Fifth Post

In many instances during my CSLP experience I have found myself connecting a situation to what we have been learning in class. For instance, while reading The Shame of a Nation by Kozol I took particular notice to the standardized testing going on at my charter school. I found it interesting that my school put such an emphasis on standardizing testing even though they are a charter school. They had countdowns on the walls in the hall that counted the days until the SAT-9, and all we worked on with our third grade students was practice tests and concepts that are on the test. Kozol pointed out in his book that such an emphasis on standardized testing may harm the students in the long run.
I have also notice the racial issues that we have discussed in class. The lack of diversity was the first thing I noticed in my charter school. The first day that we visited The Potomac Lighthouse Public Charter school they gave us a tour of every classroom. As I walked from class to class I realized that all but maybe two or three students, in the entire school, were African-American. With every visit the emphasis on race became even more apparent. All the students asked if Kait and I were sisters and I believe this had to do with the fact that we were both white. I became most aware of my race when one little boy saw us walking down the stairs and he stated, “oh no, white people.” This is when I realized how important integration is to our school system, without it students will never be able to look past others’ skin color.
These are only two of the many circumstances where our class work has directly correlated to my experience at Potomac Lighthouse.