Kahne & Westheimer, In the service of what?-Reflection

         I enjoyed reading this piece. I really understand what they are saying about the difference of charity versus change.  In my experience I feel like I’m making changes not just doing charity work.  When I go into my service learning I don’t feel like I am doing charity work because I know I’m actually making a difference in this student’s life.  I’m not just helping him pass a test, I’m helping him learn how to count and that’s something that’s going to be useful throughout his whole life.  I already see a huge improvement in his ability to count and the amount of objects he can count correctly; it’s such a great feeling.

         I also do in a way feel like the service learning is charity work because we are forced into volunteering for a grade in a class.  We have to have the teacher sign a community service sheet; we need a certain amount of hours and visits.  I feel like this takes away from the experience.  I enjoy doing volunteer work because I like helping people and I want to make a difference in this world.  Others volunteer solely because they have to for a class, because of probations or to graduate high school. 

         I don’t believe that if one is forced into volunteering that they are going to give it there all and they are going to do the bare minimum just to get by and get it over with.  

Misc- My life as an outed lesbian

Being an out lesbian has definitely had a huge impact on my life.  It hasn’t been an easy one either that’s for sure.  Being out with my sexual orientation has definitely stirred up a lot of hatred over the years. I’ve been bullied, harassed, and even beaten up.  There are times when I would wish I wasn’t gay and that I was straight so I would be normal like everyone else.  I tried to put my feelings aside and try and hide who I really am, but it never seemed to work and I was never comfortable. 

When I came out and finally accepted whom I was I lost a lot of my close friends.  It was really hurtful.  I felt very betrayed and I didn’t understand why once I came out they left? I was still the same person I was before just a lot happier and more comfortable with myself.  I also got a lot of harassment from my lacrosse team in high school. 

I had a rainbow hacky sac and would play with it before practice started to kill the time.  One day a girl on my team takes it from me and starts throwing to everyone else on the team and wouldn’t give it back. I asked politely if I could please have it back and they all just laughed at me asking me why I had a rainbow hacky sac.  I told them it was because I liked the colors of it and it looked cool when being kicked up in the air.  The one who took it from proceeded to say that’s not it, it’s because you’re a dyke isn’t it? I didn’t know what to say because I was hurt that these people are my teammates and a lot of them I’ve been playing with for years.  It was no question that I was gay I just didn’t feel like it was important to tell everyone.  Of course I didn’t say anything to the coaches because I didn’t want to have the team turn on me and give them another reason to bully me. 

On another day that season another two girls on my team were chasing me around the parking lot calling me a fag trying to spit on me. I was really upset and they made me feel uncomfortable with my orientation.  Again I dint say anything to the coaches because they were already acting differently and awkward when I came out.  This was the last year I played because it wasn’t worth the stress of being harassed and having my teammates treat me like that.  I was really angry because I love the sport and have been playing it for 8 years and then they just killed it for me.

I didn’t tell anyone about what happened because I was embarrassed and ashamed to be gay.  It wasn’t until I got to college that I really started feeling comfortable in my own skin again.  It wasn’t until I cut all my hair off this past July that I really embraced who I was and didn’t care about what anyone else thought because I was finally truly happy with myself.  I don’t know what the future is going to be like as an openly gay teacher but all I know is I’m not going back in the closet and hiding who I am anymore.  Even with all the harassment and bullying and if I could have the choice to be gay or straight I would stay who I am, Daniella Grimaldi, a fun, loving person who would do anything for anyone who just happens to be a lesbian.  

Safe Spaces, August-Hyperlink

Safe spaces is about how schools need to have a safe space where students of the lgbt community can feel safe in.  It doesn't have to be a big sign on the door but something simple like a rainbow flag sticker or books that relate to the lgbt issues and things like that.  

>the hyperlink I put there is the statistics of the lgbt students being  bullied.  It has the type of bullying and a prevention of it.  It says that gay and lesbian teens are two to three times more likely to commit suicide than the average teen.  They are targeted because of their appearance orientation and gender expression. It’s really sad that this has to happen.  This relates to safe spaces because it shows that a lot of theses school and teens that are being targeted don’t have the support from faculty and staff.  There so safe space for them to go to when this is occurring.   

There is a lot of projects and people trying to stop the bullying and trying to create a safer environment for the students.

>This link is to a site that offers a kit to buy to send to schools to create safe spaces.  GLSEN's Safe Space Kit is a collection of resources for educators to create a positive learning environment for LGBT students. It contains a 42-page guide that provides concrete strategies for supporting LGBT students, including how to educate about anti-LGBT bias. It also comes with 10 Safe Space stickers and 2 posters to help students identify supportive educators.  This is exactly what august is trying to get across in the reading Safe Spaces.  

Kliewer-Reflection

 Growing up there were always special needs students in my school.  Some of them were able to be in the regular classrooms while others were in the Special Education class.  I have always wondered why some students were able to be integrated in the classrooms while others weren’t.  I wondered if it was because that parent made a complaint and made sure that their child wasn’t secluded.  I will never know why but I do know that it isn’t right for the students with special needs to be secluded. 

In my high school there were a lot of students with disabilities.  One thing that always got me upset and sick to my stomach was when the “normal” students would start picking on the students with disabilities.  I was always the one to stand up for them because nobody else would.  In my high school there were some students with disabilities in the classes but mostly they had their own classroom.  The classroom wasn’t very big or comfortable.  What I mean by confortable was that it was just a room with books and desks; there wasn’t much to it.  It resembled the room where students would go to if they had in school suspension.  I didn’t like this very much because it wasn’t fair to them.  Just because they have special needs doesn’t mean they aren’t people.  They should have the same type of classrooms the “normal students do and they should be treated like everyone else.    

Social Justice Event- Macklemore Concert

I’m using the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis concert for my social justice event. I’m using his concert because a lot of his songs relate to what we discuss in class and also relate a lot to the readings we read.  For example he has two songs that relate to Johnson and Christensen very well.  One song is called White Privilege and it’s about privilege and being a white rapper.  He talks about in there how the culture of power in the rap industry is predominantly black.  He talks about his struggles as a white rapper and how all they see is the color of his skin and not his abilities.  He talks about how it’s not about black or white but how its about good music.  This song relates to Johnson because he is talking about the issues of privilege.

            He has another song called A wake, and it relates to what Christensen’s reading is about as well as Johnson’s.  Christensen argues that schools need to help student’s acquire tools to interpret the media and other cultural texts in order to recognize stereotypes and oppression.  It talks about how neighborhoods are so bad that not even white people will go through it because they fear something bad will happen. This song is about privilege. He has this one line in that song that relates to Johnsons piece about privilege and Rodney kings story.  He has a whole part in this song that talks about how when Rodney king was beaten and nobody cared or tried to help.  His song also relates to Johnson because he speaks about the privilege and doesn’t keep it hidden.

            He performed the song Same Love, which is about Marriage equality.  This song relates to safe spaces because he has a line in the song when he talks about how kid are in the hallways of schools feeling pain.  Also how he talks about that its okay to be different.  This song is about standing up for gay rights and fighting the stereotypes.