When reading Family values Literacy, Technology, and Uncle Sam by Joe Amato he expresses how his situation and his way of life are affecting him and the people around him. He uses the term “communications technologies” and how we need them and how they need to be used. Like Joe I would have to agree and express how these things have a big effect in my life.
Growing up with a Puerto Rican backround I would have to say that there are many things that we are blessed with and something’s we don’t get to have the privilege in having. My mother grew up most of her life in both Puerto Rico and Long Island. She was able to pick up both English and Spanish very well. After high school my mother never went to college and the same with my father so growing up with the latest things, money wise wasn’t so great. Being the only child in the family to go to college I can see how technology has changed the way people live. If we had the things now to use back the life would be a whole different story.
I can see how this would also concern Amato and how can we focus on this when in some situations it is not open to everyone. The reading reading also reminded me of some of the other readings we have done and how education has an effect on how we look and pursue life in our circumstance.
Monday, November 9, 2009
beating the odds
Literacy is all that you’ve learned from even your first learning experience as an infant. I was brought up in a working class family, so the grades I got did not really matter to my parents. I was always taught just to get a passing grade and that’s all. Now that I’m older and in college I have come to realize the way you speak and write means a lot. I believe those who have more struggles with how they practice there literacy skills tells a lot about a person. This is something I have been working on to improve.
In Joe Amatos’s narrative he illustrates how he did not have much growing up. He was an immigrant from Italy, and even though he wasn’t a citizen he was an over achiever. I can relate to Amato because my father was raised by a native Czech Republic father, and his mother was an immigrant from Italy. My father’s upbringing now influences me because he is not aware of all the technology that there is today, and he isn’t concerned with grades from school. It’s challenging to me to navigate myself through college now because everything is based on technology and the grades you get. However he has the most authority in my house, so for now I’m stuck without a computer, and still keeping track of my own grades, making sure I’m doing the best I know I can do.
I find Joe Amato to be inspiring to me. He started off my speaking “Italian English” then later found himself to speak structured, proper English. Also I was baffled that he had a degree in engineering. That’s pretty incredible if you think about it. This young man went from living in a household where they did not have much of anything, to fulfilling his dream and accomplishing what he knew he could.
In all, I do not believe that if you grow up lower class you will stay there. People prove that to be wrong every day. There are rich people in society today who end up as working class people. There should be no reason why one would not want to better themselves no matter how they grew up, or where they came from. Everybody has the opportunity to be whatever it is they want to be.
In Joe Amatos’s narrative he illustrates how he did not have much growing up. He was an immigrant from Italy, and even though he wasn’t a citizen he was an over achiever. I can relate to Amato because my father was raised by a native Czech Republic father, and his mother was an immigrant from Italy. My father’s upbringing now influences me because he is not aware of all the technology that there is today, and he isn’t concerned with grades from school. It’s challenging to me to navigate myself through college now because everything is based on technology and the grades you get. However he has the most authority in my house, so for now I’m stuck without a computer, and still keeping track of my own grades, making sure I’m doing the best I know I can do.
I find Joe Amato to be inspiring to me. He started off my speaking “Italian English” then later found himself to speak structured, proper English. Also I was baffled that he had a degree in engineering. That’s pretty incredible if you think about it. This young man went from living in a household where they did not have much of anything, to fulfilling his dream and accomplishing what he knew he could.
In all, I do not believe that if you grow up lower class you will stay there. People prove that to be wrong every day. There are rich people in society today who end up as working class people. There should be no reason why one would not want to better themselves no matter how they grew up, or where they came from. Everybody has the opportunity to be whatever it is they want to be.
I think
While I was reading Joe Amato’s work on “Family Values Literacy, Technology, and Uncle Sam” I found it a bit annoying to read at first because he just kept listing alot of facts, which made me lose interest in it at first. As I kept reading it started to catch my attention. I noticed how he spoke about so many hardships that he went through. He lists so many of the things his family did and how they survived in the world. He spoke about how he studied engineering being the first to graduate from a four year college.
Alot of people now days struggle with their lives. I know I came to America with my family thinking life would be much better once we got here. Wasn't I mistaken life here is just as hard sure you get a better education but life is still hard. Even through struggles we can still prevail like Joe Amato did by working hard in day to day life and achivieng a status for ones self
My Idea of Joe's family values
When I first started reading Joe Amato’s Family values I really didn’t know what it was I was reading. There was so much information being given I found it hard to understand what it was he was trying to explain. After reading a few other peoples writings in this class I thought his would be the same. The most interesting thing about his writing is that he likes to jump all over the place when talking about his family history and this can sort of throw the reader off. Yet after reading his story the whole way through I kind of feel like that may be part of his point. The ideas that he touches on are things I have been thinking about in my writing as well.
The main thing that comes through across his entire work, which spans a large part of his life, his this idea that the literacy language that has been weaved into his and his families lives was one that had a strict set of rules that didn’t cater to the population as a whole. It left his family out in the cold so to speak. He hints that this is the reason for some of the major problem in his families lives especially his father. His dad had been through a lot and he was an intelligent man but one of the hardest things for him to understand was why he had to fill out one of those “damned” welfare forms as he put it. Joe then really began to explain the true meaning of what it was that his family had never learned about. This lack of knowledge that had left his father, a fairly intelligent man, confused about what it was he was doing with his life.
The idea that the social classes that make up this world and further more the people who make them have no intentions of creating an equal learning ground for those in the lower social classes. Joe went on to explain that his father had never been exposed to this idea, never was taught the concept, that he was on a lower level than other and was taught a specific way that probably never catered to his needs. It left him to feel that everything that had happened to him was his own fault and the burden of his problems was his own doing. It’s a sad truth that Joe describes so purposely and it really makes you think about the way the world is today.
Has anything changed since Joe’s fathers’ time or are we still taught and limited within these same social constraints? Maybe it’s the fact that now at least we have the knowledge that we can go beyond our own educational system to better ourselves if we so choose. We are still confined to the same of learning in the same social classes but we are at least encouraged, if we are so lucky to have a teacher to do so, that we have the ability to break free and move beyond the strict educational ways and move into a more freely based learning experience. Like Joe my ideas may be all over the place but that is because I have decided that the strict learning regiment will not tie down my ability to be a creative thinker.
The main thing that comes through across his entire work, which spans a large part of his life, his this idea that the literacy language that has been weaved into his and his families lives was one that had a strict set of rules that didn’t cater to the population as a whole. It left his family out in the cold so to speak. He hints that this is the reason for some of the major problem in his families lives especially his father. His dad had been through a lot and he was an intelligent man but one of the hardest things for him to understand was why he had to fill out one of those “damned” welfare forms as he put it. Joe then really began to explain the true meaning of what it was that his family had never learned about. This lack of knowledge that had left his father, a fairly intelligent man, confused about what it was he was doing with his life.
The idea that the social classes that make up this world and further more the people who make them have no intentions of creating an equal learning ground for those in the lower social classes. Joe went on to explain that his father had never been exposed to this idea, never was taught the concept, that he was on a lower level than other and was taught a specific way that probably never catered to his needs. It left him to feel that everything that had happened to him was his own fault and the burden of his problems was his own doing. It’s a sad truth that Joe describes so purposely and it really makes you think about the way the world is today.
Has anything changed since Joe’s fathers’ time or are we still taught and limited within these same social constraints? Maybe it’s the fact that now at least we have the knowledge that we can go beyond our own educational system to better ourselves if we so choose. We are still confined to the same of learning in the same social classes but we are at least encouraged, if we are so lucky to have a teacher to do so, that we have the ability to break free and move beyond the strict educational ways and move into a more freely based learning experience. Like Joe my ideas may be all over the place but that is because I have decided that the strict learning regiment will not tie down my ability to be a creative thinker.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Joe Amato: His Story
When I first started reading Family Values by Joe Amato I didn’t know what to think. I thought it was going to probably be boring and hard to get through. I expected it to be like every other story I’ve read about a struggling family who just moved to America. Joe Amato’s story was slight different, there was something about it that made it relatable and original. Even though I wasn’t able to relate directly, he wrote in a descriptive way that made it easy to understand what he was going through.
As an immigrant from Italy, there were many obstacles that as a family had to be faced and conquered. As I read his story I never would have guessed that he obtained a four year degree and was now a teacher and a writer. He was able to read, write, and speak English, all of which are challenges in themselves for an immigrant.
There is a part of his selection where he describes the way his grandpa speaks as “broken” English. He also stated that even though his English is “broken” that he is still proud to be a naturalized United States citizen. Even though his English may not be perfect, in my opinion he knew more about the United States than most others. When asked “How many congressman are in the House of Representatives?” or “How many senators are in the Senate?” he knew the answers.
Everyone who immigrates into a new country, or is directly affected by immigration through family members and relatives has a new way of adjusting and excelling. For Joe Amato it was reading, writing, speaking, getting a good education, and a career that would support his family. I have a lot of respect for Amato because he could have given up, but he knew what he had to do for himself and his family. He didn’t waste any time, he knew what he had to do and he got it done. He was the only one in his family to get a degree and he has come so far.
As an immigrant from Italy, there were many obstacles that as a family had to be faced and conquered. As I read his story I never would have guessed that he obtained a four year degree and was now a teacher and a writer. He was able to read, write, and speak English, all of which are challenges in themselves for an immigrant.
There is a part of his selection where he describes the way his grandpa speaks as “broken” English. He also stated that even though his English is “broken” that he is still proud to be a naturalized United States citizen. Even though his English may not be perfect, in my opinion he knew more about the United States than most others. When asked “How many congressman are in the House of Representatives?” or “How many senators are in the Senate?” he knew the answers.
Everyone who immigrates into a new country, or is directly affected by immigration through family members and relatives has a new way of adjusting and excelling. For Joe Amato it was reading, writing, speaking, getting a good education, and a career that would support his family. I have a lot of respect for Amato because he could have given up, but he knew what he had to do for himself and his family. He didn’t waste any time, he knew what he had to do and he got it done. He was the only one in his family to get a degree and he has come so far.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
FAMILY VALUES!
When i began reading this Literacy Narative " family values " by joe amato. I was honestly confused about what this reading was going to say. At first just giving a glance to it i thought he was only going to speak about his family life, their family struggle as italians in america.
But, i was surprised to see him tie in his life as an writer and teacher. After reading the first couple of pages about his life, his family. I never thought that he would become what he is now. I guess that was me being steriotypical. I am an italian myself but it just seemed like he wouldnt take the career path he has chosen. But who am i to say that he couldnt do what ever he desired. I am a writer myself and i bet people look at me and my family and wouldnt think that when i go home i like to sit down and read or write for fun. It's always cool to see someone come from something so different, a different kind of culture and see them make a complete change. It's difficult and i deffintley have respect for him for that.
There is a section in the reading where he discusses postive encouragment in writing with his students or just in general. I agree 100% that that is extremely important. I can defintley identify as a studen who wants postive encouragement and feedback. Not all feedback is postive but ethier way id like to hear an oppinon. Also i thought it was interesting that he went to college for technology, but then decided to pursue English. Those two things didnt seem to go hand in hand to me. Thats a big career change if you ask me. But i guess techonolgy and English do have some similarities.
But, i was surprised to see him tie in his life as an writer and teacher. After reading the first couple of pages about his life, his family. I never thought that he would become what he is now. I guess that was me being steriotypical. I am an italian myself but it just seemed like he wouldnt take the career path he has chosen. But who am i to say that he couldnt do what ever he desired. I am a writer myself and i bet people look at me and my family and wouldnt think that when i go home i like to sit down and read or write for fun. It's always cool to see someone come from something so different, a different kind of culture and see them make a complete change. It's difficult and i deffintley have respect for him for that.
There is a section in the reading where he discusses postive encouragment in writing with his students or just in general. I agree 100% that that is extremely important. I can defintley identify as a studen who wants postive encouragement and feedback. Not all feedback is postive but ethier way id like to hear an oppinon. Also i thought it was interesting that he went to college for technology, but then decided to pursue English. Those two things didnt seem to go hand in hand to me. Thats a big career change if you ask me. But i guess techonolgy and English do have some similarities.
Overall i cant say this wasn't my favorite reading, It really wasn't anything different from what we previously read. Someone with a lower class background trying to better themseleves. But it wasnt too hard to read. So thats a plus. Id like to see in the future something a little different.
My Thoughs on Joe
I truly understand the exactly where Joe is coming from in his story. Even though there is a total difference between my background culture (Dominican) and Joe's coming from a "True Italian" Generation there are plenty of things in common between the two regarding family rules and traditional rules. For example my family never my sister to get married to someone none Dominican and someone that was not a professional (MBA) in a certain subject, of course that political would be the preferred of all. and of course it was very traditional that woman would stay home cleaning, baby sitting and taking care of the house of if their was workers sort of manage over the cleaning crew. The man was always the one involved in any decision making regarding house or outside business.
Something very common as well is the man having woman out of the home relationship and the most of the wife new about it and really did not had much to said about it as long as there was food on the table and all the bill were paid. One thing that I can see vary is the way of his father thinking from mine, is about the position he had in life. My father was ambitious and never wanted us to be any different. School was pushed onto us as a primary goal
I would not criticise him because of the way he referred to his family. I do feel that even though everything seems to be perfect and that we are all equal is not, at least that's my opinion. Through my work and life experience i notice that know matter how hard you try to get out and be acknowledge for trying to better your self and be up to the standards you will still be how they see you, if is at your job or school, friends, etc, etc. I guess the important thing is to know where you want to go and believe on the path you have chosen. There are going to be those along the way that are going to try to push you of the road but you have to stay focus and keep walking the line until you get there, or at least try. It is not easy specially for those of us that have a strong accent and have a very strong background of our roots, like they say there are somethings that were not meant to change, maybe you are one of them. But do learn who and where you going because in my opinion lots of people are worry to please everyone and to have many friends, but all you need is a very good friend or hand to help, listen, advise you or recognize you in the time need it. So regardless of the hard road ahead, stay focus and don't stop until you get there don't look back.
Chris's opinion.
In Family Values -Literacy, Technology and Uncle Sam, Amato shows all the characteristics of the members in his family. He came from another family from Italy that immigrated to the US and had problems speaking english and he describes it as "broken English". This relates to me because I went through this same experience since I migrated to the US about 8 years ago. As many other people we didn't know much English; The only English knowledge i knew was from the few English classes i had taken over there, but with the years i have learned it and feel myself more of a citizen.
I find very interesting the way that Amato expresses himself about writing. For many people ,writing is not really a main part of their lives but it is for Amato. He talks about writing in details and he's pointed out some facts that i hadn't realized. He sees that writing can be in various forms and these are "the alphabet(of course), paper, ink,software, hardware, hands". These are things i dont keep in mind but are true because most of students use computers in a daily basis and chat and emails each other and get essays typed up to hand in. Most of the writing nowadays is done on computers.And it's fun!
He also tries to make a point saying that writing doesnt have to look in one standard way and that throughout the years writing changes.He points out the swerves of an S and the zigzags of the Z; this made me think about how the letters could have changed over time and they will keep on doing it as the generations pass by.
I find very interesting the way that Amato expresses himself about writing. For many people ,writing is not really a main part of their lives but it is for Amato. He talks about writing in details and he's pointed out some facts that i hadn't realized. He sees that writing can be in various forms and these are "the alphabet(of course), paper, ink,software, hardware, hands". These are things i dont keep in mind but are true because most of students use computers in a daily basis and chat and emails each other and get essays typed up to hand in. Most of the writing nowadays is done on computers.And it's fun!
He also tries to make a point saying that writing doesnt have to look in one standard way and that throughout the years writing changes.He points out the swerves of an S and the zigzags of the Z; this made me think about how the letters could have changed over time and they will keep on doing it as the generations pass by.
A Forced Unity
We are in a world where understanding becomes irrelevant when communication, composition, and literature become involved. I have said before how standard is a word used to describe the formal procedure in which everyone must follow. Society wishes to connect the world under certain standards in yet people resist them. They are of afraid of losing their culture and ideals in the process. This is what is known as oppression. It is a method of coercing individuals into adopting a new culture. We are people of diverse backgrounds. Joe Amato is no exception to this idea. He has interesting ideals about how outside influences effect our skills in reading, writing, and perceiving.
I find Amato's narrative full of "life". What I mean is that he speaking in his own words in the reading rather than him talking about the usual case scenario of an author's past experiences. He speaks of what he wants to hear himself while at the same time creating something for the reader to think and enjoy rather than writing some juicy gossip. He says, "When I work with words, as in this essay, I'm alternately revealing some truths about myself and exposing truths about others." I find that interesting considering the fact that I never have a clue what to do when I am writing my essays.
I find Amato's narrative full of "life". What I mean is that he speaking in his own words in the reading rather than him talking about the usual case scenario of an author's past experiences. He speaks of what he wants to hear himself while at the same time creating something for the reader to think and enjoy rather than writing some juicy gossip. He says, "When I work with words, as in this essay, I'm alternately revealing some truths about myself and exposing truths about others." I find that interesting considering the fact that I never have a clue what to do when I am writing my essays.
Family Values =/
My Thoughts on the joe amato Story i enjoyed reading it even though it was boring in some parts. He talks alot about his family and his relationship with them with no discretion or shame he seems completely honest with what he is saying.most familys would keep their family business discreet and wouldnt lett people know that tere family member is in jail or that he did not like to work.
i feel that the story touched on alot of different things like the need for new technology me myself being in the new more modern time i need my technology like my texting im cellphones ect. i feel like i am lost with out it. The new technology can be good and also bad because it can help us upgrade our ways of communication but it can also make us downgrade our speaking skills.but i deeply related to joe amatos thoughts on technology.
i feel that the story touched on alot of different things like the need for new technology me myself being in the new more modern time i need my technology like my texting im cellphones ect. i feel like i am lost with out it. The new technology can be good and also bad because it can help us upgrade our ways of communication but it can also make us downgrade our speaking skills.but i deeply related to joe amatos thoughts on technology.
My Point Of View On Joe Amato
Personally I like Joe Amato story, he is really honest and talk about his background without any discretion. In other families they would not talk about a family member being in prison for 21 years and that he did not like to work and usually is making phony claim to the insurances or say the one of his aunts had an affair with a African American throught the war. That makes the story unique. Writers sometimes do not like to get so personal especially is there is something that will bother them like his parents divorce and how his mom through him out of the house when he brought his wife to the house because she was French.
Sometimes our backgrounds put barriers in how we develop as a person specially educationally, middle class parents have a lot of problem to provide to their children who would like to go a specific university because the lack of funds and the influence a lot. How depends where did you go to school thats is going to difine what type a job you will get.
I agree wit Joe Amato it is true the technology is able to help us to write and compose people could write about anything now in days; you could be writing about news in China if you want to in the same day of a event happen, just you have to look in the internet or the media and you will be able to write about a specific event.
Sometimes our backgrounds put barriers in how we develop as a person specially educationally, middle class parents have a lot of problem to provide to their children who would like to go a specific university because the lack of funds and the influence a lot. How depends where did you go to school thats is going to difine what type a job you will get.
I agree wit Joe Amato it is true the technology is able to help us to write and compose people could write about anything now in days; you could be writing about news in China if you want to in the same day of a event happen, just you have to look in the internet or the media and you will be able to write about a specific event.
i thought that joe amatos literacy was an okay reading. i liked how he started off in a way like a flashback, that was interesting way of begining a story. i also liked when he talekd about his past and his family. after that i thought the reading was a little boring but he did make some interesting points that he made throughout the story. one thing i really liked was at the end of the reading was when he said that he talked about his personal things to show how he got to his social and economic status he is in.
My Own Post
I believe that Joe Amato's reading was a very good reading about cultural technology. Not everyone has technology so we shouldn't go by one's knowledge if they don't have a computer. There is different writings such as blogs are differ from writings that we write about on our aim or in an essay. We should not be judged on our education if we do not have certain technology. I think that technology does show us a different side of things rather than writing all the time on a piece of paper. Blogging could be an example of a different writing. Blogging is your own personal opinion to something and writing about it and no one is correcting your spelling or grammar. We are limited if we don't have technology. Technology is important in our everyday life just as reading and writing is. Technology shows us how to type differently and to explore different websites. There is writing on facebook, twitter, myspace and emails.
In classroom teachers do have the most power if we do think of it. They are the ones standing in front of the classroom trying to teach different material to us in ways that we can understand them. We obey teachers and there rules in the classrooms. Teachers like to encourage and some like to discourage the technology used. In some classes I use my email all the time and in others there is no need for me to have an email or any communication with my teachers. To contradict myself we the students might have some power as well too, teachers don't have websites they can go on to have there students rated, but us students can rate our professors. Ratemyprofessor.com is a way to hear other students tell us about that certain teacher they had and if they give a lot of homework, if there mean, or if there an easy teacher that just doesn't care. We have the power to look at this and see what class we should actually try and one that we just shouldn't even bother with. I don't believe though that it should effect your social class and where you belong if you don't have certain technology even though it does limit you in some way. Everyone has there own position and standing in life for who they are if they have different racial or gender then others. Our culture ignores these influences because we don't live in a world that is equal. Everyone is different in their own way but by there differences they can be in a lower or higher social ranking.
I never think we should forget who we are or act different to forget our own certain status. We should be excepted no matter who we are but unfortunately things don't work that way in the world. Status really doesn't mean anything to me, but in other cultures being at a high level of ranking is important and sometimes people go to different measures to forget there status and where they really came from. By using texting and iming makes us more open to the different communications that we have with one another. In texting and iming we don't use the normal everyday standard english that we write in papers we use the language and the writing that is more comfortable to us. There's different writing technologies such as a phone, computer, tv that there is writing on. Technology can actually make us better in our writing and reading because we can learn to read and write on the computer as well not just by book or someone teaching it to us. But why should one be judged and put in a certain status if that person doesn't have the right tools or technology? If we all had the same tools and technology in life we'd all be the same and thats not making us unique from one another.
In classroom teachers do have the most power if we do think of it. They are the ones standing in front of the classroom trying to teach different material to us in ways that we can understand them. We obey teachers and there rules in the classrooms. Teachers like to encourage and some like to discourage the technology used. In some classes I use my email all the time and in others there is no need for me to have an email or any communication with my teachers. To contradict myself we the students might have some power as well too, teachers don't have websites they can go on to have there students rated, but us students can rate our professors. Ratemyprofessor.com is a way to hear other students tell us about that certain teacher they had and if they give a lot of homework, if there mean, or if there an easy teacher that just doesn't care. We have the power to look at this and see what class we should actually try and one that we just shouldn't even bother with. I don't believe though that it should effect your social class and where you belong if you don't have certain technology even though it does limit you in some way. Everyone has there own position and standing in life for who they are if they have different racial or gender then others. Our culture ignores these influences because we don't live in a world that is equal. Everyone is different in their own way but by there differences they can be in a lower or higher social ranking.
I never think we should forget who we are or act different to forget our own certain status. We should be excepted no matter who we are but unfortunately things don't work that way in the world. Status really doesn't mean anything to me, but in other cultures being at a high level of ranking is important and sometimes people go to different measures to forget there status and where they really came from. By using texting and iming makes us more open to the different communications that we have with one another. In texting and iming we don't use the normal everyday standard english that we write in papers we use the language and the writing that is more comfortable to us. There's different writing technologies such as a phone, computer, tv that there is writing on. Technology can actually make us better in our writing and reading because we can learn to read and write on the computer as well not just by book or someone teaching it to us. But why should one be judged and put in a certain status if that person doesn't have the right tools or technology? If we all had the same tools and technology in life we'd all be the same and thats not making us unique from one another.
My Feedback On Joe Amato Family Values / Profesor Leo Blogging
Before i display my feedback on Joe Amato's Reading. i would like to address a very valuable topic that interested me that was brought up by Professor Leo. In her response to Joe Amato's writing , Professor mentioned on a persons position in a classroom. If there are positions in a classroom , obviously there are only two, Teacher , and Student. All my life , i always thought the student learns from the teacher (which is true). But on the flipside, just because you finish college doesn't mean you have all knowledge. You need experience (both positive and negative) along with your knowledge to help one's career develop. So theoretically both students and teachers are learning so there is no position in a classroom i believe.
Professor Leo also mentioned a very debatable subject. She talks about the "Power in a classroom". Is there power in a classroom?. Me personally i think there is, and 110% of it is held by the teacher. Just not in the classroom , generally in life it goes the same way. " The student learns from the teacher". We all are born oblivious to the world , not knowing anything until someone ( usually parents or people whole substitute their role) teaches us tactics of life. In any type of subject sports, education, even daily living tactics just as eating , cleaning walking, talking etc.... the list can go on forever. Although people can learn certain things by themselves, no one can learn everything without being taught by someone.
Professor Leo also mentioned a very debatable subject. She talks about the "Power in a classroom". Is there power in a classroom?. Me personally i think there is, and 110% of it is held by the teacher. Just not in the classroom , generally in life it goes the same way. " The student learns from the teacher". We all are born oblivious to the world , not knowing anything until someone ( usually parents or people whole substitute their role) teaches us tactics of life. In any type of subject sports, education, even daily living tactics just as eating , cleaning walking, talking etc.... the list can go on forever. Although people can learn certain things by themselves, no one can learn everything without being taught by someone.
Through Amato's writing we learn that he begins to use technology into his teaching but because we are all different and come from different backgrounds. Some kids don't have the technology at home to use for school. Just like at SCCC, not everyone has assess to a computer at home and it is much harder for them to do their work. They have to make sure they have time to go to the library at school to do an essay or check their email.
I believe that we all learn differently, each generation and even each year because new technology comes out that can help us learn how to read and write easier and better. But i believe that ethnic background does influence how we learn especially when we are the first generation to America and our parents are immigrants. Most countries that our parents were born from don't have the technology that the U.S has so we have to learn it on our own and become accustomed to it. We all also have to consider that not everyone is well off to where they can have all the up to date technology or even just a computer to access at home. It has become harder to avoid not having a computer because everything is done on the internet now so some people are struggling to advance and grow because they can't afford it.
This reminds me of my family because my mother is an immigrant from Italy and she doesn't know how to the use the computer or how to text at all. My brother and I had to force her to get us a computer because we needed it for school. My mom didn't think we needed it because she never used one when she went to school. Or even some cultures don't believe in technology and parents prevent their kids from using it because it is against their culture. How do their kids grow and learn in school if they can't use a computer? This prevents them growing and developing.
Our family influences greatly on how we grow and learn through speaking and listening to one another. But our school life affects our development as well. Everything and everyone influences the way we grow and should take advantage of it to advance into the adult world when we get a job.
I believe that we all learn differently, each generation and even each year because new technology comes out that can help us learn how to read and write easier and better. But i believe that ethnic background does influence how we learn especially when we are the first generation to America and our parents are immigrants. Most countries that our parents were born from don't have the technology that the U.S has so we have to learn it on our own and become accustomed to it. We all also have to consider that not everyone is well off to where they can have all the up to date technology or even just a computer to access at home. It has become harder to avoid not having a computer because everything is done on the internet now so some people are struggling to advance and grow because they can't afford it.
This reminds me of my family because my mother is an immigrant from Italy and she doesn't know how to the use the computer or how to text at all. My brother and I had to force her to get us a computer because we needed it for school. My mom didn't think we needed it because she never used one when she went to school. Or even some cultures don't believe in technology and parents prevent their kids from using it because it is against their culture. How do their kids grow and learn in school if they can't use a computer? This prevents them growing and developing.
Our family influences greatly on how we grow and learn through speaking and listening to one another. But our school life affects our development as well. Everything and everyone influences the way we grow and should take advantage of it to advance into the adult world when we get a job.
A la Famiglia
From reading Amot's narrative it is interesting how he talks about the ways in which we use different types of technology in and out of the classroom when it comes to writing. Even though we tend to think that we may not read or write on a daily basis we actually due. When your on facebook updating your status or sending out a text to a friend or even reading things off of the internet we in fact are constantly reading and writing.
I like the question that you posted asking"Should we forget who we are in order to to gain a certain status". In my own personal opinion i think we shouldn't. Yes of course as we get older we should know the standard way of speaking and writing english, thats a given but do i think we should just forget about who we are and where we came from completly, no. You should always carry with you what you have learned through out the years of schooling and from self learning and how you go to be where you are today.
In the classroom like you said we tend to not know where we may stand inside of the class and who really has the power. Usually one may think it is the teacher, but to me you cant run a class without students so in some ways the students usually tend to have the power when it comes to the classroom. Students have a voice and share opinions and if anything i think that most teachers or professors can learn a lot from students and learn new things and take certain information that they have learned with them for the rest of their teaching carreir.
Of course these are just my opinions and you can agree or disagree with them. I feel through reading parts of his narrative this is what he wanted us to do.. to have an opinion on the different ways we use technology in the classroom and all the different ways that we use it.
I like the question that you posted asking"Should we forget who we are in order to to gain a certain status". In my own personal opinion i think we shouldn't. Yes of course as we get older we should know the standard way of speaking and writing english, thats a given but do i think we should just forget about who we are and where we came from completly, no. You should always carry with you what you have learned through out the years of schooling and from self learning and how you go to be where you are today.
In the classroom like you said we tend to not know where we may stand inside of the class and who really has the power. Usually one may think it is the teacher, but to me you cant run a class without students so in some ways the students usually tend to have the power when it comes to the classroom. Students have a voice and share opinions and if anything i think that most teachers or professors can learn a lot from students and learn new things and take certain information that they have learned with them for the rest of their teaching carreir.
Of course these are just my opinions and you can agree or disagree with them. I feel through reading parts of his narrative this is what he wanted us to do.. to have an opinion on the different ways we use technology in the classroom and all the different ways that we use it.
hmmmm...i guess untitled
i dont know where to start. i understand what he was talking about, how technology affects, or changes our literacy. you learn so much from every aspect of life, we just dont notice, i dont notice. i didnt start to notice the changes and how these changes came about until i was asked to look for them. i understand why the way i am a little better than i did, its nice in a way but it also makes me question myself more. is that a bad thing??? im not completely sure, it can be in some situations but not all situations. again, im not sure what im supossed to be writing here or where im going with this blog. a reflection of some sort. who knows?
communications technologies are very important, i know that because i use them everyday, almost all day as well. i was never very fond of writing, i recently have become a fan though. before the present day in which i live, i was sure that i didnt like writing, but now that i think of it, i subconsiously bagan to like writing without even knowing. i remember back in the day, when i was young there was something new brought into the lives of all us americans, AOL. i think thats where i began my writing, at this point i dont know if i liked writing yet, but ive allowed it to become a part of my social life. instead of talking on the phone i would spend hours typing, who would have knew? i typed so much, i practicly had carpotunnel(spell check). now that i have a cell phone, texting is something i do more than anything, i dont even have alot of minutes, all i do is text. i want to say that it makes my life easier but at the same time it makes life harder as well. i know anyone who has had a cell phone and a signifigant other, has had miscommunications through text message. i know ive had, recently too.
to be continued....
communications technologies are very important, i know that because i use them everyday, almost all day as well. i was never very fond of writing, i recently have become a fan though. before the present day in which i live, i was sure that i didnt like writing, but now that i think of it, i subconsiously bagan to like writing without even knowing. i remember back in the day, when i was young there was something new brought into the lives of all us americans, AOL. i think thats where i began my writing, at this point i dont know if i liked writing yet, but ive allowed it to become a part of my social life. instead of talking on the phone i would spend hours typing, who would have knew? i typed so much, i practicly had carpotunnel(spell check). now that i have a cell phone, texting is something i do more than anything, i dont even have alot of minutes, all i do is text. i want to say that it makes my life easier but at the same time it makes life harder as well. i know anyone who has had a cell phone and a signifigant other, has had miscommunications through text message. i know ive had, recently too.
to be continued....
Response
I think the media and technology have a lot to do with society and social status in a culture. The environment we are surrounded by and the advantages we have growing up affect the way we learn and our desire to learn. Our desire to learn affects the way we learn. If someone goes to a school where there is computer access available at their fellow students' homes and they don't have a computer so they have to write more or go out of their way to go to a library and they have other obligations like a job or taking care of kids, that person might be struggling a lot and feel as if they are not doing as good as other students because they are having more trouble with their work. If they see themselves as a "bad" student, they will just stress themselves out more and perhaps even feel like they should just quit.
I feel like instructors would have a tough time too, dealing with students who don't have the "latest technologies" or surround themselves with a different culture rather than our American society. What if a teacher didn't have access or involve themselves with technological advances? Learning can be enhanced with these new technologies, but it could also mislead them into the illusion of learning. To me, learning comes with interaction and communication amongst people. Along with learning facts and how to do things through an educational structure, communication and how people learn develope social skills and people related learning. If people learned how to communicate clearly and with empathy and understanding, there would be less negativity in the world and more sharing of ideas and mental expansion. Learning, theories, and information would just grow and there would be a mutual understanding of human emotions and behavior if people just knew how to communicate peacefully without getting defensive and/or feel isolated.
I'm not saying that technology can't help improve communication. Computers and internet access are great ways to get information out there for the public to view and to organize information. But how do you know your information and ideas are getting out to the public? Are people interested? Are people even aware of what you're talking about? How will people learn things if they don't know there are things to be learned? This is where our media comes into play, and how through technology, the media along side corperate industries distract the masses with information that doesn't really affect their self happiness or health. Some of this information is used as an escape from "the real world" and some of it is used to distract us from political issues that are actually important, in my opinion. An example of this could be what I read yesteday on my "news today" on AOL. With the headline "Do you believe you are not racist? Take this quiz to find out the truth on how racist you really are!" I thought to myself, you are what you believe you are and you are what your conscious and subconscious ideas display to yourself and others. A quiz is not needed to determine if one is racist or not, being honest with yourself determines this, not even that but one's behavior. Racism issues, gay rights issues, abortion issues...I'm not claiming that these aren't significant in one's life, but the only reason they are is because they are displayed that way through the media and it keeps us busy thinking about these issues that shouldn't really exist, and keeps us debating amongst ourselves about what is "right" and what is "wrong" when in reality nothing is "right" or "wrong" especially these issues; what the government does with our money, all of the things we don't know about, that we don't even know to question because we don't know of its existance because the people and the government have been seperated through our axis of money and power...these are issues that should be discussed, not only discussed but have action sought upon them. Things that affect our country as a whole, a man or woman's freedom to be a human being, which is to live their life and decide what life means to them instead of being born in a society where you pop out with a blind fold on and you don't even realize you have a blind fold on because you've been blind your whole life. Technology feeds the public mind what they want to hear, not what they need to hear, it desensatizes the public to others, real life issues, and themselves and their conscious awareness.
Facebook and Myspace are also both potentially damaging to the way people interact with each other. There is no emotion behind written words, language is very important. To me language is body language, the tone in someone's voice, the intent behind the words and the understanding of words between two people. Texting and messaging through the internet leaves too many variables to be sure that a mutual understanding is being created though conversation.
I feel like instructors would have a tough time too, dealing with students who don't have the "latest technologies" or surround themselves with a different culture rather than our American society. What if a teacher didn't have access or involve themselves with technological advances? Learning can be enhanced with these new technologies, but it could also mislead them into the illusion of learning. To me, learning comes with interaction and communication amongst people. Along with learning facts and how to do things through an educational structure, communication and how people learn develope social skills and people related learning. If people learned how to communicate clearly and with empathy and understanding, there would be less negativity in the world and more sharing of ideas and mental expansion. Learning, theories, and information would just grow and there would be a mutual understanding of human emotions and behavior if people just knew how to communicate peacefully without getting defensive and/or feel isolated.
I'm not saying that technology can't help improve communication. Computers and internet access are great ways to get information out there for the public to view and to organize information. But how do you know your information and ideas are getting out to the public? Are people interested? Are people even aware of what you're talking about? How will people learn things if they don't know there are things to be learned? This is where our media comes into play, and how through technology, the media along side corperate industries distract the masses with information that doesn't really affect their self happiness or health. Some of this information is used as an escape from "the real world" and some of it is used to distract us from political issues that are actually important, in my opinion. An example of this could be what I read yesteday on my "news today" on AOL. With the headline "Do you believe you are not racist? Take this quiz to find out the truth on how racist you really are!" I thought to myself, you are what you believe you are and you are what your conscious and subconscious ideas display to yourself and others. A quiz is not needed to determine if one is racist or not, being honest with yourself determines this, not even that but one's behavior. Racism issues, gay rights issues, abortion issues...I'm not claiming that these aren't significant in one's life, but the only reason they are is because they are displayed that way through the media and it keeps us busy thinking about these issues that shouldn't really exist, and keeps us debating amongst ourselves about what is "right" and what is "wrong" when in reality nothing is "right" or "wrong" especially these issues; what the government does with our money, all of the things we don't know about, that we don't even know to question because we don't know of its existance because the people and the government have been seperated through our axis of money and power...these are issues that should be discussed, not only discussed but have action sought upon them. Things that affect our country as a whole, a man or woman's freedom to be a human being, which is to live their life and decide what life means to them instead of being born in a society where you pop out with a blind fold on and you don't even realize you have a blind fold on because you've been blind your whole life. Technology feeds the public mind what they want to hear, not what they need to hear, it desensatizes the public to others, real life issues, and themselves and their conscious awareness.
Facebook and Myspace are also both potentially damaging to the way people interact with each other. There is no emotion behind written words, language is very important. To me language is body language, the tone in someone's voice, the intent behind the words and the understanding of words between two people. Texting and messaging through the internet leaves too many variables to be sure that a mutual understanding is being created though conversation.
I agree with Prof. Leo's post. I believe that technology is very important in and out of the class room. Joe talks about the technology in the class room as being power or a new idea as Prof. Leo had said, but I believe it is more like a powerful idea. The reason I say this is because technology is a big part of every one's life. I don't think this ties into family values but being that it is talking about the education, its important in and out of a class room. When we talked about who had the power in a classroom it was a tough topic. No one really knew who ran it, because it all depends on who the teacher is. I remember we discussed when you have a substitute teachersor are the students in control, but when there is a tough teacher , the students know who the boss it. So being the the Internet or technology is power, in away it is. It shows us new things that we can't acquire in a classroom or in life without the use of technology.
When Prof. Leo gets into how while she was reading she thought about what we talk about in class, she makes really good points. When she brings up culture and how our world (meaning society) See's it. I believe that our culture is influenced by so many different cultures. The reason i say this is because we do things that were brought here by other cultures and people adapt to them. But is still believe not all cultures are taking in by people. I do believe that many cultures are ignored or disgraced upon as Joe talks about race and discrimination. Discrimination can mean so many things not just in race, and I believe discrimination is based upon ignorance. The reason people ignore some cultures is because they don't want to learn from them. This goes back into the classroom talk. Who really tells us what we can or can't learn? Who tells us why we should learn this way and not another way? I know we talked about learning to read and write in terms of "standard English". We had a deep discussion on that topic for awhile. So is "standard English" something that everyone knows? Of course not! We talked about this, and we even did our project on this so i won't go deep in to slang and all of that, but what is this trying to say about culture. Do we choose what we want to learn or are we in away taught what to learn?
Over all this is all about technology and how is shapes us. I believe technology is our new teacher but you can't learn everything from technology. I believe that people are taking technology a little to far because people use it everyday. What people don't realize is that technology isn't everything. Dose the Internet lie to us? I think it does. Not all the time but i do believe there are the lies. So if the Internet lies, why are so many people using it as a guide of learning? Well technology is good and bad, but there is no right answer to that. As I come to an end, I Want to add, that not only technology influences us, but so does culture and family. Not only in the classroom but on the streets as well.
When Prof. Leo gets into how while she was reading she thought about what we talk about in class, she makes really good points. When she brings up culture and how our world (meaning society) See's it. I believe that our culture is influenced by so many different cultures. The reason i say this is because we do things that were brought here by other cultures and people adapt to them. But is still believe not all cultures are taking in by people. I do believe that many cultures are ignored or disgraced upon as Joe talks about race and discrimination. Discrimination can mean so many things not just in race, and I believe discrimination is based upon ignorance. The reason people ignore some cultures is because they don't want to learn from them. This goes back into the classroom talk. Who really tells us what we can or can't learn? Who tells us why we should learn this way and not another way? I know we talked about learning to read and write in terms of "standard English". We had a deep discussion on that topic for awhile. So is "standard English" something that everyone knows? Of course not! We talked about this, and we even did our project on this so i won't go deep in to slang and all of that, but what is this trying to say about culture. Do we choose what we want to learn or are we in away taught what to learn?
Over all this is all about technology and how is shapes us. I believe technology is our new teacher but you can't learn everything from technology. I believe that people are taking technology a little to far because people use it everyday. What people don't realize is that technology isn't everything. Dose the Internet lie to us? I think it does. Not all the time but i do believe there are the lies. So if the Internet lies, why are so many people using it as a guide of learning? Well technology is good and bad, but there is no right answer to that. As I come to an end, I Want to add, that not only technology influences us, but so does culture and family. Not only in the classroom but on the streets as well.
Family Values
When I first Started reading his narrative I found myself a little annoyed at the sentence fragments. The way Joe talked about his life was so descriptive; it was the first narrative that I did enjoy. The type of language that he used was his native tounge; a theme talked about often in my english class. I would say that this narrative is based on language. It's one of the most powerful parts of the story, it makes it his story.
One thing I found interesting was when he started talking about what he does, when I heard that he worked on a writing class I was a little confused. At that part of the story the way he talked totally changed, he went from "Italian English", to an academic language that made me double read his sentences. It is inredible to know that someone can make an academic kind of change in their life.
Honestly I couldn't find mush to say about what I read. To summarize Joe Amato's Family values I would say that it's another story of somone in a lower class community being the first of their family to get a four degree and make something of themselves, and to be able to pay bills and teach people. I find that there is often a like for art and literature for those who are not often around it or can't access it. I can't be suprised when I read another story of this kind.
One thing I found interesting was when he started talking about what he does, when I heard that he worked on a writing class I was a little confused. At that part of the story the way he talked totally changed, he went from "Italian English", to an academic language that made me double read his sentences. It is inredible to know that someone can make an academic kind of change in their life.
Honestly I couldn't find mush to say about what I read. To summarize Joe Amato's Family values I would say that it's another story of somone in a lower class community being the first of their family to get a four degree and make something of themselves, and to be able to pay bills and teach people. I find that there is often a like for art and literature for those who are not often around it or can't access it. I can't be suprised when I read another story of this kind.
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