Connecting some of our authors to another music vid- God Bless Youtube

So heres the video for Queen's I want to break free... interesting if you think about it in the context of the Christiensen thing, as well as Carlson, Delpit,and Scwamp considering they used to use so much make up that Freddie Mercury looked white so they could better market him... either way Freddie looks fabulous in pink... and the song seemed appropriate for my current emotional state. What do you want for so late at night, this is what bordom gets you
Enjoy!

Talking Points 8

Premise:

Down Syndrome
Learning Disabilities
Education
Community
Personality
Stigma
Inclusion in the classroom

Argument:
Kweiler argues that all children, particularly those with down syndrome can be a participating and valuable asset to a nonsegregated school community, once the fact that they have a disability is looked past.

Evidence:
1. "Aknowledging students with Down syndrome as thoughtful, creative, and interested learners with personal identities that distinguish them from all other people suggests an individual value that enhances any context containing the child.

2. "Shared value exists in relationships in which individuals, including those with the most severe disabilites, are recognized as thinking,feeling, caring human beings with personalities all their own."

3. " In classrooms that recognize all children as citizens, teachers and peers have rejected the image of community burden attached to Down syndrome.Rather, the student is recognized as a participating member of the group."

Points to share

This article hits home for me. My cousin has Grand Mal Down's and lived with me for a short time when I was young. He was a student in an inclusionary high school, but had specific aides and classes. Therefore, while he was not in a segregated highschool he was in some segregated classes. He was labeled uneducable, and now uses a computer, and other appliances, is working towards getting a job and living in a group home. The experience has added to my life story, taught me sign language, and created a very special bond between myself and him. I understand the benefits he provides to all the different people he comes into contact with on a daily basis.

Talking Points 7 I think-

"One More River to Cross"- Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown: A Prerequisite to Shaping New Remedies
Charles Lawrence

Premise:
- Race
- Brown vs BoEd.
-segregation
-institutions
-inferiority vs superiority
-Plessy vs Furguson
-NAACP
-intention vs practice

Argument:
Lawrence argues that"the Brown decision fostered a way of thinking about segregation that has allowed both the judiciary and society at large to deny the reality of race in America."

Evidence:
1. " the institution as an instrument of subordination which used a strict and rigid cast system to clearly define and limit the social, political, and economic mobility of blacks. Woodward has called "Jim Crow" laws the "public symbols and constant reminders" of the inferior position of blacks."

2. "Instead of taking judicial cognizance of the fact that the manifest purpose of segregation was to designate blacks as inferior, holding such a purpose constitutionally impermissible, the Court chose to focus upon the effect of school segregation."

3. "Once blacks are labeled as inferior, they are denied access to equal societal opportunities. The resulting inadequate educational preparation, poverty of cultural backgrounds, and lack of experience constitute real limitations on their ability to contribute to society, and the prophecy of their inferiority is fufilled."

Comments/Points:
I think I am going to have to wait to fully comment on this piece until after our class discussion, becuase I need time to digest some of the points. However, on the surface I feel like this article is one of those pieces that highlights when intentions are not enough...
I will continue at a later date

EL ED ANYONE!?

whats the el ed admission deadline anyone know??

Kozol Maybe? A link-

So here's some Kozol-esque media for you- in Tracy Chapmans Across the Lines track- this video is her performance for Amnesty International... sounds as awesome as the CD recording- and one of her many social justice commentary tracks
How different the world would be with a Chapman for president... hmm..

Talking Points 6

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route
Jeanie Oakes

Premise:
-classrooms
-student ability
-opportunities
-separation
-class systems
- teaching methods
-learning experiences

Argument:
Oakes argues that while the system of tracking students may not work, alternatives to the system may provide the same benefits to top students while not disadvantaging the rest of the students, even though the said alternatives may be difficult to acheive.

Evidence:
1. " as policymakers and educators become disenchanted with tracking, they may not need to throw out the baby with the bathwater. Alternative strategies, while not simple to implement, promise to help schools reach their goal of providing high-quality, relevant education to all students.
2. "Creating constructive alternatives to tracking presents technical as well as political problems. Despite promising research findings about heterogeneous grouping, little is likely to be accomplished by simply mixing students up. To be effectie, alternatives will probably, require fundamental changes."
3."Obviously, the kinds of changes likely to promote high-quality learning for all students in heterogeneous classrooms go far beyond mere fine tuning of current practice. These changes...teachers' work."

Points to share:
Although I think my argument statement is a little weak, I think the three pieces of evidence somewhat support eachother, so I apologize for lack of total cohesiveness. I think that while Oakes poses a relatively strong argument here, complete with a solution, it would require a complete reconfigure of the current education system. I think that in order to acheive it the current system would have to be somewhat abandoned. Acually I think that it would mean that elementary and secondary classrooms would have to be taught much like our own class. It would have to be less focused on compartmentalized exams, busy work, and other menial assignments and more on wholly conceptualized thought. However, if one were to do this wouldnt we then be minimalizing the importance and specialization of higher education? But then again wouldn't a system that embraced these things early on help foster skills and tools for college in a broader reaching way, therefore providing greater access to higher ed? Wouldn't more students would have the critical thought process and skill sets to be successful in that environment? I find that I more strongly support the second piece of this, that it would reach out to more students, yet I can't help but wonder if that would mean that the system would have to group students not by age but more by ability as a whole so that students would be in mixed aged classrooms that better supported their pace of learning,and would mean that acheivement was based more on personal growth then arbitrary marks of success as Oakes seems to suggest. I think this would better support the type of system Oakes would like to see, then our current one.

we often know what we do...a moment, or many

we often know what we do, we know why we do what we do,but we dont often know is what we do does.... or something close to that. Its 6 am give me some credit for a loose quouting...

She didnt know what she did, was going to do to all of us. But she sure knows why she did it, and how she did it.

Iis it wrong for me to see things like this in a situation this fucked? I dont even know anymore- Im clinging to my own sanity, in that strung out drained havent eaten in days because its too lonely kinda way-

And the one person who is suppossed to love me no matter what- tells me all I do is make the crazy friends-

This is beyond fucked- never have I been able to string nigerian bank robbers, nut bin, girlfriend,(to quote a friend) and promising practices in the same sentences nevermind the same day

6AM.... I haent seen 6 am in years...
This game sucks, I dont want to play anymore-
Thank god for my supports- for those of you i can be in touch with right now you know who you are- and thank you for letting me depend on you
Chris