Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

The beginning of this article was difficult to understand and I found myself going over paragraphs several times. Once I got through the first couple of pages the reading was much more enjoyable. I enjoyed the story telling portions of the article and the teacher, Shayne Robbin's that he spoke of sounds like a wonderful role model for all teachers. I was awed by her ability to include children of all levels in the same lesson plan and not only include them but have everyone learning in their own special way.

1)He had to be up, dancing in the middle of the circle, acting it out. He just couldn't resist. He could not help himself. It got all the kids going. We were all Wild Things and it just came alive! Here Shayne is telling a story about the first time she read Where The Wild Things Are in class and the reaction that Issac, a student with Downes Syndrom, had. I loved her ability to allow him to express himself the way that he needed to she is a true example of letting children learn in the least restrictive environment possible. I feel like many teachers would see this as behavioral disorder and would stiffle Issacs way of learning to conform to the "norm' .
2)Vygotsky found that the culture of segregation surrounding people with disabilities actually teaches underdevelopment of thinking through the isolation of children from socially valued opportunities. This is such a vallid point. Children with disabilities who are segregated are void of the experiences that most other children are priveleged to. Everyone's experience is enriched when these children are included. How do we teach children humanity when we dont treat all equally and give everyone the same opportunities?
3)She took Lee's idiosyncratic performance mannerisms and experiences seriously, recognizing in Lee a thinking, affective, valuable individual whose ability to connect with his community could occur only after he was afforded membership. This is such a key point stated in the article, how do these children connect with the rest of society if we shut them away from society. They are people first and need to be treated as people not as disabilities.

I just want to add that I feel teachers like the ones in the stories told here need to be commended on tunning in to the needs of All their students and embracing the challenge to give these children the most enriching and meaningful experiences. I am sure it's not easy coming up with new fresh ideas on how to make lessons work for everyone's needs but these teachers obviously put time, and caring effort into giving these children what they desreve.

One More River To Cross

This was a easy to read in places but I feel it got very repetetive. The author did get his point across that the Brown V. Board of Education case was not a complete victory. When he points out the wording used in the case such as " segregation generates a feeling of inferiority" or " a sense of inferiority". The courts talked about it as if it didn't really exist but like it was how the blacks saw it. Charles Lawrence reminds me of Johnson because Johnson says that you have to not be afraid to say the words. The inferiority was not just a "feeling" it was a harsh and evident reality in every aspect of the black persons life.

1) " Once blacks are labeled inferior, they are denied access to equal societal opportunities". The resulting inadequate educational preparation, poverty of cultural backrounds, and lack of experience constitute real limitations on their ability to contribute to society, and the prophecy of their inferiority is fulfilled. The label of being inferior fuels the opression of the black people. Desegragation of the schools was only one small step to breaking the stigma attached to being black.
2) The same people who controlled the schools controlled the jobs for which the school was preparing its students. CULTURE OF POWER.
3) The injury inflicted by a segregated school system is inseperable from the injury inflicted by segregated housing or public accomodations because each reinforces the other and because the removal of one will not heal the injury without the removal of the others. This points out how the black people could lok at the Brown V. Board of Education case was like a small step toward equality or somewhat of a bandaid on a much larger problem. You cant just fix a portion of the problem and expect the wounds that it left behind to disappear. Today more than ever we as a nation can see that steps like this one have lead us to a much better place of equality than ever before, we have a President who represents the black community for the first time ever. The issue of being under represented in positions of power has forever been an issue for the black people and this new representation we have in our nation is a great step forward for all people not just black people.

Why Schools Need To Take Another Route

Tracking: by Jeannie Oakes

This article was short and to the point. I will say that I have some mixed emotions on this subject, although after reading the article I can see why the author feels strongly against tracking. As a parent I have a tendency to see it as a positive teaching strategy for my own children because when they are grouped by ability they are given the oppurtunity to work without the interuptions that the the author talked about in the low level classes. I personally know several public school teachers and a couple of them have said that in a 50 minute class periode their actual instruction time achieved is about 30 minutes due to interuptions. I dont think this is the best way way to serve our higher performing students. I dont feel getting rid of tracking is the answer, I feel that providing better quality and more enriching education for the lower level students is a beeter way to go. Teachers shouldnt assume that those students aren't capable of producing high quality work and therefor should raise the standards for these students. I think the more I read the article the more I flip flop between agreeing with her and opposing her views.

1)Few widespread schooling practices are as controversial as ability grouping and tracking. I picked the opening as a quote to comment on because I think people have opinions on this and can back it up with ligitimate reasons, but then you have a child of your own and sometimes the opinion that you you had changes because you see the actual effects on learning from the inability to make heterogeneous classrooms work at their highest potential for ALL students.
2)The achievment gaps we observe among students of differing abilities are exacerbated by the failure of classrooms to provide all students with the time, opportunities, and resources they need to learn. Not all children learn at the same pace or need the same resources for learning which is another reason that I dont totally oppose tracking.

3) Unless teachers have the time and the autonomy to deliberate about, develop, and experiment with fundamental changes in school organization and classroom practices, alternatives to tracking are unlikely to be intelligently concieved, enthusiastically endorsed, or successfully implemented. This is the big picture. Until we as whole in this country put education on the top of the list of priorities, we are going to continue to struggle with a system that is failing to provide our students with the most enriching, challenging , thought provoking education that they all deserve and need to be successful in their future.

Kahne and Westheimer

" In The Service of What"
Shannon Holmes
Talking points #5

This article was good in the way that it taught you the differences between service learning projects. Some of them where based on giving back to the community and helping those less fortunate, and other service learning projects approached the students with more content and had a more long term educational, political,and humanitarian purpose to be carried on far passed the actual project. I feel that any type of service learning project is good for students as a way of experiencing life in a way you may have not been able to without the opportunity.

1) The hope was that students' values and beliefs might be transformed by these experiences. This quote from the article points out the reason for involving students in these projects.

2)The hope was that by manipulating the schools curriculum, they could ultimately change the world. Here they are stating that we need to not only involve students in srvice learning projects, we need to go the extra mile and form lesson around the actual service so that they learn real life lessons that they may act uppon in their lives.

3) The students in Mr. Johnson's class who assembled " Daily Life Kits" which he then distributed to the homeless, determined the kits contents without ever talking with homeless individuals or with those who had knowledge on the subject. He experienced the joys of service, but he had few opportunities for meaningful interactions through which caring relationships and understanding might develope. This statement is saying that students gat satisfaction out of this type of project as well, but the long term learning opportunity is missed when the service learning is not followed with educating the students more about the actual project and people it includes.

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Shannon Holmes
Rethink Our Classrooms

This was an informative article that asked us to question the messages that are sent to our youth through cartoons and movies. As we get older these messages continue through advertisement. magazines and commercials. The author is stating that as a society we need to make a difference and change the views that we put out there for our our youth. Stereotypes need to be broken starting with our youngest viewers. This educator not only taught his students to recognize the injustices that the media puts out, he also taught them how to make a difference.

1) My waist didn't dip into an hour glass ; in fact, according to the novels I read my thick ankles doomed me to be cast as the peasant woman reaping hay while the heroine swept by with her handsome man in hot pursuit.
This is a feeling shared by many young girls who at a very young age are competing with the images they see in their daily images of how a heroine should look. They are always beautiful, with perfect bodies and they only care about getting their man in the end. This is definetely how most of us want to raise our daughters.

2) Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising.
Most of us would like to believe that we form our own opinions and ideas without the influence of outside sources. The exercise that the teacher did with the children was a great way to show them how, from a very young age , the media invades us with negative stereotypes.

3) Catkin wanted to publish her piece in a magazine for young women so they would begin to question the origin of the standards by wich they judge themselves.
This was a very valuable life lesson for these students. This lesson lit a fire within some of them that will now carry over into their lives and change the way they view material in the media . It will also impact their lives when they have the oppurtunity to raise their own children. Images of beautiful people surround us,and one of my favorite ads of today is from Dove, that shows women of all shapes and sizes in their underwear . This shows girls that you can be proud of yourself and feel beautiful no matter what shape or size you are. Maybe if more advertisers were willing to take a chance we could break through some of the negative ways we infest our youths minds. Media, cartoons, movies and advertisres need to be more responsible and realize that they are indeed playing a part in shaping our youth.

Gayness,Multicultural Education, and Community

Post #3

Shannon Holmes

by: Sellers, Maxine, and Lois Weis

Beyond Black and White



The authors argues that in our educational system, sexual orientation has been erased from text completely as if it doesnt exist. Schools in general do not adress the issue of gayness as a form of multi-culturalism. The authors think it should be part of our curriculum, such as learning about other races or cultures.



1) Techniques of normalizing and marginalization in education;

a) The erasure of gayness in the curriculum

b) The "closeting" and " witch hunting" of gay teachers.

c) Verbal and physical intimidation of gay teachers and students.

This shows three ways that gayness is not accepted in our educational system.



2)Normalizing text ( covering only those that fit into the norm in society) systematically excludes and neglects the culture of those outside the norm for the purpose of ratifying or legitimating the dominant culture as the only significant culture worth studying.



Text books in our education system do not adress the topic of gayness even if for example a famous writer or scientist is gay. That part of his story would simply be left out and never mentioned.



3) The only place that homosexuality is mentioned is in health text, where it is associated with disease. Stating that " the first group in the U.S. diagnosed with A.I.D.S were male homosexuals.

This shows that the only time we are taught anything about the gay community it is a negative view that is presented.



I found this article tough to read at times and rather long. What i got out of it was that educators should be including gayness in their education along with the lessons given on topics like multi-culturalism.

One of my favorite paragraphs of this article was this one: " In the very least educators should involve young people in a discussion of gay identity within the context of a discussion of human rights in a democratic community and it may extend to a discussion of caring for others"

talking points # 2 ARIA

Shannon Holmes
Aria by Richard Rodriguez

The authors argument states that the most important part of a ESL student is to learn the language that is spoken by the culture of power. He feels that it is more important to gain public individuality than it is to mantain private individuality.

1)" But the special feeling of closeness at home was diminished by then." I felt sorry for the author in this part of the article because it was like his family was being torn a bit by a language. They depended on one another for comfort when they were home and could speak their native language, but once the children became better and more proficient at the English language they began to lose those feelings of family unity. They were becoming part of the majority while their parents were remaining part of the minority. I think this sentence in the article was important because it shows us as readers that in order for the author to gain his new position in our English speaking world, he had to sacrifice something very special.

2) " Fortunately, my teachers were unsentimental about their responsibility". Here he is talking about the teachers knowing it was their job to teach this child the language spoken by the " culture of power". This definetely reminds me of Delpit, these teachers may have respected and valued Richards culture but they knew it was their job to teach him the language that would propell him through the world he was now a part of.

3) " In an instant, they agreed to give up the language that had revealed and accentuated our family's closeness". This sentence means that Richards parents were willing to do anything for their children. This is another part of the article that shows what people of another language have to give up in order to be part of the culture of power.


I found this article easy to read. I however did not enjoy reading Teaching Multilingual Children. That article was hard to get into. The articles definetely made you think about the different approaches in teaching multicultural children by giving two opposing views.
Like all educations there is no one way to teach everyone. What may work for one student may not work for another. It seems to me that it was more important for Richard to be comfortable in the English speaking world he was living in than to remain in his in his private Spanish speaking world.
I think also that teachers of multicultural children have an incredible responsibility to give the children they teach the main key to the world we live in , how successful can you become without the skills of the English language?