I Get It!!!

Now that we're halfway through the class, I realize what the point of it is. When I was growing up, I was encouraged to find the lesson or the moral that lied within the text. After this week, however, I see that there are endless questions that can be asked by the teacher and/or the students to discover even more from the text.

I must admit I have felt somewhat discouraged the past few weeks. When we have gotten into groups and read stories that pertained to the topic we were discussing, the majority of the critiques of the books were negative. The discussion of the book often ended in "I would NOT have this book in my classroom." This led me to believe that those books were full of negative stereotypes and were ultimately not quality pieces of literature.

However, yesterday in class Deb stated that just because a book may have certain stereotypes, that does not mean a student should not be encouraged to read it. Even if the book does have stereotypes, some stereotypes are not meant to be offensive, and they can stem from some sort of truth. Beyond this, a book that may have negative material within it could be an excellent source for facilitating a discussion with the class. At this time, the teacher could ask a few probing questions to get the class really thinking about why the author chose to write their story in the manner they did.

When a text is throughly questioned, the reader has a better understanding of why the author chose to write the story from that particular perspective. I believe creating discussions based on questions that the students have is an excellent way to get to the root of the story, which is what critical literacy is all about. As teachers, we must encourage our students to ask questions, challenge their perspectives, clear their misconceptions, and be able to give them as detailed of an answer as possible to ensure critical questions in the future.

When Referring to People With Disabilities....

I thought the class would find this helpful after several people stated that they weren't sure what the correct or non-offensive terms to use were when referring to persons with disabilities or PWD's.


Do not say:

* normal person
* confined to a wheelchair
* afflicted
* crippled
* deaf and dumb
* gimp
* poor
* retarded
* suffering
* unfortunate
* victim

Instead, say:

* able-bodied or non-disabled
* wheelchair user
* refrain completely from the rest of the terms listed


Use respectful and descriptive words, such as "a person who is deaf", "a person with a learning disability", or "a person who has AIDS". They are, after all, a person FIRST and they want to be respected, appreciated, and productive, just like an able-bodied person in society.

Acceptable Terminology

The readings were very helpful in terms of learning the "politically correct" terminology when referring to people with disabilities. What was even more helpful was the way in which Linton broke down some of the "nasty" words like cripple and described exactly why it is so offensive. It is important as a future educator to know the "nice words" to use when referring to or speaking with a child who has a disability. It would also be helpful if a parent of a student had a disability. After reading Al Capone Does My Shirts and seeing how hurt Moose was when his peers asked him if his sister was "retarded", the readings were solidified, as he was very offended by them call her such a hurtful name. There is a plethora of information on people with disabilities for people without to educate themselves with. Teachers especially need to use this information so they can properly educate their students about what is appropriate and what is not.

Look Inside. That's Where It Counts.

After reading Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes, I felt as though I had been given a very rare opportunity to get inside the heads of 18 people that could not have come from more diverse backgrounds. While the author could obviously not have gone through every experience the individuals she wrote about did, she really seemed to touch on very specific problems that not only teens, but people of all ages face in terms of race, gender, physical appearance, and loss of family members.

In regards to our insider/outsider discussions, this reminded me of a specific passage in Jacqueline Woodson's article that stated: "While I have never been Jewish, I have always been a girl. While I have never lived on the Upper West Side, I have lived for a long time in New York" (43, Woodson). She is simply stating that although she does not personally possess all of the qualities that her characters do, that does not make her unable to create an interesting story with situations that are concealed in today's society. I feel as though Grimes took the same path when writing Bronx Masquerade. She can not be all of the races that she describes in her story, but she does seem to make accurate assumptions about the students she creates. She then successfully tells the story of 18 people that seem to have nothing in common, but with encouragement to tell their own story, find out just how well they are understood by their peers.

Arab Americans in the 2000's

In regards to the readings last week, I had to raise my eyebrows when it was stated that Arab Americans are going to be the Japanese Americans of the 2000's. I know how difficult it was for my grandpa when my older brother had a Japanese girlfriend in high school. Being a World War II veteran, it was hard for him to overcome his feelings and beliefs about her race.

With all of the veterans returning home from the War on Terror, I'm sure they will have similar feelings about Arab Americans, and people of Middle Eastern descent in general. However, society has come a long way since World War II, so perhaps judgments will not be as severely passed upon this particular group of people in the coming decades. Only time will tell.....