people are given a status in society. This shows that the type of education that we receive also symbolizes how much power we have in society.

Martin Luther King

After reading the article, one quote caught my attention. Martin Luther King said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death (King, 1967).” This reminded me of a current situation happening with the president of the United States. President Trump has requested to make cuts in programs that would benefit many people. He has suggested making cuts to after school programs and summer programs. Instead of trying to help, his decisions are negatively impacting a lot of people. This makes me think of my future students. People are more worried about the money for military defense instead of prioritizing education. Many people still hold students accountable for the gap we have in education, but the government never stops to think about who and what is keeping the students from achieving their goals. Social uplift programs should be a priority; this is what truly matters and what helps make a difference in the life of many people. It is unfair to keep holding students accountable for things that are out of their control. If they are not given the resources they need, it is not their fault. We should be more focused on the well being of students who can change the future of the country, who can make an impact in it. There should be more investment on them and their future. There is no current war and I don’t think it’s extremely necessary to increase the budget of military defense. This money should go towards something that has more promising results. Education should be the priority, but it’s sad to see that president Trump is looking after what he believes and what he wants not after what the future generations need. It is impossible to improve our nation if we keep on doing nothing to fix the current issues.

Black ants and buddhists

Chapter one of Black ants and Buddhists is about a person who began her undergraduate education at thirty-four years old. During one of her classes she was asked to write a response, and she wrote about one of her experiences as an organizer in New Jersey. She wasn’t sure that her experience was a perfect response. Her response made her teacher believe that she had read the pedagogy of the oppressed because her experience was basically problem-posing education. She later became a teacher and decided to teach critically. She did not want to treat students as the receptors because she believed that she could learn from them and they could learn from her.

Chapter one is very important because it introduces the idea that students can learn from the teacher but the students can also provide ideas (Cowhey, 2006). This also emphasized the idea that students should also be given the opportunity to converse with the teacher and to voice their opinions because this is a way of gaining knowledge. This was really eye opening because I’ve had professors who have refused to accept the students’ ideas, simply because they are the teachers, and they say that they are more knowledgeable. This made me realize that even if we are the teachers, we have to listen to our students’ ideas because they have many things to contribute. I believe teachers should validate or listen to the students’ ideas because students are more encouraged to learn when they are actively participating.

            I really liked chapter one of  Black ands and Buddhists because this has changed my perspective on how I will teach in my classroom. In my future classroom, I will give my students the opportunity to express their thoughts. I will allow my students to express their ideas because this is a way in which I can learn from my student’s perspectives. Allowing them to voice their opinions will benefit my students and me as a teacher. I will also encourage my students to voice their opinions even if they might not have the same opinions as their peer’s. I want to create a respectful and caring community in my classroom. I will let my students know that even if I am the teacher, they can ask me questions, they don’t necessarily have to validate everything I say because I am the teacher. I want them to understand that we can learn from each other and that learning requires the students and the teacher’s input.