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Social Justice Project

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I watched “25 Mini-Films for Exploring Race, Bias, and Identity with Students” created by  The New York Times.  I watched all 25 films, which were divided into four series, and I will highlight a few of the films I found most impactful from each series.    In the first series, “A Conversation on Race”, the film that stood out the most to me was when the police officers spoke about racism. One officer spoke very bluntly and what he said was very alarming to me. He admitted to being biased, even saying if he saw a group of young, black men in a white neighborhood he would go over and give them a hard time because “they’re not supposed to be there”. Who is this man to judge whether or not these boys belong there? He also says towards the end that he thinks protestors should get a job and find something better to do than to blame the police for their problems. First of all, I cannot believe this officer feels this way in the first place. But second of all, I cannot believe he is not t
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The Importance of Providing Students with an Empowering Education

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In "Empowering Education", Shor talks about the importance of participation and democracy in a classroom setting. These two things lead to an empowering education. Students feel they are contributing to something and feel encouraged to have their opinions and talk about what they think. Socialization is key to learning and students learn a lot from their peers.  This week I decided to do extended comments on Emily's blog because I feel that she chose quotes which really embody Shor's argument. The first two quotes that Emily chose talk about how children are born curious with the desire to learn. Asking questions leads to greater knowledge and so does interaction with the world. As Emily said it is human nature to want to learn and more specifically to learn from others, both are peers and those higher than ourselves in education.  The last quote Emily chose, like she said, is an example by Shor of what teachers should be doing. Shor gives great insight on ho
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Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route

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In "Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route", Oakes begins by addressing the two arguments to student tracking and grouping. On the one hand, classes are supposed to be more catered to the particular "group". Advanced students are "groomed" to be successful and students who need more attention and help can get this extra help. However, on the other hand, grouping can have all kinds of negative effects on the low-tracking students. These students are given a label that sticks with them for all their school years and as a result they are given less academic opportunities. Oakes argues that high-tracking students may benefit from grouping, but low-tracking students certainly do not. However, Oakes also argues that with the proper changes it is possible to get the best of both worlds.  Oakes names many changes that need to be made. One recommendation he makes is to focus on more content-based teaching rather than sequential lessons. Oakes also en
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In Service of What?

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Kahne and Westheimer give a very interesting analytical breakdown of service learning and its many goals in the article "In Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning." I have decided to do extended comments on Marissa's blog this week because I feel that she made a few great points worth emphasizing. In connecting this week's article to Kristof, Marissa said in terms of the homeless, "I just help them out even though they don't know that I do... I wish they knew who I was sometimes." Although some people may interpret this as wanting recognition for service, I believe Marissa is trying to say that she wishes she had a connection with the people she was helping. Many organizations run food drives, clothing drives and more where people donate stuff but never come in contact with the people their donations are going to. For years I did my service through working behind the scenes in food pantries, creating Thanksgiving baskets, and other more i
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Two Sides: Abortion -- Amanda and Marissa

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Conservative Pro-Life - Nationwide: 38% - RI: 27%  Against abortion because it is terminating a life  Many people, both religious and non-religious, believe strongly that abortion is wrong in all cases Some people take a more moderate approach and believe abortion should be banned  except in cases like rape, incest, or if pregnancy endangers the mother's life Liberal Pro-Choice - Nationwide: 62% - RI: 73% Believe the woman has the right to choose whether or not to terminate pregnancy  Some people do not agree with abortion but also do not believe the government has the right to intervene in that decision  Many people feel strongly that abortion should be banned after a certain point in pregnancy  Roe v. Wade   Roe v Wade is the current Supreme Court precedent case Affirms the right to get safe abortions legally Many conservatives want Roe v Wade overturned while most liberals want Roe v Wade to remain  https://www.youtube.com/wa
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Gender in Relation to Politics

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White men hold the power. Regardless of how you feel about this statement, it is an undeniable fact. This has always been the case thus far. However, many are hoping to rewrite this statement. Ideally, the statement would look more like this: power is held equally by all races and genders. The odds of the statement taking such a drastic edit after the 2018 midterm elections are slim. However, most of the minority and female candidates running for political positions this year are aware of this. Most realize that the process will take time.  In some cases, people like Stacey Abrams are finding success. Stacey Abrams is a black woman who won the Democratic nomination for governor of Georgia. Although many hope to see more successes like Stacey Abrams, for many candidates, just inspiring a movement is enough.  To quote Linsey Fagan, "if I can inspire more people to run fearlessly and in a way that's authentic, that would be a positive outcome for me." For many female and mi
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Lesbian, LGBTQ, and Metrosexual -- Amanda, Marissa, and Scarlett

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Lesbian Women who have the capacity to be attracted (romantically, emotionally, sexually, etc.) to other women  Ellen DeGeneres  - Came out on the  Oprah Winfrey Show - Married to Portia de Rossi LGBTQ Umbrella term for all folks who have a non-normative gender or sexuality Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning  Laverne Cox - Trans woman - First trans person nominated for an  Emmy - LGBTQ activist  Metrosexual A man with a strong aesthetic sense who spends more time, energy, or money on his appearance and grooming than is considered gender normative Brad Pitt  - Always looks presentable and well put together - Puts a lot of time, money, and effort into his appearance  Sources:  http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2013/01/a-comprehensive-list-of-lgbtq-term-definitions/ https://www.starpulse.com/top-10-metrosexual-celebs-1847843203.html https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/lgbtq-pride-activists-advocates-joh
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