Hwk 58

Part 3:
Parenting, “the most dysfunctional relationship ever” (Plaza). Many parents feel that after they have a child, their life becomes very different compared to how it was before. They now have to take care of another being which is all their own responsibility, who needs full time and attention. Their life is totally changed because before they had a child, all the time they had was given to their own necessities. Now that have welcomed a child into their life, they have to divide their time for themselves and the baby. “Your time is never your own again because you become a slave to the baby” (Marks). I agree with this because before having a child, you are allowed to do whatever you want whenever you want. You are the one that gets to control your own time; you have all the freedom you need. After you have a baby take over your life, you have to start giving it part of your own time. It’s all about commitment and how responsible the parent is. Even though the parent will not want to give all the time they have to their baby, they will be forced to do so because it will be their own child, someone who is a part of them self.

Because we grow up to be so close with each other, the parent and child relationship makes the child used to getting attention. As a baby, we need the attention from others so we can survive and then learn to be on our own. I would say that a baby’s cry is a sign that shows us that there is attention needed by the baby. Whether they need to be fed, a diaper change, or they are sleepy it all means that they need help from their parent figure. This is why later on when the child grows up, it wants to have the approval it needs from other in society as well. “The togetherness force urges us towards others, for attachment, for affiliation, and for approval” (Student in class/Andy?). Because we all grow up with the love from our parents we become used to all this attention. When I asked my mom about her experience when she had to take care of my siblings and I as babies she responded: “It is very tough, they need a constant eye of an older figure, if you take your eye off of them then you will start to worry about them” (Mujeeb). Since babies receive constant attention from others, they grow up with this thirst of approval from others.

Part 4:
Before this unit on parenting, I wasn’t really aware of what one has to go through after they become a parent. I feel like many of us take our parents for granted because we feel like they will always be there for us providing us with their love and care. Taking a part of this unit, I was able to learn about what actually goes on in the life of a parent. After becoming a parent, the adult figure learns about a whole new chapter in life. Their life takes a drastic change after the baby is born, the parents only then learn to give time to another being other than them self with full commitment. Both Ms. Plaza and Mr. Marks told us about their experiences as a parent and the duties that come with a child. They both talked about how struggling it is to raise a child after its birth, but never did they hate being a parent. I don’t think a parent can ever have hatred towards their child, unless if they are cold hearted and cruel. When someone becomes a parent they need to understand that they are the adult figure for their child. They will be the closest figures for their child, and it all depends on them when it comes to how they will be raised. Even though it might be hard at first to become used to the idea, I think all parents will learn to love their child one way or another.

I will definitely look back to these insights from others whenever the time comes for me to become a parent. I have a lot to do before I think of becoming a parent. I need to get my life stabilized and be ready before I even have such a thought. I do not want to take a part of an unplanned parenthood because I feel like I will then regret my decision of becoming a parent. It will take away all the joy a parent gets from their child. I have much more learning and research to do before I become a parent, but this parenting unit was a great start to plan out my life. Throughout this unit, I was able to realize what my parents had to go through when I was younger and how they raised me. It’s a very tough job to be a parent, even though many of us are fooled about the thought of having our own cute baby. Instead we get a slap from reality when we become aware of how hard such a job is. This unit was able to educate me about all the responsibility and love a child needs to grow up properly. I will definitely take all the insights I gained from others when the day I want to become a parent comes around.

Hwk 57

Part 1:
There are many different ways kids can be parented. There is no correct way out there that we all have to follow. I don’t think there should be a step by step guide either. All you need to show is love and responsibility towards your child. I think it comes naturally for someone to parent a child. I feel like the love builds up and so does the responsibility because you know that this child is yours and you have the first opportunity of ownership. While the child grows up, the parent becomes more and closer to their child and they start to get used to everything about them. This later on builds love towards the parents and their child. If there are no signs of love and responsibility between the parent/child relationship, then I think there would not be a stable parenthood. There has to be some form of love and responsibility for one to properly parent their child.

When I was younger my parents were not really educated much about parenting. Since my grandparents and the rest of our families were all back in Pakistan, my parents didn’t have much guidance. But I guess the best part of how my siblings and I were parented would probably have to do with us being so close and comfortable with each other. This caused us to become very close knit and we were able to grow up with each other by our side at all times. This is why I believe that my family is the closest thing I have to me, because no matter what they will always be there in both good and bad times. There weren’t many worst parts to how I was being parented; I guess the worst part would be that I wasn’t able to grow up with my extended family beside me at all times. I mean I have visited them a few times back in Pakistan, but other then that we lack some closeness.

Hmmmm, I don’t know really. That is not going to be happening anytime soon, but I am the oldest sibling. I guess that is the closest I can get to parenting at this time in my life. I am usually put in charge of them when my parents are away. Actually a couple of weeks ago I had to “parent” my siblings for three weeks while my parents were away. I guess looking back at that experience; I was a pretty okay “parent”. I wasn’t the best because I’m only a teenager and I have many more things to learn before I actually do become a parent one day; then again there are my own priorities as well. If I were to be put in a parenting position on the spot, I think I would survive but I still have many things I need to learn. I would probably have to refer to my parents and the rest of my family for help.

I think babies should be treated more like puppies instead of adults because they are only new to the world. We need to train them to become adults and this takes time. If we start to treat them like an adult right away, they will have no childhood memory. I think that all youngsters need to be trained into become an adult because they will have no experience at all about learning new things. If a baby is treated like an adult when they are born, they would not be considered as a baby. Even though they would look like a baby on the outside, in reality they would be an adult trapped inside a baby’s body; it just won’t make any sense at all.

Part 2:
I think that this idea of applying the technique of “Love and Logic” is absurd. When the child is open to any direction, and they are in charge of choosing what they want to do, they will become used to this idea. It may sound appealing at first, but later on the parent will regret this decision. The parent is the bigger figure and they need to be the ones that are controlling what their child is supposed to do. When a child is given choices, they will become used to this and try to turn the tables on the parent figure. This will then outsmart the parent. The mother that writes this regrets her decision of giving her kids choices all the times. Because by doing so, she made it harder on her own self and now the kids are only happy with their own way. By having the child make all decisions on their own, they will become more superior when compared to the parent.

The Ferber method is a technique created to solve infant sleeping problems. I agree at many points with this method. It takes slow steps for a baby to go to sleep on their own. I agree with the Ferber’s method because it helps the baby take tiny steps into individuality. They start to become more independent. Even though the child is reminded about their parent, they are becoming independent at the same time. As the baby becomes used to this process, he/she will slowly start to sleep on their own. This method works in my mind because it makes sense for something to go slow paced so that the individual can become used to it and keep it going at continuously. In this case the baby is used to their parent checking in on them at certain times in a night while they go to bed, but they are expected to sleep on their own. I don’t know how well this method works though. There are many babies out there that will cry throughout the whole night for their parent figure to come and take care of them, but I do like the idea of it.

Hwk 56

My revised question: Why do some people care more about the approval from others like family and friends instead of their own approval?

Part 1:

1. Do you feel closer with your family or friends? In what ways do you feel you are closer to them?
2. Who do you rely on the most, and what causes you to do so?
3. How do you know when you have gotten the approval of others? How does this make you feel?
4. Do you ever approve of yourself, or do you let the approval of others take over?
5. Do you feel comfortable when getting the approval you need from others, or do you just do it to make them happy, but you suffer?
6. What is the furthest you have gone to receive the approval you need from others or yourself? Did you feel comfortable with this decision?

Part 2:

Michelle:
Q: Do you feel closer with your family or friends? In what ways do you feel you are closer to them?
A: I feel like I am closer to both my family and friends in different ways. My family comes first obviously, because they know me the best and they had to put up with me my whole life. They are always there for me no matter what. I am close to my friends as well because I am able to make more connections with them. I am able to discuss different topics about life with them that I usually wouldn’t be able to discuss with my family.

Q: Do you ever approve of yourself, or do you let the approval of others take over?
A: That’s a hard question, because no one wants to come out and say they want the affirmation of others. But for me I do stuff for the approval of those who influence me, but sometimes I want the approval of myself as well, so I can also have a say. My thoughts are always included in my final decision.

Q: What is the furthest you have gone to receive the approval you need from others or yourself? Did you feel comfortable with this decision?
A: I have felt once in my life that I have done something that was uncomfortable, or not who I was to please another. I would say labeling also has to do with approval from others, for example my family labels me as their good and responsible daughter. But I know it’s for my own good to succeed in life.

Arden:
Q: Do you feel closer with your family or friends? In what ways do you feel you are closer to them?
A: Most of the time I feel closer with my friends. I can tell them things I do not always feel I can tell my parents. It just seems like my friends would be ok with something that my parents wouldn’t be.

Q: Who do you rely on the most, and what causes you to do so?
A: I rely on different people for different things. Mostly though I would say I rely on my friends and my sister. My friends and my sister are people that I can talk to who won’t judge me and be supportive and be there in good and not so good times.

Q: Do you ever approve of yourself, or do you let the approval of others take over?
A: I care about what other people think yes. My friends opinion count more than other peoples. But overall I think it’s important that a person likes who they are themselves not based off of what other people say or want.

Aneeqa:
Q: Do you feel closer with your family or friends? In what ways do you feel you are closer to them?
A: Yeah...I feel like I am close with both of them because both my family and friends are a part of my life and make me who I am. If I had to choose I would say that my family is closer in a way because they are there for me at anytime I need them. In an official way, friends are important and closer as well because they always consolidate me in both good and bad times. I love both, my family and friends very much.

Q: Do you ever approve of yourself, or do you let the approval of others take over?
A: Oh, of coarse...I approve of myself if I feel like I am making the right decision for myself. I don’t think people should only try to receive the approval from others because then they have no right to live their own way. They should always stand up for what they feel is right, and they shouldn’t let the approval from others get in their way, which will cause them to make the wrong decision.

Q: Do you feel comfortable when getting the approval you need from others, or do you just do it to make them happy, but you suffer?
A: I feel much comfortable with my own approval first, because if I don’t get the approval I need from others on a decision I am making based off of my approval, I will force them to agree with me giving them reasons to do so. I guess that’s just me though, since I am a pretty straightforward person…


Part 3:

I would say that most of the responses I got on my questions were how I would reply to someone with the same questions. For me my family always comes first before my friends, but my friends are people that I would have a hard time to live without, so I need them to be there as well. I guess in our age we need support from our friends because they are struggling with the same difficulties we all go through. Most of the answers I got on my questions were expected, but there were times where people had different say. Some people felt they were closer with their families, while others said that they were closer with their friends. A lot of people said they felt closer with their family since they are there for them at all times; I would agree with them as well. Connecting my responses to my research question: Why do some people care more about the approval from others like family and friends instead of their own approval? I would say it’s because we are not aware that we have a say as well. We live in a culture that makes us feel that our approval is nothing when compared to the approval of others.

Part 4:

Whose approval matters to you the most; your family, your friends, or yourself?

Hwk 55

Part 1:
What are some reasons people tend to be more concerned about the approval of strangers instead of family?

Part 2:
Kate,
I think your questions are pretty interesting; I especially like this question of yours: “Why are we so scared to let people see the real us that we allow ourselves to be taken over by the persona we put forth?” It’s a good question to get information on since we see it happen in our lives everyday. How will you be gathering all the evidence needed on this topic? I feel like if you were to ask strangers on the street this question, they would start to state their opinions. How will you get some facts to figure out an answer to this problem? I think you should create a survey for students to fill out and maybe do a few interviews with close friends. You can also try to find some articles on such a topic. I think you are headed in the right direction, hope you get all the supporting evidence you need.
-Amber

Rachel,
I like the topic you have chosen. Not many people seem to dig deeper into these dating websites and how it creates the chemistry between two people who don’t know much about each other at first. Your question: “how does online dating and compatibility matches create a lasting relationship for a couple?” seems to be in the works of coming out with a better question. I think you need to revise this question so it can be less opinionated and more of a statement. You are assuming that all internet dating websites create matches that will last forever. There is always going to be a case where these matches don’t workout, and users on these websites are just experimenting. A question that I want to suggest you is: Do people become members of dating websites because they want love or do they use it as an excuse for attention? I think that you have a good question, but you need to do some revising. Hope this helps.
-Amber

Part 3:
Keegan, John. "Who Are You Seeking Approval From?." March 10, 2010 / 11:28 pm: n. pag. Web. 12 May 2010. .

This article is written by a dating coach. He talks about how we all have the desire to be approved by others. At times many of us tend to over do this and it can cause negative effects: “But we can often fall into the unhealthy frame of trying to win the other person over, and in so doing we may ingratiate or attempt to build rapport with others that we have not properly qualified.” (Keegan). The author compares us to a prize that is trying to get won. I think this article will come in handy for when I am introducing my topic to the reader, and I will use some quotes to back up my argument; proving that we always tend to worry about showing our self off to strangers rather than our family.

"Stop Seeking the Approval of Others." (2008): n. pag. Web. 12 May 2010. .

This article talks about how the human race requires itself to have approval from others. It’s something that we are supposed to do. It later on looks at this situation from an alternative stand point and tries to prove the reader that we don’t require to have any approval from others except our self. “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” (Twain, Mark). I think I will use this article in an alternative piece in my paper where I talk about how we don’t really need the approval of others. We tend to make assumptions, but in reality we can live without the approval of others, and learn to accept our own approval which matters the most.

"Seeking Approval." n. pag. Web. 12 May 2010. .

“…this need to follow someone else’s standards; this constant urge of seeking approval from others. Usually it’s from parents or other close acquaintances…” The author of this article wants to show the reader that there is nothing more important then the approval of yourself. This makes our life only meaningful to make others content, while we are all struggling to keep up with every ones approvals towards our self. When we rely on the approval of others, we are not able to think for ourselves, instead we rely on others. I think I will use this article to go against my essential question and make the reader realize whose approval matters the most. I want the reader to take away the main point, which is not about the approval from others, but about the approval from the self.

"Relying on Others." (2010): n. pag. Web. 12 May 2010. .

In this article, the reader can become aware about how we are always in the need of relying on others. We seem to be relying on others way too much and we have become really used to doing so. We are always relying on someone other than our self because we like to absorb all the attention we receive from others. I think I will use this to back up my argument about reliance on the self. That is what should matter the most to us, yet we don’t realize this at the moment. What will happen if the whole human race were to die and you were the only one to be able to live, how will one survive?

Hwk 54

Myers-Briggs Test:
Extroverted (E) 50% Introverted (I) 50%
Sensing (S) 55.56% Intuitive (N) 44.44%
Feeling (F) 52.78% Thinking (T) 47.22%
Judging (J) 60% Perceiving (P) 40%

Your type is: ESFJ

ESFJ - "Seller". Most sociable of all types. Nurturer of harmony. Outstanding host or hostesses. 12.3% of total population.

By taking this survey I was able to figure out details about my self that I don't pay close attention to. I agree with my results in all categories; most of them are around the 50/50 breaking point because I feel like i'm the type of person who can have two sides to me depending on my mood and the place I am in. I feel like I can be outgoing and socially confident on some days, while on others I like to sit back and stay to my self. I can be pretty sensing at times since I am influenced by my emotions. When it comes to feeling and thinking, I would say I refer to my feeling more than my thinking. That's because I like to go with what makes me feel comfortable and this is why I follow my feeling. If something does not feel right for me, then chances are I wouldn't feel comfortable doing it. I'm not too sure about the judging vs. perceiving category because I feel like it depends on the environment I am in and what I am experiencing at the time. I found it surprising that only 12.3% of the total population has the same results as me. It makes me feel unique :)

When receiving the results from this test, one is able to figure out the type of category they fit in as a human being. Since the test is split up into different categories, I feel like the results for some categories are a bit more accurate than the other ones. There are some categories that many people can predict on their own as well. For example when looking at the first category which is between one being extroverted or introverted, it is easy to tell which person fits which one. When someone is very loud and social you can tell that they are extroverted. While when someone is quiet and keeps to themselves, they will be able to fit the introverted category perfectly. This can help you determine how many relationships you may be open to. If someone results as an extroverted character, they will more likely have a lot more relations with friends and family members, if you are resulted as introverted then you will only have close relations with a few. There are times when we look at someone and think they may have resulted higher in a certain category, when in reality it’s the opposite. For example, it is not very easy to predict if someone is judging or perceiving. That’s because it is not easily seen from the outside view. You either have to be very close with them, or be that person to know. At the end of the day, we should just all learn to “celebrate the differences.”

Big Five Test:
I wanted to take this test, but the page is not opening on my computer :/

Hwk 53

While taking this survey I was in deep thought thinking about each of the questions while answering them. All the questions I answered related to me in one way or another, but I never seem to realize much about it. It’s something that is just there and I can relate with, but taking the survey makes me think more about all the questions I answered. I was able to take some time and actually think about my family and friends and what I believe in. I feel like I don’t even know my self that much, but after taking the survey I was able to gain more insights about my self that I was not aware of before. I think it was a nice way to make me aware of my surroundings and take some time out to think of topics that are not usually thought about on a daily basis. I feel like I answered all of the questions pretty honestly and this is why I was able to learn more about myself. Some questions that made me stop and think were the ones about my family, even though I was able to answer right away I was able to create some thoughts about what I was asked. It was a nice way to figure out where I stand in all aspects of my life.

While discussing the survey results in class there were many different insights from students gained on different sections of the survey. Cindy noticed that the results on the family section of the survey seemed too good to be true. “The statistics were of a TV show family.” (Cindy). I agree with Cindy on that comment because I feel like many of us don’t really seem to care much about our family these days. I’m not saying that I am a part of this because I personally am very close to my family and care about them very much. After looking over the results for the family section, I thought about it for a few minutes and it seemed to me that these results were just not clicking in. I feel like people now days don’t seem to have to have much respect for their families and want to be on their own so they can have their independence. They don’t seem to show much love or affection for the people they are blood related to. I think I was similar to some results of this survey, but not all of it. At some points while reviewing the results I felt like a lot of people were either not being honest or they just like to make others believe something that they honestly do not engage in doing so, just so they can fit in with the crowd. For example, the questions about being drunk or using illegal drugs; the majority of the answers were leaning towards no, which to me seems funny. A lot of people in our school act like they are used to committing such acts, but I feel like they are either pressured into doing it or they just say they have been a part of such an act, yet in reality they are just trying to patch up the truth.

After viewing the results in the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey I was able to compare with the results from our school survey. When looking at the topics related to alcohol and drug use, it can be seen that the results in our class survey are unlikely to be true. The results in the survey about youth risk behavior seem to be more accurate and are answered more honestly. 40.4% of the 51 kids who took the school survey state that they have never been drunk. The answers in the other survey state that 75% of the people taking have had an alcoholic drink once in their life time. Even though there is a difference between being drunk and having an alcoholic drink, I think that the results in our school survey are not very accurate. Another question that I compared was the one about being sexually active. In the results of our school survey, 17.3% say that they are sexually active. Looking at the results in the youth risk behavior survey, 47.8% of the students have had sexual intercourse. This shows that not many people in the class survey were being honest. If they were being honest, they seem to cover up the truth just so they can fit in with the crowd and be known as something they are truly not. I was expecting a higher percentage of students to be sexually active in the class survey because of the vibes I receive from many people in our school. A similarity I noticed between the school survey and the youth behavior survey was the results for the questions about drug use. In the school survey, 53.8% of the survey takers stated that they have never used illegal drugs. In the Youth behavior survey, 38.1% of the students said they have used Marijuana once or more in their lifetime. I feel like these results are accurate since the percentages make sense. There are many comparisons and differentiations that can be seen between these two sets of results. I think that the results for the school survey are less accurate compared to the results in the behavior survey because of some of the percentage gaps.

Hwk 52

Yes I agree, this is an impossible assignment since there are countless things that can be thought about when thinking of people. The different roles we play: love, friendship, family, power; these are just some of the topics that involve people. Most of what people think is the outcome of how they were raised and what type of society they lived in. One thing I feel that no one in this world can live without is love, whether it is the love received from our parents or an intimate relationship you may have with someone. Without love there is no reason for one to live, they will feel that they are nothing to this world so they will tend to feel faded which will give them no account of living. When we are born, we are all usually given love from our parental figure, which is supposed to be given throughout our whole life. When this love is not given to the young in a proper form it tends to cause problems in the future. For example the child will grow up feeling alienated and not loved by anyone else. This may lead to suicidal thoughts at some point in their life.They will start to make the wrong decisions because there will be no adult figure to guide them. There needs to be some form of love received in each individual’s life. Even though it is usually given by family and friends, there are some rare cases where love is shown to the young child through a different form.

Feral children are great examples of how one cannot live a normal life without receiving any type of love. Oxana Malaya is a feral child who grew up with the accompaniment of dogs. Her alcoholic parents had left her abandoned in the backyard where a pack of dogs had come to raise her. Even though Oxana was given love from these dogs taking care of her, she was not given proper love she was supposed to get from her parents. Since she was raised by dogs, she is now a dog trapped in the body of a human being. This is the outcome when the correct form of love is not received by one. Love is something that shapes us all into who we are; it is usually the first thing we experience when we are born.

I feel that humans have all sides to them. They share all types of emotions and thoughts; this is why they are connected to each other in many ways. This is why we tend to gain envy and selfishness with each other. We envy each other for the same reasons, for example relationships or anything that may matter a lot to one. There is always a feel of selfishness for every human living. Every human only shows their kind gestures towards others only so they can be seen as the better person. Humans only live to determine where they will end up in the future. I feel like all the gestures I make towards other humans only makes others look at me and notice how well I am creating my character. The only people that are the most guaranteed to stay with me throughout my whole life will is my family. Other than them I will always doubt my relations with people I am not blood related with.

Humans are made to use other humans; it’s just our code and our way of living. The way I was raised made me believe that living life is a huge test, and one day we will all be evaluated. I feel like we are all using each other to be better compared to these others. We learn from the others and use what we learned as a gesture to make our self seem “better”. There is no one way to live life, everybody is obligated to their own way of living but they need to realize that at the end they will have no one but their self left. And they will not be able to get any help from anyone else, the only source they will have would be them self. This is why I feel that everybody is used, but they don’t realize it until it’s too late.

At some points in my life, I wonder how my life would be if I were to be completely alone in this world with everything to myself. Even though this idea is not possible, I think of it because I want to figure out how other humans have shaped me into who I am. If I were to be alone, then there wouldn’t be much to worry about since I would be the rule maker. I would be the one in charge of everything, and this way I will always feel content. But then again when I think about it, I feel like I wouldn’t be happy later on because I would have no one else to interact with. I would not have another figure to lead me into where I am supposed to be at.

This thought leads me into how humans are never going to happy their whole life. They are never really going to live with one emotion their whole life; there will always be ups, downs, turns to the right and left as well. I know in my life so far, I have had so many different feelings and emotions that I have experienced with. When we are all very young we go through mixed emotions because we are all confused and new to the world. We usually end up crying when we don’t get what we want and smile when we do get the things we want. This is just the natural way of telling which emotion expresses what type of feeling we have at the moment.

These emotions tend to change when we are surrounded by different people. The people around us are part of how we act and play our role in front of others. Usually with family and friends we are all content and comfortable while with other figures such as teachers or enemies; we tend to have a different set of emotions. This then sets the tone we have with certain people and shows others how we play our roles with a different set of people. Without interaction between other human species, we wouldn’t have many emotional changes and we would be much different from who we are today.

Hwk 51

Intro:
For years we have been sent to an institution that claims they are teaching us something, yet not many of us seem to remember what we have been taught. Are we going to school to be educated or are we there to make our minds dull? Society makes us think as if this education will help us out in the future and lead us into a better path, but how will that become reality if not many of the students understand what they are being taught? There are many theorists out there that say that the institution of schooling will help the young minds to prepare themselves for a better future, but these young minds are being brainwashed into thinking that all this information will be used later on in their life. When a student receives a good grade, it is only because they have reviewed the information and have followed what they were told to do so by the teacher; this does not make them smart at all. Everyone is smart, but it is their choice to be told what to do. Some can choose to go against what they are told to do, and this would label them as a “bad student”. School is an institution that forces its students to become dull, making them think the education they are receiving will lead them into a better future, but in reality they will not be able to use much of the information given at all. When teaching styles are altered, students tend to become more attracted to the learning material.

Argument One:
Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and an influential theorist of critical pedagogy uses the banking method of describing the institution of schooling. In this method there is a give and take strategy between the teacher and student. The teacher is always playing the bigger role where she is giving out the information; she is the one depositing all the information into the students mind. The student therefore is known as the taker, he will take the information being deposited into his account. This shows that there is not much happening in the students mind when all the information is being provided. All he is doing is taking the information being given and this procedure is being thought of something being learned, yet in reality the student has not learned anything because nothing has been taught; it has only been given.

When the answer is given, the student will not be able to learn much. This proves why a student is more likely to forget about what has been “taught” because he or she will not be able to remember the experience of being given the information. In the second chapter of his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire writes: “Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. This is the “banking” concept of education, in which the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits.” (Freire) The student is not learning at all because there is no communication. The dull student is being told what to do by the bright teacher who seems like she knows everything, yet she is only a poser. She is only filling his mind with facts that he needs to know, yet will forget in no time because he would never be able to remember such an experience of being taught. Freire believes that schooling is all about give and take, the outcome then leads for the student to become “dumb”.

Argument Two:
As the executive director of the Center for Urban Education and Innovation at Florida International University, Lisa Delpit believes “If teachers make judgments only according to the tests being inflicted on the children by the schools, then they can misunderstand their children's brilliance.” (Delpit) Delpit does not believe in using tests and grades to figure out how brilliant a child is. In her eyes all children are brilliant, but teachers need different ways to approach each child so they can bring out this brilliance locked up inside them. Delpit tries to transform the institution of schooling by using arts so her students can bring out their brilliance to be seen by everyone. She claims that including arts in the curriculum will help the teachers see students as a different person.

When Nile Stanley interviews Delpit he asks “Are their any strategies you recommend for discovering children's brilliance?” (Stanley) She answers: “The biggest strategy I advocate is the arts. Teachers who see their students engaged in the arts have an opportunity to see their students in a different light, whereas before all they saw was what their children couldn't do. The arts show you what children can do. Another strategy is to talk to people who have an opportunity to observe the children outside of school. Teachers should learn about the children's community. For example, some children might not be able to do a worksheet on money; yet the same children may take major responsibility for interchanges with money.” (Delpit) Without the use of art Delpit feels that her students will not be engaged in the activities. They need to be exposed to arts in schooling because it will help them discover new languages and let them interact with others as well.

She doesn’t seem to fancy the idea of the average teaching style which includes determining how well they are as a student by making them memorize unnecessary information for a test. She lets the brilliance of the children come out while they are communicating with others and becoming used to the rhythm of poetry. The use of arts in schooling will help the young become engaged in what they are learning and be able to understand, where as studying and giving a test will make them forget all of what they had forced themselves to learn. Having different methods incorporated into the curriculum of schooling, Delpit feels that it will be able to bring out the brilliance of all students.

Argument Three:
Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir, is a story about an English teacher who decides to teach at an all-boys preparatory school. Mr. Keating comes in the first day to teach at the school, where the students are ready to learn. He tries his best to keep his students interested by planning a class that would make his students have fun physically and mentally. He uses text as well as activities that will keep them engaged in school; he takes them outside so they can read lines from poems and take out their emotions by kicking balls across the field. He asks them to rip out pages of a book; usually this is not what a teacher tells his students to do, but this is why Mr. Keating shows that he is not an ordinary teacher. Because the students start to become engaged with his curriculum, they start to take interest in what is being taught in class. They start to follow the instructions given out by Mr. Keating and soon find themselves in a literary group named the Dead Poets Society.

Unlike most of the teachers in our society today, Mr. Keating cares a lot about his passionate, but he has even more care for their emotions and poetry because at the end, that is what matters the most. “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?” (Keating)

Usually teachers only care about providing information for students so that they will be able to determine their future and how well their future looks. They only want to direct them to the right path by completing their job the easy way. In Dead Poets Society, the teacher wants his students to have a fulfilling life while doing something they actually love using the knowledge they have had loaded into their system, instead of having it just given to them. This is how they are able to create a literature group and take part in what is going on in class. They are actually interested in learning the material because of their teacher’s teaching style.

Conclusion:
When information is simply given to a student, he is forced to make it a part of his mind; there is so much material that a mind can be given. When the teaching style is switched around, the mind starts to work better at catching all the material and this way the student is able to understand much better. When the banking method is used, not much is being taught to the student, they are forced to be “learning”, but at the end they will figure out that they are wasting their time since they will not remember much of the material “taught” to them. Delpit and Mr. Keating are able to structure their curriculum in a way so that their students become more engaged and interested at what is being taught. This will be able to help them understand all the information being received resulting in actually understanding the concept instead of being forced to learning it then forgetting it at the end. The student will be attached to learning when he is not dominated by their teacher.

Citations:
Freire, Paulo. "Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed Chapter 2." N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2010. .
Delpit, Lisa. "Interview with Lisa Delpit: Discovering Brilliance in Our Children." N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2010. .
Keating, John. "Memorable quotes for Dead Poets Society ." IMBD. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr 2010. .

Hwk 50

Gatto:
In the article The Six-Lesson School Teacher, Gatto discusses the six common “lessons” that are taught throughout schools in the states. In the first lesson, he says that students are forced to become used to the school environment and accept it. They have no where they can escape so they need to become used to what school life is about, where their intelligence is determined by their test taking skills. Depending on how well these skills are they will tend to do better in their future. In the second lesson, he talks about the students having a on and off affect. Where they have moments when they are very intense with their thoughts and deep thinking, and then there is a moment where there is a pause and it all stops. This is when they move on to their next subject, and have the same thing done again. It’s a cycle that goes on a number of times throughout the day. In the third lesson, Gatto says that as a teacher, it is their right to become a part of a dispute between others. They feel as if it is their job to “intervene in many personal decisions”. In the fourth lesson, the teacher is in power. He is the one who controls what will be taught and how his class will go. This then sifts the good kids apart from the bad, the students who behave like responsive robots are known as the good kids the ones who listen. The bad kids would be the unresponsive ones, turning their heads away from what they are told to do so. In lesson five, it discusses the evaluation of each student done by the observer. He is the one that will determine what will be said to notify the guardians in a number grade. The students are evaluated based on tests and grades, and the outcome is a number grade showing how much they are worth as a percentage. Lesson six talks about how all students are being “watched” whether in school or at home, they are always doing something that ties them back to the school environment; they are never free because the thought of school is always in mind somehow.

Gatto seems to be against all these six “lessons” of a school teacher. I go against it as well, when these lessons are being taught to the students it seems as they are being treated as slaves, doing what they are told to do so. They are treated as if they are in a prison cell with no where to escape. The students are treated as if they are in factories where they are to come in at a certain time and be watched by others while producing work that is said to help them out in the future. This is nonsense because after these 12 or more years of schooling how will we use the material we have “learned” in the outside world? After studying for all those tests and quizzes how will those number grades evaluate how well we do in the future? Will we ever use what we studied for hours locked in our bedroom after we are done with our schooling? Or will the material we had “learned” just determine where they will end up in life, and after taking that occupation it will be something consisting of the past? I think that it’s absurd that we have to go to school for something that will only determine where we will be in the future, because after that we will not do anything at all with what we have been taught for the past decade and more. It’s like we have been working in this factory since we were four year olds, and we were brainwashed into thinking that we were being taught something. At the end all we were doing was being prepared for getting our minds ready to do well on the tests that will prepare us for our future. If that’s the only outcome of school then why do we waste all this time being “taught” something that we wont use any time soon? They are all excuses used to make us feel as if we were doing something important, when in reality we aren’t.

Freire:
In Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire discusses how we all recite something that we think we need to know in order to survive in the community, when in reality we are just training ourselves to know something yet don’t know the origin of it. She relates the students and teachers as certain objects in which case the teacher is always the one that is “filling” the students mind with what they are being taught, and the student is then receiving all this information from the “subject”. The teacher is always the one who is the giver where the student is always the receiver. The teacher is never really educating the students about much, she is just there depositing information expecting the students to pick up the information she is giving off. Freire relates this student/teacher concept to the banking system. The teacher is always “depositing” and the students are forced to take what is being “deposited”. The relationship between the student vs. teacher is not one of the student and the teacher. They both play separate roles, where they are never on the same level. The teacher is always one above the students, where the students are there doing what they are told to do so. This shows that the student role always accepts or is forced to accept the role they have to play, they are not allowed to have a choice. The banking system shows that there is inequality shown since the two roles are not in the same level. The student is always below the teacher which is shown in the banking system, Freire doesn’t like this concept.

I agree with Freire somewhat with what he has to say, but then again there are some things that I disagree with as well. I agree that in many societies the schooling system is related to the banking system of education where the teacher is the bigger figure giving out the information and the student has to receive the information. This is always the case in schooling because the teacher is supposed to be in charge of what the students will be learning and how they will be using the knowledge being given out. This is how the school system is brought up and students always tend to receive what is being given out but I feel like they aren’t actually learning much and they wont be able to use it when they are 12 or 15 years into their future. I think that what we are taught is only needed to help us in our next year of schooling, but after schooling it wouldn’t be considered much. I have used much of what I was taught in school, but only in school. Other then that I haven’t applied much of the material I learned in school outside of the learning environment. I feel like when we are all doing our jobs in the outside world we will be committed into doing our job. We wouldn’t use anything that we had learned in school. School is a big test that will determine what job we will have at the end. After obtaining a job, school would be something of the past and we wouldn’t go back to it again.

Delpit:
Lisa Delpit focuses on the schooling of colored children and has written a book on the topic as well. Delpit feels that the brilliance that all students have is very hard to bring out. They all have brilliance, but there is a different way for each student to bring it out and many teachers are not aware of the right way to do so. Not all students can bring out their brilliance in the same way, it varies. Because many teachers only use one method of bringing out one’s brilliance, it fails to bring out the brilliance of a number of students while it may work out for others. In Delpit’s mind, the best way for a child to learn is through the use of art. It opens up their minds and they are able to receive all the information while having more interactions with others. She feels that students learn better when they work with something they are comfortable with, for example the use of language. They will learn a second language better if they are able to answer their first language before they move on to the second. She wants the child to feel comfortable and for the teacher to make their curriculum based on their child’s need. The teachers need to be willing to meet with their students needs in order to have them learn something.

I agree with Delpit in many cases, I feel that each person is different and needs a different way to shine. Many teachers only follow the curriculum based on the standards given by the DOE, and I feel that the curriculum is too structured. We are not allowed to switch around the way we are taught or what is being taught because there are standards we have to be taught by. In Delpit’s case, it seems as if they are allowed to teach in which ever way their students feel comfortable. I think that having students learn using different methods shows what way each student can learn best. I remember from my own experience in Ms. D’s ninth grade humanities class. That was one class where I felt that we used many different methods of learning and this is why I found that class so interesting. One day we would be watching a documentary, the next day she will have a friend of hers come in to talk to us, another day we would be drawing about what we had learned in the past week. That was one class where I felt there were many methods used to teach kids like me, and this is why I was always engaged and prepared to go to class. The teaching methods of Delpit and Ms. D. seem to be connected in many ways, and I feel this is why so many students are interested in learning when they are exposed to a variety of methods in schooling.

Ms. D.:
In our class interview with Ms. D. she discussed her personal experiences as a school teacher and how she made a decision to become a teacher even though she had a choice of many other occupations with the education she had received. At first she shared with us how she used to work with young girls who had problems at home and struggled. She told us how she became very close to them and had a limit to how close they were, she would never force them to tell her anything. After learning about these experiences from others she started to learn that she wanted to do something that would help others, so she decided to choose a career in teaching. Even though she finds it hard to connect with each and every student of hers, she tries to make each student take part in class by creating a curriculum that consists of the standard curriculum and her own ideas as well. She had once thought about the idea of becoming a counselor, but she felt that she wouldn’t be able to make many deep connections with her students.

I feel like Ms. D. is right in many ways about how she isn’t able to connect with each and every one of her students. I feel that it is a tough job as a teacher to try to reach out to every student in a different way so the teacher can learn about the student in a way that the student is comfortable with everything. There also needs to be a certain limit where the student/teacher relationship is not too close. I think that it was her personal decision to become a teacher because she felt she had to help others, personally I think I would try to be a part of another career and if that doesn’t seem to work out I would try out the position of becoming a teacher. If I do have a shot at becoming a teacher I would try to make my curriculum fun and creative like Ms. D. did with her humanities class. It would be hard to keep the state standards in mind while constructing this curriculum, but if others can pull it off so can I.

Hwk 49

Our class voted for Carrie’s idea to be filmed, unfortunately we were not able to complete the filming. The outline was about a teacher who had the “good students” and then there were the students that were labeled as “the bad students”. The role I played in the film was one of the teacher’s pets. Kate, Remy, YuXi and I were all playing the teachers pets; we were the ones that the teacher liked the most. Whenever the teacher had a question to ask, our hands were the first ones up. Kate played the main role of the teacher’s pet because she is the one who gets called on when the teacher asks the question. I supported Kate’s role by sitting next to her and discussing all the class work being done at the time. After she gave her answer to the teacher, I would always be giving her a smile or thumbs up so it could be seen that our characters were close. My role was important in showing how our small circle of teacher’s pets were better known than the small circle of the tough kids in class.

To me the main point of the film was to show that sometimes teachers do not give all students equal credit. Just because some students may be doing outstandingly better than their fellow class mates, it does not mean the teacher can have his/her favorites. The students that aren’t very likeable by the teacher shouldn’t be judged on their performance in school, yet they should be looked at who they are as a person. Later on in the film we were supposed to show how the leader of the tough crowd aces a test. We wanted the viewer to see that a student cannot have a label put on them based on their character in school. Just because they don’t fit the role of the “good student” doesn’t mean that they are a failure. When she passes her test with a good grade by studying hard, the teacher gives himself all the credit for being a good adult figure into teaching her all the content she needed to succeed in his mind. Instead of arguing, she stays quiet and lets him have his moment. This shows that even though not all students are able to fit into the “teacher’s pet” role, they are able to succeed when they are willing to do so; it’s a balance between the teacher and the student for the student to succeed.

Our film was intended to be different from those other savior teacher films. In the films like Freedom Writers and Dangerous Minds the teacher came in to a class full of students that didn’t care much about their education; they were slacking off and had personal problems outside of school to deal with. The teachers would try to comfort their students and find a solution for all their problems even though they were hesitant at first. In our film we did the opposite; the teacher did not show much sympathy or love for his students. His relationship with the students wasn’t personal and deep. He only cared about his students doing the work, which would be the teacher’s pets. He did not want to have a heart felt relationship with each student. He only showed a limited amount of care towards the students playing the teacher’s pet role. He would only give most of his attention to the “good students”; the other students would just be the back drop. In the other films the teachers were there to fix the lives of their students as if they were some angel sent down by God to help these poor kids out. In our film it was more like if you want to learn then learn, if not then no body really gives a damn because it will all eventually fall on to you.

In our society many teachers feel as if they become the parent figure for their students in school, which is true in many cases. They act as if they are there to help their kids with all the problems they may be having and always be there for them when needed. They feel as if it is their duty to take part of their student’s lives and guide them into what they as an adult feel is right for them. The teachers in our society today treat their students as if they are an experiment; they brainwash us into thinking that all we need to survive is an education. Without an education we would all be seen as failures. I understand why they feel as if they have to guide us to a better pathway, but they should let us experiment ourselves so we can learn from ourselves as well. If we have someone guiding us the whole way, then what would we have learned at the end? We don’t need to be babied while being educated; this is why we can’t seem to remember what we learned in the past decade. We need to be given an education in which we are given material, and we figure it out ourselves. We won’t have a teacher to guide us through our whole life; we need to prepare ourselves by standing on our own feet.

Extra Credit

The incident involving Souleymane was disappointing and it seemed to be very unfair the way he was being treated. I would hold the teacher responsible for what was done, but it was also other students who were involved in the event. Mr. Marin, Esmeralda and Louise were the three characters that caused Souleyman to get expelled. Because Esmeralda and Louise were the class representatives, it was partly their fault for making the poor decision of letting some students in the class know about what the teachers had said about them. Later on in class, Mr Marin seems to make the situation a huge deal, when he could have gave Souleyman some time to relax and talk the situation over with him after class when no one else was around. I guess these 14-15 year olds are partly responsible for their own choices, but Mr. Marin is part of making these choices as well, so it’s not only on the shoulders of these young kids.

This also causes Mr. Marin to be held responsible for trying to “solve” the problems for his class. He was the one who made the decision to call the hearing regarding Souleyman. Yet when the event was taking place in class, he was trying to stop Souleyman from having a temper tantrum; he was doing what a teacher is supposed to do. I would say that this is more of a systematic issue since this event was caused by the way the school is run. Because of the class reps sitting in on the meeting the teachers had, it caused the information to leak through the students which caused Souleyman to get mad. It was the choices of the individuals and the system itself that caused the outcome at the end. I feel that it isn’t appropriate to have students sitting in on teacher meetings when they are discussing confidential information regarding their students/classmates.

A question that I had in mind when watching the scene where Esmeralda and Louise were sitting in on the meeting was who choose these two girls to be the class representatives? Because throughout this whole scene these two girls were laughing and seemed to be enjoying the situation. There was no real point of them being there because they weren’t including their opinions or taking the event seriously. If these two students had not sat in on this meeting, Souleyman wouldn’t have been expelled and this situation wouldn’t have happened because nobody would have known what was being discussed at the time. Obviously after watching this, it can be seen that the class representative system doesn’t work out for these students because all it did was cause many problems for others. It caused Mr. Marin to call the two class reps “skanks” which caused him to be in a bad position as well in the hearing, it also caused a student to be expelled. The idea of having class reps does not seem to work in Mr. Marin’s class at all.

By viewing the decision of the class representatives, it can be seen that they weren’t trained well enough to be playing such a huge role. They do not at all show that they are serious about having this job. They are not mature enough, and this is partly the systems fault of having such students take part in such a role. This shows that they have poor discipline because of their actions. Throughout the whole film there are many students that don’t seem to follow what the teacher wants them to do. There is no higher authority, they are all at the same level. If the teacher wants a student to do something, they start to complain and don’t follow any of the instructions given. For example, at one scene a student named Khoumba is called on to read a part from a reading (Anne Frank?) and she refuses to do so. She starts to say that she doesn’t want to read because the teacher could have called on anyone else. This shows that there is no respect at all for the teacher. They are all attaining the same level and there is no higher figure; they do not want to be told what to do by anyone else. All these students should be given more discipline so they can be aware of what type of role they are supposed to play in class. They need to know that they are in a school environment, where they are told what to do, not the other way around.

Hwk 48

It will be the first day of school soon and a fourteen year old boy Casious is more then ready. He arrives to school with all his new materials and stands outside to take a look., he thinks to himself that this is where I will be going to school for the next four years. He says to himself. He finally arrives to first period class and sits in the seat with his name card on it. Students start to walk in, and take seats at their assigned desks. The room consists of desks in rows with a board in the front. There is a bulletin board with a huge map of the world. It is 9:00 and the teacher still hasn’t walked in to class yet. All the students are seated facing the front, and the doorknob turns. The vice principal walks in to inform the students that their teacher, Mr Lin will be late because he had an emergency to attend. It is a half hour later and the teacher still hasn’t arrived from this emergency. The bell rings and Casious is off to his next class.

The next day Casious walks in to his history class after lunch and he sees a young man sitting in front of the classroom at his desk writing away on a notepad. He stands up and Casious notes that he is very short, maybe 5'1. He seems to be very nervous while he writes on the board and his handshakes. All the other students start to come back from lunch and as they walk in notice the short Asian man who is in the front of the room. Two of the boys, Kyle and Victor start to eye each other and start to smirk. They all start to get really loud and act very tough to get his attention, but he still continues to write on the board. After a few minutes pass everyone is in the classroom is seated; Kyle and Victor aren’t seated in their assigned seats. The teacher turns around after finishing writing on the board.

He eyes all the students and adjusts his glasses on his face, he tells everyone to get up. At that instant the Victor and Kyle look at each other wide eyed. The teacher has no accent and has a very deep voice. This does not hold them back from what they do next. Everybody else in the class is standing by their desk while the two boys Kyle and Victor stay seated. The teacher glances over at them and tells them that they should stand up and they shouldn’t expect him to repeat himself next time. The two boys still stay seated and Victor starts to question the teacher. The teacher ignores his questions and walks back to his desk. All the students have their eyes on the teacher excited to see what happens next.

Mr. Lin is written on the board in cursive with a few other sentences stating where he is from and his goal for this year. He says what he has written on the board and instructs the students to form a circle and do the same method of introduction. Casious eyes the two boys who are still seated, and so do a couple other students. At this point they start to look foolish and immature. Everybody else is prepared for what is to come at them. They will probably be the kids that will be receiving the bad grades anyways, so why bother caring for them.

After everybody has introduced them self in front of the class, Mr. Lin turns to the two boys seated in the middle. He asks them if they would like to introduce themselves, they stand up and start to speak mumbling their words. They seem to be very nervous, they were not expecting this to happen. They had planned on taking over the class and making funny jokes about the teacher. Finally the bell rings and Mr. Lin dismisses his students. Everybody leaves their class one by one to go to their next class. Kyle and Victor are the first ones out, almost running as if they are desperate to get to their next class. Casious is behind them and overhears what they have to say about the teacher. He figures that they would have to be serious after all about what they do in class, and that is the behavior he sees the next day in class. They are like the rest of the students that pay attention in class. Everybody has seemed to forgotten what had happened the day before.

Hwk 47

1. The principal isn’t seen as an adult figure, instead seen and treated as a student. He is the principal, but plays the student role. How will this have an affect on the way students are in school? The students will probably take advantage of such a opportunity but later on get bored?***
2. The teacher is very lazy and has no curriculum planned, students decide to create a curriculum because they are finally bored of doing nothing. The students take turns in teaching the class or select a person who is in charge of teaching and creating a curriculum. Perhaps a vote?***
3. Having the class in a different environment with a class setting, like the roof? How will the atmosphere have an affect on a students learning? Will students tend to do better stuck inside school, or with a slight breeze outside?***
4. The teacher decides to quit his/her job at school without notifying the students. (reaction from students). Will the students actually give a damn about their teacher and care that he left? Will they have questions or would they go about doing nothing?
5. Teacher builds a relationship with each student to get them back on track. (Dangerous Minds) Does having a one to one relationship actually help the child do better and engage in school? We should show different alternatives to such a situation.
6. Having a really attractive teacher and see how the students get distracted. (Are they really learning anything?)
7. The teacher has no rules or expectations from students. He doesn’t have any care for his students at all. He just sits behind his desk with his legs up on the table reading his daily newspaper. Then some kids go up to him and demand him to teach. What will be his reaction?***
8. Having students sit in same gender classrooms and being taught separately. Will this cause less distractions and have a positive outcome?
9. School is taking place in the night time. How will this affect the students learning when classes take place in a different time of day? Preparing ourself for college...
10. There is no principal or administrative figure, everybody relies on the teacher; he/she is the boss. Will this actually work, or will the students take advantage of such a situation?***
11. The student’s behavior in different classes. (Andy vs. Copeland/ Kinory vs. Manley?)

Hwk 46

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier is about a boy named Jerry Renault who attends an all boy’s school. As a freshman in Trinity High School, he faces the Vigils. The Vigils are a school gang lead by Archie Costello who gives out “assignments” to other boys in the school, which tends to mess with the victims mind in a psychological manner. Jerry is called out on an assignment by refusing to sell chocolates in the yearly school chocolate sale. Later on, the Vigils call Jerry back and offer to put an end to his “assignment” but he refuses in doing so. This causes most of the other boys attending the school to do the same and there are not many sales being made. The school gang then makes Jerry feel left out of the social circle which causes the sales to go up again. But this causes no change of Jerry’s refusal towards the chocolate sales; this is why the Vigils decide to make his life terrible. They are messing around with his locker, getting rid of his homework, making phone calls to his house and at last decide to beat him up. Later on another fight goes off between Jerry and Emile; Jerry ends up with many injuries and in no hope of a future.

My topic is: How do alpha males and females in school shape up the school environment for others? In The Chocolate War, Jerry is an innocent freshman who wants to make the school football team and be known as something. Even though the leader of the Vigils is aware of Jerry’s tough life he decides to give this cruel assignment to Jerry. Because the Vigils are obviously the “leaders” of all the other boys in school, they are always given respect. At first Jerry decides to accept the assignment and follows all the rules given, but he later on decides to do what he feels comfortable doing. He doesn’t care what the Vigils have to say, because he doesn’t want them to be in charge of his life in school. The alpha males in this story are shaping up how things are run in school; these are the guys that are in control of the chocolate sale and control the school life of other guys in Trinity. In my own experience it seems that whatever the alpha figure decides to do, is suddenly fine with all the others surrounding them. If someone decides to disrupt class, they usually gain more confidence by the respect of others or the appreciation of others. If someone decides to take a leading role, they cannot be brought down, when they are able to gain much confidence they are able to rule over others. And when they take this position, a strong force is needed to bring them back down.

Because the Vigils are in charge of all the “assignments” and the annual chocolate sale in school, all the other boys in Trinity are supposed to do what they are ordered to do by the school gang. This is how the way things are at Trinity, and this is the same concept shown in different forms in other schools as well. The lead role of the male sets an example and is allowed to boss others around because he is in charge and the others accept that. This is why Jerry does not shut down on the command from the Vigils. He knew that it was something he had to do but had no choice. Later on he doesn’t follow instructions given to him by the Vigils, and he suffers from this decision. Even though he gets tortured by doing so, he doesn’t change his mind and the story ends with him injured. When the victim tries to stand up for himself, the alpha role is still much powerful than the victim. He or she can turn all the others against him/her. Because Jerry does not cope with Archie and his demands, his school life is turned into a very bad image. Which ever way the victim decides to deal with the problem, it leads him to a new set of problems; Jerry either had to follow orders from the Vigils or get tortured when not doing so. The alpha role in school is in charge of sketching out the victim’s school life.

Hwk 45

Both, Hirsch and Sizer both have different arguments about how students should be educated. Hirsch believes in knowing background knowledge helps one understand things. For example what is being discussed at the time, will help the individual become a better reader. He believes that the role of school is to teach you content that will be used to help you out in college level literature. In his view, students should take tests so knowledge can be determined from the individual: "tests are far fairer than more subjective means of assessing student performance." Basic knowledge in his eyes helps the individual connect to cultural literacy; this is what the individual will need when trying to make sense of the dominant culture.

Sizer in the other hand has a very different approach when compared to Hirsch. He believes in using the Habits of Mind and trying to approach a certain situation deeply by using the Habits of Mind. He likes the idea of education being much focused into one topic, so the student can gain all the insights and all there is to learn about that one topic. He wants to get students to find one thing they care about, and put it under the microscope. His goal is for them to be taught what they care deeply about; there is no list of things to know.

I believe that Hirsch and Sizer make good views on how students should receive their education. I agree with both of them when it comes to my personal schooling experience. I have been going to SOF since sixth grade and the Habits of Mind have been used a lot throughout my middle school year. We still use them to this day, but we have adapted into using it without realizing that we are. Since sixth grade I have been pushed to use the Habits of Mind that are looked upon deeply in our school: significance, evidence, alternatives, point of view and connections. Even though all of us have been using them since elementary school, we weren’t notified about how much it can enhance our education everyday. Sizer wants young individuals to "explore a single subject for several months and then present an ''exhibition'' of their work to demonstrate what they've learned"(Mosle) Because School of The Future is based on Sizer’s view on education, I was able to view certain topics in a rich and deep thought out curriculum, instead of glancing at it and learning new material by maintaining my basic knowledge. I feel like attending Sizer’s school, I have experienced part of my education by deepening my mind and focusing on material for longer periods of time.

From what I can remember, most of my education, at least from Middle school has been based off of Sizer’s views. Although, there are always times where Hirsch’s idea is involved as well. For example: molarity, ions and the periodic table do create an emphasis on our knowledge. But this knowledge later on gets lost, yes many of us will frantically be memorizing these notes before a big test, but will we be able to remember this a year from now? I agree that with basic knowledge you will indeed become a better reader, because the more knowledge you have the better you will understand the material being read. Reading will also determine how well we will do in our near future, take college for example. It’s a big part of our lives and should be incorporated into our curriculum a bit more. At times I feel like students from other schools have more basic knowledge compared to me; this may be the outcome of going to a Sizer school. Then again, Hirsch only focuses on literature, what about the math and science curriculums? Will students need to read off of math or science textbooks to gain all the common knowledge? What about projects and labs? Don’t they help us gain knowledge as well?

Hwk 44

There are many institutions that surround our society today, from institutions related to the government and others that have to do with public service. Education is also known as an institution since it is structured to set the behavior for a set of young individuals. When one thinks of school they usually think of teachers, students and an environment created for learning; but it is much more than that. School is a disguised battlefield where young individuals are brainwashed to do what society wants them to be doing.

There are many cases where many think that if “x” happens in school then it will have a “y” outcome. For example if the teachers choose to teach a certain curriculum, students will do better in their future; but how can this be determined? What if the individual decides not to stay on task, or learn anything that is being taught to them? What if discipline does not work on them either? Then what happens to their future, will school be the blame for how their future turns out to be in the end? A student’s future is determined by his or her own actions, if they are willing to be good at something then they will be able to do it, whether they have an education or not. That’s how it was in the future but in our society without an education we are screwed.

The society bombards us with messages that make all young individuals to go and do well in school. School is primarily an institution designed for us to do well later on in our life. If we want to succeed in our future, we need to earn a good education so we are able to become what we want to do in our near future. In President Obama’s speech at the start of the new school year in the fall of 2009, he states: “You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it” (Obama). He also explains how not only will education do well for our own future, it will make the future of our nation good as well.

School is supposed to be a “sanctuary” for young individuals so they can learn and be able to get new knowledge and have deep thoughts. This all has much to do with the teacher and the schools goal for its students. In the clips we have seen so far in class, the teachers arrive on their first day to teach greeted with ill mannered students that have no respect at all for their adult figure. When the teachers gain knowledge on discipline, and learn how to catch all the attention of the young individuals, they all seem to accept the fact about what they are actually in school for. As a teacher and a creator of three charter schools in Harlem, Ms. Kenny states: “If you had an amazing teacher who was talented and passionate and given the freedom and support to teach well,” she said, “that was just 100 times more important than anything else” (Herbert). A teacher plays a big role on how well a student can do well in school, not only does the students have big responsibilities, so does the teacher figure.

There are many roles that are equally played in a student’s life, there is the teacher that teaches passionately and wants to see change for her students and the students that want to do well in their future. This is what the society wants school to be all about, but this isn’t always the turn out. There are many limits to what school can or cannot accomplish, because the student has to be willing to be responsible as well, both roles need to balance out for an accomplishment to be created. The top priorities for schools should be to teach young individuals to be responsible for their own actions that may determine their future, whether they choose to do well or not; they will not be able to blame anyone but themselves when their futures do not turn out to be so well. This should be decided by the government and all the other administrations related to schooling. Schools are expected to teach us to survive on our own in the future, whether it be in our career or in the outside world, we should always be prepared for what we will deal with in our future. This all depends on how the individual perceives it…

Citations:
Obama, Barack. "Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama: Back to School Event." whitehouse. N.p., 8/9/2009. Web. 11 Mar 2010. .

Herbert, Bob. "Where the Bar Ought to Be." New York Times(2010): n. pag. Web. 11 Mar 2010. .

Hwk 42

Egypt:

"International Academic Components Found in NG Program." New Generations Schools. 2008. Web. 3 Mar 2010. .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Generation_Schools
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Egypt

Even though the main concepts of schooling are the same throughout many societies around the globe, we all seem to be learning something that relates to our society. Just like in the United States, there are tests given out in certain levels of school and the students are split up in a similar way. There are also a variety of schools a student can be enrolled to; for example: Arabic schools and Experimental Language schools which are considered Government schools. The Private schools would be Ordinary schools, Language schools, Religious schools and International schools.

The question that I have been paying close attention to throughout this unit is based on how there are different curriculums in different societies. A question I have related to the previous question is: how does the history of a society impact their curriculum? We all go to school around the world because that’s where all the kids belong, but we never actually think behind what we are being taught. How will it all affect us in the future? By doing all this research I want to figure out what different topics are being taught to students around the world, and how it would affect them in their personal future. If a student from Egypt has knowledge on their history, and a student from the U.S. has knowledge on U.S. history, how will one be able to take advantage of that in the future?

Most of the curriculum in Egypt is similar to ours. Most of this seems to be adapted from our requirements in schools. This can be seen by looking at the curriculum in New Generation schools, which are a group of international English and Arabic schools in Egypt. While offering American Diploma, the school ties the curriculum with Arabic and religion. This school offers a list of curricula which includes community service, cultural studies, a senior project and more. By looking at this I was able to gain insight about how a different society’s curriculum is similar and different from ours. The core subjects are basically the same in this specific school, but the language being taught is Arabic. In our society we usually have Spanish taught in language classes.

Math Curriculum in Pakistan:
"The Mathematics Curriculum in Pakistan ." Web. 3 Mar 2010. .

Many of the subjects taught in math may be the same in other countries, but the timings of these subjects being introduced to the students are different. This can have a big impact on how educated one generation may be compared to the next generation. There may also be different effects on how well the teachers are prepared to teach their curriculums.

This subject matters to me personally because my family is from Pakistan and I would like to know how a student I Pakistan’s math curriculum may differ from my math curriculum. We have knowledge on the same topics but it depends on how they are introduced to us as well. Because the curriculums before did not seem to show much improvement in the students learning skills, there were revisions made on text books and teaching aids. If the leader is not capable of leading a group of followers while teaching something they are not prepared to teach, there will be many negative impacts in the future. This seemed to be the case in the math curriculum in some schools located in Pakistan.

This will be able to predict the outcome of ones future. Even though many of the responsibilities may fall on the student, the teacher has equal responsibilities. If the work being taught is not well prepared then the student may not be able to learn much. This seemed to be the case in Pakistan with their math curriculum. The teacher has a big impact on how the students are doing in school. If they are not doing so well it will reflect poorly on the teacher.

Math Curriculum based off Saudi Arabian Education:

"Curriculum/Program." Saudi Academy. Web. 3 Mar 2010. .

So far my research shows that many of the schools in the Middle East teach all the subjects taught in the U.S. while keeping religion in mind. This is where the curriculum mainly differs from our society and the societies in the Middle East. The culture, tradition and heritage in a society can really make a curriculum stand out amongst others. In this school located in the U.S, these three things are used to teach in an Islamic based school.

In the Islamic Saudi Academy located in Virginia, math is a subject where skills need to be built, just like how it is here in New York. In middle school and so on, students that show proficiency will likely move in an accelerated pace. This needs to be proved by teacher recommendations and how well the student performs on tests. Math subjects are introduced to students when they have reached the certain level of difficulty. This can connect to schools in our society because there are advanced placement classes for students that are able to do more challenging materials without any problems.

This topic matters since it shows how a society has set up a curriculum to match their needs. In many of the Middle Eastern countries, religion is a top priority. This is why they are keeping religion incorporated within their curriculum even if they are located in the U.S. This is why many of the schools have Arabic being taught; the Q’uran is usually mentioned as well. It somehow ties the studies back to their religion and culture so that the students are not able to distance their selves from the very important aspects of their life. They are always reminded so they are able to set apart wrong from right.

Hwk 41

History of Education:
"History of Education." Wikipedia. 23/Feb/2010. Web. 24 Feb 2010. .
Education has been around since pre literate time periods; individuals achieved it orally, through observation and imitation. Many skills were learned by doing everyday tasks such as agriculture, fishing, construction, stone work, boat building, etc… After there was a development in writing, there was a faster pace in learning to write stories and poetry. The idea of education has been around for a while; it was developed naturally and then modernized through each generation.
This piece of writing should be referred to when there is any information needed on the development of education. It gives information about how education has been around in different parts of the world. By reading this, you will learn the history of how different societies have made different discoveries which have impacted their educating material.

Madrasah(مدرسة‎):
"Madrasah." Wikipedia. 20/Feb/2010. Web. 24 Feb 2010. .
This text talks about religious schools in the Middle East that are attended by Muslim students. It states the history of how they were created and the different levels of education. There are many Madrasahs throughout many countries which base all their knowledge from the religion of Islam.
This article gives information about what is taught in these schools. The history of how the Madrasahs were created and who had found them. It contains information about the different types of careers one can obtain by attending this type of schooling. A common one is becoming an Imam, which means you need to be committed to everything you are being taught , for example becoming Hafiz.

Cliques:
"How Cliques Make Kids Feel Left Out." Kids Health. Web. 24 Feb 2010. .
This piece of work discusses what cliques are and how they can affect others. It explains the difference between being friends and being in a clique. Also the feeling one could have when being left out. Basically it talks about all the reasonings behind cliques and what it can lead to.
This can be referred to as a guide for someone that is troubled or wants to know more about how cliques are created and what types of situations they can cause. It gives advice to the people that may feel left out and are going through some rough times. This text can show the reader how cliques can affect other students, which may lead to problems in school.

Student Expectations:
"Student Behavior and Expectations ." Forthill Middle School. Web. 24 Feb 2010. .
This piece of writing discusses what is expected from students from a
teachers point of view at a school in California. It lists all the rules and regulations that students are expected to follow throughout the school year.
This text should definitely be referred to if you are a student or expect to be a student at this school. Many of theses rules inform students about their behavior and respect towards the school which is common throughout many schools. When reading this, the reader will learn what is expected from the young individuals that attend this school, or are planning to do so.

What is the Purpose of School?:
"THE FISCHBOWL." Blogspot. 01/Feb/2009. Web. 24 Feb 2010. .
School is basically needed to have standards, aiming for good grades on tests, improving our learning and thinking abilities and having competition towards others to see how you are a unique student amongst others. The author doesn’t give one simple answer about what school is all about. He seems to change his answer because there is no one answer to such a question. Everybody is obligated to their own opinion.
This reading shows the opinion of an individual and what he feels like the actual purpose of school is. We all have been in a school or a school related environment since we were very young. Keeping this in mind we don’t seem to know why we actually attend this place for such a long time. The author of this blog gives his honest insights about this topic.

Hwk 40

Part A:

Me (Interview 1):
How do you think the neighborhood around a school have an affect on a student’s learning?
A neighborhood can have a big affect on a students learning. For example if the school a student goes to is a school that belongs to a neighborhood known to be full of sexual offenders and people doing drugs, then the child will either feel uncomfortable going to school or pick up from other peoples negative behaviors. If the school is located in a kid friendly environment where the others surrounding the area have a positive impact for younger individuals, then they will feel safe and look forward to going to school. Also pick up on their positive behaviors.

How would your ideas about college be different if no one had influenced you to go to college?
I guess I wouldn’t be too serious about going to college. Right now for me college is mandatory. If I wasn’t influenced by others and society about college I would be doubtful about my future and wouldn’t see myself doing anything productive in the future.

Do you think you would go to college/grad school if you could get the same job without going?
Yeah, I would still go because going to college and grad school helps you determine if you are really capable of doing what you want to do in the future. You will be trained and experience what you are interested in doing. This will help you feel as if you really gathered all the knowledge and insights you needed to be where you are. If you skip college and grad school and start to work in the field you are interested in, then you wouldn’t be performing tasks using prior knowledge and experiences taught to you by professionals.

If school was reduced to three days, how would that increase your desire to go to school?
Hmmm, I think I would be happy and relaxed for the first week or two of school, but it may cause some negative effects one me. For example I would get lazy about doing my school work, I would start to slack off and try doing everything on the last minute. It would increase my desire to go to school because I would want to actually be doing something and consider myself doing something productive more often. I would get to learn more insights from others and socialize as well with the people I see in school everyday.

Mom (Interview 2):
Do you think by going to a private school instead of a public school a student will have a better chance of succeeding?
It depends on how willing the student is in learning and how caring they are about their education. If you are not committed to your studies then it doesn’t matter what school you go to because you will not get far in your studies. The material taught in these two types of schools may be different, but it depends on you and how serious you are about learning.

How does success in school connect with success in society?
In school we are all taught many things that we will use in some part of our life. It may not be all the things taught by the teacher, but we will remember our experience of being a student in school. By taking all the things we have learned in school, we will be able to make decisions in the outside world. Hopefully these decisions will make a positive impact in our society. Since we have been familiar with schooling since we were all very young, it has helped shape us into who we are now. We take away many things from school and they help us play our part in society.

Nabil (Interview 3):
What type of an environment does a student need to succeed in school?
A student needs an environment that is filled with others that are willing to help one another. Teachers that are always there pushing for their students to do their best in and out of school. Adult figures that are there for the child when they are in need for any type of problem and providing them with a solution.

How does success in school contribute to success in society?
When you do well in school you become a smart and positive person in life. This leads for you to be successful in the future which means you will be successful in society because you are doing your part.

How has the influence of others affected your decision to go to college?
Even though others have made my decision to go to college un-doubtful, I would still go to college if others hadn’t pushed me. I guess they have made my decision to go to college more permanent. If I wasn’t pushed to go to college, I wouldn’t be too serious about college; it would only be an option.

Do you think you would do better in school if you were to construct your own curriculum?
I think it depends on what the school has to offer you. If it’s all the basic stuff, then I wouldn’t be too excited about constructing my own curriculum. If they had to offer a wide variety of subjects then I would feel that I would do better in school because I would be focusing on something I am interested in and might be using in the future.

Nedra (Interview 4):
What type of environment does a student need so they can succeed in school? Why?
A student needs to learn in an environment that they will feel safe and comfortable in school. Students need to be surrounded by people that will offer different skills to help them out. They need to be able to relate to others and be able to grow from them. They need a sanctuary that they will not mind spending long periods of times in. All these things are important for a child to succeed in school because if you do not feel safe then there would be no way you will be able to learn much. You need to be surrounded by others that you can relate to, and also differentiate from so it will help your mind expand in all directions.

In what ways does success in school contribute to success in society?
School is an atmosphere that provides us with skills. If we master the material they teach us in school, then that will lead many of us to have an advantage in society. We will be able to build off of what we learned in school and try to make our society better for all of us. It will help us know more about the system of society and together we can overcome problems that we have to deal with. With gathering ideas from others we can create solutions we can all agree on.

How has the influence from society and others affected your decision to go to college?
Part of succeeding in society is that your level of knowledge is primarily looked at by the years of education you have received. How much you spent your time on learning new material and how well you did in doing so. College is very important to me because I want to go into a field that will help me get good money. To do that in this society, I have to stay in school for a while and do well. This will help determine where I will end up in the future. Our life now days depend on our education; no education then you’re screwed.

In what ways do you feel a Private/Public school teaches interesting material?
In my experience different schools seem to focus on different things. I was in a private school when I was younger, and I noticed that there was not a lot of test taking or diversity in the classrooms. It was pretty laid back, they weren’t very strict. They looked at me as a person not as a student. In my private school (Calhoun) the classes were much smaller, less people in total and there was more interaction with the teachers. Personally, I don’t think going to a private school benefited me. In public schools they offer learning from students as well as teachers. They push us to do better as well.

Michelle (Interview 5):
Do you think you would be better off in school if you constructed your own curriculum? How so?
Yes, because I will be able to choose the material that I would like to learn. I wouldn’t be learning any of the useless stuff that I will not need in the future. If I choose my own curriculum, then I would be more interested in school because I would be learning the topics I like. This will hopefully help me do better in school. I think that we all need to know the basics to survive the outside world like math, but still be able to choose what we are interested in as well. For example taking a life skills class and taking algebra.

What do you think about the idea of school being reduced to three days a week?
As long as we are able to learn everything we need to know in those three days then I think it would be better. We will be able to get more time to do homework and study for tests and quizzes. It will also give us more time to do more extra-curriculars, and spend more time with our family and friends.

How does success in school contribute to success in society?
The society views education very highly, which will lead us to having better careers and being successful at we do. When everybody is happy then we are all able to contribute positive things into our society.

Part B:

I wanted to focus on one of the questions I asked a few people throughout my interview: How has the influence of others affected your decision to go to college? Most of the answers stated that they would still go to college, but they wouldn’t feel too serious about it. They feel as if the decision to go to college is made permanent because the society asks for it. If they weren’t influenced to go to college, they would still go because they wouldn’t feel as if they would be able to succeed in what they want to do with their life. The option of college would still stay in the minds of many, but only a few of us will actually get to go if we weren’t pushed to do so.

I think society plays a big role in our education and how we will end up in the future. If we weren’t pushed to succeed in school then our generation would suffer with many problems in the future. Our education seems to be priceless because it determines our future in many cases. The competition is rising year after year and it is getting harder and harder for all of us to receive the best education out there. In some cases, many of us are lucky that we are able to receive an education. The individuals that never receive a good education don’t do well later on in life in many cases.