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.