Equality 101

In addition to advanced composition, I also teach a lower-level composition class called Academic Writing (AW). Over the last year, we’ve worked together to revamp this course so that it better meets our students’ needs, which are different from the traditional first-year/freshman composition course called College Composition. The primary objective of Academic Writing is to effectively prepare students for the challenges and concepts of College Composition. One of the biggest challenges in teaching Academic Writing is differentiating instruction to work for all of the students. While there are only three sections of AW available at my institution (meaning that my officemate and I teach all of the available sections every semester), this course caters to many students of very different backgrounds: we have international students, mostly Middle Eastern, who have only begun learning English in the last five years; we have generation 1.5 students; we have first-generation college students; and we have more “typical” American students. Each of these groups has its own needs in the college composition classroom. But one need that these groups share is the need to develop a classroom community — not only because this makes learning and teaching more enjoyable, but because these classes are so diverse. Read the rest of this entry →

There are a couple of activities/lessons I like to do at the beginning of every school year to unite my students and to get them to become globally aware since they will be studying world cultures and ancient civilizations all year.  They are what I call “Where in the world are you from?”and “The Line Game”.  These lessons all have to do with recognizing the similarities and differences between us and our peers.  The students realize that it is “ok” to be different than their peers.  They also realize that they are all different from each other in some ways.  On the other hand, the students also realize that they may have a lot more in common with people they would never associate themselves as similar to.  They are all eye-opening experiences that the students talk about all year long. Read the rest of this entry →

Throughout your college career you will be exposed to a wide variety of perspectives and opinions, and this is all apart of the college experience. Hopefully these experiences will broaden your views and help prepare you for the diverse world that you face after graduation. In many of the classes that you take while and undergraduate student you will engage in classroom discussions, and these discussions will vary anywhere from a literary analysis of Milan Kundera to the difference between deductive and inductive arguments. Also, during the course of college it is likely that you will find yourself taking a class in one of the social sciences, and engaging in a classroom discussion on any number of subjects.

It is during the course of these discussions that you may find yourself confronted by opinions and perspectives from students completely oblivious to their own privileges. You may be confronted by any number of racists, sexists, classists, or homophobic statements. While professors possess a significant responsibility in challenging these statements, it is important for students to realize that they too have a responsibility to respond to these statements. While there are an infinite amount of situations that could result in someone expressing something during the course of a discussion that would need to be unpacked, debunked, and examined, I will examine a few examples and discuss the broader issue of what may be the best way to confront these statements.

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Every year, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) evaluates US public school students in the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades on a set of predetermined subjects. (Not all the subjects or all the grades are tested in any given year, although it’s not clear to me how they decide). The results are aggregated in what they call “the Nation’s Report Card,” and they post the report data on their website as well, so you can play around with it. The “Report Card” gives the national average on the tests, compares each of a bunch of test sites to that average, and then compares each test site to the average of its state. Each site’s page also includes a graph which compares the performance of students in different racial/ethnic groups at that site, and another chart comparing the average scores of kids at the site who qualified for the free lunch program and the average scores of the program’s participants nationally. Read the rest of this entry →

I do not live in Arizona.  In fact, I’ve never even been to Arizona.  When I was in undergrad, though, it seemed like Arizona would be an oasis for teachers.  There were superintendents and principals at job fairs that were offering contracts to teachers right then and there, without the strenuous interview process that teachers applying in the Chicago suburbs faced.  How easy it seemed to be to get a job teaching in the Phoenix area, and how wonderful the weather would be without the stifling humidity in the summer and the snow in the winter.  Now, however, I wonder if Arizona is the same sort of haven it used to be for budding graduates from teacher education programs.  So much is going on in that state that it’s hard to believe anyone would move there now, in this climate.

I am the eternal optimist, or, at least, I really do try to see the best in situations.  I have been told that Arizona legislators had reasons for passing SB1070.  I have been told that the state of Arizona is in such a bad economic situation that they had to do something.  I have been told all of these things, and more, but I can’t see any positive side to a law that creates such a culture of hatred and racism that people are comparing Arizona police to the Nazis.  And now, this law and the culture surrounding it has opened up avenues to effect the education of students in the state and, by extension, the country and the world.

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You know those days when everything just lines up perfectly and all your synapses start firing and things just connect?  Yesterday was one of those days.  It started with Adam’s thought-provoking post from yesterday and a conversation that keeps reoccurring with my students, continued during my grad class last night, and a conversation with Tim afterwards.

When I ask my students what they want to see from a teacher – and I do this often, whether because I sense the need that they need to talk, or because it fits in with a lesson we’re doing, or because they volunteer the information – they always start by saying that good teachers understand them.

I might be bold in including myself in the “good teacher” category, but I must ask a pressing question: Do we, as good teachers, really understand our students?  I mean really understand them. 
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I had a student come into my acting class today and declare, “I was just the victim of racism.” This student is black, has an outstanding disposition towards race and a strong vision of his identity. He was not angry about it – more amused. I’ll recount his story as best I can.

During the passing period, he was walking through the hall with a comb in his hair – the handle of the comb was molded in the Black Power fist. Just outside his classroom, a dean asked him to remove the pick, which he did after telling the dean it wasn’t a pick, it was a comb. His teacher asked “what was that about?” The student told her the story, to which she responded “Maybe you should stop whining.” The student responded, “I’m not whining, I’m simply explaining what happened. We obviously grew up in different situations if you classify that as whining.” The teacher said, “You don’t know me,” to which the student responded, “You don’t know me.” The teacher then sent the student to the office.

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This post is part two of a two part series reflecting on the inequalities women still face as part of Blog for International Women’s Day on March 8^th, 2010.

Yes, it is 2010, and yes ‘modern feminism’ has been around for over a century…so can we safely say that by now we are living in a post-sexism world?  Are women equal to men in all the necessary realms?  Hardly.  If we are still asking this question, then obviously there is still something to discuss.  However, not all people seem to think so.  Whether it is simply a lack of education or a shifted focus, many of my students are oblivious that equality issues between women and men still exist in this country.  Thanks to media attention and forward-thinking teachers who use current events to facilitate instruction, many of my students are aware that women around the world are more susceptible to HIV/AIDS than men. (from thebody.com)  They also know that women worldwide tend to be the ones supporting families and relying on others for support.  While this global knowledge and passion for helping those in most need is an inspiring thing, I worry about my students’ future choices and the future of this country.   My students have grown up with computers, genocide, no existence of the Soviet Union, etc., but let’s face it, so have most of the bloggers on Equality101.  So why do they see feminism as something that has served its purpose, but belongs in the 1970s with their hippie grandmothers? Read the rest of this entry →

I began teaching 10 years ago. For the New York City Department of Education. I taught social studies and English at a small, alternative school (code for low test scores) for at-risk teens who had dropped out or were kicked out of their original high schools. It was a second chance for them. A step before a G.E.D. or before dropping out altogether. They came in with baggage. Tremendous baggage. Some of them homeless. Some of them abused. Some of them neglected. Most of them depressed. It was an experience I will never forget. It was also totally exhausting.

Recently, I was going through some old files and I came upon a big packet from Youth Portraits:

Young People Recently Released from Rikers Tell Their Own Stories

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