Today we talked about the course, listened to "Wear Clean Draws," by the Coup. The song is one of the 100 songs Felicia Pride reflects on in her book, The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip Hop's Greatest Songs.It is not a book you have to buy, but it is one we will be using this semester.
I told students a little about myself and gave them the Dear Students' letter to read and respond to for homework here on the blog.
It you want to share your reflection on the Coup song and Pride's response, please do so. Regarding the letter and any other posts, please respond to each other also, minimally one other student. The response to my letter should be minimally 250 words or one page, three paragraphs.
If you want to get your Stewart Pidd book yourself, you can go to their website: www.attackthetext.com
What else? We are having a birthday party for Martin King in the morning, after we summarize his Letter from the Birmingham Jail. One of the students in the 9-10 class is bringing cupcakes. One student told me we should have pancakes and sausage :-)
We are starting with Dreams of My Father, not The Audacity of Hope. You can find both of these books in the public library if you are strapped for money. You can also find them used.
The comments students shared in the second class were really wonderful and it was so nice seeing so many familiar and friendly faces today. We are going to get through the class this time...all my returning students who still have yet to pass the course are going to pass this semester...we need to develop a plan or strategy--failure is not an option.
I told students a little about myself and gave them the Dear Students' letter to read and respond to for homework here on the blog.
It you want to share your reflection on the Coup song and Pride's response, please do so. Regarding the letter and any other posts, please respond to each other also, minimally one other student. The response to my letter should be minimally 250 words or one page, three paragraphs.
If you want to get your Stewart Pidd book yourself, you can go to their website: www.attackthetext.com
What else? We are having a birthday party for Martin King in the morning, after we summarize his Letter from the Birmingham Jail. One of the students in the 9-10 class is bringing cupcakes. One student told me we should have pancakes and sausage :-)
We are starting with Dreams of My Father, not The Audacity of Hope. You can find both of these books in the public library if you are strapped for money. You can also find them used.
The comments students shared in the second class were really wonderful and it was so nice seeing so many familiar and friendly faces today. We are going to get through the class this time...all my returning students who still have yet to pass the course are going to pass this semester...we need to develop a plan or strategy--failure is not an option.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 3:23 PM
17 Comments:
Jameisha Harris engl 1a 8-8:50 am
my response to dear students;
first and foremost i wnt to say happy bday to your daughter, its always a blessing to see another birthday. anyhow, i didnt know that you lived i west oakland for so long, very dangerious area, and there was no man in the house it must have been a struggle.even so you kept your children in above average schools giving them better oppertunities and strives. you should be so proud of yourself to have accomplished so many things. like having notches under your belt. you must have been really smart to have graduated at 15! wow, thats is spectacular and you even taught 2 years before even going to college, what a star. and right when i feel you have excelled in so many ways you cut in and say,"you want to spare us...." and after reading that you opened my eyes to some issues we do have in college within my colleagues. people DO actually feel they need no books and they are lazy, they make people who cant afford books and who wait patiently( copying pages from others books to make sure we get our work done) for our financial aid to come look bad. and the hybrid class thing, i dont agrre with that becuase in class is my talent, where i shine, and thats just me, some people need to be confronted by a teacher with physical support to even understand the course. and this will only discourage people and make them give up. and yea that was real messed up what happened to oscar, rest in peace bruh, and that officer deserves everything he get and to hear about adolph, the n.o resident, thats too uncanny. some strait bull, but only confirms my beleifs of the system(gov't). the racism, the hatred, the false doings, the dirt, the lies, not a good way to bring in the new year. omg, this letter was soooo long and im sooo tired so let me wrap it up. haing you before i kind of know what to espect and what you exspect. i love to write and have a passion which you lready have read , so my initiative to write is there. this course is no bird course, and yes what you hear about you is so true but in a good way. to have such and accomplished teacher with social values reassures that i will definately enhance my writing skills by the end of this semester once again.
Rebecca Evans response to "Dear Students" 1/14/09 Ms. Sabir Eng.1a 9-9:50
College of Alameda was not my first choice of schools and honestly, at first, I was ashamed to go to COA. I pre-judged the school thinking it was for people “less than me”.
I was accepted to UC Santa Cruz for the 2008 school year. I began the year fighting a mental and physical illness. I fought as hard as I could but ended up having to leave and come home to be closer to my doctors. To say the least, I was devastated. I thought my life was over. When my doctor suggested attending community college, I “flipped out! I thought, “I’m too good for community college” “I was accepted to a UC!” “Community College will hinder my education.” However, I was very wrong.
After talking with family, friends, and neighbors in my extended community, I learned that some of the established people I look up to began their careers at a community college. My aunt, who now has her own consulting business working with political figures such as Nancy Pelosi and large organizations such as George Marks Children’s Hospital, began her college career at Chabot. My cousin, who is now a human resource supervisor for a large San Francisco company with offices in London, New York, China, and India, began her college career at a community college in Redding.
After reading your letter, I see how far you have come and how hard you have worked for your education. Coming to COA is an eye opening experience for me. As I read your letter of introduction, I was no less than absolutely amazed at the trials and tribulations you’ve faced: being a single mom, moving from India to the U.S. as a young adult, and being intimidated by a large UC school but still having the courage to continue your education.
During my short time at UCSC this year, I learned that most students were handed their college opportunity on a silver platter with all the fixings: money, room and board, perfect classes, and a family who seemed to have endless amounts of money in the bank. Being at College of Alameda, I am beginning to realize the determination of its students. Everyone at COA has made the choice to continue their education no matter their hardships: economic, family turmoil, or educational difficulties.
While I do hope to return to UCSC, I will go with a new perspective and with gratitude. I am thankful for all the opportunities that I have. I am ready to learn of the different “platters” from which we are served and I am eager to discover more.
Anthony Dominguez Eng 1A 8-8:50 am
Ms. Sabir I enjoyed your class today. During fall classes I had English 1A with Mr. Rubin but ended up dropping it because I got off to a slow start, and couldn’t get back on track from the early hole that I dug myself into. He was a good teacher and I wanted to try his class again. I was reluctant about taking an English class this semester because I saw that he was not teaching English 1A and you were my only other option. Turns out your very down to earth and you made me feel comfortable right away. You came into the class with a lot of energy and it’s something I can appreciate because not every teacher seems like they’re into their profession as much as you. When a person has that much confidence in what they’re doing, it’s something that helps me as a person to listen up because I know you’ll have something important to say. I know you said we’re not doing hip-hop this semester but, I hope you can find some way to talk about it more throughout the course because many people only see the mainstream side of the genre. In regards to your letter, the part where you talk about virtual reality and reality caught my attention the most because lately I’ve experienced many things to make me realize how real and crazy this world really is. Although you made it clear you are not perfect, you seem like a very hard working and caring person and I respect you for being a single mother of two children, I couldn’t imagine how difficult that was. I’m looking forward to the semester, getting to know you and seeing what ways you can help me get the most out of my potential.
Will Matteucci, English 1A 9-9:50
Ms. Sabir, Firstly I would like to say thank you for sharing your story with me, and the entire class. I find it very hard to open up almost your entire life to a group of people that you have just met. While reading your letter, I was amazed by the ways you have worked so hard for your education and worked so hard for your community. I can not even imagine how hard it must be to raise two children by yourself. I can only hope that I obtain the determination for my education as you did. During high school I just slacked off, not planning on going to a university, or even applying. After I graduated I decided to take a semester off and try to rekindle my love for learning. I came into your class today with the expectations of it just being another English class, but the lesson today has really gotten me excited for this semester. I have always enjoyed writing and I plan on going forward in majoring in journalism, the only problem I’ve been having is that when writing in a journalistic environment its more of your own style then than a structured writing form. That is one of the things I wish to accomplish this year.
I plan on working hard this semester and learning as much as I can. Also I hope that some of the hip-hop side of the class can still be in place. I know you said that we would not be focusing on it much this semester but I really agree with Anthony when he said that “Many people only see the mainstream side of the genre” (post above mine) I look forward English this semester and hope that we will learn many new skills to help us become better writers. Thank you in advance.
Javier Chavez, English 1A 8-8:50
Response to "Dear Students"
Ms. Sabir, I'm glad that im taking English 1A with you. I was planning on taking it last semester but the time of your class conflicted with some of my
other classes, so I ended up taking another teacher but dropped it so I could play soccer. In the end it worked out because I wanted to take your class anyway.
I really enjoyed your letter, I knew some of these things already from taking your classes but I had no idea that you continuously strived for a better life and education. I didn't know that you graduated from High School at 15, that's not something a 15 year old does too often. From this letter I see that writing the way you do now didn't come easily for you. You had to work on your writing for years to get to where you are now. I feel like at most public high schools; theydon't teach you that your essay's are not perfect, if anything there far from perfect. Your letter really gave me more insight on how hard you had to work for a better education. Judging by the size of this class it seems like it is a lot larger than the previous ones with you. So it will be interesting how you deal with the increase in students. Assuming we all stay of course. So again I really enjoyed this letter, and Im looking forward to another semester with you!
Bridgette Copprue Eng 1A 9-9:50am
Professor Sabir, I must say that my first class of the Spring semester was very refreshing to say the least. I had reservations about what the instructor was going to be like or rather how she would teach, and again, you make a person want to learn from your enthusiastically way of teaching. It has been almost 35 years since I have had any English instructions in any form, except, when I attempted last semester, after testing and scored high enough to start in Eng1A; just wasn't prepared for the "today way" of teaching, so I decided to wait until this semester. In reading "Dear Student..." I find quite a few similarities in my struggles and yours, except, you accomplished a great deal in spite of, and I am just now trying to complete a goal of mine that has been a passion since I left my home in Houston, Texas in 1974. During the years, since my arrival on California soil, I got married had three children, buried my husband after thirteen years of marriage, and just recently buried my oldest son,(from diabetes complications)in 2006. My love of numbers landed me in jobs of accounting, til the illness of my son caused me to stay home and take care of him until his death. I have always had a passion for singing but unfortunately "American Idol" was not around when I was 16 or 27. Hopefully, I will manage to achieve one of my goals, which is an AA degree in Accounting and if the good Lord says the same, maybe even a Masters! No matter what the outcome is, I plan to do my best in your class; that was a given before I walked into your class, but more so after being in attendance on today. One thing for sure, although my life has changed for the better; meaning, I no longer party like I used too, I attend church on the regular,Sunday School teacher of the "little people" so I am aware of the everyday challenges that I will face being out of my "natural environment",church, and into the "social realm" of college. In other words, I am looking forward to learning a whole new world of things from your teaching techniques.
Cecilia Martinez
English 1A, 9-9:50am
I am also very dedicated to bettering my writing. As a fist generation Mexican American student I feel that I have the duty to truly fulfill the reason for why my parents made the ultimate sacrifice of leaving their home country; by creating a better life for my family and myself. I feel the only way I can truly fulfill that mission is to better myself through the only know way—receiving an education.
This is my third semester in the Peralta college system. I was going to originally attend the University of California, Davis. However, due to a financial situation I returned to Alameda, and decided to continue to work hard to receive an education, even if money was an issue. Although I miss the person I was at Davis, I also wonder if this experience that I am having now in life is worth so much more than my experience at Davis. I have strong faith that my experience here at College of Alameda is worth more than four years at Davis. This is why I am very excited to be in your class.
I felt like I was riding a roller coaster in your class today, when for a moment of time I thought I would not be able to add into your class. But at the end, I am enrolled and after reading your letter, am very excited that I showed up to add instead of choosing another class that was available.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with me. I feel like I am already getting to know you and its only been the first day. I look forward to working with you the next 18 weeks!
Hi Wanda,
I would first like to acknowledge all your hard work you have done in your academic career as it seems to be affecting you greatly in a very positive way in your teaching. I love how you are so into what you actually do. You keep my into the work/discussion at hand and its only the first day! lol. You are no where near other teachers I have had in the past where it is unbearable to be in the class as they are very mono tone in speaking and take forever explaining things and never really get to the point. I am looking forward to attending any events we hold as a class outside the classroom. You stated in your letter that was written January 11, 2009 that students can learn with out owning a text book. I believe this is true as I have at least borrowed them from a friend or copied pages out of a copy they had in the library or worked in groups outside of class. Also you mentioned you expect alot from your students, shouldn't every one? These past few years I have not had a teacher like that. I went to Oakland Tech I found most teachers did not care if i was even there. I am looking forward to having a teacher that is there for me and is willing to help me as much as I need and provide me with a real challenge. I would say personally English is my weakest subject. I have been told I lack skills when dealing with present/past tense and look forward to improving in that area. I look forward to working with you this term.
Best,
Jeremy Kerby
Paola Garcia R.
English 1A 8:00-8:50
Response to “Dear Students”
First of all I want to thank you for taking the time and writing this amazing letter to all your students. It is my pleasure to be part of your class. I feel grateful and confident when I have a teacher that makes the effort and the time to help students to reach their goals. I look forward to all the wonderful things I am going to learn this semester. In the same manner I hope I take advantage of all the tools and the time you are giving us to improve my writing (I know I need them very much, smile).
After reading your letter I felt a great admiration for you. First of all because you were a single parent, that is a very tough situation in life. But you educated your self and your children with the best of the best and that is worth all my admiration. You work very hard to be where you are right now, and it is something to look up for. Hard work always pays, and for what I perceived in your letter it did for you. I hope in the long future I can say the same thing for me.
In a different manner, I loved how you are involved in the community. It is very important to be aware of what is going on surrounding us. I have always believed that if people had more awareness society would be very different. There is so much to do in this society, so many people that need help. I do what I can, as a Latina I tried to help my community. I go to hospitals as an interpreter for families and patients that don’t speak English so they can ask questions to the doctors and have a better understanding of their situation.
I live in Oakland, and I was aware of the incident that happened on New Years Eve, it broke my heart to see the video, but what I insults me is the fact that is has been more than 2 weeks (or so) and no body has done anything about it. I know there has been rally’s and cars have been burned, but this kind of violent responses won’t bring any answers. I would expect the police or the mayor to do anything about it. But no body has been punished or there has been no declarations what so ever. The only good thing about this case is that for the first time there is evidence (the video) because I know stuff like this happens all the time but there are never proofs so is just one more dead “gang member” as they always put it on the news.
Well, I think I am going to far…so to close my response I enjoy reading your letter and learning about your background. I hope we have a great semester together. I am sure I will learn a lot from you as a teacher.
Thanks.
PAOLA
Thank you for the great responses to my letter. I never revealed this much about my before-academic life before. Last year at this time I'd just returned from New Orleans where we buried my father's aunt and my mother's eldest sister. We're all cousins (long or rather short story), so I saw some of the same folks at both funerals.
I hope the student who loves to sing, yet is good at crunching numbers finds time to sing also. The idea of "A Singing Accountant," might be good for business (smile).
Oh and another student had me moving from India. Wow, that would be nice, but no, I didn't move from India to America. I got divorced and moved from East Oakland's Harmon Avenue, to West Oakland's Market Street.
I guess when you're in the morass of single parenting, when one doesn't know the outcome as one child runs away, gets sent away and is truant...one wonders, hum how is this child going to turn out and then the magical age arrives: 18 and then 21 and the girl-child, now young woman, shapes up and flies straight and stops testing the boundaries 'cause she is free, sort of (you think as you pay part of her rent).
I think I was free (smile). And then I had more miles to go before I could rest.
Yes, her sister was left behind... not like Lot's wife and no one looked back...we were all moving forward into better mother-daughter, mother-daughter, sister-sister relationships.
Reina Escovedo
English 1A 8:00-8:50am
Response to letter
Dear Mrs. Sabir,
First and foremost I want to share with you my gratitude for teachers such as yourself, who love what they do and get creative to keep the attention of their students. Some teachers are not willing to go that extra length, and I appreciate that you do and I plan on taking advantage of that.
Since you have opened up to us and shared your past and background I also want to share some of myself with you.
I am 21 years old and of hispanic decent. Born and raised in Hayward, California. I attended public school and catholic school. I ended up graduating from Mt. Eden High School in Hayward class of 2005. (This is where I knew Oscar Grant from, I will speak more on that later.) I did not know what path I would lead from here. My mother said either start working, or go back to school. At this period in my life, I was not ready to begin college. I started working for the Alameda County Public Health Department, where I interned for the "Whack the Flu" project and did clerical work for the Emergency Preparedness Program. I enjoyed this atmosphere. Everyone who worked here was pleasant and wanted in some way to better our community. Sadly, this was only a temporary position. I ended my assignment here and went on to do customer service work at a trucking company. This is when I moved out of my mothers house to Oakland to live with my cousin and one other roommate. Times got rough when my assignment at the trucking company ended and I went on unemployment. Soon after I moved back to my mothers, and set my mind on school. Now, I appreciate school. I want to soak up as much knowledge as possible and learn new things.
The tragic death of Oscar Grant hit home for me. I went to school with Oscar. I knew everyone he knew. We were from the same neighborhood and although Oscar and his friends were not always seen as "good guys", I knew that now that we were all getting older, they were trying to do better and stay out of trouble. Oscar now had a baby in his life and before that cop shot him in the back all he could think about was his daughter. This, plus all of the other unnecessary violence that happens in the streets of Oakland and the rest of the bay everyday, simply saddens me. Oscars death has certainly enraged the community, but I think we need to bring this type of attention to EVERY murder and not just the ones committed by police. We need to work on making our reality a better one.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us this semester. I look forward to it.
Sincerely,
Reina Escovedo
Rebecca Evans English 1a 9-9:50 1/16/09 Response to responses of “Dear Students” Cecilia Martinez
I am already discovering and learning the different paths the students’ haven taken to get here. Cecilia has somewhat of the same experiences me and it is comforting I am not alone. It is very difficult to leave one place and come to another. As I am not quite yet sure who I am it is hard to place roots down only to uproot them and attempt to keep the same modus operandi. I agree with Cecilia in that every opportunity and experience offers new insights and perspectives. While this is only my first semester at COA I already know I am in for more than just book learning!
Response to Jeremy Kerby:
I agree with you in many of the points you made in your response. First of all, I also think Professor Wanda has a very positive attitude and a very strong energy in her class. That makes a lecture way more interesting than any other classes that I have taken. As well, English is a very weak point for me so I have to work very hard on this subject.
And I also think teachers should expect a lot from their students. I hate when teachers have favoritism or flunk students for personal reasons (I have experience that in the past, is not fun). So I want a teacher to support me as well as you do.
Thanks for your response; I related a lot with it
Best of luck in this semester
PAOLA
Rebecca Evans response to "wear clean draws" english 1a 9-9:50
This song gad a good beat and rhythm however, some of the lyrics sharply stood out. “Throw another punch before you make a peace contract” really hit home. I do not believe that violence remedies violence. As Gandhi said,” an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. I see the importance of protecting yourself however, sinking down to a level of violence dose not protect one’s self esteem. As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday I am reminiscent of his values. He sought to achieve his goals through non violent actions. He was willing “to accept blows without retaliation”, (King, paragraph 6 letter from a Birmingham jail). Our society as a whole has embraced violence as the answer to all its problem. However, as we are seeing in Gaza, violence only exacerbates the preliminary issue.
Carmen Truong
English 1A
9-9:50
Respond to the song:
The lyrics to the song was very meaningful, each sentence has its powerful meaning. One of the sentence that caught me the most “People who work for free at Africa, don’t even have money to buy something top eat.” This line reminds me of slavery who work for free control by their owners in a harsh way. I did many researches about slavery and it just makes me picture everything. This song makes me realize how people can also expresses their feelings and emotions from writing lyrics.
Bianca Chouteau
Eng 1A 9:00-9:50am
It is so terrific that your daughters are in college doing ther thing. You must be so proud of them. so you study linguistics, wow! Are'nt those the people who make words? You and I have something in common, we both were raised in West Oakland. We also lived in the same building, Oak Center 1 Apartments on 18TH street. Remember the little girl with the afro.... Yeah that was me, Ronnie's sister.
You look so young to have accomplished so much. Thats how i want to be and why im starting now. When I finished high school I went Western Career College for a dental assisting certificate when i was 17 years old, now at 19 im here at College of Alameda taking general ed then soon will transfer to Shabot College for a hygienst program.
It is wonderful how you are willing to help your students and how you push them to the limit. When you stated that some students were fearful rather than lazy I respected that because most students are in fear of a new environment or just in fear of being wrong like me for instance I never share with the class because when I listen to everybody else they seem confident and know what there talking about rather than me being unsure of myself.
In this class I need you to get me out of that phase because i am tring to grow mentally and I need your help. meanwhile i am exceited to be in your class and I respect your mind.
Bianca Chouteau
Eng 1A 9:00-9:50
In respnse to the song "Wear Clean Draws" I feel he was telling his daughter or a young girl some things about life that can help her in the future and prepare her for life as she grow's up. I Like the song it makes you think plus it's positive and there is not many positive songs today.
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