Lit Circle #4...Well I thought that this group did a great job to start out with. I also think that almost everything that was brought up through the book and the group were things that were discussed in Sleeter and Grant or in previous blogs I have done. It was very easy to pay attention and enjoy because they did a lot of examples and questions. But not only did they give questions, but they were ones that we could realte to our lives and experiences which makes it easier to want to talk about and share things. I was thrilled with all of the examples because it made me feel as though I had read at least some of the book since we were given so many chances to hear from the book not just from the presenters. That is something that I wish I would have been able to do more in ours, but we needed to give some background and characters that it was hard. It makes me wish we could go back and do it again because I know there are things that I would change and make some differences to make it better. I loved getting to hear from others especially the examples relating to our class. I really think if we all start to share then we will get closer as a class where we will know each other more than just who sits where. One thing that really stuck out to me was thinking about culture pedagogies. I have talked about this and my examples in other blogs but I really do think this is important in breaking down some of the preconcieved ideas that kids have and that really need to be worked on. I also thought it was interesting with the ideas of how the two genders are treated in various ways and taught different things about some ideas. I feel as though this is done most of the time without thinking in some cases about having a guy move a heavier object or things but I also think that these are ideas that can be worked on and changed if the children see that girls can do things that boys can and vice versa. There are a lot of thoughts and actions that show that girls are supposed to be the more responsible, and be in charge of things, and be the "mother" example for everyone. This is not necessarily fair to the girls because, as pointed out in class, sometimes it seems that those are the people who are really getting punished the most because they are some what a head of others and most likely, they arent going to make many changes. I do from some experiences that I had in high school, that it is possible to break some of these stereotypes down but it does take some time and a LOT of convincing. The main example I have would be from my PE class and my ability to lift weights. I had worked very hard to become stronger and would do a lot of lifting out side of class and in the summer so that I would make some progress and be successful in my sports. However, it did take a long time to convince the teacher, and some of the male students that I should not be squating in a group with girls, but that I should have male lifting partners. From the previous experiences and thoughts of these males, they were not used to a girl being able to lift as much, and sometimes more than them. But luckily through a lot of trying and convincing, by the end of my senior year I was able to show them that girls really can do some things that guys can do and some preconcieved ideas are not always true. I keep these thoughts with me when thinking about girls being thought of in a different way and tell myself if I was able to do it once then I can do it again. But not only that, but I would be able to share my story with others so that they can try and break down whatever ideas are surrounding them. I think this is something that should be addressed in the room and that all students are the same...no matter the background, race, or gender.