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zorroloco 04-Feb-12, 09:53	suspended for speaking her own language? wtf? Menominee Seventh Grader Suspended for Saying "I Love You" in her Native Language Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges. Discussion » SHAWANO, WISCONSIN - What's love got to do with it? Not much, especially if you say the words "I love you" in the Menominee language in front of a certain Wisconsin teacher. Seventh grader Miranda Washinawatok, Menominee, found this out. Miranda speaks two languages: Menominee and English. She also plays on her basketball team. However, two Thursdays ago she was suspended for one basketball game because she spoke Menominee to a fellow classmate during class. Miranda attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. The school body is over 60 percent American Indian. The school is approximately six miles from the south border of the Menominee Indian Tribe Reservation. "On January 19 I was told by Miranda she was being benched from playing that night. I found out at 4:20 and we were back at school at 6:30 pm so I could get to the bottom of why she could not play," said Tanaes Washinawatok, Miranda's mother. "Miranda kept saying she was only told by her assistant coach she was being benched because two teachers said she had a bad attitude. I wanted to know what she did to make them say she had a bad attitude." At the school, the teachers and coaching staff seemed to want to cast blame on each other, according to Miranda's mother. "I wanted to talk to the principal, but he was not there before the game started," stated Tanaes Washinawatok. Being a persistent concerned parent, Washinawatok was back at the school by 7:30 the next morning to speak to the principal. The principal told Washinawatok that the assistant coach told him she was told by two teachers to bench Miranda for attitude problems. The alleged 'attitude problem' turned out to be that Miranda said the Menominee word “posoh” that means “hello” and said “Ketapanen” in Menominee that means "I love you." Miranda and a fellow classmate were talking to each other when Miranda told her how to say "Hello" and "I love you" in Menominee. "The teacher went back to where the two were sitting and literally slammed her hand down on the desk and said, "How do I know you are not saying something bad?" The story did not end there. In the next session, another teacher told Miranda she did not appreciate her getting the other teacher upset because "she is like a daughter to me." By the time, Miranda was picked up by her mother she was upset for being suspended. "Miranda knows quite a bit of the Menominee language. We speak it. My mother, Karen Washinawatok, is the director of the Language and Culture Commission of the Menominee Tribe. She has a degree in linguistics from the University of Arizona's College of Education-AILDI American Indian Language Development Institute. She is a former tribal chair and is strong into our culture," states Tanaes Washinawatok. Washinawatok has had a total of three meetings with school officials and was promised Miranda would receive a public apology, as would the Menominee Tribe, and the apologies would be publically placed. "On Wednesday, a letter was sent to parents and guardians. A real generic letter of apology, that really did not go into specifics as to why there was this apology," Washinawatok told the Native News Network Thursday evening. "I still don't think it was enough," Sacred Heart Catholic Academy is operated by the Diocese of Green Bay, which ironically has an option on its answering machine for Spanish, but not Menominee. A call put in late Thursday afternoon by the Native News Network was not returned by press time.
zorroloco 04-Feb-12, 09:56	if i did that wow! really? if i did that, 70% of my students would be suspended. i actually make an effort to learn how to say something in the language of all my students, which is challenging because my students speak 27 different language! but i can now say hello, good bye, thank you and a few other words in swahili, nepali, karen, chin, amharic, tigrinia, wolof, spanish, french, arabic, punjabi, and a few more...how cool is that?
softaire 04-Feb-12, 10:13	z That is cool and good for you. I also think that little girl ought to be thankful she wasn't arrested for sexual harassment. I mean, what she did comes pretty darn close to it and those teachers have a right to be terrified. School principal too.
chaz5 04-Feb-12, 11:42	Softy ... ... I'm not sure I understand your point ... or are you just being sarcastic? Heck, I've heard some English slang spoken out loud that turned out to be pretty bad when interpreted for my virgin ears ... how is a teacher to know what's really bad language, and why does it matter?
shamash 04-Feb-12, 11:52	6-letters, 2 syllables, rhymes with "roll" O how surprising to find that the strictures of a Western educational system, in general, for handling the young of an aboriginal tribe -- and the behavior of a teacher in particular -- any teacher feeling challenged in her classroom -- are dominated by the over-riding quest for: C O N T R O L
zorroloco 04-Feb-12, 12:12	shamash it is a fine line. i have a professional need to control my classroom. yet i also have a professional need to foster independent thought and individual freedom in my classroom. every teacher must wrestle with this seeming conflict every minute of the classroom day. good teachers find a way to do this. bad teachers do not, and almost always err on the side of control. i could tell you horror stories of how student comments got blown out of proportion and escalated into racial incidents or power struggles. power struggles are a fact of life in a high school classroom - the teacher's job is to maintain control, while demonstrating that student voice is heard and valued. saying it is not enough...students must see it in action or they do not believe it. which is correct. it is not possible to act like you care if you do not really care. one of my favorite quotes: students do not care what you know until they know that you care.
chaz5 04-Feb-12, 12:20	Z ... ... we could argue about that "fine line" of course, but I believe you have depicted the situation quite well. We need to spend more time creating environments where students may learn, and less time on police-type activities.
changeling 04-Feb-12, 14:14	A whole generation of people here were not allowed to speak their own languages/s not so long ago.
astinkyfart 04-Feb-12, 14:36	Again proof that education does not equal intelligence. Teachers like this have no business having any type of control or influence over young people. Pathetic.
thumper 04-Feb-12, 14:50	I suspect there's a whole back-story that's not being represented in the rush to 'condemn' the mean spirited 'religious' school who victimized the poor little native girl. From what's been 'reported', this doesn't add up.
zorroloco 04-Feb-12, 14:58	Deleted by zorroloco on 04-Feb-12, 17:00.
zorroloco 04-Feb-12, 17:01	thumper suspecting is fine. i would be happy to see what evidence you have to support this. i find it interesting that you are usually quick to attack the teachers, but here, with a 'victimized... poor little native girl' and with apparently no supporting evidence, you are quick to assume a 'whole back-story that's not being represented.'
chaz5 04-Feb-12, 17:42	Z ... ... I don't think Thumper represents a typical conservative POV on this, I think he's just trying to get your goat.
zorroloco 04-Feb-12, 17:49	chaz of course he is. but i like showing him how inconsistent he is   and i know he represents only himself, thank god!
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 18:01	Zorro, you sound like a dedicated teacher, so thank you on behalf of the collective unconscious. Um, shamash, just for argument's sake, control does not rhyme with roll, however, it is a major variable in animal psychology. As far as what's reported and what's not, my best hypothesis is that these two people, the girl and the teacher, like many people, probably aren't too fond of each other. Knowing this, young miss probably timed her little linguistics show to have maximum irritational effect. The teacher, who immediately deserves harsher criticism in my opinion, merely due to the fact that she's allegedly an adult, ahem, went a bit overboard because even the slightest thought of lil missy getting her goat makes her angrier than anything else on the planet. So she suspends little 7th grade girl. However, a couple hours go by, and while kids make poor attempts to play basketball, teacher, looking on, sees lil girl's mom coming through the gymnasium doors and she looks pissed. Suddenly, her mistake becomes clear, her rectum tightens a little bit and she thinks, "How the hell am I gonna bullshit my way outta this mess?! They'll probably crucify me if they find out I suspended her for speaking..." So, nerves all a twitter, she talks to her boss and they decide that the best course is to make a meaningless gesture. Give them a generic, sycophantic "apology" and then just wait until one of the other Catholic school "teachers" slips up and drops a racial slur or the school has an outbreak of lice, etc. problem solved. My point is they're both wrong, the girl and the teacher. The girl, however, so new to our journey of discovery, is still learning what is and isn't acceptable in given situations, and certainly can't be held too close to the flame, unless one happens to be a serious racist and/or mysogonist perhaps. This "teacher", on the other hand, will likely not be seriously reprimanded, and will go on to teach hundreds, maybe thousands, to be vindictive, narrow minded, and spiteful. And in all her actions, which certainly warrant some amount of disdain, I wonder exactly what part her God was playing? A grain of salt... First of all, this is all of course hypothetical and intended to stimulate discourse. Second, everyone involved in this story and everyone else is a human being. For instance, shamash, my rhyme criticism is a joke. Just supposed to be chuckled at. Not a criticism, not a judgement, a passing breath to be shared. I would no sooner harm you than myself, for to do so only serves to make my perception of the world a little darker. Crucify your ego, people, lest it lead you to act as a fool...
changeling 04-Feb-12, 18:09	normalwisconsin .........God?....................
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 18:10	She's a Catholic School teacher, yes?
changeling 04-Feb-12, 18:12	I doubt god was in her mind when she reprimanded this child.
chaz5 04-Feb-12, 18:12	Dave ... ... gosh, I thought control and roll did rhyme ... but it turned out to be a joke that went over my head ... that said, my face is red, being misled. ANYhow, I think you quite likely characterized the event as it likely occurred; and, I agree the adult has to take greater responsibility even if both were technically wrong.
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 18:13	My point exactly.
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 18:15	Chuckling, Chaz.
shamash 04-Feb-12, 19:29	better not ever say Shalom or Aloha or Gesundeit or Noel or quod erat demonstrandum regarding the posting: <<"They're both wrong, the girl and the teacher.">> W H A T did the girl do that was wrong?
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 19:34	Nothing beyond speaking out of place in class, which is probably the most common problem in a classroom, even though its rather innocent and adolescent. Her teacher's reaction just happened to be outlandish and inappropriate, and the jumping off point for all the nonsense that followed, as I see it.
chaz5 04-Feb-12, 19:34	Shamash ... ... no one is saying the girl was wrong; there was only speculation on a viable and likely possibility that both were wrong resulting in a situation as described ... as such, if and only if accurate, it was further concluded that the teacher had the greater responsibility to act appropriately.
shamash 04-Feb-12, 19:54	no one? chaz chaz read yer words, read wisconsin's words: wisconsin: <<"they're both wrong, the girl and the teacher.">> chaz: <<"I agree the adult has to take greater responsibility even if both were technically wrong">>
chaz5 04-Feb-12, 20:00	Shamash ... ... sorry, you're reading more into it than are there ... it was a hypothesis, a conjectured possibility ... please reread the passage again.
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 20:26	She wasn't wrong for what she said, just when she said it and only because a teacher needs to maintain a certain degree of control (there's that word again). Otherwise, what's the sense in even sending your kids to school. Without order, none of the students can learn, and if they're not learning, we're basically turning our teachers into glorified, modestly paid babysitters. On another note regarding the same topic, the teacher says to the girl, "How do I know if you're saying something bad?" or something to that effect. Makes me wonder. Why do we still think of certain things as "bad" language or "bad" words? How can a word be bad? Sticks and stones, right? Offensive, maybe, which certainly wasn't the case with our current subjects, but offensive doesn't mean bad. Also, in a world with 6 billion people, isn't offensive really inevitable? We can't all agree, as nice as that sounds.
softaire 04-Feb-12, 21:39	Here is another... Here is another terrifying event that teachers, principals and parents had to endue... this time by a nine year old boy in a Catholic school. I think the thing to do is seriously consider shutting down schools for the safety of "educators" and public. ******************************************************************* A 9-year-old boy was suspended from a Catholic school after mimicking a Michael Jackson "groin grab" during a performance of "Billie Jean" at a fundraiser, a Minnesota newspaper reported. The Winona Daily News reported on its website that Lenny Boberg's mother, Mindy, said the the principal at St. Stanislaus in Winona objected to her son reaching toward his groin to imitate Jackson's dance move during the performance on Thursday night. Principal Pat Bowlin told the Daily News that he would meet with the family on Monday, but he declined further comment. The Daily News reported that Bowlin sent an email Thursday night to all Winona Area Catholic Schools’ faculty, staff and families apologizing for "one act that was clearly inappropriate." Boberg said Lenny had performed similar Jackson dance routines the past two years at the St. Stanislaus event and that his performance this year had been approved at rehearsal by the WACS’ Parent-Teacher-Partnership.
normalwisconsin 04-Feb-12, 23:35	Man, we certainly wouldn't want to finally accept that we have genitalia and get over it, lol...
chaz5 05-Feb-12, 08:35	... we live in an age where we prob'ly have to know what is PC and what is not, so that we know how to behave in mixed company.

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