So as I was reading the Kids Take on "The Test" article I thought it was pretty crappy that the students were being taught TO a test. The article describes how a middle school class in Palatine, IL used Problem based Learning to develop test taking skills. I did think it was pretty smart of the teacher to connect the students to the test by showing them how it affected their school. It was almost propoganda. When the skills development was being explained it made me cringe. When you teach kids test taking skills, you arent really teaching them important skills for future use, you are really focusing on what is obviously important to teachers, money and repututation for their classroom. I understand that it allowed the kids to get better test scores and made them not think about what they were doing but.....IDK I am having a hard time justifying teaching to a test. The awesome thing is that it really motivated the kids to want to learn and actively engage in the process. All the responses put forth by students said that they had fun in school WHILE learning. That seems to be pretty hard to do sometimes. I do think PBL is a great way for kids to learn new skills and attract their attention to the classroom, I just dont agree at all with the project which this teacher chose to do the PBL on.

As I was reading this article I was trying to think about the kids from my middle school and high school who later came out. The article talked about the levels that an individual experiences homosexuality as an adolescent and I can't remember these people being open about it during these days. They definitely hid it back at school and didnt really open about until later. I am guessing this is becuz of the large stigma that homosexuality brings in rural setting. Even if they knew they were gay, most of these people would not tell any peers about it at school to avoid being made fun of. Adolescents is the time when kids are exploring their sexuality and making theirs their own. This article helped me understand when this process takes place in young people and will help me in the future to deal with students who are dealing with these changes. Hopefully there are more articles written about this, im sure I will need help dealing with students with this issue as I have not had alot of training or experience in this matter, though i do not see it being a problem for me.

Janie Ward's research paper on racial identity was a very interesting read for me. Coming from small town Iowa I have not really been faced with too many schools in which race could be a dividing factor. This article did a great job of showing me how young black people, specificially females identify themselves and how this affects their behavior at school. Some schools try to focus on the individual, this makes sense to me. Sure alot of people may be a minority, but each students individual experience with the world is how they will contect to the material and ultimately learn. Now this is not to say that it isnt important to respect and understand minority cultures, a teacher needs this knowledge about their students, but ultimately the biggest gains will come when you connect with the individual, not their group. This article also showed me how people with multiple "other" characteristics handle their unique situation. Being a female and a black person did not inhibit these girls from anything, it gave them a sense of uniqueness and the desire to show people a "positive racial identity." This article will help me as a teacher when I encounter unique students like the girls in this study.

I was wondering....

How can we make sure that we know all of the cultures, backgrounds, ethnicities that are students are?
Is it our responsiblity to get this out of students, or should the school provide us with this information?

So far I feel pretty good about our group project. The question that we were given was -

What physical, sexual, emotional, and mental developmental challenges, according to educational researchers, will middle school students face and how can the middle school English and/or Social Studies teacher best support these students, during this time?

This question works very well with our group because we were able to split it up 5 ways. I am handling the the last part of the question. This is having me think of ways to deal and support kids in regards to the challenges they are facing. So far its going well. We met as a group on Tuesday to work out the order and are independently working on our parts. I'm pretty sure that our group will do a fine job.

The first article by Mike Males was a very interesting topic to read about. It is always interesting to see how the media changes and shapes popular thinking in American culture. Males does an excellent job of debunking many of the made-up myths that attack teenagers in today's society. It is amazing to see how badly the media takes numbers and uses them to their liking. Throughout the article facts are construed by various media sources to "enlighten" the public about the growing number of teenage pregnancies and teen deaths and drug use. I think what is more interesting are the people who put out these facts. The reports usually have an agenda behind them. The purpose is usually political. If the centers and institutes can get politicians to read their reports and be shocked by the numbers the more likely they will listen to their money-making schemes at the end of the report on how to "combat" these social ills. These same politicians can be blamed for not fighting the true source of these alarming facts, poverty and unhealthy living environments. If children are kept in these situations it will increase their liklihood to become exactly what the stats say they will. But the current wave of treatment only provides short-term care which puts students in classes or therapy. Of course this is exactly what the researchers want the politicians to push! They make so much money from it!
It's really like a wheel of death. The media puts out alarming reports on TV, the politicians now need to respond, so the private sector publishes more reports for the politicians to reference and get support for their bill. But then the media picks up on the NEW numbers and the cycle continues. It really allows for the racket to continue in a never-ending motion.

The Giroux article was not as interesting to me as the first. It does shed light on the beauty pagaent industry and the problems that little girls face during and after these events. Throughout the text Giroux says that these girls are not given freedom to be kids, but are pushed into roles of being the "principal incitemtent of adult desire." This is just wrong. Placing kids in these situations does not let them develop with a very clear lense to the world. They are shadowed by makeup, hairspray, and sequense(?). Spending all their time prepping themselves and their "skills" doesnt allow for play and self-discovery that comes from interacting with people of the same age, in a non-adult evironment.
The article ends with some suggestions, and I saw atleast one that I will be able to take on. Giroux says that teachers need to tell students to look at media adverstising critically. I think I could do this as a social studies teacher. From the beginning of advertising their is always a message, going through recent history I could have students look at the ads of the time period and explain what is going on and what the producers want us to think from it.

What are some other ways that we, as future educators, can do in order to show our students the power of media and adversting?
How can we help the students think critically about culture?

Puberty

This chapter did a great job of informing me of the various pubertal processes and the impacts made on an adsolescent's life, both physically and emotionally. This information is very useful to have when thinking about how kids behave in school.
The authors bring up a great point when explaining the troubles that arise in current research. Parents, kids, and educators don't really like to talk the subject. It is an awkward stage of human life in which we all have a different way handling.
The authors go through the physical changes that happen during puberty later in the text. This is interesting info to go over a review. The authors do point out new research that shows brain growth through midadolesence. This means that the mind is expanding. What a great time to fill the vast, new expanse with knowledge!
I was very interested in the section on the timing of maturation. The article talks about how some of the negative consequences of early maturation. These include poor emotional health and engaging in adult activities.
The chapter explains how gender roles are intensified during adolescence. This is easy to see in a Middle School. This is the time when kids start to take note of the opposite sex. Boys and girls are passing notes to eachother, starting new "relationships," and awkwardly talking to each other.
The last part of the text the authors tell us the implications which puberty has on education. They say that sex ed courses need to be given to all children, in 5th or 6th grade. They also tell us that puberty may influence school achievement. This is also easy to see. If a kid is having and emotional breakdown and hardtime, he or she will not be focused on school work. They will deal with their emotions, possibly in a harmful way.
I think this chapter was a good overview of puberty and how it works with the mind and body. This knowledge is especially useful when dealing with Middle Schoolers. I do not think that this chapter is really neccesary knowledge that I need to memorize, it will be useful though to have a background in how to deal with this issue.

Kumashiro

Well, this article did a very good job of showing me not only what oppressive education is, but many ways to educate students on how to overcome the oppressive stereotypes. He laid out a his four types of anti-oppressive education in a very simple manner and assessed them very thoroughly.
His first type of anti-oppressive education of "Education for the Other" does not really solve the problem of "the other." The idea of creating separate spaces for "the Other", I think, only perpetuates these stereotypes more. I can only imagine how much students would be made fun and ridiculed when the entered into the a "queer" space. In my mind separate spaces only segregate "others" from "normal" society and only perpetuate the negative stereotypes more.
"Education about the Other" gives students the opportunity to learn about different people and cultures. Giving students knowledge will hopefully allow them to make informed decisions and attitudes toward "the other." But teachers cannot be expected to be able to give out a complete knowledge of so many "other" groups. Time is limited, resources are limited, and certain subjects must be assessed. While it is possible to include units on certain groups, some, even most groups will be left out or only taught in a very limited fashion. I do think that student need to be taught about "the other." Knowledge is power, therefore knowing something, anything about "the other" does help to create empathy.
The third approach, "Education that is Critical of Privileging and Othering," makes students look at how "other groups are oppressed and how some groups are privileged. Instructor are not only supposed to teach about "the Other," but also show students how some groups are othered and some groups are normalized. This approach allows students to learn about all types of groups, but also makes them think about how society treats certain groups and why. Showing students how society is structures allows kids to possibly challenge these structures and "normalize" a previously "othered" group.
The last approach of Kumashiro is "Education that Changes Students and Society." This type of education allows student to look at the "harmful discourses and repetition of harmful histories," that create different types of oppression. This makes students aware of what is going on around them, what types of oppression that are occurring. By making them aware they, again, will hopefully change society for the better. This approach really shoves the idea of "the other" in the face of students and makes them think and act upon this new information. This information can come as a shock to some students who may not think about oppression. These students need time to develop an understanding of the problem and given the ideas and skills needed to challenge such problems.