Amber+S.

Phase I: Who Am I? What's My Place?

Many of the decisions I make are based on my raising. My parents raised me in a small town with strong religious ties. They expected a lot of me and all through school I maintained good grades because it was what was expected of me. Since graduating from high school, I have been a manager at a restaurant, lead a few clubs in college and am a lead teacher at my elementary school.
 * What __really__ makes up your identity?

My sense of place has changed from wanting to be in one location, to being most comfortable surrounded by my things. Since I have moved from Michigan, I realized that if there are familiar things around me, I am the most comfortable. My "things" include; my cats, my collection of shoes, my phone and a few well worn sweatshirts. When I am at school, I like to have photographs at my desk.
 * What __really__ makes up your sense of place?

I LOVE shoes too-Becca Because of my background, I am a people pleaser. When I work in groups, I do not like to have conflict. Also, because of my background, I like things done correctly. I tend to work very hard in groups, often taking on more than my share of the responsibilities.
 * What roles do your identity and sense of place play when you work with others in a group project?

I am very good at crossing my T's and dotting my i's. I like to get things done on time. I also am very good at working in groups and being flexible.
 * What are the qualities that you bring to the GLIP conversation that will help you make a contribution to your global group?

I believe work needs to happen with adult illiteracy. Studies prove one of the strongest indicators of a child's likelihood to become an educated adult is if they see their parents read. Many of the parents of my Hispanic students have only an elementary education. There are many other parents at my school who dropped out of high school. It's one of the hardest things to explain why an education is important when their parents do not think it is. You cannot tell them that they should want to do better than their parents, it is a very difficult situation.
 * What is one local problem (where you live) that you believe needs to be addressed? Suggest some steps could you take to try to solve it?

To begin to rectify it, more schools or churches or other public organizations, need to offer classes to adults and parents. There also needs to be an incentive for parents to come, even if it was something little like free childcare when they arrive. There should also be more of a selection of literature at the library.

I believe a person would have to have very strong willpower. They would also need thick skin because there will be many people who are negative about it. The person would have to have a friendly demeanor and a leader attitude. To make change, it would be helpful to have support from others.
 * Finally, some problems have been around for a long time. What qualities do you think a person must have to step up and try to solve them?

Hello i'm becca i'm in your group, i think your pretty cool from the way you type...if that made any sense! check out my profile!

Phase II: Sense of Place


 * I grew up in Michigan and I still consider it home. I have opted to include photographs of Mackinac Island, where I worked for the summer I was 19. During that summer, I was on my own for the first time. I had just finished my first year of college. It was during this summer that I was able to "grow up" and become independent. My parents dropped me off in June and then picked me up again in August.**

What are your initial thoughts about how your image addresses the questions above? Later, you will be working with the members of your group to create a travel package that includes visits to each group member's home location (see Phase II)


 * The above photographs show the beauty of the island and the simplicity. I worked in the Grand Hotel shown at the bottom picture. The only way to arrive on the island is by ferry. There are no cars allowed there. One of the most famous items Mackinac (pronounced: Mac-in-aw) sells is fudge. The island attracts many different people from all walks of life and economic classes. The Grand Hotel is the largest employer on the island and hires hundreds of foreign citizens. Many of the employees come from Jamaica, Mexico, Turkey and Australia.**

Phase III: Identify Local Issue:

//What is your local issue?// My local issue is adult illiteracy. I teach at a Title 1 school and many of the parents are not well educated. It is extremely difficult to explain to a child the importance of reading if their parent does not know how to read. I am also seeing much of the illiteracy from SPanish speaking homes, where the parents cannot read or speak any English.

//What can you do to be address the issue?// Schools are not only educating the children of the community. We need to educate the entire community. Our school has much technology and we could easily have it open one or two nights a week for parents to come in and learn simple working requirements - such as typing. We could also provide classes to learn how to best help your child as well as teach the parents the importance of reading.

//What is the global impact of your local issue?// With more adults being literate in our community, we will have more students being literate. We will not have as many students falling behind and they will be able to develop higher order thinking skills which will aid them in tackling global issues. The home environment is the highest indicator of a student's reading ability. If we are able to make sure that every student is going home to a text rich environment, we will be seeing higher achieving students.

Add these thoughts to your Group's Discussion Forum on Local Issues