Latino Cultural Snapshot

Rudy Mancuso Vines (3)

How Latinos meet vs. How Americans think we meet:

Isaac Gets Pulled Over:

Isaac's Pool Rap:

MOVIES:

The Three Amigos

Maid in Manhattan

TELEVISION:

Gloria from Modern Family

Consuela from Family Guy

The Emmy Awards:

Newspaper:

• http://fox13now.com/2014/09/05/the-1-word-this-man-changed-on-resume-to-get-tons-of-job-offers/
• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/17/us/latinos-move-up-from-picking-crops-to-running-the-farm.html?_r=0
• http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=29307843

BuzzFeed:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/norbertobriceno/mexican-moms-be-sayin#2r2qdko

Mariachi Barbie:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/conzpreti/mattel-launched-mariachi-barbie-and-this-is-what-she-looks-l#2r2qdko

Commercials:

The Single Story:

According to these artifacts, the associations between Latinos and Americans aren't the same as associations between Americans alone. Latinos are portrayed as those who do menial labor in service of Americans. We see this in television, as seen above in Family Guy, Rudy Mancuso Vines, and Maid in Manhattan. Together with the newspaper articles, we learn that Latinos are the ones who work in the fields and do maid service for families and the hospitality industry. 

Latino entrepreneurs are expected to open restaurants, yard service and maid service businesses. These businesses are a pretty major force in the economy, and are appreciated by those from other cultures because the work is largely work they wouldn't want to do themselves. The reason Latinos don't hold other jobs might be because according to their culture, those are the jobs that they work. They just need money, so they are willing to work the jobs that we aren't willing to work. It's always a surprise when we meet a Latino who is doing something else, but it's not totally unheard of.

Latinos like to have fun, but the way they party is different from Americans; they like to dress up traditionally and celebrate with mariachi singing and dancing. Mariachi Barbie, Rudy Mancuso and The Three Musketeers show us that when Latinos dress up, it's in their cultural dress, always with a sombrero. Their families are very close knit, but moms are very frank and honest, having a fairly authoritative relationship with their children.

The Latino Americans as shown in the commercial,"#UnBuenFit," are going to work, shopping, and going to the movies, just like any other normal person would. But they all speak perfect English with no accent. Anytime a Latino has a heavy accent, like Consuela from Family Guy, the girls in The Three Musketeers, and Isaac in the Rudy Mancuso Vines, they work menial labor, dress in traditional dress, and are illegals running from the police. Jennifer Lopez has no accent in her English, and she demonstrated in Maid in Manhattan that Latinos work menial labor, but she broke free from that and got involved with a white man. 

Other Latinos, such as Sofia Vergara, who is Gloria from Modern Family, show us that if you are beautiful and accepted by Americans, you still never really come to fully understand American culture. Latinos are always misunderstood and separated from the main group because of their accents. As seen in Modern Family, and at the Emmy's, beautiful Latinos play a great role in the lives of Americans: they are something to look at.

In a classroom, these stereotypes can be extremely limiting. Latino children, especially those with accents who have English as their second language, could easily see that their future only has two paths: menial labor or super model. The last thing I want is my students ruling out being beautiful full time, and then thinking they only have one option for their future. As a teacher, we have the ability to shape our students' view of the future. As we learned from Principal El, we can help our students see potential they never knew they had. I truly believe that Latinos, along with any other minority groups, can have the same future options as anyone else, but they need to believe that as well.

Children can be awful with emphasizing differences between themselves and others. Bullying is a real thing. We have to see to it that the traditional view of Latinos, especially the way that they dress and celebrate, isn't seen as the only way that Latinos are. That is just asking for bullying to dominate in (and out of) the classroom. If we set the example and show that Latino students are just like we were, and are just like the other students in the classroom, we can hope that our other students will see them the same way that we do.

In thinking about curriculum, I wasn't able to directly think of any Latinos in Physics subject matter. This is probably just because we don't teach about them, not because they don't exist. This could be detrimental to a Latino student who wants to be a physicist, just in that they don't believe they could ever be the first. As teachers, we have a responsibility to show our students that they wont be the first to be successful in our fields. I found this website (http://www.ranker.com/list/famous-hispanic-scientists/famous-hispanics?var=2&utm_expid=16418821-48.w4XvOttHQz-Kl88l1iLzhA.1&format=SLIDESHOW&page=7&utm_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ranker.com%2Flist%2Ffamous-hispanic-scientists%2Ffamous-hispanics) that shows me with very little effort that there are Latino scientists. We can read about them in class along with the other famous scientists like Newton and Einstein, to show students that their potential is not limited.

We, as members of the church, know that no student is more entitled to an education than another. We are all children of God. Knowing that, it is very important that we not let the governmental policy, which has restrictions on rights for those who do not have citizenship, govern our classroom. There should be no restrictions on learning, and our students should be able to recognize that is the case. Latinos are especially targeted because of illegal immigration, but the students we work with are not the problem, and we shouldn't treat them as if they are. The classroom should be a safe haven where learning is accomplished and love can always be felt.

Future Classroom

I am teaching in an alternative high school. There are twelve students in my class, one of the bigger classes I teach, most of which have learning or emotional disabilities. All of them act like the world is out to get them. We are learning science together, which is not a very high priority to any of my students, who just want to graduate as soon as possible.

The classroom is organized with six tables; two students sitting at each. Two of my students are in a relationship with each other. I don't think it was a good idea for them to get together, but it's not my place to say. The atmosphere in this room is dark. I can't figure out why. Maybe it's the lighting.

We start by going over the packet from the day before. None of them is any good at homework, which is one of the reasons why they're here, I suppose. So we spend a few minutes doing it together, and it appears that we still need a little work at it. The resources aren't the best here; in fact, we have very little in terms of lab supplies. I want to show them Newton's laws, and it's clearly not going to happen in here, so we head outside.

The atmosphere is much better out here, and the students know it. I have a ball, and the students waste no time taking it from me and throwing it at each other. At least they aren't throwing it at me. It doesn't take much for me to reclaim it from them and we laugh together. We always do seem to find something to laugh about. After I've got their attention again, we drop the ball and a marble together and watch Newton's laws at work. Once again, the students are amazed that something they've seen so often is so different from what they though. We shoot a few hoops and keep talking about forces.

I notice there's a few who are trying to escape, so we all gather up and head back in. A quick stop at the drinking fountain and the students are ready to tackle their packets again. I'm hopeful that they'll be more prepared for this page, since we just did real life examples together, but doing math is still hard. If only I knew a way to teach algebra with real life examples.

The bell rings, and my students hurry out like the bell was the fire alarm. That rush would scare me into believing my students don't like me, but I know better. They all have smiled genuinely and some have even thanked me. Surprisingly, that is enough.

My students are more diverse than I thought they would be. Before I met them, I figured they would be all kids with out-of-school trouble, and little desire to learn. That is not the case. Although many of them do fit that bill, there are some who are trying and even some who are aching to learn. It just doesn't come naturally to everyone. It's hard to reach everyone in such a diverse group. This classroom is ethnically more diverse than most schools in the area. Some of them have immigrant parents, and didn't start getting a real education until it was too late to catch up to their classmates. A few are just lazy. I have a special spot in my heart for the ones who just made bad choices, got into drugs and what not, and now have come here just praying for a second chance. I have great comfort in knowing that I can provide that.

It's hard to know what the students here like to do in their free time. Some of them don't have any free time, going home from school to work and take care of a family. Others have secrets I'm too afraid to dig up, in fear of knowing what they like to do. I do know that they all like to laugh though. Sometimes (a lot of the time) that laughter comes at my expense. I don't mind too much. I know that someday they'll learn that cruelty is no way to make friends. They all love to be outdoors. I imagine it's the freedom of it. Nobody likes to be cramped up in brick walls all day while the sun shines. We do school work together, but that's usually the last of their interests. I'm lucky that my students are friends; not all of them hang out together, but all of them have at least one friend in the classroom with them.

When we learn together, it's hard to keep all of their eyes. Thanks to a strict No Technology program at school, the majority of them do stay off of their phones, but all of them are good at doodling. We try to keep moving, always interacting and trying new things together, but every day someone gets lost. It's hard being the shepherd to have to bring them back in, especially when we don't bring them in before the bell rings. I take great pride in the work of my students though. For the most part we cooperate and the work gets done. I know that they have a desire to graduate somewhere down inside of them, we just have to rub that desire enough that they'll actually do it.

Other than the tables and a couple computers, there really isn't much to work with. I've tried to put up posters on the walls to add color and life to the room, but really the students don't even notice it. I'm thrilled with the computers though, especially since we just got some new software and equipment to test how fast something is moving. I'm excited to see what new technology we can get with the funding we've received for this year though. I'm hoping for some circuit building boards and wires so that I can finally teach that electricity unit I've always wanted to teach. Mostly what we work with though is what the school has to offer: a gym, a field, balls, sinks, and online programming. Today it was just a ball and a little thing called gravity. Perhaps next time I teach this lesson we can do the experiment with a motion detector.

It's fairly easy to teach a person about Newton's laws, and even to have them get them right on a test. But that's not what it's all about. I figure that some probably question my methods, but I think it's only effective to teach something if students are going to remember when they're out doing something outside of school. I love it when the students see that when you drop a kickball and a marble at the same time, they land at the same time. I really want to emphasize those misconceptions. We shoot some hoops, and talk about the forces in basketball. I hope that they'll watch a basketball game in the not too distant future, and know that the only force acting on the ball is gravity, but the motion was caused by the hand. The lesson is simple. It has to be. Keeping it simple give the students an opportunity to learn, and only then will they see the purpose of the lesson. I know what it is, it's them knowing what it was that I really care about. The friendships in our classroom help the students group themselves. The core of them are participating in the activity and even answering the questions. I think they're even understanding! I only get worried when I see a pair sit down on the ground and tune out completely. Sometimes that's unavoidable, but I don't want that today. We switch activities to keep them engaged. As long as we keep moving, they'll stay with me.

In the classroom, I have to think of each of my students as a mini-me, and assume that anything I do will become something they believe is okay to do. It's hard to stay focused on the lesson and teach the whole class because the students don't want either of those things. Because of the circumstances at our school, with most students being academically unable to be in a regular high school, I don't want them to feel academically unable to be at an alternative school. I have to remember that if all I do is teach them life skills, I have done my job. I keep myself businesslike, but I want my students to know first and foremost that I am human, that I love them, and that learning is fun. I try so hard to get into their heads, and for some of them, it works. Some are so shut off that I can't reach them today, and haven't been able to all year. We can only hope that a few more laughs and a whole lot of love will break those walls down enough that I can know how to reach them. They don't know how much I love them. I wish there was a better way to tell them.