Me, Myself, and I...

Well, most everyone knows that I am a physical education major, not English. But it really is for good reason. I originally planned on going to Michigan and into the medical field. Heart problems run in my family; a male has never lived over the age of fifty on my dad's side of the family. We also have weight issues. So I thought that going into pre-med made sense, until I decided that I would rather try to prevent the problems than treat people after they have been diagnosed. I also decided during this time that I would rather be around kids for most of my day. Physical education is so important to me and really hits a little too close to home. I am definitely the anti-dodge ball, fitness oriented person now. It's been tough though, most people think that it is a useless major that I picked to skim by. But I could tell you every muscle and bone in the body, what they do, and their relationship to the most relative joint. So Ha! :)

Some stuff people may not know about me is that I am a neat freak. Most people don't think so until they live with me because of the way I present myself most times; sweats and a hoodie. But I am always cleaning up. I also LOVE holidays--I decorate like months in advance. And despite what Michelle has said, I actually do love animals. I will admit that I am no dog whisperer though. Personally, I am divorced. I know, crazy, right? But now that I am single, I go to the bar....A LOT. Tonight, Wild Bull and every Thursday Monaco Bay, etc. I am really addicted to Harry Potter. Seriously, I could reference almost anything anyone says back to Harry Potter. It is sad, but after I read it, I had like hours of conversation about the political messages in it with my boyfriend. So there's just a little bit about me that maybe people didn't know before.

Indy Teach!

I am done! I am so happy that this is out of the way, mostly because I was so nervous. I just really wanted to say thank you to everyone in the class for participating so much in the group discussions and really providing helpful comments. I also loved how people really disclosed so much about themselves and their own experiences--it really made it easier for me. So thank you, and great job to Michelle too! :)

Group #3...

I really loved this teach! Everyone was really prepared and made effective comments to the discussion, but the material was really great too! A lot of what we talked about the first day I will use in my classroom. I had never really thought about making stereotypes a topic in my classroom until i realized how obviously apparent they are in high schools. I think that by identifying the stereotypes that the students may or may not be aware of could maybe help them think about their own beliefs. It is definitely a topic that any student could do some form of writing on. I also really appreciated the how group 3 transitioned into stereotypes in the media and kind of gave an explanation as to why and where students get their stereotypes from. It isn't like students are directly taught about the different stereotypes, particularly the negative ones, but rather through many different types of media. Both activities, the commercials and the Disney clips, were really good ways to get students to think about how stereotypes are in our everyday lives. I liked the commercial activity because we were not told to pick a commercial that portrayed stereotypes, but almost everyones did. The Disney one was helpful too because the horribly negative stereotypes were so evident yet this is what children are introduced to at a very early age! I really enjoyed this group teach--there wasn't anything I would have changed about it! Great Job!

Dear Disney,

Dear Disney,
After viewing clips from Aladdin, Dumbo, and Peter Pan, I do not believe this material suitable for children, the targeted audience. I do not want my children to think that people from the middle east travel on camels wearing gigantic turbins in an underdeveloped country. I also don't want them to think that only black people, slaves, should be doing manual labor while the white man stands idle. Nor do I want any children under the impression that Native Americans are red and dumber than a white person. However, the visual images and songs that you have presented do just this. To market these movies to unsuspecting and very impressionable children should be a crime. You are largely responsible for influencing the youth into not only thinking about stereotypes but believing them. If this is their first representation from someone outside of their culture, it is a very poor one. Where these representations in the original written works? If they were, there was no need to write songs about them, unless you were specifically trying to trick the younger population into adopting your beliefs from a catchy little tune. You should have not incorporated such narrow minded views of any population including gender biases into a childrens movie. How will you change these views or edit them out of future movies? I would suggest not influencing children at very early ages to stereotyping any population of people different from their own. Not only is it offensive, but it is not true. Sincerely,
Ashley Wallace

Stereotypes...

I really liked the first activity from group #3 today. Throughout my high school experience, I was part of a "clique" and recognized that there were different groups of kids and even that they didn't all get along. Most of the time, we didn't get along because of the group or clique that each of us were a part of, not always because we just didn't like each other. Instead of just accepting the fact that their are different groups, I think as a teacher I will have a responsibility to know each of my students well enough to not just stereotype them but to actually get to know each students' personality traits. They may possess some qualities from a group, but most likely they will not be 100% matched with the stereotype I may have put them into before I got to know them. Getting to know your students individually is important, which is what my Indy teach will focus on!

The second part of the teach was really interesting to me. Commercialism is a large part of public schools now, but I have never noticed the stereotypes within that. Even the snickers commercial, with really obvious stereotypes, kinda went over my head because I wasn't thinking about stereotypes but rather a commercial that I enjoyed. I think that I will definitely pay closer attention to the reasons why students conform or are put into stereotypes particularly the medias influence. This would be a great lesson to introduce to students to get them thinking about stereotypes on a daily basis. It would be important to then let them think about stereotypes of students. Ryan gave a good example for an activity; using The Outsiders and then identifying each groups similarities and differences.

Comics in the Class!

So far, all of the Indy. Teaches have been really good. But I particularly liked Monday's class on using comic books/graphic novels in the classroom. The scenarios were really eye opening to the different cases where they would and would not be useful. I didn't even know what SSR was, so I never even thought about appropriate material for this timed reading. I think that I will allow comic books to be used, but I will have questions for the students who choose them to think about while they are reading them. Thanks for the Info!

If I were a boy...

So many times I have wished to be the opposite sex. I think it all peaked around fourth grade: not only was I in the middle of my horribly awkawrd years but it was the same year we had to watch a sex ed tape. I remember thinking, "boys have it so much easier." I should probably mention that I was in the "awkward stages" for much longer than anyone should have to be. I developed a little early, if you know what I mean. I also had really pudgy years, acne, the whole bit. So instead of trying to do something with myself, I decided I would rather be a boy so I dressed in baggy clothes and rarely brushed my hair. I figured that since I hung out with the boys and played sports with them and they were my friends, that it was okay to not try too hard to be girlie. Well, that resulted in me just looking like the dirty kid in class :). Yeah...my mom still brings the pictures out when I have anyone over. Now, I like being a girl minus the double standards. So what if I want to make out with a different guy every night at the bar. Why isn't this cool? If I were a guy, I would be awesome.

Snickers

A commercial that sticks out in my mind was aired during the last Superbowl. It was an advertisement for snickers candy bars. Two men were working and each ended up with a half of the snickers bar in their mouth, simulating them kissing. To prove they were still men, they then proceeded to rip out their chest hair. I thought that it was really funny. I don't eat too much chocolate, but with all of the different kinds of candy bars out there, I think that this commercial is memorable enough for people to pick snickers over another brand.

I love Harry Potter!