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".