How Do You Envision Education?

I have been thinking a lot about the public school system in Ohio and in the United States in general. I am currently putting together a tutor poster for the America Reads program. This poster will be hung in the hallway of Prospect Elementary School so that the students, teachers, staff, and parents can see and read about the America Reads tutors who come into the school to tutor. As I was writing down the tutors' information in a Word document, I asked myself what I thought the kids would think of when they read "major?" Would this get them excited as they thought about what field or fields they wanted to be experts in when they got older? Would it be inspiring? And then I asked myself, "What kind of learning do kids get excited about either at that moment or for their future?" And then the question flipped to me: what fields of learning was I excited about?

I want to pose a question that I have been asked during an America Reads workshop in previous years: What is your ideal school? This includes structure, who runs it, how long is it, who attends, what are the values or mission of the school?

This question ties into Patience's post from two weeks ago as well...thinking about what we focus on in school and how to incorporate other important aspects of learning.

Hip Hop and Education

Hey Bonners,

I hope everyone is doing well.

So, lately my attention has gone back to hip-hop after a pretty long hiatus from the genre. I have recently begun to have a renewed appreciation for how much creativity exists in hip-hop. For instance, in the case of free-styling, it really takes a lot of imagination to be able to come up with so many similes and metaphors, a key feature of free-styling, instantaneously. I can only imagine what goes on in a person’s mind that can make so many poetic connections at such a high speed while at the same time maintaining the rhythm of the beat that they are following. And speaking of the beat, this is one of my favorite aspects of hip-hop. I think that many people, myself included, have such a natural visceral reaction to the rhythm of hip hop songs which is what makes this genre so popular all over the world.

Well, with all of this on my mind, it was with pleasure that I saw this organic process of creating hip-hop music happening at my new service site, “The Backspace” of The Bridge. The Bridge, a division of the Oberlin Public Library, is a community technology center aimed at provided free technological and educational access to the Oberlin community. “The Backspace” is a large back room dedicated to middle school and high school youth. Everyday there are available computers to work and play, crafts, homework tutors (my position!) and a small ‘studio’ where young people can create music.

During the time when I wasn’t individually working with kids I was fortunate to observe a group of teenage boys creating hip-hop. I was not only struck by their creativity but also how academically the approached the process. When I came in they were taking turns either free-styling or rapping verses that the had already written. When someone messed up they all encouraged that person to continue either in a ‘tough love’ way or by talking about their own initial difficulties. After everyone had a turn and they finished editing the song. They all sat down to write new verses. It really looked as if they were in school, all hunched over intensely scribbling away. It was completely silent. When they were done, they all rapped their new verses. They lyrics were varied. Some of it was the typical boasting you hear in a lot of commercial hip hop. Yet some of it was very personal- about family difficulties and valued friendships. All of the lyrics included very clever word play and wit.

As someone who has worked a great deal with youth in reading and writing and language, I was struck by how easily teachers and educators can espouse the free-styling and lyrical writing process of hip-hop in order to improve education, specifically English and writing. Vocabulary, syntax and inventiveness are all things that English teachers try to emphasize to their students. If more teachers try to harness the enthusiasm that many pre-teens and teenagers have for hip hop and show the broader connection to language, I think we would be taking a large step forward to improving education in this country.

So I would be interested in reading what you all think about hip-hop used as a way to enrich writing and language education. And in what specific ways it could be implemented.

Much Bonner Love,

-Patience

End of Semester Thoughts

Hey Bonners,

So, as the semester winds up and we are all scrambling to log those last few hours while taking finals, I was hoping some people would pause and thing back about this semester. Specifically, how did (any) Bonner related activity that you did tie into your classroom work this year? For me, I took the Practicum in Tutoring class for the first time. As a chem major, this was the first time that my academics and Bonner work had been one and the same. I'm still mulling over all of my thoughts (I'll get back to you all on that), but I know it was a positive experience. How about the rest of you?

The Recession and Minorities

Hi Everyone! I know we all know there is a recession and that of course its affecting all of us in some form. As Bonners we have an idea of this struggle even before the recession hit. I found a news article on BBC that deals with poverty and African Americans in Chicago specifically. Although African Americans were the targeted race group of the article. I can also reiterate from Thomas on the Bonner Weekly that we as minorities in some form can relate to these types of issues.

Anyway for the Article! The article mentioned that the national unemployment rate was 8.5% in December of 2007. African Americans specifically had a 13.4% unemployment rate. Although rates for minority groups are usually higher than average, it ultimately shouldn't be. A few examples of individuals affected was a family that was currently only being supported by the daughter of a woman who was used to being middle class most of her life. The daughter currently has a decent paying job as a nurse, but as we all know supporting around 4 people with a family member in college is very challenging. In response to lack of funds in the family, the woman's grandson had to drop out of college at Columbia.

As we all know something like this can happen to us, if it already hasn't. We as Bonners are blessed to be in such a program that understands that every community has needs and gives us the opportunity to help them. We know that actually dealing with these issues personally gives us a better connection in finding a solution to the problem.

If anyone wants to read the article here is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8013102.stm

Student-Led Green Movement, How Can We Translate that Mobility to Other Issues?

Hey Bonners!
So, here is the first of weekly reflection blog posts that will be happening for the rest of the semester! Technically there will be 2 this week because I got behind (being sick sucks!) and I didn't make my post last week like I should have! If you reflect on this idea by posting a reflection response you can get a Bonner hour! Keep in mind that we'll be checking though and if you only write three words or something you won't get any Bonner hours! Check the Weekly for more information about logging you reflection hours! So, this week I wanted to talk about climate change and the student movement that is taking the lead toward change! I know, sounds cliche, but just last weekend (well, now 2 weekends ago!) Power Shift '09 took place in Washington DC and Oberlin had the 5th highest number of students attending (a total of 108!). Maybe you went or you have some friends that did, either of which is awesome! Its a hard thing to miss classes and give up a weekend so close to midterms and I personally appreciate those Obies that went to show that we care about climate change and we're committed to helping solve the problem. Read this article on Power Shift '09 at http://www.powershift09.org/node/923 and see how some students were making their voices heard (weird note, for some reason the article is posted twice in a row, if it seems familiar, it is!). How are you using your service opportunities to have a positive impact on the environment? How do you think Bonners can help make sure that the support garnered by big events like Power Shift doesn't wane as the academic year rolls on and we get even busier (if that is possible!)? Also, how can we take the example of the growing student-led green movement and apply that to the growing (though less visible) student-led service movement? Any ideas, thoughts, any thing else? Post a reply! Also, if you see this in time, watch a Discovery Channel documentary entitled "Earth: The Sequel" that will be airing tomorrow night at 10 PM (Discovery Channel is channel 39 here in Oberlin). Its all about the clean energy of the future and many of the technologies that we already have just waiting to be implemented that could have a major impact on climate change!

Bonner love,
ChiChi, '10