It only took me 2 weeks....

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

but I finally got my blog to get claimed by Bloglovin.  What a pain to get my blog's RSS feeds to work.  I was nearly going to throw in the towel and then Eureka, I found my error.


Happy Blogging!

The voices of our children... Hooray for Cherrios!!!!

Thank You Cherrios for standing your ground!!

          While blog browsing, thanks to Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies  I saw this YouTube video response to criticism of a cute commercial that Cherrios has broadcasted nationally.   I love the reaction of the kids and how our  Multicultural society is developing.  At its heart our society is becoming one of tolerance and understanding.  Children are becoming more 'color-blind' and its should be applauded!  Since the elimination of desegregation from our schools starting with Brown vs. Ed., teachers are helping children to work, play and learn from each other, regardless of the color of their skin.

          We have grown so much in the last 50 years, but unfortunately YouTube had to turn off the comments to the video because of the hatred of few adults.  They obviously are ignorant to today's 21 century world, and would rather live in the stone age.  Enough said...I'm stepping off my soap-box now.

BTW- here are some statistics from the U.S. Census (2010)
There were approximately 308 million people who answered the Census.
They identified themselves in the following ways:
White - 72%
Hispanic/Latino - 16%
Black - 14%
Asian - 5%
Other (Pacific Islander, Alaskan, Native American) - 2%
Census.gov

          I understand the Census data doesn't add to 100%, it is because participants can check multiple boxes to identify themselves by race.  Especially in the Hispanic/Latino community who identify themselves as both White or Black under Race and as Hispanic/Latino for Ethnicity.

         Of course these are National statistics.  In urban cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Miami, the stats are quite different.  We as teachers should be more alert and aware of the faces staring back at us in the classroom.... but that is for another day.

Denise

Reflections on Hip-Hop culture, values and schools

Cultural Collision and Collusion (2012)  by Floyd Beachum and Carlos McCray

           I had the privilege of meeting Dr. McCray at Fordham University last week to talk about his book.   Growing up in the early days of Hip-Hop, I was really intrigued to read more on the draw this music has on today's students.  Let's face it, it is the music of the young and it surrounds our students' lives.  Music defines a culture, and hip-hop is no different.  And while and I am not a fan of the current genre, this book gave me some insight on the urban student and their background.   This book made me question so many things of my early pre-service education at other schools, and wondered why aren't there more classes offered to learn about the cultural background of students in the classroom, not just theory and subject content.  Not as if theories of Maslow and Bloom are not important for pre-service teachers but books like this one peels away the cultural layers of the learner as well.  It identifies the draw that the Hip-Hop culture has on our students' likes, attitudes and experiences in today's world.  

            Starting from the history of Africans Americans during slavery to today's Hyperghetto's and moving into the criticisms for 'acting-white' and 'Thug theology', minority students have a cultural collision and collusion that is quite different from their White classmates.  Their views of history, economics and education are rooted deeply in their experiences as a whole.  And while teachers are known to be 'color-blind' and give the same opportunities to all of their students regardless of their color, it is still very important to see why a minority Black or Latino student historically does not perform at the same rate as other students. This book also addresses the culture wars of Hip-hop and schools.

             My only criticism of this book is that I would of liked to have read anecdotal situations of students of today and how they view Hip-Hop as a culture of their learning.  I would of like to have read their ideas on how to create a more culturally inclusive classroom that will help them with their learning.  

The Adventure Begins....

Here is the start of my blogging adventure. Trolling though such wonderful blogs out there for teachers, I have decided to poke my toes into the waters as well. There is only 1 month left until school begins, and while I should be preparing for getting back to class, I am actually taking a 5-day crash graduate course in Diversity in the Classroom. This class has been so eye-opening and extremely informative. I am severely overworked with all of the reading and journal writing, I love it! I hope to be sharing what I have learned and document lessons and that I have tried in class.

Happy Blogging!!