"final" post

As the semester draws to a close, I am beginning to realize all that I have learned throughout this semester.
I find myself constantly thinking about what we have talked about in class. As I watch tv, I think about what stereotypes may or may not be present, i think about what the tv show or movie might imply.
The books that we have read are definitely books that i would like to keep in my classroom library. my biggest complaint that i had with the first lit class was that it didn't touch upon books for older children, except in our text sets. i was happy to have the opportunity to develop more of a classroom library for my future students.
i don't think i will teach lower elementary, so it was important for me that i was exposed to diverse literature for older elementary or middle school classrooms.
i am really happy that i had this opportunity, and i really feel as though i have developed a lot during this semester. thanks val. :-)

Review of an article in the Horn Book Magazine regarding Uncle Jed's Barbershop

Another article I found regarding a book in my text set can be found on Proquest...
Here is the information
Picture books - Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitc
The Horn Book Magazine. Boston: Nov 1993. Vol. 69, Iss. 6; p. 737 (2 pages)

This review, disappointingly, was an unchallenging one to the text. Although it did bring up the high points of the book, i was disappointed that, once again, no problems were found from the readings of this book. The review mentioned that it leaves the reader on a positive note, focusing on the importance of striving to reach one's dreams and goals. I found this to be poignant because i felt that this was almost a weak point in the book, making it still seem unrealistic and way too optimistic for real life. I felt that each time Uncle Jed was faced with a problem, we was portrayed as non-reacting and as a person who just moved on after any hardship. This book could have been stronger had difficulties been more elaborated upon.
I found it interesting that it was so difficult to find a critical review of a book which won the Coretta Scott King award. However, i wonder if the reason why it was so difficult was that the book did win awards.

New York Times Article: A Normal Family

The artilce/ editorial can be found here: http://relativechoices.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/a-normal-family/index.html?ref=opinion

I was surprised that, in this class, the topic of adoption was never brought up. Today, again going through the Times Online, I found that there was an article dealing with the topic of 'adoption' as part of a 'normal' family.
The editorial focused on the reactions an adoptive mother witnessed/experienced. I was disappointed to see that this is still happening. The mother wrote, "that adoption is becoming normal. Or least more normalized".
I think that we as teachers have a job to do. We need to make all families viewed by our students as 'normal'. It isnt 'weird' that someone is adopted. It is just a fact of life.
I wish we would have touched on books which go under the category o f adopotion. this could have fallen under any other week, and i wish it would have.

Article in the New York Times: Argentina as a Beacon for Gay Tourists

As I was surfing through today's New York Times online edition, I stumbled across an article describing Argentina as a location that is a 'beacon for gay tourists'. As i was going through this article, i found it really interesting how far the U.S. often seems to be that different from other parts of the world, specifically Argentina.
The article explained that in the 80s, someone could be arrested in Argentina for being openly gay. However, "In 1992 President Carlos Menem signed a decree promising equal legal protection for gay men and women.", and "Five years ago this was the first major Latin American city to legalize same-sex unions". This tends to be a hot topic in our political spectrum today (which is disappointing in and of itself), and to see that a country that isn't one of the "major players" in the world scene is going above and beyond us in this aspect gives me hope.
Although it is not picture perfect, as the article indicates as well, at least the government is making efforts to have all people accepted as 'equal'.
I encourage everyone to check out this article by Alexei Barrionuevo at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/americas/03argentina.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

Reflection on Text Set as a Whole

Although I bought/found six books that I liked under the topic of African-American lit. The three books i chose to review all had an interesting theme of 'hair'. the other three books all dealt with segregation // desegregation. Hopefully by the end of next week, I will have a few more reviews written regarding those books.

I really enjoyed the books that i found. the first time i went to Everybody Reads, I didnt have a decided topic for this assignment. When I went in the second time, I thought my topic was going to fall into 'Asian American Lit' or 'English Language Learners' because I had already found a book entitled, I Hate English, which was a charming book about the struggles an English Language Learner might have.
However, while looking at the various sections, i decided that I really liked a few of the books on African-American lit. I thought it was interesting that overwhelmingly, the major issues of those books were self-identity, community, and segregation//desegregation. One of the most powerful books i bought was From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, which was a book that posed questions to the readers, required imagination, and seemed as though it might be used as an authentic activity in social studies. The major problem that i saw with putting that book in my classroom library is that it printed the n word in it. This offended and disappointed me. I was disappointed mostly because it made the whole book difficult to put in a classroom library (i'm still trying to come up with a way i would be able to include it anyway; I was thinking white-out or something like that).
I also thought it was nice to be able to 'book talk' these books with my mom. My mother, as mentioned before, is a speech therapist/special education teacher. We talk at length about my future classroom, and being able to talk about various books with her was very powerful. This assignment gave me the springboard and the freedom to be able to do that.
I really enjoyed trying to find books under any category, really, especially because over Thanksgiving, I was in search of anything at Borders, and it was just incredibly overwhelming (I found I liked the set up of Everybody Reads a lot more than other book stores).

All in all, i thought that this was an incredibly beneficial assignment. It helped to expand my classroom library, and it helped me to think more deeply about the books i am choosing to purchase for my own classroom library.

Review of a Professional Resource

The resource I found which I liked the most, is a sort of 'dogpile' of reviews from various publications. The site is called Kid's Catalogue Web [http://martsubhub.lib.wv.us:8000/kcweb/kcHome].
I was able to look at reviews for all of my books, but the one set of reviews I would like to focus on is the set on I love my hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley.
I was glad to see that i was on the same track as the reviewers, specifically those from Booklist, School Library Journal and Publishers' Weekly.
Perhaps the most poigniant part of the review from School Library Journal is the following excerpt, "Pictures and text reflect the expanding horizons of the child's world as she learns to be proud of her distinctive hair and her heritage."
This was one of the main reasons why I selected this book, and I am glad that it was mentioned in this review.
this review also brings up the similarities to a book we mentioned in class, Nappy Hair.
It also mentions that it is a great book about self- acceptance.
I was really disappointed that none of the reviews I read about any of the books I have selected brought up anything I didn't think of while reading my books. This disappointed me, specifically because I wanted to know what issues might have been brought up by various aspects of the texts that I didn't already catch on to.
I think it is important to bring up various points of view when considering children's literature, and I wish I could have found a range of opinions for any of the books I had chosen.

Book #3: I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

Illustrated by E.B. Lewis

Published by Little, Brown, and Company 1998

I Love My Hair by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley is a charming book about a young girl’s experiences with her hair. The book opens with the narrator sitting in between the legs of her mother getting her hair brushed. As she thinks about various hairstyles she has had, she begins to discover what it means to really begin to accept oneself. As she talks about the various hair styles she has worn, and the meaning behind them. She mentions the history of wearing hair in an afro, cornrows, or a weaved bun. I think it was especially powerful when the author mentioned why some people might choose to wear an afro.

This book seems to be one of the most relatable of the books in my text set. Often, young girls of all races struggle with learning to accept themselves for things which make them different from others. This book is one which girls can not only relate to, but it also puts a positive spin onto something which many young girls dread: getting the tangles out of their hair.

The illustrations by E.B. Lewis are done in watercolor. They are vivid, and the backgrounds are perhaps the most intriguing. The illustrations tell the story behind the text. They greatly enhance the story and would be great for struggling readers to use to help to tell a fuller version of the story.

The author of this book, Natasha Anastasia Tarpley, has also written other books relating to adult African American identity. It is clear that she is aware of her audience in her writing of this book. In the note from the author at the beginning of the book, Tarpley mentions her own struggle with choosing a hairstyle that represents her history and her identity (she has felt most comfortable wearing her hair in dreads). Tarpley relates herself to this story, which gives her credibility as an author in this book.

Book #2: No Bad News by Kenneth Cole

No Bad News by Kenneth Cole
Photographer: John Ruebartsch
Publisher: Albert Whitman and Company 2001

This book follows a young boy on his first trip to the barbershop without his mom. As he is walking to the barbershop, he notices all the bad things which surround him: graffiti, unemployment, alcoholism, crime, etc. He frets over all the sad and disappointing things he witnesses as he walks to his 'local' barbershop. The author brings up how the young boy sees everything he has heard mentioned that is negative on the news. Once he gets to the barbershop, he is down because he believes he is surrounded by such 'bad news'. However, the community, lead by his barber, comes together to help this young boy to realize that he is actually surrounded by many good things, it just takes time to notice them because good news is not what our culture is taught to focus upon all that is bad which surrounds us. They talk about family, community, and other aspects of city life that are often not focused upon. This book is really an uplifting book which could be used in nearly any classroom.

The "illustrations" of this book are photographs in black and white rather than actual illustrations. The lighting in all of the pictures help to shed light on many different aspects of life in the city. The choice of using photography make this book seem much like a personal story, a glimpse of everything that is real in life.

According to I am Good News, Dr. Kenneth Cole is an African American psychologist, author, and motivational speaker who focuses much of his work on the American tendencies to focus on bad news, rather than good news. Because of this book, he has gotten a lot of publicity relating to this cause.

Book #1: Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell

Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell.
Illustrator: James Ransome
Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks 1993

Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree King Mitchell is a novel set in Southern America from Depression Era to the 50s. It follows the story of a young girl who admires her Uncle Jed and the hardships they as a family face because of sickness, Depression, and other social issues. Issues of segregation are brought into light through the sickness of a young girl who must wait until all the white patients are seen before she can be. Further, this book sheds a bit of light into what it was like to live in the south during the Great Depression. Perhaps one of the most poignant lines in the book was when Mitchell writes, "nobody had much money then." During the Depression, Uncle Jed is the sole barber in their southern county, and he shows humanitarian tendencies by accepting food as payment. The family shows strength and makes it though tough times as a large group. This book is a story of inspiration and love.

The only issue I question in this book is the lack of elaboration after hard times hit Uncle Jed and his family. At various times, Uncle Jed lost all the money he had saved, and each time, he just seemed to 'let it go' and move on from it. I feel as though this is an unrealistic portrayal of what anyone would do at a point like this. It made the various situations seem as though they were 'ok', when in actuality, it is not acceptable for any child is denied heath services if they are sick; it is not right for someone lose all of their money they have saved because of a bank failure. The narrator merely indicates that at the end that Uncle Jed taught her how to dream and strive to realize those dreams.


The illustrations in this book are by James Ransome. The oil paints are colorful and vivid. They shed a bit of light into the beauty of Southern America. These pictures add to, rather than take away from, the story of Uncle Jed.

According to the Mississippi Writers Page, Margaree King Mitchell is an African American female who was born and raised in Mississippi. According to Mitchell, his book was written in response to a belief that many young black children lacked the confidence they needed and couldn't find that confidence through history in their school libraries.

This book won the Coretta Scott King Award and was featured on Reading Rainbow.

Boy Meets Boy

i am incredibly glad that this book was chosen to read.
on thanksgiving, i realized that i left my copy at school, and started to freak out. i thought it would be pretty impossible to find this book around my house, much less on black friday while i was out shopping. i was quite excited to find that there were TWO copies of it at the FIRST book store i went to. i thought it was really nice that this book, for me at least, was easy to find while at home. it gave me hope.
while reading this book, i felt like i was reading a book similar to the perks of being a wallflower, which was (and still is) my favorite book. I felt like it was written in similar style, and had an overarching similar theme. the town seemed similar, specifically when the I SCREAM was mentioned.
This was one of the few books that i really enjoyed. I felt like it was relatable, and it really gave me a lot of hope that this is what communities will be like one day: accepting, tolerant, non-judgemental about sexual orientation. i struggle with understanding people who are "against" the GLBTQ community, who think it is "wrong". i don't think it is OK for anyone to assume someone is less of a person just because they do not live up to what one person deems as "normal". perhaps this is because of the way my parents chose to raise me in an evironment in which people from all walks of life were present.
it fit reading this book this weekend for me because my parents 25th wedding anniversary is next saturday, and we were doing seating. we, as a family, were laughing because we thought it would be fun (for all parties) to do a completely random seating arrangement (prompted by one of my mom's friends who was joking about 'freaking people out'). and while reading this book, all i coudl think was, wow, i wish our community was like this now.
my focus during my QTT paper was on parental influence, and i think that this was an important topic. all i can hope is that our generation, as parents, are as accepting as we can be to all walks of life (like my parents, my mom especially, were). i think that is the only way that we all will be able to live in a community in which everyone feels safe.

confessions group meeting

Last night, my group met to discuss "Confessions of a Closet Classic". I really enjoyed meeting outside of class because i felt like our discussion wasn't quite as forced. we were able to discuss more of what we got out of the book without specific guiding questions which we felt we had to answer.
I really liked being able to discuss to stereotypes in the book, both of Jewish people and of Catholics. Like another group, we talked more about the Catholic stereotypes and how it made us react. I know I was quite surprised at the stereotypes in this book, and i think i picked up on them because I am Catholic. In this book, the Catholic family went to a very old-school style church, they were a big family, etc etc.
I was glad we were able to talk about this because it is something i noticed especially at the beginning of hte book. Throughout hte book, it got better, but still, i am glad that i got to talk about this from my group.

"FLK"

yesterday in class, we talked a little bit about the term "flk", or "funny lookin' kid".
in our discussion, i was a bit confused, and i think that i mislead a few people in how this term might be used.
last night, i discussed this book, and, in specific, this part of the book with my my mom, a speech and language pathologist who works with children birth-3.
In talking about the term FLK, it is a term that is used ear-to-ear. If it is ever written it is on a SOAP, which is a form that most special educators will use in their own filing.
A SOAP form consists of four parts of the evaluation:

• S: Subjective: this is what the person conducting the evaluation SAW, it is subjective (based on opinion), this could include various things including "FLK" or "ASD?" (ASD indicates autism spectrum disorder - a question mark would indicate that it isn't a guarentee, but it is possible), how the child was, the general feelings, etc.... I asked my mom why "FLK" might be used, and she indicated that quite often if something is wrong on the outside, then something might be wrong on the inside. It's not a negative term, persay, its something that you can look back on so that the next time you see a child, you can remember more about them. My mom also indicated that this is something that even on SOAPs is written very small and light.
  
• O: Objective: goals of measurable and observable behavior : should relate to IEP goals. This would be where you would put what you want to see.
  
• A: Assessment: observable behavior that you can measure. This would be where you would put the things that the child did that was measurable. Examples could include mimicked the "ou" sound, walked, stood up, signed the ASL sign for "bubbles"
  
• P: Plan: this is what your plan is to do at either the next meeting or how you are going to reach your goals.
  

Further, in doing evals, many districts take pictures of the kids to put in the file. This allows for the next group that works with any given student knows who they are going to be working with. SOAPs are used, like i said, for personal records. they are something to look back on and refer to when you are planning days, working on IEPs, and talking to other people who work with the child.
I hope this helps to clear this up a little bit more.
Sorry for any confusion i caused.

Reading Rockets

In my CEP class today, we watched a Reading Rockets video, which focused on teaching children with special needs. It touched on teaching children who are Blind. One of the interesting things I learned from this is that only about 10% of people who are blind can use braille. Knowing this puts Charlie's character on the outskirts of what is normal. Throughout this book, i questioned the realisitic-ness of both the story lines and the characters.... and although i enjoyed this book, i think that it was quite unrealisitic, and hearing that statistic jjust makes it more obvious. Yes, Charlie did show a successful character who was blind, but i'm just not sure quite how i feel about it.

Jigsaw Assignment- Lambda Literacy

The Lambda Literacy Foundation Award’s website can be found at: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/index.html. The purpose of this award is to celebrate GLBTQ literature. This award does not take the orientation of the author into consideration; it is secondary to the quality of the writing and the LBGTQ content of the work. There are twenty one categories in which books can be nominated by their author or publisher. The books are judged by various members of the literary community, but judges are not announced until the winners are made public.

In 2004, there was a book (The Man Who Would Be Queen) which was nominated, announced as a finalist, and then removed from the list due to an outcry of the LGBTQ population. More information about this at http://www.tsroadmap.com/info/lambda-literary.html.

We found it quite interesting that we could not find a “seal” to acknowledge books which won this award. Our group questioned whether this is due to the political climate of our country and the connotations that this award might have toward these books. Does not having an award allow for this book to be read by children and young adults without being "flagged"?

In searching for books which have won this award, we could only find two of the books in the young adult/children’s lit categories: Luna (which was found at the library) and Boy Meets Boy (which is actually a book we’re reading in class).

How I feel about blogging

I really enjoy being able to read others' blogs as soon as they are posted without having to even leave my homepage.
Despite the fact that I love writing, I have found it hard to write much about the topics covered in class; however, I am hoping that will change as the semester goes on.
Especially the past few weeks have been bogged with busyness and illness for me, so it is really convenient to have to blogs available to read... which i enjoy a lot.

However, because our class is a week behind, I get really confused when I read the course blog, at least I did this week, perhaps it is just because I missed class... I'm not really sure.
Maybe you could clear that up for me?
what is this Jigsaw assignment?
It's due a week from monday, correct?

Article of Interest

After reading a few of the insider/outsider debate articles, i stumbled across this article from the New York Times (see bottom.) I am putting it up here because to me, it shows that the insider/outsider debate is not just limited to literature. Rather, it can take hold in any aspect of life, even art.

(Click here to read article)

This article was found in the New York Times. In short, there is a controversy over the sculptor making a statue of Martin Luther King Jr. The man who was hired to do this project is an Asian American who also has done sculptures of controversial people who do not really fall in line with the things which MLK stood for. The people who chose this man say that it has nothing to do with any political action. however, many people believe that the sculptor should be an African American and should also stand for the same things which MLK stood for.

one point which the article made is that it is difficult to NOT have something be political, whether it is intended to be or not.

i think that this is a particularly interesting article, especially considering that we are reading so much about the insider./ outsider debate.

The debate.... before.

When considering the topic of diverse literature, the question of who can be considered to be an author of diverse literature seems to become a very prominent question.

[please take note that this is written before reading this weeks' assigned reading]

it can be said that anyone can write diverse literature, because without literature of the 'mainstream' culture, no other literature could really be considered diverse.

however, i question the appropriateness of people writing about experiences that they have not truely been able to experience. i say this with the thought of how i would feel if someone would try to write a narrative about what it is like to suffer from fibromyalgia. it is something that i could not truly describe accurately to anyone, therefore no one could ever really portray this experience nearly as accurately as someone like me could second hand.

i think that it would be the same for many other experiences that are not mainstream or quite as common as others.

therefore, i don't know if it is appropriate if people who don't experience something can write about the possibilities of that experience.

Sample Entry

This will only be up until I write an actual entry based upon Course Readings or other related experiences.