Final Blog Post

Through out the semester we have been introduced to some very interesting topics of diversity. When I read through the syllabus I did not think that I was going to learn any more about the areas than I already knew. I thought that after TE348 I had obtained a great amount of knowledge in these subjects. After writing the first paper and meeting with our small groups I found out that I was wrong. At first I thought the critical papers were a hassle and I was not going to get anything out of them. After writing the first and receiving feedback from you and my group members, the second, third, and fourth went much better. I learned that instead of forcing a question out of the text, looking at it through more than one point of view would help me find a question that I was actually interested in. One of the main topics that I gained a great deal of knowledge from were the topics that I had not been exposed to much when I was in school. Even the ones that I was exposed to, I never thought of the books about the topics critically. For example I never saw all of the stereotypes that are put into books. With that, I never realized how this might affect the group that this book is about. I am not Native American so when I read a book that talks about their wardrobe or how they wear feathers in their hair, I think nothing of it. But when a Native American reads this book, they may see it as false and stereotypical. I think that this is the best lesson that I learned this semester and the most valuable for when I have my own classroom. I feel that I can look at a book and say wither or not it will be appropriate for my classroom. I will be able to put books in my personal library that are about all different cultures, not just one. I want to be able to bring culture into my classroom and have the children exposed to as much about another culture as I can. From here I will make sure to watch the books that children are exposed to not only in my class but the ones that they bring into my class. I also want to have children of different cultures that are in my class, talk about their culture. I think that this is the best resource to gaining insight from an insiders perspective. I thought that all together this was an awesome class and I learned a lot more than I thought I would. All of the group discussions were interesting and I gained information from everyone either from my peers or from the professor. I hope to take more classes about diverse literature in the future!

Critique of Text Set

Summary:
After reading all of the books in my set, I realized how important it is for children living with a sibling that has a disability to be open about what they are feeling. It must be very difficult to be growing up and have to hear other children make fun of or laugh at somebody that is a part of your family. On the other hand, it must also become stressful to have to deal with parents and family members that force you to be with that sibling at all times. Two out of Three of the books have to do with a younger child with an older sibling. In both cases the family members do not understand why the younger child is embarrassed of their sibling and do not want to take them everywhere. In, Way To Go, Alex, the sister is ashamed that her disabled brother will never win anything like her friends older brothers, to her he will always be different. Although I thought the book had an over all good message that it is OK to keep trying, I felt it was forced at the end which made it semi-unrealistic. In the book, My Sister is Different, the over all message was also well thought out. The younger child realizes that although his sister might embarrass him, she has good qualities too, such as being good with babies. I did not like how the book made the younger sibling out to be the bad guy just because he shared with his family how he felt about his sister. In the last book, Views From Our Shoes, the stories that the children wrote were very realistic as well as funny. Knowing that they are true and children actually wrote them, makes the book that much more meaningful. I think that this would be the best book for a sibling of a child with a disability. After reading the article that had spoken about how a relationship between a disabled child and their "normal" sibling can flounder by adult hood, I feel that these stories would help the most. Hearing stories from other children going through similar situations may cause the siblings to see something in their brother or sister that they might not have seen before, or become more empathetic to them.

Critical Review

Seitzer B., Gary, Audrey Begun, Marsha Mailick Seitzer, Marty Wyngaarden Krauss. Adults With Mental Retardation and Their Aging Mothers: Impacts of siblings. Family Relations: Vol. 40, No. 3 (Jul., 1991), pp. 310-317
This article was about how the siblings of a child with disabilities turns out when they are older. Although a lot that was involved in this article was a bit off to me, I felt that the beginning had a lot of good information. The books that I had chosen all involved a tale from a child who was growing up with a sibling that had a disability. After reading these books I realized how much of an impact this must be on children. This article speaks out about a "normal" sibling relationship as being," longer duration than any other human relationship, more equal than any relationship, and the sibling role is ascribed, rather than achieved, and remains a part of an individual's identity." After reading this I thought of my relationship with my sister and noticed how depended we are upon each other and how much I need and cherish our relationship above any other. Then I read on to find out that, "When on of the siblings has mental retardation, however, the nature of the sibling relationship across life span is likely to be affected profoundly." Also, "some siblings of children with chronic handicapping conditions are at risk for emotional morbidity, at least during the early childhood and adolescent period." This article is basically saying that during childhood is when a child will be most affected by their disabled sibling. I think that this article did a very good job showing what the possible outcome of a sibling relationship can turn into if not taken care of in the early years. I also feel that it is important to do what is necessary to make sure that a sibling relationship does not come to this conclusion.
A few questions that came into my head, what would help keep the siblings from ending up with a strained relationship? How much would reading books like the ones I have chosen help? How much do the parents have to do with the outcome of the sibling's relationship?

Views From Our Shoes

Views From Our Shoes: Growing up with a Brother or Sister with Special Needs. Maryland: Woodbine House, Inc, 1997.
Views From Our Shoes is a book filled with stories and passages children wrote. These children range from the age of 4 until 18 and have a sibling with a disability of some sort. The stories involve happy tales, a short description of the sibling, or some are stories where the writer was really frustrated with the sibling.
I think this was an outstanding book. It is very different than the other non-fiction pieces in my collection. The stories are a great way for children to not only get their feelings out on paper, but to see how their peers are dealing with the same issues they are. I would recommend any parent to get this book for their child if they have a new member of the family that may have a disability. Also for children who are growing up and are just realizing that their sibling is "different", this book might help them through and answer questions they may have. At the end of the book there is also a glossary with different disabilities and their definitions and details about the disability.

Way To Go, Alex!

Pulver, Robin. Way To Go, Alex! Illinois: Albert Whitman & Company, 1999
Way To Go, Alex is about a girl who has an older brother with "a brain that doesn't work right." She is jealous of her friend who is proud of her older brother and wishes Alex could be different. Their mother signs him up for the Special Olympics and the sister decides to train him for his events because she wants him to win something so that she can be proud of him. When the day comes Alex gets 3rd place in all the events and is very excited, but she is disappointed. In the end she realizes that Alex did the best that he could and realizes trying again and asking for help are not a bad thing.
I felt that Pulver did a good job with the text in this book. It seemed as though a little girl had written it since phrases like, "my stomach is doing flip-flops" and talking about how she invented a "brain-fixing machine" for her brother. I thought that the over all message of the book was good, however it felt rushed at the end. I think that it would have been better if the narrator would have realized that her brother was a winner before the last page. I also felt that the illustrations in this book were a little disturbing. I thought that Alex's face being the same through out the whole book is on the edge of the line stereotypically. His sister's face also never changes from the scowl she begins with. I hoped to see the illustrator bring more than one emotion to the characters.

My Sister is Different

Wright Ren, Betty. My Sister is Different. Milwaukee: Raintree Childrens Books, 1981
My Sister is Different deals with a boy who has a mentally disabled older sister. At first he is sick of having to take her everywhere with him because he is embarrassed of her. They go to the mall and when she has to use the bathroom, he makes her go alone. When she doesn't return he runs through the mall looking for her. He starts to think about how wonderful of a person and sister she actually is. When he finds her he gives her a big hug and treats her differently from then on out.
I thought this book did a very good job showing what it is like to have a sibling with a disability. The examples of the narrator's life are very realistic; I feel that a child in the elementary grade levels would be able to relate to his story. There is a grandmother in the book that seems to favor the sister. When he says that he does not want to play with her anymore she asks him, "Is your heart so dried up and scrawny that it can't love?" followed by a hug for the sister and a scowl for the brother. I also found it interesting that the sister in this book is refereed to as "mentally retarded". Since this book was written in the 80's the grammar is not entirely politically correct for this day in age, but not seen as a big deal back then.

Boy Meets Boy

This book really made me think about our society vs. the way the book was written. When I first started out reading it, I felt that Paul was going to wake up from a dream because the book was written so unrealistically. I feel very strongly that this kind of book will give a view of the world that a GLBTQ child or teenager that is unrealistic. Paul realized that he was a homosexual before kindergarten, how realistic is this? His teacher then wrote on his report card that he "was definitely gay"; how realistic is this? His community and others at the school were also very accepting of his sexual choice and the others in the school such as lesbians, cross dressers, other gay boys, and even bi-sexual teens. In what school would the teachers, parents, and other students be this accepting of a person who is non-heterosexual? Also Paul's parents were very accepting of his sexual preference, acting how my parents would if I would to bring home a boy, if it were be a girl I brought home, they would definitely not react the same way. How realistic is this?
My main issue with this book is just that I feel that children will have a very unrealistic view of how society will view and act towards them if they are part of the GLBTQ group. Are books showing such acceptance good for children to read?

Confessions of a Closet Catholic

I really liked this book! I was not sure what to expect after looking at the cover and reading the title, but the first page of text does a really good job of showing what the context will be. I think that it is good how Sarah Littman shows that children often question their religious background. I remember when I was growing up I visited a friends church where they got to sing songs and it was a lot more laid back and relaxed than my church; it was a Baptist church and I am Catholic. After that experience I wanted to know more about that branch of religion but I felt like I would be betraying my own so I never said anything to anyone about it. This book shows children that it is okay to question and be curious.
I also think Littman did a good job by making it a humorous book. The fact that she is in a closet confessing to her teddy bear, Father Joseph, made me laugh every time she went in there. Also aside from the humor, it is also informational. There are thing such as the traditional foods that are eaten by this culture and information about some of the different traditions or holidays. Also that she made it a semi-serious book with Bubbe having a stroke and then passing away. It is a book that all children can read, it is not aimed at just one group, which I think is very important! All in all I thought it was a very good book!

From Charlie's Point of View

For the questioning the text paper, I asked the question, "Why do you think the author had the characters introduced by a singular, stereotypical identity? Do you think that it is meant to parallel Charlie's blindness and how it is seen as his only identity" I brought this up because for one most of the people who meet Charlie identify him with his inability to see. On the other hand, when we are introduced to other characters, we also see that they are only one dimensional. For example, Mr. Underglow is seen as creepy and snooty and the author makes it seem he is the most logical candidate for the "real" bandit, but we come to find it to be Mr. Floyd.

Pura Belpre Award

In our research, we found out many interesting topics surrounding the Pura Belpre Award. To begin with, it is a recent award as it was established in 1996. This award gives credit to the Latino/a author or illustrator whose work best represents the latino cultural experience with high literary quality for children. This award is particularly interesting because it can be given to the author of the book or the illustrator.Belpre was the first Latino librarian at the New York Public Library. While she was born in Puerto Rico (where she attended formal schooling) she spent most of her life in New York. While she was under the title of New York Public librarian Belpre achieved many successes as a result of sharing Puerto Rican folklore with New York children. Belpre was particularly important in preserving this type of literature that might otherwise be lost.The Pura Belpre Award is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA Affiliate. Some of the books that have recieved this award are Chato and the Party Animals by Gary Soto and illustrated by Susan Guevara, Cesar by Carmen Bernier-Grand and illustrated by David Diaz, as well as Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

Insider/outsider Debate

When it comes to the debate about the insider/outsider writer I am somewhat on the fence. I feel that a person who writes about a culture, race, gender, etc. that they do not belong to could actually write a book that correctly portrays that group. This could be done with the right about to research and data collected to portray the group correctly. On the other side if they do not and especially if they end up using a stereotype or putting that group down in some way, they should not write about them.
Also I feel that even a person in a certain group can write a book that does not correctly portray a certain group of people. Being a white, middle class girl from Michigan does not give me the right to generalize any of the groups I belong to. The experiences I have had may be far more different than those of other girls.
I feel that both the insider and outsider have a chance to write a great book about a group that they do or do not belong to if they do it correctly and watch what they say, how they say it, and what the illustrations in the book say about the group. Also staying away from cultural biases and stereotypes are necessary for an acceptable book.
The only real question I have involves the process for publishing a book. If there are books that are seen as questionable when regarding stereotypes and putting another group down, does that mean that they are not looked over by somebody before they are put on the shelves?

About Me

Hi my name is Michelle and I am a senior in the Special Education program focusing on Learning Disabilities. I have been working with children since my freshman year in high school in our "Special Center". I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl, playing with the other children in the neighborhood. I am from Livonia, Michigan but want to move to Chicago or somewhere out west after I graduate. I plan on going to graduate school right after I graduate for Autism. I love being able to look at a book and decided if it is fit for a classroom or not. I feel that it is very important to bring the right literature to children by not leaving anyone out or hurting somebodys feelings. Im very excited to learn more about analyzing a text and multicultural literature!

Stereotyping with Children

After our discussion this week, I remembered an article I had read in a previous class that had to do with stereotyping. The article was called, "Teaching Young Children to Resist Bias" and was put on the web by the National Association for the Educationof Young Children. This article was bascially about how children are faced with stereotypes at an early age and gives tips on how parents and teachers can help children stay away from forming these ideas. One of the main points that stuck with me over the years was how early children actually start stereotyping. In the article it stated, "We know from research that children between 2 and 5 start becoming aware of gender, race, ethnicity, and disabilities. They also begin to absorb both the positive attitudes and engative biases atteched to these aspects of identity by family members and other sigificant adults in their lives". The article is quite short and very informative, it is really worth looking at.
www.naeyc.org/ece/1997/10.asp