"The Lost Boys"- Blog 7

              Over the past few years, I have gained a large amount of insight into the internal conflicts that have occurred and are occurring in the country of Sudan. I was very aware of the genocide of African farmers and others by the Janjaweed that occurred in the Sudanese region of Darfur, an area about the size of France. The United Nations and the famous actor, George Clooney had worked diligently to help halt the genocide and had been asking countries to pledge help and aid to the people of Darfur. Furthermore, it can be proudly said, that South Sudan is now an independent and sovereign country.  However, I was not aware of the story of “The Lost Boys”, who fled from the Sudan during the civil war between the Christians and the Muslims. I was personally very touched by the story of “The Lost Boys”, because it’s a story that exemplifies great faith, dignity, courage, and the triumph of the human spirit over tragedy. “The Lost Boys”, one thousand mile journey into the desert exemplifies their strength for survival and the hope of a new beginning. I learned from the video that many Sudanese Christians associate Islam with terrorists because of the violent and horrible acts that were committed against them. Some of the most horrible and negative experiences they have encountered were losing their entire families in the war and not knowing where they were going to go next. They had an innate fear of the unknown. Furthermore, when the State Department presented the opportunity for them to come to the United States, they faced a whole new set of challenges such as learning about a new culture, adapting to a new climate, and learning a new language.  But, perhaps, one of the most surprising and touching facts that I learned from the videos was that all of “The Lost Boys” did not have any sort of identification that represented belonging to a group or a country until they received their passports making them citizens of the United States of America. The United States of America represented a land of numerous opportunities and dreams of a better and successful life for “The Lost Boys”. If I had the opportunity to have “The Lost Boys” in my classroom, I would have ensured that they always felt a sense of belonging and safety in my classroom. Additionally, I would encourage them to talk about the beloved culture they left behind. I would encourage them to celebrate it and to pursue their dreams. I would want them, like all my students, to envision the quote once said by Carson Wienn, “I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles…To the highest of your hopes…To the windows of your opportunities…And to the most special places your heart has ever known.” Furthermore, it could be said that in a sense, we, as educators, encounter “The Lost Boys” in our classrooms every day. They may present themselves as students of poverty, homelessness, English Language Learners, children of immigrants, and etc. These are the students who like “The Lost Boys” may not have a sense of belonging or identity as special and unique individuals. As educators, we must guide them on their journeys into the wonderful world of knowledge while encouraging them to discover who they are as individuals. After all, Nelson Mendela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.

                 

Blog 6- Stories That Bind Us

        “The Story That Binds Us” by Bruce Feiler is an article that I believe should be read by all educators and families. It emphasizes and proves the importance of developing a strong, open, and unified multigenerational family unit through a vital study. It encourages families to develop and share “family narratives”, which can incorporate a family’s history, struggles, triumphs, and etc. More importantly, the study found that students who have a strong and solid “intergenerational self” do better in school and have higher self confidence. Additionally, this “intergenerational self” assists students with overcoming challenges and decreasing the effects of stress. Furthermore, Feiler (2013) states, “Mr. Collins recommended that families create a mission statement similar to the ones companies and other organizations use to identify their core values” (p. 2).

        Nevertheless, I believe it is imperative for all educators to be aware of and reflect upon the findings in this article. In my own second grade classroom, I plan to incorporate the findings in the article into various projects throughout the school year. First, I plan to send out monthly family newsletters, which will feature various ways parents can share their family history and develop their own unique “family narrative” with their children. Furthermore, I would discuss with my students who the members of an extended family are through a read aloud. Subsequently, vocabulary words such as determination, struggles, and etc. would be taught through a variety of activities. Then, I would have my students collect pictures of their family and extended family members with the ultimate goal of creating a collage. Lastly, I would have my students write a paragraph about what makes their extended or multigenerational family special and determined to them. Subsequently, twice a month, I would like to have an extended family member of each students to visit the class and share an appropriate aspect of their culture or special story as discussed with me.

Blog 5: Bedtime Stories

1.       I found both of the videos very entertaining and interesting. As a reflected upon both of the videos, I found that they both possessed important and common themes for young children to learn. The themes presented by both of the videos were to never give up, to be determined, and the importance of friendship. But, perhaps, an even more important lesson both of the videos portrayed is the need to help one another and that we are dependent upon one another no matter our differences. Furthermore, in both of the videos, there are friendships between characters that would unlikely occur in real life. Additionally, both of the videos possessed similar features. In both of the videos, animals and things defy real life through talking. The characters are portrayed as having human characteristics such as determination, fear, loyalty, and developing social relationships. They are also presented in manners that are very appealing to children through their bright colors and animation.

2.      I found the bedtime story, “The Four Friends” to be very enlightening for I had never heard of the story before. Furthermore, I would like to share this charming story about the importance of friendship and loyalty to my students. The bedtime story was particularly appealing to me because it possessed animal characters. Even though, I was not able to understand the language, I do believe I was able to grasp the concept of the beloved Russian bedtime story. In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to four main characters, a deer, a crow, a mouse, and a tortoise who are best friends that dwell and look out for one another in what has become a forest full of traps set up by human hunters.  Additionally, these four friends help other animals of the forest to escape the traps such as doves that get trapped in a net. Ultimately, the mouse rescues them and sets them free to fly. Furthermore, each of the four friends develops a plan to set each other free if they get trapped. They all work together to overcome their challenges and fear through showing dedication and loyalty to one another.

3.      Bedtime stories are an important part of almost every culture. Furthermore, these stories vary from culture to culture. In some of these bedtime stories, critical aspects of culture are taught where as others are used to teach a moral to young children. Bedtime stories are an important “literacy event” for young children because they expose them to oral language and contribute to the development of their imaginations. Additionally, bedtime stories are particularly critical to the school oriented middle class. Bedtime stories prepare children for school in a variety of manners. They prepare children for “participation in settings involving literacy”. More importantly, they promote the readiness for social development and social situations. Bedtime stories promote the development of an expected set of behaviors, which vary in different middle class cultures. Furthermore, bedtime stories also encourage parents to interact with their children and be actively involved in their learning. Research has also shown that “literacy events” like bedtime stories enhance high achievement in school and socialization. Subsequently, the children learn a variety of skills which range from listening to comprehension of the stories as well.

"Becoming American"- 4th Blog

            As an American, I sincerely believe that our country’s magnificent and unique beauty, strength, and influence come from its richness in racial and cultural diversity. And like Mr. Steven Colbert, I find it very difficult to acknowledge that this country has committed some horrible mistakes in the past. Furthermore, as I reflect upon the video, Becoming American, this belief was not always valued as a treasure or gift in the past. Immigrants who brought with them their beloved and treasured cultures in their hearts and minds faced tremendous discrimination, hatefulness and intolerance simply because they were different and unfamiliar strangers. I was particularly moved by the story of Ms. Kristi Yamiguchi, whose family immigrated to the United States from Japan. Her family endured years of discrimination on the islands of Hawaii working on sugar cane plantations, where they faced racism and anti-Japanese sentiment. However, her family had a tremendous desire to become completely American by assimilating into the culture as much as possible. Furthermore, the video, made me think about how my own ancestors might have been treated when they immigrated to the United States from England, Ireland, Germany, and Italy.  For the most part, I was able to make connections to the stories of Mr. Steven Colbert and Mrs. Meryl Streep because their ancestors and mine had immigrated to the United States from Europe. It was particularly important to me that the video emphasized that we are all inherently American, but our roots are located somewhere else.

A Class Divided

         This was my first time viewing the controversial video, A Class Divided. Furthermore, I sincerely believe this is an important and essential video for all educators to watch and reflect upon. It can be said that the video addresses issues that educators find difficult to teach to their students, especially when they may or not have the ability to understand. This is a particularly important video because it stresses the importance of character education, which is all too critical in our schools today.

          I believe that Mrs. Elliott was right to carry out this experiment because she determined this to be the most effective manner to teach her third grade students about the effects of racism and discrimination. The effects of the experiment on the children displayed how children can transition from being sweet and gentle to mean and aggressive human beings within minutes of being treated unfairly and unkindly. They developed a sense of hate for one another. However, once Mrs. Elliott asked the students whether it was fair for them to be treated differently and unkindly, they all responded with the answer no. All of the students realized that it was not nice to treat others badly or to discriminate against people who look different from them. Mrs. Elliott emphasized the importance of judging people based upon their character, not their outside appearance. She had achieved her learning objective with her students.

         When Mrs. Elliott met with her former students 14 years later, they all had realized how important her lesson was back then and even how relevant it was in their daily lives. Some mentioned teaching their own children about the critical importance of judging people based on the content of their character and not on their outside appearance. Furthermore, I feel that Mrs. Elliott’s lesson and experiment is even more relevant today with the rise of bullying in schools throughout the country. In my own classroom, I think I would carry out a similar experiment if I determined this to be the most effective strategy for teaching my students about the effects and wrongfulness of bullying, racism, and discrimination. I strongly believe all schools need to incorporate multicultural education and character education into their curriculums. I feel it is imperative so we can put an end to hurtful acts of cultural bias, racism, bullying, and discrimination. It is our duty as educators to ensure all our students are treated as equal, special, and unique individuals in our classrooms and throughout the school community. We must set a tone within our schools which exemplify justice, equality, and the importance of having good character.

Second Blog Posting- Multicultural Videos

           As educators, it is our duty and responsibility to create an environment that embraces and values all different cultures. We must be aware of all the multicultural beliefs in regards to manners, education, body language, and etc that may be present in our diverse classrooms. Furthermore, we must be culturally sensitive and responsive. I feel the videos we watched this week were very helpful. They have assisted me in becoming more culturally aware, conscious, and sensitive.
        They have made me aware of some body language actions that are considered offensive that I use almost daily with my students such as thumbs up to signal that they have done a good job. I did not realize this signal was offensive to people of  Middle Eastern culture. Furthermore, the video informed that body language is more than likely to be misunderstood across cultures. Certain body language signals can be misread as offensive or shameful. This aspect of the video was particularly important in regards to meeting with the parents or guardians of students. Additionally, educators must be aware of multicultural manners when meeting with parents or guardians also. From the video, I learned that the smile is not always recognized as a universal sign of happiness, but can be viewed as a signal for seriousness for the Korean culture. As educators, we need to be very careful and conscious of the manner in which we use gestures and body language in our classrooms. Furthermore, I feel that all schools should incorporate multicultural education into their curriculum.
         In regards to education, some cultures place a higher value on it than others. The video emphasizes the fact that the value of education coincides with a family's economic situation. For example, Latin American cultures consider family obligations before education, especially Mexican families. Financial survival comes before the importance of education. On the other hand, Asian cultures place a extremely high value on education and success. Children are punished if they do not do well. I feel this is very important to know because it makes us aware of some of the pressure our students may be encountering. Additionally, people of Asian cultures are uncomfortable about offering opinions and more than often do not question their teachers. I felt this was also very important to be aware of because we may not know whether the student needs assistance or not. Furthermore, as educators, we must be aware of the body language our students are displaying when we are talking to them. In the video, it pointed out that in some cultures, children will not return eye contact as a sign of respect. Educators must not be so quick to judge these students as disrespectful or rude.
          I feel the videos we watched this week were very informative and helpful. They have made me aware of certain cultural beliefs that I did not know previously. The information presented in the videos will assist me in becoming a more culturally sensitive and responsive educator.

Native American Video

"The Last of the Mohicans" was the video that we watched in class last week. It showed how both the Native Americans and colonists worked and lived together to achieve common goals during the French and Indian War in 1757. However, there were Native Americans who fought with the French opposition. Furthermore, the section of the movie we viewed showed how some of the Native Americans saved the colonists and some British soldiers. The Native Americans were able to achieve this because they knew the land and its native tribes.


The next video that we viewed was on how a Native American child was treated at boarding school. He was tormented and bullied for having long hair and an accent. They made him wear a "dunce" cap and continued to torment him. Additionally, at the boarding school, he lost his native culture and language. He wants to make other people aware of the struggles he has encountered in order to prevent this from happening to other people.