Gayness , Multicultural Education, and the Community

Dennis Carlson
Gayness Multicultural education and Community

Kelsey davenport

1. "In 1993, the gay rights movement claimed a major victory in the signing into law of a Minnesota bill that makes it illegal to discriminate agaisnt lesbians and gay men in employment and housing. Yet what got ignored in all the celebrating was a provision in the bill that prohibits teaching about homosexuality in the public schools"

 - This passage means that even though they were passing a law saying it was illegal to discriminate lesbians and gay men with housing and employment , they could still discriminate and ignore their presence in the public schools. I think that this is something important to discuss because by not teaching about homosexuality in public schools, its still a way of discrimination because you may have students who are gay and they will wonder why homosexuality cant be discussed or taught in school , but what about african american history or spanish history or homelessness or hungryness issues can be taught about but homosexuality cant? they are going to ask whats the difference? and therre really isnt a difference because people can have the same hatred or fear towards african americans ot homelessness as they can with homosexuality but one is talked about and not the other.

2."English literature onthologists still go out of their way to avoid aknowledging that certain famous writers were gay such as Gertrude Stein, Walt Whitman, or James Baldwin. This cleansing of gayness from the literary canon is often defended as an effort to maintain the reputation or "good name" of authors by not "outing" them"

-this quote means that schools would avoid mentioning that famous english literatures were gay because people said they didnt want to ruin their reputation or good name. well i think this is a well derserved issue to discuss about because in my opinion by not aknowledging these famous people were gay yes you are perserving thier "good name"  to the people who disagree with homosexuality but what about that 1% that is in favor of this right? if we mention and aknowledge that these people were gay but also look they were still successful then we could passs along a positive message. i mean isnt that wht we all want for our future educators or our children : is to develop a positive outlook on everything life brings forward to them?

3. "straight teachers often participate in silencing practices because they are fearful of raising a controversiall issue that might provoke conflict in the classroom"

- I think this is worthy of discussing because its understandable why straight teachers would be fearful of bringing up this controversial subject in the small cofined classroom , however I dont think it should prevent this issue from arising and being discussed. I think its crucial for teachers to bring up controversial subjects in classrooms because it can teach the students how to handle different opinions and thoughts. Teachers shouldnt be afraif of raising this issue and afraid of conflict, after high school and after college these citizens are going to face an infinite amount of conflict with tons of different types of people. They neeed the practice at debating, sharing, thinkig critically, and listening/accepting others.  The teacher should start off the conversation that anything said should stay in the classroom like confidential , and they have to keep it civil with each other. no bringing peopke down for whatever they have to say and stuff lik that. set boundaries. and tell the students the purpose of this mini debate is to learn how to deal with conflict , differences and opinions.

I think this entire article was one of the best ive read so far. Maybe Im a little biased :) Because one of my friends is gay so i know what it is like for her and shes always talking to me about gay rights, so i am VERY pro-gay. =) Anyways another quote that stuck out at me was this one "Nothihg seems more certain than that homosexuality is contagious" I couldnt disagree more. I think thats completely false. everyone has their own perference and everyone is their own person who is abole to make their own decisions and choices. look at me, just because my friend is gay doesnt mean i am too because i am def straight :) ... ive been friends with her for about 3 years now and she still hasnt had that affect on me. gayness is not contagious. The only way someone becomes gay while being around someone else who is gay is probably becfause that person isnt their own person and lets other people influence them in ways that they wouldnt otherwise be influenced.

Why can't she remember that?

Why cant she remember that?
Terry Meier

Kelsey Davenport

february 19,2011

1. "Like all good literature, for young children, the book (SO MUCH) is lyrical and repetitive, with just a hint of west indian grammatical features and intonation patterns."

- This line from Terry Meier's article is talking about a kindergaten teacher reading the book SO MUCH to her students. The book is about a family gathering for a suprise birthday party for a baby. Guests start to arrive and each time they arrive it is signaled by a "DING DONG!" in which the teacher  brings to life by playing with a bell. When family members arrive they see how cute the baby is and they want to hug, kiss, squeeze, eat him because they love Him SO MUCH! This quote means that the book SO MUCH is a great book to teach children about repeating phrases. It teaches children lyrics, or rhyming words , and helps them repeat phrases in unison. After hearing "SO MUCH" multiple time the children pick up on the catchy repetive phrase and repeat before the teacher even has time to finish reading it herself. They enjoy listening to books that relate to their lives. A teacher who reads "SO MUCH" will find that the children are attentively engaged in the storyline because its of something they know ; family, little brother and sisters, babies, grandmas, grandpas, home, door bells and anything else.

2. "why can't she remember that?"

This quote is important because it is the name of Terry Meirer's entire article. "Why can't she remember that"? is coming from a young girl named gabriela, and gabby is always noticing how her teacher asks the same questions about the same book each time she reads it. Gabby wonders "why cant she remember that" meaning why cant the teacher remember that awnser to that question. I personally thought this was funny and rightfully true because at 4 years old a child may think that the adult knows everything and therefore shouldnt be asking such silly questions. A child like gabriela may need to be challenged a little bit more. the review questions are too easy for her. Its contributing to the artile by making the reader think. You know, Why do teachers ask the same silly questions like how many owls are in this tree? Where is the RED pair of scissors in this picture? The awnser? They do this to assure the children are really learning, paying attention, and are engaged. but truth is, that if a teacher really wants her class to be engaged she should come up with new ideas or ways to keep her class engaged. I liked the question game.  The teacher would ask a silly question but instead of saying awnser, have her students silently raise their hands or they could snap their fingers ( if they know how).

3. "Part of the process of making books come alive for children is to engage them in authentic conversations"

I think this quote is important because if children are exposed to differences both racial and social at an early age i believe that they will feel more comfortable with it as they grow up. Teaching children authentic conversations is getting them ready for higher level thinking and education. This quote contributes to this article because this whole article is about how to enhance young children's minds, thought process, and literacy skills. This skill of authentic conversation was used by a teacher in this article and it helped her and her group of students to discuss an incident that happened on the playground. Now lets say that this book that the teacher read to this group of students was never read, then that would maybe mean this incident never would have arisen, therefore the children wouldnt be able to discuss, think, learn, or resolve any fuzzy or gray areas surrounding this issue.

I enjoyed this article by Terry Meier. There were some really humous sections and there were some thought provoking ideas. Anything written with the words "children" , "kindergaten" "books" , "education" "social interaction", "diversity"  or "teachers" will alway pull me right in. I dont know theres just something about hearing the different stories of children all around the same age and how much they differed in their literacy skills. It makes you think, and realize that not every 3 or 4 year old has read "Mother, may I ?" or Dr. Seuss. There are children whose familys cant afford or dont believe in reading books to their children , and those are the children who are lacking valuable information. Many of the ideas i read about how to keep children engaged with learning and reading i liked enough to want to use that when im teaching some day.

Amazing Grace

Johnathan Kozol

Amazing Grace

Kelsey Davenport

February 14, 2011

1. "I wonder how powerful God is , he must be wise and powerful to mke animals and trees and give man organs, and a brain to build complex machineries, but he is not powerful enough to stop the evil on the earth to change the hearts of people".

2. "Evil exists ; somebody has power and pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people - that is my idea of evil".

3. I believe we were put here for a purpose, but these people in the street can't see a urpose. there's a whole world out there, if you know its there if you can see it, but they're in a cage. they cannot see".

My first qute i think means that i god is supposed to be this amazing, powerful and holy figure and he creates all of these beautiful , lively things on earth, then he sould be able to find a way to stop the evil on earth. when creating people he should have created everyone with "hearts of gold" ; I think that is also how Cliffie sees it too. I mean why do we need evil? or ungrateful people? Yeah it makes the people who are grateful and who arent "evil" it makes them stronger as people because they have to face these challenges and others , but is it really worth it? I dont think it is. Like why put the people who do good in this world through hell , if they dont need to be?

My second quotes means that people who have power souldnt pretend that they don't . it is way worse for them to pretend than to admit/know that they have the power. by pretendig its making th people who arent powerful resent those that do more. by pretending you dont have power its basically laughing in those people's faces lower than you and you are saying you dont care if they are suffering.

My third quote means that theres this whole other life, that exists outside of the South Bronz or Mont Haven. People think what they know and how they live is how it is everywhere thats definitely not true!! I mean Im guilty of it. People in Pawtucket Rhode Island or anywhere in RI for that matter are guilty of it. Many people not all but many sometimes think that Rhode Island is it, how it is here is how it is. There's this other quote i have heard people say which is "stop being so rhode island" . they mean stop thinking in terms of just rhode island. theres a whole other world waiting for you to discover and use it. You just need the courage to find it!

Kozol's article really opened my eyes . it opened my eyes to what other places and people are going through. it made me think you know i think i had it bad or where i live sucks. Then i read what Kozol wrote about and it completely shut me up. To hear about how many adults and children had aids, died from aids, were shot or abused. It was very hard to read and terrfying to be informed about it. to hear o the homes these kids lived i, how the homes were infested with cocaroaches crawlling  in every inch of the house. I dont know how they did it, how they dealt and survived it. I know I couldnt. Kozol's article related to other texts we rad because it talked about what familes went through and how race and privelege/power had everything to do with the conditions they lived in. those who had power didnt help those who were in poverty. they didnt recognize that they are art of the probelm so therefore they must be part of the solution!

Kelsey's world

I am a freshman and 19 years old. My major is elementary education  w. a concentration in spec. ed. :) My semester is going good so far. fned is actually the class that i am most excited about! :) I cant wait to get started and work with kids. I've done community service, internships , and leadership conferences already with children and once i started each of those i never wanted to leave or end it ! The only class im worried bout is my bio class and lab this semester. when im not in class, I am either working at donovan, hanging out with friends or being involved with the programmming team on campus and zeta - a sorority!  I love life and take one day at a time. poetry writing, meaningful and dancey music, and softball are a few things that i love. Im just a girl, trying to find a place in this world. :)