Raul Kohl's List: Tolerance

We’re all moderately aware that the prison system costs taxpayers a lot of money. But how expensive is it really?

More expensive than going to an Ivy League school.

The first area that fits my teaching style is, "Determine the culturally, linguistically, racially and ethnically diverse groups within the geographic locale served by your organization or program. Assess the degree to which these groups are accessing services and the level of satisfaction with services received." I choose this area particularly because as a history teacher I can easily direct classroom discussion to fit the geographical area in which my students live. By doing so it allows the entire class to discover the diversity in both the area around them and within the classroom, thus breaking down many racial barriers. By checking which services my students are accessing also allows me as an educator to find them additional resources which they may not be aware of. This allows them to excel more in both the classroom and in life.

The second area that fits my teaching style is, "Build and utilize a network of natural helpers, community informants and other 'experts' who have knowledge of the culturally, linguistically, racially and ethnically diverse groups served by your organization or program." I choose this area because presently there are a large variety of cultures, languages, and races in the classroom. This variety is consistently increasing and as an educator the task of knowing the cultural norms of all cultures and/or religions is extremely challenging. However a student who understands their cultural norms can be utilized as a student helper in order to judge the acceptance of certain classroom practices. For example I may plan a field trip with an included lunch during Ramadan without realizing it. A student helper would be able to comment about how such a design would be offensive to any Muslim students. This would prevent feelings from getting hurt and make my students more comfortable in the classroom.

The third area that fits my teaching style is, "Network with parent and family organizations concerned with children with special health care needs. Solicit their involvement a

In the quiz entitled "Are You a Cyberbully?" I received the score of three. The only reason I received the score of three is because of the question, "Have you ever used bad language online?" The only times I have ever used bad language online is through my frustration with politics and never specifically directed it at anyone.

In reading through the articles written for teachers I discovered one entitled, "What methods work with the different kinds of cyberbullies?" The article breaks down cyberbullies into four distinct groups; The Vengeful Angel, Power-Hungry, Mean Girls, and the Inadvertent Cyberbully. In my prior knowledge of cyberbullies I thought there to be only one class, those that seek to do harm virtually. However with the knowledge of multiple classification it makes me question the possibility of combating cyberbully. One cannot simply tell a class that cyberbullying is wrong because at least two of groups don't know they are cyberbullies. Further the reasons why each group virtually bullies others spans a spectrum of reasons making combating the source just as difficult. Further as technology increases the amount of classifications can only increase. However I do believe that as the amount of ways to commit cyberbullying increase so will the ways to combat it.

The lesson I chose on the teaching tolerance website was "Debunking Stereotypes about Muslims and Islam," which I reached by searching for a lesson plan for grades 9-12 and in the subject area of social studies. The lesson deals with the issue of stereotypes in regards to Islam. The lesson begins with students discussing stereotypes in general and how students themselves may be grouped into stereotypes thus relating the lesson to them. Students then examine statistics that prove the stereotype wrong. The lesson then directs itself into teaching students about Islam in order to understand it. I enjoyed this lesson because it not only teaches students about a misunderstood group but also teaches them not to accept stereotypes at face value but rather investigate their actuality.

Although all fifteen questions were entirely intresting and prompted me to find out more two stood out as the most interesting. The first was "According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, what is the percentage of U.S. schools with no teachers of color on staff?" After investigating the question I found the answer to be 40%. This is depressing because there is no where in this country where diversity does not exist and it is the duty of school officials to reflect the student body in there staff. It must be difficult for students of color to look at their white teachers and not see anyone similar. Although many of these teachers may be great role models students of color have no one to talk to about racial problems because no one shares there backgrounds. The second question I found most interesting was "The U.S. military budget is by far the highest of any country in the world. How much higher is the U.S. military budget than that of China, the world's second biggest military spender?" I knew that the United State's military budget is more than the next top 5 countries combined and I think it is ridiculous. Instead of trimming a military budget the politicians of this country are content with cutting education costs, cuts that affect the future of this country more than anything.