Cultural Snapshot Assignment

*DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS AN ASSIGNMENT FOR MY CLASS. IT WAS CREATED FOR THE READING ENJOYMENT OF MY PROFESSOR.

(although you can read it if you want to)

Read, watch, and consider the following information:

While searching for pictures on Google, typing "Muslim" brings up pictures of happy, Muslim people. Typing in "Muslims" brings up pictures of bloody Muslims, wars, and protests.

Hyscience - An article discussing the percent of Muslims that believe in suicide attacks

Muslim Media Review - A blog discussing the portrayal of Muslims on Bones (a television show)

Muslim's on TV, No Terror in Sight - An article that discusses whether or not Muslim's are kindly portrayed in television shows.

So how are Muslim's being portrayed in mass media?

I find it very interesting that one small letter makes such a difference. An 's' changes a word from representing individuals who are happy and content with life to representing a group of people who are associated with terrorism, violence, and war. Go ahead, try it. Google images for 'Muslim' and then google images for 'Muslims'. Do you see what I am talking about? The images that appear have a completely different feel to them. Is this a valid representation of the Muslim culture's identity in America? Do we really feel like Muslims are normal, friendly people and that their culture is dangerous? I'll try and answer this question as I look into other ways that Muslims are portrayed in mass media.

After reading the above articles and thinking back on shows that I have watched in the past I have come to a conclusion about the racism of the Muslim culture in America. It exists, but not in the way that you would assume.

Many articles and movies show Muslims and do not label them as terrorists. However, this doesn't mean that the Muslim culture is accurately portrayed. What is the common theme of this culture on television? It is Muslims being mislabeled as terrorists. The media doesn't show all Muslims as terrorists, instead they show all Muslims being accused of terrorism. So how does this affect the racism toward the Muslim culture?

There are two options for these portrayals. The first is that it acts as passive racism. It is not coming out and supporting racism against this culture but it keeps the idea alive. It constantly reminds us that Muslims are or can be associated with terrorism. This is demonstrated in the Hyscience Article. The author of this article still believes that the majority of Muslims should still be considered a threat.

The other option is that, as Americans, we recognize that Muslims are not terrorists and those that believe they are are made to look like fools on national television. Take the "Little Mosque on the Prairie" clip for example. The individuals who accuse the Muslims of terrorism are over the top and are shown as wrong. Thus, the American minds are taught that being racist towards Muslims is just plain ridiculous.

The Bones episode also teaches us a lot about biculturalism and how Muslims are doing it here in America within the work place. This episode caused me to ponder upon my own classroom and how to properly deal with cultural differences. I may be lucky enough to have a Muslim student in my class. How will I deal with it? Will I do anything different or make accommodations for them?

I do not feel that the deficit theory would apply to this situation. The media doesn't portray Muslims as unintelligent people nor do I believe that they will struggle more than others in the learning environment. From what I know, most of them speak English and so teaching them also will not include a bilingual education.

If I had worries about teaching Muslim students, I believe they would come from a cultural perspective. These students will not be from the majority culture. This can cause a problem for all my students if I do not learn to acculturate the Muslim students into my classroom. It will be important for me, as the teacher, to let the cultural difference be recognized and accommodated for. I will want all of my students to be aware of and appreciate the differences in the cultures. I will also want to familiarize myself with the culture so that I can make any learning accommodations that would be necessary. These accommodations would be made so that the students from the Muslim culture do not feel like they are being assimilated into the classroom and their cultural identity will not be suppressed.

It's important for me, as the teacher, to be aware of how this culture is portrayed in the media. If I have the opportunity to teach a child from this culture I will need to be able to understand where they are coming from. The media affects how people are treated and I need to be informed so that I do not make the same mistakes or that I do not use any cultural assumptions that are incorrect but used all the time publicly. All students should be able to see their school as a safe haven because they know they are a part of a community at school, even if their community outside of school is different. School is their right to an accepting, unbiased community.

Ah!!!! I Just Can't Wait!!!!

Do you know what this is folks?
This is the view that my dad and I will have on April 2nd!!!
No, we aren't going to a Jazz game. We are going to
GEORGE STRAIT & REBA MCENTIRE!!!!!

I can't even begin to contain my excitement. This is absolutely a dream come true. I have two music idols in this world and NEVER did I dream that they would perform TOGETHER. For those of you that have been following up with me for a while, you'll remember that my dad and I went and saw George Strait two years ago when he came to Utah for the first time in over ten years. I never dreamed that it would be possible for him to come back and so soon and with Reba! I was floored when I found out about the concert back in December and I have been saving up since. Tickets finally went on sale today and I got the best ones I could and am so excited!!! I'm pretty sure I'm in heaven. I can't focus on anything because my mind just goes into overdrive when I think about how incredible this concert is going to be.

I hope my dad and I make a tradition out of this. In the past 3 years, we will have been to three country concerts together: George Strait 2009, John Michael Montgomery 2010, and George Strait/Reba 2011.

As a side note, my sister, Stephanie, found my husband the other day. Now I just have to figure out how to meet him:


*As a side note: He mentioned later that he made a promise to his momma while he was on his "church mission". He's LDS and I'm hoping he's single ;)

All My Dreams Shattered in an Instant

I know the title sounds a little harsh, but it's how I feel.

I have been planning on doing my student teaching and living with my fantastic cousins and family in Orderville, UT for almost two years now. I have dreamed about this since I was a little girl. Could life get any better than living with family on a farm while teaching school? I submit that it cannot! I had everything planned out and talked to BYU about what it would take to be able to do it. In their kindheartedness they told me that I just need to apply for Courtesy Placement when I applied for student teaching/internships. This seemed a little simple to me so I asked them over and over again last summer what I could do to make it happen. They kept assuring me that it would happen, I just had to wait until January so that I could apply.
Well, I didn't even get a chance to apply. When I went in to get an application a few weeks ago, they asked if my husband needed to move for school/work purposes. I told them no. Obviously. Then they proceeded to tell me that there is a .01% chance that they will even think about considering my request to student teach outside one of BYU's partnership schools. I couldn't believe what I was hearing!!! Everything I had dreamed about and wished for since pretty much forever ago was just killed.
Apparently it takes a lot of work for BYU to coordinate with a school that has one of their student teachers there. For this reason they aren't willing to do this unless it is an extreme circumstance (such as your husband moving and you need to move with him). I am so frustrated!!! I understand where they are coming from and why they don't want to let me go but WHY COULDN'T THEY HAVE TOLD ME THIS LAST SUMMER WHEN I ASKED THEM!?!?!?!?!?!?! (Can you tell I'm a little passionate about this?)
And why can't they make an exception for me? From what I've heard the school district down there is more than willing to help coordinate anything and my housing, transportation, and other such issues were already taken care of.
To add to all this, BYU is currently rearranging the way the ElEd major is organized partly because they feel their teachers don't get enough experience teaching in different types of schools. They feel it is important that their teachers be prepared to teach anywhere. So why can't they compensate for their failure by helping me gain the experience they want me to have? Their answer: Student teaching in either Wasatch or Nebo school districts will give me the experience I need to teach in a rural area. Really BYU? Heber and Spanish Fork are rural? I think not.

I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. I don't hate BYU. I don't hate the ElEd program. I don't hate the Courtesy Placement advisors. I am just heartbroken and frustrated that everything I have been working towards for the past two years is not going to happen. The one thing that has pushed me to do well in school and has given me something to look forward to in the end is not going to happen. Now, I can just hope and pray that somehow after graduation there will miraculously be a job opening for me somewhere down south. :(

Picture Update

I was going through my pictures and decided it was time to add some of them. Enjoy!!!

Zach, Russel, David, and Tommy

There is an apartment in our ward that is occupied by four, fresh-off-their-missions ADORABLE boys. My roommate, Sarah, and I decided to decorate their white board with a picture of all of them. We think it turned out quite well :)

Russel, Zach & GF, Tommy, and David & GF

Eventually our masterpiece got erased to make room for the boys' new years goals. :( So Sarah and I decided to motivate them for their goals by drawing pictures of them accomplishing their goals. Once again... we think it turned out quite well :) (The big blob would be Tommy who was too cool to come up with some New Years goals)



Those of you who know me well know that I have the gift of words... as in I always use the wrong ones and end up sounding like an idiot. I even had a professor tell me she didn't expect me to do well teaching during my practicum but was surprised when I did because in class I sound like a dumb blonde. Well, the other day in class I wrote a comment on the board and was so surprised at how intelligent it sounded that I had to take a picture of it so that I had proof of how smart I really can be. :) It reads...
"The classroom is an ideal society to exemplify democratic practices and build a foundation for children through modeling. Certain classroom practices familiarize students with good citizenship skills and how to be a competent contributor to society."

The lovely Sarah and Erynlea enjoying my meal

My wonderful mother bestowed me a with a crockpot for Christmas and I finally got to use it last night! I made a scrumptious roast with carrots & potatoes and then some rolls & salad to go with it. The best part of the meal was that my plates, crockpot, and silverware were all black and my bowls and cups were all glass! The table cloth was black and our kitchen is decorated in white and black. Sense a trend yet? There is just something about a matching dinner setting that puts my mind at ease and makes me feel happy. How weird is that? :/

That's all for now... but coming soon we have Becca's first date!!!
(Heather, me, and our roommates our all going with Becca on her first date and we are a little more than just excited)

Stuff White People Like

I am taking a class this semester that focuses on teaching English language learners. For one of my assignments we have to post our favorite part of this website and observe everyone's reactions. I posted a link to my favorite pictures on facebook, but for those of you who are without facebook here is my favorite picture.

Overview: The New York City resident is one of the most envied white people in the entire world. Their access to art galleries, restaurants, public transit, and pools of hobo urine is second to none. Fiercely proud of their city, all New Yorkers consider themselves to be the last one in. That is to say, everyone who moved to New York after them made the city a considerably worse place to live and thus are not considered “real New Yorkers.”

• Strengths: Can get you into places that don’t exist; able to survive in small spaces.
• Weaknesses: Cannot go fifteen minutes without telling you they live in New York. Also driving.
• Secret Shame: Actually from Ohio.

The website is really funny and is quite entertaining to look. I'm not just saying that because it is an assignment. I couldn't help but laugh through every post that I read. These two guys are so straightforward and honest and it is hilarious!

Speaking of assignments... As part of my assignment I need as many people as possible to leave a comment with their thoughts/reactions to this picture and the website. So blog stalkers, it's time to come out of your closet and leave a comment!!! Thanks :)

And the Grades Are In...

I never thought I would see the day that I would rejoice over having a 3.0 GPA, but it's here. I ended the semester with a 3.09 and I am so excited!!! YAY!!! I got a B+ average last semester!!! I love having classes that I actually care about.

I had to post this just because it reminded of Rebecca. For those that didn't know, she photo-shopped her grades once before showing them to my dad.

Almost Dead, but Not Quite

Last night was... hmm, how do I describe it... an adventure?
If you don't have time to read my novel, let me summarize: I damaged my car, became stranded in Murray at a car dealership, and was rescued by my knight in shining armor. For those of you with time on your hands, you can read the details below.

To start off, I had a babysitting job up in Bountiful around 6. So I left work at 4 to be on the road at 4:30 to give me plenty of time to get there. I forgot one thing... snow.

It was actually rain when I left Provo, but by the time I was in American Fork it had quickly become a snow storm. Wind and snow blowing everywhere. Luckily, the roads weren't too bad at this point, and I stayed behind a plow truck until I got around the point of the mountain. Honestly, I wasn't really afraid of the snow and had total confidence that I would make it to Bountiful safe and sound.
I decided that just to be safe I would stop in Murray and fill my tank because it was getting close to empty. While at the gas station, I made a phone call to inform the mother that there was a chance I would be late. I found out she didn't need me anymore and I was free to return home! Yay! I was more than happy to return home and started on my merry little way back to the freeway when my windshield wipers decided to stop working again. :( You see, this is a common occurrence. My wiper motor is loose and anytime it gets jostled, my wipers stop working until it somehow gets jostled back into place.
I was not going to be driving down the freeway with inconsistent wipers so I made a call home to find out when the storm was expected to clear up and if I should consider finding a place to stay for the night. Yes, at this point I was beginning to get worried and staying put and avoiding the roads seemed the best option for a car without windshield wipers.
The storm wasn't expected to let up until morning so I was starting to look for a motel somewhere when...wham... my car slid and my back tire smashed into the curb. I was shocked, saddened, and unsure of what just happened. Not to brag but I consider myself a good driver when it comes to driving in the snow and I couldn't believe that the car had just slid beyond my control! That has never happened!
I pulled into an empty lot to inspect the damage and found none. In the meantime, I was on the phone with my dad trying to figure out what my best option was. About this time, I had lost my keep-yourself-togetherness and I was a mess. I was stuck in Murray with no way to get home and the roads had gotten extremely bad and extremely icy at this point.
My dad quickly calmed me down and told me he would come pick me up and we would come back for my car when the storm had passed. I tried to convince him the roads were too bad for him to drive on but he convinced me his truck could make it.
I had a lot of time to kill while he drove up and my phone was going to die at any moment so I braved the roads one last time without wipers and quickly found a place that was open and might let me charge my phone. It was aLarry H. Miller used car dealership. I ran inside and asked to use an outlet to charge my phone and I was greeted by six car salesmen. They graciously allowed me to sit and wait for my dad and charge my phone.
I spent the next hour and a half observing car salesmen. I have never seen such insincerity in my life. Don't get me wrong, they were really nice people, but I couldn't help but feel that they are nice because mean people don't sell cars. I felt like I was obligated to buy a car because they were being so nice and friendly. If I had met them on the street, I can't help but feel that they wouldn't have given me the time of day.
Well, after a while my knight in shining armor showed up on his white horse (my dad and his truck). By this time it had actually stopped snowing but the roads were even worse. We considered options as to where to leave my car for the next few days and decided we would attempt taking it down to the South Town Mall. This was more difficult than anticipated because when I slammed into the curve I did something to my axle that caused my back end to slide all over. Add snowy, dangerous roads and it was a disaster. Needless to say, I traded vehicles with my dad and he drove my car. By the time we miraculously got to the mall in one piece, we decided that we made it this far and might as well keep going. So we braved the freeway to get around the point of the mountain and one dangerously, scary hour later we were safely back in Orem. My poor father had a death grip on the steering wheel the whole ride home and was sliding all over the road. I'm so grateful that nothing more happened to him or my car.
I am currently home safe and without a car. We won't have time to diagnose the damage until Friday and I don't even want to think about how much money I don't have to fix it right now.
So, moral of the story: Dad's are, yet again, amazing! And God allows me to experience hard trials to teach me lessons, but keeps me safe through them and blesses me in the meantime. (I'm so grateful that something told me to stop and get gas instead of driving all the way to Bountiful to get stranded) And snow is oh, so wonderful when it stays off the roads!!!

Thank you for indulging in my novel, as reward here are some picture I have to share!

Back in November, I left work for a month to teach 1st grade as part of my cohort in school. The company I work for brought Evelyn up from our office in Peru to help take care of my work while I was gone. I am so grateful for a job that works with my school stuff and for amazing people that I work with!