Who Knew?...

Poverty Awareness Week
"Making Poverty History"
-Scott M. Lacy, PhD; Exec. Director, African Sky

I went to the lecture given by Dr. Lacy with Chelsee and it was really interesting. He started off the night by asking everyone in the audience, "why are you here?" We pondered and the answer he gave that I thought was true was that to some level we all care about the matter of poverty and want to become more aware of it. Fighting poverty is the biggest social movement in the world.

Millennium Development Goals were developed to create an end to (extreme) world poverty within our lifetime. Some dollar values were shown on the screen as to what would be spent by 2015...
-halving poverty and hunger $20 billion
-universal primary education $ 9 billion
-gender equality in education $ 3 billion
-halving HIV/AIDS $10 billion
=$42 billion total
This really isn't that much to spend based on the next value he gave us. Can you believe that $1.3 trillion is spent on the global military per year? It just boggles my mind! $42 billion in the next few years isn't hardly anything in comparison and just think about the potential impact it would have... An interesting point was made that I'd really never thought about before as well. Third world countries are really the majority of the world. Because of the fortune we're blessed to have here, it makes it that much more important to share it with others. We need to be careful though because even the best of intentions can lead to misfortune.

Often development can lead to underdevelopment. What works for us here in our society may not necessarily work for others. It can lead to pockets of development, but some are being left behind still. An example he gave was introducing cotton as a cash crop in southern Africa. It worked for the first few years but then the soil became depleted. Other crops that had previously been grown hadn't been grown to allow for the cotton but then couldn't grow with the poor soil. Productivity was lost and the nation was actually made more dependent rather than independent.

Dr.Lacy spent several years in the Peace Corps. and doing other work over in Mali. He learned three important lessons that he shared with us. We need to...
1)Endure cycles of debt
2)Follow the momentum
3)Learn to take
The first has to do with no matter what you do for others, you will always get something out of it making you in debt to them, but you need to learn to deal with it. It was from this that he established the nonprofit organization African Sky. The second is as it sounds. Take something you have and build on it, and if an opportunity presents itself make the most of it. In the case of the last one it's for the self esteem of the host, to learn humility yourself, and to gain perspective and establish priorities.

To wrap up the presentation Dr.Lacy left us with a couple thoughts to ponder. To make poverty history, it can't be all about us. What we consume others aren't able to. It's just another way to think about how fortunate we are here in the U.S.

Teaching and Learning

In class Tuesday we started out by defining facilitation. The book defined it as meaning to make something happen or to make it easier. To add to that, we all came up with organizing/structuring, teaching, giving a head start to a topic or activity, and leading. Next we made our own definitions of the meanings of Realness, Acceptance, and Understanding. I think these three components are essential in the classroom so that we are real with our students, don't show favoritism toward any one, and so we can utilize what we know of different learning styles to best suit our students and make the biggest impact.

We all know that most Freshmen don't perform to their full potential their first semester for a whole list of reasons as we came up with in class. Some of these include time management, accountability and responsibility, diversity of staff and students, class size and different teaching styles. I know I had a little trouble with all these and then some. But I think if we can relate to them our experiences, it makes the transition easier. They can now have someone, an upperclassman, to relate to and it will turn out fine. It's just a matter of knowing the best way to relate and share our experiences with our students so that they will hear them and maybe even learn from what we've gone through. Another thing with these challenges is that when our students are faced with them, we need to know how to help them overcome them. But once again, it all goes back to communication.

Everyone has different learning styles and understanding this and using it to our advantage will really help with how our classes turn out. If we can incorporate more than one teaching style we will be able to reach more students and cater to more learning styles. We need to be able to read our students to see what works versus what doesn't so that we are able to get the message of what we are teaching across to them most effectively. It takes time to get the hang of and we'll never be perfect or be able to make everyone completely happy, but by mixing it up and using different styles we can make it more enjoyable for everyone.

the Power of a Story

Sorry I haven't posted this before now, but better late than never I guess...

At ISCORE I attended the "Danger of the Single Story." We watched a video that I thought was really great and brought out the points well. First the single story was defined. It is one perception of of something based on an impression and naivete. It's not knowing or acknowledging the entire truth forming stereotypes, and if people are shown that as only one thing over and over, that's what it becomes. The power of a story depends on how the story is told. They most often emphasize differences rather than equalities. The speaker in the video said "when we reject the single story we regain a kind of paradise." People are made up of many stories, not single ones, and even though they can break and destroy, they can also build up and repair.

After the video we had to think about some things that make up the stories of our own lives. We were given a poem and another but with blanks so we could fill in the spots with our own words to make a story. (I can make copies of what we were handed out if anyone wants it. Just let me know.) Mine went like this...

I am from farms, from Chevy trucks, and John Deere tractors.
I am from the hay barns, black dirt of the fields, and cool cut grass.
I am from the corn, the pastures.
I am from hunting and gardening, from Chainsaw and Daisy and Clayton Lintz.
I am from the opposite side of favoritism, and loving care-giving of Grandma Lintz.
I am from Catholics and Lutherans.
I am from Iowa, Germany, fresh beef, and home-grown garden veggies.

I never did take the time to finish the last couple lines but in just filling it out this far I realized how many different stories make me up and how many more I could put in their place too.


John Carlos was the keynote speaker over lunch. For a little background if you didn't already know, he is a bronze medalist for the US Olympic track team from 1968 and is most remembered for his "Silent Protest" against racism and economic oppression. He and his teammate Tommy Smith both raised a black-gloved fist during the National Anthem during the victory ceremony after winning 1st and 3rd in the 200 meters.

One of the very first things out of Mr. Carlos's mouth was his acknowledgment that he was brought to where he is today by God. He had a vision when he was 8 years old of a championship; not about the medal, but the significance of what it meant for the black culture. He said black history is needed. Not only are they deprived of it, but children today are deprived of it. We need diversity to equal out culture and to remember!

He talked about segregation. It's based not only on skin color, but on ignorance. He really made the point that it is our duty to promote equality. We're all representing the same thing and those who fall for racism are "broken." The "troublemakers" are those who work to fix and change it like John Brown, Martin Luther King Jr., Ghandi, Rosa Parks, and the list goes on... We need to stand for those who can't/won't stand for themselves.

Mr. Carlos "paid his dues" to tell about who he was and through track and field he had a voice. He said "our country is broke and we as a society need to fix it!" It's a necessity to step up when everyone else is jumping off. He made mention of the Olympic boycott being along those lines. It was like a ripple effect (like when you drop a rock in a pond) through the world. I was a nonviolent act to make a statement.

To wrap it all up, Mr. Carlos made some final comments. "We all live and die, but it's what we do between those times that makes us who we are and what gets accomplished." "God dictates where you're going to be; we just have to be ready." And, "To make a difference, know yourself; get in touch with the man in the mirror."

Communication is like Pictionary

First of all, I need to apologize again to Chels, Brandon, Silas and Allie. I lost track of time at work making me late. I’m usually more aware but I slipped up. Using myself as an example for your recitations next fall, after class just pull your student aside and see what was going on to make them late and reinforce the importance of responsibility and being on time. Sorry again and I’ll do my best to not let it happen again!

Moving on, class Tuesday was all about communication. We started out with a Twitter exercise were prompts were given and we were all to respond to them via Twitter. It honestly isn’t my preferred method of communication, but I can see its usefulness for some using the streaming chat method between faculty to exchange several thoughts and ideas in a short amount of time over a distance. I like scrolling through the news posts too, just for a short idea of what’s going on since I don’t take the time to read about it otherwise. But overall I don’t think I’ll ever be big on it myself. Just a personal preference…

The second part of class was led by Chelsea and Brandon. I really liked the quote they chose that said “the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” It really sums up what I think happens a lot of the time. What we try to relay information to others but what makes sense in our mind may not to the other person. When we go away thinking everything is understood by everyone without room for questions, problems often arise. We just need to make sure we always leave room for questions and encourage them from our students in the fall and even from others in our everyday lives. People aren’t mind-readers, no matter how much it would sometimes be helpful, and that’s something we need to keep in mind as well.

I prefer to communicate face-to-face with most people. It leaves less room for misinterpretation most times I think. I am more formal with professors than friends, out of respect for their position and for the fact that it’s sometimes easier to be comfortable with someone I know well and talk to on a regular basis. I text a lot more now, but for long conversations I would rather just talk on the phone or in person. I think the more convenient the form of communication is, the easier it is to misinterpret information using it. It’s something I try to keep in mind when I use them.

The Telephone Pictionary game is always a good one to demonstrate how easily communication can be misinterpreted and lacking. It’s more of an extreme version than sometimes I think, but it really relays the point well. No one is perfect in how they relay or interpret information; it’s never done the same way between different people.

What we should have taken from this class is that there are several forms of communication and for our classes next fall we need to figure out what form our students respond to best or if several forms will be needed. We need to encourage questions and don’t treat any as a stupid question. We were all in their position at one time. And when presenting a new topic, even if we don’t necessarily like it, we should be excited about it for them, or at the least act like it. Our enthusiasm will transfer over to them more than you would think.

Teen Moms and Religion

Class Tuesday we went over the importance of cultural sensitivity. We were asked the question "what strategies do we use to help ourselves with cultural diversity?" We went around and there were a wide variety of answers. Some of the ones mentioned more often were patience, communication/asking questions to learn, and suspending judgment. Some other strategies mentioned in the book were acknowledging each individual, recognizing language barriers, consistency, respect, and showing empathy. Each are important in building and maintaining relationships with others, and even to build a cohesive community within our sections and throughout campus.

Cory and Jenna had us participate in an activity where we were each "tagged" something different. It was to represent how diverse people could be, not only by culture, but by things not easily recognized or seen by others. We had to go around and talk to others to deduce what made us different from a "normal" person basing it off comments and reactions. I was a teen mother. I think the activity could have been a little more realistic in that most of the time we don't see some characteristics in people, like being a teen mom, that would cause us to judge them or treat them differently than ourselves. Most times it's caused by looking or sounding different.

The tags were still really good though because it made the impression that diversity really isn't just about appearance. It's everything different between people that make us unique from where and how we grew up to religion to skin color. But these differences in us are what make us unique and should be encouraged and cherished. I don't think we should look for differences from ourselves in people we meet but rather look for similarities and be open to and willing to learn about all the rest. Suspending judgment and asking questions is what I try to do, but I struggle with it many times as I know others do too. I just need to make more of an effort to be careful of what I say and how I phrase things so I don't take the risk of hurting someone else.

I don't believe we can ever put ourselves in another's shoes for the fact that we will never know what all is incorporated with them. But we can stop to think about how we would feel if the situation were reversed and we were the one's being judged, or shown limited patience, or whatever it is. Being sensitive to diversity is a leaned trait that we all need to work on. Wherever we go in life we will always be met with diversity in one way or another. It's better that we learn about it now so we know how to handle it and make the most of it later in life. (I mean, what better time to become comfortable with it when we have so much on campus?)

Have a good one and see you all in class Tuesday! :)