1. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2009/10/26/1020175/omg-teachers-say-texting-can-be.html
This article talks about how texting was always thought about as bad by adults but how now after recent studies, it is shown that texting can actually improve language skills and writing.
2. http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/16137.aspx\
This article is about the pros and cons of standardized testing and it lists them all out. Some examples of the pros of standardized testing are that it can show parents how much a student knows but that one of the cons of standardized testing is that it puts a lot of unnecessary stress on teachers, parents,and students.
3. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1947019,00.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardized_test
This article goes over everything that is standardized testing.
5. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-10-12-tests-usat_x.htm
This article is about a woman and her experiences with standardized testing and the article also talks about why we take them.
HW 42 Part A
6. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/06/eveningnews/main616035.shtml
7. http://www.bakersfield.com/news/local/x914961293/School-suspensions-Are-they-effective
8. http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/editorials/article_94bda9e7-e889-556c-bc43-
ec66dad47faa.html
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
HW 40
1. Myself:
Q: Do you like the exhibition process?
A: I think the basic principle of it is good because we learn to write an essay/a big paper which is going to help us later on in life such as in college and when we get a job whereas tests, many people aren't good at them and we don't learn any other skills that could help us later in life because when we are adults, we obviously don't take tests and it wastes time but I think the grading process on the committees is bad because it is unfair at times. For instance, a student could fail by 0.5 points or can get miss getting an MD by 0.5 points, which isn't right. In my opinion, that student should just get those 0.5 points because it is such a small number that it is almost insignificant. Effort should be counted as part of a grade, too because exhibitions aren't that easy and effort is greatly important in life because personally, it is better than not doing anything at all because at least you tried.
Q: Are suspensions pointless?
A: Yes, they are definitely pointless because all they do is make the student more mad and could sometimes make them more tempted to rebel against the teachers who got them suspended. I Might understand more if it was a huge thing that could have gotten the suspended or expelled such as bringing in a weapon, god forbid, but that is obvious. If it is a little thing like talking back to a teacher constantly, that is pretty stupid to me. Yes, of course it is disruptive but no one is being severely bothered by this and no one's life or well-being is at stake so why get suspended? If a student gets suspended for a little thing, that sometimes shows to me that a teacher can't really deal with a student that well because it is natural that there will be students who will talk back. But obviously if it is a huge issue, a student should be suspended or expelled.
2. Friend:
Q: Are teachers here for the paycheck or for actually teaching students something?
A: Well, I think that there are some teachers in this school who I won't name who are clearly here for only the paycheck. They always look unhappy and are always angry at students for little things and just don't teach well in general. Those are the classes which I am least looking forward to because even though I don't like school, still want to feel like i have at least learned a little something and i don't wanna be bored. But there are more teachers not like that who are actually interested in their job and teaching students their subject. They are the ones who are mostly in a good mood, good teachers, and make most lessons fun. Students obviously learn more with a teacher who's there for teaching than teachers who are there just to get paid. I focus less in bad classes because I'm bored and it is like i rebelling against the ad teacher but then again, it usually never works because i don't do too well.
Q: Do you believe that life skills should be a class?
A: Hmmmm...that's a kinda hard question. I kinda think that it would somewhat help me for different things to come in life but at the same time, it's better to live through some "life skills" experiences on your own so you know how to work through the as they are going on but it certainly doesn't hurt if you know how to handle a certain situation. But it also doesn't seem like a traditional or "real" class so i don't know.
3. Dad:
Q: Dad, how do you think school has changed since when you were younger? Is it better or worse?
A: Isn't it obvious that no matter what school will be different because times have changed vastly since I was little. When I was little, we never had any homework and we had a lot more tests than essays. Teachers also hardly ever helped us with work and parents weren't as involved as some parents are today. It was much more independent and more like a traditional class with textbooks, each student has a desk to him or herself, and there was hardly any partner or group projects or creative things like you guys have now such as going outside onto the street to learn more. That would be considered horrendous teaching if a teacher did that back then. Now, I don't know how I could answer if the schooling system is better or worse now because as I previously stated, it is very different that you can't really compare. It was more rigid teaching back then and more strict now it is more loose and more talkative and you, Jules, do a lot more work with other students, not alone. There should be a balance between "fun" schooling and strict teaching like when I was younger.
Q: Ok,the next question is: do you think cellphones are "killing" the education system?
A:Umm...I don't know. Regular TV can be addicting. Movies can be addictive. Hanging at the mall can. For some students cell phones are addict6ing and for others not. It is those student who's education is negatively affected by it. But cellphones have brought certain benefits to people. For some kids, cell phones are a way of getting and feeling an idea of connections between people. Some people don't share or talk as much but kids who are isolated are a great thing, like the internet. Make it easier to hear others out and share thouhght. So no, not universally negative but it can be negative. Another thing is that a study was done recently that showed that between email, texting, and Facebook-kids are doing more writing. When I was young, most people only wrote for school and communication conducted in person or by phone. But now ith everything like IM, writing is more frequent. Now, because of electronics we definitly write more. We (my generation) don't write better it's disposable but at the same time, we will also in some point in life will be in the habit of blogging in a way that my generation would be done. Some kids get very distracted and is bad. It is individual habit and temperate. Different modes of expression and emotional connection is expressed in other ways. Education is emotional connection between person and way of thinking. Also, education, obviously. Some kids express selves so much that it's crazy.
4. Another friend:
Q: Do you think SOF is strict?
A: noooooooo not at all. we get away with so much more than most skools. they try and act like there curriculum is harder that it is.
Q: my follow up question is that do you think we should have a curriculum that might be a bit more challenging?
A: i mean its hard to say cause i dont enjoy doin skool work so at some points i like the fact that its is not that hard. but in terms of bettering my future i think if i was pushed harder that it would be more helpful.
5. Stranger on street:
Q:Did you like school?
A: Of course, like any child I didn't like school but I did like the feeling of actually learning a little something. Honestly, i know believe that if I didn't go to school, I dont think that I'd feel accomplished in anything and I'd feel like all my years in school are wasted. You can't go or do anything without school, which is why i now think it is good.
Analysis:
I noticed that most people were honest with their answers. They also gave full answers, which i appreciated. A common thing i noticed with answers was that most people actually appreciated learning and school despite how boring it usually really is. I also liked how some of the people i interviewed didn't just agree with the questions i was asking. They also made some good points such as suspension being pointless because all it does is make the student more mad and how life skills is a good class but still isn't like a real class. I also found the answer that cellphones can actually help a student learn more and write better to be an interesting one because not many people bring that fact up and i agree somewhat with it.
Q: Do you like the exhibition process?
A: I think the basic principle of it is good because we learn to write an essay/a big paper which is going to help us later on in life such as in college and when we get a job whereas tests, many people aren't good at them and we don't learn any other skills that could help us later in life because when we are adults, we obviously don't take tests and it wastes time but I think the grading process on the committees is bad because it is unfair at times. For instance, a student could fail by 0.5 points or can get miss getting an MD by 0.5 points, which isn't right. In my opinion, that student should just get those 0.5 points because it is such a small number that it is almost insignificant. Effort should be counted as part of a grade, too because exhibitions aren't that easy and effort is greatly important in life because personally, it is better than not doing anything at all because at least you tried.
Q: Are suspensions pointless?
A: Yes, they are definitely pointless because all they do is make the student more mad and could sometimes make them more tempted to rebel against the teachers who got them suspended. I Might understand more if it was a huge thing that could have gotten the suspended or expelled such as bringing in a weapon, god forbid, but that is obvious. If it is a little thing like talking back to a teacher constantly, that is pretty stupid to me. Yes, of course it is disruptive but no one is being severely bothered by this and no one's life or well-being is at stake so why get suspended? If a student gets suspended for a little thing, that sometimes shows to me that a teacher can't really deal with a student that well because it is natural that there will be students who will talk back. But obviously if it is a huge issue, a student should be suspended or expelled.
2. Friend:
Q: Are teachers here for the paycheck or for actually teaching students something?
A: Well, I think that there are some teachers in this school who I won't name who are clearly here for only the paycheck. They always look unhappy and are always angry at students for little things and just don't teach well in general. Those are the classes which I am least looking forward to because even though I don't like school, still want to feel like i have at least learned a little something and i don't wanna be bored. But there are more teachers not like that who are actually interested in their job and teaching students their subject. They are the ones who are mostly in a good mood, good teachers, and make most lessons fun. Students obviously learn more with a teacher who's there for teaching than teachers who are there just to get paid. I focus less in bad classes because I'm bored and it is like i rebelling against the ad teacher but then again, it usually never works because i don't do too well.
Q: Do you believe that life skills should be a class?
A: Hmmmm...that's a kinda hard question. I kinda think that it would somewhat help me for different things to come in life but at the same time, it's better to live through some "life skills" experiences on your own so you know how to work through the as they are going on but it certainly doesn't hurt if you know how to handle a certain situation. But it also doesn't seem like a traditional or "real" class so i don't know.
3. Dad:
Q: Dad, how do you think school has changed since when you were younger? Is it better or worse?
A: Isn't it obvious that no matter what school will be different because times have changed vastly since I was little. When I was little, we never had any homework and we had a lot more tests than essays. Teachers also hardly ever helped us with work and parents weren't as involved as some parents are today. It was much more independent and more like a traditional class with textbooks, each student has a desk to him or herself, and there was hardly any partner or group projects or creative things like you guys have now such as going outside onto the street to learn more. That would be considered horrendous teaching if a teacher did that back then. Now, I don't know how I could answer if the schooling system is better or worse now because as I previously stated, it is very different that you can't really compare. It was more rigid teaching back then and more strict now it is more loose and more talkative and you, Jules, do a lot more work with other students, not alone. There should be a balance between "fun" schooling and strict teaching like when I was younger.
Q: Ok,the next question is: do you think cellphones are "killing" the education system?
A:Umm...I don't know. Regular TV can be addicting. Movies can be addictive. Hanging at the mall can. For some students cell phones are addict6ing and for others not. It is those student who's education is negatively affected by it. But cellphones have brought certain benefits to people. For some kids, cell phones are a way of getting and feeling an idea of connections between people. Some people don't share or talk as much but kids who are isolated are a great thing, like the internet. Make it easier to hear others out and share thouhght. So no, not universally negative but it can be negative. Another thing is that a study was done recently that showed that between email, texting, and Facebook-kids are doing more writing. When I was young, most people only wrote for school and communication conducted in person or by phone. But now ith everything like IM, writing is more frequent. Now, because of electronics we definitly write more. We (my generation) don't write better it's disposable but at the same time, we will also in some point in life will be in the habit of blogging in a way that my generation would be done. Some kids get very distracted and is bad. It is individual habit and temperate. Different modes of expression and emotional connection is expressed in other ways. Education is emotional connection between person and way of thinking. Also, education, obviously. Some kids express selves so much that it's crazy.
4. Another friend:
Q: Do you think SOF is strict?
A: noooooooo not at all. we get away with so much more than most skools. they try and act like there curriculum is harder that it is.
Q: my follow up question is that do you think we should have a curriculum that might be a bit more challenging?
A: i mean its hard to say cause i dont enjoy doin skool work so at some points i like the fact that its is not that hard. but in terms of bettering my future i think if i was pushed harder that it would be more helpful.
5. Stranger on street:
Q:Did you like school?
A: Of course, like any child I didn't like school but I did like the feeling of actually learning a little something. Honestly, i know believe that if I didn't go to school, I dont think that I'd feel accomplished in anything and I'd feel like all my years in school are wasted. You can't go or do anything without school, which is why i now think it is good.
Analysis:
I noticed that most people were honest with their answers. They also gave full answers, which i appreciated. A common thing i noticed with answers was that most people actually appreciated learning and school despite how boring it usually really is. I also liked how some of the people i interviewed didn't just agree with the questions i was asking. They also made some good points such as suspension being pointless because all it does is make the student more mad and how life skills is a good class but still isn't like a real class. I also found the answer that cellphones can actually help a student learn more and write better to be an interesting one because not many people bring that fact up and i agree somewhat with it.
Monday, February 8, 2010
HW 39
The most interesting question I had about school is that why can't students make up some of the curriculum that we are learning? My opinion is that students would probably be doing so much better if we chose the topic to study because it would be something we are interested in and of course it would be an educational topic but it would be one that we care about learning. If we liked what we were learning about, we would want to do more homework on it and have more fun classes where everyone participated. Also, we are the ones who are here 5 days a week and about 6 hours a day so shouldn't we get some sort of say in what we are doing? For example, I personally would like to have more of this class because it is like philosophy and makes you think and it is not like a regular class with textbooks-there's more conversation and I think a lot of people like that. Some other things we should study in other classes is maybe astronomy for science and have more projects like the casino projects. My other idea about school is that a good part of school is that we have a majority of our friends because of school. The one thing all of us have in common generally speaking is that we both have to be in school whether we like it or not and we are usually always bored so we talk to each other to quell our boredom but then we get to know each other well and have great friends. No matter what, though, I believe that school is very important. It is very boring at times and going to school doesn't always guarentee a very successful future but it does help somewhat and it is also true that we usually don't remember a lot of what we learned from our previous years in school, especially "specialized" subjects such as math and science but for people who get a crareer involving those subjects it helps. I think that learning about english and history helps us more later in life because almost every career involves those two things like writing essays.
One aspect or moment in school is when we get grades. Grades are the only concrete way to show how the student has done so there is unfortunately no other method to measure how a student has done. I think that it is true that it does show what we have learned in school but I also believe that grades are unfair because it only shows how much we have flat-out learned and mastered the subject but I wonder why grades or how teachers grade us usually don't include something about the amount of effort a student shows. For instance, if a student tries very hard to complete a difficult project but fails at it, the teacher most likely won't count the amount of effort the student put in for grades. I think legit effort is a huge part because it is better than just giving up and not trying at all.
In life we all have to try our best effort at work and even if you try do something on the job and can't, the boss will sometimes recognize your efforts. This obviously doesn't always work always in the "real life" but in school, I definetly believe that grades should be counted for. And isn't the teachers message try your best?
One aspect or moment in school is when we get grades. Grades are the only concrete way to show how the student has done so there is unfortunately no other method to measure how a student has done. I think that it is true that it does show what we have learned in school but I also believe that grades are unfair because it only shows how much we have flat-out learned and mastered the subject but I wonder why grades or how teachers grade us usually don't include something about the amount of effort a student shows. For instance, if a student tries very hard to complete a difficult project but fails at it, the teacher most likely won't count the amount of effort the student put in for grades. I think legit effort is a huge part because it is better than just giving up and not trying at all.
In life we all have to try our best effort at work and even if you try do something on the job and can't, the boss will sometimes recognize your efforts. This obviously doesn't always work always in the "real life" but in school, I definetly believe that grades should be counted for. And isn't the teachers message try your best?
Saturday, February 6, 2010
HW 38
For my "cool" video, my group and I made several different classroom scenes depicting a "cool" student played by Chris Roldan and the other characters were Kiana, Elias, and Juliette as other students. In one clip, Chris is seen walking in the hallway and other students are lining up against the wall and they all say hi to Chris but Chris, who is walking in a "cool" way just ignores them. In another clip, Elias, Kiana, Juliette, and Stephanie are in a student council meeting talking about various fundraising methods for Haiti and all of a sudden, Chris walks in talking on his cellphone and behaving in a rude way. Chris acts like he is too good for everybody but then he contributes a good idea to the table and everyone realizes that maybe he actually is smart and isn't that mean or rude. In the next clip, Chris is getting in the elevator and a fellow student, played by Jen has a lot of books in her hand and is running toward the elevator but Chris doesn't care and just closes the elevator door on her. Another clip shows Kiana drinking water from the water fountain and Chris and Elias walk by and start checking her butt out and one of them grabs her butt so she slaps them. In the last clip, Chris is walking down the hallway and knocks books out of the hand of a fellow classmate played by Victor. Elias, Juliette, and Kiana are leaning against the wall gossiping about Chris and as Chris walks by, we all call him a jerk and Chris gets mad about it.
1. The idea of "cool" that is integrated to this art project is that the "cool" guy is considered to be the mean one who clearly thinks he is above everyone else and can treat everyone however he wants. He behaves openly nastily and thinks everyone likes him when they don't.
2. The part that I contributed to the project was that I was one of the actors in the skit and I did some sound effects for the slapping scene.
3. Yes, I think art is cool because it is one way to express yourself and what you are feeling inside. You don't only have to show your beliefs/ideas/feelings in words-you can do it in more creative ways. I think that art stops being cool when it is just obviously meaningless or if if it seems to be done for show not feeling. It is sometimes OK to do things that don't have meaning but my opinion is that art in general should be meaningful but not pretentious.
*VIDEO WILL BE UP SHORTLY*
1. The idea of "cool" that is integrated to this art project is that the "cool" guy is considered to be the mean one who clearly thinks he is above everyone else and can treat everyone however he wants. He behaves openly nastily and thinks everyone likes him when they don't.
2. The part that I contributed to the project was that I was one of the actors in the skit and I did some sound effects for the slapping scene.
3. Yes, I think art is cool because it is one way to express yourself and what you are feeling inside. You don't only have to show your beliefs/ideas/feelings in words-you can do it in more creative ways. I think that art stops being cool when it is just obviously meaningless or if if it seems to be done for show not feeling. It is sometimes OK to do things that don't have meaning but my opinion is that art in general should be meaningful but not pretentious.
*VIDEO WILL BE UP SHORTLY*
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