Notes on Connecting the texts...

SILENCE

ALM is about silence, not talking about race
Brings attention back to white people


Johnson says silence is what perpetuates the problem

Colorblindness is about silence because it is about NOT talking about race


All Lives Matter is about the "luxury of obliviousness" (Johnson)

The interview in Delpit is the same "good intention" of the All Lives Matter group.  But it just ignores the real issue at hand and then creates bigger power differential

Delpit (29) "Unconscious of true motives"; "Black folks know when they are lying"


NOW WHAT -- how do we take action

Recognize privilege, talk about it (Colorblindness and Johnson)

Johnson says don't get defensive!  (14)
"It is important to step back to defensive sensitivity..."

So does DELPIT!! "unflattering light of another's angry gaze" (46)


Colorblind talk about law and legal issues; exercises with students are about doing the explicit work that Delpit calls for.


Johnson says SAY THE WORDS
Colorblind and All Lives Matter say NOT JUST ANY WORDS
Delpit says WORDS ARE NOT ENOUGH


What does it mean to be an ally??
Danger of good intentions
Dangers of speaking for others

Anatomy of an Argument

Try using this model when you construct the argument for the next several texts... we will talk more about it in class next week!

Alan Johnson: Notes from class

What KEY ISSUES does the Alan Johnson text raise?


Our reality is socially constructed
We made this problem and we have the power to change it
Bottom of page 3:  this problem is closer to our own making
Across the globe, there are things that are valued more than others

Specifics:
Different kinds of privilege (attractiveness)
Gender issues related to weight:  "Dad Bod" vs "baby weight"


Individuals and Institutions (rained on but not wet)
On the one hand it is all personal
On the other hand, it is much bigger than us.
p. 4  "We are prisoners to something..."


Say the Words (The problem with Silence)

Johnson says we have to say the words that make us uncomfortable

analogy of the marriage, silence around cheating (p. 8)

"luxury of obliviousness"  (ignorance is bliss if you don't know better) 

Privilege means not have to think about it...

How do you speak up and speak out?

"What do you mean by that...?"  
A good phrase to use to call out a moment of discrimination of oppression.

Welcome to FNED 502!

Welcome to this FNED 502 blogging adventure!

Sometime during or after our first night of class, you will set up your own blog to use this semester for all of your Talking Points assignments, and to keep track of your thoughts about any of the issues we cover.

A blog is your very own, personal online journal. It is public, in that I and your classmates can read it and comment on it, but it is your space and you can control most everything about it. (If you want to make it private so that *only* members of this class can read it, you can follow the instructions here).

In the context of this course, your blog has two purposes:

1) Your blog will provide a space for you to keep all of your weekly writing assignments over the course of our six weeks together. You will not hand in written assignments to me each class period; rather you will post them on your blog. In this sense, your blog is like an assignment notebook that you will use as you read and prepare for class each week. You will also be posting any additional thoughts you have: responses to class discussion, after thoughts, things you forgot to say in class, relevant experiences you have, etc.

But importantly, your blog is a public space and as you post (and comment on others'), you will gain a much richer understanding of everything we read and discuss in class. I want you to think of it as interactive and intertextual in that way.

2) Creating your own blog will also introduce you to the blogisphere if you don't know this place already. I hope that you will discover creative educational uses for this online medium. You will see how easy it is to use blogger.com, and perhaps it will inspire you to bring blogs into your own classroom.

To start your own blog, you will go to:

www.blogger.com

 

If you do not already have a Google account, you will need to create one.  If you do have a Google account, sign in in the box at the right.  This will allow you to create your own blog on a site called blogger.com.   

Click the button that says NEW BLOG (you will see this even if you have blogged before) and follow the instructions to get started.  Don't forget your Username and Password!! You will need them to login everytime. Please write them down on the top of your syllabus so you don't forget!  

As you fill in the info, you will be asked to give your blog a TITLE. This title will appear at the top of your blog. (Mine is called "FNED 502 Summer 2016")

Then, you need to choose an address: http://_______.blogspot.com  This will be the web address associated with your site. You can call it anything you like. Be clever or simple (or both) -- it is up to you. Write it down so you don't forget it! (You can also find it later on in your Dashboard where all of your future blogs will be listed.)  

You will also need to choose a design template for your blog. Look through the options listed and see what appeals to you. You can change this later so don't worry too much about it initially... Once you have the account set up, you can start posting. A “posting” is an entry on your blog. (For clarification, you have one blog, but many postings). Give the post a title and then compose as you would any journal entry. When you are finished, hit the button at the bottom that says Publish. It will not appear on your blog until you publish it. You can always go back and edit old posts and create new ones.

Your First Post:

Your first post should be a short introduction to you: who are you, where you teach, what graduate program you are in, what you do in your spare time, etc. (Just a short paragraph — no big deal). You will post the rest of the entries as they are due (see course syllabus for dates), or whenever you have something to say.
 

When you are done creating your site and posting your first entry, please come back to this blog and post a comment at the end of my first posting (scroll down) that includes your blog address so that I can post it in the link list to the right.

Some Tips and Helpful Hints:

• Once you are in your blog, look at the top right corner of the screen. If you click on the word DESIGN, you will be able to make design changes, create new posts, edit old posts, etc. (You can only do this if you are logged in to your blog.)
• Once you are in the DESIGN screen, you can do all kinds of things to make your blog a bit more interesting. Change your fonts and colors, edit a post, change your settings. See the tabs at the top of the screen for all kinds of options.
• Poke around online and make a list of websites related to education, media literacy, social justice or anything else relevant and post them on your blog. You can add all kinds of things by ADDING A GADGET from your LAYOUT screen.
• Just do the best you can with this. If you get stuck, don't fret... I am happy to help you anytime as you work on getting this started. And remember: you can't break it. It is just a blog. Everything can be changed if need be!

Good luck!! 

 LB :)