Ranking Large, Gilyard, Boyce, Aronson, and hook

1) Barry Boyce’s idea is to cultivate values in our classrooms by adding yoga classes and parenting classes at pre-school age. The yoga will help children focus and parenting classes can help with the whole family unit. Boyce supported his ideas with research from Mark Greenberg, director of the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Penn State University.

2) Keith Gilyard suggest that all the after school programs that are being cut will have a devastating consequence on our children and on our economy. He highly recommends that we spend more on education, and for the humanities to be included not just S.T.E.M.  Gilyard supported his ideas with the works of Du Bois and Joseph Stiglitz.

3) Deb Aronson idea is to support programs that work, not close them. The Mexican American Studies was a program created to help more Mexican American’s graduate and continue on to college. The program was discontinued due to political opposition.  Aronson supported her ideas by compiling information she gained from everyone involved.

4 )Hooks idea is to have more dialogue and collaboration in the classroom. She was a big fan of Freire. She uses a lot of his works for her support.

5)Large's idea is to be more affectionate with our children when they are younger. He supports his ideas with research done by Paul Tough.

 

I rank Boyce as #1. I have seen the life changing effects of yoga. It works and has so many positive side effects. The parenting classes are a big one. I did not take parenting classes until late in life. I learned so much. I use what I learned with my grandchildren, makes life so much easier. I was lucky I had some very vocal daughters and I learned everything I was doing wrong from them. I would often not notice or be totally unaware about the huge life changing events that they were going through. At a time they needed me the most, I was busy being a part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Gilyard #2. I believe extra curriculum at school is the key to keeping our children from getting bored and ending up in our judicial system. If our parks, schools and communities work together we can do a lot of great things for our kids, without a huge financial burden.

#3 Aronson; needs may vary, and some districts may create unique programs to accommodate the needs of the kids in that community, especially less affluent school districts.

#4 is hooks. I agree with so much of her work. I think we need to be free to express ourselves in school and to be able to discover who we are through expression, but everything above will help us reach that point.

#5 Large. Even though I agree with Large it is not realistic for many children. The children that need the extra help and extra programs, most of them never had an affectionate parent and never will. Most have quiet the opposite.

Paper #3 What's Important After All?

What’s Important After All?

     In our English 101 class this quarter we were introduced to an abundance of great writers, like Mike Rose, Malcolm X and Audre Lorde, just to mention a few. Most recently we had the opportunity to read the writings of Gatto, Black, Freire, and more of Rose. I really enjoyed reading about their insight and found it very interesting that over a period of 100 years, there were many common flaws in our school systems that we are still dealing with today.  After summarizing the movies we viewed and the articles we read, I could see many areas where our public schools could better support today and tomorrow’s students.  Our public school system needs a complete over-haul, from adding pre-school classes to changing how we decide what grade a student should be in. This should not be a one class fits all. Students need a voice and should be free to make choices in their education decisions.

     In chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed written by Paulo Freire, his ideology consisted of the “banking concept of education”. He described the teachers as the depositors and the students as the depositories. One alterative Freire offers is “They must abandon the educational goal of deposit-making and replace it with the posing of the problems of human beings in their relations with the world. "Problem-posing" education, responding to the essence of consciousness -intentionality -rejects communiques and embodies communication. ” (Freire)   Every student should be able to have a voice, should be heard, not be oppressed. Where there is dialogue between two people there is education.

     Boredom in our schools, teachers, staff and students, is a common theme in the articles, books and movies. In John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School”, How public education cripples our kids and why; Gatto points out boredom is the #1 issue in our public school system and that public school is not a great fit for all students.  Gatto’s advice;

 “School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers.  School trains children to obey reflexively; teach your own to think critically and independently. Well-schooled kids have a low threshold for boredom; help your own to develop an inner life so that they'll never be bored. Urge them to take on the serious material, the grown-up material, in history, literature, philosophy, music, art, economics, theology - all the stuff schoolteachers know well enough to avoid. Challenge your kids with plenty of solitude so that they can learn to enjoy their own company, to conduct inner dialogues.” (Gatto)

 

     Most kids will never have this opportunity. There are many reasons for boredom in the classroom. If a student is in a classroom where he is not being challenged, or if he cannot understand the information that is being given to him, then he cannot be a part of the conversation, he will be bored. The way to avoid boredom would be early education, assessing students at least once every year, give students a bigger voice, and adding extra extracurricular activities.

     In her book Zami, Audre Lorde shares of an experience where her teacher shames her and humiliates her. I have had the same experiences in school and all it did was teach me to be afraid to be wrong. After those experiences I always had a fear of being called on or raising my hand. So it was many years later until I learned how to take risk. Bell hooks sums this one up very well in her first book Teaching to Transgress. She states “to teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.”(hooks)  The classroom needs to be a place where we can be free to be us, and be free to be wrong or to have a different opinion.  

     As I read the handouts, watch the movies, and videos, I think of my grandson who is in the 4^th grade. He is very bored in school. His teacher gives him work separately from the other students because he is ahead of everyone else. In math he is on 8^th grade level and reading a 10^th grade level. He is a very curious boy and will ask you a million questions. Google, you-tube and Khan Academy are his favorite pass times. First question he will ask when he comes over is “do you have math homework I can help you with” and the second question is “can we play scramble.” Not only does he use his knowledge and skills when playing board games, but he is a great strategist. If he is not learning, playing sports, or doing an outdoor activity he is bored. Compare him to my other grandson who has a father and mother who both have been in and out of prison, dealing with their drug addiction. He is 13 and cannot do basic math. He loses interest in a lot of the activities that we do because he does not understand most of it. His only interest is football and video games. Now that he has a permanent loving home it will be our job to help him get caught up. Not the school. This is where so many of our children our lost. They do not have the support they needed to succeed so they get into crime and gangs to support themselves and to survive.

     In today’s world most children live in a home with two working parents or a single working parent. If a child is placed in a daycare that provides a learning environment, they are more likely to be ready for school at an early age.  Many parents, especially low income, single parent homes cannot afford this type of daycare. They depend on family members, baby sitters or a daycare that will sit their children in front of a TV, or in a play area to play with other kids, with no educational activities. If these children are not being educated at home they will start school behind the others. Once the children are placed together in school, this is where challenge begins. We have students who are ready and we have students who are not ready. The teacher will spend the majority of the time working with the students who are behind and the rest of the class is bored and just hanging out.  The movie Stand and Deliver was a great example of this. In this movie one person made it his mission to teach students who others said were unteachable, but one person cannot do it alone. Is there a solution?

     We need to add an early educational program to the public school system, for all children before school age.  There is some funding for head start programs and there are a few churches in our communities that help with this but not enough. Our public schools should be managed more like a college. All children should take an assessment at the beginning of school and at the end of school. A student is placed in an appropriate class based on knowledge, not age. Summer classes should be offered to all students. I think our community centers and schools should join and share space or be in a very close proximity. A great example of this would be Garfield High School in Seattle. The high school, community center, track and football field, park with a playground are all on the same block. When I see how much my children and grandchildren learn before the age of 5, I feel bad for all the kids out there who do not have that same opportunity.

     Summit, a k-12 school in Seattle, gets the importance of the Arts in our schools. All programs are funded through fundraising. I think they may have the record for the most extra curriculum activities in this school. You would never find a bored kid in this school.  But these schools are now being closed, and programs are being cut. In an article in the Presidents commentary, Children, Arts, and Du Bois, written by Keith Gilyard these issues are all addressed. “I predict doom for the students” (Gilyard ) If we invested as much money in schools as we did prisons, we would be a very educated country. Instead we are average, or below average. It does take a village to raise our children and if we can work together with a common goal we can raise them all to be well educated and well centered. Teach them the importance of giving back and this experience will get passed down through generations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

                Freire, Paulo, PEDAGOGY OF THE OPPRESSED by Paulo Freire. New York: Continuum Books, 1993

                Gatto, John Taylor, Against School, How public education cripples our kids, and why, 09/2003 Harper's Magazine

               Burke, B. (2004) ‘bell hooks on education’, the encyclopedia of informal education,  www.infed.org/mobi/bell-hooks-on-education.htm.

                Gilyard, Keith, (2012) Children, Arts, and Du Bois, President’s Commentary, pg 19.

Rose and Black similarities and differences.

Similarities

Both Rose and Black agree that we spend too much money in the wrong area.

 On the resolution list, resolution #3 Rose states that we need to stop looking for the structural or technological magic bullet – whether it’s charter schools or value-added analysis – that will improve education. Just when you think the lesson is learned – that the failure of last year’s miracle cure is acknowledged and lamented – our attention is absorbed by a new quick fix.
 In comparison Black referred to the Kennedy school in L.A. Cost 580 million. In a area that has the highest drop out rate. Unemployment is at 12.3% and the state is broke, but yet they spent 580 million, on a school. Blacks solution is to put money into the schools we already have, give more challenging curriculum and more one on one help to students, not new schools. Black also gives us his view on Charter schools, let's fix the schools we have before starting new ones.

 #9 also fits into this as well:  9) To rethink, or at least be cautious about, the drive to bring any successful practice or structure “to scale”. Of course we want to learn from what’s good and try to replicate it, but too often the notion of “scaling up” plays out in a mechanical way, doing more or building more of something without much thought given to the fact that any human activity occurs in a context, in a time and place, and therefore a simple replication of the practice in one community might not achieve the same results it did in its original setting.

Resolution #6: To ensure that people who actually know a lot about schools will appear on Oprah and will be consulted by politicians and policy makers. When President Obama visited my home state of California, the person he met with to talk about education was Steve Jobs.
A few examples of this is when Black refers to NBC's week long special Education Nation. In his opinion the people involved with this week long project really knew nothing about education. He also pointed out that the suggestion of walking in to a school and  asking how I can help is absurd. And then there was the reality show where Tony Danza was a 10th grade English teacher, someone who is not qualified to teach.

Differences

I think that Rose offered more solutions and took a more serious note, where Black is using humor to reach his audience on this topic.

Rose always gets deeper into the whole system, and backs up his claims with facts and numbers.

Black, Rose, Gatto and Freire/Chalk

1.       In Pedagogy of the oppressed, chapter 2, the banking concept: This process was presented quite often through the movie. One example occurred in the middle of the school year. Mr. Lowery had the students repeat everything on the board until they memorized it. This is similar to the statement in the third paragraph “The student records, memorizes, and repeats these phrases without perceiving what four times four really means, or realizing the true significance…..”. Mr. Lowery lacked experience and passion; therefore, he was not able to teach the students. He talked at them. He did not engage his students in the conversation or topic.

 

2.       In one scene a student was a few seconds late and the teacher did not discipline him for this action. Coach Webb is very controlling and felt that everyone should follow the rules. She felt her students needed to know yoga and she was also the hall monitor and felt that the teachers were setting a bad example and should follow the rules. I thought it connected with the Gatto's "The reason for school" a)To make good people. b) To make good citizens. c) To make each person his or her personal best.

 

3.       In Mike Rose’s Resolutions on Education, his number one resolution states “to have more young people get an engaging and challenging education”. Our example is the first day of school in Mr. Lowery’s class he writes his name on the board and he calls on a student to state his name and asked what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of history. The students sit blankly with no response.

 

4.       In Education in America, Black referred to the Kennedy school in L.A. They spent 580 million dollars on a new school with manicured lawns, swimming pool and more. In the movie Chalk there was a scene where they had a meeting to discuss finance’s but no discussion of students or other challenges at the school.

What I think High School is for and what I would like to see change.

I think high school is about preparing for the next journey. Whether it be college or the work force. It should be a time for setting goals and having the guidance to make those goals happen. Being able to select classes that will help achieve these goals.

One thing that I see happening with my Grandson is he is in the 4th grade, he is on a 8th grade level, so his teacher gives him separate work from the rest of the class. Half of the students in his class can not speak English and some of them are drug dealers. Remember this is 4th grade I am talking about here.

 My grandchildren will be moving to a new school beginning January if they get their new home. My hope is that both of my grandchildren will be tested and put in the grade they belong in based on skills and knowledge and not age. What I would like to see is the same system that a college uses, assessments. If a student is ahead then move him ahead. Put students in a class where they can learn. Then the teacher can focus on the students that need the extra help.

My five examples of how Chalk ......

My five examples of how chalk illustrates the charges Freire, Gatto level against education.

1. The student-teacher relationship: In the film Chalk, Mr. Lowery is a new teacher, his subject history. He has no connection with his students and does not begin to connect until the end of school. He also has no passion for history. Passion is what gives us our drive and enthusiasm, which then gets passed on to our students. Freire talks about this extensively in Chapter 2 of his book "The Banking Concept". The first five paragraphs of this chapter really describe this school very well. Especially the first line of the second paragraph "The teacher talks about reality as it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable". This statement reminds me of Mr. Lowery in almost every scene before spring break.
2. Gatto talks about boredom a lot in his article "Against School: How Public Education Cripples our kids, and why".  In the second paragraph of Gatto's article he states "Boredom is the common condition of school teachers". This school represented in the mockumentary, Chalk, was boring from the Principal down, everything about it was boring. The teachers rarely asked the students what their interest were or picked subjects that would peak their interest. For example: when the gym teacher, coach Webb, had her students doing yoga in what looked like a closet or cramped hallway. Yoga might be great stretching technique after a fun activity or before, and in the gym or outside, not in a cramped room.
3. Coach Webb had a very controlling nature about her. She was a person who played by the book and followed the rules. in one scene a student was a few seconds late and the teacher did not discipline him for this action. Coach Webb is the hall monitor and felt that the teachers were setting a bad example and should follow the rules. I thought it connected with the Gatto's "The reason for school" a)To make good people. b)To make good citizens. c)To make each person his or her personal best.
4. Problem-posing method: I thought the scene in the end when Mr. Lowery was rapping with the kids was a great example of this. Freire states that "Through dialogue, the teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with student-teachers."  Freire goes on to state that "The teacher no longer merely the one-who-teaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who is in turn teach while being taught". This is a perfect example of this process.
5. The banking process: This process was presented quite often through the movie. For example how Mr. Lowery would write everything on the bored and then had the kids read it with him. 

How will what I read on page 32-37 of my Writing Simplified book help with paper #3?

I am a very unorganized person, that includes my writing. If I follow some of the simple steps in this chapter I will be able to present a very neat and organized paper. I am very good at finding similarities but not the differences.  Even when I think I have found a difference, it turns out to be a similarity. I can see a difference since I started this class, so I am improving.

Freire and Gatto-agree-disagree?

In the first couple of paragraphs of Against Schools- How public education cripples our kids, and why, John Gatto talks about boredom in our schools.  In Freire's book Pedagogy of the Oppressed-Chapter 2, he also starts this chapter with descriptions of boredom but does not use the word boredom. Freire states that "the teacher talks about reality as if it were motionless, static, compartmentalized, and predictable" also in the same paragraph he stated "Words are emptied of their concreteness and become a hollow, alienated, and alienating verbosity". To me this sounds like a great descrition of boredom.

Gatto talks about The integrating function and Freire talks a lot about oppression, both very similar. The integrating function or conformity function's intention is to make children alike as much as possible and Freire talks about education shaping us to fit the world the oppressors have created, and how little we question it.

 Freire compares education to the banking process, making deposits. Describing the students as depositories and teachers as the depositors. He talks a lot about oppression. Gatto believes the purpose of schools is to establish our social label, maintain that level and to create consumers. To me sounds a lot like oppression. School are just "laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands."

Freire does however offer a solution, "Problem-Posing" education, where students and teachers work together and learn from each other. Gatto's solution is to teach our children the opposite of what our schools teach.

Freire communicates in a language that takes some serious thinking to process and Gatto is a little easier to translate. I enjoyed both and they really got me thinking about our education system here today.

My High School Experience

Several things came up for me while reading John Gatto's "Against School: How School Cripples our Kids..." I remembering being humiliated in class from a teacher and my classmates when I would get an answer wrong, so I just learned to keep my mouth shut. Then when I was in high school I was in the advanced classes and all my friends were in the lower two classes so I started using drugs, getting in trouble and it was not long before I was placed in the same classes with my friends. I no longer had to work hard to get a good grade. I had a teacher after lunch that was always stoned and would sleep through the whole class. I lost all desire to learn or to try. I just gave up.

Compare/Contrast Essay Re: Two Educators Final-Revised

Selina Ayres                                                                                                                                Ayres1

Eng 101

Dr. Sonia Bergert

Paper #2

November 11 2013

Observing Education

 

 

       My two teachers I have selected for my paper both taught in two of the toughest and most impoverished schools in the United States, Jaime Escalante taught at Garfield High School in East L.A., and Kay Toliver, taught at East Harlem. They both taught at these schools by choice. Miss Toliver’s educational philosophy was simple: "All students can learn. It is a teacher's job to expand minds and take children from the known to unknown." Mr. Escalante would repeat very often, in his classroom, to his students, “expand the mind” “think, think”, he would also remind the staff frequently that the student will only raise to his expectations. They were dedicated, caring, compassionate, and had empathy for the situation that most of the students shared. All of the students lived in very impoverished neighborhoods infested with drugs and gangs. Both these teachers made a conscious decision to make a change in their community by teaching, and they made a significant difference in many lives. The message they share is; everybody has the ability to learn.  “You can do it” Mr. Escalante would say. These are two very inspiring stories.

     Mr. Escalante was born in Bolivia, both his parents were teachers. In the early 1970’s, Mr. Escalante moved his family to L.A. to be closer to his wife’s family. Previous to moving to L.A., Escalante spent the last 12 years teaching Calculus. He did not have the credentials to teach Calculus here in the states, but he was able to get a job as a basic math teacher. He immediately saw a need for his type of skills and dedication. His students are mostly Spanish speaking. This is an asset for Mr. Escalante; he too speaks Spanish and is able to reach his students through language and slang.

     Escalante becomes very creative in his teaching techniques. One day he came to school dressed as a chef with apples and a meat clever. He cuts the apples into ¼ sections and ½ sections, to teach the students about fractions. It worked, it got their attention and they soon enjoyed coming to his class because they were learning and he was someone who believed in them. Escalante used real life scenarios to solve math equations. For example; Poncho has 3 girlfriends, Javier has 2 more girlfriends than Poncho, and how many girlfriends does Javier have? He also got personally involved in their lives. My biggest admiration of Mr. Escalante was that he taught his students to plan for the future; he might quite possibly be the first in their lives to do this.

     After teaching at Garfield for a few years Mr. Escalante felt the students were not reaching their full potential, he suggested they add a Calculus class at the school, the staff thought he was crazy. He was able to convince them to let him teach a class. The classes would be before school, after school, weekends and summers. In 1982, Mr. Escalante was working a lot; in addition to his regular math class and his calculus class he also taught a class to people who could not speak English. It was during this time he suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital for a few weeks. He was supposed to take it easy and not return to work, but the AP Calculus test just weeks away, he could not let his students down. They had worked so hard and no one else at the school was qualified to teach Calculus. So Mr. Escalante went back to school to help them prepare for the test. It paid off they all passed the test, with amazing scores.

      The Educational Testing Service found that the students from Garfield had made similar mistakes on the test and they scored exceptionally high compared to the average, so they decided to investigate the students for cheating. This was a very stressful time for the school staff, and students. Mr. Escalante confronted the investigators and accuses them of racism. To prove their innocence the students all agreed to take the test again. They had only two days to prepare, they studied through the night at Mr. Escalante's home. They all passed the test. He made a difference in so many lives. The class showed their gratitude by honoring Escalante with a plaque and some of the guys stole his car and fixed it up for him.

     Miss Toliver is a very vibrant, enthusiastic, teacher. It was her dream, since a small child, to teach. Her parents taught her that education was the key to a better life. She was born and raised in East Harlem and wanted to give back to her community, and she did. Most of her students were African-American or Hispanic. Toliver very often talks to her students about statistics. They are very aware of what their odds are, but know that Miss Toliver had the same statistics and here she is teaching Math. She fills them with hope and dreams. One of my favorite quotes in her article on the F.A.S.E. web-site, she states “Teachers are dream makers”

     Like Mr. Escalante, Miss Toliver is very hands on. Always inspiring her students to not only use their minds, but use their hands, their imagination and their words. It is not uncommon for Miss Toliver to show up wearing a wizard hat, a pumpkin head, or the raisin lady. Her students are required to keep a journal and write in it every day at the end of class. She teaches Math, language and communication go hand and hand. The only complaint her students have is too much homework.

 

 

       My favorite thing about Miss Toliver, unlike Mr. Escalante, there is never a wrong answer in her class. Mr. Escalante would sometimes yell, "No, No, Think, Think". He would sometimes lose his patience's. In Miss Toliver's class if someone is being disruptive, she stops speaking, stares at them until everyone is quiet. Or she stares up at the ceiling with her hands over her head, it works every time. They stop talking and pay attention. Miss Toliver never calls a parent to report that a child is doing poorly. She takes the time to call every parent and let them know how good their child is doing in class. Every student has her phone number. They can call if they need additional help with homework, she will help them over the phone or they can meet with her in the early morning before school or after school. She believes in her students, therefore they believe in themselves. Every one of her students knows they are smart because she tells them every day. They are told that they are students not hoodlums. “Math is all around you” she says this a lot, always has them looking for equations. Quite often takes them outdoors looking for equations. She encourages her students to try to answer the question, by stating, "even if you think you are wrong, give me answer".  One of her skills, she guides her students through their solutions.

     Miss Toliver is the recipient of many awards and also had a PBS special, Good Morning Miss Toliver. She now teaches other teachers her many talents and has created videos to teach others her teaching techniques. Here is a link to her video: 

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ0GpUGC0o

The F.A.S.E web-site:   http://www.fasenet.org/store/kay_toliver/

       In conclusion, it seems that teachers that are the most successful are the ones who give of themselves, their time, talents and skills. They are good listeners and know there are many ways to teach. Not all students learn the same way. If you get to know your student, you can learn what works and what does not work in regards to teaching. In their own unique ways, Mr. Escalante and Miss Toliver had a way of getting their students attention and keeping it. There was never a boring day in their classroom. Once a child has the self-confidence, they grab education and run with it. If you have been told you will never get it, you are not smart enough; you will start to believe it. Through positive reinforcement and a lot of creativity these two made learning fun.

 

 

 

      

 

     

    

  

 

 

      

    

       

 

 

Compare/Contrast Essay Re: Two Educators (Paper #2-Final Draft)

Selina Ayres                                                                                                                                Ayres1

Eng 101

Dr. Sonia Bergert

Paper #2

November 11 2013

Observing Education

       My two teachers I have selected for my paper both taught in two of the toughest and most impoverished schools in the United States, Jaime Escalante taught at Garfield High School in East L.A., and Kay Toliver, taught at East Harlem. They both taught at these schools by choice. Miss Toliver’s educational philosophy was simple: "All students can learn. It is a teacher's job to expand minds and take children from the known to unknown." Mr. Escalante would repeat very often, in his classroom, to his students, “expand the mind” “think, think”, he would also remind the staff frequently that the student will only raise to his expectations. They were dedicated, caring, compassionate, and had empathy for the situation that most of the students shared. All of the students lived in very impoverished neighborhoods infested with drugs and gangs. Both these teachers made a conscious decision to make a change in their community by teaching, and they made a significant difference, in many lives. The message they shared is; everybody can learn, everybody is smart. “You can do it” Mr. Escalante would say. These were two very inspiring stories.

     Mr. Escalante was born in Bolivia , both his parents were teachers. Escalante’s wife wanted to move to L.A. to be closer to her family, so they made the move in the early 1970’s. Previous to moving to L.A., Escalante spent the last 12 years teaching Calculus, however he did not have the credentials to teach Calculus here in the states. He was able to get a job as a basic math teacher. He immediately saw a need for his type of skills and dedication. His students are mostly Spanish speaking. This is an asset for Mr. Escalante, he too speaks Spanish and is able to reach his students through language and slang.

     Escalante becomes very creative in his teaching techniques. One day he came to school dressed as a chef with apples and a meat clever. He cuts the apples into ¼ sections and ½ sections, to teach the students about fractions. It worked, it got their attention and they soon enjoyed coming to his class because they were learning and he was someone who believed in them. Escalante used real life scenarios to solve math equations. For example, Poncho has 3 girlfriends, Javier has 2 more girlfriends than Poncho, and how many girlfriends does Javier have? He also got personally involved in their lives. My biggest admiration of Mr. Escalante was that he taught his students to plan for the future; he might quite possibly be the first in their lives to do this.

     After teaching at Garfield for a few years Mr. Esclante felt the students were not reaching their full potential, he suggested they add a Calculus class at the school, the staff thought he was crazy. He was able to convince them to let him teach a class, the classes would be before school, after school, weekends and summers. In 1982, Mr. Escalante was working a lot; in addition to his regular math class and his calculus class he also taught a class to people who could not speak English. It was during this time he suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital for a few weeks. He was supposed to take it easy and not return to work, but he could not let his students down. They had worked so hard and no one else at the school was qualified to teach Calculus, and they have the AP Calculus test just weeks away. So Mr. Escalante went back to school to help them prepare for the test. it paid off they all passed the test, with amazing scores.

      The Educational Testing Service found that the students from Garfield had made similar mistakes on the test and they scored exceptional high, so they decided to investigate the students for cheating. This was a very stressful time for the school staff, and students. Mr. Escalante went as far as to confront the investigators and accuse them of racism. To prove their innocence the students all agreed to take the test again. They had only two days to prepare, they studied through the night at Mr. Escalante's home. They all passed the test. He made a difference in so many lives. The class showed their gratitude by honoring their teacher with a plaque and some of the guys stole his car and fixed it up for him.

     Miss Toliver is a very vibrant, enthusiastic, teacher. It was her dream, since a small child, to teach. Her parents taught her that education was the key to a better life. She was born and raised in East Harlem and wanted to give back to her community, and she did. Most of her students were African-American or Hispanic. Toliver talks to her students about statistics, they are very aware of what their odds are, but know that Miss Toliver had the same statistics and here she is teaching Math. She feels them with hope and dreams. One of my favorite quotes in her article on the F.A.S.E. web-site, she states “Teachers are dream makers”

     Like Mr. Escalante, Miss Toliver is very hands on. Always inspiring her students to not only use their minds, but use their hands, their imagination and their words. It is not uncommon for Miss Toliver to show up wearing a wizard hat, a pumpkin head, or the raisin lady. Her students are required to keep a journal and write in it every day at the end of class. Math, language and communication go hand and hand, she teaches. The only complaint her students have is the homework, there is a lot of homework if you are in Miss Toliver’s class.

       My favorite thing about Miss Toliver, unlike Mr. Escalante, there is never a wrong answer in her class. Mr. Escalante would sometimes yell, "No, No, Think, Think". He would sometimes lose his patience's. In Miss Toliver's class if someone is being disruptive, she stops speaking, stares at them until everyone is quiet, or she stares up at the ceiling with her hands over her head, it works every time, they stop talking and pay attention. Miss Toliver never calls a parent to report that a child is doing poorly; she takes the time to call every parent and let them know how good their child is doing in class. Every student has her phone number. They can call if they need additional help with homework, she will help them over the phone or they can meet with her in the early morning before school or after school. She believes in her students, therefore they believe in themselves, every one of her students know they are smart because she tells them every day. They are told that they are students not hoodlums. “Math is all around you” she says this a lot, always has them looking for equations. Quite often takes them outdoors looking for equations. She encourages her students to try to answer the question, by stating, "even if you think you are wrong, give me answer".  One of her skills, she guides her students through their solutions.

       Miss Toliver is the recipient of many awards and also had a PBS special, Good Morning Miss Toliver. She now teaches other teachers her many talents and has created videos to teach others her teaching techniques. Here is a link to her video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEQ0GpUGC0o
The F.A.S.E web-site:   http://www.fasenet.org/store/kay_toliver/

      In conclusion, it seems that teachers that are the most successful are the ones who give of themselves, their time, talents and skills. They are good listeners and know there are many ways to teach, and not all students learn the same way. If you get to know your student, you can learn what works and what does not work in regards to teaching. Mr. Escalante and Miss Toliver had a way of getting their students attention and keeping it. There was never a boring day in their classroom. Once a child see’s that they can do it, that is all that it takes. If you have been told you will never get it, you are not smart enough, you will start to believe it. Through positive reinforcement and a lot of creativity these two made learning fun.



        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

Dead Poets Society (2)

Knox went to Chris's party, he had way too much to drink, Chris fell asleep on couch next to Knox, he made the mistake of touching her hair and kissing her on the forehead. This was noticed by one of Chris's boyfriends' friends and of course he brought it to his attention. Knox was roughed up by Chris's boyfriend. It did not discourage him from perusing love.

Charlie brought some girls to cave and made a motion that they campaign to have girls at the school. This bold behavior was seen as very insubordinate.  There was a meeting held by headmaster, and board, they initiated an investigation into who was responsible for the dead poets society and wanted every name in the group. The first boy confronted was Dalton. The board was convinced that this behavior was considered non-compliant, and a result of Keating's teachings.

The headmaster then met with Mr. Keating, encouraging him to stick to more traditional ways of teaching. Mr. Keating had a talk with the boys asking them to be cautious.

Neil's dad finds out he is acting, and is very upset. Neil try's to convince his dad to let him continue.
His dad insist he quit now. There was no negotiating with him. Neil visits Mr. Keating. Mr. Keating encourages him to talk to his dad and to tell him how he truly feels about acting. The next day in class Neil lies and tells Mr. Keating he talked to his dad and he was not happy about his choice to act, but will allow Neil to continue.

Knox goes to Chris's school and brings her flowers and reads her a poem he wrote, in front of the whole class. She was embarrassed. The next day the boys are on their way to a school play and Chris shows up at the school to let Knox know she does not feel the same way about him, he convinces her to spend the evening with him and if she still does not like him by the end of the night he will leave her alone. She agrees.

Neil's father walked in during the school play, and unexpected visit. His father was not very happy. His father thinks that he is ruining his life. His Dad takes him home and informs him they are making him withdraw from Welton and are enrolling him in a military school and then on to Harvard. Neil is extremely upset about this and takes his own life. The boys take Neil's death very hard but Todd takes it the worse, Mr. Keating discovers that the boys have started meeting as the dead poets society, starts to weep, maybe feeling some sort of guilt.

Cameron was the first to talk to the board, and head master. They want to put the blame on Mr. Keating. In a confrontation with Charlie and Cameron it got very intense and Charlie punched Cameron, Charlie was suspended. The boys were coerced into signing a statement implying that Mr. Keating was the one who encouraged them to meet as the Dead Poets Society, and talked Neil into pursuing his dream of acting, against his fathers wishes.

Mr. Keating was fired and headmaster took over the class. He ask the students to read out of the introduction. At this moment there is a knock at the door, it is Mr. Keating, stopping by to pick up some personal items.  The boys informed him that the pages were previously ripped out. Todd announces that it was not their fault, they made us sign the false statement. Mr. keating said "I Know". All the boys stood on their desk, one by one, starting with Todd, and called to Mr. Keating "Oh Captain my Captain".

Dead Poets Society (notes)

The movie begins with opening ceremonies at a very elite academy for boys, the Welton Academy. The professors and staff are older and stuffy. Most of the students have a look of dread.

Neil and Todd are roommates. Neil is very energetic outgoing person but is under his fathers thumb, has no range to make his own decisions. Todd is very quiet and reserved.

Neil clearly has many friends at Welton, and introduces a few of them(Knox, Charlie and Pitts) to Todd. They consistentl invite Todd to join them for study groups and other activities, but Todd always declines.

First day of school, very full load, professors are already giving out a great amount of homework and are very strict except for a new English professor, Mr. Keating, a graduate of Walton Academy. Mr. Keating is very different from the rest of the professors. He has very non traditional teaching techniques.

Knox is invited to dinner at a friend of the families house and meets a beautiful girl(Chris) who is dating someone else,( an all start football player)  Knox is crazy about Chris and can not stop thinking about her.

Keating has the students(Charlie, Todd, Neil) rip out the introduction out of the poetry textbook, wanting them to think for themselves, not to be told what to think. His students learn that Keating was a member of a literary club, the "Dead Poets Society". The boys decide to bring the Dead Poets Society club back to life. They sneak out at night, in long dark coats with hoods. Foggy and spooky, through the woods to a cave. Where they meet regularly.

Keating uses humor to get his students attention and to keep it. In one example he has them stand on top of a desk to see things from a different view. Reads poetry in Assignment write a poem and read it front of the whole class. decides he wants to act, dream, knows his dad will disapprove. Neil got the part in Shakespeare's Midsummer dream.
Todd struggles to write his poem, class times comes and he has not written his poem. Keating guides him through the process of using his imagination. Teaches them to walk to their own tune.

Tom gets the nerve to call Chris, and she invites him to a party. Tom gets a desk set for his birthday, the same thing he got last year. His parents put no thought into his gift.

Was Mr Escalante similiar to Mr MacFarland?

The similarities between Mr. Escalante and Mr. MacFarland were:

They both had expectations of their students, they were creative in their techniques and took an interest in their students outside of the classroom.

Both, Mr. Escalante and Mr. MacFarland, went beyond school and helped the students to think about the future and taught them how to prepare for what options were available for them.

Some other lessons gained were; when someone tells you no, do not just lay down and give up. Fight and fight hard for what is yours. For example in Stand and Deliver when the Educational Testing Service questioned why the students missed the same question and how could they score so exceptionally high. They could have said, poor me, why does this always happen to me. They could have walked away defeated, but instead they stood up to the challenge ahead, with the help of Mr. Escalante. That is life, shit happens, move on. In the Rose story he had many reasons why he could not go to college. He did not let any of those reasons get in his way, with the encouragement of MacFarland, he did it. He made it happen

Is Mr. Esclante a good teacher?

Is Mr. Escalante a good teacher?

Good, no, I think Mr. Escalante was an excellent teacher. Very creative, extremely compassionate about teaching.  He went above and beyond. Teaching night classes, weekend classes and summers for no compensation. He took the time to get to know the students and did not just teach academics but also taught life lessons. We all make mistakes, and he made a few, but in the bigger picture he was exceptional.

Stand and Deliver (Notes)

Stand and Deliver is a movie based on a true story, of a teacher, Mr. Escalante, at an inner-city school, James Garfield High School, in East L.A. The story takes place in the late 70’s. Garfield is a tough school, with gangs, violence, vandalism, and poverty.

Mr. Escalante is a Spanish speaking teacher and that is the most commonly used language in this school. I also get the feeling that Escalante may also come from the same back ground. He gave up a very good job making a good living to teach, so he is there because he wants to be, not because he has to. This is not a job; it is a lot more, he knows he can make a difference.

On Mr. Escalante’s first day he shows up to teach a computer science class, but due to the absence of computers he ends up teaching math instead. His students are very bored and high energy. Escalante becomes very creative in his teaching techniques. One day he came to school dressed as a chef with apples and a meat clever, not something that would happen in today’s world. He cuts the apples into sections, ½. ¼. It worked it got their attention and they soon enjoyed coming to his class because they were learning and he was someone who believed in them. Escalante used real life scenarios to solve math equations. For example, Lupe has 3 girlfriends, Javier has 2 more girlfriends than Angelo, how many girlfriends does Jesus have?

Mr. Escalante went to the extreme of visiting a student’s parent when she quit school. I think her name was Ana. He went there to encourage the parents to please let her come back to school. He believed she had a lot of potential. The parent wanted her to work in the restaurant that the family owned. The parent was offended at first but did come around.  

Escalante also got emotionally involved with his students, he was a hands on kind of guy, which today could get you in a lot of trouble, but it was a risk he took. He also mingled with the kids in between class. He really cared about the kids.

After being at the school for a year, Escalante decides to raise the bar; he wants to add a Calculus. Everyone at the school thinks he is crazy, but he makes it happens. He teaches on the weekends, before and after school, and summers.

He helps the kids to see past tomorrow and helped them to see in the future. One of the kids got a great job with his uncle. He would be working weekends and making good money, so the student was going to drop out of the calculus class.  Mr. Escalante takes the student for a ride in his car, asked him, which way should I turn? Left or right, hurry, which way. Right, right the young kid answered, the street came to a dead end. I think he got his point. He transformed kids who were left behind, thought of as losers and stupid, even the staff at the school did not have faith in these kids.

In 1982, Mr. Escalante was working a lot.  He suffered a heart attack and was in the hospital for a few weeks. He was suppose to take it easy and not return to work, but he could not let the students down. They had worked so hard and no one else at the school was qualified to teach Calculus, and they have the AP Calculus test just weeks away. So Mr. Escalante went back to school to get them through the test.

The Educational Testing Service found that the students from Garfield had made similar mistakes on the test and they scored exceptional high, so they decided to investigate the students for cheating. This was a very stressful time for the school staff, and students. Mr. Escalante went as far as to confront the investigators and accuse them of racism. To prove their innocence the students all agreed to take the test again. They had only two days to prepare, they studied through the night at Mr. Escalante's home. They all passed the test.

The class showed their gratitude by honoring their teacher with a plaque and some of the guys stole his car and fixed it up for him.

I thought this was an inspirational story of how one person can make a difference in so many lives. Mr. Escalante was an exceptional teacher, even though sometimes he could have practiced a little more patience, overall he went above and beyond where most are willing to go.

Audre Lorde's Essay

In Lorde's essay Zami , chapter 3, Lorde illustrated a teacher who was very impatient, lacked compassion and used shame to embarrass her students into preforming up to her expectations. This is one of a few illustrations she included:

(She broke the silence with a wicked edge to her voice. "I see."

she said. "I see we have a young lady who does not want to do

as she is told. We will have to tell her mother about that." And

the rest of the class snickered, as the teacher tore the page out

of my notebook.

"Now I am going to give you one more chance," she said, as

she printed another fierce A at the head of the new page. "Now

you copy that letter exactly the way it is, and the rest of the

class will have to wait for you." She placed the crayon squarely

back into my fingers.) 

What makes a good teacher?

After reading what makes a good teacher, I had a chance to do some reflecting. I only remember one teacher from my school years that I have fond memories of, the rest are not good memories. I did have a couple of experiences recently at Olympic College. My first quarter of school, first week of school, feeling overwhelmed and reflecting on my, not so positive thoughts of past experiences of school, I sit in my first Math class. Within 15 minutes my Math teacher took most of that stress away. He wrote his personal phone number on the board, said we could call anytime. He would meet with us and tutor us if needed. I suddenly thought, I can do this. I got this. It felt good to know I had someone there if I needed it.  I know that most teachers are not going to do that, but most make themselves available to a degree.

My next class was English 98. I was so lost. I had never wrote a paper and lacked in computer skills. The first day of class, my first day back in school, our teacher went over some basic computer skills with us. What a relief. Then she said that when we get our first paper assignment, bring it to her. I did, and it paid off. I got a 11 out of 10 on my first paper. What a relief.

I think that patience, and the ability to listen, makes a great teacher. All students learn differently and it you can not reach that one student who isn't getting it, then find another way to reach him. My favorite teacher story is "Good Morning Miss Toliver" I think she possess all the qualities of a great teacher. The number one thing about her that I like the most, you are never wrong in her class, and she calls the parents to tell them how well her students are doing and never the opposite. This video pretty much covers all the qualities that I think make a good teacher.

http://www2.nau.edu/~d-ctel/mat/mat601/ms_toliver/ms_toliver.swf

Ken Robinson-Ted2006

I loved the way Robinson used humor to keep our attention. He made some very interesting points. Really got me thinking. I agree with everything he talked about and could relate a lot. Like the fact that everyone has an interest in education, and how smart little one's are at the beginning years of life.

I really could relate to the fear of being wrong. I had very low self esteem as a child and was bullied a lot at school, so I had a big fear of being called on, but my grandson is a great student and the only thing he gets in trouble for at school is blurting out the answers all the time. He always ask a lot of questions and has no fear at all of being wrong. He just wants to know everything.

What created new thoughts for me the most was when Robinson stated "we do not grow into creativity we grow out of it", that really got me to thinking about the creativity vs. academic.

Some of the things that Robinson talked about, like;

intelligence is extinct

humanology

rethink the fundamentals which by we are teaching our children

the gift of the human imagination

intrigued me and I really want to investigate this more

Home sick today, wish I was there

I am hope sick today. I hope to see everyone on Thursday. Looking forward to your feedback on my last post.

How I learned to manage my health

Selina Ayres

Eng 101

Dr. Sonia Apgar Bergert

15 Oct 2013

My Significant Educational Experience

Very young in life I had no concern for my health. I was very reckless and did a lot of stupid things.
When I had my first physical and my test came back, that I had high cholesterol, I did not care.
 I really did not understand the true meaning. I thought I knew but I did not. I did not do any research; I did not ask any questions. I made a few changes, l switched from whole milk to 2%, ate more vegetables. I started walking about 20 miles a week, bike riding and hiking. That was about it and that felt like a lot.

On my next physical, my cholesterol is higher, my Triglycerides were 300, my HDL was 35 “HDL cholesterol is the well-behaved "good cholesterol." This friendly scavenger cruises the bloodstream. As it does, it removes harmful bad cholesterol from where it doesn't belong. High HDL levels reduce the risk for heart disease -- but low levels increase the risk.” My LDL cholesterol was 190. “LDL collects in the walls of blood vessels, causing the blockages of atherosclerosis” I still really had no understanding of any of this back then. The information I share with you above, I had no knowledge of at that time.

In 2005 I was waiting for a prescription at Walgreens. While waiting I decided to check my blood pressure to kill some time. My blood pressure was very high, but instead of being concerned, I decided the machine must not be working properly. At my next Doctor visit my blood pressure was very high and then I remembered the incident at the Walgreens. This is the moment where I felt some concern for the first time. I went on medications, made more changes in my eating habits, and joined a gym. I also sought out a naturopath. I lost 30 pounds and felt great.

 A few years later I was back in the same spot, gained the 30 pounds back, my cholesterol and blood pressure were still high. I moved to Poulsbo from Seattle in 2005. Found a new doctor, had a physical and found out in addition to high cholesterol and high blood pressure, I also have type 2 diabetes. I cried all the way home. I had many prescriptions to fill. I was so disappointed in myself. How could I have let it get this far?

When I went to visit that Doctor in Poulsbo I had to order my past lab records. I had them sent to my house. I sat down and looked over them very thoroughly. I learned that I had been type-two for a few years and pre diabetic before that. I made copies of my lab records and also requested a copy every lab visit from that day on. I learned how to read my lab results. I sat at the computer and did a lot of research. I talked to friends who were in the medical field and asked a lot of questions. I started accumulating books, and reading them a lot.

My Doctor signed me up for a class at Harrison Hospital. It was at this class that I announced I was there to learn how to reverse my diagnoses. I learned how to measure my food and count carbs. I was taught to never look at the sugar content of the package, only the carbs, sugar free is a deceiving word. I lost 30 pounds right away. Six months later my type- two diabetes has reversed, but this became and up and down battle for me.

In 2009 I lost my insurance. So no more meds, not that they really made a difference, so, more research. I started taking vitamins and supplements that would assist me in my goal. I started taking co-q10, omega 3; I eat 5 almonds a day. I made a lot of changes in my diet. I rarely eat beef or pork. I have not had milk in over 10 years. I eat a lot of stir-fry, tofu, greek yogurt with fresh fruit, humus and I love all fresh vegetables. My newest discovery is spaghetti squash. I also joined our local Y. I find when I have a lot of stress in my life, usually due to lack of time management skills, this all goes out the window. I was determined to get this under control. Having no insurance is a scary place to be in at my age. Learning to find balance is my new challenge to help me achieve my goal.

This has been a very long learning experience. I have read a lot of books on high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes, books that I found at the library and goodwill. I have also done a lot of research on the internet. My biggest learning experience was just around the corner and I had no clue.

In January 2010 my mother had pneumonia, so I went to help take care of her. This is where I got to see my future if I do not get this under control. My mom and step-dad are both on so many meds. My mother has become sedentary. She is on enough pain pills to kill a horse. They are both type two diabetic. They suffer from all the same diseases due to their life style, lack of healthy diet, exercise, smoking and drinking (quit 15 years ago).

I visit a couple times a year. It just seems to get worse. My step dad, Bob has a 100% blockage in his left carotid artery and 40% in the right. My mom also has blockage in both sides. Bob also has Peripheral artery disease. The list is long. All of these diseases are connected. They both had the same symptoms that I now have. They ignored all the red flags, like I did. So I have a choice. I can get on track and get this under control, and save myself a lot of misery and pain. I can live a life,that consist of pharmacies and doctor offices, or I can have a life of many fun activities. It is all a choice.

So my advice to you, know your numbers. Always ask for a copy of your lab work. Keep a file and keep a copy on your computer. The best prevention is aerobic exercise. If you have parents still living, share your knowledge, help them stay healthy. Someday they will be your responsibility, so start now with prevention.

 

 

 

 

 Works Sited

         http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/arteriosclerosis-of-the-extremities/

         http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/ldl-cholesterol-the-bad-cholesterol

         http://www.webmd.com/cholesterol-management/hdl-cholesterol-the-good-cholesterol

How Malcolm X's, Rose's and the three bloggers "essays" differ?

It would be so much easier for me to state the similarities than the differences. Not sure why, so here it goes. Some of the narratives have short paragraphs like the "Learning to Read" by Malcolm X. In this story I was drawn into the story, it made me want more. Some of the content was new to me so it inspired me to want to learn more about some of the people and occurrences he discusses in his narrative.

How I learned to program computers by, Feross Aboukhadijeh, also had fairly short paragraphs, but in his blog he added a lot of pictures, examples and links. I felt it was very organized. This was very helpful for me.

How I learned to travel solo was very organized with bold heading for each different situation. I had a hard time focusing though. As a traveler I kept looking at the differences, there were a few things I agreed with but each person is different and found myself arguing some points. It would have been nice if she would have added links to some of her suggestions and not just links to her other blogs. Pictures would have made it better also. Made me want to do a blog on traveling.
The other two I had a hard time reading, not as organized, really had to force myself through them, but that was me.

I wish I was more detail orientated, I could give you more and maybe be able to be clear about what I am saying. That is the direction I am going in.

Prewriting for my Education Narrative

A. My story is about my health and the learning experience.

B. The features I must have? I worry that because most of the people in my class are young, this may not be very interesting for them, so I will need to find a way to get their interest and keep it.

C. I will include mistakes that I have made and the damage that has done. My experience with Doctors. How I had to educate myself and not depend on my doctors to fix me. How I learned to make this change in my life. Books that were helpful. How I had to talk to many people who also share my challenge and how they overcame their obstacles.

 I hope to prevent someone else from making the same mistakes I made.

My thoughts: How I learned to love solo travel

I look at the text after reading and realize I just do not have enough experience in writing, and also lack the vocabulary to articulate what I want to say. One of the reasons I am so excited about this class. I know that through our discussions I will gain the knowledge and experience I need. However, I do read a lot, and I am learning new words everyday and I love to write so I know I am off to a good start.

I thought the blog was easy to read and follow. I loved that the suggestions were put in sections and the beginning of each was in bold print.

How I learned to Love Traveling Solo, fits perfectly in the first unit, narrating education and discussing learning. Huston shares her educational experiences with traveling, that were developed through her personal experience. I felt it was very organized and simple.

Malcolm X and Mike Rose-Essays-Different-Similar

I felt the two were very different, but did have some similarities. Malcolm X and Mike Rose had a major life changing event, that came from their life path. They both embraced the opportunity to make a change when  it was presented. They both shared a story of education and the different ways there are to learn.

The most important thing I ever learned was to never give up. I came from a not very nourishing family. I was never taught any values from this family, quite the opposite. I faced many obstacles and challenges. I have overcome many things. What I have learned from my experience is to never give up no matter what. If I do not achieve my goal today, this month or this year, it does not matter, never give up.

I volunteer at the Kitsap Juvenile Center, Mission Creek Correctional Facility, and the Kitsap County Jail and I pass that message on to many. I want them to know they have value, there are people who care. This is what I have been taught by total strangers in my life.

This has been a very valuable lesson for me. If I gave up I would not be here today, on this earth. I have achieved many goals. The goal I am working on now is an education. It has been on my to-do list for 20 years. Another goal I am working on is my health. It is very challenging and sometimes I want to just throw my hands up and give up.