Random post 2

We talked about tracking in the school systems and I was thinking that we "track" the kids at the studio. We separate them into groups based on skill, and hearing everyone's comments about tracking, I'm wondering if we are helping them or not. One one side, everyone knows who's in the good class and who is in the not so good classes. On the other side, its hard for the kids who are good to go over the old stuff over and over again. So we separate them. However we do put some groups together and certain routines. And then there is the production number where all of the kids are together. Other pros are that the students do have the opportunity to move up a level. I know that its not exactly the same as tracking in the schools, but I'm sure that the kids feel the same way when they see the "good" dancers always picked to show something, or to be in a routine together.

Random post 1

I had my first, "this class is ruining things for me" moment. Although I'm not so sure it was I was ruined. My roommate was watching some TV show (I'm not sure what it was) when I walked into the room. The character on the screen said something along the lines of, "I feel like such an outsider." To which my roommate replied, "Of course you do. You're gay, thus making you an outsider." (yes we talk to the TV on the reg). I was really taken aback by what she said. Normally I probably wouldn't have thought twice about her comment, but on this day I called her out on it. After I said something I was nervous that she would freak out at me, but she was really embarrassed at herself for saying something soo dumb. So I'm kind of glad the first time I spoke out was a success. Because to be honest, I'm not sure if I would say something (or what I would say) to a kid in the hallway.

Last Talking Points!!

1. "Students in empowering classes should be expected to develop skills and knowledge as well as high expectations for themselves, their education, and their futures."

I think that it's important that the students set goals for themselves and strive to achieve them. My classroom teacher is kind of doing this now. She teaches her kids to take control of their own learning. Things like this will make life easier for them when they are older.

2. "Dewey emphasized participation as the point at which democracy and learning meet in the classroom."

We kind of touched on this in the class; the different types of classroom styles. I picked this because I thought it was interesting that we kind of foreshadowed this. There are teachers who believe that participation is the best learning. I know that at Bay View they have "Senior Experience" and they go out into the 'real world' for a day and get some work experience. Although this is a little bit different from the participation it reminded me of it.

3. "In a participatory class where authority is mutual, s0meof the positive affects which support student learning include cooperativeness, curiosity, humor, hope, responsibility, respect, attentiveness, openness, and concern about society."

I think these are all great things and if these are things that can come out of the way you run the classroom then I think there is a lot to benefit from that. However, the article goes on to say that there also arise a few problems with the participatory classroom. But that is going to happen with any type of classroom that you have.


This article kind of dragged on. I'm getting to that point in school where i don't want to doo anything haha. But i was pretty exciting after reading and I realized that this was the last one. That being said, this was one of the readings that i enjoyed most. I like reading about different classroom styles and how they work and why and what the students do and dont get out of them. I have a few ideas of what I want to do from my own education, what worked, what didnt. But other than that i'm blank slate. So i enjoyed this article.

Talking Points #9 Kliewer Article

1. "Such acceptance is the aim when children with Down Syndrome join their non disabled peers in classrooms, and many schools and individual teachers have entered into this effort, which seeks and finds community value in all children."

I picked this quote because this 'aim' is exactly what we as a community need to strive for. If we gained acceptance of these kids, then we would have a lot less problems.

2. "Assessments of how well a student conforms to expectations tend to focus teacher attention on the child's adeptness at responding to classroom-based math and language tasks."

I picked this because I think it shows that sometimes assessments and take time away from the students learning. I think especially in the case of a special education classroom it's important to utilize as much classroom time as possible.

3. "If a misunderstanding emerges, its cause is not located in any individual but in the communicative web that connects all of us to one another."

This is soo important because it doesn't place the blame on any one student. So not only do the students not have to feel excluded or singled out, but they also get to work through it together as a community which is really important.


This week I had a lot of trouble reading the article, there was a birthday party going on downstairs so I was having a lot of trouble focusing. I think a lot of the problems mentioned in this article would have been what Johnson called unspoken. I think that talking about students with Down syndrome is another one of those tough subjects and I sometimes felt a little uncomfortable reading this article.