EDUC 2120 Blog #8

I moved around quite a bit when I was growing up, but my family finally settled down in Gainesville, GA, which has a population of 33,804, a month before I was in eighth grade. I basically consider that where I grew up and while it is technically considered an urban town is has some country-like characteristics. While Gainesville is very commercialized it can also take someone who lives on the outskirts of town about thirty minutes to actually get into town. The closer into town you live, obviously the busier it is and the more you can do, but I prefer living on the outskirts of town because of the quieter community we have. I lived in a small subdivision, but a few miles down the road there were a few farms, so some days I might get stuck behind a tractor while other days there is no traffic. I could always see cows and horses from my bedroom window and my brothers usually harassed the cows on the weekends with their friends. I didn't really hear that many stories about the landscape influencing the day to day lives of my neighbors, but he one thing people always mentioned was that trucks were the best vehicle choice because they "get the job done." Growing up in a smaller community definitely impacted my values and way of living. I value family and we make time to hang out together, even if it's sitting on the front porch talking. Because I was raised in the Bible belt and my daddy was a preacher, Christianity and church have always played a huge part in my life. And because it has always been a huge part of my life, for awhile I assumed that it was a huge part of everyone's lives. I definitely enjoyed growing up where I did because it was a slower paced environment where I could enjoy the simple things in life.

Source:http://censusviewer.com/city/GA/Gainesville

EDUC 2120 Blog #7

I was raised in Southern Baptist churches and I am a current active member of one in Dahlonega. People think that Catholicism is pretty much the same as Baptist, Methodist, etc., but they are very wrong. There are slight differences between the Baptist and Methodist denominations, but Catholicism "branches out" the most between the three. Going into the Catholic service I had preconceived notions and beliefs about Catholicism and I quickly noticed that what I believed was very true. I was raised to have a personal relationship with the Lord, but Catholics do not believe that. They base their faith on good works and deeds instead of the personal relationship. They believe that doing and saying good things their whole life will give them a spot in Heaven instead of accepting Christ as their Savior. Another belief I had that was reinforced was that they do not speak directly to God, but through a priest. They use the priest as a middle man to confess sins, ask forgiveness, etc., instead of going straight to the Lord. Again, this goes back to not having a personal relationship with Christ. The last thing I noticed was that Catholics consider Saints to be very important and sometimes even pray to them. While I appreciate any person who has had an impact on Christianity and religions in general, Baptists do not necessarily believe in holding Saints, or anyone, to the level that Catholics hold them. Baptists believe that in doing so, it takes away the importance and value of Christ as our Savior. Those were the three main differences that I saw between Catholicism and Baptists/Methodists. The dress was the same and people were very friendly and definitely welcomed me. I did enjoy worshiping with the Catholic church even though I don't necessarily believe in some of their practices.

EDUC 2120 Blog #6

I never realized how privileged I am by not being physically disabled. I am able to walk anywhere, read anything, and see anything I want to. Unfortunately, not everyone is as blessed as I am. Because I am on campus a lot I decided to notice what kind of accessibility there is on campus for a physically disabled person. As I was walking around Newton Oaks and Dunlap this week I started noticing that while there are a few things that help people with physical disabilities, like elevators, there is definitely not accessible enough. A few of the things I noticed in Newton Oaks were that the bottom floor is the only floor with automatic doors, the bottom floor of classrooms are either stadium seating and don't have tables in the front that are wheelchair accessible or the classrooms are filled with desks that some people might not be able to get into, and the doors to the bathroom are extremely heavy and they push while going in, but you have to pull to get out and for a person in a wheelchair, the restrooms are not easily accessible at all. I also noticed that there are not many ramps for wheelchairs and if there is one, it is usually laid out in a maze-like fashion which make it difficult and time consuming for people to use.

One particular building on campus that is not really accessible to any individuals with disabilities is Memorial Hall. They do not have braille on any signs in the building, almost their entire building is not wheelchair accessible, and they do not have a lobby area with someone that can direct people where to go. A good example of someone not being able to participate in an activity is being able to cross the stage used for graduation in Memorial Hall. The stage is not wheelchair accessible, therefore, if a person is not physically walk across the stage, they will miss out on that unique opportunity of receiving their diploma like everyone else.

As for making the more accessible, the college would have to invest in building and installing all of the necessary things to make this college completely accessible, like elevators, ramps, and signs with braille. Because Newton Oaks is one of the newest building on campus it is more accessible to individuals with disabilities, but the other buildings on campus need to get it together!

EDUC 2120 Blog #5

Other than my parents, my grandparents have had the most influence on my gender identity. Growing up whenever I wanted to play with my brothers' friends and have my "tomboy" moments my grandma would sometimes intervene and bring me inside to bake cookies with her or help do the dishes. She would always make comments about how little girls should always wear pretty dresses and act lady-like. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually was comfortable not being the perfect lady like she wanted me to be.

Honestly, I don't really pay that much attention if someone is acting like the other sex. If they're comfortable being whoever they're being then it's not my place to make a big deal about it. But I definitely do think that guys have a harder time than girls if they are guy. If a guy is more feminine, regardless if they are gay or not, they get picked on, treated differently, etc. because they do not have the manly persona that society says they should have. Girls are more compassionate and understanding, so it is less common for girls to be rude or put down a person who identifies with the opposite gender of who they are. Also, I have heard many times from guys that, "It's hot to see two girls going at it." I feel as if society puts a double standard on heterosexual guys and girls and it is still there even for LGB people.

My gender identity is definitely a woman. I am not the most feminine woman in the world and I have my tomboyish attributes, but at the end of the day I still identify myself as a woman. As for my thoughts about other people's gender identity, as long as they're happy being who they are. For me, it doesn't matter if a male identifies himself as a female or female identifies herself as a male. As long as an individual in comfortable with their own personal gender identity I could care less about all the other technicalities. 

EDUC 2120 Blog #4

In theory raising a child in a genderless environment would work, but unfortunately in reality I do not think it is completely possible. I understand wanting to not restrict your child to the gender stereotypes, but in my opinion it is more trouble than it is worth. I think it is entirely possible to raise a child and not have other people hold them to the gender roles society places on us. There are many children in my class whose parents let them play with a wide variety of toys, regardless of which gender those toys "belong in." One of the points in the article I agreed with was that when the parents make a big deal about there being no gender influences on the child, the parents are making a big deal about gender in general, which is what they are trying to avoid. I definitely don't think that a child will be confused about who they are if they grow up in a genderless environment. Your sex does not determine who you are as a person and what gender you will identify with. A child who is born a male could easily grow up feeling as if he is a female, even if his parents pushed society's gender roles on him. If parents want their child to grow up without the pressure of the stereotypical gender roles there are other ways to do it. For example, buy toys for the child that go with both genders, like blocks and an art set. This helps the child decide for themselves who they want to be without anyone, even the parents, deciding for them.

EDUC 2120 Blog #3

Privilege, in my words, is getting to enjoy opportunities that others cannot because of a certain reason, like wealth, race, etc. Because I grew up in a middle class family and I am also white, I was able to experience more than some of my friends. Because I am a white woman growing up in the conservative South I never really had to worry about not being treated unfairly because of my race. However, being a woman who was raised in the conservative religious South, I was often looked down upon and seen as unequal to men. I remember certain times when I would talk about my future plans of being a lawyer, preacher, doctor, etc. and I was told that was not what God's plan was for my future. Because of my religion I was expected to marry young and stay in the home. Still to this day my grandmother points out that if I continue being as independent as I am I will not find a Godly man.

Even though I grew up in mostly conservative religious towns, my parents made sure that my brothers and I would realize that we are privileged so we can be aware of others situations and help if any way possible. In my group of friends in high school I was the most wealthy, and in reality we weren't all that rich, and that helped me realize just how fortunate I am. Because my parents made me open my eyes and see the world around me for what it really was, I am already able to be unbiased.

EDUC 2120 Blog #2

We can choose to be active in our influence of children's attitudes towards anything. With a certain amount of encouragement from adults, children will begin to process and develop their beliefs about ethnicity, religion, and race. Without our encouragement and openness they are unlikely to ask the prominent hard questions without or prompting. It is definitely up to us to take the initiative to start the hard conversations. Children care about all the injustices that adults do, but we don't see them as important as they do. While they go through the fighting about sharing toys and problems with cliques as they get older, they take more interest in social issues. But listening without judgement and talking openly with them we can learn about the concerns of today's world and we can begin to help them find the connection between their own life experiences and bigger social life issues. But they will never make the connection and work through their "stereotypes" if they do not feel safe enough to ask and explore. I think that incorporating multicultural lesson plans in the classroom will help of awareness. Maybe every few weeks introduce a new ethnic group or talk about a specific race group and what they have done for society. Being able to teach students what people of their race accomplished in the past helps them be more proud of who they are and might motivate them to work harder and succeed in life. As far as initiating conversations about race, watching the types of videos that we have been watching in class is helpful. Race is a broad topic and sometimes people don't know where to begin when trying to initiate conversations about it. It's uncomfortable and they are afraid of offending someone. But the specific issues in the videos help students respond easier than a broad introduction of race.