I was asked today if there were any other extra credit opportunities possible, and I didn't think so at the time, but I did see another good opportunity just today--it's also for tomorrow evening (Thursday), but for earlier.
GLBT Safe Schools is sponsoring a Safe School Seminar tomorrow (Thursday) on teachers' and schools' legal rights and responsibilities towards gay,lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students, teachers, andparents. Details are below: Legal Rights & ResponsibilitiesAttorney Jay Kaplan from the ACLU will return to provide an overview of the teachers' and schools' legal rights and responsibilities towards gay,lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students, teachers, and parents. He will also give us an update on the current legislation affecting Michigan schools, including the school bullying bill.Thursday, March 13, 2008 5:00 - 6:30 252 EH Erickson Hall Pizza will be served.
If you attend this seminar and write a one page paper or equivalent blog post on what you learned, you can earn up to 2 points of extra credit.
If you attend the Native American Seminar (detailed in an earlier blog posting), you don't need to attend the whole three hours, but at least half of the time, (1 and 1/2 hours), and write a 1 page paper or equivalent blog posting, including which presenters you listened to and what you learned. Let me know if you have any questions.
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6 comments:
should our paper be double spaced or single?
Your paper can be double spaced. Thanks for checking--looking forward to hearing your impressions.
I was unable to attend the extra credit options on Thursday. Please let me know if any others arise. Thanks!
I have classes all day on Thursday and was unable to attend the extra credit. Please let me know as well if any more extra credit opportunities come up!!
I attended the LGBT Safe Schools Seminar on March 13, 2008. During this seminar the speaker, Jay Kaplan from ACLU of Michigan, discussed the issues that arise in schools due to students, teachers, and parents who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. He described numerous laws that are currently in place and bills that are being presented to Congress, but I learned that there is not nearly enough protection or rights given to people of this culture.
One part of the seminar that caught my attention more than anything were the statistics presented in regards to harassment concerning LGBT issues in the school. Homophobic remarks are so common in school that 90% of students report that they hear comments such as “that’s so gay” or “faggot” on a regular basis. In addition, 67% of students claimed they were harassed because they were thought to be lesbian, gay, or bisexual and 60% claimed they were harassed due to their gender expression. Unfortunately, even with these extremely high statistics the rate of students reporting these incidents is less than 40%. Most students claim that they choose not to tell a school authority because they don’t think adults would take them seriously. This claim may hold some validity as statistics also show that less than 30% of teachers or other staff intervene when they hear derogatory remarks used in the school setting. This is thought to be because teachers are worried that if they do choose to intervene they could risk their own job security or that others may think that they are LGBT themselves.
One of the most shocking things I learned at the seminar is that there is no federal law prohibiting harassment or discrimination against those who identify as LGBT. There have been numerous cases where people have lost their teaching job once their sexual identity was disclosed and their termination could not be fought. Although the Michigan law states that every school must have a harassment policy concerning sexual harassment, this does not include LGBT issues unless the specific company incorporates gender and orientation in their personal harassment policy. The “Matt’s Safe Schools” bill has been passed by the Michigan House of Representatives and is waiting for a hearing in the Senate. This bill calls for anti-bullying policies to be adopted in schools. If the bill is passed it is expected to help the unfair discrimination and treatment of LGBT members of the school community.
I was not aware that there is currently no law prohibiting unequal treatment of those who identify with the LGBT community. The fact that firing people based only on their sexual orientation can be justified makes me very angry. Our society has progressed so much over the years and I don’t understand how after the struggles of African Americans and women to gain equal treatment in society (although there is still much progress to be made in those areas as well) our culture continues to deny rights to human beings just because they may be different than what is seen as the “norm.” This seminar opened my eyes and made me realize how far our society has to go. As a teacher, I will make a point to address harassment that occurs in my classroom and not push it under the rug and allow students to continue to ridicule one another using homophobic terms. I will make it clear to my students that that language will not be tolerated and will work hard to create a respectful classroom environment.
When walking into the room for the Native American author reading, it seemed like a very formal setting. Some people were formally dressed with suits and the chairs were set up in nice even rows, all facing the stage with a podium and microphone. From the atmosphere, it felt like the readings were going to be somewhat formal and ceremonial, but once it started it was everything but that. They had us all get away from the whole “row seating” and move ourselves closer to the readers so we could feel like a group rather then individuals. As being an outsider to this culture and not knowing what to expect, getting out of what I thought “formal setting” completely changed my assumptions of how the readings were going to be because they wanted us all to be comfortable and close to the readers. The seminar began with a prayer; even though I didn’t understand the language it was very inspiring to be a part of a culture that I am not familiar with. Before coming to this seminar, I had certain predictions and assumptions as to what the readings were going to be about and how the seminar would be; but frankly I was completely wrong. Each author chose what pieces they wanted to share with the audience and some of them went with a certain theme. This may sound stereotypical but I went into this seminar thinking it was going to be based discrimination and how they are not respected within society, not just in the past but in today’s world as well. Even though these issues came up, but the readers were able to make it so they could connect to you rather then preach about it. It was very inspiring to sit there and listen to them, even though I can not directly connect to what they have been through, I was able to connect to their feelings and how they were affected based on their readings.
The first reader Eric Gansworth was an author of six books. His books featured painting and visual works while writing about art and art criticism. He has been to a lot of readings, but said it is about listening to those that inspire you. His inspiration to become a writer was from listening to Leon Howell during a reading. All of the pieces he chose to share with us were poems; poems about his body being a huge force or speaking about the modern changes and changing Native American culture. One reading that really hit me was the reading called “a half life and heart function”. It was about his life of being poor compared to the rich whites. He talked about how whites viewed throwing out cigarettes as spare changes where his people viewed that as a lot of money. Even though he talks about being envious of the whites and the money, he found things like cologne that made him forget all about being poor. Listening to this reading made me think about the life I lead and how it isn’t about the clothes I wear or where they come from it is about how those things make me, personally, feel. The little things like “cologne” make you forget about how much money you do or don’t have because you feel like a million bucks regardless of it.
The next reader Qwo-Li Driskill was a very passionate reader. His poems were about injustices of Native American history. He is the author or “Walking with Ghosts”, and has a PhD in rhetoric writing. His theme throughout his readings was going through different Presidents and their relationship with Native Americans. I did not seem to understand some of his poems, but I am not very educated with earlier presidents in history and their impact on the past.
The last two readers were my favorite two presentations. Jim Northrup was a very dynamic individual who spoke about his experiences not only as a Native American but as a soldier going through Vietnam. A strategy that was very effective was him choosing to memorize his readings. I believe if he would have read them just out of a book, it would have been less effective to the audience. I was very into his readings in wanting him to continue reading more; he was a very inspiring reader and I felt very moved and stimulated listening to what it was like to be a soldier during the times of Vietnam. His readings were very personal, especially the one about his struggles with post-traumatic stress when returning from the war. I believe it was a very strong approach to speak about personal issues because I believe I often connect better to a reader when they speak about their own life rather than trying to talk about someone else’s. The final reading by Richard Van Camp was the most shocking reading of them all. His reading was about a woman’s life experiences of being a victim and the ways she wanted to overcome it by accomplishing certain tasks; getting a G-spot orgasm, finding a handsome man, etc. This reader did an amazing job of keeping the audience entertained as I and many others couldn’t stop laughing throughout his story.
Going to this seminar was a completing eye-opening experience and exceeded all or any of my expectations. I went into the seminar thinking it was going to be about how Native Americans have been treated and effected throughout history and even today, but it was even more then that. These readings proved how Native Americans are just normal people. They experience the same things and live similar lives to those of others. I was completely taken away by this seminar and it leaves me with an open mind to attend more in the future.
Sorry this is late.. i forgot that I had to add it to your page. I had it on my page and remembered i had to add it to your comment page to get my points.
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