In my past teaching experience, I've witnessed this "dual existence" in a student who immigrated from a Spanish speaking country a few years ago. This student was in his third year in the U.S. and learning English, but had been at 2 different schools in 2 different states. The first school (my school) he came to, he stayed in for about a year, then he moved to another state for the next year, then returned to my school. So he somewhat knew the students. Even after leaving and returning and already being acquainted with some of the students, he still managed to seek out those of his same race and "stick with them", even though they were very few (2). Throughout the year I noticed that this student was extremely quiet, even though he spoke English relatively well, and rarely made attempts to get to know Americans (at least not any I'd seen). There was an instance I observed during a class, where this student was being asked, "Aren't all the people where you're from short and have dark hair and skin? Why do your people have so many kids?" (the student that asked this was from a family with 9 other siblings, some half) Of course, he didn't take offense, it seemed he kind of expected questions like that from Americans. He answered, "No" to the first question and, "I don't know" to the second. Then the teacher took the conversation in another direction attempting to expand the student's knowledge on both Hispanic and American family sizes, traditions, and customs. The student asking the questions didn't looking down upon this Hispanic student, he was only inquiring. Even so, I think this misunderstanding of other cultures and unwillingness to reach out and embrace diversity is a problem.
The school I teach in is in a small community, where there is a very small population of ELLs (9 in k-9). Most of the American students have grown up together, being with each other since elementary school. Even though they've accepted each other (black and white), it's still a challenge to accept another race (and sometimes even a new student) as one of "their own." This problem is two-fold: first, the American students are set in their ways, for example, they have their friends and family, their clothes, their cell phones, their designer purses at age 13, etc., and don't need to reach out to "different" students. What good would it do them?
There is also the problem of "SELF' itself. Modern western culture is so centered around "SELF" and the idea that we have a right to have anything and everything we want whenever we want it. This is a result of us becoming a God-less people. The whole message of the world and the flesh is post-modernism: "do what feels good and do what you think is right for you."
Without Christ, we are a carnally minded, selfish people (I'm a sinner saved by grace, so I'm not saying I've never been at this point or ever won't be again) and everything done in life is based in some way around how it will help us out in the end, if we're honest about our motives. So the root of the problem is the lack of a relationship with Jesus Christ (which unfortunantely I cannot address in school.) Better said in His words: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2: 3-8. And to me, humility doesn't mean thinking less of yourself, it means thinking of yourself less.
How can we expect people who don't know Christ to think about others first when the natural sin nature they are born with says the exact opposite? I realize this is really blowing this problem up, but it's my view of it on a larger scale. My heart breaks for those who don't know Christ or know the beauty of the inheritance in heaven they could take part in.
I can't imagine what it would be like to live in this carnal, sin-filled world without my relationship with Jesus. I'll give this example, then be done. Living this life (with all its good but sometimes terrible experiences/trials it can throw it you) and knowing Christ - that you'll spend enternity with Him- or not knowing Christ and the opposite, is like this example: There are 2 people, one a believer, the other a non-believer. They both have to work in a room every day for 7 days a week, 15 hours a day, for 12 months a year and then they will be paid a salalry. The non-believer would get paid an annual salary of $15,000 a year and the believer would get paid an annual salary of $150 million a year. After 3 or 4 weeks, the non-believer is going to say how defeating and crazy this is and he's not doing it anymore, but the believer will be whistling while he's working, because he knows what's coming. In no way can you compare money with the glory that will be revealed to us in paradise, but this example puts it in terms we can relate to. The believer has a promise to hope for, a reason to keep going and completely put his faith in God and not in the world. He's not getting $150 million, he's getting the inheritance of Christ and eternity with the Father. The non-believer doesn't really have anything to put his faith into except his career, money, worldly desires, etc. that will never bring what he could have in a relationship with Christ. Now back to the discussion at hand...
So, what can educators do to help dissolve this problem ? I think students watch our every move and often do as we do. We can be the best example of accepting and embracing diversity by making students more aware of their new peers and their situations. Sometimes students just need to know more about a person before they can befriend them. I think a great way to help ELLs merge into mainstream culture and avoid stereotypes like the Mexican and El Salvadorian immigrants from the book, is letting them know early that it's ok to be friends with "white people". Even encourage it. Both sides need a little nudging when it comes to this issue of intermingling. The second fold of the problem is that immigrant students/races tend to stick together and form their own communities inside U.S. communitites, making it unnecessary to befriend other races or people because they are self-sufficient. The attitude the book noted of Mexican's traditionally thinking that white people are bad and want to take everything from them doesn't help the situation, even though it's propaganda they've been fed for years and years.
I think it's important for mainstream students to learn about immigrant students and their cultures, thus associating value with them. If they never get to know them, they will more than likely never value them.
I always encourage my ELLs to get involved in after school activitites as well. Being a (has-been) college basketball player, I know that there is no better way to build commradarie than on the field, the court, etc. Even though the soccer team in the book was made up of Latinos, their success finally demanded attention, which got the whole school, parents, and even the community involved in their success and in the process changed their lives. I desire this academic and social success for all ELLs!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
BLOG ENTRY #3
The worse situation of the two was, Héctor Seeman, the music teacher from Mexico, who although bypassed by his own country, stayed and died alone. His situation is worse because he spent most of his life dedicated to teaching and composing music that was never appreciated or recognized. He wrote two operas and many orchestral compositions, most of which isn't even known.
This situation is worse because Seeman was bitter at his country, his people, and those who never recognized him for his dedication to music and musical works he created. He was also angry with those who he thought stood in his way. He let the bitterness of being bypassed ruin his life and spoil any chance of him ever being able to enjoy life (and probably anything related to music). He quit giving lessons and only had one former student that visited him. All he seemed to do was yell at those walking on his yard. What a sad way to end up. He eventually died alone and was not found for 4 days.
The Atolinga families that moved to Chicago created a much better life for themselves and in the process changed their ways of thinking, which will trickle down through generations. They made a change and worked tremendously hard to achieve it, together as a team and community, and it has changed the way of life in their communities around Chicago, Nebraska, Indianapolis, and the other places they've populated. However it also changed their community back home. Families would build lavish houses back home and visit twice a year, always saying they'd return, but really knowing they probably never would for good. This changed the economy in their town to running on US dollars, which meant the cost of living rose. The townspeople of Atolinga really saw the families that had done so well in the US as "wealthy and arrogant". So the immigrant families' success drove a wall in between their old way of life and their new one. In a way, their old home town eventually didn't seem as "home" to them as Chicago, so they ended up not returning. This situation was bad because of the effects it had on their relationship with people in Atolinga and its economy, but it was good because of the success of so many Mexican immigrants, a different view of life for them, and the promotion of teamwork instead of envidia.
However, Héctor Seemann's life was worse because of the lonely, bitter end he willingly endured.
I see Héctor as someone who dealth with rejection, but chose to be angry at the world and become a hermit, forfieting his chance at leaving an impact or influencing people. I see the Atolingas as a group of people who overcame huge obstacles in life, and their consistant hard work, dedication, and teamwork paid off in a major way. This payoff not only gave them a much better quality of life, but it will change the course of life for generations to follow. Like Salinas said, "There's no point to living if you're not going to leave something behind."
This situation is worse because Seeman was bitter at his country, his people, and those who never recognized him for his dedication to music and musical works he created. He was also angry with those who he thought stood in his way. He let the bitterness of being bypassed ruin his life and spoil any chance of him ever being able to enjoy life (and probably anything related to music). He quit giving lessons and only had one former student that visited him. All he seemed to do was yell at those walking on his yard. What a sad way to end up. He eventually died alone and was not found for 4 days.
The Atolinga families that moved to Chicago created a much better life for themselves and in the process changed their ways of thinking, which will trickle down through generations. They made a change and worked tremendously hard to achieve it, together as a team and community, and it has changed the way of life in their communities around Chicago, Nebraska, Indianapolis, and the other places they've populated. However it also changed their community back home. Families would build lavish houses back home and visit twice a year, always saying they'd return, but really knowing they probably never would for good. This changed the economy in their town to running on US dollars, which meant the cost of living rose. The townspeople of Atolinga really saw the families that had done so well in the US as "wealthy and arrogant". So the immigrant families' success drove a wall in between their old way of life and their new one. In a way, their old home town eventually didn't seem as "home" to them as Chicago, so they ended up not returning. This situation was bad because of the effects it had on their relationship with people in Atolinga and its economy, but it was good because of the success of so many Mexican immigrants, a different view of life for them, and the promotion of teamwork instead of envidia.
However, Héctor Seemann's life was worse because of the lonely, bitter end he willingly endured.
I see Héctor as someone who dealth with rejection, but chose to be angry at the world and become a hermit, forfieting his chance at leaving an impact or influencing people. I see the Atolingas as a group of people who overcame huge obstacles in life, and their consistant hard work, dedication, and teamwork paid off in a major way. This payoff not only gave them a much better quality of life, but it will change the course of life for generations to follow. Like Salinas said, "There's no point to living if you're not going to leave something behind."
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Quinones - Blog #2
I didn't know a lot about velvet painting before reading this chapter and really haven't seen many in my lifetime. Quinones is so detailed in his descriptions of events that it makes me feel like I'm in the story. He's a good reporter/writer. Looking at some of these paintings on www.velveteria.com, they make me think of the 60s and 70s decades. This is the only black velvet painting museum in the world and they have over 2,000 paintings there, according to their website. There is a video of this museum and the TV show Biazrre Foods has a new series called "Appetite for Life," and this video clip gives an overview of it. Something that I found interesting was that he talked about how the main painters would recruit kids who showed a little artistic talent, and even their siblings because artistic ability was supposed to "run in the family." The velvet paintings I've seen before and on the Internet are very detailed and seem like they'd take a lot of talent to produce. I'm sure now there are ways to mass produce them which don't even include humans, but back in the 60s and 70s when these were the rage, how did they teach so many of these people how to paint so well?
This story relates most to the current economic condition of the housing market. Way to many loans were given to people who never should have been approved. Many lenders knew the loans couldn't be paid back and the borrowers could never afford them. They were allowed to give loans to these people, but they focused on the "right now" money and chose to worry about the rest later, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily. Well, just like Morán lost his fortune because of foolish living, thousands of American homeowners, lenders and the like have either lost their homes, jobs, or are in a worse situation than they could have been, had the right thing been done.
It's always been a goal of mine, coming from a small town and a "country" family, to make people aware of the world around them. I fell in love with Hispanics, their culture and their language over 10 years ago and ever since I've always tried to help others see that there are other countries in the world than the United States, and that, yes, they do actually have running water and real houses in South America. Even real malls! (I love people's reaction to this one) :) The culture of the United States is all about self and I think that's one reason why only an average of 26% of Americans speak another language (see Gallup reference below). This leads to a more centralized view of our own culture, making it and in turn ourselves, the center of our lives. Other people can "learn our culture and langauge" as I've heard it said countless times before. This ignorance is so often the source of such ridicule I'm about to refer to.
So to answer the question, if I were to have an ELL be ridiculed when he was sharing about family in his culture, what would my response be? First I would have to give myself a few seconds to repeat the verse, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear," which is fond in Ephesians 4:29. (The most difficult thing for me to witness is of someone being embarrassed, ridiculed, made fun of, etc. so a situation like this would be hard for me. I have ESL pull-out classes so I haven't dealt with this in an ELL situation before, but I'm sure I will. And for some reason I am even more sympathetic to ELLs, which would make it even more difficult.)
I'd call a lot of attention to the person who ridiculed my ELL and make him the focus of attention for a while on purpose. I would find out why the information that Guillermo gave to the class was funny to him and how did they do things different at his house? Who's to say that you're not the different one? I would try to make the students understand that just because a person from a different culture does things differently than they do in their cultures, doesn't mean they are "wierd." It means that we have a lot to learn about other people and they have a lot to learn about us. I would also try to create a situation for the student that ridiculed and try to get him to imagine himself in a foreign country where he didn't speak the language or understand the culture, or even have many friends for that matter. If he were there, who might be the one being ridiculed then? If it was himself, would he like that much? Depending on the situation and what was said, I might even partner up the mainstream student and the ELL so they could get to know each other. Many times we are just scared of the unknown because it's ufamiliar and if they were to be partners and best case scenario, friends, who knows what cultural doors that might open up for them to learn about each other and the world. Isn't one of our goals to create an awareness of the world around us and a desire to get to know it? I think this might be an effective way to turn a bad situation into a good learning experience.
Gallup Poll: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/About-One-Four-Americans-Can-Hold-Conversation-Second-Language.aspx
This story relates most to the current economic condition of the housing market. Way to many loans were given to people who never should have been approved. Many lenders knew the loans couldn't be paid back and the borrowers could never afford them. They were allowed to give loans to these people, but they focused on the "right now" money and chose to worry about the rest later, sometimes voluntarily, sometimes involuntarily. Well, just like Morán lost his fortune because of foolish living, thousands of American homeowners, lenders and the like have either lost their homes, jobs, or are in a worse situation than they could have been, had the right thing been done.
It's always been a goal of mine, coming from a small town and a "country" family, to make people aware of the world around them. I fell in love with Hispanics, their culture and their language over 10 years ago and ever since I've always tried to help others see that there are other countries in the world than the United States, and that, yes, they do actually have running water and real houses in South America. Even real malls! (I love people's reaction to this one) :) The culture of the United States is all about self and I think that's one reason why only an average of 26% of Americans speak another language (see Gallup reference below). This leads to a more centralized view of our own culture, making it and in turn ourselves, the center of our lives. Other people can "learn our culture and langauge" as I've heard it said countless times before. This ignorance is so often the source of such ridicule I'm about to refer to.
So to answer the question, if I were to have an ELL be ridiculed when he was sharing about family in his culture, what would my response be? First I would have to give myself a few seconds to repeat the verse, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification, according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear," which is fond in Ephesians 4:29. (The most difficult thing for me to witness is of someone being embarrassed, ridiculed, made fun of, etc. so a situation like this would be hard for me. I have ESL pull-out classes so I haven't dealt with this in an ELL situation before, but I'm sure I will. And for some reason I am even more sympathetic to ELLs, which would make it even more difficult.)
I'd call a lot of attention to the person who ridiculed my ELL and make him the focus of attention for a while on purpose. I would find out why the information that Guillermo gave to the class was funny to him and how did they do things different at his house? Who's to say that you're not the different one? I would try to make the students understand that just because a person from a different culture does things differently than they do in their cultures, doesn't mean they are "wierd." It means that we have a lot to learn about other people and they have a lot to learn about us. I would also try to create a situation for the student that ridiculed and try to get him to imagine himself in a foreign country where he didn't speak the language or understand the culture, or even have many friends for that matter. If he were there, who might be the one being ridiculed then? If it was himself, would he like that much? Depending on the situation and what was said, I might even partner up the mainstream student and the ELL so they could get to know each other. Many times we are just scared of the unknown because it's ufamiliar and if they were to be partners and best case scenario, friends, who knows what cultural doors that might open up for them to learn about each other and the world. Isn't one of our goals to create an awareness of the world around us and a desire to get to know it? I think this might be an effective way to turn a bad situation into a good learning experience.
Gallup Poll: http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/About-One-Four-Americans-Can-Hold-Conversation-Second-Language.aspx
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Quinones - Addition
I feel like I left something out of my reflection. For some reason the Lord saw fit to bless me with a love for Hispanic people, their culture and their language. I could not be in a better field (helping my students and their parents learn English and about life in the U.S.) and I love my job.
The stories from the book broke my heart. It almost makes me angry at the lazy, complacent Americans who have so much opportunity and still manage to mess it up, when little Delfino went to work at age 12. Many American children don't even know what real work is at that age! Part of me wants to say, "That is the kind of citizen I want in my community."
The stories from the book broke my heart. It almost makes me angry at the lazy, complacent Americans who have so much opportunity and still manage to mess it up, when little Delfino went to work at age 12. Many American children don't even know what real work is at that age! Part of me wants to say, "That is the kind of citizen I want in my community."
Quinones Ch. 1-3 - Blog Entry #1
I support immigration. Millions of U.S. citizens have immigrant heritage. If the process of coming to the U.S. and becoming a citizen is done correctly, I support it. It's the illegal part that is troublesome and gives me a headache when I think about it. There is an illegal immigration problem that has been going on for decades in the United States and we have seen and will continue to see the results of it for decades to come, if not longer. According to The Heritage Foundation (http://www.heritage.org/Research/HomelandSecurity/bg2245.cfm), about 11 million illegal aliens live in the U.S. They also state that, "often", they don't pay taxes. With 11 million illegal aliens comes an astronomical amount of health care and education costs. The Heritage Foundation found that so far illegal aliens in CA cost the state anywhere from $9 billion to $38 billion in "public services", which could include a large number of programs. There is an unavoidable problem.
As an ESL teacher, I love working with my students and helping them acquire English so they can have the best chance at success in their lives, but the question that rises in my mind is, how long is the United States going to be able to pay for this? I love my students, my friends, and my country, but given our current economic situation, and our national debt hitting a whopping $10,000,000,000,000 (yes, $10 trillion) (the number was retrieved from : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,434704,00.html) recently, I'm worried. Something must be done.
But there's more. I realize this is an old argument, but it's still worthy of repetition: according to Quinones, Bermúdez was deported, then returned to CA a few days later. If anyone that pleases can cross our borders with such ease, what kind of people in the world does that open the door to? Anyone from another country could arrive in Mexico, pay a coyote to smuggle him across the border, and they'd be able to possibly carry out whatever they came to the U.S. to do.
I understand that it's easy to complain, so what are some suggestions for immigration reform? The first thing that comes to mind is adding more security to the southern border, which entails a lot of government/military action. The second is deportation. If a U.S. citizen were to go to a foreign country illegally, they would more than likely be deported back upon being discovered. This is also an issue to look at, although I wouldn't have the best suggestion on how to go about it. But if the borders are left unsecured as they are now, those deported would more than likely return after a short time. Also, if it were easier to become a citizen, then perhaps more people would do it the right way. Changing the laws for naturalization is also an idea that should be considered. Thanks for reading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Nt8MQaKko
2. NATURALIZATION PROCESS. I was just curious about the naturalization process, so here's a helpful link if you are too:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ee14b4ac0933e010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=fe529c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
As an ESL teacher, I love working with my students and helping them acquire English so they can have the best chance at success in their lives, but the question that rises in my mind is, how long is the United States going to be able to pay for this? I love my students, my friends, and my country, but given our current economic situation, and our national debt hitting a whopping $10,000,000,000,000 (yes, $10 trillion) (the number was retrieved from : http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,434704,00.html) recently, I'm worried. Something must be done.
But there's more. I realize this is an old argument, but it's still worthy of repetition: according to Quinones, Bermúdez was deported, then returned to CA a few days later. If anyone that pleases can cross our borders with such ease, what kind of people in the world does that open the door to? Anyone from another country could arrive in Mexico, pay a coyote to smuggle him across the border, and they'd be able to possibly carry out whatever they came to the U.S. to do.
I understand that it's easy to complain, so what are some suggestions for immigration reform? The first thing that comes to mind is adding more security to the southern border, which entails a lot of government/military action. The second is deportation. If a U.S. citizen were to go to a foreign country illegally, they would more than likely be deported back upon being discovered. This is also an issue to look at, although I wouldn't have the best suggestion on how to go about it. But if the borders are left unsecured as they are now, those deported would more than likely return after a short time. Also, if it were easier to become a citizen, then perhaps more people would do it the right way. Changing the laws for naturalization is also an idea that should be considered. Thanks for reading.
INTERESTING SOURCES
1. VIDEO CLIP: GERALDO VS. O'REILLY
Here's a nice controversial video clip from The Factor. It seems they are arguing 2 different things, but in my opinion, Geraldo misses the point. What do you think?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Nt8MQaKko
2. NATURALIZATION PROCESS. I was just curious about the naturalization process, so here's a helpful link if you are too:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=ee14b4ac0933e010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=fe529c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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