Bedtime Stories

       The first time watching these stories, I watched first the Russian version following by the English version. However, for some reason it was hard for me to understand the Russian one first following by wanting to watch the English version. So, a few days later I tried it again; watching the English version first actually helped to watch the Russian one. As an observation, I feel understanding the lesson learned in the English version first because English is my dominant language helped me understand and look for the lesson learned in the Russian version.
        "Little Toot and the Loch Ness Monster" was a cute, but sad story with a happy ending. One can relate such feelings to a cultural diverse student;and the hunting boats as the bullies. Cultural diverse people/ students may look to appear different, but does that make them right away a monster or bad person? Rather, until you get to know them they may be very nice, helpful or funny ; they may even become a best friend. This was a valuable lesson to learn; that in life not everyone will see the beauty and friendship in someone as you would. Nothing you can say or do that can change a persons mind, and sometimes getting negative energy from a situation can diffuse a problem. However, I do believe that this problem is still not lost; the bullies may come back even angrier than before and that is what left an empty feeling in my chest knowing. Shelley Duvall also said at the end of the video she hopes they don't come back. However, I do realize there is one lesson to learn through these children bedtime stories, and it was a great one to listen to.
           "The Four Friends" was a cute, but sad story as well with a happy ending as well. Even though I could not understand anything the narrator was saying, I was able to watch the communication between the animals. If there was an animal in need of help, they came together to save and help the animal. This can relate to real life experiences where even though you may not be from the same ethnicity or in other words , look like one another doesn't mean you cant be good friends and stick up for one other if you see they are in some kind of trouble. This is another valuable lesson to be learned and for parents and teachers, this brings hope that children can learn and see these lessons to take on with them in their lives.

Becoming American

Watching this video opened my eyes to see and understand, just because you have money and are famous does not mean your personal life is absolute perfection. Even famous people do not know everyone that belongs to their family especially an immigrant ant-sister  However these famous people actually are interested in knowing that that routs connect them to someplace else. Not only is it such a great feeling tracking down the history of family, but watching someone uncover their ant-sisters; Facial reactions are priceless to watch. My Great Grandma Salerno who is alive and 106 today, always loves to talk about her history. Even though she has been living here for years, she can still speak Sicilian as well as English very well. She has been a hard worker her whole life; one of her jobs a long time ago was to turn on and off the water to the worlds sphere. She loved to dance, sing, and most of all smile! It is quite amazing how such characteristics can be passed down through generations. On the other hand I am very lucky to have been born into a family where on both sides have kept a family tree diagram which has been passed down. My heritage is Sicilian, Swedish, and Basque. When visiting I will interact with my Swedish family however, its not so much. My Basque family still lives in the Basque land, however my grandpa passed away in 1995, and so has his brother and sister. I love my family and heritage and would like to connect to my heritage as much as I can. God Bless My Great Grandma Salerno!

Lost Boys of Sudan

Prior to these videos I was not aware of the civil war that had occurred in Sudan, or the birth of “The lost boys”. I learned that Sudan was thrown into a civil war resulting in an order being sent out to kill all the young boys residing in Sudan. To escape their death these young men ranging from 5 to 10 years old fled their homes and families in order to travel across Africa to Ethiopia. In their travels many had died of starvation and or dehydration, as well as from the attacks of hyenas. Sometime after settling into a make shift camp in Ethiopia, the government their collapsed resulting in the boys have to flee again, this time doubling back through Africa to Kenya. Once there the Kenyan government provided them with donated clothing, as well as having them taught to read and speak English. After this they were given a choice to be relocated to America where they were given the chance at a new life. The most surprising thing I learned about the lost boys is that when most of them were relocated to America they felt so indebted to the government and the people here for helping them. I understand the need to say thank you, but one of those young men went as far as to join the military in his need to give back to America. The most negative experiences these young men had were the times on their journey that they could feel themselves slowly dying or wasting away, as well as the thought of what going to happen to them or what happened to their families back home? If a lost boy was a student it my class, I would be sure to answer whatever question he may have. I would also direct him to a form of a support group so that he would not be alone, and to learn how Americans interact with one another.

Family Stories that Bind Us

     This article I found extremely interesting for many different reasons; most of all because I can compare my life. As a child, I loved my childhood. Every memory I have my mother and father made it so the we had happy memorable moments. Growing up and to this day, my family is very close. My mother kept my brother, sister and I very involved with our family history; and we were eager to learn as well. I was very fortunate to have a healthy, happy, loving family from both my moms side and dads side. As well as, I am very proud of my family and their accomplishments; it only makes me want to accomplish just as much also. I do believe it is important to know your family history, of their ups/downs as well as knowing how they overcome their downs; that it does bind them into understanding your families life that you practically just invited them to. I think that is the problem, some parents aren't inviting their children to be a part of their life and history; and with that the child is lost. However, I do believe in punishment as well. Children are children  and as adults it is our responsibility to correct them when needed; otherwise the children will cause a ruckus and not respect your words later on in life. On the other hand, I really enjoyed this article because i will be using these techniques when I become a mother. It is also nice to know scientists/psychologists have done studies to prove to families that this is successful.
I LOVE MY FAMILY AND AM SO THANKFUL FOR THEM IN MY LIFE!

A Class Divided

3/7/13

     This video on A Class Divided, shows a teacher who will work hard in having her students whether young or older understand discrimination.
      At young ages, students are very absorbent in what they hear and or see. Instead of the teacher saying this is right and this is wrong end of story; this teacher puts together an active lesson for the students. A lesson in which came from the teacher thinking of the Indian Su Prayer; " Oh please great spirit, keep me from ever judging a man until I have walked in someones mochasins." This led the teacher to incorporate the lesson where the class was segregated by blue eyes and brown eyes. The teacher treated brown eyed students with such respect and blue eyed students as if they were no good. It was sad to see the kids faces when they had to put the blue collar on and feel humiliated. My first impression was, "How Horrible!"  However as I kept watching, the children did not like to be segregated and they were asked, is blue eyed people any different from brown eyed people?, the kids said no. The teacher also asked is the skin color brown any different than the white skin color people ?, the kids said no. I was really impressed from this lesson. I saw that the students were all together on never wanting to feel like that again; let alone someone else.
     Fourteen years later, the teacher interviewed some of the students who were in the class, and it amazes me how she really had put an impact on these students who are now adults. They remembered being hurt and learning "how would you like it" in agony was worth it. Another adult said he thinks every school should implement this program in an early stage of education. Seeing how these adults are from when they were children i believe it has greatly impacted them in and also believe school should and can use this as a lesson. However Jane Elliot said,  this lesson may not be every student; and if not done right can really damage students. Her students felt that they will refuse to ever hurt one another feelings ever again in that way; and also that they feel they have became practically a family.
       The last segment is one that I found very interesting. Jane Elliot put together the program for teaching adults/ Correction officers. They were going to have to deal with it in their minds. Adults were noticing the blue eyed people only bathroom, as well as the brown eyed people sign in sheet. The class started at 9:00 and the people who had blue eyes had to wait more than half an hour outside the room; they were so insulted. After being brought into the classroom, right away they were being picked on from the teacher. I found it hard and annoying to watch one woman, arguing and practically fighting with the teacher. I felt as if the kids were much more cooperative than the adults. The adults became more arrogant because they were embarrassed. On the other hand after lunch break speaking about their emotions, the one woman that was very angry and nasty towards the teacher, felt as if she was discriminated before just like anyone else. What amazed me was that she was not wearing her eye tie around her neck , which others were as well as someone actually spoke up on how that woman will never really know how a black person would feel waking up every morning knowing the problems and differences they will have to face. That made me so proud to hear that because personally I feel I would stand up and say the same thing!

Manners And Verbal Expressions Across Cultures

 2/13/13    
       

       After watching this video, I found it very interesting to learn the different manners to be aware of towards different cultures.
       When listening of the story about Asian cultures or middle eastern cultures; they do not call people by their first name. According to the people of Asian people, they describe their relationships when speaking to someone rather than calling them by their first name. For Example, Amys mother; instead of saying Mary. I wonder if it is the same as my family saying Mormor , which is Swedish for saying Mothers mother also known as Grandma in American? Also when I was brought up , I was told when speaking to an adult it is respectful to approach them by addressing them as Mr. or Mrs. (last name). And listening more to the video, I learned that in some cultures their first name is really their last name but sequenced first ! I never knew that.
      Another part of the video I found interesting that it is not acceptable to compliment babies in Indian cultures. And that they put a mark on the babies head to remind people not to. Also complimenting or praising people from Philippians and Asian cultures. There causes a tension , because they think, wasn't I doing well before my compliment? Also that they do not want to accept a promotion because you are then taking them out of from what they know.
     When Norine Dresser spoke about people from other cultures not saying what they really mean; in the case of asking the class " does everybody understand?" and the class would say "yes " and node their heads when not being fully honest. I can understand the childern who do this, even though I am not from another culture as a child I would say yes because I didn't want to be pointed out as the only one who didn't know. Which in fact there were probably many other students in the class room who did not understand and could have benefited from any questions being asked. However she then spoke about what to say to a class instead which I was interested in learning a different technique. A different way of asking is phrasing the question in another way for example, "tell me what you don't understand", "what confuses you?" This is because students say what the teacher wants to hear, but they may not really understand.

Manners And Body Language Across Cultures

2/10/2013    

      I find body language so intriguing  there are so many different signals a person can do without even knowing they are talking without words.
      After watching the video of Norine Dresser speaking about manners along with body language, i feel following by receiving my class student list, that it is important to be aware of the students backgrounds. This takes you close to being aware of your surroundings and how to react properly.
      For instance, when I was younger and my mom would speak to my friends, she would expect them to look her in the eye. She found respect from making eye contact; this showed you were well engaged to the conversation. If you did not , you seemed to be not trust worthy or not paying attention. I understand some cultures eye contact is offensive; when being a younger kid they must obey and respect their elders. Therefore, as a teacher I will not be asking children to look me in the eye. There could be many other things in a child's life a teacher may not see right away; for instance child abuse. A child may not look into your eyes because they are being knocked around at home; or the child may have insecurities.
      The smiling part of this video chat, really surprised me. I did not know smiling was used for how angry a culture of people could be in photos. I really thought smiling was from a muscle contraction of happiness. However,  I suppose I can compare it to when people put on a fake smile but in really they are upset or crying. Body language can give away emotion from happy to sad to angry smiles.