Really interesting video on income inequality.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
AWESOME video "A Call to Men"
In case you guys have never heard of TedTalks, this site shows lectures of all kinds. Since last week and this week's lessons focus on "gender," I thought I'd share this great video on "masculinity" and what is expected of men. It's a bit long, but it's great!
Check it out!
Let me know what yall think!
Service Learning this week - Opening up a new world!
Each week, my service learning experience gets more and more exciting! This week, my students have been working on how to navigate the internet, but more particularly, how to use sites like google and bing in order to use other sites and gain valuable information. You guys should have seen the glow on their faces! It’s like they were introduced to a new world! It was amazing. Many of them had never heard of google or bing. (Of course, I assumed that everyone at least knew about the sites.) Taking it slowly, I showed them that sites like google and bing will open up new horizons. I explained to them that using these sites was like going to the grocery store, going to the produce section, and having the opportunity to choose your favorite tomato (out of 100 of them). Thank God it made sense to them because when I explained it to my friends, they seemed confused. Haha.
Another thing that we focused on was using online maps—i.e.: google maps and mapquest. When I explained what these sites do, again, they were so excited. Apparently some were still using the maps you buy in stores. This, of course, makes it easier on them as they can go from A directly to B (by using search engines and what not). One student mentioned that she would use this for her weekend trip. I was thrilled.
I’m not sure if I told you guys what site we use to learn the material. We are using a program called LearnerWeb (www.neworleans.learnerweb.org). You won’t be able to look at it without signing in, but if this might be something that interests you, let me know and I will give you my log in information so that you can play with it!
Again, each week gets more interesting. This week, by seeing the excitement in my students’ faces, the fact that I am making a true difference in someone’s life was reconfirmed yet again.
Until next time,
J.C.
Peace.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Heartbreaking Story
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141672992/native-foster-care-lost-children-shattered-families
LISTEN TO THIS STORY! It is a little long but worth it. A heartbreaking story about institutionalized racism against Native Americans. Makes me sad to be a part of a country where we still can't manage to learn our lessons after hundreds of years.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Service learning update 10/17- 10/21
This past week of service learning was by far the most enjoyable yet. It gets easier each day. I now feel completely a part of the Anna’s Arts program; the kids expect to see me on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the directors and teachers of the program rely on me those days. I feel like I really am contributing, and it feels awesome.
On Thursday I had an experience with one of the students that I will never forget. I had been working with this particular third grade boy on his homework since he got to our program directly after school that day. At his school the teachers give out packets every Monday and the entire packet is due by that Friday, so we were working our way through, as usual, trying to finish everything up. The last thing we do is to go over spelling words, his least favorite area of study. It was about 6:40 by that time, and the kids leave at 7. I called out his first word, and he was very hesitant to spell it, as usual; however, that day was worse than most, and he actually started crying. I asked what was wrong and he told me, “What about my project?” It was then I found out that he had a major project due the next day that counted as 25% of his reading grade; it required him to make a display board of a favorite family recipe and write a paragraph of why it was his favorite. With his current grades, failure to complete the assignment would lead to him failing reading. I had to get the director of the program, and together we walked the student home, and talked with him and his grandmother (his primary caretaker). He was hysterical by this point, and we found out that he couldn’t do the project because his grandmother not only could not afford the materials required to make it, but also could not read; therefore, she was unable to help him with his “family recipe” project. The grandmother did not seem phased by this at all as she stood there with a 40 oz. in her hand; it was really heartbreaking. Luckily, the director of our program was able to contact his school, get him an extension, and he will finish the project with us at Anna’s Arts next week. So many of these kids are so victimized by their circumstances, and at Anna’s Arts we are trying to teach them to break the cycle.
On Thursday I had an experience with one of the students that I will never forget. I had been working with this particular third grade boy on his homework since he got to our program directly after school that day. At his school the teachers give out packets every Monday and the entire packet is due by that Friday, so we were working our way through, as usual, trying to finish everything up. The last thing we do is to go over spelling words, his least favorite area of study. It was about 6:40 by that time, and the kids leave at 7. I called out his first word, and he was very hesitant to spell it, as usual; however, that day was worse than most, and he actually started crying. I asked what was wrong and he told me, “What about my project?” It was then I found out that he had a major project due the next day that counted as 25% of his reading grade; it required him to make a display board of a favorite family recipe and write a paragraph of why it was his favorite. With his current grades, failure to complete the assignment would lead to him failing reading. I had to get the director of the program, and together we walked the student home, and talked with him and his grandmother (his primary caretaker). He was hysterical by this point, and we found out that he couldn’t do the project because his grandmother not only could not afford the materials required to make it, but also could not read; therefore, she was unable to help him with his “family recipe” project. The grandmother did not seem phased by this at all as she stood there with a 40 oz. in her hand; it was really heartbreaking. Luckily, the director of our program was able to contact his school, get him an extension, and he will finish the project with us at Anna’s Arts next week. So many of these kids are so victimized by their circumstances, and at Anna’s Arts we are trying to teach them to break the cycle.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Week of Oct 19th
Over the fall break my roommate and I went to Wendy's to have a quick dinner before going out. We drove over from school and parked in the parking lot around 7:30pm. Starving, we raced to get inside Wendy's to order first. We walked in, got right in to the queue, which was empty, ordered and proceeded to wait for our food. I noticed two guys coming in (black guys) through the front door. They weren't particularly intimidating, nor threatening but something very odd happened. We heard a voice come across their microphone system:
"WE ARE RECORDING AUDIO AND VIDEO FROM THIS WENDY'S AT ALL TIMES. ACTIVE MONITORING OF THIS WENDY'S LOCATION IS 24/7." Or something to that effect...
Having heard the announcement, the girl at the cash register hit a button and responded, "No baby, we good."
The two guys looked at each other and responded "What the f*ck? I guess we some real gangsta ass (n bomb)'s"
The two guys ordered their food, at which time one of them got a call from a girlfriend/girl who seemed upset that he had to work late tonight. They ate their food, and left.
This was easily one of the most racist things I've ever seen, my roommate and I could have walked in with the intention of suicide bombing Wendy's and there would've been no announcement. The two guys walk in and INSTANTLY, as if a panic button was pressed, there was an alert from the security company.
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