Well I had two ideas for my performance/presentation.
Option 1: we all go to the HFA and I play a song on the piano...the only instrument I have any skills with. I'm not sure if that would be allowed? But it could be fun!
Option 2: I teach everyone some swing dancing skills I've learned at swing club. this could be fun too, although it could be difficult as I am one person, but I think I could work it out. Everyone would need to participate I think. I would bring in some swing dancing music and we would have good times.
Any opinions?
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
Discussion Summary
The discussion thus far has been to my satisfaction! Most days everyone seemed to contribute to the discussion, and we've gotten on some pretty hot topics. Some people speak more than others, naturally, but I'd say that's always expected. On a few occasions I noticed that peoples arguments seemed a bit competetive, as if the purpose of discussion is to convert everyone to one's own viewpoint. I think that the purpose of a discussion is to think about all possible sides of something without any ulterior motive (e.g. they shall ALL believe ME! bwa haha!) I find it a bit sad when people see discussions as arguments and competitions and would rather put down other people's thoughts than share their own. I've only noticed this a few times, and none this week.
On Tuesday we spent most of the time talking about the pros and cons of Pandora. We discussed how, to best control the songs played, one should put in an artist rather than a song. Pandora has a tendency to avoid playing the entered songs. We also determined that saying 'I like it!" after hearing a song could be a bad thing, as Pandora will avoid other genres to play more like said song.
We also discussed rotating schedules of summaries of blog posts, summaries of discussions, and presentations coming up in October. The first person to summarize blog posts will be Kat, the first to summarize discussions will be myself, Christina, and the first to present will be Machelle. The schedule will rotate so that everyone has a time to do all three. We talked about the nature of presentations, and Nic McPhee himself gave an astounding harmonica preformance! We all applauded him.
On Thursday we were asked to discuss the book, and Kelsey said how it was sad that the slave owners took away the slave's instruments. We discussed why that would be, whether they thought they would escape using the drums/loud instruments or if they were simply afraid of their culture. Nic asked if there were any other instances in history where a similar thing happened, with people taking away meaningful parts of certain cultures. We mentioned the Native American culture, and among other things how we brought them to boarding schools and made them talk and dress like the western culture. We talked about how big groups are comfortable with "sameness" and feel threatened by people who do not fit our mold. Other examples brought up were dress code issues (long hair, colored hair, piercings, tattoos), attempting to give Iraq a democracy and peer pressure to dress and act like the crowd. The discussion was lively and most people seemed to be in agreeance that trying to change others to feel more comfortable is unnecessary.
On Tuesday we spent most of the time talking about the pros and cons of Pandora. We discussed how, to best control the songs played, one should put in an artist rather than a song. Pandora has a tendency to avoid playing the entered songs. We also determined that saying 'I like it!" after hearing a song could be a bad thing, as Pandora will avoid other genres to play more like said song.
We also discussed rotating schedules of summaries of blog posts, summaries of discussions, and presentations coming up in October. The first person to summarize blog posts will be Kat, the first to summarize discussions will be myself, Christina, and the first to present will be Machelle. The schedule will rotate so that everyone has a time to do all three. We talked about the nature of presentations, and Nic McPhee himself gave an astounding harmonica preformance! We all applauded him.
On Thursday we were asked to discuss the book, and Kelsey said how it was sad that the slave owners took away the slave's instruments. We discussed why that would be, whether they thought they would escape using the drums/loud instruments or if they were simply afraid of their culture. Nic asked if there were any other instances in history where a similar thing happened, with people taking away meaningful parts of certain cultures. We mentioned the Native American culture, and among other things how we brought them to boarding schools and made them talk and dress like the western culture. We talked about how big groups are comfortable with "sameness" and feel threatened by people who do not fit our mold. Other examples brought up were dress code issues (long hair, colored hair, piercings, tattoos), attempting to give Iraq a democracy and peer pressure to dress and act like the crowd. The discussion was lively and most people seemed to be in agreeance that trying to change others to feel more comfortable is unnecessary.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
life isn't fair
I agree with Governor Blanco's statement that life isn't fair, at least not fair as we know it, and life on earth
My mom mentors a 6 year old girl, Christiana, through the Mentor Duluth program, and stared last spring, when Christiana was 5. Christiana's dad had died 3 years ago and her mom, Nancybeth, suffered from severe multiple sclerosis, and was unable to use the right half of her body. there were 5 kids in the family and nancybeth raised them from her bedroom as she was unable to get out of bed without the help of her oldest son. soon after we met through the mentor program I began working for Nancybeth after school twice a week doing laundry, housework and cooking, or whatever was needed.
the family lived in a split-level house which was completely wheelchair-unacccessible. nancybeth worked on plans for the building of a new house to move into that was handicap accessible, and earlier this year the hosue was finished and the family moved in. if life is fair, then I don't know what fair means i guess. this summer Nancybeth died unexpectedly from a heart attack. the 5 kids have lost both of their parents now, and had to move to the twin cities with their aunt, thus losing their house and all of their friends.
Life for this family is certainly not fair and to say otherwise seems to be saying that there is something that they did to deserve such misfortune. back to my first statement...I believe that God will bring everything to justice, and that while our life on earth is less than fair, once we die everything will be fair again.
My mom mentors a 6 year old girl, Christiana, through the Mentor Duluth program, and stared last spring, when Christiana was 5. Christiana's dad had died 3 years ago and her mom, Nancybeth, suffered from severe multiple sclerosis, and was unable to use the right half of her body. there were 5 kids in the family and nancybeth raised them from her bedroom as she was unable to get out of bed without the help of her oldest son. soon after we met through the mentor program I began working for Nancybeth after school twice a week doing laundry, housework and cooking, or whatever was needed.
the family lived in a split-level house which was completely wheelchair-unacccessible. nancybeth worked on plans for the building of a new house to move into that was handicap accessible, and earlier this year the hosue was finished and the family moved in. if life is fair, then I don't know what fair means i guess. this summer Nancybeth died unexpectedly from a heart attack. the 5 kids have lost both of their parents now, and had to move to the twin cities with their aunt, thus losing their house and all of their friends.
Life for this family is certainly not fair and to say otherwise seems to be saying that there is something that they did to deserve such misfortune. back to my first statement...I believe that God will bring everything to justice, and that while our life on earth is less than fair, once we die everything will be fair again.
stereotypes galore
Re: Governor Blanco's statements about stereotypes
I have found that in trying to make an issue about stopping stereotypes, only more stereotypes are made or confirmed. I agree with her that in order to stop the stereotypes we personally have to have expectations about people based on their age, gender, race, etc. However, I think some people take that too far...they want to banish anything dealing with stereotypes. For example, in the book Language Police by Diane Ravitch, there is a list of stereotypes that are not allowed in texts, illustrations or reading passages on standardized tests and text books. here are a few examples (by the way, these are just a few of the many stereotypes listed, and mostly ones i find ridiculous) :
gender specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Mothers comforting children, giving sympathy, hugs, kisses, or hot milk at bedtime
•Mothers shopping
•Boys as intelligent, logical, mechanical, strong, rough, competetive, active, brave, problem solvers, adventurous leaders, messy, unoncerned with appearance, quiet and easygoing, confident, career-oriented, or concerned with achievement
race specific stereotypes to avoid:
•American Indians as craftspeople
•Native Americans living in rural settings or reservations
•Native Americans portrayed as "close to nature"
•Asian Americans as intelligent, musically gifted or class valedictorian
•Hispanics as warm and expressive
•Jewish people as jewelers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, classical musicians, tailors, shopkeepers or diamond cutters
age specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Older people as funny or charming
•Older people as retired, at the end of their career, have lived the most fruitful years of their lives or are engaged in a life of leisure activities
•Older persons who suffer from physical deterioration
•Children as healthy and energetic
My question is...how does this help? By avoiding such issues in tests, arent we just pointing them out? I mean, how should mothers be portrayed? As beating their children before bed? as cold and uncaring? How should boys be shown? apparently there's not much left for them but to be stupid and exessively neat as far as I can tell. And why shouldn't Native Americans be shown being close to nature? should we show them littering? surely not all Native Americans are living on reservations, but to make a point of avoiding the subject, what good is that doing?
The truth is, stereotypes are a generalization of all people based on a large number of people who fit a certain profile. by avoiding a certain image, we're really noting it as legitimate. we're focusing on the problem instead of the solution. I'll take the example of older people suffering from physical deterioration. we all know that many older people do, indeed, suffer from physical deterioration. by an organization making a point of avoiding this image, they're treating it as a negative thing to suffer from physical deterioration (which it is in a physical sense, but not otherwise). they're pointing out that older people are suffering by making a concrete rule not to portray any elderly people as anything but healthy.
i think getting rid of stereotypes is nearly impossible, honestly. they've been around forever and will probably always exist. i think that personal decisions are the only things that will affect stereotypes, government interference will only cause problems
I have found that in trying to make an issue about stopping stereotypes, only more stereotypes are made or confirmed. I agree with her that in order to stop the stereotypes we personally have to have expectations about people based on their age, gender, race, etc. However, I think some people take that too far...they want to banish anything dealing with stereotypes. For example, in the book Language Police by Diane Ravitch, there is a list of stereotypes that are not allowed in texts, illustrations or reading passages on standardized tests and text books. here are a few examples (by the way, these are just a few of the many stereotypes listed, and mostly ones i find ridiculous) :
gender specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Mothers comforting children, giving sympathy, hugs, kisses, or hot milk at bedtime
•Mothers shopping
•Boys as intelligent, logical, mechanical, strong, rough, competetive, active, brave, problem solvers, adventurous leaders, messy, unoncerned with appearance, quiet and easygoing, confident, career-oriented, or concerned with achievement
race specific stereotypes to avoid:
•American Indians as craftspeople
•Native Americans living in rural settings or reservations
•Native Americans portrayed as "close to nature"
•Asian Americans as intelligent, musically gifted or class valedictorian
•Hispanics as warm and expressive
•Jewish people as jewelers, doctors, dentists, lawyers, classical musicians, tailors, shopkeepers or diamond cutters
age specific stereotypes to avoid:
•Older people as funny or charming
•Older people as retired, at the end of their career, have lived the most fruitful years of their lives or are engaged in a life of leisure activities
•Older persons who suffer from physical deterioration
•Children as healthy and energetic
My question is...how does this help? By avoiding such issues in tests, arent we just pointing them out? I mean, how should mothers be portrayed? As beating their children before bed? as cold and uncaring? How should boys be shown? apparently there's not much left for them but to be stupid and exessively neat as far as I can tell. And why shouldn't Native Americans be shown being close to nature? should we show them littering? surely not all Native Americans are living on reservations, but to make a point of avoiding the subject, what good is that doing?
The truth is, stereotypes are a generalization of all people based on a large number of people who fit a certain profile. by avoiding a certain image, we're really noting it as legitimate. we're focusing on the problem instead of the solution. I'll take the example of older people suffering from physical deterioration. we all know that many older people do, indeed, suffer from physical deterioration. by an organization making a point of avoiding this image, they're treating it as a negative thing to suffer from physical deterioration (which it is in a physical sense, but not otherwise). they're pointing out that older people are suffering by making a concrete rule not to portray any elderly people as anything but healthy.
i think getting rid of stereotypes is nearly impossible, honestly. they've been around forever and will probably always exist. i think that personal decisions are the only things that will affect stereotypes, government interference will only cause problems
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)