Nakkula Chapter 7

This chapter was a good read but was another example of how Nakkula puts things into single categories without really integrating other factors into the mix.  The topic at hand for this week was racial identity.  I was engaged from the first line which states, "despite our best efforts to the contrary, the ways in which others see us profoundly influence how we see ourselves"(pg. 119) I know from a personal perspective this is true and not just based on physical characteristics but also gender, the way people dress, and perhaps the overall behaviors in social situations. I do not believe this is the fault of any individual.  It is something that has been adopted through society through the means of stereotypes. I do believe that some people may not be as affected by others' opinions but many do especially adolescents that are forming their own ideas and perspectives of who they are.  Every student has a story and a background so how can we as teachers take this student for who they are and make the lessons relevant and meaningful for each one.  I like how Nakkula asks us as teachers to take our identities into account and not just the students.  Our own identities are going to be a factor in our classrooms and we must give thought to how and why. Every situation in school warrants a certain kind of behavior.  With that being said, are we as teachers being genuine with our students?

As I read this chapter I wondered how I would open the dialogue with students about racial identity.  It was established that race does not truly exist in nature but is everywhere in our social realm. It is clearly something, in my opinion, that should be addressed in schools which for some kids is the only social situation they are in on a day to day basis.  These students understanding of their own identities and how they see others would be formed solely in schools.  I believe that naming it and talking about it is important but how? I would want my students to "keep it real" but how can we open the dialogue in a way students will respond to.  I feel like once again I have more questions than answers. 

I was in disbelief as I watched this video.  What are your thoughts?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIM7VSf5rgk

 

Nakkula Chapter 6

This chapter while realistic and spot on, was very frustrating for me.  Gender roles are everywhere in society, including schools and it has always driven me crazy.  Why do things have to be so predetermined for people?  I remember sitting in high school and watching the way my friends would perk up and act differently as soon as "the cute jocks" would come into the room.  I remember sitting there confused and dumbfounded, I suppose I never got the fascination with these types.  They would act like other people other than themselves. I would wonder where my smart and articulate friends disappeared to.  I was very shocked when my best friend (she is still my best friend) joined the cheerleading squad.  The year prior to this she would say how the cheerleaders were the "snobs" of the school.  She became one of those girls and to this day regrets the way she acted towards others.  It got her the attention of one of the popular boys whom she dated for two years in high school.  While I didn't agree with what she did, I still understood it.  I believe society, media, and other sources tell us that these are the kinds of people we should strive to become and perhaps even date.  I realize now that a part of her went "underground" in order to maintain the new persona she created for herself.

Later in the chapter alternative moratorium is described, it claims, "According to this model, the young women who emerges from adolescence has not experienced a moratorium of the type Erikson describes.  Rather, she has experienced a process of refinement- refinement of a socially acceptable way of being.  She has learned to become what others want her to be, and in that sense has lost an opportunity to become the person she herself might have imagined"(pg. 107).  This kind of moratorium is something that would happen to either gender.  There is the young man who becomes a football player because some outside factor in his life tells him that is what he should do.  There is the young woman that goes on to an ivy league school because that is what her parents or grandparents did.  There are always going to be these stories but I disagree with the last statement about how she lost an opportunity.  I think this statement is too much of a generalization.  Many youngsters in these situations go on to find themselves or perhaps even change the course of life and go on to pursue their own passions.  It doesn't have to be so final. 


Just because I love South Park...

 

 

This one intrigues yet disturbs me.....

 

 

 

 

Nakkula Chapters 4 and 5

There were points in Chapter 4 where I wondered if these stories were really happening.  For example it is written on pgs. 62 and 63, " Lorena was passed on from grade to grade because of her leadership strengths and speaking skills; she didn't realize she was in trouble academically until reaching high school." How is it possible that teachers didn't catch on to the fact that she is struggling academically until the tenth grade? I just can't see this happening and can't relate at all to its' legitimacy.  It goes on to say, " She was given passing grades in those years more because she showed promise than because she demonstrated proficiency."  Again my question is how did this happen? I have never heard of a student being promoted to a grade for showing promise.  It all seems very strange to me.  One other point is why the school deemed her ineligible for the team she was already established on and thought she would be better off in a rowing team to which she knew nothing about.  Isn't this taking away from academics too?  I get the whole flow theory but isn't it up to the student to decide what team is best for her.

 I was glad to see the section on athletics in school and when they are overemphasized, there may be little time for students to focus on other parts of their school lives such as academics.  I have heard so many middle school aged students tell me they didn't complete their assignments because they had a late practice and their parents said it was okay to skip them.  I have told them to try and balance it all, but their responses are often along the lines that they will be in professional sports one day and it isn't necessary to do school work.  After I picked my jaw up off the floor from these responses it occurred to me just how unrealistic they sounded and all they are missing out on. 

I am glad Nakkula asked questions about how we are preparing our students for the workplace and to be members of a global world.  I do not believe enough emphasis is placed on these notions and wish they were early on.  As technology becomes more and more visible in our schools, are we using it to reach a higher, global place in learning? I see technology being used to assess students during standardized testing and other individual lessons during the day but how are we connecting this to a world the learners will be spending the majority of their lives in.  I think we as educators can do a lot better than this. 

I appreciated the Lorena and Steve story because there were times that I had students that I believed would work well together but they had different ideas.  Mr. Harrison was able to turn it around in a sense and make it successful for both students through different assignments leading up to the actual project. Admittedly, during my first couple of years teaching I just switched partners but this story has given me a couple tools that would allow me to see what may come if the students stick it out with one another.