Optional Final Blog:

1. The very first day of class you asked us “what is our definition of urban education, and if we didn't have one, what comes to mind when we hear the word urban”. My definition of the word Urban has been distorted by the media and music videos that I've seen throughout my lifetime on channels like , MTV, BET, VH1,  so on and so forth.

2. The differences between private schools and public schools are as follows; 1.) you have to pay a tuition fee to attend a private school whereas for public schools, all you need to do is register, and have updated shot records. 2.) In the private schools in Minnesota, you can talk about religion without neglecting other people's beliefs, whereas in public school, they've now made it illegal to even say the Pledge of Allegiance for fear of "not being sensitive to other people's beliefs". 3.) Private schools are small community based, whereas public schools get all their assistance from the government and have to do a lot of standardized testing. 4.) Charter schools are nonprofit schools, meaning they have to get contracts that are specific to what they plan to accomplish with the students and remain in place for up to three years. 5.) The school board is generally made up of district parents and teachers.

3.Teacher shortage and the reason why: the enrollment of people into the education field is due to the cost of classes and in the people with the passion to really want to teach and getting your teaching license and area of specific need not being there which are math, science, special education and bilingual teachers not getting the correct training.

4.. School funding and the way school funding should be used is by having fiscal equalization so that no matter what type of school be it, public, private, or charter, all students should have an equal amount of money given to each school district to help cover the cost of supplies. First and foremost students need TEXTBOOKS. Math, Science, History, English, Spanish, French, Latin, etc. Students need other things as well, such as uniforms for extracurricular activities like JROTC, Physical Education, Cheerleaders, Dance Team, Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Wrestling, swimming, you name it kids need it.

5.The philosophy of education is an important thing to know as a future educator, because it helps me to know what type of school system would best be accommodating with the way I teach and can best help the students.

6. Observation hours was a test to see if we could handle the school setting and come up with a way to help improve the classroom to make it more amenable for students than bad. It also prepares you to deal with kids of different ethnicities, as well as the way teachers handle the students. We got good tips on how to handle kids, and also were able to voice concerns as well.

7. Knowing our biases now give you time to correct them so they don't affect the way you teach or treat your students and colleagues inside and outside the school and to not be so judgemental without getting to know them.

8. Acknowledging the fact that students and their families come in all races, religions, and ethnicities. Understanding that everyone doesn't come from the same culture so we have to do our best to ensure that all students get an equal opportunity to an equal education.

9. Relationships with the parents of the students, in order for a child to be successful they need to have a good support system. The more people involved, the better.

10. Community Project (lobby day) was a very unique event in itself. I have never been apart of something that can help change my way of living when it comes to the amount of education we receive. As far as others are concerned, I learned that the best way to get people to do what you want and really deserve you, have to share your own personal story. The best way to see things change is to get involved in an event like this one.

Tatiyona & Mana

Blog #5

School funding

Throughout our group conversation about school funding we all shared this one question in common. Did all parties involved with funding the school money really know how the school would disperse the money to help benefit the school, and most importantly the students in the school?

During my Junior year of high school (two years ago), I was in chemistry class and my teacher announced “the school received a grant to upgrade the technology” she was getting two new computers in her class and they where buying allot of I pads. I remember another student asking “why would they do such a thing when its other thing we could use the money for like buying more books for different subjects.” Some classes where so limited on books that they had to share, they couldn’t remove the books from the classroom, at the end of the day, even with the Technology upgrade, us as students didn’t really feel any different about coming to a public school with little funding to help us be successful.

The way school funding should be used is by having fiscal equalization so that no matter what type of school be it, public, private, or charter, all students should have an equal amount of money given to each school district to help cover the cost of supplies. First and foremost students need TEXTBOOKS. Math, Science, History, English, Spanish, French, Latin, etc. Students need other things as well, such as uniforms for extracurricular activities like JROTC, Physical Education, Cheerleaders, Dance Team, Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Wrestling, Swimming, you name it kids need it.

I’ve known teachers that have had to pay out of pocket for things they feel they needed for their classrooms. Raggedy desks, broken pencil sharpeners, things that seem trivial to fix, are losing when it comes to “state funding”. From what i’ve seen, being a former student of the public school system, I can say first hand, that they are just a little bit crappy when it comes to funding.

Blog#6

Identity Privilege

Identity privilege can be seen many different ways. Race, Religion, Gender Identities, Sexual Orientation, Class/ Wealth, Ability, and Citizenship Status, are just a few of the ways that people are classified into different categories of "privilege".

The only “privilege’s” that i would say I even qualify for would be, Sexual Orientation,  and Citizenship Status.

Sexual Orientation:

Due to the fact that I'm not a part of the LGBT community, I don’t have to fight for the right to do simple things like, get married, i can have any job i want without worrying about my sexual orientation, I can donate blood if i want to, I can adopt if i want to, I can live wherever i want to, if i was a guy, i could even be a boy scout leader if i wanted to, I can even be in the military if I want to, and the crazy part bout it all, is I don’t even want any of these things. That’s the crazy part.

Citizenship Status:

I love America!!! Lol as a United States citizen I'm afforded quit a bit of privileges, and most of them are stated in The Bill of Rights. For example, I have the freedom of religion, the right to bare arms, the freedom to assemble, the freedom of press, its amazing how many things that we can do that other countries can’t.

Now on the other hand, the privileges I don’t have are the main one’s that i tend to focus on. Such as Race, Gender, and Class.

Race:

I'm black. End of story.

Gender:

I'm a woman. End of story.

Class:

I'm broke. End of Story.

But on a serious note, as a black, lower class, woman, I am treated like crap by the government. As a woman, I make less money than my male coworkers. As a black woman that needs government assistance, I'm looked at as being less educated than the white person sitting directly next to me. I have found it highly unfair throughout my life, the way am automatically perceived by “outsiders”, that think they know my situation because of what they read on a piece of paper.

Keynote Speaker

Listening to the speaker talk about some of the things he was privileged to have as a kid up until now got me to thinking about some of the privileges and oppressions I have been dealing with since I was a kid.

So Hi! My name is Tatiyona and I am a black, female, 19 year old mother of  2. I graduated high school despite what any nay Sayers may have said meant to discourage me. I currently attend a community college, work a part time job, and raise two beautiful kids all on my own. But don't assume that I always had it good. It took a long time for me to get where I am now. Let me tell you a little bit about it...

It all started on a cold winter day in Dubuque, Iowa. I was 8 years old, and a force to be reckoned with. At an early age, I realized that I was super violent. I would fight just about anybody, be it boy, girl, bald headed squirrel, man, woman.It was my job to protect my younger siblings, so that's what I did. This became an oppression as it made it harder for schools to want me. 

Over the years I have found the error of my ways and realized that I can catch more flies with honey, then I can with vinegar. Which in a way has been a privilege! my kids play a huge role and helping me finding a more appropriate way of handing my anger and help me develop a better relationship with other people.

As an outlet of communication for example, was my mother LaToya. I am to this day extraordinary grateful for having such a wonderful example as someone i could reference while raising my kids. without mom i would be so lost in this world despite all the wrong i have done she have never turn her back on me but always pushed be to do better and make her proud.

Educational Philosophy

I believe the purpose of education is to help bring knowledge to us as a people on whats going on in the world we live in, as well as the basic everyday things surrounding us in our day to day lives. As much as people might not agree with the education system and how it operates today, it was designed originally to help us survive in the world on our own. Education can be comprehended in a school and the community. But the very first person to give you any form of education are the people whom you grew up living with whether it be mom and dad, grandparents, uncles or aunties.

I believe the purpose of a school is to bring all the kids in one community together in a safe environment. However inside school, your separated by class, grade, education level, so on and so forth. Now don't get me wrong, I see nothing wrong with that, but the fact of the matter is when other kids (for example kids in special education) come around the general population, they tend to get teased due to not being seen often. As a teacher I would like to change that.

My purpose as a teacher is to be somebody my students feel is cool, as well as one in which my students feel comfortable enough to bond with. Therefore they will know that when it comes to their safety and education, inside and outside my classroom, I have there best interest at heart. I want my students to know that they play an important role in getting their own education and not all the things we learn about will come from me but them as well. I want to make my lesson plan relatable to as many of my students as possible. I want to be like the teacher I had, who knew I was a nice, caring, fully capable of following basic direction individual, I just needed a little extra push for me to see my own potential.

Blog 2

Hi blogger sorry it's been a while. While reading The Legacy of Inclusion & Exclusion article and getting to the part about the American Indian Education it was so hard, to think about how white people misused and abused people back in the day and got away with it. This semester I’m also taking the American Indian course and we have been talking about how the Indian were treated when it came to education. They were forced to attend boarding school away from their home with their parents were. During that process they had also been strip them of their native language forcing them to learn how to speak English. I don’t understand why anybody would feel comfortable with forcing people to doing thing that are not beneficial for all party involved. It also make me appreciate education so much more today because I don’t think I would have survive in a time like that. Another thing is it also made me frustrated because I feel like this is something I should have been taught in middle school but instead I had to get to college to found out. I was talking to some of my younger siblings to see what they know about Indian in it shock me they knew more about them then I do, but what shock me most was when my little brother said he mostly learn it for “playing video games and doing his own research”. I believe the history of education no matter what ethnic background you are should be recognized in the school setting. I understand there a lot that happen in history when it comes to education but, the only thing I remember talking about in school was about the education system for African Americans mainly during slavery. I will not let the path discourage me, I will continue this journey to see how the history of education can help me become the best educator I can possibly be.