Vacation

I will be in South Dakota for the next two weeks. I will look at my blog while there, but it will be after the weekend.

Thanks & good luck on your text sets!

AA

Freedom Writers... Junior & Senior Year

"When I was born, the doctor must have stamped "National Spokesperson for Plight of the Black People" on my forehead; a stamp visible only to my teachers. The majority of my teachers treat me as if I, and I alone, hold the answers to the mysterious creatures that African Americans are; like I'm Rosetta Stone of black people" (p. 112).

I've quoted this part from Diary entry 54 on page 112 because this is something I see teachers doing a lot of. Just because someone is of a certain race or nationality does not mean they know everything about it or that they even want to share with the group. Couple of examples come to mind:

1. When I was a teachers assistant a few years back, I was helping get ready for a Cinco De Mayo celebration. I was stuffing pinatas with a few other teachers, when one teacher said, "Man, I can't figure out how to get this pinata open... wheres the Mexican kids when ya need um." Other teachers started laughing. I was shocked & left the room. I could not believe someone would say this. So according to this teacher, every Mexican knows how to stuff a pinata?

2. At the same school, I was on a birthday committee. The month I had happen to have a women from Brazil in it. The note in my box from the person in charge of the month said, "in honor of_____, lets have a Mexican theme." I asked the teacher in charge, "oh does she like Mexican food?" She said, "She's from Mexico." "Well no", I say, "she is from Brazil". I think the other teacher got it then, and felt really stupid.

3. In a college class I had at Pacific University we had a guess speaker one night. The lady was talking about diversity. We had a very diverse group in our class (about 1/2 was from a different country). She looked at one man who said he felt stupid sometimes at schools because he didn't understand parts of speech. the speaker said, "Why because you speak Spanish?" Well he is from Indonesia... boy did she turn 3 shades of red!

The point of me sharing this is that just because someone appears to be from particular culture does not mean they are or that they know everything about that culture. The only thing that person can tell you for sure is about their family and traditions. After all, because I'm American does that mean I have the same beliefs, values, and traditions as every American... & I'm not a spokes person!!!

The Freedom Writers have really helped me to understand what many teenagers go through in inner cities. I hope they are all doing well, and all their dreams are coming true!

Visualizing

Visualizing is something I have not done too much of this year, but I have done it in the past with older kids. I really do like vizualizing, but it's one of those thinks I forgot about. I really like this book because it reminds me of those things I forget about.

Freedom Writers: Freshman & Sophomore Year

I must say that I really did not want to read this book at all! I’m not sure why, but I think it had something to do with it being a movie. Sometimes I feel like many books gain popularity just they are made into movies. Where that statement could be true in some cases, I am glad after only reading the first two years of this four part journey that its story exists in several different mediums so it can reach more people.

Ms. G, the teacher in Freedom Writers, is a true hero in this story along with her many students. All of the “writers” in this book come from many different backgrounds, but they all have to face the reality everyday of hate and discrimination of what they call “an undeclared war”. I really had no idea how many factors were/are stacked against these kids from day one. I knew/know that violence of many forms exists within America, but didn’t realize that kids everyday die and get beat up because of it. I think one student said, “kill or be killed”, as being the choice given in his daily life.

As for me, I had a great childhood growing up on Mitchell, South Dakota. I just assumed everyone else did too. When I moved to Oregon, I started to realize that others did not have the same education and beliefs as myself. (Odd, I know that it took me until I was 18+ years of age to figure that out!) I really feel cheated that I did not know about these problems within my own country… you don’t hear about it on the morning news. Nobody wants to talk about it…why? I think many, like my brother, want to believe we live in the best country in the world. Hmmm… do we really? We live in a country that tells other countries how they ought to be treating their people, but refuse to look at out problems and lead by example.

I look forward to finishing the rest of the book over the next few days. I hope everyone in my group is finding it to be eye opening.

PS: Final thought:

It’s not that these kids have done anything original in writing diaries to help them reflect and workout their problems, but it’s how it made them change that makes what they did original

Reading Groups

I was able to get Freedom Writers last night at the library... last copy too!!!! So do we have a plan for reading and posting responses? I just don't want one of us to post something that another has not read yet.

We could read all the way up to Junior Year & post over the weekend; and then read the rest of the book and post by Wednesday (when it's due.) How does this sound?

Thanks,

Autumn

Book Groups

So a book I've wanted to read for some time now is My Own Two Feet by Beverly Cleary. What do you all think?

AA

Think-Alouds

I use Think-Alouds all the time! I find that it really helps my young readers in knowing that we all think about the stories we read differently! Although they do think about it as working on comprehension it really is. They are all eager to share their thoughts with the group! It adds a lot to my class!!!

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Number the Stars is told from the point of view of ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen. The story is set in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1943, the third year of the Nazis being in Denmark. Annemarie has a best friend Ellen, who is Jewish, walk home from school together everyday as they live in the same building. On one of their walks home they are stopped and questioned by a German soldier. Mrs. Johansen and Mrs. Rosen (their mothers) are worried and ask the girls to take a new way to school. The girls stat to notice shops being closed down... (the shops are ones owned by Jewish families). As more shops are being closed, Ellen's mother and father leave town, but Ellen stays with Annemarie. After Ellen's family leaves the Germans come looking for them by knocking on Annemarie's door. Annemarie's father lets the Germans search the apartment, and they wonder why Ellen's hair is brown. Annemarie's father thinks fast finding a baby picture of a daughter they once had, who had brown hair...

This book is very intense, and hard to put down! I don't want to ruin it all for you, but it takes the reader all the way to the end of the war. I'd say this book is perfect for upper elementary and up.

GROUP:

So I feel like I have reached everyone in my group except for Amanda... am I right?

Amanda can't find you!!!! Help:)

AA

The Boy Who Burned too Brightly

I first read this book when I was working on my Talented & Gifted certificate a few years ago. I thought it was a clever story with a lot of parallels about what we do when someone is different.

The book starts of with the main character being born, and from the beginning he is different. When he starts school the teacher says he is is not like the other kids... (he won't just sit there & work). He ends up getting a diagnoses similar to one a child with ADHD might get.

I would not read this book to a whole class, but would recomend it to someone who has trouble fitting in, or who feels different... I guess if I did read it to a class it would be high school age. It is a great book for all teachers to read as well.