Gruwell: Curriculum Or Constructive

Mr. Wray was the first teacher and the only male teacher I observed. The class was a 7th grade Social Studies academy class. Throughout the observation I noticed he really cares about his students. He took his time going over the topic of discussion, and when some of the students couldn’t catch on he stopped to help the individuals. His class was very well behaved. The only time I really noticed any of the students socializing were when Mr. Wray put them in groups to complete a study guide. The second teacher I observed was 6th grade teacher Mrs. Dunn. She was teaching English to her students. She went over verb phrases and helping verbs throughout the class. I noticed whenever she asked questions quite a few of the students participated by answering. Mrs. Dunn had a positive attitude throughout the class period. I felt she truly enjoyed all her students and treated them the same. Even when some of the students didn’t answer questions correctly she didn’t make them feel dumb. She would just tell them good try. I could tell her students really liked her as a teacher also. The last teacher I observed at Westside Junior High was 7th grade Science teacher Mrs. Dugas. This lady came off as a very strict teacher compared to the other two I had observed. Her students were very talkative, which only made her become more annoyed when having to fuss at them. At the beginning of class the students had a bell ringer to complete. On the particular day I went the bell ringer

(INTERVIEW WITH JANE ELLIOT) http://www.newsreel.org/transcri/essenblue.htm The children learned that discrimination has a tangible affect on their performance in everyday activities. Elliott has gone on to do the exercise with numerous adults and almost without exception the participants' abilities, such as reading and writing, are grossly affected.      Jane Elliott's approach is especially relevant today.

I have chosen to explore the theme, it is unfair when innocent people are discriminated against. This is because discriminations is a big problem and can relate to nowadays. This theme is evident in the texts Edward Scissorhands by Tim Burton, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Maori Jesus by James K Baxter and The Help by Tate Taylor. Overall I have realised that preconceived ideas and ignorance tends to cloud people's judgement on a person and lead to discrimination.

Gruwell taught her class about the Holocaust, the genocide of Jews. While learning about this major event in class the students were able to see how another person’s hatred affected someone’s life. They saw that many of the victims did not survive and were killed simply because of their race. This drew a parallel for the students to see how their hatred and violence against each other was senseless. In the same way Hitler killed Jews because of their race, they were killing each other. From learning about the Holocaust the students were able to step outside from their own personal norms, and examine a situation from a new or different

Even, when the students seem careless and do not tolerate the professor, Gruwell guided by her ideals and big heart refuses to allow her students to be incompetent and gave her students a chance to overcome the limitations imposed on them by society and themselves. She encouraged them to do something remarkable and memorable and assign them a journal where they could feel free to express their emotions and feeling and essentially tell the stories that define them. Gruwell draws students’ attention by assigning them The Diary of Anne Frank, a book that promptly become a guide for the students and open their minds and eyes against intolerance and misunderstanding. Inspired by this book, the students raised funds to bring Miep Gies, the woman who sheltered the Frank family, to visit them in California where she declared that the students are the real heroes.

Discrimination is another key concern for the author as he is struggling to overcome poverty, racism and intolerance. Discrimination comes in many different forms and is defined by the textbook as being any behavior directed against persons because of their membership in a particular group. As a young man Williams experienced many acts of discrimination directed towards both himself and his family. For example, after fishing one evening Carl wanted a soda but couldn?t get one from the drive-in they were passing because ?blacks were barred from the drive-in like every down-town restaurant? (Williams, 225). Another example of discrimination appears in the text when Black students were unable to obtain teaching positions once they graduated from Ball State University because of the color of their skin.

When people have different upbringings then it can be difficult to make them see how some of the values they were raised with may be discriminatory (1), one way to attempt to overcome this could be by including various different examples of discrimination within

Although in some cases, teachers attempt to solve oppresion in the classroom. This relates to a teacher by the name of Christina Torres. She is a teacher at the University Laboratory School in Honolulu, Hawaii. She makes sure to view her students through their multiple identities

In the short story “The Lesson”, by Toni Cade Bambara, Miss. Moore, an college educated woman new to the community, takes it upon herself to teach academics and life lessons to young Sylvia and her friends much to their dismay. During a visit to F.A.O. Schwarz, Miss Moore educates the group about the disparity that exists between socioeconomic statuses. During the course of this lesson, Sylvia realizes that she feels shame and anger about the inequality she experiences in her life. The central idea of the story is inequality; an internal conflict exists for Sylvia because of the inequality she experiences in her own life.

For example,“I told daddy I wasn’t going back to school. daddy said:of course you are. no low-down white boy’s gonna stop leanora sutter from getting an education.” (page.13) “leanora sutter is getting bullied by white boys at school and it show that she is being discriminated. Further on in the book,” there will be more discrimination against more people.

Although this novella does show some discrimination, racism and brutality from society itself, students should be able to know how society treats other, whether its favorable or not. Society must not try to hide the events that makes history history, even though it was an unfavorable event. Students should view the world by how it is represented and what caused it and not just what they read in books that have lies and hidden events. Society needs to show the world how it has been treating others because of others race, this quote from No, Justice Is Not Colorblind can explain by saying, “ At the disparities’ peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, blacks were five times more likely to be arrested for drugs than whites were.” Therefore, while the novella does show some poor behavior acted against, it does not fully show the true events that students should know

Right on the first page in chapter six it discusses the privilege groups discomfort about discussing privilege. Yes, it is true for so many and for those who don’t feel discomfort, I call you brave and open minded. But, it is a hard thing to discuss especially with a non-privileged group of individuals. I, for one also feel discomfort and defensive sometimes in those situations, and that could be from a number of different reasons. Whether it is because I feel guilty, ashamed, judged, etc. For this I will talk about race, for those who are white, we are born this way, we didn’t choose to be white and there’s nothing you can do about it. You were born into the privileged group here in America. But, it is something that we need to accept and admit to, we are the privileged group but, we don’t because of this nasty stigma about race. Race has turned into this sharp word that scares people when it is mentioned. We, as educators need to change the stigma of that word. We need to make it so people of privilege and non privilege can discuss privilege and race with out discomfort or being offended. In this class, our race discussion had brought up white privilege and at first it was not comfortable but, as you admit to it, the easier it is to discuss.

Throughout the film, the effects of stereotype can be seen vastly in the film by Margaret Campbell, the department head. She grouped all of Mrs. Gruwell’s students together as street kids and set very low expectations for them. She is constantly seen telling Mrs. Gruwell that she is wasting her time on the students simply because she keep emphasizing on how the students are only destructive and incapable of higher learning. She also refuses to give them new books because she believes that they can't read them and would not return them. She is also determined to consistently fight Mrs. Gruwell’s efforts to engage the students in learning.

After many years in the classroom and several as a facilitator, there were many situations that I have observed and or been a part of that did not make me happy I found myself saying what I would have said or done if I was the principal of the school. My heart began to break for those students that were in classes with teachers that did not seem to really care about whether or not the students actually got it but more so doing the bare minimum to say that the skill had been taught. I saw children struggle. I saw children and parents with hurt feelings and then angered by the way a teacher had treated or talked to them. I even saw some teachers that just did not care. I wanted that to change. For years I put off going back to school. I got my Masters in Education right after I

As educators, we know about the pendulum of education. There are many times that I have been introduced to a new curriculum for it to go away within the next three years. Acknowledging their concerns and expressing that if this program has a way of improving our teachers that we would need to work with it. Maybe, we as a pilot school could help fix or repair attributes in the TKES. Trying to keep everyone positive is the key here.