Final Draft paper number three!

The moment you walk into any schooling system you can tell what its focuses are. Math, English, science, and the occasional history. It’s apparent that our school’s are lacking something vital and that is communication. School’s are so focused on cramming an extensive amount of information in kids’ minds to set them up to pass state issued tests and so on. What the school system needs is a communication class to teach the kids to be open and interactive. Everything in school is teaching pure information, what kids are lacking are communication skills that teach them how to talk to people and be confident in themselves.

What our children need is to have the chance to set themselves apart from others and give themselves the best chance of succeeding possible. The most qualified person in the world is not going to get a job if they can’t walk into an interview and represent themselves appropriately. There are very few jobs that are strictly independent, young adults need to learn how to communicate with others in order to be able to work in a group setting. Schools are focusing on meeting only academic standards and its crippling student’s ability to have an opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions. Worst of all, schools are teaching kids that this is something that does not need to be addressed. Allowing them to think that getting good grades will ensure success. In his book Pedagogy of the oppressed, Paolo Freire writes “education is suffering from narration sickness” (Chapter two), and that’s just it. With teacher’s bonuses depending on how their students pass a state issued test, of course classes are going to focus in from an academic standpoint. Not to mention all of the schools budget cuts students aren’t even being offered extra-curricular activities such as debate, drama, and other various sports. Schools need to recognize the value of making a class like this mandatory to ensure a well-rounded array of opportunities for their students.

                Unfortunately school systems are being set up to suggest to students that conformity is important, and are making sure they are dependent on their teachers to feed them knowledge to recite at a later date. In bell hook’s book Critical Thinking, she notes “those students who do not dread thinking often come to class assuming that thinking will not be necessary, that all they will need to do is consume information and regurgitate it at the appropriate moments” When really they should be benefiting from the opportunity of learning how to think critically on their own. In a real life setting there is no teacher directing you on how to complete the group task that may be at hand, you are left to figure these things out on your own. Young adults are not granted the free knowledge in a normal situation, they need to take the initiative to go and get it themselves. A communications class would begin to build and prepare them for the real world and build a sense of confidence student’s lack, allowing them to be successful in communicating.

                Schools aren’t giving students the opportunities to learn productive communication and express themselves in a positive way, and it’s crippling our young adults.  Behavioral problems would be sufficiently lessoned if students were given some way to channel their energy into acting positive. In the movie Chalk, directed by Mike Akel, the students had severe behavioral problems and don’t listen to their teacher, which causes the teacher to feel overpowered. This would help shape our young student’s into adults. In Chalk, when the history teacher lost “teacher of the year” he became very upset and flipped a desk in front of his students. If he had better communication skills he would have been able to express himself in a more appropriate manner. Also, after he had behaved so negatively in front of his students, he didn’t know how to apologize or explain himself to his students, which he would have known how if he had been taught how to handle such situations. If kids were taking a class to teach them how to communicate positively it would help with students talking skills, which becomes their behavior. Kids are being robbed of their chance to become outspoken independent people. It’s something that seems so easy to learn but unfortunately many people don’t, and schools need to address this. In her article, “Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program”, Deb Aronson writes “young people being empowered is scary to many people, institutions, and establishments” and involving kids in the ability to communicate is empowering them. Schools should not fear or restrain young minds growing to express themselves in becoming young outspoken adults. It is important to equip students with what they need to succeed outside of school, and while math will always be helpful, knowing how to talk to people and convey yourself to others is something that will be necessary on a day to day basis.

            Initially people might think this class would be a waste of time and that it would be an easy A, but its teachings would be valuable. Many people think that children get enough social interaction at school with their fellow classmates and should be learning how to communicate on their own by trial and error. Unfortunately what people fail to see is that the ability to have friends and be social with someone you are close to is not what people are lacking, they are lacking the ability to be confident in their speech and walk into any situation prepared. Common people might assume that the teachings in this class would be social, meaning, talking and gossiping with fellow classmates which is not true. It would be designed to create situations for students and see how they would react, and then showing and teaching them the right way to act. This class in no way would be made to teach kids how to have friends, but how to handle situations presented in life.  

The movie Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir, is a perfect example of how schools drive to be purely academic and don’t feel it necessary to hold on to classes such as drama. The school teaches students that if they want to be an accountant, to take accounting classes. Of course you are going to need accounting classes, but how will you gain clients if you have no people skills. No one will want to do business with you. In the movie a student’s parents wouldn’t allow him to take drama because he was on a purely academic track. He didn’t know how to take control of his life and convey to his parents and teachers what he wanted. This resulted in him ultimately committing suicide. If he had learned how to deal with these situations he would have been more prepared to handle them, and perhaps his situation would not have become so dire. Being able to talk to people and being comfortable in social situations is a requirement in life. This is what our schools need, and that is what they are lacking.  

Without the addition of a communication class, school would ultimately be the same. Class would be academic and students would become experts in reciting, but they will continue to have a harsh realization that they are not yet equipped to handle real world situations when they begin to encounter them immediately after graduating high school. When they move into their dorms at college, when they go to their first job interview, and when they encounter a difficult situation with someone they just met. They will be forced to try and adapt like they always have been, when schools could be preparing them with knowledge that is immediately applicable to the real world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sited sources

 

hooks, bell. Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.

 

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.

 

Debaronson.com. Arizona band Mexican American studies program, 2012. Web. September 2012.

 

Chalk. Dir. Mike Akel. Perf. Jeff Guerrero, Chris Mass. Virgil Films, 2007. DVD.

 

Dead poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Robert Leonard. Buena Vista Pictures, 1989. DVD.

 

 

sited sources

Sited sources

 

hooks, bell. Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.

 

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.

 

Debaronson.com. Arizona band Mexican American studies program, 2012. Web. September 2012.

 

Chalk. Dir. Mike Akel. Perf. Jeff Guerrero, Chris Mass. Virgil Films, 2007. DVD.

 

Dead poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Robert Leonard. Buena Vista Pictures, 1989. DVD.

Rough draft

The moment you walk into any schooling system you can tell what its focuses are. Math, English, science, and the occasional history. It’s apparent that our schools are lacking something vital and that is communication. Schools are so focused on cramming an extensive amount of information in kids’ minds to set them up to pass state issued tests and so on. What the school system needs is a communication class to teach the kids to be open and interactive. Everything in school is teaching pure information, what kids are lacking are communication skills that teach them how to talk to people and be confident in themselves.

                What our children need is to have the chance to set themselves apart from others and give themselves the best chance of succeeding possible. The most qualified person in the world is not going to get a job if they can’t walk into an interview and represent themselves appropriately. There are very few jobs that are strictly independent, young adults need to learn how to communicate with others in order to be able to work in a group setting. Schools are focusing on meeting only academic standards and its crippling student’s ability to have an opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions. Worst of all, schools are teaching kids that this is something that does not need to be addressed. Allowing them to think that getting good grades will ensure success. In his book Pedagogy of the oppressed, Paolo Freire writes “education is suffering from narration sickness” (Chapter two), and that’s just it. With all of the schools budget cuts students aren’t even being offered extra-curricular activities such as debate, drama, and other various sports. Schools need to recognize the value of making a class like this mandatory to ensure a well-rounded array of opportunities for their students.

                Unfortunately school systems are being set up to suggest to students that conformity is important, and are making sure they are dependent on their teachers to feed them knowledge to recite at a later date. In bell hooks book Critical Thinking, she notes “those students who do not dread thinking often come to class assuming that thinking will not be necessary, that all they will need to do is consume information and regurgitate it at the appropriate moments” When really they should be benefiting from the opportunity of learning how to think critically on their own. Which would require them to form their own thoughts and opinions. Opinions meant to be expressed and build a sense of confidence student’s lack, allowing them to be successful in communicating.

                Schools aren’t giving students the opportunities to learn productive communication and express themselves in a positive way, and it’s crippling our young adults.  Behavioral problems would be sufficiently lessoned if students were given some way to channel their energy into acting positive. In the movie Chalk, directed by Mike Akel, the students had severe behavioral problems and don’t listen to their teacher, which causes the teacher to feel overpowered. If kids were taking a class to teach them how to communicate positively it would help with students talking skills, which becomes their behavior. Kids are being robbed of their chance to become outspoken independent people. It’s something that seems so easy to learn but unfortunately many people don’t, and schools need to address this. In her article, Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program, Deb Aronson writes “young people being empowered is scary to many people, institutions, and establishments” and involving kids in the ability to communicate is empowering them. Schools should not fear or restrain young minds growing to express themselves in becoming young outspoken adults. It is important to equip students with what they need to succeed outside of school, and while math will always be helpful, knowing how to talk to people and convey yourself to others is something that will be necessary on a day to day basis.

The movie Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir, is a perfect example of how schools drive to be purely academic and don’t feel it necessary to hold on to classes such as drama. The school teaches students that if they want to be an accountant, to take accounting classes. Of course you are going to need accounting classes, but how will you gain clients if you have no people skills. No one will want to do business with you. Being able to talk to people and being comfortable in social situations is a requirement in life. This is what our schools need, and that is what they are lacking.  

Not to put the schooling system completely to shame, it has somewhat been attempted to be added as optional curriculum in classes such as public speech. Although this deals with speaking skills it narrows its teaching on, again, memorizing and reciting speeches. A communication class needs to be focused on getting a student’s attention and allowing them to form opinions and be able to find ways to word them, to allow them the opportunity to work collaboratively. 

super duper rough draft/brainstorm ideas

     “education is suffering from narration sickness”

In his book Pedagogy of the oppressed, Paolo Freire writes “education is suffering from narration sickness” (Chapter two)

“those students who do not dread thinking often come to classes assuming that thinking will not be necessary, that all they will need to do is consume information and regurgitate is at the appropriate moments.”

The moment you walk into any schooling system you can tell what its focuses are. Math, English, science, and the occasional history. It’s apparent that our schools are lacking something vital and that is communication. Schools are so focused on cramming an extensive amount of information in kids’ minds to set them up to pass state issued tests and so on. What the school system needs is a communication class to teach the kids to be open and interactive. Everything in school is teaching pure information, what kids are lacking are communication skills that teach them how to talk to people and be confident in themselves.

                What our children need is to have the chance to set themselves apart from others and give themselves the best chance of succeeding possible. The most qualified person in the world is not going to get a job if they can’t walk into an interview and represent themselves appropriately. There are very few jobs that are strictly independent, kids need to learn how to communicate with others in order to be able to work in a group setting. Schools are focusing on meeting only academic standards and its crippling student’s ability to have an opportunity to express their thoughts and opinions. Worst of all, schools are teaching kids that this is something that does not need to be addressed. Allowing them to think that getting good grades will ensure success. In his book Pedagogy of the oppressed, Paolo Freire writes “education is suffering from narration sickness” (Chapter two), and that’s just it. With all of the schools budget cuts students aren’t even being offered extra-curricular activities such as debate, drama, and other various sports. Schools need to recognize the value of making a class like this mandatory to ensure a well-rounded array of opportunities for their students.

                Unfortunately school systems are being set up to suggest to students that conformity is important, and are making sure they are dependent on their teachers to feed them knowledge to recite at a later date. In bell hooks book Critical Thinking, she notes “those students who do not dread thinking often come to class assuming that thinking will not be necessary, that all they will need to do is consume information and regurgitate it at the appropriate moments” When really they should be benefiting from the opportunity of learning how to think critically on their own. Which would require them to form their own thoughts and opinions. Opinions meant to be expressed and build a sense of confidence students lack, allowing them to be successful in communicating.

                Schools are getting so bad that students have behavioral issues due to the fact that they are forced to conform to what is being taught with no freedom to

 Kids are being robbed of their chance to become outspoken independent people.

 

Group ratings & disagreements

Jerry Large- Good idea but hard to change. School does not have control over home life. Good assist but not a solid plan.

Deb Aronson- Important, if we start at the head of the education it can go down.

Keith Gilyard- What is more important, math or creativity?

Bell hooks- Good idea but an opinion

Boyce- If you do not get social skills you will not succeed  



Disagreements- Large- Good idea some said and is very important. But argues that it is to big of an idea and some parents wont be able to make the change. 
-Boyce- Social skills are important in life, but argues that you need an education more then how to present yourself.
-Hooks- Great idea, but argues that it is just an idea and not a plan to workout. To broad
Top choice- Keith Gilyard, start investing the money into classes that students want and they will learn to think critically.
2nd Choice- Deb Aronson- Very good idea that people who make the education should be ones that teach it. You would not have the head of a police department be someone who has never been a police

rank 1-5 (mine)

Bell hooks- 1

Keith Gilyard- 2

Deb Aronson- 3

Jerry Large- 4

Barry Boyce- 5

ideas for change

A Real Education by Barry Boyce
He discusses what children should be taught as far as citizenship, friendships, and empathy. leading them to learn basic life skills.

Gift of Grit, Curiosity Help Kids Succeed by Jerry Large
discusses how environments effect children and their learning. his plan of action is to start improving the environment at home and setting it for success, because teaching starts there.

Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program by Deb Aronson
She explains how teachers should be the ones who make political choices about their students because politicians know nothing about education and cannot decide what classes are okay to cut.

Children, Arts, and Du Bois  by Keith Gilyard:
He discusses how giving back the humanities will help the economy and other aspects of student learning. it is important to have these creative classes and they should not be cut back to where there is purely core classes available.

Teaching- Critical Thinking by Bell hooks
critical thinking is essential to the well being of a classroom. teachers and students both complain of boredom in the classroom. if critical thinking is going on students will be more interested therefore no one will be bored.

Rose and Black

Comedian Lewis Black talks on "The Daily show" on the poor education system. he discusses the topic of charter schools being better schools widely more effective, but also being hard to get into and attend. Charter schools seeming to be more effective simply for the fact that they individualize to each student and set expectations for each. while Chalk demonstrates that public schools set low standards for the majority of students to be able to meet which inevitably brings the entire level of schooling down to accommodate its lower level learners. not nurturing the gifted kids talents.

Mike Rose's Resolutions in Education, states "To stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness." this stuck out at the point in the movie chalk where the history teacher wanted badly to become teacher of the year. now obviously this was a comedy, but it showed how teachers are meant to push for their students scores to be the best to show their performance vs. things like student understanding comprehension and memorability on the subject. school systems are poorly judging the teachers and students efforts on scores. in this scene the students commented on how hard they each worked, even though they didn't win.

What i think

I think high school is to teach kids basic education. how we accept this education is completely up to us. I think the basic idea of high school is to open up a variety of opportunities and potential interests for students to begin thinking about their future careers and goals. High school is the age that kids are becoming adults, and it is priming us to become informed adults. now of course it has many areas it could use work in. but for the most part the idea is good. Most teachers are crappy, classes are a joke, and grades unrepresented of a persons real intelligence. but unfortunately, there is no other way to do it. it is impossible to satisfy everyone's needs. i believe if you are as lucky as i have been, it is a fun experience that gets the gist of the job done, and the rest is for me to figure out. my one large complaint would be the purely educational focus of school. there is nothing even offered to help kids learn to communicate with one another. the smartest person in he world would be nowhere without communication. i think that a class on communication would be an extremely life changing additive to the school curriculum.

how does chalk illustrate

1. when the student is late to class and the gym teacher freaks out and says that the rule needs to be reinforced regardless the circumstance. This is an example of Gatto's opinion on how students are supposed to react to authority. "Schools are to establish fixed habits of reaction to authority. This, of course, precludes critical judgment completely"
2.When the gym teacher is trying to get her entire class to perform at the same standard when not all of them are at the same standard. this pairs with Gatto saying "This might well be called "the conformity function," because its intention is to make children as alike as possible"
3.when the assistant principle starts mediating conflicts with kids getting in trouble by fighting, bad grades, ect. Gatto describes this as "determining each student's proper social role"
4.when the history teacher tries to be friends with his students vs. being a teacher to them. I believe this is an example of what freire thinks is a good thing although its proven to be very bad.
5. When the new history teacher is uninterested in deciphering how to teach his students and instead believes himself not right for the job. This illustrates Gatto's explanation of teachers being bored, even in the break room, where there was also a scene In the teachers lounge of exactly that.

Chalk real time notes

argue for a change or addition through the k-12 that happens in the movie. help to fix something you see in chalk.

The History teacher is starting his first year teaching his class and starts off obviously having problems creating a sense of authority or teaching mentality to his class. he struggles with getting their attention, making them behave, and handling conflicting situations. He incorrectly breaks up a fight between two girls in class and tells them just to sit back down. He later gets in a fight with one of his students over his cell phone going off in class. They both call each other curse words. He feels extremely guilty and goes to the kids house and talks to his mother and gets teaching advice from her. he is very insecure. He begins to bond with his students when they convince him to run in the spelling b for slang words kids use. they spend time teaching and training him to know how to spell all the words and understand what they mean. He wins the spelling b. The last scene of him and his students is them getting him to "Spit a rap" while one of the kids make a beat on their desk. He is conflicted about signing up to teach another year, and I believe does not end up continuing to teach although it was left semi open ended. he end with a quote saying "being  a teacher is a gift, maybe its something you can learn, but no one has taught me"

the second history teacher has an issue building an educational relationship with his students. he becomes friends with them instead of teaching them and disciplining them correctly. He runs for teacher of the year and try's really hard to win, but does not. he freaks out and flips a desk in his classroom on front of his students and beats himself up about it.

the gym teacher is female and everyone thinks she is lesbian. she struggles with getting her students involved in the athleticism and effort of gym. she makes up interesting games to get them all hyped and on board. she explains that confidence is something you need to make them have by believing in them. she also likes the first time history teacher.

the assistant principle is doing her job for the first time when she was previously a teacher. she learns that she has to spend countless hours at the school when she is supposed to be home and comes into conflict with the gym teacher trying to get her to fix everything. she also struggles with disciplining kids.

Freire&Gatto

I think Gatto and Freire have very similar opinions on education. They both think the entire system is terrible and completely wrong. Gatto speaks about the teachers being bored and blaming the students for their bad teaching and so on. Freire talks about how the students and teachers should be equals and learn from each other. they agree in the sense that they both think education is being delivered in the wrong ways but don't agree on the way they think it should be delivered. Freire believes that children should be allowed to come to conclusions on their own vs. being taught to memorize a set curriculum. he thinks that students curiosity and creativity are being stifled by the teacher student relationship. I personally did not agree with his method or logic. it reminded me more of a nature walk plan instead of an educational plan. Gatto talks about teachers boredom and lifelessness of their teaching, and goes on to talk about what school is trying to shape kids into through their authority and conformity. He go's on to talk about six main points of what schools are doing to their kids. "Schools are to establish fixed habits of reaction to authority" "This might well be called "the conformity function," because its intention is to make children as alike as possible." "School is meant to determine each student's proper social role. This is done by logging evidence mathematically and anecdotally on cumulative records" "Once their social role has been "diagnosed," children are to be sorted by role and trained only so far as their destination in the social machine merits - and not one step further" " Schools are meant to tag the unfit - with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments" " a small fraction of the kids will quietly be taught how to manage this continuing project, how to watch over and control a population deliberately dumbed down and declawed in order that government might proceed unchallenged and corporations might never want for obedient labor". this I find to be very true and interesting, although It does not coincide with the beliefs of freire.

Group 11/14

In what ways did reading this website enrich, complicate and or confuse your understanding about Freire’s banking concept.

This website was a way to connect us reading it, to what freire is trying to give off to the readers from his second book published Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In the book he goes into great detail of what the characteristics of teachers are. He writes about the banking process of educators and “the “banking” concept of education regards men as adaptable, manageable beings, the more students work at storing the deposits entrusted to them, the less they develop the critical consciousness that would result from their intervention in the world.” Here is talking about how students learn to adapt to what they are learning, the teachers know everything and the students know nothing. He states that the teacher talks and the students listen.  He also writes, “The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students’ creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed.”  The oppressors he speaks of he is talking also about the employers, the elected officials,  as well as anyone with socio-economic power over others. While the website states that, “as the illiterate person learns and is able to make such statements, his world becomes radically transformed and he is no longer willing to be a mere object responding to changes occurring around him. The educated are more likely to decide to take upon themselves the struggle to change the structures of society that until now have served to oppress them.”  He wants us to understand that we need to have an education where the students shouldn’t be afraid to speak out and to constructively criticize the teachers. They need to not let boredom overpower them in education being that the “educated man is the adapted man, because he is better “fit” for the world.” “The more completely the majority adapt to the purposes which the dominant minority prescribe for them (thereby depriving them of the right to their own purposes)”

My High School Experience

"we must wake up to what our schools really are: laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands. Mandatory education serves children only incidentally; its real purpose is to turn them into servants"

The entire topic of education is some what hard for me to speak on, because I feel everyone has a semi valid point. I love this quote of Gatto because that is exactly what school is. On the other side of the fence though, school is amazing in so many ways. Regardless of if I am for it or against it, I can definitely speak on my k-12 experience.

in many ways it was similar to Gatto's description. My schooling was filled with forced authority and reward for conformity. For my first three years of school I was placed in the "assist" program for kids that needed assistance. and while I think intentions were decent, reality was failure. This program did nothing but teach kids that they need different help than others and separated them from "normal" learners. it only put them, and me, further behind. Until I finally broke free of that system by begging my parents to take me out saying "I'm not a stupid learner" and was placed into standard fourth grade. At this point I was at least a year behind and worked extremely hard to be middle level intelligence in my class. I never successfully learned my multiplication facts although they are just memorization. as behind as I was I continued to barely make it through each grade until I got to middle school and had an array of classes to pass. I did well, but noticed weird rules that were made to follow like "no standing in the lunch room". Why in the world not?! I cant stand? protesting only resulted in lunch detention. I was forced to take shop classes and computer classes. Sewing and babysitting classes. it made no sense to me why these things were required. but I didn't do a lot of questioning, because it was fun. I feel, aside from the boring schoolwork, that it was a completely social experience. and it was. I went to school each day and hung out with ,y friends. I made friends. I lost friends. I made new friends.

high school was the same thing. I was able to break off and take classes of my choice in a sense such as extra sciences and a language of my choice. but only because this is what the kids that wanted to succeed did. I passed AP classes with A's and B's and still feel myself no better or smarter than the average student. no better off either. school was pushing us all in the direction we are "meant" to go. its grueling actually. but like anything else its a learning experience. and as much as its about mass education at one time, I believe its social. maybe not even social enough.

I graduated. so I am happy. I was able to move on to college, obviously, and I know the importance of learning. I think school is a good thing although it has many bad traits. like anything else though.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect. He would pace around the room in his dark blue dress shirt and light brown slacks, much to overdressed for a high school setting, and call on the kid that is sitting quietly praying not to be called on. As much as no one wanted to be called on, we all gained something from it. Felt better and more confident after going through the grueling task of acting out a velocity question in front of the whole class. It taught us not to be afraid and to be confident in learning. Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. This gave many students incentive to do their work in the first place and if they needed help, weather they wanted it or not, they would get it. Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics. He provides his students with the tools that they need to get ahead in school.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would draw horrible diagrams of places and people and important moments of history on the white board in the front of the room while making loud animated noises and comments. He spontaneously calls on his students to keep them attentive and on point with the lesson. More than anything he understood that for some people it just didn’t click. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

Rough draft essay #2

                Throughout schooling every student is exposed to a bundle of different teachers with different teaching styles and habits. Some kids seem to like teachers who allow them to slack off and get away with not challenging themselves, but everyone liked Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki. Something about a teacher who really gives it their all and expects students to return the favor really brings out the best in an entire group of kids. Regardless of their differing subjects they both go above and beyond to achieve a higher standard of learning for their students and promote them to not only master the topics but enjoy them, even when they would otherwise be dreadful.

                Mr.Haza taught physical science. This is a class that every high school freshman is required to take in order to graduate and is the first science class we are introduced to. It is a gateway to all different potential science interests and nobody even knew until they had Mr.Haza. He uses strict methods along with a bold and upbeat attitude to gain the interest of his students. Something that all good teachers seem to have is the ability to relate and talk to their students as equals while continuing to have authority and respect.  Each student who fell to a C in his class was required to stay in at lunchtime and get special help from him to raise their grade. He would kneel next to each student as he taught one on one and would visibly wear out the knees in his expensive pants. . Most kids go through high school with the intentions to do the bare minimum and that’s it. We were not explained the importance of science until we had Mr.Haza. Each year he talks roughly eighty five percent of his students into taking the advanced science track that throws you right into AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics.

                Mr.Sawikki is teaches History. Speaking for a vast majority of students, this is the worst required subject throughout the high school career. It’s boring, pure memorization, and hard to read. I’ve never seen a teacher maximize a students learning in a history class until I walked into Mr.Sawikkis class. He was attentive, funny, and understanding. He knows that his students are uninterested in this subject and finds a way, whatever that may be, to make it stick. It’s easy to recall something that was fun or that made you laugh, so he makes sure all of his classes are filled with humor and laughter and fun while teaching the material to make it easier to recall. He would spend time after class at central market and buy pizzas for everyone who showed up. Students from all different periods would come on a Saturday and study in a relaxing group environment. He made sure his students were taken care of.

                Both Mr.Haza and Mr.Sawikki have inspiring qualities and encourage their students to go above and beyond. Although they have different methods of teaching and completely differing subjects they both have a unique understanding of their students and build a meaningful relationship with them all. Throughout all their hard work they succeed in furthering student’s education year after year. Any student who walks into their classrooms on the first day of school expecting it to be gruesome and un-meaningful is in for a pleasant surprise.

School differences

Garfield High and Welton Academy are two incredibly different schools. Garfield High is a school in LA where most kids who are attending are under educated and have a lack of motivation and influence to help them finish and continue school. Welton Academy is a private school where tuition is paid to attend and parents expect there students to do extremely well. The teachers at Garfield don't feel that their students can perform at any higher levels than what they are teaching, while Welton's teachers focus on purely academic success. There's an extremely large difference in wealth and status between the students in both schools. The students who attend Garfield are from the hood and are low income students. Welton is full of extremely wealthy high class students who's parents pay for tuition, room and board, and anything else they might need. Although status is very prominently differentiated, ambitions are also another noticeable difference. Garfield's students are not concerned with school and have no future plans, most of them plan to work in a family business or go right into a job/career after high school to work for the rest of their lives. Welton's students consist of kids who are pushed by there parents to achieve high in school and go on to a four year college for pre-planned and thought out careers. They all want to please there parents by achieving the goals set out for them. Classes and teaching ability are also another difference. Welton has an array of posibuilities of classes that can pretain to any certain subject a student might want to go to school for. Garfield has a small staff of limited teaching with no computers in there school for the students to access. The teaching is very poor and cut to bare minimum classes where teachers are required to teach a subject they themselves haven't gone to school for. Overall there are many obvious differences in the schools.

Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keating

From first glance Mr.Escalante and Mr.Keating seemed to have nothing in common besides the fact that they are both teachers. They teach in completely different settings to completely different kids. Mr. Escalante is teaching kids that don't have drive to be in school and no faith put in them by there parents. Mr. Keating is teaching kids who have all the expectations in the world of them by their parents, and are strictly about school and getting good grades. These are completely different settings to teach kids in and you would think that they would not bring out similarities in the teachers, but they do. Each teacher shows an enormous amount of compassion for the kids and a desire to help them accomplish something important. Mr. Escalante is focused on pushing the kids to achieve there full potential and gain college credit by passing an AP Calculus class. Mr. Keating is striving for almost the exact opposite. The kids in his private school that he is teaching are all academics, no fun. He strives to put excitement, passion, and creative ambition back in there life through poetry. He wants to be able to teach the kids to be creative along with there academic achievements. He uses many uses of outgoing teaching to extract the creativity from his students. In one scene he picks on his shy student and tells him to recite a poem that he didn't do. He then proceeds to make him stand in front of the class and prompts the creativity out of him into a deep poem. Mr. Escalante uses similar techniques that are shown when he calls on one student in his class that feels like he is the least intelligent and helps him solve the problem in front of the class using sarcasm and unique teaching methods. Both teachers are unique and similar in there own ways, and both are incredible teachers.

Reactions to part two

Although the end of the movie was very predictable it was also an all around good ending. After all the hard work he put in it paid off for everyone. The idea that all the kids cheated is very interesting because if the scores really were all the same I imagine they would be checked regardless of the school. But at the same time its interesting to think about if there is racism or prejudice involved, which i'm sure there is. Its heartbreaking to think that kids would get questioned and doubted for all passing when they worked so hard to get where they were. in the end they all re tested which I didn't think should have been that big of a deal. aside from the fact that it was stupid to make them, if they did it once they can do it again. It was a good ending when they all got amazing scores again, because I having taken the AP Chemistry test among others realize how hard it is to get a 4 and above. Overall I really liked the movie.

is Mr. Escalante a good teacher?

Yes. He's a wonderful teacher that's why there is a movie about him! There are a number of good aspects to his teaching. He starts out at an underprivileged school doing his first year of teaching. He quits his old money making job to be a teacher. He gets a class of students that aren't encouraged to be disciplined in school. He gives them mentoring and hope and pushes them to believe they can accomplish something academically in their lives. Through his pushy and sarcastic attitude he gets an entire class of students to agree to take a summer course to complete an AP Calculus class and take the AP test. throughout all the trials the students go through he takes a special liking to many of them. He volunteers his entire summer, before and after classes, and weekends to teach these kids math. He is a very inspirational teacher. He uses a smart ass sense of humor to connect with the kids and at the same time to assert dominance. He works very hard for his students and gets them to put forth the same effort he is. He believes in them and shows them support when no other teachers in the school do.

brainstorm paper #2

For the second paper I want to choose two of my own teachers. I think the teachers in both films are obviously amazing, but they've already been recognized with an entire movie made about them! I want to write about teachers that I have been encouraged by first hand so I can really understand and express their good teachings. I've considered writing about a few terrible teachers because I have definitely had a lot of those, but I feel there is nothing good and particularly productive about that. it would be hard because they haven't impacted my life in a memorable way, only in a semester of hell and I moved on. I want to pick two teachers that really have good teaching skills and be able to explain how they help further all students education including mine. if it weren't for a few of my amazing teachers, I wouldn't be going to school for pharmacy like I am now. it will make writing my essay easier if i'm writing about a teacher I know.

Group notes!

their level.There were two scenes from the movie "Stand and Deliver" that we focused on that we felt showed that Mr. Escalante was a good teacher:

The first was one was when Jaime Escalante was taunting Tito(?) about his use of his fingers.  He called him 'Finger Man"
          Jamie approaches Tito and holds up his hands and proceeds to show him how he uses his fingers to multiply. 
  "Are you the Finger Man? I'm the finger man too. You know what I can do? I know how to multiply by nine.  9 X 3 - 1,2,3.  What do what you got?  27.  6 x 9 - 1,2,3,4,5,6.  What do you got? 54
Yeah.  You want a hard one? 8 X 9.  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. What do you got?  72" 
Although in most places we would not consider this to be an instance of good teaching, in the environment of East Los  Angeles it was a way for Mr. Escalante to make more of an impact with Tito.  Mr.. Escalante knew he had to approach each kid differently. He also took the opportunity to show Tito that he was not easily intimidated.  

The second scene we selected was the restaurant scene where Mr. Escalante has just finished dinner with his wife and the owner of the restaurant asks him if he enjoyed his taquitos.
  Mr. Escalante says "Muy benento.  except for one thing." He shows the receipt to the owner who is Anna's(Anita) dad.  Someone doesn't know how to add"
Dad looks at the receipt and calls Anna over and talks to her in Spanish.  
Mr.. Escalante says " She should be going back to school." 
Anna introduces her father to Mr. Escalante as her math teacher and Mr. Escalante invites the dad to have a seat.  He does and asks Anna to bring a couple of beers.  When she leaves Mr. Escalante tells the dad he should get another  waitress.  Dad laughs.  
Mr.. Escalante says " Anna can be the first in your  family to graduate high school, go to college. "
Dad "Thank you for your concern, her mother works here, her sisters, her brothers.  Its a family business.  She is needed."  Mr. Escalante responds that's she can help the family more  by getting an  education.  
The conversation continues and the dad is starting to get defensive.  Mr. Escalante tells him that his daughter has talked about going to  medical school and that she will waste her life if she doesn't go back to school.  "She is top kid!" says Mr. Escalante.  "She could go to college and come back and teach you how to  run the place." 
From there it is down hill and as Mr. Escalante gets up to leave he puts his money on the table but the dad gives it back to him saying that he does not need his money or his business.  
This was a good example of the passion that Mr. Escalante has for his students.  He sees the potential and drive in Anna and wants her to succeed.
As far as any instances of bad teaching, we really did not have any examples.   The only thing that might be questionable was the references to  sex and gigolos but then one needs to remember where the school is and the rough environment that the students live every day.  Again Mr. Escalante is interacting with the students on their level.

Notes on Film

Good teaching & Bad teaching

scenes, characters, what there saying/doing
tell actions or sayings to one another
the scene in which..

the movie starts out with a man teaching at a high school level with a group of kids that don't want to learn. The first lesson he teaches is when he cuts up an apple and gives a few students an apple and askes them how much they each have.

in the scene which He teaches "finger man" how to multiply nines when he gives him the finger and is disrespecting him. Hes taking a negative and making it a positive while showing dominance so his students will respect him.

In the scene in which he makes all of the students repeat the math he wants them to remember such as the negatives to engage the whole class and make sure everyone remembers it.

"they will rise to the expectations set for them" says the teacher when all of the teachers on the board are truing to give up on their students,so hes not only teaching kids but the teachers as well.

in the scene in which he gives the Mexican boy extra books so no one knows he is working to show he supports the kid and wants to help him work.

in the scene in which he makes students that don't do their work sit in a chair in front of the whole class so they have a reason to do there work because they don't understand the value in doing it in the first place.

in the scene in which he went to a students family restaurant to get her parents to let her stay in school because they wanted her to stay home and work, this shows his dedication to all students.

Miss Poulsbo 2013

I have always thought that pageants were for snobs that wear expensive dresses and think they deserve a crown, but last year I, for no reason aside for the fact that I had no better way to spend my time, decided I wanted to be in the running to become Miss Poulsbo 2013. When I began this program I thought it would be easy and quick, I never would have anticipated how much this experience would come to teach me. The Miss Poulsbo, Miss Kitsap, Miss Silverdale scholarship organization awarded three girls the title and took them on a years’ worth of appearances and community service. I started out on a need to know basis only which really only included phases of competition. The pageant is made up of six categories. Interview which accounts for 30% of your score, talent 25%, evening wear 20%, active wear 15%, on stage question 5%, and academic review 5%. I knew when I started that I was going to be far outside my comfort zone, but I was up for the challenge.

Our first meeting went smoothly. 20 girls and our program director/coordinator met for the first time at the sons of Norway in downtown Poulsbo. Of course going into this I had a slightly defensive mentality, after all this was a competition right? It did not take me long to realize these girls I would be spending so much time with were not someone I was competing against, but with. They were each as kind and nervous as I was. I quickly became acquainted with all of the contestants. Besides our weekly Sunday rehearsals we were all required to go to a number of “appearances” in our local community. These each varied in content but all had a common goal of becoming involved in the community.

Each of the contestants are required to put together a portfolio of themselves for the five judges to examine before the pageant. This consisted of a community service record, answered essay questions, and an essay of your platform and plan of action. We were explained that a platform is what you believe the community should reinforce, and your plan of action is how you’re going to persuade people to do this. This was the first lifelong lesson I learned from the pageant, how to love and care about my community. I have never given much thought whatsoever to trying to make a difference in the community. I never thought, or wanted for that matter, a chance to. This made me pull a one-eighty and made me fall in love with the idea of being able to impact our community positively. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to achieve if I were to win. I settled on involving kids in extracurricular activities. This had a number of positive effect on kids such as social, health, school, confidence, and so much more. I absolutely adored what I was enforcing and realized I enjoyed being so involved.

Aside from my platform, I was given many opportunities to involve myself with other community service events on our appearances. Many of them were dressing up as princesses for kids and painting their faces, but a lot of them were real work in the community. My favorite and most rewarding appearance was the “Habitat for Humanity” builds. This is where people who have a low income and cannot afford a house work to build houses with a large number of volunteer workers creating low income housing that they can afford. I am a hands on type of girl, so I loved this! I put on my gloves and tool belt and went to work. I was privileged to work side by side with a father building a home to house his two young daughters. This to me was life changing. I realized this is how so many people purely volunteer spend their time helping people build their homes. For no other reason than the satisfaction of helping someone else. This opened my eyes to so much compassion and kindness in people, and made me want to experience it over and over. I still spend weekends helping build houses, because this showed me there are ways for me, even without a title, to help my community.

 

Another segment of the pageant was obtaining 400$ worth of sponsors. I absolutely hated this portion. This required each girl to go around asking small businesses to sponsor them in the pageant for ad space in our program book. I am not good at asking for money, in fact, I hate it. Many of the girls had their parents or grandparents who owned businesses sponsor them. I however had no such luck. I had to endure the torture of being turned down repeatedly by owners of businesses I didn’t even know. I don’t blame them, either. I wouldn’t give money to a girl that walked into my business and asked for it. In the end, as last minute as possible, my aunt helped me get Adriana’s Salon in Poulsbo sponsor me on account of they were good friends. This, I believe, taught me how to handle rejection. I’m the type of person that can barely handle constructive criticism, let alone being told flat out no multiple times. Each time I had to remind myself I would do the same to someone I didn’t know.

Once the grueling task of acquiring sponsors was finally over I got to get to the fun, or rather scary, portions of the pageant. We all began putting together outfits for our opening number, active wear, on stage question, and everything else. Evening wear was a big deal. I wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of buying a big expensive dress, so I settled on buying a dress that I could wear for the pageant and also to my prom that was coming up. My grandmother took me to find a dress. The first place I went, second dress I tried on, I fell in love. As childish as it is I have always wanted a princess dress, and I found it. I felt beautiful in it, and that’s what mattered to me.

We all began practicing for our interviews by meeting with various previous Miss’s in an interview setting. They critiqued us and helped us improve. This came naturally to me because I love people and I’m a strong believer in communication. Although sometimes I would get stuck when asked a strange question I hadn’t anticipated. I had to find a solution. I began practicing way too much and trying much too hard. I finally realized pre planned answers were my downfall! If I believed in what I was saying the answers would flow naturally like they would in a conversation with a friend, and they did! I preformed my interview nearly flawlessly taking no more than a second to begin my reply. This was a big deal, because many girls had to take time to think about it. This allowed me to come across sure of myself and confident. I wasn’t only coming across this way, I was feeling this way. I learned to be confident and sure of myself. This helped me later on get a job, because I had experienced the interview processes quite in depth.

The last and most frightening thing I had to practice was my talent. This was the only time that I would be on stage alone for more than ten seconds. I am not a talented person, in fact you could almost say I have no talent, but they made me look like I did. This portion is judged on entertainment and personality. Lucky for me I could do both! I had a short dance choreographed for me to Chicago’s “Hot Honey Rag” that I had to rehearse over and over. I think I could do that dumb little dance in my sleep. Of course I’m not a dancer, so this involved a lot of the Charleston and winking. This was perhaps the most nerve racking and comfort breaking portion of the night. I had to learn how to overcome my fears. I have never been more afraid to do something in my whole life, but I finished it and ended up winning a 200$ scholarship for “Best Talent Performance”. Don’t ask me how.

Finally it was pageant night! I had performed everything I had been rehearsing for the last three months to a T. I more quickly than I imagined became used to being on stage and my nerves became less and less as the night went on. After I completed my talent it was smooth sailing from then on. My favorite part was evening wear. It was really gratifying hearing the audience gasp at me when the spotlight hit me and I began walking across the stage. I was judged on my poise, stage presence, gracefulness, and fluency. I don’t know how you can possibly judge these things, all I know is I was holding my breath, smiling, and thinking “Don’t trip” in my eight inch heels. This was just purely enjoyable for me, so much fun!

At last the time came to announce scholarships and winners. I won a 1,000$ scholarship from Olympic college for an essay I wrote and submitted. I won a 200$ scholarship called the “Gold Crown” award that was chosen by the previous Miss Poulsbo. And lastly my 200$ “Best Talent Performance” award. Eventually we got to the time where we announce the winners! There were only three! All twenty of us girls lined up on stage holding hands waiting to hear the winners. Miss Poulsbo was announced last because it was most important. It was finally time for Miss Poulsbo's results. She unfolded the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper. She read.."First runner up is.. Mackenzie Moody! The new Miss Poulsbo is Cam-" and then she paused, and immediately started apologizing taking it back! I was first runner up and Mackenzie had won. This was by far the hardest lesson I had to learn, losing gracefully. I looked over and she was crying, because she had thought she lost. I continued to smile and gave her a hug and said congratulations. I continued to smile as she was crowned. I can’t lie and say I wasn’t disappointed, but disappointment is a part of life. I was awarded another 1,000$ for being first runner up. After walking off stage I was greeted by packs of people I didn’t know telling me congratulations, I didn’t understand why, I lost. I realized though, there was something achieved that night. The pageant was a long process that took me through a metamorphosis as a person. I grew so much and learned countless life lessons. I wouldn't take back the experience for anything. In fact, I’m beginning my process in running again this year!