First gentleman: "if you're name is Rodriguez, then you must be spanish." Second Gentleman:"Actually I'm white and I don't speak a word of Spanish"

NAME OF AUTHOR and TEXT 

Richard Rodriguez and ARIA

AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT

Rodriguez may perhaps kind of mention that children whom do not speak english in the home, must learn to speak english so that they may compete in the real world. Unfortunately, those students may lose a feature that is part of their essence, their individuality.

QUOTES

“What I needed to learn in school was that I had the right and the obligation-to speak the public language of los gringos. “

Here, the author states that he wanted to speak the so called public language as he considered spanish his private language.

“What I did not believe was that I could speak a single public language. “

yeah, I am not sure I am following this. 

“Matching the silence I started hearing in public was a new quiet at home. The family's quiet was partly due to the fact that, as we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents. Sentences needed to be spoken slowly when a child addressed his mother or father. (Often the parent wouldn't understand.] The child would need to repeat himself. (Still the parent misunderstood.) The young voice, frustrated, would end up saying, 'Never mind'-the subject was closed. “

I have to say it. I find it hard to believe that they lost their “closeness” over learning a new language. If the family was truly close before, they should’ve made sure that it continued. I feel like on particular incident really showed just how “close” they were.

“One night his children and even his wife helplessly giggled at his garbled English pronunciation of the Catholic Grace before Meals. Thereafter he made his wife recite the prayer at the start of each meal, even on formal occasions, when there were guests in the house.” I think what happened was too many incidents like this happened, and as the man of the house he decided he couldn’t take being teased and therefore just shut his mouth. Which would make the mother the head speaker and perhaps changing the dynamics of the family structure. One thing that I feel like should have happened here, was more understanding, helping and guiding for all the family members struggling to learn this language. When you think about it, while trying to teach your toddlers how to say words, you do not belittle them when they make mistakes, otherwise the child will likely decide to stay mute. I was five years old when I finally learned how to speak clear english. If people were constantly putting me down while i was learning it, I’d shut up too. And if people were constantly saying nevermind when talking to me, I’d have no idea what the hell was going on. So maybe this guy should have realized that his father was TRYING his best instead of making fun of him and ultimately quieting his dear ol’ dad down.

“But the bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation. “

here i think he is trying to reiterate that assimilation is important to an extent but that unfortunately bilingualists do not think so and find it despairingly a shame. can you tell I am getting tired? I think nyquil is not working too well either.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/POINTS TO SHARE

I am not even going to lie. This whole business about assimilation kind of puts me on the boat dock a lot. When I think about education in America, I try to think about what are we supposed to be teaching our kids, how should we be teaching them. When they come out of school year after year, what have they learned. What do they need to learn? So in the essence of language in our schools, and the amount of kids who do not speak english as their first language, and the hundreds of languages there are in this world. So where is the line drawn in the language department. Is it important to teach spanish speaking students in spanish. Or if we’re supposed to assimilate them, why should we? Do we even do that? Do we give the students their history books in spanish instead of english? Then how do we teach the german students, the african students, the laotian students? I think it’s weird that when we think of languages in this country we think of English and Spanish and when we think of races, we think black or white. I try to understand all the ups and downs of teaching and learning. The teachers and the students constantly trying to get past culture barriers and language barriers, and I’d like to see how some of the other countries deal with this, or don’t deal with this. I’d like someone to say HEY WE KNOW THE PERFECT WAY TO TEACH EVERY STUDENT ON THIS PLANET REGARDLESS OF RACE, ECONOMIC STATUS, CULTURE, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, DISABILITY AND EVERY OTHER CATEGORY OUT THERE IN THIS REALM. Are we grasping at air, struggling every day to find a way, THE way to give every student what they need in order to learn and catapult past their potential learning ability. is “EQUITABLE” teaching really a possibility? For once, I’d like an article we read to not only say “hey this is what is wrong with us, here is how we fix it.” Is that even a possibility, or just wishful thinking.

kozol/goldberg... yikes.

bear with me, I am tired and sore. 

NAME OF AUTHOR and TEXT 

Bernard Goldberg and 110 People: Jonathan Kozol

AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT 

Author specifically blames pretty much one guy, Jonathan Kozol, as the main reason kids these days are not growing up patriotic. That there is something seriously wrong with the way we are teaching our kids in America when our students aren’t fond of their own home country.

QUOTES

There’s a place when the author is talking about how kids these days have no idea about America’s history and no American Pride. He says “How did it happen?... It's a complicated question, But an excellent place to start is with one man who, despite his considerable popularity in some circles, you may not know. His name is Jonathan Kozol” (page 294). Essentially, he credits this guy for students not having any american pride. Goldberg talks about his “liberalness” a lot, babbling about Cuba and China

Another one I like...”Kozol is a fierce opponent of traditional learning, which he says deadens children's souls” (page 294) Since Goldberg doesn’t really talk about what teaching tactic  Kozol uses it is kind of hard to form an opinion on this. But if he is referring to the traditional style of learning that doesn’t reflect students understanding of material, I still don’t think it “deadens” the souls. 

“A typical chapter in On Being a Teacher is called  "Disobedience Instruction"-about how important it is for students to have skepticism of authority.” (page 295)

I never needed to learn how to be skeptical of authority, I kind of got that on my own. Everybody knows there are times where authority figures are ruthless power happy grumpy people who need to become a hermit and leave society alone. I just don’t think teachers need to teach such a subject.

To which his friend replied: "Do they have to love their country? Is that a requirement?"  - If you don’t like it, get out. Canada is just up north.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/POINTS TO SHARE

I kind of agree with Goldberg to a point. It was disturbing to me when some of my classes spend so much time telling me what is wrong with America. I feel like it goes back to the whole complain about what’s wrong with your life instead of being grateful for what you do have. America is not perfect. No country is. But when you spend so much time standing in the rain, you never see the sun.

NAME OF AUTHOR and TEXT 

Jonathan Kozol and Amazing Grace

AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT

I am super tired so don’t argue with me if I am wrong

I think kozol is more or less pointing out that people who are born poor don’t stay poor because they are lazy, stupid or misbehaved. That sometimes the system fails miserably in helping those who deserve it.  that people who believe and do everything they are supposed to do somehow lose anyway because of circumstances beyond their control.

QUOTES

"If poor people behaved rationally," says Lawrence Mead, a professor of political science at New York University, "they would seldom be poor for long in the first place." 

Sometimes poor people manage to get out of the economic class they were born in. However, probably the most of the people born into poor economic status never get out. 

“At the elementary school that serves the neighborhood across the avenue, only seven of 800 children do not qualify for free school lunches. "FIve of those seven', says the principal "get reduced-price lunches”

Growing up the way I did, where most people try to avoid acting like they get reduced lunch, these kids all either get free or reduced. I wonder if their food is any good though.

"I don't think my mother's asking for something she does not deserve. She worked hard all her life. She's a very honest person. She's kind to other people. She's a nicer person than a lot of the rich people that I notice on TV. She gives more of herself to other people. “

Here is a son who is talking about his mother. She lost her SSI benefits and he wants to know why. His mother is a great woman, and he cannot understand why she cannot get the benefits she needs, and definitely deserve. He looks at the people of power as the system screws those who need it the most, and wonders do they not care? Why should they care, it’s not their life. It’s people they don’t know, people they don’t care about.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/POINTS TO SHARE

I am not really sure how this article pertains to Goldberg’s in the sense that goldberg talks about kozol’s teaching style whereas this article is stories about people who live in harlem. Kozol stories were nice to read. It always stinks though, reading about people in this country that we can’t bother to help. We have to look good so we ship billions of dollars to other countries to help, but we can’t help our people first.

whatever I think you should know about me...

Okay, so I had to make a blog for FNED 346. This is my first ever blog. I am not crazy about having a blog because I have been anti-blog since they became very popular. I am a Physical Education/Health Major. It is my second year here at Rhode Island College. I live in Mass. currently but graduated high school in Arizona. I play rugby, love sports, working out, reading, and running. I coach youth basketball. My favorite t.v. shows are Family Guy and Sportscenter. I watch college football and basketball religiously. My favorite teams are Michigan Wolverines and Florida Gators for football, Duke, Arizona, and B.C. for basketball.

Celtics Rock.