Final Blog Post

For my final blog, I would like to reflect on the semester as a whole.

Coming into TE 448 this semester, I was expecting a course similar to TE 348, which I took last year. 348 was a useful course which made me aware of many diverse types of children's books. We did a lot of analyzing of them, however, I feel that the work we did with the literature in 448 has been much more relevant for my current and future life. I feel that I have become a much more active student on this campus, attending events and lectures that were required for the course, but ended up being not only informative, but enjoyable. Attending these events made me want to join more groups on campus and attend more events and lectures on my own time, not just because I might get extra credit points for them.

I feel inspired through the topics we explored this semester, though I think we only skimmed the surface of each diverse group of people. I would like to delve much deeper into these types of literature for future use in my classroom, as well as for the simple fact of expanding my cultural knowledge. Doing this will make me a more active participant in society, understanding social issues that concern me and the people I know and love. It will make my voice as a citizen more meaningful and strong.

My favorite two weeks of the semester were the LGBT week and the People with Disabilities week. I think I enjoyed these the most because I knew the least about them before coming into the semester. At least, I felt I had studied these two cultures the least throughout my education. I still have a lot of questions about these groups, mainly for people that are hesitant to open their minds to differences. One of these questions is, how can you support one oppressed cultural group but put down another?

I think in order to tackle these issues, the key is education, education, education! People need to know the issues and be aware of some of the terrible things that are still going on today that oppress certain cultural groups that go ignored every minute. After taking this class, I really plan on being more of an activist for the issues I care about.

Reflection Post

For my final project, I reviewed the following four books featuring deaf characters: Can You Hear a Rainbow?: The Story of a Deaf Boy Named Chris by Jamee Riggio Heelan, Moses Goes to School by Isaac Millman, A Button in Her Ear by Ada B. Litchfield, and Dad and Me in the Morning by Patricia Lakin. The most prominent theme I noticed in reviewing children’s literature featuring deaf characters was one of acceptance and similarities between deaf or hard-of-hearing children and hearing children. All four books, featured deaf or hard of hearing young children who experienced the world in different ways than hearing children, yet their experiences were all portrayed in a positive light. This was important to me because I really believe that equality in diversity has to start at a young age. Once students have stereotypes set in their minds, it can be very difficult to reverse those. For this reason, accurate depictions of very diverse groups of people, including the deaf community, are imperative for building an accepting environment within a classroom that will extend to the outside world.

Professional Resource Review

Children's literature for the primary inclusive classroom: Increasing understanding of children with hearing impairments
Nancy D Turner, Maryann Traxler. American Annals of the Deaf. Washington:Dec 1997. Vol. 142, Iss. 5, p. 350-355 (6 pp.)

This article discusses the inclusion of deaf students in hearing classrooms. The authors’ main claim seems to be that “all members of the lass must feel that they are equal members of the classroom community and that their needs can and will be met.” They discuss a few ways that deaf or hard of hearing students can benefit by this inclusion rather than a type of segregation into an all deaf environment. These ways are “by (1) having appropriate role models; (2) participating in the same inclusive, diverse communities that they will share as adults; and (3) establishing a network of friends and acquaintances that will increase the likelihood of their success in the community.” While I can definitely see the importance of these three points, I do not necessarily disagree with the concept of an all-deaf learning environment. However, each of these three benefits are highly relevant and could even be achieved regardless of classroom environment with an integration into a hearing/deaf mixed community.

For the purposes of this article, though, I think deaf characters in literature successfully function as a gateway to understanding and acceptance by hearing students. This is explicit in the article: “Developing awareness and improving the attitudes of children without disabilities toward children with disabilities, …The use of children's literature is one way to develop this awareness.” The article also makes note of a disturbing and all-too-popular concept about deaf and hard of hearing students, that could also apply to ESL students. That is that “limited use of language is often mistakenly associated with cognitive impairment.” For this reason, deaf characters in the literature used to introduce hearing children to the deaf world must be accurate and positive portrayals that are also validating for deaf students. Finally, the authors included a list of short reviews and classroom ideas of use for literature with deaf characters.

As a future teacher, and someone who has taken a sign language course, as well as visited the Michigan School for the Deaf for a day of observation and professional development, I can absolutely understand the emphasis the authors have placed on the accurate portrayal of deaf characters in children’s literature in order to begin to foster acceptance of these types of differences in hearing children at a young age. Deafness can occur from birth, suddenly, or gradually for a variety of reasons including genetics and incidents. People who are born or become deaf are no less competent or intelligent than a hearing person. This is a concept I believe to be ignored far too often in public hearing school systems.

Can You Hear a Rainbow?

Heelan, Jamee Riggio. Can You Hear a Rainbow?: The Story of a Deaf Boy Named Chris. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers, Ltd., 2002.

Jamee Riggio Heelan, the author of this children’s book, graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. in occupational therapy. With many years experience working at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago specializing in pediatric rehabilitation, Heelan is certainly an informed author on the topic of Deafness in Society and/or Literature. This book is evidence of the type of work Heelan has dedicated her career to: treating children and educating others about childhood disabilities.

This story is told from the first person perspective of a young boy named Chris who is deaf. The reader gets an intimate look into Chris’ family, school and social life, which is reflective of what is socially characterized as a normal elementary aged life. Chris explains that he experiences some aspects of life differently because of his deafness, such as smelling dinner to know it is ready, and using an alarm clock that “shakes [his] pillow” instead of making a noise. The way these things are portrayed, however, Chris is not at all presented as subordinate in any way. Rather, he offers understanding into the world of a Deaf child who is submersed in a hearing/deaf mixed world. His family signs and speaks, he goes to school with hearing and deaf students, and has both hearing and deaf friends. We see that while Chris’ life may be different from our own, his deafness does not hinder him, nor does he have any cognitive impairment as a result of being born deaf. Chris even plays on a soccer team with hearing kids and gets some assistance from his mom who signs to him from the sidelines. He claims, “Most kids I play against never even realize that I am deaf,” which further informs the reader, who may not know any deaf people, that deaf people are the same as anyone else, they just can’t hear the same!

The illustrations in this book are mostly photographs with parts of the picture drawn in. The fact that the pictures are photographs make Chris’ world and life more relatable to the reader. They depict Chris as a real, regular boy, just like them, their friend, brother, cousin, classmate, etc.

Moses Goes to School

Millman, Isaac. Moses Goes to School. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2000.

Isaac Millman, Pratt Institute graduate, describes the purpose of his book in his Author’s Note: to enlighten his audience about the fact that “Children who are deaf and heard of hearing are very much like children who hear. They play with their friends, help their families, and sometimes misbehave.” They take care of their pets and go to school. In school, they learn to read and write and do sports, put on plays sings songs and go on class trips.” Millman successfully achieves his goal through the eyes of his protagonist, Moses, a young deaf boy who attends a public school for the deaf. We see how Moses and his classmates “communicate in sign language,” learn technological skills, and practice “reading and writing.” The reader gets a special look into the bi-lingual aspects of the deaf community. Most people probably do not realize that American Sign Language (ASL) is structured differently than English, so ‘speakers’ of both can speak two languages, which is very impressive in itself. The activities of Moses’ school day are shown as fun and educational as the students write letters to their pen pals, and sign to the popular song Take Me Out to the Ballgame. His school experience is portrayed as very relatable and not at all subordinate.

The illustrations in this book are detailed drawings, showing people signing to each other during various daily activities. Characters in the book are very diverse: of the ten students in Moses’ class, two are Asian, two are African American, one is Pakistani, and one is Latino. Furthermore, Millman included sign-language diagrams on every few pages to help his readers “begin to learn a few words in American Sign Language.”

After having visited the Michigan School for the Deaf, I see this book as a positive reflection of a deaf school environment. Students in the classroom I visited learned the same material as in a public hearing classroom. Faculty members were both deaf and hearing, and all signed ASL, just as in Millman’s book, Moses Goes to School.

A Button in Her Ear

Litchfield, Ada B.. A Button in Her Ear. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company, 1976.

In her book, A Button in Her Ear, Ada B. Litchfield tells the story of a girl named Angela who is hard of hearing and discovers this through her gradual loss of hearing. She often misunderstands her friends and family, which are the indicators of her hearing loss. After visiting her doctor and an audiologist, Angela gets a hearing aid, which she calls a “magic button” that helps her hear what people around her are saying to her. In her Note about the story, Litchfield explains that hearing aids do not work for every person who experiences hearing loss: “children with more severe hearing loss may need training in using visual clues and in their own speech production. If loss is profound, other means of communication using visual clues, sign language, and finger spelling may be employed.” Angela is presented in a relatable way for children who go to school and play sports just like she does. Perhaps the best part to support acceptance of deaf or hard of hearing children by hearing children is near the end when Angela’s teacher introduces Angela’s presentation of her hearing aid to the class by saying, “Just as Ann and Doug and John and I are wearing glasses to help us see better, so Angela is wearing a hearing aid to help her hear better.” Students can see through this that just because someone is wearing a hearing aid does not make them any less competent, as the aid functions in a similar way to something as accepted as glasses. We see that Angela accepts her hearing loss in a positive way with support from the adults in her life and continues to lead a normal life of a young girl, going to school, playing sports and playing with friends.

Dad and Me in the Morning

Lakin, Patricia. Dad and Me in the Morning. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Company, 1994.

Patricia Lakin tells a story of a father and a son with a strong relationship who get up early in the morning to share the special experience of a beautiful sunrise. The son in this story is not explicitly described as deaf or hard of hearing, but it is evident in the fact that he uses a “special alarm clock” that flashes, wears hearing aids, is able to “speech-read”, and communicates with his father using sign language. The illustrations and descriptive words in the story portray this father and son to be similar to any hearing father and son who may be reading the story together, or just the same as any reader, for that matter. Just because the son is deaf does not hinder his experience of the wonders of the early morning world. He notices a bunny, smells pine trees, feels the slap of his sandals, and the cold water off the beach. He can smell the rocks, see and feel hermit crabs, and finally, see the beauty of a sunrise. We see that he experiences the world in the same way that we do, just more quietly than we may. The love in the father and son’s relationship also strengthens the sensitivity and normality of these characters. Without blatantly describing his deafness, Lakin portrays this deaf character in a positive light, highlighting his many other senses and abilities to communicate them.

Milk

Last week, I went to the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak to see the movie Milk starring Sean Penn and James Franco. It is the life story of Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician in the U.S. He was elected city supervisor in Castro in California in 1977, supporting gay and minority rights. I do not want to give anything away about the movie, but his story is so powerful. It also fit in really well with the book we just read, Boy Meets Boy, and the video we watched in class last week, Its Elementary. Also, it seemed to mirror some of the current struggles that homosexual Californians are unfortunately experiencing today with Proposition 8 - which, by the way, I find absolutely appalling. I cannot believe people would actually strip these rights from humans... but I suppose that should be saved for another post...

Anyway, I really encourage everyone to see the film. Not only are the actors wonderful, you will be moved by the story line, as well as Penn's immaculate portrayal of the struggles, faith and persistence of Harvey Milk.  

*Below: Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk, Above: an actual photo of Harvey Milk*

LGBT Acceptance in the Classroom

While reading David Levithan's novel, Boy Meets Boy, for this weeks Questioning The Text paper, there was a particular passage that I noticed that did not fit within the context of my paper that I wanted to address. In the second chapter, after Paul's kindergarden teacher made this comment on his report card, "Paul is definitely gay and has very good sense of self," she had this conversation with him: 

"Mrs. Benchly explained a little more to me - the whole boys-liking-girls thing. I can't say I understood. Mrs. Benchly asked me if I'd noticed that marriages were mostly made up of men and women... Now Mrs. Benchly was telling me something much bigger. Some sort of silly global conspiracy. 

'But that's not how I feel,' I protested. ...'How I feel is what's right...right?' 

'For you, yes,' Mrs. Benchly told me. 'What you feel is absolutely right for you. Always remember that.'"

As a future teacher, this passage really caught my eye. It forced me to think about the realities of the future and that I will probably be asked plenty of questions that are difficult to answer or explain. I especially like the last line of the passage in which Paul's teacher encourages him and shows him true acceptance in her classroom. 

While I do not consider myself to be homophobic, I do realize that I need to educate myself a lot more on many cultural issues, including LGBT, to be an accepting, respectful teacher who will offer my students every opportunity possible. As teachers, we must realize that we help shape the lives and mentalities of the students in our classrooms, whether we intend to or not. We must be more than teachers for every individual student - we must be mentors and a support system. 

To close, I offer a quote from the McLean article, Out of the Closet and Onto the Bookshelves, that accompanied this week's novel that really drives home the point of this post: "Heterosexual teachers need to deal with their own homophobia before they can help heterosexual students deal with theirs, and certainly before they can help build the self-esteem of their gay and lesbian students." (McLean, 195)

The Breaking Point

On Thursday, November 20, I attended an event put on by the RHA called "The Breaking Point." The focus of the event was on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression. The audience was presented with a video and a panel of students and an adult representative of the MSU counseling center who discussed the issues in their lives with which they struggle the most and how they deal with the stress, anxiety and depression that are often times the repercussions of these issues. It allowed me to take a step back from my own stresses and realize that everyone on campus has issues that are difficult to deal with. 

I felt the concerns being addressed at this event directly related to our TE 448 class because the voices I heard were speaking out about feeling like an outcast because of their race, culture or sexual orientation. Students also spoke physical attributes they cannot control (i.e. clinical depression) that presented an obstacle in their lives that many people cannot or will not try to understand, much like some individuals we learned about in class when exploring various persons with special needs. 

I was constantly reminded of the sort of added pressures and stresses that the characters deal with because to their cultural backgrounds in the multicultural literature we have been reading in TE 448. Attending this event was one more step to help me open my mind to the realities of oppression and stereotyping in the world around me. I saw how people in the same room as me are forced to deal with obstacles and challenges similar to what we have been exploring. This means that there will absolutely be students in my classroom who experience the same things and I need to be equipped and ready to teach these students in an equal and accepting way. Providing a safe environment for every learner just might be one more step in preventing these issues from causing so much stress in the lives of young adult college students, like those that I saw at this event. 

LGBT Event: Gwen Araujo

On Friday, November 14, I went to an LGBT event about the terrifying murder of Gwen Araujo. I had never heard about this before, but what I learned was absolutely horrendous. To start the seminar, we watched two videos. The first was a personal account of the murder and funeral of Gwen, which was made by a transgender friend. It was very heartwrenching. I am really glad that we were shown such an intimate video first because I felt an immediate connection to Gwen and her family. The second video we watched was a recording of news coverage of the murder and investigation. This video was really informational. This was really beneficial so we did not have to ask these questions to the speaker. Also, there was a lifetime movie made about Gwen, which I really would like to watch. It is called "A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story."

For those reading this post that do not know Gwen's story, here is a brief recap: Gwen Araujo was a young transgender girl who was brutally murdered at 17 years old by four men in Newark, CA. At a party, they asked her if she was a boy or a girl, held her down, removed her clothes, and upon discovering that she was transgender, beat her and strangled her to death. (See links at end of blog for more information)

The speaker was Sylvia Guerrero, the mother of Gwen Araujo. Hearing her speak about the murder of her daughter was really emotional and unbelievable. She told us of her life after Gwen's death: how she has coped, that she has been telling her story all over the country and working so hard as an advocate for the LGBT community. She said that she has been changing laws in California to protect and support members of the LGBT community. I was amazed at the strength of this woman, being able to speak so openly about the unjust death of her daughter. 

Before attending this event, I did not really know much or understand what I did know about transgender people. Seeing the videos and listening to the speaker, though, I feel so much more knowledgeable and comfortable with people who identify themselves as transgender. I could see just through the video clips and by listening to Sylvia Guerrero that Gwen was a young girl just like me, living her life, expressing herself in her own personal way. There is no reason in the entire world that someone else should have even judged her, let alone taken her life into their own hands. I was appalled when listening to the accounts of Gwen's death and I felt inspired by this event to be more proactive in my community about issues involving diversity. I really would like to continue to attend events, meetings, rallies, etc. about LGBT and other issues that we have covered in this class. 

Informational links:

- www.transgenderlawcenter.org/gwen/

- www.gwenaraujo.blogspot.com

- www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/movies/girl-me-gwen-araujo-story

Autism is a World

I really enjoyed watching the movie Autism is a World, about Sue Rubin, a 26 year old woman who has autism and is able to descriptively communicate what it is like to have autism, how she felt growing up, and what has been most helpful for her. 

I am currently in the MSU elementary education program, but I am greatly considering getting my masters degree in special education. This movie was just one more thing to motivate me to do so: I could not help but be overwhelmed with emotion, pride, and happiness for Sue as she excelled in college, and for the many people with disabilities that she inspired at her conference. 

Here is a related article that I came across the other day in the waiting room at the doctor's office:  (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/20/parents-push-for-autism-coverage/)

As far as this article goes in relation to the documentary,  Autism is a World, it seemed that Sue Rubin received a lot of funding and help from the government so that she could afford the 24 hour help she needed. This article really makes it clear how difficult it must be for families that cannot receive the kind of help that Sue gets to help their children. I know that if I were in their situation as a parent of a child with autism without sufficient funding to best help my child, I would be beyond frustrated! I think it is important to think about all of these things now so that I can be prepared for whatever the future holds for me. 

Blindness

When Cheryl showed us the trailer for the movie Blindness, I was rather intrigued. At first, I thought the movie looked really good. The first minute or so of the trailer looked very interesting. It did seem controversial, but I still really thought it looked good. It made me think about what it would be like if I went blind overnight. As the trailer continued, though, my opinion changed. People in the movie who become blind are shown as being quarantined and animalistic. I was pretty appalled that this could be acceptable for a big screen movie. I did a little reading up on the issue and found that, as Cheryl had described, blind people of America do not approve of this movie, nor would I expect them to. I think it is disturbing that a big screen movie like this with so many popular actors is out that makes a particular population of people - in this case, blind people - feel like they have to defend themselves as human beings. "Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: ...We are not helpless children or immoral, degenerate monsters; we are teachers, lawyers, mechanics, plumbers, computer programmers, and social workers." (http://www.nfb.org/nfb/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=368)

Perhaps people involved in mainstream media should act more as leaders, models and people to look up to, rather than instigate controversy that harms many citizens of our country.

Response to "How is blogging going?"

Blogging is not something I regularly do outside of coursework for this and one other course I in which I am enrolled through MSU's college of education program. Sometimes I think it is a little difficult to remember that I need to post in my blog, so I appreciate reminder emails :). While blogging on a regular basis is something that I think is taking me a little while to get used to, I feel that it is useful for a couple reasons. I think it is a great way to get my thoughts out on 'paper' which organizes them. Also, it allows me to reflect on the past weeks session and our readings for that week so that I am ready to contribute in the coming class session. Finally, I like being able to look back on my recorded thoughts from previous posts. I think it will be a good way to document my learning through the semester, and will be a good habit to get into for my future in education.

Reflecting on Al-Hazza/Lucking

While reading the Al-Hazza/Lucking article, The Minority of Suspicion: Arab Americans, I came across one quote in particular that stood out to me near the end of the article. "To increase fair treatment of all minorities, teachers and administrators should try to ensure that Middle Easterners are represented fairly in textbooks and other reading material throughout the school curriculum. There must be a vigilant and ongoing evaluation of materials for negative stereotypes." This was an important quote for me for two reasons. First of all, I liked it because it made me reflect on the types of representations of Middle Easterners that were represented to me when I was in elementary school. Honestly, looking back, I cannot really remember any history lessons or even stories with the main character being a Middle Easterner. I think this says some negative things about the amount of multicultural literature that was provided for me and my classmates. It also encourages me to provide more than enough for my future classroom.

Secondly, the quote made me think of the discussion and video we watched last week about Native Americans. Specifically, it reminded me of the part in the movie that directly related derogatory Indian sports team names to other outlandish stereotypes like Sambo. It is really sad that there has not been a "vigilant and ongoing evaluation" of the team names we choose and cheer today.

Diverse Lit.: Insiders or Outsiders?

I think that diverse literature should be reserved for  'insider' authors only. Not to stifle freedom of the press, but to accurately and respectfully represent an entire culture. I do not use the term 'entire' lightly, because if someone - child or not - reads just one book about a particular culture, that my be the only source they have for creating generalizations, which, as Cortes describes, can easily turn into harmful stereotypes. I think it is important for minority groups to voice their own experiences, rather than read an interpretation of a culture by a majority party. Bishop's article Selecting Literature for a Multicultural Curriculum addresses this issue quite nicely: "the father a writer's background, knowledge, and experiences are from the culture of the person or people about whom he or she is writing, the greater the necessity for the author to fill the cultural gaps, the greater the effort needed to do so, and the greater the risks of mistakes." (Bishop, 17) I think this quote brings out the true issue at hand: accuracy. Is it truly accurate to write about anyone else's life experience but your own? I have a hard time arguing that it would be, which is why, for my initial thoughts on this issue, I think 'insiders' should be writing diverse literature.