Talking Points #1

Johnathan Kozol, Amazing Grace & Bernard Goldberg, 110 People who are screwing up America.


These reading were very interesting, and caught my attention from the moment Ibegan reading them. I think the author's point is to help educate poor/ minority children with a different kind of learning, beyond their influences at home, which could be really hard. When i was reading Amazing Grace by Kozol, I couldn't help but think how hard it would be for these children to sit in learning environment, trying to learn, with all this stuff going on in their lives at home. Teachers need to take all this under consideration when teaching children.

I read in Goldbergs writing how students don't like the country they live in. Teachers also seem to trash America as well when teaching these students."They take care not to offend America's past enemies, but don't seem to worry about offending Americans." I thing Goldberg is trying to say, in todays society, not many teachers have a passion for teaching, which leads to them always teaching how americans are offended(like in the quote). Which leaves the students with no positive influence on their country and heritage, so why should they love it and defend it if no one else is? Goldberg also talked about Johnathan Kozol, and how he is a fierce opponent of traditional learning, which he says deadens childrens souls. My favorite quote of Goldberg was at the very end, and I agree with it very much. "What will become of a country whose youngest citizens have been taught so little affection for it?"

In comparing the two readings, the younger children from the Bronx and harlem, are more of the children who probably dont like their counrty. They see it as their country isnt doing anything to help them. They have to live their lives always being afraid. I found it so interesting that "7,600 is the average household income, and only seven of 800 children do not qualify for free school lunches" that just amazes me that people really have to live like this. "More than 95% are poor" these statistics made me very depressed and surprised. With people being shot, drug addicts, prostitution, and fatal illnesses always surounding you in your community, I don't think i would like this country very much either. Thats where teachers have to come in and provide positive learning in to childrens lives.

Teachers need to know the background of childrens lives when teaching them to make it a positive learning expierience. Since the only other learning expieriences they have would be at home, and probably are negative and certainly aren't positive in learning how the world is. When reading Amazing Grace, I wanted to cry at times, really! When Kozol talked about how children cry and cannot explain why they're crying, and Asthma is the greatest illness amoung children, and how the houses are soo freezing in the winter, they have to sleep with winter jackets on and hope they wake up alive. Its just so sad. "When roaches crawl on virtually every surface of the houses in which many children live. Rats emerge from holes in bedroom walls, terrorizing infants in thier cribs" its just the most horrible way to live. And I still cannot get over that its reallly this bad in this part of NY.

I really liked how Kozol put so much detail in his writing, but at the same time its made me cringe reading it. It was such an easy read, and it caught my attention right from the begining with all those statistics. Goldberg however, was okay, but it was kind of confusing with liberal/conservative teaching and I dont know, I think I got the point of it, however I had to read it a couple of times. I dont think these readings were like other texts we've read so far. It connects with how white privilege is blinded, with what i read in Amazing Grace i could see connections between races. I also liked the little poem by Parker, I never thought of it the way he put it which was different and enlightening. Overall, all these readings were a great read.