Dream Big.

I've been back to work for two weeks now and so far it's been pretty good. I have one section of freshmen and 4 sections of sophomores. I really like the sophomore curriculum because everything we do is related to the American Dream and is it attainable for all. Last year when I taught this unit, I really had a good time with the students. many of them got into what they desire and how their parents and other family members are the ones who might prevent them for accomplishing them. When it comes to my students, I am brutally honest with them. I let them know that no one owes them anything and they need to learn how to work hard for what they want. If they desire to attend college, they need to start investigating things about the school they want to attend. They should know what the required ACT score is for admissions.

This past week, my students were to read an article in their workbooks and answer some opinion based questions about the article. What I have come to realize is many elementary school teachers focus so much on what the book says instead of teaching students to become independent thinkers. I am having a difficult time with getting them to think for themselves. Many of them did not answer any of the questions because they were concerned with getting the question wrong. I keep stressing to them that there is no way they can get something wrong when it asks what do you think.

I also gave an assignment that required the students to write down their goals for this school year (personal and/or academic) and their expectations for the class. Many of them had the same goals: come to school/class on time, pass all of their classes and stay out of trouble. Now, I know you are probably thinking like me, they should already be doing these things, right, wrong! You'd be surprised to know that many students miss so much school and no one is checking up on them. I have students in my class that have missed a week and we've been in for two weeks.

Throughout this school year, we are going to work on a dream book. All students are required to have a scrapbook or binder to hold all of their contents. It is my desire that my students learn to dream big. Many of them have been in classes and schools where the expectations have been lowered. A lot of my students complained when I posted the grading scale for them. I modified it a little from the Chicago Public School (CPS) suggested scale. For the CPS scale I think 75 and below is an "F". I changed mine to be 70 and below. I had to explain to them that when/if they go to college and they have had a grading scale where 90-100 is an "A", they are not going to be able to compete with other students where their grading scale was 95-100 is an "A". If my students earned all 90's, they truly earned a "B". I also told them to expect more from themselves. They can earn these grades if they do the work. Many of them refuse to do the work because they have had low expectations their entire lives. Some of their teachers truly don't expect them to make it and their parents definitely don't believe it. When they encounter a teacher who does expect them to do more, they think that teacher is being hard on them.

I am trying to get them to Dream Big! I want them to have higher expectations for their lives. I also want them to be realistic in their goals. I think the biggest challenge is many of these students come from low income/poverty stricken families and in those type of communities, progress is often shunned. When you want to do better, the community looks down on you because "you think you are better than them", but as soon as you make it, they will have their hands out looking for you to save them. Many of my students want to be professional athletes and rap artists, but they are not doing anything now to get there. They don't realize that they should be on the school sports team (no matter how lame they think the team is) in order to get noticed. A lot of them want to be in the limelight because they watch television and it appears like the people in the limelight have it all. I keep trying to tell them that these people need managers, attorneys, and producers. Those people get paid and oftentimes it's before the artist gets paid. All they see is the person who they believe is "getting paid". It is sad, but so true.

This brings me to another issue. This past Thursday in the Chicago Tribune, there was an article about paying students for getting good grades. An 'A' is $50, 'B' is $35 and 'C' is $20. The students will get 1/2 of the money upfront and the rest when they graduate. They are eligible to get this every quarter, but if they receive an 'F' they can't get any money. I have an issue with this because I think it undermines everything I am trying to teach my students. I want them to know that their reward comes when they don't have to work a minimum wage job. How can I get them to understand this when people want to pay them for earning good grades? In my opinion it is similar to giving teachers money for "merit" pay. I think when money is involved, it can cause some to do some unscrupulous things.

It baffles me to think that education has gotten to this point. I know when I was in school, I got good grades because my parents expected me to do so, not because I thought I would get some money for it. I know what it is like to grow up without having. We wore hand-me-downs and received commodities (government food). We didn't buy name brand foods all the time. I know what it is like to be without. I don't know if my parents didn't qualify for food stamps, but I know we didn't get them. I qualified for free lunch. I know exactly what my students are experiencing, however I think the biggest difference is my parents worked jobs. They expected us to get a job when we were old enough and maintain decent grades. My sisters and I did it and I think we are better people for doing so.

Our experiences taught us how to get an education to better ourselves. It is nothing against our parents because they did a wonderful job in rearing us. They also did what they felt necessary for us. What they did do is instill in us a good work ethic and the desire to go to college. I am still in the process of dreaming big. When I look at my current situation, I often say "this can't be as good as it gets." I am always trying to figure out a way to set higher goals and accomplish them. I think this dream book activity is going to be a great thing for all. I hope my students really take the time to put their all into it. I really want them to Dream Big.

Race does matter.

I was approached by a friend (Amy Fuji) to write this post (for Open Salon) and I am really not sure how to approach this subject. It stemmed from a reply I wrote on Neilpaul’s topic “Black versus White, or Why I’m lucky to be White.” Amy suggested I write about my experiences as a Black woman in a white world and she would write about being a white woman working in a predominately Black environment. I strongly urge you to read her counterpoint and leave messages for both of us.

I am an educated Black single mother who lives on the South Side of Chicago. If you check the stats, by all means, I should not have a college degree. I should have at least two additional children (by two different men), living in some type of housing development and receiving public aid. Oh, I should have dropped out of high school a long time ago. Well, the reality is this, when I had my daughter, I had completed high school and two years of college. I left the hospital on my 21st Birthday. Some people will say that I beat the odds, but some days I am not too sure.
I am in the process of looking for a home and I often wonder will I be able to achieve my American dream. What most white people don’t realize is, my dream is slightly different from their’s. I am not looking for a white picket fence with 2.5 children (how do you get .5 children, one will never know) and a dog or cat. That is not my dream. My dream is to be able to purchase a nice, affordable home in a decent neighborhood. I would like to get married one day, but the sad reality is many Black men are reluctant to take this step for a variety of reasons. Some of them are fear; fear of failure, fear of commitment, and fear of what their friends will say. Then there are some guys who are afraid of marrying a woman who has an education and earns more than he does. You do know there are more Black men in prison than enrolled in college, so the likelihood of me marrying an educated Black man is slim.

I am a strong proponent and supporter of higher education and just because I want my daughter to attend a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) does not mean that I am racist. I know the world is not completely Black. I’m sorry, but I am reminded of that on a daily basis, whether it is directly or indirectly. I think a lot of white people mistake me wanting to be around people who look like me as being unrealistic but it's not. Well, let me tell you this, I know the world is not completely Black and this is not why I am an advocate for HBCU’s. I think the media does a good job of portraying Blacks in a negative light and I think it is important to young children to see otherwise. You do know it was illegal for Black people to get an education and this is how HBCU’s came about. Shame on me for wanting to support these institutions of higher learning, because someone thought enough of future generations to start a school. When many white people sit around the dinner table and discuss their children’s future, I wonder how many of them mention institutions such as Howard University, Hampton University, or Clark-Atlanta University. I also believe that if a lot of white people won't send their children to the public school with my child, why should I pay for her to go to school with them?
I don’t think many white people understand what it’s truly like to be a minority. Oftentimes, I feel like the man in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. This unnamed character walks around and is socially invisible to others. See, if you have never experienced something like this, you will never know how it feels. Even if you think you’ve experienced it, imagine if you had to live your entire life feeling invisible. It is not a good feeling and there’s nothing you can do about it. There are times when I am with my white counterparts and they are discussing people/things that I know nothing about or is not relevant to me.

Now as it relates to careers, I have seen countless qualified Black people passed over for promotions and given some lame excuse for it such as"we don't promote within" or "you are over qualified for this position/program." I get tired of people discounting affirmative action and other programs designed to give minorities a chance. Don't mistake my point, I am not suggesting that people be promoted based soley on race, but I do think that there should be some type of opportunity given to qualified minorities. If my personal experiences hadn’t shown me otherwise, maybe I would say eliminate it. When Michelle Obama made the statement about this being the first time in her adult life she was proud to be an American, many white people got mad. Well let me tell you why I understood Mrs. Obama’s plight. Many Black people have to work extra hard to prove ourselves to others. When I turn on the news and read about white police officers being acquitted for killing Black people, why should I be proud of that? When I know I am not welcomed in certain neighborhoods in 2008, why should I be proud of that? How about the many times I have been shopping in a predominately white mall and I am followed around like I am a criminal? Or, the sales clerk ignores me completely? Should I be proud of that? Dr. King had a dream that one day his children would be judged by the content of their character and not by skin color, but how often does that really occur? I get tired of people saying race doesn't matter, but it does. If it didn't matter, people wouldn't say "race doesn't matter."