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Final Site-Sit

Submitted by hirakismail on Tue, 12/11/2012 - 8:16pm

Rhoads Pond-Hira's Site Reflections

I decided I would observe Rhoads Pond this last time with my eyes closed. After the wonderful experience of "seeing" the campus with Carmen, I had the desire to do the same with my site-"sit."

It was unnerving! Especially the last part. The first part was still calm. I took a deep breath, dropped my bag, closed my eyes, and went. I had my hands in front of me. It was really pretty cold but I didn't want to wear my gloves because that would numb my sense of touch which I frankly couldnt' afford. Walking my site "blind" was a bit intimidating. I didn't have the reassurance of a 15 person class to hold onto. But I could go at my own pace which helped. The first place I reached was the tree I had initially chosen as my spot to sit in the beginning of the semester, the one situated right outside the pond fence. This whole endeavor was interesting because it was a place that I am so familiar with now visually. This was a test of that familiarity. As I felt the branches, I found it soothing to have something to hold onto. I surprised myself by knowing the shape of the tree pretty well. I reached up and grabbed onto branches I knew were there; as I slowly circled the tree I guessed the location of the bumps and the branches and knew when to duck underneath an overhanging part. I definitely leaned on it at one point, in a sort of hug. I was able to recognize where the extra growth was and use that to orient myself when I started leaving the tree to walk toward the fence.

Abby field notes 7

Submitted by asweeney on Tue, 12/11/2012 - 1:19pm

What? I worked individually with Child F because the teacher said that he did not know how to draw his letters, which is something that the rest of the class was working on at the carpet. It took SO MUCH COAXING on my part until Child F even let go of his white board marker to begin. In the beginning, I drew a letter and then asked him to draw the same one (we were actually only working on the lower case “a”) but he would just start scribbling. Eventually, every time he drew it correctly I whisper-yelled “BAM!” which he thought was funny. It encouraged him to fill an entire white board with lower case “a” and then half of a board with lower case “b”s. During this entire session, I was basically chanting “BAM BAM BAM”

Later, when the entire class was sitting down to write stories, I tried to help this same student again. He refused to accept my help or listen to what I was saying. He squirmed excessively, got up from his seat, scribbled all over his work, and got yelled at by the teacher. Even though he had been receptive to my help about 40 minutes before this, in this setting where the entire class was working on the same thing, he seemed inclined to refuse to participate and create a mini-scene in the classroom (note: this is the same student who took off all his clothes on my first visit to the classroom).

Abby Field notes 6

Submitted by asweeney on Tue, 12/11/2012 - 1:19pm

What? The volunteer grandmother interrupts the teacher and talks very informally to the students, often scolding the ones she knows but not those that she does not know well. On one of my visits, she scolds her granddaughter very loudly and rather aggressively in front of the entire class. During this same visit (# 7), she tells a different child that she knows to “shut up.” Similarily, she also reminds the teacher of which children in the class have “bad tempers” or “bad attitutes.”

So What? They dynamic between the lead teacher and the volunteer grandmother seems strange to me, as though the lead teacher resents the grandmother but the grandmother wishes very much to be heard and have authority. It is difficult for me not to judge some of the grandmother’s behaviors---like the “shut up” comment and some of the aggressive or mean things she says to other students that she knows in the class (I’m guessing they all live in the same neighborhood”) about calling their parents or keeping their temper in control-----because they just seem terribly inappropriate. Publically labeling certain kids as “bad” seems inappropriate teacher behavior, but the grandmother does this all the time. One of the class mottos is to be “a peaceful problem solver” but I don’t feel like either the teacher-grandmother or grandmother-students relationship is providing a good example of this for the students.

"Value the opportunity to think unguided by the world"

Submitted by Anne Dalke on Tue, 12/11/2012 - 1:01pm

I was reading my Meeting's newsletter this morning. It began w/ this
(so relevant!) quote: Don’t feel restricted by the silence; it is there
to set you free from the pressures of life… Value the opportunity to
think unguided by the world. Learn what you feel you need to know,
let other information pass. No moment of silence is ever a waste of time.
(Rachel Needham, 1987, Quaker Faith and Practice, The Yearly Meeting
of the Religious Society of Friends [Quakers] in Britain, 1995, 2.17.)

Anne Dalke's blog

Is it dangerous to label certain things are being "relevant" only for certain students?

Submitted by asweeney on Tue, 12/11/2012 - 12:00pm

Today during the presentations the idea that certain themes are more "relevant" to certain students came up. I'm wondering if this is a fair question to ask? While I too see the merit in quetioning whether or not we are teaching certain topics correctly (civil rights, slavery, and the black power movements were discussed in class), I don't think it is necessarily fair to argue that these topics are more relevant to certain students based on race. Perhaps it is true that a black student might glean different meaning from a lesson on US slavery than would his or her peers of different races, but I'm also sure that students of all races would take something important from the lesson. By suggesting that a lesson would be MORE relevant to this student because he or she is black, however, I think we risk re-inforcing a commonly used concept that being white means being "culturless." I'd like to aruge that EVERYTHING we teach in a classroom is equally relevant to all students----relevant to what it means to be a human, and what is means to understand common human phenomena that are still present today in the world---like hate and prejudice. Students of different races might take different forms of meaning from certain topics, but I think it might be dangerous to suggest that some topics are inherently more relevant to certain students. We wouldn't want to block students from exploring things that they find truly interesting simply because they do not belong to the group to which this topic is truly "relevant."

asweeney's blog

environmental activism nearby!

Submitted by Anne Dalke on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 10:54pm

To Stop Climate Change, Students Aim at College Portfolios

Anne Dalke's blog

Final debrief of the Canery

Submitted by Erin on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 10:02pm

Vision

As we are approaching the end of semester, we stand at the cross rod to really think back and evaluate what we have done this semester.

Last Thursday, when were discuss a text about participatory action research by Lois Weis and Michelle Fine in Working Method, we touched based upon many critical questions about the effects and purpose of our art workshop in prison. I want to expand more on that topic as well as our last workshop.

Firstly, one valued was emphasized was to be able to challenge the traditional power relationship. Such a statement was very easy to say but hard to execute. In our case, two groups of women were brought together and doing the same art project corporately. Various background and social status were mixed in the room and conflicts were expected. I don’t know which group benefits more from such a gathering. However, we can’t that each one us were able to see a different side of the concept were talking about form others, For me, even their positions in this society were inmates. I was able to, for the first time, to have “real-life” interpretation of what dies justice system do to individuals’ lives.

Make-up of the post from November 29th

Submitted by Erin on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 10:01pm

Vision

I am really trying to make up the two posts I missed for Barb’s class

I think want to reflect more on the last last Friday’s discussion about looking-glass identity transformation inside the prison. The reading was very comprehensive and easy to read however the indications behind all text are very provoking and indeed caused many disagreement and tensions.

Two important things were mentioned throughout the text which I think are really relevant to our conversation: labeling and rehabilitation.

Memo #2 image

Submitted by Erin on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 10:00pm

Vision

This memo, I was trying to emplore the similarities and differneces between our Canery visits and Visiona dn Alliance in Offending women. I found when comparing either two of these three, many interesting anf similarities appear. However, the length of the porgrma made the final differnece. I am not sure whihc road( the porgram) will take womne furhter.

Erin's blog

Memo #1 image

Submitted by Erin on Mon, 12/10/2012 - 9:56pm

Vision

In the first week's memo, I talked about viewing the issues of disadvantagous class with differnet lences. Through the socialeconomic lence or historical lences, we will be able to see the differnece elements that might not be as obvious as it should be in other lences. Also, it's important ot consider question from various perspectives.