Brown vs. Board

More than a Bus Ride: Desegregating Champaign Schools was a radio documentary made by 15 African-American girls from Franklin Middle School and Central High School  on the 1968 desegregation of schools in Champaign, Illinois. 

They elaborated on how even though segregation was not law there, schools were still segregated because kids went to schools in their own neighborhoods. In Champaign, many of the neighborhoods were and are segregated, so the schools were too.

The documentary shows many of the problems that came along with desegregation in the schools. There were riots and fights between black and white students. There were also problems with black students adjusting to formerly white schools.

Outdoor Experiences

Working with Shelly last week was a really interesting experience because of the many unconventional and hands-on techniques she brought to the classroom experience.  Working with the compost that she brought in was a great way of learning about composting and how it can be used in one's home.  It also brought the class together in a much different and interesting manner than most teachers usually do during a first class session.

The activities she had planned outside were also a great way of creating discussion and taking advantage of the beautiful weather outside at that time. The first activity she created had us drawing small drawings using frames to create a perspective.  The main point of this activity was "change" and how constant it is around us in our everyday lives.

The second activity required us to repeat bird calls that she had come up with while blindfolded while at the same time finding our partner who was repeating the same bird call.  It was an interesting use of the outdoors and really showed the importance of the sense of sight as well as communication in an outdoor setting.

As a teacher, I will try to incorporate the outdoors as often as possible although there are probably certain lessons that are simply better suited for classroom learning.  As a social studies teacher, the outdoors won't always come in handy, but it will be great to take class trips to important governmental and historical sites for the class.

 BIRD CALLS!

Recommended Texts

As an educator, three of the most important texts to me are Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States,

Carl Sagan's TV series Cosmos,   Sagan's series and general life philosophy showed an openness and unending interest in the vastness of the universe.  At the same time, he explained science in a way that made it interesting and understandable to someone without a science background.

and the fourth season of the television series The Wire, which focuses on the education system in Baltimore.  The show's other seasons focused on the drug trade, gang violence, police units, and racism of the city, which all also play into the issue of education.  Earlier in the season, the teacher, Mr.Prezbolewski, is struggling to teach fractions to his 6th grade class.  He can't get his class to focus and most of the students seem not to care.  He is being told by the school's administration that he should be teaching to the test and needs to follow the edict laid forward by the No Child Left Behind Act.  In this clip, he figures out how to
"trick" his students into learning.

.

Reflection 1

         My learning foundation is based on a number of different scholars. First of all, Howard Zinn's work is a great influence on my understanding of history.  I first read A People's History of the United States as a sophomore in high school and it was revelatory to me then in the totally different way it presented history's events.  The perspective was not from the oppressors but rather from the oppressed.  It showed how history looked from the points of view of minorities and women.  Its impact today can be seen in the book sequels, graphic novels, and movies that have followed.

         A second influence on my passion for learning would be the library. Libraries are very useful to students and teachers.  As a kid, I would love going with my mom to the library so that I could take out an endless amount of books just by giving a nice lady a card.  As I grew up, it was a great, quiet place to get my homework done.  It was a perfect place to meet for group projects with classmates.  It was the only place I could get a long list of books that would ensure me a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. 

Libraries are an invaluable resource to both teachers and students, even now in our Internet age.  They are a powerful public resource that shouldn't be taken for granted.  As lifelong learners, we should promote the importance of libraries to our students. 

         Finally, another influence is the work of David McCullough.  He is but one historian but a perfect example of how history is the story of people.  He has written books on a number of U.S. Presidents but has managed to make them into stories of real human beings who were admirable yet had their faults as well.

About Me

I was born and in Chicago and grew up on the northwest side of the city in a predominantly Polish and Hispanic neighborhood. For my grade school years, I went to a small Catholic school, St. Ladislaus, a block away from my home. After eighth grade, I moved to Wilmette, a suburb of Chicago, where I went to New Trier High School. During high school, I ran track and field and played some intramural basketball and volleyball. I also wrote a bit for the school newspaper. I then decided to spend the next four years of my life at Indiana University in Bloomington, where I received a degree in History and Spanish.

After graduating, I came back home to Wilmette where I wasn't quite sure what to do next. I had worked as an intern for a sociological study for a few weeks and over the summer worked at the summer camp I had spent my last few summers. After some soul searching and time wasting, I got a job working as a waiter and then lucked out with an internship at a public relations firm in the city. After realizing that the job was far from what I wanted to be doing with my life, I decided to enroll at DePaul University to become a certfied teacher. I had always loved working with kids at the summer camp and knew it'd be a great fit for me.

I'm in my first year at DePaul's School of Education and I'm hoping to teach Social Studies at the junior high and high school level.  This year at DePaul, I've worked with America Reads as a team leader and tutor, where groups of DePaul students go on work on reading and comprehension with a number of inner-city Catholic schools.  It's been an interesting experience to view these grade schools along with my observations at Walter Payton High School, Wilmette Junior High School, and Johnson College Prep to view and reflect on the range of educational experiences going on in our city.