Monday, January 28, 2008

The first post

Hello. Welcome to my blog. This is the first time I make one of these, and I hope it meets with your approval. In it I plan to discuss various topics pertaining to TIFLE and other interesting little tidbits for you to ponder.
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2 comments:

Vinodh Venkatesh said...

I love your blog design. Very intuitive. Do you take the same aesthetic care in your own pedagogic exploits? Keep up the good work and please visit my own blog at

tiflelikerifle@blogspot.com

January 28, 2008 at 4:48 PM
ChomboMambo said...

I'm liking the template...It looks creative. Keep up the good work.

January 29, 2008 at 8:36 PM

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CUBA

This may seem a bit out of place, but it's something I thought I'd like to share on my blog. This is a video I always show to my classes on culture days. It always amazes me at first to hear how many students do not even know where Cuba is or why they can't go...most of the time when I ask what they know about Cuba, they say that they know Cuban cigars and rum, and Fidel Castro. Oh, Fidel...once again, he has succeeded in catching the world's eye by supposedly resigning from power this week...which means absolutely nothing as long as he's still breathing. Most of my students are intrigued when we talk about Cuba, because I usually bring in personal items, such as plane tickets and magazines and photographs, all faded with time, much like the country itself. I also take this opportunity to remind them of how lucky they all are, as am I, to have been born in this country, and that we should never take for granted the fact that we are Americans. I talk about this topic fully aware of the fact that politics is usually a subject that most people like to keep out of the classroom, and I think that a lot of our society's problems would be solved if people weren't so afraid to air their opinions once in a while. Almost all of my students have thanked me, not only for showing these videos on Cuba, but also for making them aware of the fact that being American is a privilege, and not a right. It was very satisfying for me both as a teacher and an American of Cuban descent to see that my words made my students appreciate their country. A lot of them are also surprised by the fact that teachers are arrested for teaching democratic ideas and for reading certain books to their students. Most of the things that happen in Cuba are not even fathomable to people who don't see past the beaches and palm trees. It just goes to show you that things are not what they seem, and that until things are exposed, the world will see Cuba the way Fidel sees fit, and unfortunately, so much time has gone by, that most of the people who were primarily affected by his ideals are now dead, in addition to the indifference many people have in regards to Cuba and its situation. I would like to be wrong, but the more time goes by and the more I see the way Castro skillfully plans his exit, and the more the world buys it, the more I believe what he said during the early days of the revolution, "History will absolve me."