HW 45

E.D. Hirsch Jr's opinion on schooling reminds me nothing of SOF's idea of schooling-he believes we should focus on learning and grasping the concepts of subjects rather than just learning every subject in its fullest way. Like the Wikipedia article on him says: "Hirsch proposed that Romanticized, anti-knowledge theories of education prevalent in America are not only the cause of America's lackluster educational performance, but also a cause of widening inequalities in class and race. Hirsch portrays the focus of American educational theory as one which attempts to give students intellectual tools such as "critical thinking skills", but which denigrates teaching any actual content" This goes against SOF's beliefs that we should have fewer subjects but still learn more in the few subjects we have. He believes that there are things that every student should learn depending on what grade they are in and should just keep learning more of the "appropriate" things in the grade they are in. It is more of a "quantity over quality" approach to schooling children. He even wrote a book called The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, which is a dictionary that contains all important facts a person needs to know to be considered smart and literate in his eyes and to me, they seem like basic facts such as who MLK is. I don't believe that much in his opinions at all because even though i do believe that one should know who MLK is or what Roe vs. Wade is just because it was so significant in changing the way a majority of America thought, I don't believe that only facts should be taught in school because that can't get a person very far in life because a person also needs to have basic life skills in addition to knowing facts.


Theodore R. Sizer's arguments on schooling agree more with SOF's type of teaching than with Hirsch's. He believes that it is "quality over quantity" schooling-less subjects are taught but the students should be able to grasp the core classes very well rather than just having many different subjects. This following quote as said in Sizer's obituary in the New York Times really reminds me of SOF: "the student is a valued worker in that community, with the teacher in the role of mentor or coach. Depth of knowledge is emphasized over breadth, with the mastery of a few core subjects preferred over the scattershot spate of electives the modern high school seems to favor." We clearly don't have many electives or subjects but we do have the standard classes: english, math, science, and history that will actually help us in life. We also have to develop "critical thinking skills" and i definitley believe that in SOF, 1 of the mottos is that we should "teach" ourselves and our teachers are just there to egg us along and help us when needed. I believe this idea seems a bit more left wing that Hirsch's because Hirsch's ideas seem much more rigid and follow the authority member type of schooling whereas Sizer's is more free-thinking. I agree more with Sizer's sort of teaching because it is important to learn a few things very well than have various ideas just shoved into a student's head and not have them explained to him/her.

HW 44

I agree with what Obama says about accomplishing something in life because it is true that in this world, you can't get anywhere or be successful without going to college. I noticed that when some other people speak about getting somewere in life, they make it seem so easy like "go to college and your life will be better" and I feel that they fail to mention that it is not that easy and Obama actually admitted saying it's not easy at all and that you really can get a lot of places with hard work but the sad truth is that sometimes, even the hardest working people don't get very far in life. "But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it." This is what Obama says and i agree with it 100%. I also like the argument he makes that it starts with yourself because the person has to be able to make change happen and other people can't do it for them-it has to come from within, as cliche as it sounds, it is correct. If the person doesn't want to learn but is forced to, they won't do work and will fail out but if they themselves want to get themselves an education, they will do very well in life. I also feel that the argument about becoming a great rapper or NBA star is an impossible dream is kind of true because it is a very hard, fickle thing to get into and unfortunately, part of that business is out there for entertainment purposes whereas an inventor of something helps people do things easier, so i believe it is an easier goal to set for someone. "We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork. I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in. So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams." This is also a very important part of Obama's speech in my opinion, especially the part where he says we will "let down our country" because i think that if you think about giving up on your country by not getting an education, it is really shocking because that is obviously so many people. I also agree with what Obama says that coming from a broken home isn't an excuse for not doing well in school because yes, it will of course be hard to focus on anything but if you get out of the bad situation, you will have a better life and perhaps help your family. I also agree with his statement that one of the keys to getting a good education and succeeding starts from fullfilling your goals one small step at a time starting from finishing your homework one night. I like Obama's speech because i honestly believe that it is very empowering and the fact that Obama can be empathetic is good because he actually experienced the work-your-way-up story or American dream story and knows what people are going through because it would seem different if Obama was saying all this and he was fed with a silver spoon because he couldn't really know what it was like first hand. I think that what Obama is saying is very good.

HW 43

When i think of school memories i think of people teasing me in elementary school not liking elementary school being out of the crowd because i didn't have a PTA mom or a rich family. I think of graduation and going out to lunch and learning easy things in school. My "wild child" days when i stole a lot and getting into small fights with various people. Doing homework and exhibitions and presenting. The feeling and mood in school when it got to be warmer out. Getting report cards. Going to various events in the auditorium for the school play or pep rally or whatever. Taking the midterms or long tests. Seeing all my friends on our first day back to school and the anticipation. The last day of school.

HW 42 Part B

1. For the first link from CBS news, the article was about how school suspensions aren't good, especially for younger elementary school students because they don't really learn anything from it. I definitely agree with this because when there is an out of school suspension, the kids don't do work at home anyway, so it is defeating the purpose and students just get more mad. Younger kids it's even worse for because they need to realize and know why they are getting in trouble instead of just being suspended. The student will give up. I think that if any kind of suspension has t be given, it should be in-school and that an at-home suspension should only happen if the student actually poses a great threat to themselves and fellow students. Things are perceived worse when children are younger.

2. The second article is about whether or not suspensions are effective or not. It specifically talks about little kids like first graders getting suspended which I think makes no sense. First graders are too young to know exactly what right and wrong is. The teachers shouldn't suspend or punish kids in that way, the parents should. Also, getting suspended this early on in life could cause problems later in life for the student because in addition to giving up, they might actually become very troubled people and will maybe drop out of school in a worst-case scenario.

3. The third article talks about suspensions in high schools. Unlike the other articles, I am getting the impression that the author sort of agrees with suspending students. The author argues that the student who was suspended probably doesn't want to be in school anyway so they misbehave to get suspended and get out of school, so why suspend students? He also said that the high school students who get suspended doesn't really educate them at all and that they will end up n the street. The article also says that suspension rates have dropped drastically in some high schools from about 27% to about 9%. I think that that is good because suspensions should ONLY be used as a last resort in case no other method of discipline works.

HW 41

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

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.

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?