Talking Points 9

Citizenship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome
By: Kliewer

1.) “[Community] requires a willingness to see people as they are-different
perhaps in their minds and in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or in their willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic of society. It requires the "helper" to have the humility to listen for what the person says he or she needs. Also, the "helper" must see that the interaction "helps" both ways.” (pg73)
~ I liked this quote because I think it is true. Even though someone is thought to be different it doesn’t mean they are not a human being. I believe that Shayne had the right idea in how to teach her students to have a classroom community.

2.) It's not like they come here to be labeled, or to believe the label. We're all here-kids, teachers, parents, whoever-it's about all of us working together, playing together, being together, and that's
what learning is. Don't tell me any of these kids are being set up to Fail(75)
~ I think every child has a different way of learning and you have to figure it out as a teacher. You(as a Teacher) should never label a child because then they think that they are bad at it and will always do bad. A teacher should never let a student fail you have to try your hardest so no students fail. I think this quote is also talking about the classroom community.

3.) The psychologist, who knew little about him, defined Isaac's actions as manifestations of cognitive defect separating the child from the intellectual norm. Shayne, who knew Isaac well, defined his actions as a complex, sophisticated, symbolic response to a difficult situation, one that transformed the context into a more meaningful and thoughtful experience. (85)
~ I think that this psychologist was wrong for thinking that just because Isaac didn't follow the exact directions that he not the intellectual norm. when I read the part about the psychologist I got a little angry. I think the way Isaac thought was different, but correct.

I thought the article this week had some very interesting stories, but was too long and some parts were hard for me to focus. I liked the story about Isaac in Shayne Robbins’s class. I thought that Shayne had a good approach on how to understand Isaac. I never knew that you could dance to a book like Isaac did. It really opened my eyes to see that yes a kid might be called different, but it is just the way the student thinks is different. I think that Isaac’s story is a powerful and everyone can learn from it. I also liked how Shayne talked about a classroom community.
I also liked the story about the girl that wanted to be a movie director. I couldn't believe that the people in charge of her placement wouldn't listen to her and what she wanted. She didn't like young children and didn't wanted to be placed their so I thought it was great ho at the end she ended up getting placed in the movie rental store. She was doing great there too. I don’t think it is fair that she had to fight to be placed at a job she is actually great at.
I think that if you separate kids it might not be equal. I can see the pros and cons to it. If you separate kids with down syndrome then you are taking the kids out of the classroom community and not giving every student and equal chance. I also know that by their might be some pros to separating children with down syndrome. I just don’t know. So the question I have is separate equal for this situation?

I thought these two video were very interesting. Both videos are about if parents should send their children with down syndrome to a mainstream or special needs school.