Thursday, November 1, 2007
Literature and Lives Ch. 4
When Webb started this chapter, i couldn't help but relate it to my pre-internship. There were two students in my classroom who were involved with killing a student from Loy Norrix in a drive by shooting. Even though i was in a math class, and math is what we do, the worst thing i think my teacher did was ignore the problem. It was clear that students were worried, confused and concerned when the police came, during our class to escort one of the students out of school, and he never came back. Kids aren't stupid, but they don't always know what to do with their emotions, and i was really upset that my teacher just moved on like nothing had changed in the classroom. After that incident, the class became very separated, into African American students, and white students. The tensions rose, and i think it because the students were scared and confused above anything else, and if they were just talked to, things would have been different. Anyway, this is just my own personal experience with violence in the classroom, since i went to a mainly all white, upper middle class high school myself. I agree with Webb when he says that there is high racial tension in our society, and i think a lot of that has to do with the fact that so many schools don't introduce works like Webb did in the classroom. I know i didn't read anything like this in my high school, and that just makes me look ignorant to what is going on, and has gone on in the world today. I wish i had been able to read more text like Webb introduced and be able to work through them, with support from my teacher and my fellow classmates.
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4 comments:
From what I've heard of Loy Norrix, it is a troublesome school where violence is commonplace. I hope we can discuss more about violence in schools because it is very likely that I could be doing my internship there or getting a teaching position at a similar school...If schools aren't safe, then what is the student whose home life is a war zone supposed to do besides participate himself?
Your comment reminds me of when I was teaching during 9/11. I completed dropped my curriculum that day and discussed the events with my students. They wanted to talk about it, air out their feelings, get a grip on their emotions.
The next day, I got a notice from my principal that we were not to discuss 9/11 at all. I thought that was one of his worst moves he could make.
I can definitley relate to my preinternship as well here. Iwas a Kalamazoo Central High School last spring when the drive bys happened. Because of those shootings the whole school was under "Code Purple" for the rest of the year. This meant that during all hours of the school day, classroom doors remained close and any student leaving the classroom for any reason must be escorted by an authority figure. Hence, I was the one escorting those students. It was a scary time and an unspoken moment in time I think. The teachers did not seem to care about the situation nor address/discuss it with the students. I think that if they were to talk about it with the students if would have created a easier environment and students could feel a bit more comnfortable understanding the situation.
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