PBS Video - Episode 3

Episode 3 of the PBS Series "Story of School" was called Equality. It was based on the years between 1950-1980. During this time, schools in America were saying that this was the generation of students that would all graduate from high school and go onto college. Or at least all the white students would go to college. Schools were still being separated into black schools and white schools. Some kids were actually forced to walk past other schools that were closer to their house to get to their own school, because they weren't allowed to go to the ones that were closer. One part of this video that kind of surprised me was that the black teachers were actually more qualified to teach then the white teachers. Most of the black teachers had their masters degree, and the only job that they could find to use that degree was to teach in the black schools. That's why it was really sad when they finally decided to ban segregation in schools because all the black teachers and administrators lost their jobs. Segregation wouldn't have even started if it wasn't for President Lyndon Johnson. He tricked the schools into allowing different races of students to come to their school. He said that schools would lose all of their federal funding if they didn't obey the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but if they did obey it then they would receive even more federal funding. It was a smart move on his part, but it would still take awhile for students to get used to going to the same school.

Even after this, there were still problems in public schools. Women were discriminated from sports, higher level classes, and from a college education. One woman shared her story about wanting to join the boys basketball team because her school didn't have a girls basketball team, and she was told that she would have to shower with the boys if she made the team. It was ridiculous how women were treated during this time. I couldn't imagine going to school then and trying to take advanced math classes. I would probably be told to take home economics classes instead because that's what girls did back then. I'm glad that enough women stood up for themselves to get Title IV in the Higher Education Act of 1965 passed which banned women from being discriminated upon. It was also extended to students with disabilities. Most students with any mental disability weren't even sent to school, and if any students were in a wheelchair for a physical disability they weren't allowed in school because there were no ramps for them to get into the building. But because of these laws schools had to provide resources for these students, and the public schools in America were starting to improve.

TWYH - pg. 62-103

Abstract:
This section of Teach with Your Heart starts out with Erin's class going to see Spielberg. She tricked them into writing letters to him about their own personal journeys in life. She was very surprised when her students got into the assignment and wrote amazing letters. Even the students who rarely turned in assignments wrote letters to Spielberg. The field trip to Universal Studios went well and Erin's students had a blast. But by this time in the book it was the end of the school year, and she had to say goodbye to her students. They would be seniors next year, and there was no way that the English Department would allow Erin to teach seniors. It seemed tough for everyone, but there was nothing that could be done. Erin continued to see some of her students over the summer, and in the fall she was assigned a brand new bunch of freshmen. This group was more difficult for Erin then her past students, but at least she had their support, especially Manny and Sharaud, in helping her connect with them. Erin tried to do sort of the same thing with her new class as with her old class. She was able to get funds to take them on a field trip, but she wanted her students to earn it. She wanted them to write essays about a person who's overcome adversity. All of her students completed the assignment, and all of them wanted to go on the field trip except Maria - she never passed in her permission slip. At the end of this section in the book, another school year has gone by but Erin has been asked if she wanted to teach sophomores instead of freshmen next year. And all of her current students requested to be in her class.

Reflection:
I felt really bad for Erin during this section of the book. She had been so successful with her first class of students and couldn't continue with them to their senior year. If that's not hard enough, she was given a brand new class of freshmen who were very hard to connect to. I knew Erin wouldn't give up on these students, but it definitely helped her a lot to have some of her past students there giving her advice on ways to connect with her students. I did recognize this new group of students as the students she had in the movie Freedom Writers. I also knew from the movie that this she was allowed to teach this group of students next year as well, which would be their sophomore year. Erin must have been so relieved that all of her students wanted her to be their teacher next year, and that she had a whole other year to help make a difference in their lives. My favorite part of this section in the book is when Manny is accepted to go to the University of California in Berkeley. Erin must have felt so good that she helped one of her students get into a great college. Even though she had the problem with Manny's mother, I'm sure it was worth it to get yelled at because it gave him a chance to get a great education.

PBS Video - Episode 2

Episode 2 talks about the American school system from the years between 1900-1950. During this time, nearly three million immigrant children came to America. There's no wonder that there were problems in education, because schools weren't prepared to take on so many new students at one time. A big part of why families immigrated to the United States was to give their children a good education, and children were eager to learn. A major problem was that classrooms were too crowded and there weren't enough materials for everyone. This was when they invented the Gary Schools, where the motto was "Work, study, play." When I first heard that they actually made students do physical labor in order to get their education I was shocked. I couldn't believe that students had to cook lunch for other students, clean the school, and do all these other things because the school didn't want to spend the money to hire other people. But then the video showed the students happy! They were smiling, laughing, and running around because they were happy to at least be in school. Even though they weren't getting a full education because they only were in class half they time, they didn't care because at least they were in school. There were some good things about these new schools though. The Gary Schools separated students by age groups where previously they were just all in one classroom. They taught to the different languages that the children spoke. They also taught children about hygiene and manners, even if their "bath" was to go swimming in the pool. I feel like the only bad thing about these schools was that they forced children to work. Other then that, I felt like they had a good thing going and at least the children were having fun and learning.

But then it just went all down hill. I'm not sure who but someone decided that they needed a way of deciding what kids belong in what classes. And instead of taking the time to get to know the children and learning about what subjects they like and what areas they excel in, they just decided to give all children the same test - an IQ test. And before you know it, they start testing every single child no matter how old they are, or what language they spoke. Children were given tests in English, when they couldn't even read English! It was absurd and I can't believe it went on for so long. IQ tests were culturally bias so all the children who were from a different culture were being put into shop classes or home economic classes so they could be prepared for the blue collar job they'd get. But even the kids who did good on the tests, it just meant that they understood patterns, synonyms, antonyms, and analogies - it didn't mean that they were smarter then the other kids. It was no wonder that so many students dropped out before they graduated! I would have. If children are told again and again that they're stupid and are only ever going to have a blue collar job, then why would they stay? I feel bad for the people who went to school during this time period, but obviously the education system hasn't learned from it's mistakes or there wouldn't be tracking today.

Article - Generations

Abstract:
This article is about understanding the educational environment through the generations that are involved in it. The three generations that are talked about the most are the Boom Generation (born 1943-1960), Generation X (born 1961-1981), and the Millennial Generation (born since 1982). The boomer generation went through school during a time of strong community and civic confidence and when teaching was a strong social status. They were and are proud of their education, and therefore have dominated America’s K-12 classrooms for the past two generations. Generation Xers were raised when parents put the needs of themselves in front of the needs of their children. Because of this, this generation didn’t do as well in school. They spent less time on homework and didn’t get as high of grades. Generation Xers thrived on some skills though – they are skilled at negotiation and interacting with others. Most of Generation X are defenders of the No Child Left Behind laws. Millennials are kind of a mix between the Boomers and Generation X because they could have either generation as parents. Millennials feel special, they have been told from the time they were young that they were vital to their school, community, and nation. They are often sheltered, not trusted with too much responsibility by their parents, and conventional, they don’t experiment with as much drugs as the previous generation. Millennials are also team oriented and excited about what the future has to offer.

Reflection:
Knowing about the different generations is definitely going to come in handy when I become a teacher. I’m going to have to deal with a lot of parents, mainly from the Generation X generation. Knowing how they feel about their child’s education is crucial - teachers shouldn’t take things personal from this generation, it was just the way they were raised. Generation X supports school accountability, parental choice, charter schools, and home-schooling. They don’t trust public school because they had a bad experience with their own education. Generation X feel like they were cheated out of their own education, and don’t want the same thing to happen to their children. They want to be in charge and know everything that’s going on with their child’s education. But they also want to make sure their child is going to be safe at school. They keep track on all the bad things that kids are doing these days, and want to make sure that their child stays away from those things. Generation X parents are definitely going to be a challenge, but it is important that you get their support on your side.

TWYH - pg. 36-61

Abstract:
This section of the book starts out with Erin wanting to take her students to go see Schindler's List because there was recent controversy about the movie. In a nearby town, some students laughed at a part of the movie when there were Holocaust survivors in the audience. Erin had a discussion about it with her students and when she saw it was playing in her town, she thought she'd bring her students to go see it. She finally got the money to bring them, but the trip wasn't how Erin had pictured it. People at the theater and restaurant they went to after the movie stared at her students, some clutched their purses and jewelry, and some students got their pockets checked after buying candy. Because of how Erin's students were treated, an article in the local paper was written and Erin got death threats from people in the community. This section of TWYH ends with Erin getting to meet Steven Spielburg because he wants to make a movie about her and her students.

Reflection:
I could not imagine going through what Erin went through in this section of the book. I felt so bad for her, she just wanted her students to be able to watch a movie that was about the Holocaust, a lesson that they just went over in class. The movie also related to recent news, so it definitely made sense that she would want her students to see it. I would have done the same thing if I were her. Erin had good intentions, but it backfired on her. Fortunately, her students were used to being stared at and treated differently, so there weren't any major problems. I could feel Erin's pain because she brought her students into her community. It was her idea. But her students had enough respect for her that they behaved and didn't say anything back, when they had the right to be upset.

One of my favorite parts was when Erin's students forced her to tell them what kind of threats she received at home. I thought it was cute how they wanted to know exactly what was said and how they wanted to stand up for her. I could tell when I was reading it that it made Erin feel good about her class and that she made the right decision about becoming a teacher. All teachers have the moments where they think "Why did I choose this profession?" and all teachers have the moments when they know exactly why they decided to become a teacher.

TWYH - pg. 1-35

Abstract:
Teach With Your Heart by Erin Gruwell starts out by Erin explaining her first day of teaching at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. I automatically noticed a difference between this book and the movie "Freedom Writers" because in the movie she was a regular teacher and in real life she was only a student teacher. It makes a lot more sense that she had to work two other jobs while teaching because student teachers don't get paid, they actually have to pay to student teach. It was great reading what thoughts were going through her head while she was trying to find ways to relate to her students. She tried the sports approach and that gained her a little bit of respect but the thing that helped Erin the most with her students was bringing them on a field trip when usually students like hers weren't allowed to go on field trips because of behavioral reasons. Erin had faith in her students, and she was probably the only teacher of those students to do that, so they gave her their respect and full attention.

Reflection:
One of my favorite parts of these 35 pages is when Erin talks about all the things that didn't work with her students. She said that her students refused to read anything she assigned so she'd read it to them in class. So for 55 minutes or however long the class period was, her students would just sit there and listen to her read, or pretend to listen because I don't even think I could listen to someone read for that long. Or Erin would try to make them write an essay or story all period long. It's nice to know that even if you aren't a perfect teacher at the beginning of the school year, there is always a chance to turn things around and that you haven't lost your students' interest for good. You just have to keep trying different things until you find what works with that class. And what works with one class probably won't work with another, so you have to do the whole process over again every year. Teaching is about putting in the effort to find what works in order for your students to succeed.

Article - Educating for Diversity

Abstract:
This article asks important questions like “Do students of the same culture have common learning style patterns and characteristics?” and “If they do, how would we know it?” These questions can be very controversial because even though students maybe from the same background, it does not mean that they have the same learning styles as each other or the same as other students from the same culture. Every student should be looked at as an individual. The article does generalize some typical learning patterns from some cultures. For example, Mexican Americans are comfortable with cognitive generalities and patterns, while African Americans value oral experience, physical activity, and loyalty in interpersonal relationships. Native Americans develop acute visual discrimination and skills in the use of imagery, perceive globally, and have reflective thinking patterns. Mainstream white Americans value independence, analytic thinking, objectivity, and accuracy.


Reflection:
I believe that it is very important for teachers to know about the culture of all of their students, but I feel like it is more important for teachers to treat every single student like an individual and walk into the classroom knowing that no two students are going to learn the same way. The article says “In both observational and data-based research on cultures, one consistent finding is that, within a group, the variations among individuals are as great as their commonalities.” This means that with students from the same background, the teacher is going to have to do just as many things the same as different. So why does culture even matter? There’s no written rule saying that two students from different cultures can’t have the same learning styles. As long as teachers understand the culture and learning styles of their students and believe that every student can learn in their own way, everyone will succeed.