I love how you summarized the main points right at the beginning of the book review. This set me up for what Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race was about and what the rest of your review was going to go deeper into. This book sounds like it correlates a lot with our course readings and discussions but goes deeper into the topic of race. Her points for each argument sound a lot like information we have read or heard throughout our education. Did she come up with this through her own journey and experiences or through research as well? I enjoyed reading your summary on the second main argument of this book is that unspoken cultures between races can cause barriers because it went along with a lot of things we have talked about in our courses and also eye opening. Argument three was also interesting to read about especially because I agree with a lot of what she argued and it too correlated with our class conversations and taught pedagogies. It sounds like you learned a lot from this text!
The topic of white privilege I don't think is talked about a lot in the detail that is seems this books goes into. Debby Irving provided a different perspective to this topic then I am used to seeing. This book closely related to a main focus in the course material which was race. The idea of ignorance also related to what we have discussed in class. I feel that a lot time we as preservice teachers we lack the knowledge of how much diversity is out there. Especially if we have not been exposed to it in our schools. I found parts of this book to be eye-opening. It made me realize that there are still things today that we are taking for granted with our even knowing we are.
I was interested in reading your review of this book. Mainly after our talk in class about how crazy the author sounded. I enjoyed reading your review and points that you presented. It sounds like Debby Irving really reflected on how white privilege influenced her up bringing. I can see a lot of connections in this book to our course work at WVU. Analyzing our ideas of privilege and how it affects our own biases. Great job ladies.
I liked the way this group broke down the main arguments at the very beginning. This was helpful to me in understanding what the book was really about. Obviously the title gives away what the text is about, but the beginning really helps the reader of the book review understand what they will be taking away from the text. I also liked the way the group talked about race versus culture and how that plays a hand in the classroom. I also love the way they talked about the "I don't see color" part. I have never thought about how this is taking away from a person and their culture and ethnicity.
I loved the group opinion. This group did such a great job of reflecting on their experiences and relating them back to the text. It was very interesting to see the groups thoughts and how they all differed based on where in the United States they grew up. Great work, everyone!
I am very interested in the issues presented in this book, so while I was reading I couldn't help but make connections to my own life and the knowledge I have. Like you guys stated in your article, it's important that we see every aspect of a person so that we can actually get to know this person. I don't think most people think this way, so if we can get ourselves and teach our students to think this way, our society might get better! (wishful thinking, right?) I also liked how you talked about "sensitive topics" and how white people shut it down immediately and change the subject, but African Americans are very blunt and straight forward. I think we could all learn from each other, so it's important we teach our students to listen and learn from each other rather than creating a separation between races. Good job ladies! I really enjoyed reading your review :)
I really liked the beginning of paper. It made me prepared for what this book was going to be about. The three main arguments made me prepared to know what the book review was going to be about. The book title definitely prepares you to know what you are going to be reading about but it sounds like it definitely breaks it down nicely. Another thing that I liked was when you talked about how it intersects with the course material. You really explained that section well and it does put the book into perspective in the education system. Another thing that I liked about your book review was the last paragraph. You kind of sold us to reading the book and explained to us what we would be getting ourselves into if we decided to read this book. It was nice that you put this book can be kind of frustrating at times. It also prepares you to know that it will not be all sun and rainbows while you are reading it. It definitely sounds like you gained a great bit of knowledge from reading this! Great job!!
I really like this book based off the fact that the author is talking about what no one else will say. We all over our own norms. I don't understand why everyone is so concerned that someone else's norms are different. The points she makes in her book seem to be very true. I feel bad because I can relate to them. I have caught myself thinking these things or acting one way. It has me questioning myself. I think her third argument is one we need to teach our students in schools. We do need to see each other's color, but we need to focus on what that means in terms of culture.
This book really correlates with the discussions we have been talking about in class. The book seems to focus on race and what we see in response to the problems prevalent among different races. I can relate to the author in the sense that I too and blind to a lot of what is happening around the world, among different cultures. I want to change that for my students though. I think that is why we have so many problems with race and culture now, because we were not taught about it. The only time I learned about different culture was in the first grade at Christmas time! This is our problem. We have to teach this next generation about race and culture to prevent this from happening again.
I think the way you all feel within your individual opinion is probably how a lot of us feel. I know it is how I feel for sure. Reading your paper made me question a lot of the privileges I have experienced in life, like receiving a job because of my parents. The review brought many things to my attention. We need to remember our role as teachers and how we can make a difference in relation to these arguments being made.
After hearing about this book in class I was really excited about reading this book review. I am currently taking a cultural diversity class where we have discussed at white privilege and race. I love how this book connects so well with real life concepts. I also like how it connects well to my other courses, which encourages me to share this book with my professor and other student teachers. I think a strong book review is important for this type of book because readers should be prepared for the sensitive topics that are discussed within this book, I like how your group did that. You all definitely know how to sell a book because I can't wait to read this soon. I think this will help me as an educator when it comes to addressing white privilege, race, and culture in my future classrooms.
This book sounds like something that matches perfectly with something that I would like to read. I enjoyed how you guys organized your paper overall. I liked how in your introductory paragraph, you let the readers know what the three main arguments the author made were and then went into detail about it. I thought the author's perspective on white privilege and how she always felt that she needed to fix other people of other cultures was so ignorant of her. I thought it was also interesting how ignorance was a major theme in this book because I feel that many times when engaging in multicultural education, we can be so ignorant at times. This is one of the main reasons I chose to take the cultural diversity elective online this semester. I feel that this book could be a great extension of that class in that it seems to hit on many of the same points. I liked how the book also hit on how sometimes we dislike or do not understand why someone is acting a certain way, but until we truly understand and learn about someone's culture, we can not truly understand their social norms and how they may differ from our own. This book definitely had a very strong connection to our course material, as you stated in your review, as we have been talking about race and culture within our classroom communities and how to incorporate multicultural education and communicate difficult topics into our classrooms such as social class. We have been talking about diversity in our schools and how schools differ from state to state. Wonderful Job!
I have heard some good and bad things about this book, so I was excited to read this book review. I think overall you did a great job, but I really liked your group opinion. You mentioned about racial issues and getting to know our students. As an English teacher, I was thinking about multicultural literature and implementing different types of texts that deal with different issues, race, diversity, etc. I'm sure that there are many times where I have taken my privilege for granted. I student taught at Suncrest Middle School, which is a very diverse school. If teachers do not have the knowledge of racism and cultural diversity, it would be very difficult to reach all of your students.
I think this is such an important read because we often do not put ourselves in the shoes of others. As the author said, we are ignorant and we don't even know it. As teachers, we are bound to encounter experiences with racial indifference. Many of the articles we have read in our classes throughout school have taught us how to recognize the indifference and respond appropriately. It sounds like this book has provided a new perspective and might help you see race in a new light in the classroom. I appreciate that you shared your honest opinion about the book. Hopefully, there were many lessons to be learning in reading it.
You did a really great job summarizing the main points in the book. It is so important as teachers that we learn about different cultures and take the time to get to know the customs and traditions of other cultures. This has always been a topic that I wished to learn more about. From the sounds of your book review, this book really played well into the discussions, readings and topics we have covered in class. Your third point really stuck out to me. The quote "I don't see color, I treat everyone the same" is a quote that I have heard used so many times but you really never consider the harm that this does because you are trying to show everyone is equal. However, as we are trying to embrace these different cultures and race, saying that you dont see these difference is saying that you dont truly see the person for who they are. I found this to be a really interesting outlook on this quote. I enjoyed reading your book review! Thanks for sharing.
The title of this book sounded interesting to me because I plan on moving to an area that is very diverse. The book has many connections between our course work and I can see why it was an option to read. I enjoyed how you broke down the main points to make it easy to follow and gave me a good understanding of the purpose of the book. One important thing I think that was mentioned was how people view topics of race as sensitive subjects. Many times teachers push off the topic on move the conversation somewhere else so as though not to offend anyone. As I can see where these teachers are coming from and why they are doing that I feel that it makes the issue worse. The only way to make the situation better is to address it. These sensitive topics need to be addressed and be a learning opportunity for not only the students but the teacher as well. I hope to read this book to get a better idea for myself of how not to shut down the conversation of race and white privilege and help my students to become understanding and informed individuals. Great job.
This book review really helped me to grasp what the novel you read was about. The summary of main arguments at the beginning helped to solidify both the author's and your opinions on the issues of racism and white privilege. I think these are still issues within our country, more so in some areas than others, but I also think they have been shrinking in recent years. Having a novel such as this is a good conversation starter about white privilege and racism to help ensure that these issues are not the prominent aspects of our society. Great job!
Glen Smithberger This review is eye opening which reiterates what you mentioned about the book. We talked about some of these things in the book and I agree that I've said "I don't see color" or I haven't known what to say to someone. Honestly, maybe thinking you need to say something differently is the biggest mistake you can make. I do like the beginning points and the theme behind her book. I think it's really weird that the author "just woke up" one day and realized she had been doing things wrong. I think this book opens up some great topics that others are unwilling to talk about. I really liked how you didn't agree with everything and made that apparent in the opinion section.
I think that it is so interesting to see the flip side of diversity. White privilege is something that we do not discuss a lot. While many of our schools are not diverse, I think that it is important to be aware that many of us are not going to be in a school that only has a few students of different backgrounds. I think many people say that they do not see color, but there are a lot of underlying things that we do not see as discrimination unless we think about it more in depth. This book review gave me a better understanding of what these issues are. We have to address these issues and change these things in order to make our classroom a welcoming environment to learn.
I love how you summarized the main points right at the beginning of the book review. This set me up for what Waking Up White and Finding Myself in the Story of Race was about and what the rest of your review was going to go deeper into. This book sounds like it correlates a lot with our course readings and discussions but goes deeper into the topic of race. Her points for each argument sound a lot like information we have read or heard throughout our education. Did she come up with this through her own journey and experiences or through research as well? I enjoyed reading your summary on the second main argument of this book is that unspoken cultures between races can cause barriers because it went along with a lot of things we have talked about in our courses and also eye opening. Argument three was also interesting to read about especially because I agree with a lot of what she argued and it too correlated with our class conversations and taught pedagogies. It sounds like you learned a lot from this text!
ReplyDeleteThe topic of white privilege I don't think is talked about a lot in the detail that is seems this books goes into. Debby Irving provided a different perspective to this topic then I am used to seeing. This book closely related to a main focus in the course material which was race. The idea of ignorance also related to what we have discussed in class. I feel that a lot time we as preservice teachers we lack the knowledge of how much diversity is out there. Especially if we have not been exposed to it in our schools. I found parts of this book to be eye-opening. It made me realize that there are still things today that we are taking for granted with our even knowing we are.
ReplyDeleteI was interested in reading your review of this book. Mainly after our talk in class about how crazy the author sounded. I enjoyed reading your review and points that you presented. It sounds like Debby Irving really reflected on how white privilege influenced her up bringing. I can see a lot of connections in this book to our course work at WVU. Analyzing our ideas of privilege and how it affects our own biases. Great job ladies.
ReplyDeleteI liked the way this group broke down the main arguments at the very beginning. This was helpful to me in understanding what the book was really about. Obviously the title gives away what the text is about, but the beginning really helps the reader of the book review understand what they will be taking away from the text. I also liked the way the group talked about race versus culture and how that plays a hand in the classroom. I also love the way they talked about the "I don't see color" part. I have never thought about how this is taking away from a person and their culture and ethnicity.
ReplyDeleteI loved the group opinion. This group did such a great job of reflecting on their experiences and relating them back to the text. It was very interesting to see the groups thoughts and how they all differed based on where in the United States they grew up. Great work, everyone!
I am very interested in the issues presented in this book, so while I was reading I couldn't help but make connections to my own life and the knowledge I have. Like you guys stated in your article, it's important that we see every aspect of a person so that we can actually get to know this person. I don't think most people think this way, so if we can get ourselves and teach our students to think this way, our society might get better! (wishful thinking, right?) I also liked how you talked about "sensitive topics" and how white people shut it down immediately and change the subject, but African Americans are very blunt and straight forward. I think we could all learn from each other, so it's important we teach our students to listen and learn from each other rather than creating a separation between races.
ReplyDeleteGood job ladies! I really enjoyed reading your review :)
I really liked the beginning of paper. It made me prepared for what this book was going to be about. The three main arguments made me prepared to know what the book review was going to be about. The book title definitely prepares you to know what you are going to be reading about but it sounds like it definitely breaks it down nicely. Another thing that I liked was when you talked about how it intersects with the course material. You really explained that section well and it does put the book into perspective in the education system. Another thing that I liked about your book review was the last paragraph. You kind of sold us to reading the book and explained to us what we would be getting ourselves into if we decided to read this book. It was nice that you put this book can be kind of frustrating at times. It also prepares you to know that it will not be all sun and rainbows while you are reading it. It definitely sounds like you gained a great bit of knowledge from reading this!
ReplyDeleteGreat job!!
I really like this book based off the fact that the author is talking about what no one else will say. We all over our own norms. I don't understand why everyone is so concerned that someone else's norms are different. The points she makes in her book seem to be very true. I feel bad because I can relate to them. I have caught myself thinking these things or acting one way. It has me questioning myself. I think her third argument is one we need to teach our students in schools. We do need to see each other's color, but we need to focus on what that means in terms of culture.
ReplyDeleteThis book really correlates with the discussions we have been talking about in class. The book seems to focus on race and what we see in response to the problems prevalent among different races. I can relate to the author in the sense that I too and blind to a lot of what is happening around the world, among different cultures. I want to change that for my students though. I think that is why we have so many problems with race and culture now, because we were not taught about it. The only time I learned about different culture was in the first grade at Christmas time! This is our problem. We have to teach this next generation about race and culture to prevent this from happening again.
I think the way you all feel within your individual opinion is probably how a lot of us feel. I know it is how I feel for sure. Reading your paper made me question a lot of the privileges I have experienced in life, like receiving a job because of my parents. The review brought many things to my attention. We need to remember our role as teachers and how we can make a difference in relation to these arguments being made.
After hearing about this book in class I was really excited about reading this book review. I am currently taking a cultural diversity class where we have discussed at white privilege and race. I love how this book connects so well with real life concepts. I also like how it connects well to my other courses, which encourages me to share this book with my professor and other student teachers. I think a strong book review is important for this type of book because readers should be prepared for the sensitive topics that are discussed within this book, I like how your group did that. You all definitely know how to sell a book because I can't wait to read this soon. I think this will help me as an educator when it comes to addressing white privilege, race, and culture in my future classrooms.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds like something that matches perfectly with something that I would like to read. I enjoyed how you guys organized your paper overall. I liked how in your introductory paragraph, you let the readers know what the three main arguments the author made were and then went into detail about it. I thought the author's perspective on white privilege and how she always felt that she needed to fix other people of other cultures was so ignorant of her. I thought it was also interesting how ignorance was a major theme in this book because I feel that many times when engaging in multicultural education, we can be so ignorant at times. This is one of the main reasons I chose to take the cultural diversity elective online this semester. I feel that this book could be a great extension of that class in that it seems to hit on many of the same points. I liked how the book also hit on how sometimes we dislike or do not understand why someone is acting a certain way, but until we truly understand and learn about someone's culture, we can not truly understand their social norms and how they may differ from our own.
ReplyDeleteThis book definitely had a very strong connection to our course material, as you stated in your review, as we have been talking about race and culture within our classroom communities and how to incorporate multicultural education and communicate difficult topics into our classrooms such as social class. We have been talking about diversity in our schools and how schools differ from state to state. Wonderful Job!
I have heard some good and bad things about this book, so I was excited to read this book review. I think overall you did a great job, but I really liked your group opinion. You mentioned about racial issues and getting to know our students. As an English teacher, I was thinking about multicultural literature and implementing different types of texts that deal with different issues, race, diversity, etc. I'm sure that there are many times where I have taken my privilege for granted. I student taught at Suncrest Middle School, which is a very diverse school. If teachers do not have the knowledge of racism and cultural diversity, it would be very difficult to reach all of your students.
ReplyDeleteI think this is such an important read because we often do not put ourselves in the shoes of others. As the author said, we are ignorant and we don't even know it. As teachers, we are bound to encounter experiences with racial indifference. Many of the articles we have read in our classes throughout school have taught us how to recognize the indifference and respond appropriately. It sounds like this book has provided a new perspective and might help you see race in a new light in the classroom. I appreciate that you shared your honest opinion about the book. Hopefully, there were many lessons to be learning in reading it.
ReplyDeleteYou did a really great job summarizing the main points in the book. It is so important as teachers that we learn about different cultures and take the time to get to know the customs and traditions of other cultures. This has always been a topic that I wished to learn more about. From the sounds of your book review, this book really played well into the discussions, readings and topics we have covered in class. Your third point really stuck out to me. The quote "I don't see color, I treat everyone the same" is a quote that I have heard used so many times but you really never consider the harm that this does because you are trying to show everyone is equal. However, as we are trying to embrace these different cultures and race, saying that you dont see these difference is saying that you dont truly see the person for who they are. I found this to be a really interesting outlook on this quote.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your book review! Thanks for sharing.
The title of this book sounded interesting to me because I plan on moving to an area that is very diverse. The book has many connections between our course work and I can see why it was an option to read. I enjoyed how you broke down the main points to make it easy to follow and gave me a good understanding of the purpose of the book. One important thing I think that was mentioned was how people view topics of race as sensitive subjects. Many times teachers push off the topic on move the conversation somewhere else so as though not to offend anyone. As I can see where these teachers are coming from and why they are doing that I feel that it makes the issue worse. The only way to make the situation better is to address it. These sensitive topics need to be addressed and be a learning opportunity for not only the students but the teacher as well. I hope to read this book to get a better idea for myself of how not to shut down the conversation of race and white privilege and help my students to become understanding and informed individuals. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThis book review really helped me to grasp what the novel you read was about. The summary of main arguments at the beginning helped to solidify both the author's and your opinions on the issues of racism and white privilege. I think these are still issues within our country, more so in some areas than others, but I also think they have been shrinking in recent years. Having a novel such as this is a good conversation starter about white privilege and racism to help ensure that these issues are not the prominent aspects of our society.
ReplyDeleteGreat job!
Glen Smithberger
ReplyDeleteThis review is eye opening which reiterates what you mentioned about the book. We talked about some of these things in the book and I agree that I've said "I don't see color" or I haven't known what to say to someone. Honestly, maybe thinking you need to say something differently is the biggest mistake you can make. I do like the beginning points and the theme behind her book. I think it's really weird that the author "just woke up" one day and realized she had been doing things wrong. I think this book opens up some great topics that others are unwilling to talk about. I really liked how you didn't agree with everything and made that apparent in the opinion section.
I think that it is so interesting to see the flip side of diversity. White privilege is something that we do not discuss a lot. While many of our schools are not diverse, I think that it is important to be aware that many of us are not going to be in a school that only has a few students of different backgrounds. I think many people say that they do not see color, but there are a lot of underlying things that we do not see as discrimination unless we think about it more in depth. This book review gave me a better understanding of what these issues are. We have to address these issues and change these things in order to make our classroom a welcoming environment to learn.
ReplyDelete