Assisted living dwellers, male and female, should watch mud wrestling because it is a fundraising opportunity and it helps with heart problems by increasing adrenaline and it is wonderful exercise.
This is a great way to raise money to re-seed the turf on the community golf course.
Watching people mud wrestle in skimpy suits helps to raise ones adrenaline and getting the blood flowing is helpful in maintaining a healthy heart.
Mud wrestling is terrific exercise. The athleticism in the wrestlers shows their high level of expertise in that sport.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Ranking of Suggestions
My ranking in order of importance:
Barry Boyce "A Real Education"
bell hooks "Critical Thinking"
Keith Gilyard "Children, Arts and Du Bois"
Deb Aronson "Arizona Bans [Latino/a History Program]"
Jerry Large "Gift of Grit"
The way I ranked these articles is quite straight forward.
First, one needs to be open-minded and at peace with oneself and the world or at least be able to recognize when one is not either. This makes for a more effective learning experience. Okay, now that the mind is focused it will be more able to begin to engage in a meaningful and "critical" way. The student will be more able to see different perspectives, points of view, backgrounds, etc. Next, if schools are offering the classes and programs that will only enhance and stretch the imaginations and natural gifts of students, the students will continue to learn in a positive way. After that, schools should and could offer programs of study that are applicable to the local population. I am sure that in the south in predominately African American communities there is a bigger emphasis on the contribution that African Americans have made in this country and I see no reason why anyone should be denied teaching that is more relevant to their culture as long as that opportunity is offered to everyone. And finally, Jerry Large comes in last. Of course, all children should be given the "gift of grit". The article is slightly simple in the statement "If more parents hug and kiss and coo in those first years, we'd have a lot more happy and successful children." If that were true I would have the most happy kids in the world. In my opinion, not one of these ideas would work on their own but if two or more were combined, than watch out! The skies the limit....
Barry Boyce "A Real Education"
bell hooks "Critical Thinking"
Keith Gilyard "Children, Arts and Du Bois"
Deb Aronson "Arizona Bans [Latino/a History Program]"
Jerry Large "Gift of Grit"
The way I ranked these articles is quite straight forward.
First, one needs to be open-minded and at peace with oneself and the world or at least be able to recognize when one is not either. This makes for a more effective learning experience. Okay, now that the mind is focused it will be more able to begin to engage in a meaningful and "critical" way. The student will be more able to see different perspectives, points of view, backgrounds, etc. Next, if schools are offering the classes and programs that will only enhance and stretch the imaginations and natural gifts of students, the students will continue to learn in a positive way. After that, schools should and could offer programs of study that are applicable to the local population. I am sure that in the south in predominately African American communities there is a bigger emphasis on the contribution that African Americans have made in this country and I see no reason why anyone should be denied teaching that is more relevant to their culture as long as that opportunity is offered to everyone. And finally, Jerry Large comes in last. Of course, all children should be given the "gift of grit". The article is slightly simple in the statement "If more parents hug and kiss and coo in those first years, we'd have a lot more happy and successful children." If that were true I would have the most happy kids in the world. In my opinion, not one of these ideas would work on their own but if two or more were combined, than watch out! The skies the limit....
Boyce, Large, Gilyard, Aronson and hooks
From Shambhala Sun - A Real Education(The Mindful Society) Barry Boyce
The change would be to actually focus on the mindfulness of children, teachers and the parents. Educating all on the simple acts of caring, empathy, kindness and being able to de-center oneself from their own point of view and to listen to others.
The reason - Simply put, to improve the health and well being of children. Help in preventing depression, aggression, school failure and promoting positive qualities like empathy, citizenship and strong friendships
From Jerry Large - Gift of grit, curiosity help kids succeed
The change would be instilling 'grit' in children. Grit is defined in the column as "being one of the characteristics of successful people." Other characteristics are "self-control, zest, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity."
The reason would be that people with grit are more successful. Having grit is being able to overcome failure. Apparently just hugging and kissing and cooing at your children in their early years is a good start.
From Gilyard - Children, Arts and Du Bois
The change would be to not reduce or eliminate the Humanities in schools.
The reason is that they (the humanities) "are vital to the process of shaping the critical and productive citizens that we need." Basically, being involved in the humanities- poetry, dance, story writing, lyrics, oral interpretations and song, make for a more well rounded, educated individual.
From Aronson - Arizona Bans Mexican Americans Studies Program
The change would be to reinstate the Mexican American Studies Program and get politicians out of the classroom. The MAS was an incredibly successful education program in Arizona that was disbanded when local and state politicians felt it promoted "resentment of mainstream culture".
The reason it was a successful program is in the numbers. 97% of students actually graduated high school, compared to 44% nationally and 70% of those students went on to college compared to 24% nationally. The program worked exceedingly well for those Hispanic students.
From bell hooks - Teaching Critical Thinking Practical Wisdom
The change would be to teach Critical Thinking. Critical Thinking is not taught in schools. Because memorization has become the norm in schools to get at least the basics of education taught, students are not given the opportunity to hone their critical thinking skills.
The reason it needs to be taught is that if people who do not develop the desire to know more than they will stop learning(that's my reason). Critical thinking is necessary to promote active and lifelong learning. As Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau emphasize "Critical thinking requires us to use our imagination, seeing things form perspectives other than our own and envisioning the likely consequences of our position."
The change would be to actually focus on the mindfulness of children, teachers and the parents. Educating all on the simple acts of caring, empathy, kindness and being able to de-center oneself from their own point of view and to listen to others.
The reason - Simply put, to improve the health and well being of children. Help in preventing depression, aggression, school failure and promoting positive qualities like empathy, citizenship and strong friendships
From Jerry Large - Gift of grit, curiosity help kids succeed
The change would be instilling 'grit' in children. Grit is defined in the column as "being one of the characteristics of successful people." Other characteristics are "self-control, zest, social intelligence, gratitude, optimism, and curiosity."
The reason would be that people with grit are more successful. Having grit is being able to overcome failure. Apparently just hugging and kissing and cooing at your children in their early years is a good start.
From Gilyard - Children, Arts and Du Bois
The change would be to not reduce or eliminate the Humanities in schools.
The reason is that they (the humanities) "are vital to the process of shaping the critical and productive citizens that we need." Basically, being involved in the humanities- poetry, dance, story writing, lyrics, oral interpretations and song, make for a more well rounded, educated individual.
From Aronson - Arizona Bans Mexican Americans Studies Program
The change would be to reinstate the Mexican American Studies Program and get politicians out of the classroom. The MAS was an incredibly successful education program in Arizona that was disbanded when local and state politicians felt it promoted "resentment of mainstream culture".
The reason it was a successful program is in the numbers. 97% of students actually graduated high school, compared to 44% nationally and 70% of those students went on to college compared to 24% nationally. The program worked exceedingly well for those Hispanic students.
From bell hooks - Teaching Critical Thinking Practical Wisdom
The change would be to teach Critical Thinking. Critical Thinking is not taught in schools. Because memorization has become the norm in schools to get at least the basics of education taught, students are not given the opportunity to hone their critical thinking skills.
The reason it needs to be taught is that if people who do not develop the desire to know more than they will stop learning(that's my reason). Critical thinking is necessary to promote active and lifelong learning. As Sylvan Barnet and Hugo Bedau emphasize "Critical thinking requires us to use our imagination, seeing things form perspectives other than our own and envisioning the likely consequences of our position."
Thursday, November 21, 2013
In Freires, Banking Concept of Education" Freire says "Narration(with the teacher as narrator) leads the students to memorize the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into "containers," into "receptacles" to be "filled" by the teacher."
In the movie Chalk, Mr. Lowry is trying to teach his kids by having them memorize various history vocabulary terms. I think at that point he was feeling that it was futile and just wanted to get the day over with. Interestingly Mr. Lowry was the one teacher that kept trying to reach his students and ended up engaging more fully with his students later in the school year and being more successful in gaining his students respect. He maybe recognized that he needed to learn how to talk to the kids on their own level. He went so far as to learn their slang and won a slang spelling contest.
In Gattos writing, he says "Without Conant, we would probably not have the same style and degree of standardized testing that we enjoy today, nor would we be blessed with gargantuan high school that warehouse 2000 to 4000 students at a time, like the famous Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado". We see this in the movie Chalk, there is a scene where the assistant principal is running thru the maze of hallways trying to find a wayward student. She has to communicate with someone on a radio to get directions to where the student is and probably where she was. All the hallways are named in order to make negotiating them easier for the students and staff but that does not seem to be very effective as the assistant principal was lost in her own school.
Mike Rose speaks of engaging students in his article
from the Washington Times, “The Answer Sheet: ‘Mike Rose’s Resolutions on
Education’” when he states “To have more young people get an engaging and
challenging education.” In the movie “Chalk” there are several examples of how
to not achieve this result. Mr. Stroope actually pulls aside his top two
students and says to one of them “Stop using big words in class, I’m not even
sure if you understand the meaning of some of the words that you use.” This is
his attempt to cover his own understanding of the words that he is using which
leads to what he told the other student. To a girl who is obviously bored and
possibly insulted by the ignorance of her teacher Mr. Stroope said, “Don’t
giggle in class when I am talking, it makes me look stupid in front of the rest
of the class.” He makes these statements in order to possibly get the rest of
the class to like him more and therefore help him accumulate more votes for the
teacher of the year awar
In the movie Chalk, Mr. Lowry is trying to teach his kids by having them memorize various history vocabulary terms. I think at that point he was feeling that it was futile and just wanted to get the day over with. Interestingly Mr. Lowry was the one teacher that kept trying to reach his students and ended up engaging more fully with his students later in the school year and being more successful in gaining his students respect. He maybe recognized that he needed to learn how to talk to the kids on their own level. He went so far as to learn their slang and won a slang spelling contest.
In Gattos writing, he says "Without Conant, we would probably not have the same style and degree of standardized testing that we enjoy today, nor would we be blessed with gargantuan high school that warehouse 2000 to 4000 students at a time, like the famous Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado". We see this in the movie Chalk, there is a scene where the assistant principal is running thru the maze of hallways trying to find a wayward student. She has to communicate with someone on a radio to get directions to where the student is and probably where she was. All the hallways are named in order to make negotiating them easier for the students and staff but that does not seem to be very effective as the assistant principal was lost in her own school.
In Lewis Black’s sketch “On
Education in America”, he mentions teachers that are “totally
unqualified” who show up at a school and say “I want
to help”. It is not even difficult to compare this statement to real
life which in itself is difficult to understand why when you realize it means
that our children are being taught by people who have not met the minimum
standards of being an educator. In the film “Chalk”, Mr. Stroope was exactly this type of
teacher. He was visited by a faculty evaluator where they reviewed his
shortcomings from their last meeting, which he had still not even attempted to
work on. These shortcomings included having an education plan and being
disorganized. What is a teacher if not an organized person with a structured
plan to impart their own knowledge on the children they have been entrusted to
educate? Why do we have people like this in our education system? The only
answer I can see for both of these questions is that we as parents and as
students do not push to make it different. Parents need to be engaged in the
education of their children and students need to have enough stock in their own
education to stand against such inadequacies.
Similarities and differences between Lewis Black and Mike Rose
I did not see too many similarities between the two or even differences. This was just two guys saying the system is broken in two very different ways.
Lewis Black is so sarcastic and at times funny. He has a point in what he was saying but I did not hear him offer up any concrete solutions to the problems. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that our schools are broken - which is good because none of us are"
Yes, it is ridiculous to have such an expensive public school in California, "I'm pretty sure schools shouldn't be the nicest building you'll ever be inside" and of course Tony Danza probably should not be teaching (does he have a college education and a teaching certificate?) unless he is qualified to do so, but there were no suggestions beyond the sarcasm to improve the problem. But I guess that is Lewis Blacks way of making sure people get the message,,, Schools are broke and need fixing and throwing out a bunch of stupid suggestions like the NBC reporter did "The next time you drive by a school, stop in and ask what can I do to help" are so not helping. Brilliant.
Mike Rose, on the other hand, did have some solid suggestions.
" To stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. In what other profession do we use a single metric to judge goodness? Imagine judging competence of a cardiologist by the average of her patients’ cardiograms."
These tests are not helping anything. The teachers have to teach to the test. I have heard that several times over the past years that my boys were in school. The tests measure more the ability of the teacher to teach certain subjects but don't say a lot about the students ability to learn to actually think out a problem and solve it. Also the time away from actual learning increases when these tests are being given. At Kingston High School during testing week, the only kids that are required to actually be in school before 11am are the tenth graders that are taking the test as well as a few from the other grades that are retaking the tests. What a wasted amount of time!
"To have the secretary of education, the president, and other officials stop repeating the phrase “We are going to educate ourselves toward a 21st Century economy.” It is smart economic policy more than anything else that will move us toward a 21st Century economy."
Politics do not belong in school. Maybe that's what got us in this pickle in the first place. Politicians are good at one thing....saying stuff. I am not sure they do anything beyond that, certainly they don't do anything. We need people with a solid workable solution to the problems in the schools that are not afraid to go up against the system.
That's it for now. Where's my heart medication?!!
Lewis Black is so sarcastic and at times funny. He has a point in what he was saying but I did not hear him offer up any concrete solutions to the problems. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that our schools are broken - which is good because none of us are"
Yes, it is ridiculous to have such an expensive public school in California, "I'm pretty sure schools shouldn't be the nicest building you'll ever be inside" and of course Tony Danza probably should not be teaching (does he have a college education and a teaching certificate?) unless he is qualified to do so, but there were no suggestions beyond the sarcasm to improve the problem. But I guess that is Lewis Blacks way of making sure people get the message,,, Schools are broke and need fixing and throwing out a bunch of stupid suggestions like the NBC reporter did "The next time you drive by a school, stop in and ask what can I do to help" are so not helping. Brilliant.
Mike Rose, on the other hand, did have some solid suggestions.
" To stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness. In what other profession do we use a single metric to judge goodness? Imagine judging competence of a cardiologist by the average of her patients’ cardiograms."
These tests are not helping anything. The teachers have to teach to the test. I have heard that several times over the past years that my boys were in school. The tests measure more the ability of the teacher to teach certain subjects but don't say a lot about the students ability to learn to actually think out a problem and solve it. Also the time away from actual learning increases when these tests are being given. At Kingston High School during testing week, the only kids that are required to actually be in school before 11am are the tenth graders that are taking the test as well as a few from the other grades that are retaking the tests. What a wasted amount of time!
"To have the secretary of education, the president, and other officials stop repeating the phrase “We are going to educate ourselves toward a 21st Century economy.” It is smart economic policy more than anything else that will move us toward a 21st Century economy."
Politics do not belong in school. Maybe that's what got us in this pickle in the first place. Politicians are good at one thing....saying stuff. I am not sure they do anything beyond that, certainly they don't do anything. We need people with a solid workable solution to the problems in the schools that are not afraid to go up against the system.
That's it for now. Where's my heart medication?!!
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
What do I think high school is for?
That's a tough one. After putting three boys thru the school system in North Kitsap I don't have a lot of positives to say about the purpose of high school.
What high school should be about is helping to transition the students from kids to adults. It should be about encouraging self esteem, free will and aiding in the acquiring of new skills that will put the students in better position to go out in the workforce.
What I think the high school is actually for: providing jobs for a bunch of people who may at one time thought teaching was a noble profession but got swallowed up or carried away by the constant flow of administrative BS that is so rampant in the schools. Forgive me,,, my experience, in reference to my boys, was not a good one.
Now what would I like to see changed about it?
Ha, a lot...
Besides the obvious - money, I would like to see more flexibility from the staff in dealing with the kids(young adults). They - the school administration, sees the world in black and white. Its not black and white, it is gray. The students are all individuals and should be treated as such. We all learn differently and so there should be some acknowledgement of that and students be given different options for test taking, assignments, etc. if the routine path does not work for them. If a student tests better orally instead of pen and paper or computer work than why can't some accommodation be made to help that student succeed.
The schools are too big. One of the biggest complaints I have heard from teachers is that they don't have time to give each student individual attention. Of course they don't. They have a minimum of thirty five student in five to six classes a day. That's 210 different kids who all learn in different ways. So smaller schools and smaller classrooms. Maybe if the money was actually spent in the classroom and not on "green" buses and new sports equipment every year there would be more left to spend on teaching and yes, even caring about our kids.
What high school should be about is helping to transition the students from kids to adults. It should be about encouraging self esteem, free will and aiding in the acquiring of new skills that will put the students in better position to go out in the workforce.
What I think the high school is actually for: providing jobs for a bunch of people who may at one time thought teaching was a noble profession but got swallowed up or carried away by the constant flow of administrative BS that is so rampant in the schools. Forgive me,,, my experience, in reference to my boys, was not a good one.
Now what would I like to see changed about it?
Ha, a lot...
Besides the obvious - money, I would like to see more flexibility from the staff in dealing with the kids(young adults). They - the school administration, sees the world in black and white. Its not black and white, it is gray. The students are all individuals and should be treated as such. We all learn differently and so there should be some acknowledgement of that and students be given different options for test taking, assignments, etc. if the routine path does not work for them. If a student tests better orally instead of pen and paper or computer work than why can't some accommodation be made to help that student succeed.
The schools are too big. One of the biggest complaints I have heard from teachers is that they don't have time to give each student individual attention. Of course they don't. They have a minimum of thirty five student in five to six classes a day. That's 210 different kids who all learn in different ways. So smaller schools and smaller classrooms. Maybe if the money was actually spent in the classroom and not on "green" buses and new sports equipment every year there would be more left to spend on teaching and yes, even caring about our kids.
How does Chalk illustrate the charges Freire and Gatto level agaist education?
The movie illustrates a lot of what Freire and Gatto write about - you just need to look for it. I found that by rereading(again) Gatto and Freire I was able to assign scenes from the movie to bits in the essays. Here are my examples:
From Freire: Narration(with the teacher as narrator) leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content.
In the movie, there is a scene where Mr. Lowry, a fairly incompetent first year teacher, has the students repeating words and phrases. I am sure the kids have no idea what they were in reference to except maybe history.
From Freire: In the attitudes and practices section of his writings - (h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students(who were not consulted), adapt to it.
In the movie, there is a scene where Coach Webb has decided to teach a few yoga moves and has the students doing particular exercise that makes some of the kids uncomfortable(probably in a sexual way). Some people do still have some modesty and to force the kids to set that aside is just wrong.
From Gatto: "Without Conant, we would probably not have the same style and degree of standardized testing that we enjoy today, nor would we be blessed with gargantuan high schools that warehouse 2,000 to 4,000 students at a time, like the famous
columbine High in Littleton, Colorado.
In the movie, there is a scene where the assistant principal is almost frantically running thru the maze of hallways trying to find a wayward student. She has to keep getting directions from someone on the walkie-talkie who is in a room somewhere watching on the cameras that are set up to keep tabs on the students.
From Gatto: "The empire struck back, of course; childish adults regularly conflate opposition with disloyalty.
In the movie, there is a scene where Coach Webb is whining to the assistant principal about the other teachers not disciplining their students for minor infractions and then the conversation takes a personal turn and a bit of yelling followed. The two women had claimed to be good friends at one point.
From Gatto: "Boredom is the common condition of schoolteachers, and anyone who had spent time in a teachers; lounge an vouch for the low energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there."
In the movie, the one scene that I can recall that most illustrates this passage is the scene where all the teachers are in the lounge and the one male teacher is complaining because someone took his yogurt. There was a definite lack of energy in that room.
From Freire: Narration(with the teacher as narrator) leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content.
In the movie, there is a scene where Mr. Lowry, a fairly incompetent first year teacher, has the students repeating words and phrases. I am sure the kids have no idea what they were in reference to except maybe history.
From Freire: In the attitudes and practices section of his writings - (h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students(who were not consulted), adapt to it.
In the movie, there is a scene where Coach Webb has decided to teach a few yoga moves and has the students doing particular exercise that makes some of the kids uncomfortable(probably in a sexual way). Some people do still have some modesty and to force the kids to set that aside is just wrong.
From Gatto: "Without Conant, we would probably not have the same style and degree of standardized testing that we enjoy today, nor would we be blessed with gargantuan high schools that warehouse 2,000 to 4,000 students at a time, like the famous
columbine High in Littleton, Colorado.
In the movie, there is a scene where the assistant principal is almost frantically running thru the maze of hallways trying to find a wayward student. She has to keep getting directions from someone on the walkie-talkie who is in a room somewhere watching on the cameras that are set up to keep tabs on the students.
From Gatto: "The empire struck back, of course; childish adults regularly conflate opposition with disloyalty.
In the movie, there is a scene where Coach Webb is whining to the assistant principal about the other teachers not disciplining their students for minor infractions and then the conversation takes a personal turn and a bit of yelling followed. The two women had claimed to be good friends at one point.
From Gatto: "Boredom is the common condition of schoolteachers, and anyone who had spent time in a teachers; lounge an vouch for the low energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there."
In the movie, the one scene that I can recall that most illustrates this passage is the scene where all the teachers are in the lounge and the one male teacher is complaining because someone took his yogurt. There was a definite lack of energy in that room.
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Notes from Chalk
Chalk
Parental apathy
The impact teachers actually have on their students
fifty percent of teachers quit in first three years
1st day - Math , history, principal
History teacher(Mr. Lawry) not connecting with students. has not worked as a teacher before
Scene with teachers at lunch discussing their capabilities
Mr.. Stroope - history teachers
Coach Webb - PE
Mr.. Stroope - conversation about personal goals for evaluations, sarcasm, cleanliness
lesson plans - be more detailed
Assistant principal breaks up fight
don't be students friend. gym teacher taking other teacher out of class to discipline her and then talk about walking club
history class - teacher cant find chalk. students are laughing at him. he leaves
gym teacher. make students understand your expectations and even if the aren't good she makes them think they are so they perform better
history teachers looks for books on classroom management
Assistant principal cant go to happy hour because of the demands of the job
teacher telling students to dumb it down for the rest of the class
gym teacher enjoying her job better so she can flirt with other teacher
Stroope asking other teachers about stealing , cheating, goofing off scolding teachers
win - with integrity now
teacher pretends to call parent and tell him his sons grade is pitiful
daydream with Gym teachers and history teacher
Assistant principal finds teacher sleeping
Assistant principal has inappropriate conversation with teacher. ask him if he is seeing anyone
teacher does not have time for a personal life
social studies teacher shooting at pots
teacher yells at student whose phone goes off. kicks student out and demeans him after student yells at him as well
Assistant principal and teachers at a bar talking about kissing at work
stroop talking to students about teacher of the year. boasting to students about being in the running for teacher of the year
history teacher going to confront students mom about his behavior - does not respect teacher. whining about lack of respect.
drinking wine with mom. eamon gets the wine for his mom and teacher.
Assistant principal working overtime again
coach Webb tattling about other teachers letting kids in late
Webb telling ap how to do her job
stroop coaching kid on questioning his competition for teacher of the year
teacher of the year debate. bullshit meter thru the roof
stroop being a baby about not being teacher of the year and taking up class time talking about it
throws a temper tantrum throws desk and yells at student
Assistant principal and Webb arguing in mail room
teacher spelling bee
history teacher wins the kids slang spelling bee. his students coached him during class
history teacher gives the kids free time and the kids start rapping
Mr.. Lawry says. Teaching is a gift. Maybe its something you can learn.. no one has taught me.
Parental apathy
The impact teachers actually have on their students
fifty percent of teachers quit in first three years
1st day - Math , history, principal
History teacher(Mr. Lawry) not connecting with students. has not worked as a teacher before
Scene with teachers at lunch discussing their capabilities
Mr.. Stroope - history teachers
Coach Webb - PE
Mr.. Stroope - conversation about personal goals for evaluations, sarcasm, cleanliness
lesson plans - be more detailed
Assistant principal breaks up fight
don't be students friend. gym teacher taking other teacher out of class to discipline her and then talk about walking club
history class - teacher cant find chalk. students are laughing at him. he leaves
gym teacher. make students understand your expectations and even if the aren't good she makes them think they are so they perform better
history teachers looks for books on classroom management
Assistant principal cant go to happy hour because of the demands of the job
teacher telling students to dumb it down for the rest of the class
gym teacher enjoying her job better so she can flirt with other teacher
Stroope asking other teachers about stealing , cheating, goofing off scolding teachers
win - with integrity now
teacher pretends to call parent and tell him his sons grade is pitiful
daydream with Gym teachers and history teacher
Assistant principal finds teacher sleeping
Assistant principal has inappropriate conversation with teacher. ask him if he is seeing anyone
teacher does not have time for a personal life
social studies teacher shooting at pots
teacher yells at student whose phone goes off. kicks student out and demeans him after student yells at him as well
Assistant principal and teachers at a bar talking about kissing at work
stroop talking to students about teacher of the year. boasting to students about being in the running for teacher of the year
history teacher going to confront students mom about his behavior - does not respect teacher. whining about lack of respect.
drinking wine with mom. eamon gets the wine for his mom and teacher.
Assistant principal working overtime again
coach Webb tattling about other teachers letting kids in late
Webb telling ap how to do her job
stroop coaching kid on questioning his competition for teacher of the year
teacher of the year debate. bullshit meter thru the roof
stroop being a baby about not being teacher of the year and taking up class time talking about it
throws a temper tantrum throws desk and yells at student
Assistant principal and Webb arguing in mail room
teacher spelling bee
history teacher wins the kids slang spelling bee. his students coached him during class
history teacher gives the kids free time and the kids start rapping
Mr.. Lawry says. Teaching is a gift. Maybe its something you can learn.. no one has taught me.
Blog Post - How does the WS reading pertain to P#3
How does the WS reading pertain to the final paper for this class?
Basically it reminds the reader about the types of essays we have already written and gives guidance for the final essay.
Our final essay will be of the argumentative model. It requires the writer to choose a subject and voice an opinion and then expand on the opinion - remembering all along that it is an opinion and not a fact. It also requires a clear thesis statement, something that we learned in paper #2. This will be different from the first two papers in that as an argument piece we will have to have some sort of evidence to back up statements. It should prove to be an interesting exercise for me as I am not good at all in a debate or argument - yes I know I won't actually be arguing with someone, just trying to present an intelligent and well thought out report.
Basically it reminds the reader about the types of essays we have already written and gives guidance for the final essay.
Our final essay will be of the argumentative model. It requires the writer to choose a subject and voice an opinion and then expand on the opinion - remembering all along that it is an opinion and not a fact. It also requires a clear thesis statement, something that we learned in paper #2. This will be different from the first two papers in that as an argument piece we will have to have some sort of evidence to back up statements. It should prove to be an interesting exercise for me as I am not good at all in a debate or argument - yes I know I won't actually be arguing with someone, just trying to present an intelligent and well thought out report.
What do Freire and Gatto agree on?
A lot, I think....
I don't think there would be too much disagreement if any between these two.
Lets begin with the vessel of the student. Freire says " Narration (with the teacher as the narrator) leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into "containers," into "receptacles" to be "filled" by the teacher The more completely he fills the receptacles, the better a teacher he is. The more the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are.
In Gattos writing he talks a lot about boredom and immaturity, about the system purposefully "dumbing down" the school populace so as to make them more like sheep and less likely to have a mind of their own.
Freire states " It is not surprising that the "banking" concept of education regards men as adaptable, manageable beings. The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness that would result from their intervention in the world. The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them."
Gattos says regarding the adaptation of the Prussian educational model " an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens, - all in order to render the populace "manageable".
Along those same lines, from Freire " The educated man is the adapted man, because he is better "fit" for the world. Translated into practice, this concept is well suited to the purposes of the oppressors, whose tranquility rests on how well men fit the world the oppressors have created, and how little they question it".
Also in Gattos essay there is a quote by H.L. Mencken that the aim of the public education is not
"to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence...Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim...is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States... and that is its aim everywhere else.
Both writers vigorously insist that the purpose of the education system is to, in very simple terms, turn us all into mindless consumers who will have little to no free-thought and to insure that we are too stupid to revolt. That's my overly pessimistic view anyways.
Both writers do encourage the reader to acknowledge the problem(s) in the US educational system(they do not suggest that this is just a US issue but a universal one) and give hints on how one might challenge and change the system with ones own self and children.
I don't think there would be too much disagreement if any between these two.
Lets begin with the vessel of the student. Freire says " Narration (with the teacher as the narrator) leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into "containers," into "receptacles" to be "filled" by the teacher The more completely he fills the receptacles, the better a teacher he is. The more the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are.
In Gattos writing he talks a lot about boredom and immaturity, about the system purposefully "dumbing down" the school populace so as to make them more like sheep and less likely to have a mind of their own.
Freire states " It is not surprising that the "banking" concept of education regards men as adaptable, manageable beings. The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness that would result from their intervention in the world. The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them."
Gattos says regarding the adaptation of the Prussian educational model " an educational system deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens, - all in order to render the populace "manageable".
Along those same lines, from Freire " The educated man is the adapted man, because he is better "fit" for the world. Translated into practice, this concept is well suited to the purposes of the oppressors, whose tranquility rests on how well men fit the world the oppressors have created, and how little they question it".
Also in Gattos essay there is a quote by H.L. Mencken that the aim of the public education is not
"to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence...Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim...is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States... and that is its aim everywhere else.
Both writers vigorously insist that the purpose of the education system is to, in very simple terms, turn us all into mindless consumers who will have little to no free-thought and to insure that we are too stupid to revolt. That's my overly pessimistic view anyways.
Both writers do encourage the reader to acknowledge the problem(s) in the US educational system(they do not suggest that this is just a US issue but a universal one) and give hints on how one might challenge and change the system with ones own self and children.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Paulo Freire group post
Our task was to read(after reading "The Banking Concept of Education") "Lessons to Be Learned From Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich" by Henry A. Giroux and discuss then write a summary about how the website (article) complicates, enriches and/or confuses our understanding of the reading. We decided to each write a short summary and submit to our blogs as a group.
Jane Welton
Reading the articles, I found that it enriched my understanding of the readings. The article our small group read expounded on the article assigned for the class. In "The Banking Concept of Education" it is written, "In this way, the problem-posing educator constantly reforms his reflections in the reflection of the students. The students--no longer docile listeners--are now critical co-investigators in dialogue with the teacher. The teacher presents the material to the students for their consideration and re-considers his [or her] earlier considerations as the students express their own." I compare that to a statement from "Lessons to Be Learned from Paulo Freire as Education Is Being Taken Over by the Mega Rich" which states, "...students learn how to expand their own sense of agency, while recognizing that to be voiceless is to be powerless. Central to such a pedagogy is shifting the emphasis from teachers to students, and making visible the relationships among knowledge, authority and power. Giving the students the opportunity to be problem posers and engage in a culture of questioning in the classroom..." The first article gives a great deal of information and the second digs deeper, giving more details and examples to the first. It created more understanding of what Freire had to say about the state of the world of education.
Patty Riley
Paulo Freires writing was/is difficult at times to comprehend. In rereading it a few more times as well as reading and rereading the website article I was able to more fully understand what Freire was writing about. From "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" Freire writes "The educated man is the adapted man, because he is better "fit" for the world. Translated into practice, this concept is well suited to the purposes of the oppressors, whose tranquility rests on how well men fit the world the oppressors have created, and how little they question it." Giroux backs this up with " Central to critical pedagogy is the recognition that the way we educate out youth is related to the future that we hope for and that such a future should offer students a life that leads to the deepening of freedom and social justice. " The web article gave me a new understanding of what Freire was detailing but although not in much simpler terms at least in more understandable detail so yes, I would say that the web article definitely enriched Freires writing. It neither complicated nor confused this reader any further.....
Enrique Acuna
Enrique Acuna
My high school experience happens between 1983 and 1987. I
was an average students got “C” average on occasion I would bet an A. Cooking,
art, PE, and Shop automotive where the classes I excelled and I really didn’t
have to try. About my sophomore & junior , I would met with my guidance
counselor and he would go over my score exams and tell me that I was only
capable to get a job in these field, automotive, secretarial, janitorial, and
cooking. I was never expected to excel, I didn’t know how to. I was a sponge at
the time and wanted to know more and learn. I would study astronomy and know
the stars in the sky and the planets; I would read books and books about
astronomy and black stars, super nova and other celestial objects. I also loved
geology, I wanted to know about dinosaurs and evolution, I was very fascinated
with Darwin, these are things I would read and teach myself. At the end of my
senior year I asked why I never took biology, I always wanted to cut open a
frog, and chemistry. I wanted to mix chemicals and learn the periodic table and
all its elements. I was told It wasn’t in my profile. I just ignored it because
I had been approved to join the navy and serve on a nuclear submarine.
So in gattos, paper
against school. I really feel that I was actually a product of Mr. Inglis
school modem. The conformity function as it was called, I was the kid they were
trying to make predictable so I can become a great use for this nation and its
large labor force that was to become the 1990’s. I was being sorted and trained
to a certain destination and told that’s it buddy you hit the glass ceiling of
your career at 19. Congratulation tell him what he wins, Bob. You are now
assistant manager of a local Del Taco restaurant here in sunny California. What
made me not fall in that pitfall, I believed my parents had a huge influence on
me to work hard and have pride at what you do, more my Dad than my mom. At a
young age 14 I was working in a nursing home and assembly line for early apple
iie computers. I had a car and I had liberty to come and go freely. I was
responsible.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
My high school experience compared to Gatto
I have to concede after reading Gattos essay that my high school experience was just that... boring. I graduated in 1981from Issaquah Sr. High in Issaquah, Washington. I don't have a lot of detailed recollections of school but I do still retain how I felt about school.
I can't say that I hated it but I certainly did not like it and I did not enjoy too much of it.
Issaquah had an open campus. At that school in particular, that meant that each classroom exited to the outdoors. This was supposed to promote some sort of individuality I assume. It failed in that regard.
My classes were all generic. There was no challenge for me except in one area. I will explain that in a bit. I did not do well in math so instead of finding a way to tutor me I was merely kept in a lower math that would fulfill graduation requirements. I took a few different history courses - one I remember was WWII history in Europe, lots of old black and white documentaries there. English - I remember the teacher but only because she did not like me and my friends. Looking back I think she was just terribly bored. Gym(PE) was fun but only because we were still allowed to play dodge ball.
I don't recall an actual teacher in PE. Maybe we were left to our own devices after being given instructions and the teacher went off to do whatever they do.....
What I did enjoy in high school and where I have most of my good memories was the NJROTC program at the school. It was termed "Naval Science" for classroom purposes and that was fairly boring but the other activities involved with that class were challenging and I think were in a small part responsible for some of my later choices in life. There was a rifle team which my brother excelled in, a drill team which I excelled in and the opportunity to learn leadership and teamsmanship, which we both excelled in. The difference in teachers was very obvious as well. All of my teachers were just that - teachers and unfortunately they fell into the trap that Gatto talks about. My Naval Science instructors, on the other hand, were not just teachers, they were Navy. There were two instructors, both retired navy officers. We didn't even call them teachers, they were instructors.
I wonder if I would have any positive recollections if the school had not offered NJROTC and there was nothing else to spark any interest for me. Probably not.
I can't say that I hated it but I certainly did not like it and I did not enjoy too much of it.
Issaquah had an open campus. At that school in particular, that meant that each classroom exited to the outdoors. This was supposed to promote some sort of individuality I assume. It failed in that regard.
My classes were all generic. There was no challenge for me except in one area. I will explain that in a bit. I did not do well in math so instead of finding a way to tutor me I was merely kept in a lower math that would fulfill graduation requirements. I took a few different history courses - one I remember was WWII history in Europe, lots of old black and white documentaries there. English - I remember the teacher but only because she did not like me and my friends. Looking back I think she was just terribly bored. Gym(PE) was fun but only because we were still allowed to play dodge ball.
I don't recall an actual teacher in PE. Maybe we were left to our own devices after being given instructions and the teacher went off to do whatever they do.....
What I did enjoy in high school and where I have most of my good memories was the NJROTC program at the school. It was termed "Naval Science" for classroom purposes and that was fairly boring but the other activities involved with that class were challenging and I think were in a small part responsible for some of my later choices in life. There was a rifle team which my brother excelled in, a drill team which I excelled in and the opportunity to learn leadership and teamsmanship, which we both excelled in. The difference in teachers was very obvious as well. All of my teachers were just that - teachers and unfortunately they fell into the trap that Gatto talks about. My Naval Science instructors, on the other hand, were not just teachers, they were Navy. There were two instructors, both retired navy officers. We didn't even call them teachers, they were instructors.
I wonder if I would have any positive recollections if the school had not offered NJROTC and there was nothing else to spark any interest for me. Probably not.
Gatto Discussion with Lucus
Question 2. Why do you think that Gatto continued to teach for 31 years? What do you think he sees as his own role in public education? Write out 5 sentences from his text that you can use to support your answers.
We(Lucus and I) felt that Gatto continued to teach because he did recognize that boredom was a problem in the public school system and he felt maybe that he had a different perspective than most teachers in regards to the boredom that students and teachers alike felt. He had a different understanding of the school system.
Our five sentences do not necessarily support what Gatto did to relieve the boredom but more it explains why and how our school system got that way.
1. Speaking of his grandfather, "one afternoon when I was seven I complained to him of boredom and he batted me hard on the head. He told me I was never to use that term in his presence again, that if I was bored it was my own fault and no one else's." "That episode cured me of boredom forever, and here and there over the years I was able to pass on the lesson to some remarkable student."
2. "They(the kids) said the teachers didn't seem to know much about their subjects and clearly weren't interested in learning more. And the kids were right: their teachers were every bit as bored as they were"
3. "When asked why they(the teachers), the teachers tend to blame the kids, as you might expect. Who wouldn't get bored teaching students who are rude and interested only in grades? If even that. Of course, teachers are themselves products of the same twelve-year compulsory school programs that so thoroughly bore their students, and as school personnel they are trapped inside structures even more rigid than those imposed upon the children."
4 . "I had more than enough reason to think of our schools - with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers - as virtual factories of childishness."
5. "My own experience had revealed to me what many other teachers must learn along the way, too, yet keep to themselves for fear of reprisal: if we wanted to we could easily and inexpensively jettison the old, stupid structures and help kids take an education rather than merely receive a schooling ".
We(Lucus and I) felt that Gatto continued to teach because he did recognize that boredom was a problem in the public school system and he felt maybe that he had a different perspective than most teachers in regards to the boredom that students and teachers alike felt. He had a different understanding of the school system.
Our five sentences do not necessarily support what Gatto did to relieve the boredom but more it explains why and how our school system got that way.
1. Speaking of his grandfather, "one afternoon when I was seven I complained to him of boredom and he batted me hard on the head. He told me I was never to use that term in his presence again, that if I was bored it was my own fault and no one else's." "That episode cured me of boredom forever, and here and there over the years I was able to pass on the lesson to some remarkable student."
2. "They(the kids) said the teachers didn't seem to know much about their subjects and clearly weren't interested in learning more. And the kids were right: their teachers were every bit as bored as they were"
3. "When asked why they(the teachers), the teachers tend to blame the kids, as you might expect. Who wouldn't get bored teaching students who are rude and interested only in grades? If even that. Of course, teachers are themselves products of the same twelve-year compulsory school programs that so thoroughly bore their students, and as school personnel they are trapped inside structures even more rigid than those imposed upon the children."
4 . "I had more than enough reason to think of our schools - with their long-term, cell-block-style, forced confinement of both students and teachers - as virtual factories of childishness."
5. "My own experience had revealed to me what many other teachers must learn along the way, too, yet keep to themselves for fear of reprisal: if we wanted to we could easily and inexpensively jettison the old, stupid structures and help kids take an education rather than merely receive a schooling ".
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Compare and Contrast “Stand and Deliver” and “Mona Lisa Smile” Paper #2
Patricia Riley
After watching Mr. Escalante in “Stand and Deliver” and Ms.
Watson in “Mona Lisa Smile” I was stuck not only by the similarities of the two
teachers but also by their differences. In Stand and Deliver Mr. Escalante
consistently shows his absolute confidence in his student’s ability to learn
higher math. While they were both good
teachers I think that Mr. Escalante greatly surpassed Ms. Watson with his
dogged persistence in getting his students to the point where they could
somewhat confidently take the Advanced Placement test for Calculus. Ms. Watson goes to teach at Wellesley College
in Eastern Massachusetts with the intention of not only sharing her love of art
with the select group of privileged female students but also of perhaps
bringing some enlightenment to the women
in regards to having more in their lives outside of marriage, children and a
showcase home. They both had a tenacious streak that would
not allow them to give up on their students even though the students sometimes
gave up on themselves.
At the beginning of the movie, Stand and Deliver, Mr.
Escalante arrives at the school to find it in chaos. He is told he will not be teaching computer science
but will be teaching math. Instead of
turning around and quitting he goes to his class and starts to teach. When he meets the all-Hispanic math class it
firms his resolve to make a difference with the students. He sees himself in those kids and wants them
succeed in life and go beyond what society expected of them. In the scene during the first full class session,
Mr. Escalante is trying to spark an interest in the students for math. “It was your ancestors that first
contemplated the zero. The absence of
value. True story. You burros have math
in your blood!”
At the point in the movie where the class is working on a
particularly difficult question, Ana Delgado reveals that that day is her last
as her dad needs her to work at the family restaurant full time. She is obviously sad that she will not be
able to finish high school and realize her dream of going to college. Mr. Escalante does not say anything at that
time but we find him later at the restaurant with his wife having dinner. Ana introduces her father to Mr.
Escalante. After he sits down Mr.
Escalante tells Ana’s father that she should be back in school. He is determined that Mr. Delgado understands
how important it is that Ana return to school.
“She should make her own choices.
She is Top Kid!” He continues to
try to get Mr. Delgado to see the advantages of Ana continuing her education to
the point where he practically told to leave.
He does leave, probably thinking that he will never see Ana again but is
obviously delighted to see her soon return to his class.
When the class finally takes the Advanced Placement test for
Calculus after months of studying and even giving up their summer for
additional tutoring they all pass with exceptional scores. After being told that they have achieved
their goal it is viciously taken from them when suspicion arises that there was
cheating involved. This proved to be yet
another example of Mr. Escalante’s firm belief in his student’s ability, and
honesty for that matter. He defends them
even to the point of calling out one of the investigators. Mr. Escalante has confronted the two
investigators, Mr. Ramirez and Mr. Pearson.
After a rather intense verbal altercation, Mr. Ramirez says that “this
is not between you and me”. “Maybe not,”
responds Mr. Escalante, “but if I catch you on the street I am gonna kick the
shit out of you.”
Ms. Watson displays her own type of tenaciousness in “Mona
Lisa Smile” when dealing with the superior behavior of her students the first
time she meets them. When she begins her
slide show of well-known works of art and hopes to amaze them with her
knowledge, she is somewhat put out when the students recite all the details about
each piece of artwork. She is in fact, a
bit humiliated, but instead of tucking her tail between her legs and fleeing in
embarrassment she compiles a new set of slides.
This set of slides, shown during the following class, are of then modern
day advertisements showing women doing what society decided should be their
role in the life – housework, and a quite vulgar painting by Soutine titled “The
Carcass” The students don’t know
anything about the Soutine painting but
instead of gloating, Ms. Watson proceeds to teach the women how to look at art
from a different perspective, perhaps from the angle of the artist and why
he/she painted it instead of the surface appreciation one feels when looking at
works of art. She continues in this way and it pays off for
her when the students begin to engage in more meaningful dialogue. “Is it any good?” challenges Ms. Watson “Come
on ladies. There is no textbook to tell
you what to think!” This generates quite
a stimulating discussion that signals the beginning of a new perspective of not
only art but the roles that women have been cast into.
Another example of how tenacious Ms. Watson could be is not
necessarily an admirable one. She asks
Joan Brandwyn what her intentions were regarding furthering her education after
graduation. When Joan says that she has
thought about law school, Ms. Watson takes matters into her own hands and
obtains an application for Yale Law School and gives it to Joan on the sly. After she found out that Joan was getting
married to a young man who was attending college in Philadelphia she researched
law schools in that area and even brought the college catalogs and applications
to Joan’s parents’ home. On that occasion
she discovered that Joan and her fiancé had eloped the night before and that
she (Joan) did not want to be a lawyer.
She wanted to be a wife and mother. “You tell us to look beyond the
image but you don’t.” Joan ardently defended herself. “To you a housewife is someone who sold her
soul for a center-hall Colonial. She has
no depth, no intellect, no interests. You are the one who said I could be
anything I wanted. This is what I want.”
Initially Ms. Watson found that hard to
understand, that Joan or any woman for that matter, would actually want to be a
homemaker and not have a career of her own but she soon realized that Joan was
firm in her convictions and she graciously congratulated her.
At the end of the school year, Ms. Watson is invited back
for the next academic year but with several unreasonable preconditions. She declines and takes that opportunity to do
something she has only dreamed of – traveling to Italy to see the works of the
great artists that she teaches about. As she is being driven away from the school
in a taxi, the women whom she had taught for the past year follow on their
bicycles, openly showing their love and admiration for her and for all the
windows and doors she had opened for them.
Betty Warren’s final column conveys the depth of respect that she
finally feels for Ms. Watson. “I have
heard her called a quitter for leaving. An aimless wanderer. But not all that wander are aimless. Especially not those who seek the truth
beyond tradition, beyond definition, beyond image. We will never forget you”
Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson were both very tenacious teachers and I suspect that that tenacity went beyond their professional lives and contributed to a fulfilling life in so many ways. They both wanted the best for their students,
for their students to realize their own abilities and push beyond that. They taught their respective subjects from
the heart, knowing that they had the opportunity to make a positive difference in
even just one life. Their differences lay perhaps in their
motivation for teaching. Mr. Escalante
has a genuine love of math and an understanding of where his students are
from. He knows how to talk to them
because he is from the same background.
He also gives his students the respect they are due as human
beings. That respect is not apparent
from the rest of the staff. Ms. Watson
on the other hand is not from the same background as her students and I don’t
think she truly understands that although some of the women are merely following
the path that their families have laid out for them, some of them actually want
to go down that particular road. She is
a bit more progressive than they are used to at Wellesley but she does, in the
end, accomplish what she had set out to do, what she told her students early in the movie, “Look
beyond the paint.”
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Rough Draft - incomplete but you get the idea!!
After watching Mr. Escalante in “Stand and Deliver” and Ms.
Watson in “Mona Lisa Smile” I was stuck not only by the similarities of the two
teachers but also by their differences.
They both had a tenacious streak that would not allow them to give up on
their students even though the students sometimes gave up on themselves. In Stand and Deliver Mr. Escalante
consistently shows his absolute confidence in his student’s ability to learn
higher math. While they were both good
teachers I think that Mr. Escalante greatly surpassed Ms. Watson with his
dogged persistence in getting his students to the point where they could
somewhat confidently take the Advanced Placement test for Calculus. Ms. Watson goes to Wellesley College in
Eastern Massachusetts with the intention of not only sharing her love of art
with the select group of privileged female students but also of perhaps
bringing some enlightenment to the women
in regards to having more in their lives outside of marriage, children and a
showcase home.
At the beginning of the movie, Mr. Escalante arrives at the
school to find it in chaos. He is told
he will not be teaching computers but will instead be teaching math. Instead of turning around and quitting he
goes to his class and starts to teach.
When he meets the all Hispanic math class it firms his resolve to make a
difference with the students. He sees
himself in those kids and wants to see them succeed in life and go beyond what
society expected of them. ADD EXAMPLE
At the point in the movie where the class is working on a
particularly difficult question, Anita reveals that that day is her last as her
dad needs her to work at the family restaurant full time. She is obviously very sad at the prospect of
not completing her high school studies or going on the college. Mr. Escalante does not say anything at that
time but we find him later at the restaurant with his wife having dinner. Anita introduces her father to Mr.
Escalante. ADD EXAMPLE
When the class finally takes the Advanced Placement test for
Calculus after months of studying and even giving up their summer for
additional tutoring they all pass with exceptional scores. After being told that they have achieved their
goal it is viciously taken from them when suspicion arises that there was
cheating involved. This proved to be yet
another example of Mr. Escalante’s firm belief in his student’s ability, and
honesty for that matter. He defends them
even to the point of calling out one of the investigators. ADD EXAMPLE
Ms. Watson displays her own type of tenaciousness when
dealing with the superior behavior of her students the first time she meets
them. When she begins her slide show of well-known
works of art and hopes to amaze them with her knowledge, she is somewhat put
out when the students recite the facts about each piece of artwork. She is in fact, a bit humiliated, but instead
of tucking her tail between her legs and fleeing in embarrassment she compiles
a new set of slides. This set of slides,
shown during the following class, are of little known and slightly vulgar
paintings. The students don’t know
anything about them but instead of gloating, Ms. Watson proceeds to teach the
women how to look at art from a different perspective, perhaps from the angle
of the painter and why he/she painted it instead of the surface appreciation
one feels when looking at works of
art. She continues in this way
and it pays off for her when the students begin to engage in more meaningful
dialogue. ADD EXAMPLE
Significance of drafting exercises
The paper drafting exercises we did in class were extremely helpful in trying to decide which direction to take in writing my second paper.
I think for me, at this time, the block format will be the most direct way for me to write my paper. It allows me to focus on one teacher at a time instead of trying to contrast and compare in the same paragraph. I can discuss Mr. Escalante for three paragraphs and then go on to discuss Ms. Watson for the same length of time and then use the conclusion to delve into their differences a bit.
The point by point format would be a great format for me to use if my subjects were really different but in my view Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson have several similarities.
The third organizational format is an interesting one. I think it would easy to do this one and I may have in fact followed that route with my paper. I am not really sure just yet but my paper is starting to take on the characteristics of this format. It allows for more comparisons in the introductory paragraph and then the writer goes on the use on of the other formats.
I think for me, at this time, the block format will be the most direct way for me to write my paper. It allows me to focus on one teacher at a time instead of trying to contrast and compare in the same paragraph. I can discuss Mr. Escalante for three paragraphs and then go on to discuss Ms. Watson for the same length of time and then use the conclusion to delve into their differences a bit.
The point by point format would be a great format for me to use if my subjects were really different but in my view Mr. Escalante and Ms. Watson have several similarities.
The third organizational format is an interesting one. I think it would easy to do this one and I may have in fact followed that route with my paper. I am not really sure just yet but my paper is starting to take on the characteristics of this format. It allows for more comparisons in the introductory paragraph and then the writer goes on the use on of the other formats.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Really rough ideas for my second paper!
As I may have mentioned before I do not have a good enough recollection of two teachers from my own schooling to write a paper on so I will be writing about two fictional characters.
While I enjoyed Robin Williams' portrayal of Mr. Keating in "Dead Poets Society" I think I may end up writing about Ms. Watson from "Mona Lisa Smile". Mr. Escalante will of course be one of the teachers - there is so much to draw from in that movie.
Ms. Watson is a young and unmarried art teacher who arrives at Wellesley College in Maine with the hope of teaching a group of privileged college women to love art. I think she expected them to be a bit more progressive than they turned out to be. The college women were only there to earn a degree until they got married and built their lives around their husbands and children. As the movie was set in the 1950's that was what was expected from a lot of women of the time. Ms. Watson moved to Maine from California where women were not so tied to a mans success and they felt they were perfectly capable of making a different type of contribution to society than by marrying and having children. Just guessing here....
So there it is - my paper will be on Mr. Escalante from "Stand and Deliver" and Ms. Watson from "Mona Lisa Smile" I reserve my right to change my mind.
My thesis statement is ..........to be revealed in an upcoming post.
While I enjoyed Robin Williams' portrayal of Mr. Keating in "Dead Poets Society" I think I may end up writing about Ms. Watson from "Mona Lisa Smile". Mr. Escalante will of course be one of the teachers - there is so much to draw from in that movie.
Ms. Watson is a young and unmarried art teacher who arrives at Wellesley College in Maine with the hope of teaching a group of privileged college women to love art. I think she expected them to be a bit more progressive than they turned out to be. The college women were only there to earn a degree until they got married and built their lives around their husbands and children. As the movie was set in the 1950's that was what was expected from a lot of women of the time. Ms. Watson moved to Maine from California where women were not so tied to a mans success and they felt they were perfectly capable of making a different type of contribution to society than by marrying and having children. Just guessing here....
So there it is - my paper will be on Mr. Escalante from "Stand and Deliver" and Ms. Watson from "Mona Lisa Smile" I reserve my right to change my mind.
My thesis statement is ..........to be revealed in an upcoming post.
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