I really liked how Bienvendo Santos gives us as readers such great description throughout this text.  I feel that the way that he goes into depth about explaining the setting or the conversations between one individual and another gives me a perfect visual in my mind and lets me better understand the meaning thats trying to get across. 

I don’t know if i’m the only person who missed this, but who is talking in the beginning where its all italics.  I thought that this was a good part to include in this text because it shows us the culture they are coming from and how their english is spoken.  When I first began reading this I felt so bad for Alipio.  After many long hours, days, night taking care of his wife, she dies.  He then gets himself into an accident and spends a year in the hospital thinking he may never be able to walk again.  Throughout the text, there is many comments that relate to religion and god.  I feel that the Fillipinos may have a stronger connection to religion maybe then what I was initially thinking.  Also, family ties seemed important just like with the chinese and japanese culture because Mrs. Zafra kept saying how she sends money and things over to their family in the Phillipines.  I think that these cultures all show such loyalty, honesty and respect towards their families. 

I found in humorous how Mrs. Zafra ended up marrying Carlito.  It’s also shocking in a way because it makes you think, what kind of marriage do they have?  When a person just marry’s somone to stay in the States, then obviously there is something a little strange about that.  I think this was a great text to open eyes to Americans because could you imagine being kicked out of a place where you want to spend your life, and the only way to stay is to be married to an american citizen?  Also, going along with other texts that we have read throughout this semester so far, there are many “nicknames, or abbreviations” for these different cultures.  One that was present was the OT’s- or should we say, old timers.  I think thats so funny how they go about naming themselves. 

All in all, I feel that there are many connections to chinese and japanese culture, but also many differences.  From reading this text I can’t say that they were “treated better” than japanese and chinese americans, but it doesn’t seem as “harsh” if thats the right word…?

I can’t wait to read more and find out what the Fillipinos life was like in America!

I can’t believe that another semester has flown by.  If I could tell you one thing that I really enjoyed about this class was working with my literature groups.  I gained an increased knowledge of the text that we were reading by meeting during that fifteen minutes or so every week.  After all the English classes that i’ve taken, I have yet to do something like this and I thought it was a great idea!  I really liked being able to present the text to the class also.  It gave me a chance Castle so that maybe students would want to read it.  I want to touch on how the first literature group presented their text.  I really was intrigued and drawn in while I was sitting there listening.  It made me walk out of class on Wednesday wanting to watch that movie and read the text.  I feel that listening to different lit groups explain their texts is going to be an awesome experience because you get a large overview of what the text is reall about without even reading it.  I have a feeling that after all the presentations are done, i’m going to want to read at least two of them!  I could honestly say that this was a helpful and fun activity!

In class this week we watched sections of Todd Taylor’s video, Take 20. This was a video that interviewed twenty two writing teachers and asked them twenty questions. One of the teacher’s that stood out to me was Nancy Sommer’s who answered the question, “What do you feel the hardest thing about being a writing teacher is?” Sommer’s response to this was that responding to student writing was the most difficult thing as a writing teacher because you are able to see what you taught well and what you didn’t teach so well. Personally, I feel that reading student’s writing can be a very positive influence on teacher’s because it can show you what you might have to improve on in your teaching. If teacher’s never had anything to really look at and read from their students, they really wouldn’t know how well the students are understanding what you are teaching. I chose this response because it really made me realize that something so simple as reading students writing can really be very difficult for certain teachers to do. They may not want to see where they made mistakes along their pathway of teaching, but if they weren’t ever able to see their mistakes, students wouldn’t be learning to the best of their ability. I really enjoyed this video because it gave me a really good feeling of how teachers succeed within their job. It really opened my eyes to what teaching is all about.

As I was reading posts for this week, I came across one that talked about how she was having such a hard time finding a topic to write about each week when there wasn’t one assigned.  I agree that i’m struggling with the process also.  I feel that in today’s society, students are so used to not getting such “free space” to brouse and do what THEY want.  We are always handed something and told to write about it, so once we have to make our own decisions I feel that after a point we all go blank.  I have gotten to that point and it amazes me how you get so adapted to things being given to you.  I feel that within schools today, teachers should start giving their students more options early on so that when they are out in college and the real life, they can go about their day without someone telling them what they have to write about.  I feel that its a negative part in the education process and it really just started to stand out to me since I have been getting all these “free writes” on whatever I want.  I feel that the more I do these blogs, the more I feel that I am getting better at adapting to not getting every assignment stated and given to you. 

After reading Lives on the Boundary and talking about vocational schools in class it became apparent to me that most vocational schools are looked down upon or at least looked at as a “lower education.”  Attending a public school where they did have a B.O.C.E.S program was like most other public schools.  This program was located in a different building where students had to take a bus to during the day.  They would be in that different building for most of the day so you never really saw much of them.  Although this is sad, these students were looked at as students with a lower learning level.  They were always seen as different.  Today, as I look back on high school, they really weren’t that different.  They just attended these vocational schools for a better grasp on what they wanted to do when they grew up, such as cosmetology or mechanical work.  I feel that I think that it is unfair for someone to say that students who attend a vocational school are “different.”  I thought that it was a neat idea for us as a class to go around and talk about if there was a vocational school at our high school and how was it portrayed.  This really made me realize how most people viewed these vocational programs.  Would you agree that most students who attend a vocational program are looked at differently?  Would you agree that there shouldn’t be an inequality there?

I absolutley love this book!  It’s very detailed and very shocking but it is so surprising and intriguing that you want to keep reading to see what could possible happen in Jeanette’s family next.  I feel that I get very sad during some parts of the novel because of how their family lives.  It makes me appreciate what I have a lot more.  For example, in The Glass Castle, Jeanette, who is the author, is taken advantage of many times by her parents.  She is always trying to stand up for her alcoholic father who is always doing something wrong in the family.  When it comes down to her father standing up for her when Jeanette’s mother didn’t agree with Jeanette’s attitude, her father beat her.  That showed Jeanette that she should just get out of the family.  I can’t wait to see when Jeannette leaves for NYC.  I really hope that she can go and meet up with Lori.  She needs to save herself and her siblings.  Her parents are acting as the children while Jeannette and her siblings are trying to run the family so that they will have enough money for food and clothing.  I can’t wait to finish this book in a couple of days.  This has been one of my favorite memoirs that i’ve read and I would love to read more by this author.

Well let me start off my blog this week by saying that I had THE hardest time reading and actually being able to UNDERSTAND The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. It wasn’t until we were in the classroom doing activities with this book that I really started to grasp the concept of what Freire was really trying to get across. I think this is one reason how this book has influenced my teaching. I have realized that an individual is not going to understand something unless they work with it for a while, participate in class activities/discussions, and have time to be able to ask questions. The one part of the book that stood out to me was the banking concept that Freire was talking about. A lot of teacher’s today feel like that is the only way to teach, which is wrong, wrong and wrong! I know from personal experiences that I can’t learn and understand that way. I can’t have a teacher stand in front of me for an hour lecturing at me and then give me a test on something I still may not understand. I feel that students, especially the younger grades you go, will not be able to learn anything that way. They have a short time that they can sit there and listen to someone lecture about something. What if that student has no idea what is the topic of class and they aren’t introduced to activities or class discussions that can make them understand the topic better. Students feel that all the teacher wants to do is say that he/she has done their own part, “taught”( if you really can call that teaching) the material, and now its up to the students to pass that test. No. That’s the exact opposite of what I want to be like as a teacher in my classroom. Freire really made me realize what good teaching is all about, how many things you can include in your classroom, and how you can let your students act as “teachers” some times too!

The whole literature circle concept is a new task for me.  I have never been involved in a literature circle, although I absolutely love the idea!  I think that it is a great way to bring people together that are reading the same novel and a great way to bring up topics of conversation about the novel.  It can also give individual’s the chance to ask any questions that they may need verification on, or even to hear what other people’s opinions are on the same topic.  When my literature circle met for The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, we all had the same thoughts and it was very interesting to hear everyone else agreeing on what we think may happen next or what may happen with the characters.  The literature circle concept is something that I would bring into my classroom because I feel that it connects the students to the novel even more when they are able to talk about it in a small group of peers, along with getting to know your group.  It brings up different topics of conversation that leaves room for so many different opinions.  It gives students a chance to say what they think compared to what another student may think.  I am so glad that I am able to experience the “literature circles” now, but I greatly wish that it was introduced to me at an earlier age because I feel as though its a great concept to have all throughout middle school, high school, and even later elementary school grades.  I look forward to our next literature circles!

I am reading The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls for my literature circles.  Although I have not begun reading it yet, I am anxious to.  The reason why this novel was my first choice was because it is a memoir.  I really love reading memoirs.  I feel that I engage myself in a very close reading of the text because I know that it is about the authors life. I like reading novels that are based on a true story because I feel that I can relate to them better. It is a lot more interesting to me too. This novel seems like it gets very in depth about Jeanette Walls’s life growing up. I took a class on writing memoirs and I enjoyed it a lot. I feel that reading something that is a “fantasy” novel doesn’t attach me to the novel itself, instead it makes me space out. Reading a memoir connects me to what really happens in individuals families and I feel like I grasp the meaning of the novel better. I am anxious to begin reading this because I believe I will enjoy it a lot. I have heard many good things about it and also have researched it and saw how many great reviews it got.

While watching OutFoxed during class there were many similarities that I found between Fox news and The Giver.  The first similarity in OutFoxed compared to The Giver was clearly pointed out when an individual was interviewed during the movie.  He stated that they were “living in an environment of fear” (outfoxed).  Their movements and lifestyles at the office were always being watched or videotaped.  Relating it back to The Giver shows that Fox had similarities to Jonas’s community in the way the environment was “controlled.”  The Giver had set rules, things that were looked down upon and not accepted.  During the movie individuals who worked for Fox kept saying that if you challenged the rules that you were history.  This can be compared to releasing in Jonas’s world.  If it didn’t meet the criteria of what was expected then it was a “thumbs down.”  Another similarity that I noticed between the two was that Fox was seen to be “misleading the public.”  This is exactly what Jonas’s community was doing- they were misleading the people in the community to believe that there was no other way of living and it was all discovered that there WAS things that they were missing out on (ie: feelings, colors, etc.) when Jonas became the receiver.  The last similarity that I found was when OutFoxed talked about the immigrants and how later on in their lives they were seeking citizenship.  This made me think of Jonas in the sense of him living this life of the “unknown,” not being able to feel anything or have memories, until he is put into his assignment with The Giver.  After a while learning these things that he never experienced, he sought citizenship by leaving the community with Gabe. 

A difference that really caught my attention between the two was that Fox news was very outspoken.  They constantly put their opinions into what they believed in.  Relating that to The Giver shows us how Jonas was not allowed to be outspoken.  He had to follow the guidelines of not making another person feel uncomfortable. 

 In my opinion, I found more similarities between OutFoxed and The Giver than differences.  I thought it was a great way to get us thinking about our world today.