Intersexuality and Transsexuality

Throughout the course of this semester we have learned about intersexuality and transexuality. Intersexuality as explained through my readings is when a person has a mixture of male and female characteristics such as ambiguous gentalia. Under this category of intersexuality there are the sub-categories of hermaphrodites and male and female pseudo hermaphrodites. When referring to ambiguous gentalia this abnormality happens because the SRY gene which is the gene which is needed for a fetus to turn the gonads in the fetus into what will later on be the testes, scrotum, etc. If the SRY gene is not present in the fetus it will not create male gentalia but instead it turns into the ovaries and other female reproductive organs. From a medical standpoint, a true hermaphrodite is one who is born with both gentalia completely produced. A transsexual is quite different. By definition a transsexual is a person who feels that they have the wrong body. For example, a man who surely believes that God gave him the wrong body and he were supposed to be a woman all along. These individuals so strongly believe these thoughts that a great amount of them will have surgeries to alter theirselves. To a heterosexual person this might seem dumb or flat out outrageous but these situations are real and they are going on everyday around them. Intersexuals and transsexuals are so stigmatized in our society that most of them feel scared, ashamed, or even afraid because they are viewed wrongly in our society. Most of the intersexed community tried to keep these things a secret because they do not feel comfortable talking about it, and do not want to be rejected by their loved ones or their community. They most times feel as if this difference brings shame to their families and loved ones, that’s why the majority of this community chooses to remain single and never marry in order to prevent embarrassment to their family. I believe that our society needs to be more tolerant of others.

Homosexuality

My personal believe about homosexuality is a learned behavior. I think that homosexuality is completely learned or a choice of the individual. There has not been evidence that shows that homosexuality as a cause of genetics. The genes of a heterosexual person are exactly the same as those of a homosexual one. Some homosexuals say that they believe they are born gay to get over the stipulations of having to change their behaviors in order to fit in with the norms of society. Even though, homosexuality is a learned behavior of the individual the causes of this behavior can a result of many different situations together. For example I think that a person can choose to become a homosexual as a result of an unloving family, being exposed of other homosexuals, and other hard circumstances like these. Before studying this topic throughout the course of this semester I had never put much thought into it. I honestly did believe that being homosexual was a mixture of both genetics and learned behaviors, but it turns out that I was wrong. Just because a person is homosexual does not mean they will actually do homosexual acts. Most of them are afraid of society and how people will feel or think about them differently due to their sexuality so most of them marry heterosexually, and never really expose their true feelings because of their fears of being teased and rejected by those who they care about and love. Many people who are in relationships with transsexuals or intersexed individuals when they become aware of this do not want to be involved with the person anymore because they feel unsure of their sexuality, not knowing if they are truly homosexual or heterosexual. I think that being homosexual is that person’s choice and right. I don’t opinionate or judge; to each their own. Many religious individuals feel that it’s a sin to be a homosexual because they believe the bible says so, I also think that’s just based on how you perceive things.

Required Assignment 2

After completing all eight of the assigned surveys for this assignment I feel enlightened. Enlightened in the sense that I can now put a lot more thought in things that before I just thought or did without actually thinking to myself: “why is it that I think, feel, or act this way?” The first survey that I completed was “Core Beliefs about Mind, Body, Spirit, and Reality Survey”. This survey basically talked about one’s beliefs about the mind and body and basically the world through our eyes. One of the questions in this survey that struck me was the question that asked are the mind and the body independent from each other, I answered strongly disagree. I think that the mind and the body are in many different ways interconnected and work either to help or hinder each other in certain situations. The mind can sometime trick the body into feeling certain things. For instance, let’s say that your friend tells you that the drink you’re drinking has a lot of alcohol in it. Your body might actually start feeling as if you’re drunk because your mind thinks that. So hence, this is why I say that the mind and the body do work strongly together with one another. This leads me to another question that is also asked in this survey: “The mind is superior to the body”. When it comes to this question I would have to say that I agree because of the previous question. The mind can overpower the body many times; the mind is a strong tool to our actions and/or behaviors. Another question in this survey that I put a lot of thought into is the question that says “Human nature is the same for all human beings, it does not change”. I also strongly disagree with this statement. I think human nature is different for each and every person and it can change. Human nature for me might not be the same that it is for my brother, mother, friend, or enemy. We might view things differently or think that one thing is good or another is bad. This is all left up to our self thought, and our perception of things. Just because we are all humans does not necessarily mean that we are all the same human, and think and act upon things in the same manner. When completing the next survey I saw that many of the questions, a lot more than the first survey intrigued me. The second survey I completed was the survey “Core Beliefs: What I Learned from My Parents”. The first question that made me flinch in my seat was “I learned from my parents or those who raised me that I shouldn't think; that they (or others) should do my thinking for me.” You can’t be serious!? My parents would flip if they heard this statement come out of my mouth. Maybe this is reality to some, who am I to judge? But for my family, this is insane. My parents always taught me to speak up for what I believe in, and to make my voice hurt. To clear up any misunderstanding, my parents along with this taught me to be respectful to other’s opinion’s thought, and beliefs especially my elders or any adults for that matter. I think it is important to be heard and to always have a voice of your own because if you don’t make your voice heard other’s can speak for you and make people believe that you said things that you didn’t, or that you believe and stand for things you don’t. This goes hand in hand with voting for president. It is important for you to vote for president because if you don’t your voice will not be heard and you can say oh I want such and such to be president but that person can only become president through your votes and the votes of others. I can truly relate to a lot of the questions asked throughout the core beliefs survey. Another question I want to discuss is the question in this survey that says “I learned from my parents or those who raised me to express my views openly, without fear of punishment.” Since my parents came from the communist country of Cuba where speaking your mind isn’t allowed my parents always instilled in me that it is essential for me to speak my mind because that is why they came to the United States because this is a free, democratic country which lets you speak what you want and allows you to express yourself out loud without the fear of punishment. I think it is important for all parents to instill this thought in their child’s mind because if you always repress a child into keeping shut and not speaking their mind they are unable to express and develop important thoughts which are important for all people. It is important for people to speak their mind and able to talk out loud because it might only help them express thoughts but this also inspires other people to be more outspoken and maybe even enlighten the mind of someone who can change the world for the better. The next survey I want to discuss in more detail is the survey titled “Core Beliefs: How I Was Raised”. This survey is interesting to me because many of the questions asked throughout this survey sparked something in me that made me think. For example, many of the customs that I might carry out because I am Hispanic another person from another race might find as disrespectful or incorrect. Let’s take looking at an adult in the eyes. My best friend is Haitian and I know that when she is talking to her grandmother it is disrespectful for her to look her grandmother in the eye. In my home or with my family if someone is speaking to me and I don’t look them in the eye, I am disrespecting them and whatever it is that they are trying to tell me. I am basically telling that person that I don’t care about what it is they have to say. Same thing goes for giving someone a hug or a kiss on the cheek. Hispanics have no problem giving a person a kiss on the cheek, to us we find that as a method of saying hello or just something you do to show love to friends and family members. It’s completely natural to us. To most blacks they don’t like that, even though obviously there are exceptions to the rule. In high school, many of my black friends got so used to the Hispanic custom of saying hi by giving a kiss on the cheek that they started doing it too! I remember thinking about this exact circumstance in high school and saying to myself wow exposure to something can really change your outlook on it. Most of those black girls never would greeted someone by giving them a kiss on the cheek but since they were exposed to this type of behavior and got a better understanding of why it is done they grew closer to that type of behavior and even used it. I thought that was really cool. Then I moved on to the quizzes about beliefs of men, women, and race. I really didn’t like these quizzes as much as I liked the other quizzes I took prior to them because I thought that these two quizzes were much too generalized. For example, in the quiz about men there was a question that said that men believe that women enjoy suffering. I think that this statement is very broad. Not all men think this. First of all, women don’t enjoy suffering, and plus not every man thinks that women enjoy suffering that’s why there are good men out there and there are women who love them. I think that these quizzes are answered through your own experiences and views on these topics. Let’s say that I had just got out of a nasty breakup with a man and then was assigned these quizzes. I think that I would have answered these questions a lot different than the way I am answering them because I am in a long term healthy relationship. I also think the same thing goes for the quiz about women and the one about race. If a man was going through a bad relationship or couldn’t find a girlfriend because every girl he likes always dates “assholes” then his answer to that question might be swayed in a completely different direction. Same thing applies again for the quiz that discusses race. If I had multiple bad encounters with a certain race I might tend to discriminate against that race and answer all the questions about that race just based on those encounters. I think this even applies somewhat to the quiz about sex and gender. A lot of the stereotypes we give to people are based on he say she say and not real concrete evidence. In the last survey I completed my political typology, I am said to be a liberal. I think that the survey is right because when defined a liberal is a person that has political or social views favoring for reform and progress. I think that exactly defines my point of view when it comes to my political standpoint. I respect the way things have been done in the past, but I am all for change for change means getting things done in a more efficient way. One of the most appealing questions in this survey that caught my eye was the question that said that rely too much on the military to fight off terrorism creates hatred which in turn only creates more terrorism. I think that our situation today much reflects what is being talked about in this question. Our government for too long has relied on the military as the only means for terrorism. That’s why I support our President Obama when he wants to be with the United Nations and others around the world to talk about problems and solution instead of just depending on the military.

Tale of Two Islands

In summarizing the “Tale of Two Islands” it’s a descriptive view into the world of a Cuban and Haitian refugee. I am pretty well aware of the situations and experiences that happened in Cuba in the 1940’s when Bautista was over thrown by the Fidel Castro’s government. My father at the time was only a child but he always reiterates this piece of our cultural and the history of this event time and time again, he always tell me that even though he was a only a little kid at the time that there was some events in history that will be clear in your mind forever more. Many Cubans decided to flee the country at this time because the government started to seize their properties, and their valuables. A lot of the immigrants that came at this time we middle class, and most were even well-educated individuals such as doctors, who wanted to flee this exile that was happening in Cuba even though many others prophesied that it wouldn’t last long and that Cuba would be a free country in no time. In the 1960’s, the U.S. was flying planes back and forth from Cuba bringing over many children and adults into the “Never-Never Land” until Castro seized these flights when the Cuban Missile Crisis happened. This was the second big wave of immigrants that brought along a group of people a lot different than the first wave which happened in the 1940’s. This group of immigrants was disillusioned and did not have their promises full-filled by the Cuban government; they were mostly middle to low class individuals who ran little businesses or were working individuals who were struggling to maintain now in the communist country of Cuba. When it came to the Haitian immigrants who were undergoing many of the same tyrannies the American government did not allow them to reside in the US the way did for the Cuban people. Even though both countries were experiencing the same types of communist governments overtaken them, the US reacted differently by allowing the Cubans to take refuge in the US a lot more easily than the Haitian people. I think race, skin color, and prejudice has all played a serious role in the reaction to the Haitian community. I think a case of institutional racism can definitely be made just by looking at the patterns of how the government acted towards the people who would help their economy (Cubans) and those who they think would hinder it (Haitians).

Race and Racism

Racism is still a current issue that many individuals have experienced or are currently in the midst of dealing with. Race defines where you come from. Many individuals are still deeply routed in the ethnocentric beliefs that if other people do not come from where they come from or have the same color skin they are inferior to them because their race, sex, skin color, ethnicity is superior to everyone else’s and being like them is the only right and correct way to live. Racial discrimination is when you treat someone different just based on their race. The example that pops into my head when I think of racial discrimination is a Hispanic or Black person not getting a job because they are not white because the boss of the company is white. Even though it seems like we are all passed the times of discrimination and racism we are not completely away from that. It isn’t as strong as it was before the Civil Rights movement and other political instances that have brought us to where we are today, but racism is still very much alive in the world. Many of us often times demonstrate racism in very little ways but might now even be aware of it. For example when an African American hears a person talking Spanish and they automatically assume that person is Cuban, that is using a stereotype and this is a type of racism. Not every single person that speaks Spanish or is Hispanic is necessarily Cuban. Another form of racism is extreme pride in one’s race. Sometimes we might take pride in our race and not realize that we are being offensive or inconsiderate of other’s this is another sign of racism. Most people who actually demonstrate extreme racism towards others are completely unaware of it. They are in denial when told by others that they are racist. They feel that the way they talk about their own race and the race of other’s is completely normal and they are not wrong in any way, shape, or form. Throughout the course of this semester I have learned about many different situations in which racism has definitely played a huge part. For example, the Holocaust is a huge example of racism and how one person thought that their race was superior so every other race in opposition should be completely annihilated. What I have learned about racism is that it is very alive, and in order to be able to identify it, we must be aware of it.

Emmett Till

In class this week we saw the video documentary of Emmett Till. Before this video, I had never been exposed to the story and reality of Emmett Till and the gruesome truth of what were done to him. The video begins with his mother reflecting on her son’s life. She stated how she always felt that Emmett was one of her brothers more than a son to her because her mother (Emmett’s grandmother) raised them all. Emmett was really good at anything that involved art or science. The turning point in Emmett’s life was when we headed to Money, Mississippi. At this time Mississippi was probably the worst state in the United States when it came to segregation and racism. Emmett’s mother remembered how her son was ready to leave and she called him back to her because he had forgotten to give her a kiss goodbye. Emmett simply replied back to his mother you know nothing will happen to me and I’ll be back. When they were in Mississippi they all went to Bryant’s store. The person who ran the store was Mr. Bryant’s wife Carol. Emmett Till whistled at her while they were inside the store. All of his cousin’s and people that were there with her in their commentaries in the video just keep mentioning the surprise they were in when Emmett did that. One of his brothers even said how no one there actually expected him to do that to the white lady. Later on that night Mr. Bryant and J.W. Milam came into the house with a pistol and took him away. Everyone left behind was completely frightened that this was actually happening to them. Those grown men took Emmett to the Sheridan Plantation and they murdered him. They found Emmett’s body in the river. He was tied to a cotton gin fan with barbed wire and his tongue and private area were both cut out. He was only 15 years old. This painted an ugly reality for blacks; they knew that if this situation happened to a 15 year old boy, it could happen to anyone. His mother insisted that they had an open casket funeral because she wanted everyone to see what these white men had done to 15 year old boy. Over 50,000 people attended his funeral and Jet Magazine in 1955 posted a three page spread on Emmett Till’s body. This event is what sparked the Civil Rights movement, before Rosa Parks, before Dr. Martin Luther King. It was an ugly scary reality that America was about to deal with.

Genocide & Ethnic Cleansing

Genocide and ethnic cleansing are two phrases that are commonly used interchangeably. This is not necessarily correct because they do differentiate somewhat. Genocide is when a group purposely destroys another group. Ethnic cleansing is when a group which is not liked is taken out of society through the means of genocide or by forcing them to migrate somewhere else. In one of the readings it is discussed how genocide once only brought thoughts of the Holocaust or other mass killings, but in today’s society we now think of the topic in a more in depth way. We not only think of certain situations in which there has been a killing of a group because of the race, religion, gender, etc. Now we also incorporate what we think might have caused it, who did it, what made them turn to genocide as a possible solution for their prejudice against another group. In Rwanda there was a premeditated killing of two million Cambodians. In Bosnia, not only was genocide carried out by also ethnic cleansing. In Bosnia two hundred thousand people were murdered as well as many women were viciously raped, and children and fathers were taken away to concentration camps. These vicious killings were most times carried out by the government and happened throughout the war. This ethnic cleansing that took place in Bosnia lasted many years. Many people were put in concentration camps, killed, or forced to flee their homes. Sarajevo, which is the capital of Bosnia was one of the only places that escaped the “cleansing”. In Bosnia there were a total 10,000 people killed in 1992 and almost 50,000 people injured. Later on in 1997, there were still roughly 21,000 people missing. In May of 2005, was the last update and there were still 14,444 people missing without any trace. Since these people were forced to migrate out of their homes and their country it has been extremely difficult for their family and friends to be able to contact them. I believe that what was done to all these people in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur is cruel and unfair in every humanly way. Genocide and ethnic cleansing should be illegal and those who carry it out should be persecuted. The most difficult thing about having it be illegal is that most times the government is the one who helps carry these actions out.

Required Assignment 1

I believe that the teacher who I am completing my required service learning hours is very conscious of the diversity in her classroom and handles it with careful thought and consideration for all different types of students. Just through my personal observations I have noticed that in this classroom the majority of students are Black and Hispanic, only a small percentage of students are White, Asian, or of other races. Also the class consists of mostly females; there almost twice as many girls as there are boys in this classroom. The teacher does a good job of seating the students in an arrangement that they are able to cooperate and converse with different students, not having all the same races or genders in their own comfort zones. I have noticed that the teacher does treat all students with equitably, not having more of a preference for females or Hispanics just because she is one also. The teacher uses many of the methods of instruction that I learned in Introduction to Educational Technology, which really surprised me. Last semester, we discussed in class how many teachers are stuck in the use of old technology and have scared to change and use the many resources that are made available to them at times. This teacher has the students use magazines, computers, television for the students to complete some assignments and even homework assignments. The teacher is aware of the different learning styles of the students; I’ve also noticed that she is a constructivist teacher for the most part. Constructivism is so far my personal favorite teaching style and she clearly promotes teamwork and gives children a situation and has them critically think, do their research, and come up with a little presentation in which they stand up in front of the class and discuss what they learned. The students had a writing assignment recently in which they had to write the standard 5 paragraph essay. The teacher added a twist on it, since five of them set in a group in the class they each had to write one of the paragraphs of the essay and then it all had to put it together. Of course they were responsible for making sure it made sense, edit someone else’s part, and then read their paragraphs out loud to the class. I thought this was very cool and well thought out assignment. This particular assignment was sensitive to all types of learning styles because it helped those auditory learners because they heard other people’s stories and were communicating ideas and thoughts to their team, visual because the teacher modeled the assignment to them before hand so they knew exactly what to do. Using the overhead projector, the teacher wrote portions of the essay and explained the common mistakes that can be made since each student is adding in a paragraph. She explained that they should make sure to stay on topic and that all the ideas connect well together. All the students helped each other out by editing and reading other teammates papers to make sure it was done correctly. Also it helped those sociological learners because it felt encouraged working in a group to come up with a final product and were able to give their input and read their portion in front of the class and get others feedback. The teacher gives the student a sense of comfort by having them work in groups often, and talk in front of the other students. They have started to feel comfortable speaking after a while and hence this promotes an open climate that makes the students not feel scared when it comes to asking questions and participating in class discussions even when they are not required to work in groups. There are still some students that are shy but she tries to accommodate them to the best of her ability. The teacher still requires them to participate in presentations but she is mindful that certain students are not so comfortable asking questions so she makes her way to those students during assignments to make sure that they are clear and have no lingering questions. Many of the behaviors and methods that the teacher uses to tackle diversity issues are discussed also in our textbook such as seating arrangements, using different teaching styles to help different types of learners. I think she does a great job at handling diversity in her classroom, and molding it into something beneficial in the learning process instead of something that can hinder it.

The Holocaust

When I think to myself of the biggest example of hatred towards another group of people that was just a complete example of prejudice, extermination and most of the other topics we have been discussing in this course, the prime example of that in my mind is the Holocaust. Before reading more thoroughly into the assigned readings, I thought that the only people who were mistreated, placed into concentration camps, and killed were Jews. I was completely misinformed. During the rule of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazis they murdered and/or persecuted many handicapped and mentally disabled individuals along with Gypsies, homosexuals, and people who had different political and religious views differing from their own. This is just yet another extreme example of a group that is tremendously ethnocentric. They believed that anyone who thought or felt differently than them was opposing or just a threat to the master race of Germans. They thought that mentally handicapped individuals were a biological threat, as well as gypsies and Jews and they felt the need to rid themselves of those groups. The Germans reshaped all of the laws and social standpoints to make the Jews inferior to them. They made laws in which the Jews could not attend universities, quit their job, and could have no jobs in court positions. These laws were enforced upon the Jews by the Germans in 1933, at this time we could maintain the limited rights that the Germans allowed them to have. Between 1937 and 1939 the Germans began to seize Jewish owned stores, but after a short time this turned into the Nazis destroying any business owned by the Jews, invading their homes, and killing Jews. Already 1936 the Nazis had many different people in concentration camps. There are people that still until today claim that these events did not happen, I personally think that they are in denial. In terms of the DMIS I think that the Nazis in a way were in the defense stage of this model, because they were threatened by the thought of cultural, religiously, racially, sexually different people out in the world. It was said throughout the reading that the Germans thought that their race was the “master race” so they did see other races as less human than their own, another description of being in the defense stage. I think that those people who think these events did not occur should do their own research and not be uninformed naïve individuals and make their own decisions and opinions. Becoming informed and doing research is the only way to truly know something.

Prejudice

Prejudice is the foundation that leads to the ‘ism’s we are familiar with in our everyday life. A person who is prejudice is a part of group and discriminates against another group that is unlike them. In order to be prejudice you must participate in some sort of group in order to single out another individual or pack of people that different in some way. In the article “Understanding Prejudice” there is a part that discusses how we have long focused on the victims or prejudices instead of focusing where the problem actually stems from, the people who demonstrating prejudices. One of the major ways in which we learn prejudices, is by the many stereotypes we are introduced to as children. In young age, since we are introduced to these stereotypes we hold on to them until later age when we encounter a certain circumstance which we think only proves those stereotypes right, and if there is a situation which does not fit into the stereotype which we believe, we simply do not pay attention to it. Later on we build a belief system of what we think is right and correct based on the foundation of these previously learned stereotypes. Hence when we are being prejudice we are not aware of this because these ideas are already embedded in us so we unconsciously are being prejudice. In the article beliefs, values, and attitudes prejudices are discussed more in depth. It is explained that stress is a major reason why humans avoid certain situations because we as human beings like to avoid stressful and uncomfortable situations. Stressful situations lead to feeling somewhat threatened which then leads to fear which are all uncomfortable feelings for any person so we tend to try to avoid them altogether often times. What we tend to think of good and bad is culturally influenced. It makes sense that our perception of good and bad would be determined greatly by our culture because our culture gives us what we think of initially as the only right and correct way things are done. As soon as we are exposed to something different which we are not familiar through our culture, we assume it is bad or incorrect. These thoughts or beliefs later lead into behaviors against any other group unlike our own, we use antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, etc.

Understanding Self, Self-Concept, and Self-Esteem

The most important concept I learned through the reading of the article is “I think therefore I am”. This concept is discussed very in depth throughout this piece of writing. The concept pertaining to understand one self, or complete discovering yourself is a recent phenomenon. Rene Decartes explained self as a thinking matter. In order to understand the self we have to understand how exactly we differ from other species. We are more advanced in many ways. Humans are advanced in how we use tools, how develop and use language, but most of all because have self-consciousness which animals and other species do not have they only have a sense of regular consciousness about their surroundings. Since we have self consciousness we humans are able to function in a way more complex manner due to that sense of consciousness. In my personal opinion we have many selfs. We do not act or think differently based on the people in our surroundings or the way we feel. Having more than one self just means that we are able to show a certain aspect of ourselves at certain times, not that complete change who we are because that’s completely impossible. In the article Transformations which talks about self-esteem and self-concept, it is explain that self-concept is complex in that is composed values, traits, roles, and etc. Self-concept is given the definition of how perceives oneself in relation to their surroundings and the world around them. It is important for a person to have a good sense of self-esteem that way that person will be able to function properly and feel good about themselves. Self esteem is the concept that we build about ourselves and it is imperative. On this concept of ourselves we build our belief system and our values, so like any other thing in the world we need a good foundation in order for it to be strong. It is said by many that the way that we tend to feel about ourselves depends on how we compare ourselves to other people. So instead of being put down when we lose a competition we should feel more competitive and think that we are practicing and will get better at whatever it is, that way we will boost our confidence instead of lowering it.

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was a pioneer in the field of psychology. Freud was the first to introduce the concept of the unconscious mind to the field of medicine at that time. Freud actually wanted to go to school to be a doctor, but he was given a grant to study hypnosis. His work was especially important because he was the first person to take a non-biological approach to sickness. Before Sigmund all theorists solely said that biological factors were completely responsible for making us who we are and how we act. Freud explained that there were only two different drives that were responsible for how our behaviors, thought, and emotions. The two drives that control all these different things are sex and aggression. Sex was thought to be a strong human driving instinct because sex influences life and procreation, which is what life is all about. Sex is a motivating factor also for animals, because it also reproduces the same way. Aggression is explained as the exact opposite, it’s the way that all living being protect themselves from anything or anyone trying to cause harm to them. The structural model that Sigmund Freud created consists of id, ego, and superego. Id is something that we are born with from the day that we come into the world. It lets us meet our basic needs but all the id is concerned with is pleasure, and it has no doubt about the long-term. Once a child starts to grow out of being baby, when the only part that they have is their id, now their ego begins starts to develop. What the ego does is taking into consideration the long term effects can how pleasing yourself sometimes can hurt others in the long run. So in my opinion ego starts to give some common sense to the id, which strictly long wants to pleasure itself. Once a child has reached five years of age the superego is developed. The superego is the part of us that gives us moral which lead us to believe in what’s wrong and/or right. A balance should be maintained because if the id gets too strong the person would only want to be pleased, and if the superego is too strong then they will be very strict about their beliefs and live very severe. I think that Sigmund Freud’s ideas and theories are important because he was a pioneer in the field of psychology so regardless if someone agrees or disagrees with him, his work is still beneficial and very important to everyone, not only psychologists and doctors but also teachers, lawyers, and anyone who works with people because it’s useful to know how people work.

Beliefs, Values, and Attitudes

What strikes as most important about the beliefs, values, and attitudes reading is a combination of all of them, and honestly most of what I read throughout this piece. The article explains that a belief is a grouping of different categories that leads an individual to think of them as true and hence reflect them. It is explained that the mind will only take into consideration what fits into the categories which have already been made. If there is a situation which occurs that does not fit into the categories, the mind will simply through it away and consciously only use that fits the standard. A belief can often times also be considered what is called a conviction. A conviction is when a person truly believes that a phenomenon is real. They believe that something or someone is really true are they will oppose anyone who does not agree. People get the beliefs from their own cultures or a person of power who they appoint. Values are explain in the article as the choices that people make about what is good and bad, right or wrong, so on and so forth. Attitudes are also another type of belief. It’s a belief which is similar to a conviction because it supports the beliefs of the individual and opposes all others. Beliefs, values, and attitudes of a person are what can lead to prejudice. Prejudice is a discrimination of a certain group. Prejudice can only happen in group membership meaning that a person has to be a part of a certain group in order to be prejudice. For example, since I am a college student I am part of college educated individuals, I can be prejudice to a group of people who do not attend college or do not have any college education. I feel that every individual should be aware of the beliefs, values, attitudes which are shaping them who they are and how they act towards all different types of people and groups. As a teacher in the classroom it’s their responsibility to not let their personal opinions get in the way of their job, which is to teach. There are also many behaviors that a prejudice person exhibits like antilocution, avoidance, discrimination, and etc. Teachers must be aware that they are not unconsciously demonstrating these behaviors towards their students.

Teaching for Inclusion

The article “Teaching for Inclusion” discusses which effective strategies are for teaching students with all different types of issues even including disability. I’m currently taking the class on teaching students with special needs. We were asked to reflect on an article of our choice and the article on which I reflected was closely related to many of the things discussed throughout this reading. The first thing discussed in the handbook for teaching for inclusion is getting to know your students on the first day. I think that every successful teacher needs to know their students. When I say get to know the students I’m not talking only their names, I’m talking about knowing their best suited learning style and where they are academically when they enter the class. I think that one key to having a successful student is maintaining a constant stream of communication with the students parents. Not only reporting negative feedback is important for the student’s progress but also reporting the good things. Explaining to a student’s parents that their child is showing sign of improvement can be extremely helpful in motivating a child to continue to show improvement, this is an example of positive reinforcement. By giving the child’s parents that positive letter the child might feel even more motivated to show good behavior and try their hardest on every single assignment because they like the praise that their parents are giving them for the good work. When teaching children with learning disabilities such as ADHD, there are other successful strategies which should be set in motion. Students with ADHD tend to learn better if they are given a lot of breaks in between assignments. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a long break, but letting them get water or maybe stretching in their seat can be helpful in getting them refocused on what they are learning. As a teacher one of the biggest issues we will constantly deal with is diversity. The teacher has to be aware of all the different types of children in the class and make sure that the curriculum they are using isn’t only focused towards one group in the class, this can be considered being ethnocentric. Another helpful thing I grasped from the reading is that setting rules for classroom discussion can be extremely helpful in the long run. The rules discussed in the handbook if used correctly, I think can prevent any miscommunications amongst students in turn helping avoid disagreements altogether.

Awareness and Consciousness

Transformation is a process which every individual should go through, but most will never completely accomplish. The article talks about awareness. By many it has been difficult to thoroughly explain or define what it actually means to be aware. Awareness is best described as the distinction of the unconscious and conscious development of oneself. The definition or interpretation of what awareness really means is different from person to person just like any other matter. Metta Zetty explains that awareness is being an observer of you from an outer viewpoint. I think that I agree with this outlook of awareness because you can only be aware of yourself if you’re looking upon yourself from the outside in. When you are able to look upon yourself and have the large realization of many things that you weren’t aware of before, this is referred to as an epiphany. The definition that is given in the reading is that epiphany is when there is a manifestation of truth or complete meaning of something is learned. I think that many people experience epiphanies throughout their lifetimes for many different reasons. In my personal experience, I had an epiphany when I was in high school and one of my good friends died in a car accident. Before this event happening, I really didn’t mind who I got into a car with, it really was never a big deal to me. When I found out that my friend died in a car accident and he wasn’t even the driver it devastated me. At this point, I felt like the epiphany started to happen. When I found out that he died, I started to understand and analyze that you can die in a car accident, you can die from riding in a car, you can die when you’re not even the one in control of the car, and my life completely changed. This was a turning point in my life. After this happened, I really think about who I’m getting into a car with. Even though this probably isn’t a huge change, just that one experience that happened made me realize so many things about myself and the way that I was doing things. I became conscious of so many things that would’ve never even crossed my thoughts before he died and this thought became a strong reality. I guess for some people to learn and change they must experience some big that hits them close to home, not necessarily death but something big enough to cause a change in the thought process.

Intrepretations of True Love, Raindrops, A Casual Look, Jamesetta On My Mind, and The Blues Had A Baby

True Love

This piece focused on the idealism that was created for many because of their interpretation of Doo Wop songs. But just as well as any many other things in life, you must not use one aspect of something to base your whole outlook of that one thing. The part of this writing that caught my attention the most was the part where you talk about love and obsession having the same feeling. I think that many people confuse the two or might even think that they overlap somewhat. Personally I feel that these thoughts are molded through experiences and personal values. Once a person experiences obsession firsthand, then they can learn from the experience and be able to differ one from another there on after. I think there is true love, but there is only minimal exposure of it, through Doo Wop songs.

Raindrops

This writing was based on a song Dee Clark where he keeps referring to a metaphor which says that there is a cloud over his head, and the water on his face is raindrops. Basically what’s being shown through this piece are the feelings of a man who is grieving because he is hurt, so he is trying to express in words how he feels because every man knows it’s not manly to cry. This is a conception that almost all men live with, which in turn becomes anger in them. Since they are not allowed to grieve normally they withhold so much emotion inside and this causes an explosion when all the emotions are finally released.

A Casual Look

This piece discusses Trudy Wells and how her voice and words in the song a “Casual Look” helped you relate so well to the many encounters you had with puppy love, and how they all simply started with a glance. Even though puppy loves usually ends with what we think is the most devastating heartbreak at that time, I think that those experiences are essential for everyone to endure and be able to look back on those moments and think “oh I was really that young and naive once?” Puppy love is all a part of growing and learning, so when the real thing comes along you’ll be able to take a casual look and now you’ve found it.

Jamesetta on my Mind

This piece really hit home with me. Relating music with life has always helped me get through the good and bad. Music can make a person feel like someone understands the exact situation they are in at that moment. If the singer is really good, they can even make you feel as like they are talking straight to you giving you the advice you so badly need. Sometimes we can find comfort in songs and other times songs can give us the boost we need in order to finally move forward with something we having been idling. I love music, and I love the messages that artists can convey through the use of sounds and melodies. Songs often times give a voice to mute emotions.

The Blues Had A Baby

This piece primarily talks about how the music genre of the blues created what we today consider to be rock n’ roll music. Many genres of music have also been branches of another genre that came before it. Regardless whether it’s through blues and rock n’ roll music, the same emotions and feelings are being felt by all the artists making these songs. Music is a filter which some people use to get their emotions out and other people listen to the music in order to relate to it and help express themselves better as well.

Social Class, Gender, and Sexual Relations

The way that my parents taught me to understand my social class, is the way that many others of the middle class were taught also. My parents only liked to refer to our economical status as "comfortable". Being a Hispanic family originating from Cuba, and coming to the United States and actually having something to show for was a big step forward. That's part in reason why my parents liked to say that weren't well off but we were comfortable because we had food on the table and a roof over our heads. In today's society the media portrays everyone who doesn't have millions, to be poor. The media makes us unconsciously want to buy things to make others believe that we have a lot of money, partly by the use of subliminal messages. In some cases people fall into big trouble with debt because of this. Sometimes people try to portray themselves as having a massive amount of money and showing it off in the form of material objects like clothing, cars, and houses. I think that most people that tend to do these things are strongly influenced by the media and the things that the media makes us think that we need to have in order to be considered part of a higher social class. I think that the way that my family explained my gender and the things that women are suppose to be even as a young age. Having an older brother which was older than by 12 years, there was always a rebellion in my household. I wanted to have the same rights and privileges that he did, but I didn’t understand that I was not of the age and also I was a female. My parent constantly told me that women shouldn’t be out at a certain time at night because it would give other’s the wrong idea. The answer that my parents gave me the most often was their particular favorite for their reasoning for me not being able to go out or do something that my brother did “you’re a girl and he’s a boy”. I think that parents in today’s day and age teach their children those important gender differences to their children even starting at young age. My mother used to make me help her in the kitchen and always wanting me to be sitting nearby when she was writing bills or on the phone with the mortgage company because she always said that she wanted me to know what I needed to know as a woman. My parents didn’t like to openly discuss sexual relations with me when I was a child, so most of things that I learned about that at a young age did come from the media or my friends. As I got older my parents simply explained to me the causes and effects of certain actions, even though I was well aware of that long ago.

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage are ceremonies or rituals in which a child must pass through as a benchmark in order to grow and learn from those experiences. But not only are rites of passage those ceremonies but also things that change someone’s life such as marriage, birth, or even death. Depending on the culture, rites of passage tend to be different from region to region. The term known today “rites of passage” was first used by Gennep and he basically explained that the term meant that you were passing from one place in society up to another one when these rituals were performed. He went on to also explain that such celebrations like new years are also a rite of passage but not in the same context, in one that means the passing of time. Van Gennep goes on to explain rites of passage in even more depth by breaking it down into three stages; separation, liminal, and aggregation. Separation is something like a death, aggregation is explained by a union such as marriage, and liminal is when a person for a ritual is a separated from society for a long period of time. The readings that were assigned for this reflection I also read last semester in Introduction to Education, and I remember them quite well. Facing Mt. Kenya is a reading based on the Gikuyu people. It explains the rites of passage which a young girl has her clitoris removed. The Gikuyu name for these particular rites of passage is irua. Prior to the operation, there is a whole set of customs which these Gikuyu people follow. They place the girl on a diet because they believe that it will beneficial in the way that not as much will be lost after the circumcision. Also there are other religious rituals which are done prior to the girl’s operation. One of those rituals is called koraria morungu and it’s when the people bang loudly on drums because they believe that this will maintain the gods’ awake. I personally think that rites of passage are important in education first of all because culture is important. One way of keeping culture alive is by practicing the rites of passage that are typical to the culture. Also, I believe that rites of passage are important because education is another form of a rite of passage. Starting school, going to middle school, graduating high school are all important to grow also.

Little Rock 9

After reading the case study in my textbook about the high schools in Little Rock I’m just completely amazed. I’m amazed at how racist and impassionate people were to kids, because the Little Rock Nine were just that, kids. I obviously knew that there was segregation and racism but every time I read another story about how life was for people living in that time and dealing with those issues, it never fails to amaze me. The Little Rock Nine were just some kids who didn’t want anything more than to get the same education that all the whites were receiving at that time. Even though they were treated horribly, I would have actually wanted to be one of those nine. Those nine kids were brave enough and strong enough to stand their ground and stick it out until the laws were passed for them to actually win the battle. While reading the article, I couldn’t help but imagine myself going through all those things those kids were going through. Trying to walk into a school and being turned down by the National Guard. Then when they finally did make their way into the high school through a side door they were told on and taken back out of the school. Then the president at the time actually sent troops to “maintain order” outside of the school, which was actually to make sure that the blacks didn’t make their way inside the school again. Honestly, I don’t know how those nine children maintained such good attitude throughout all the mean and bad things that happened to them throughout their struggle to getting high schools to be integrated. I probably would’ve been offended that I actually needed armed guards to enter a school, and I would’ve been hurt by the things that the angry mobs of whites who were standing outside of these high schools protested about how I was allowed to attend the school. But in the end I would have wanted to experience and endure those things the way they did because just how they explained at the end of the reading those same people were able to go back to that high school in 1997, and walk through the front door and enjoy the fact that they stood up for what was right, and they were a part of a huge and significant change in history that was made because of many people who were also like them and didn’t agree with the way things were, and wanting to see big changes fast.

Culture

Culture is a big topic of concern for any upcoming teacher, or even anyone who wants to work with the general public since the United States is such a diverse country. When reading the assigned articles, I realized that culture is a complex matter of the human spirit. In order for us our human spirit to grow and mold into a complete energy, we must experience not only our own culture, but also the cultures of others. No one culture is above anyone else’s but most time that’s exactly what some people truly believe, and that’s when big conflicts start, no one should ethnocentric. Robert Gibson has a theory which he explains by an iceberg. The theory is basically structured by what is under what on the image are the things about our culture which are there but obviously not seen, and those are the aspects that our influenced by those that we can see above the surface. In better detail, food, music, traditions, etc are all things about a culture that we are aware of because they are made visible. The aspects of the person and their culture which are inside are that person’s/culture’s beliefs, attitudes, values, etc. The things that are instilled in us are commonly the things that make different cultures clash. We commonly tend to think that the same values and beliefs that we have are those of all other people and that also is being ethnocentric, because of beliefs and values aren’t any better or righter than anyone else’s. Cultural transmission is another thing I was familiarized with through the readings. Cultural transmission is the term used for transferring one’s culture, beliefs, values, etc to another person of another culture. This happens with teachers most often as well. Teachers can actually put this in their curriculum purposely in what they call their formal curriculum. But teacher’s most of the time where cultural transmission happens is in the hidden or otherwise informal curriculum which the teacher has. The way that the teacher talks to the students, how the teacher reacts to the children’s behaviors, the teacher’s expectations of her students. All these components are based on that teacher’s beliefs and values and he/she needs to be conscious that his/her ways aren’t the only ways or right way.

The Diversity Case Study

After reading the case study in the beginning of chapter one, I realized that diversity is a major issue that promising and existing teachers must face in their day to day lives. In this particular case study it talks about a girl named Samantha who will be a first time teacher soon, but she is now enrolled in the diversity course. She begins the course by first thinking that she is well prepared for handling diversity because she feels that she has been exposed to it before, and has been able to manage the situation successfully. For example, she talks about the volleyball team that she is a part of. She goes on to explain that her volleyball team looks like the “United Nations” because of all the different types of people on her team. What Samantha later begins to realize is how much of a huge impact diversity causes when it comes to the teaching process. She begins to think about children with disabilities, people who speak differently than she does, or people who carry heavy accents which she is unfamiliar with and would most likely have a hard time understanding. Samantha also starts to evaluate her brother’s difficulties since he is already a teacher in the classroom. She realizes that her brother teaches in a school which isn’t too far from where is will soon be and that he has a lot of diversity in his classroom as well. I have had many experiences which I would say have somewhat helped me be prepared for diversity but I wouldn’t go as far as saying that these experiences alone have fully prepared me. As of now I work in an after school program at an elementary school. My groups of students all are very diverse. I have everything from students who are of different ethnicities, colors, and genders. I also have many students who are being raised in single family homes, and some who are even part of the foster care system. Some of the children are open about it and others aren’t, but the ones who are most affected I can see through their behaviors and how interested they are in school and learning. Being a teacher I know that I would be dealing with the same or if not very similar circumstances in the classroom, and being exposed to dealing and helping these children now, I feel it gives me a step forward in how I would approach these same issues in my classroom. I would try to group those who are least motivated with students who I see are progressing forward and are interested. Diversity is a large issue that comes along with teaching, but I think I can learn to deal with it.

Frames, Paradigms, and Paradigm Shifts

After reading the article “Frames, Paradigms, & Paradigm Shifts”, I have once again refreshed my mind with the definition of a paradigm since last semester when I first encountered this same topic. A paradigm is defined by this article as the right and only proper way that one individual thinks of what is right and true. Every human being has there own paradigms or in other words ultimate view of what is correct. Having a paradigm isn’t necessarily a good thing because this thought process can hinder a person from moving forward to being more open minded to new ways of thinking that can help a that person grow and move forward. Another term which is closely related or even sometimes confused and thought of to be the same thing is a framework. A framework is basically a web that your mind forms in order to connect certain thoughts and similarities together to basically form a connection and a way of thinking which in turn eventually leads later on into a paradigm which is when some of these put together thoughts happen and prove to the person that the way they were thinking is the only correct way. People form paradigms in many different areas and based on many dissimilar experiences which most of time only happen with one person. Paradigms are sometimes formed by religion, race, sex, and even culture. A paradigm shift is something that happens when a person has an experience that doesn’t fit into that person’s already created paradigm. That person then realizes that their way of thinking must not be true and then changes their paradigm to find that new experience which didn’t find into it before. Personally I don’t think that I’ve had a paradigm shift as of right now in my life. Or maybe I have had a shift and I’m not aware of it. I think that it is important for teachers to experience a paradigm shift because just as every other person, teachers also need to remember that their ways of thinking are not the only right and true ways to approach things. As a teacher which is passing on knowledge onto other students and younger generations, it is good to be able to explain to them that they should look for more alternatives and more than one straight line of thinking in order to decide what’s the right thing.

The Transformation Process

After evaluating what I read from both transformation articles, I learned that transformation has a more in depth meaning that I had never thought of before understanding these readings. MA/C which is explained as multicultural awareness/consciousness in my interpretation is a complete understanding of the surrounding world by being aware and open minded. To be a completely multicultural aware and conscious person, this person would have to evaluate their thoughts and beliefs not only once, but repeatedly to make sure that they aren’t being biased or unfair because of personal conflicts or values. The reading goes on to explain that the term transformation is closely related or even sometimes overlaps other terms such as renovation, alteration, makeover, revolution, conversion, and recovery. Even though these terms are all used interchangeably, they convey different meanings when it comes to being a multicultural aware person and completing that transformation. I believe that being a completely aware person takes time and practice. It takes both time and practice in the sense that the person must take a good look at themselves’ and see where their personal values turn into barrier which could later on affect them in many ways from moving forward in all aspects of life. The reading explains that once a person has become MA/C they are able to continually reinvent themselves, meaning that they can change and embrace change, accept different people and the differences seen in other people, and also be able to adapt to other cultures and feel as comfortable in that culture as if it were their own. Being able to reinvent oneself might sound like it could be done easily but it’s much more complex. In order to reinvent oneself that person has to change how they see themselves in relation to the surround world. They would have to change their self-concept and give themselves’ self-esteem and self-worth. To accept others and their cultures, and be able to feel comfortable in another culture a person would have to be more tolerant. To understand another culture the person would have to expose and interact with other cultures and other people to get a better understanding of them and their lifestyles in order to aid the transformation process.

Prehistoric Humans

From reading the three assigned articles about the invention and use of fire, the wheel, and also the invention of writing, I have gained knowledge about where these inventions came from. Scientists strongly suggest that fire could have been used from as far back as 230,000 years ago, even though its uses were modified throughout time fire was already being handled by humans. There is evidence that fire existed as far back as 1.5 million years ago, but most researchers believe that this existence of fire was not purposely created by humans, but may have been Mother Nature’s doing. About 125,000 years back, fire became a common thing. Humans began not only controlling fire but also using it to their advantages for things such as keeping them warm and also using it to cook their foods. The creation of the wheel, even though no one person was credited for it, was thought to have been created about 4000-3500 BC in Mesopotamia or even Asia. Unlike fire, the wheel was a more thought out process that man went through when putting it to use. Humans began to understand that by using a round object (the wheel) along with a flat surface on top which they referred to as a sledge they would be able to transport goods more quickly and efficiently from one place to another. Hence, this also helped them with making money since they were able to trade with other’s at a quicker rate. Even though this invention must have taken time to modify so it would work the way they wanted to, by using the wheel and horses they created a mode of transportation not only for goods but also for themselves, making life easier by using their knowledge. Writing was another invention that was very helpful to the human race. The Sumerians invented Cuneiform which was a form of writing where pictographs (pictures used to represent words) were used. The invention of writing was essential for humans so that they would not only be able to communicate, but also keep records of their belongings, their crops, and also their knowledge. As a pre-teaching intern I believe it’s important for us to have the foundation of knowing where these everyday objects we use come from. How can someone teaching writing to another person without knowing where and why it came to be? It’s imperative to be knowledgeable of how people in ancient history evolved and used these inventions to survive and also teach to the generations that came after them.

My Biography and Statement of Purpose

My name is Barbara Sanchez. I’m 20 years old turning 21 on February 7^th. I graduated from high school in 2007 and this is my second year at Miami Dade College. I am aspiring to become an elementary school teacher. I was born in Miami, Florida into a very small family; only my mother, father, and brother. My parents came over to the United States from Cuba in 1980 in search of new hopes and opportunities like many other immigrants. Since early age my parents instilled the idea of becoming a professional in what ever it is I loved, because in communist countries such as Cuba individuals were not allowed to pick their profession it was chosen for them. My mother was an elementary school teacher in Cuba which was very beneficial to me in my younger days because she used her teaching skills to reinforce what my teacher’s had taught me in school and the things that I did not have a clear understanding of. I believe that I do want to become an educator partially because of my mother and also because of my sister-in-law. I did my high school community service hours by volunteering at Miramar Elementary helping my sister-in-law with FCAT incorporated ideas, grading papers, making photocopies, bulletin boards, etc. It gave me a slight outlook on certain things that teachers do in preparation for their day, while they teach their lessons, and also when they come home after a long day of work and begin to grade papers. I am also currently working at an elementary school as an after school counselor. As a counselor we try to help students with their homework, reading, writing, and we talk about character and teach them about things such as responsibility, respect, etc. I feel as if I can offer students a genuine attempt at teaching and helping them understand their lessons thoroughly. I have a passion to teach because it is something that hits me so close to home, and I know how advantageous having a wonderful instructor can be to the learning process. If students are truly motivated they will want to learn the material. I feel that after the proper training I will be a great, inspiring educator.