Making Connections

This week has been a very busy week for me.  But when I think about it, this week has had a common theme.  It has been all about connections. 

I created a unit for my students on the environment.  We have been learning about animals, geographical features, the environment and nature.  My students keep asking, “Why are we learning about science in French class.”  The truth is everything is connected.  I am teaching these things to my students for a variety of reasons.  First because it is becoming a very popular topic on their upcoming proficiency exam in June.  Although, it is becoming a popular topic because is is becoming a very important issue in our world today.  It is becoming a world issue because it is affecting the world a lot, especially right now.  My students should care about the environment because what we do now will affect them in their future, if not because the world is coming to an end, because it is affecting their wallets and their quality of life.  

I found that there are so many connections in the information that I teach.  In addition, I was talking about how we are exploiting the earth of its natural resources and we are exploiting certain places in the world, but not only are we exploiting these resources we are also exploiting the people who live there.  The people who are affected by these “searches for resources” are in 3rd world countries where they are already suffering.  We can also exploit people based upon certain characteristic that they possess and we can use injustices against people to exploit them. 

In speaking about exploiting people, my week moved on to having a Graduate Assistantship interview at Syracuse University.  The job interview was at the Office of Engagement Programs, which is an office that works a lot with immigrants and refugees.  As you may or may not know, Syracuse has a very large immigrant and refugee population.  In talking about  the refugees we began a discussion about social justice and injustices that occur towards these diverse groups of people. There is a negative stigma that comes with being a person of color and these people face injustice everyday and sometimes they are exploited based upon their race. 

Regarding race, I filled out my census this week, as they are required of every student going to college, and I was shocked that Hispanic, Latino and Spanish people were all singled out on the census.  I was shocked to see this and I did not understand why.  I did not see the reason to separate the Latino, Spanish and Hispanic population from the rest of the population of the United States.  If we believe so strongly in equality, why don’t we practice what we preach?

Needless to say I have had a very interesting week.  It is true that all of the world is connected in some way.  In just one week, I was able to see connections between many polar opposite events.  I believe that it is very important to understand the world around us and to make connections with the things that we experience, because as a result we will become more understanding and compassionate individuals.

Besides my massive post on social groupings and connections in the world, I am so thankful that I have all of next week off from student teaching as a result of spring break at my placement.  Since I did not gett the college spring break I am very very happy to be able to have a little bit of a break for a week from all of the things that I have been doing all semester.  It is a relief that I will have a little time to sit back and relax.  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my post and my analysis of connections that occured this week.  Enjoy!