Mona Lisa Smile Notes

• the era takes place in the fall of 1953
• open with a girl typing about a teacher named Cathrine Watson
• art history teacher
• to work in conservative college
• Cathrine wanted to make a difference
• heavily religious
• school for girls
• cathrine doesn't choose to live in campus
• girls are very snooty and know-it-alls
• they have all been to the class before

Simularities between Rose and Black

Rose and Black Also Disagree about the Following:

• Rose supports and wants children to have more creativity
• Black Wants Parents. Teachers, and all educators to be more accountable for the students learning
• Rose comes up with a ways to improve our systems
• Black pokes fun at the people who should be improving our system.

Rose and Black agree on most things involving the education system, they both agree that:

• the education system has to many politics involved.
• Learning isn't the number one priority.
• people who do not have any educational backgrounds hold major position on boards.
• The system holds back on giving students that best teachers.

Both Rose and Black make great points about our flawed System and great points about how it can be fixed.

Education Arguement (Final)

Education is one of the most fundamental staples in life. Education starts at birth, you never stop learning; but your education really starts at age five. In school you learn how to read, write, arithmetic, science, and history. The United States education system has some serious problems. There are many changes that could be made, like a better curriculum, smaller class sizes, and more accountability. These changes would make momentous changes for our children. One change that could propose is to start teaching children young, very young, as young as six months of age, By proposing that the education systems starts introducing sign language to all children.

In the Banking concept of Education, Friere states “instead of communicating the teacher issues a Communiques and makes the deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat”. This statement reflects the potential for early learning. Children learn by example, it’s the term monkey see monkey do, except these aren’t monkey, these are children. In early development infants start to pick things up faster, they can absorb knowledge and after repetitive actions they will soon demonstrate the actions being taught. Soon after that children will start to understand what they are doing and the process of learning has begun. There is a spark in the eye of a child once they have learned something new. After learning one thing they continue on. Children learn from our actions, they want to speak how adults speak, walk how adults walk, and act the they adults act

In preschool children learn the alphabet, to count, to match colors, and shapes. They learn words and how to use them. There should be education before preschool, when a child hits preschool they are already behind, most children have not been socialized with other children, they are slow to learn and interact. We should have earlier head start programs that teach our young children sign language to start forming communication skills, the benefits are outstanding. Children are more susceptible to learning and retaining knowledge when you start teaching them before they can talk. Children who learn sign at an early age show that they can understand more when they develop into toddlers and more when they reach adolescence. Teaching six month old infants how to communicate makes their brains functions just a little faster in the long run. Children need knowledge to grow, they are on a quest to find it every time they ask a question or commit an act, they are finding out how to act. Children are constantly doing things that are either good or bad to have an adult teach them the difference between both. Having a child who can’t talk and can’t walk communicate with you about what, who, when, and where at the age would be form there verbal thoughts later.

The benefits of sign language are outstanding, it develops communication skills, observational learning, and making it easier to take in more learning early communication and reading, learning comprehension would be higher in K-12 schools. Sign also can help with developing motor skills, seeing, touching, all around learning. Education starts at home, when you are learning to crawl, talk, and walk, we are already being prepped for a life full of institution. As hooks said “As teachers, we can create a climate for optimal learning if we understand the level of emotional awareness and emotional intelligence in the classroom.” By entering a head start program to the education system it can give children more opportunity to learn more and comprehend faster.

Gatto makes a great statement “The reason given for the enormous upheaval of family life and cultural traditions was, roughly speaking, threefold: 1) to make better people 2) to make good citizens. 3) To make each person his or her personal best.” Why not teach children another language? Teaching children sign would open the mind to more opportunity. Du Bois stated “best end to have in view”. That is what parents and educators want for children in the best end. Who wouldn’t want to open up all these super opportunities? Education strives to teach children critical thinking making them understand what it is that they want, learn, and need. As Curtis Acosta said “our students are critical thinkers, we provide the soil for them to grow in. we nurture them.” Education is the foundation for the children of America to learn and achieve greatness.

What a better way to start out a child’s life than to be able to communicate without talking. Knowing how to ask for things, making decisions, telling you what is wrong. Making these changes could help each child’s overall educational experience a little more easily. Being able to take in more knowledge and learn easier would improve all of the children’s school experiences. As Hooks said “A radicle commitment to openness maintains the integrity of the critical thinking process and its central role in education. This commitment requires much courage and imagination.” Let’s take that commitment to children and start early by keeping their brain working, the child’s brain is slower when it is not learning, those early months are crucial to the brains development. Keeping the brain occupied keeps the sells growing, neurons moving, neuro networks sparking. The human brain can do wonders, all the memories it can hold, all the things you can learn and retain.

Teaching sign language to children before they can talk helps them later in life. Children who have learned sign tend to have better grades, better reading ability, and impeccably better reading comprehension. It would give children a better chance in school learning new things faster and retaining them easier and holding them longer. These thing will come in handy when the child become an adult, making retaining new information and still knowing it when they need it later in life. Its about keeping the brain sharpened like a pencil the more use the more you need to sharpen, the less use the duller the pencil gets, this is the very same for the brain. You never know one day the child may learn other languages, but knowing sign is handy in many ways as an adult. You can use it almost anywhere, at work, in college, even make a career out of it.

In closing there are many changes that can be made to the education system, you can argue each and every one from Classroom overcrowding, to taking away standardized testing. Each change would make a huge difference. In the end adding sign would make a huge impact on the way that all children learn. Teaching small children communication at six months would improve a lot of the learning curves today. Children are more susceptible to learning and retaining knowledge when you start teaching them before they can talk. Yes teaching sign wouldn’t fix the problems that America has in the education system but it would sure improve the way that a child learns and develops. children will have a higher reading comprehension, vocabulary, differentiate between right and wrong when they hit kindergarten Each child deserves a quality education why not give them some help in the begging so they have a head start in learning new things.

 

 

Gatto, John Taylor, “Against school”, http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm

Friere, Peole “The Banking Concept of Education” from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 1970. – Chapter 2,

Hooks, Bell “Practical Wisdom, Teaching Critical- Thinking Teaching 1”

Aronson, Deb “Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program: “it was never about what we were doing, it was about who we are”. National Council of teachers English, September 2012

Gilyard, Keith “Children, Arts, and Du Bois” Presidents Commentary, National Council of teachers English, September 2012

Black, Rose, Gatto and Freire/Chalk (Group Exercise)

1.       In Pedagogy of the oppressed, chapter 2, the banking concept: This process was presented quite often through the movie. One example occurred in the middle of the school year. Mr. Lowery had the students repeat everything on the board until they memorized it. This is similar to the statement in the third paragraph “The student records, memorizes, and repeats these phrases without perceiving what four times four really means, or realizing the true significance…..”. Mr. Lowery lacked experience and passion; therefore, he was not able to teach the students. He talked at them. He did not engage his students in the conversation or topic.

 

2.       In one scene a student was a few seconds late and the teacher did not discipline him for this action. Coach Webb is very controlling and felt that everyone should follow the rules. She felt her students needed to know yoga and she was also the hall monitor and felt that the teachers were setting a bad example and should follow the rules. I thought it connected with the Gatto's "The reason for school" a)To make good people. b) To make good citizens. c) To make each person his or her personal best.

 

3.       In Mike Rose’s Resolutions on Education, his number one resolution states “to have more young people get an engaging and challenging education”. Our example is the first day of school in Mr. Lowery’s class he writes his name on the board and he calls on a student to state his name and asked what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of history. The students sit blankly with no response.

 

4.       In Education in America, Black referred to the Kennedy school in L.A. They spent 580 million dollars on a new school with manicured lawns, swimming pool and more. In the movie Chalk there was a scene where they had a meeting to discuss finance’s but no discussion of students or other challenges at the school.

 

Selina Ayers, Mandy Kennedy, Ryan VanOrt, and Brittany Dumford

Education Argument (Rough Draft)

Education

 

Education is one of the most fundamental staples in life. Education starts at birth, you never stop learning; but your education really starts at age five. In school you learn how to read, write, arithmetic, science, and history. If you are good at one or all subjects you advance into higher classes, but if you are not good at any of the courses you just float through school not understanding or grasping the knowledge. Educators are supposed to educate you and make you understand, but with the classes overcrowding and standards being generalized there are many students being depraved of a quality education. In the United States has a very poor educational system. States officials elect people to boards who run lower boards and those boards are over the superintendents who are over the principles and the line continues all the way down to the parents of students. Who do you blame for the issues within your state, county, or district? Who is going to make changes to education? Who is going to stand up and hold all accountable for the low grades and school success rates? And last who is going to change the system to benefit the student not the test scores? Even though those are great but the best question is what could we do about it? To stop the accountability train long enough to define what we mean by “Achievement” (The answer Sheet: “Mike Rose’s Resolutions on Education”, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/some-2011-resolutions-someone.html). Mike Rose asks all of these questions, and they are agreeable. What is it going to take to make changes to benefit the students? The answer is that all are accountable and all need to start making changes to correct the educations injustices to students.

 

These are changes that can be made, small changes like the way students are taught on one curriculum and tested on another, abolish standardized tests. Teach students how to succeed in life not just school. Fewer students per classroom and more one on one learning. Take more focus on students and less on the money. These are just some things that our education boards need to focus on. When did education become this destructive mess? Most people will agree that it has been a mess since its creation and some may feel it’s the changing of time. We need to focus on the current and less on the past.

 

Education starts at home, when you are learning to crawl, talk, and walk, we are already being prepped for a life full of institution. Society is to blame for some problems in the education system, like if your child is hyper they may have a learning disability, or if your child is a slow learner they also may have a learning disability. As soon as children are labeled with these brands of ADD, OCD, a form of Autism, Dyslexia, Etc. the system automatically rules them out. “These kids slow down the class” as teachers tell parents and advise them to look at other alternative learning. This is where smaller classrooms come in handy, stop throwing these labeled students into special education classes that do not teach them at the class level they are. Educators grow intolerant of student behavior and ignore the signs for help. As teachers, we can create a climate for optimal learning if we understand the level of emotional awareness and emotional intelligence in the classroom (Bell Hook’s Engaged Pedagogy, Teaching Critical Thinking Teaching 3). this is another change that needs to happen. Stop labeling students and start reinforcing there esteem. 

 

In preschool children learn the alphabet, to count, to match colors, and shapes. They learn words and how to use them. There should be education before preschool, when a child hits preschool they are already behind, most children have not been socialized with other children, they are slow to learn and interact. We should have earlier head start programs that teach our young children sign language to start forming communication skills, the benefits are outstanding. Children are more susceptible to learning and retaining knowledge when you start teaching them before they can talk.

 

Parents should be held accountable to for their children; it is their responsibility to teach them as well as teachers. Teachers cannot do it all. The reason given for the enormous upheaval of family life and cultural traditions was, roughly speaking, threefold: 1) to make better people 2) to make good citizens. 3) To make each person his or her personal best. (Against school, by john Taylor Gatto. http://www.wesjones.com/gatto1.htm). If parents would get involved with their children’s education starting at a young age, children will have a higher reading comprehension, vocabulary, differentiate between right and wrong when they hit kindergarten, most students who have their parents involved, tend to have at least two grades higher reading levels, better test scores, and better attitudes. If schools and educators pushed the issue of early communication and reading, learning comprehension would be higher in K-12 schools.

 

Education is just that EDUCATION; schools should be able to fulfill their dreams of fully educating the classes for life. Standardized tests set all students up to fail, there is no such test that can be accurate for each learner, why would we do this? Why would we make our children take tests that they are no way prepared for? Awe, yes because the schools need money, they higher the scores the more money the school receives. But what is that showing the students who cannot perform the standards of the test? In what other profession do we use a single metric to judge goodness? (The answer Sheet: “Mike Rose’s Resolutions on Education”, http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/some-2011-resolutions-someone.html). There is no other profession that would be an unfair advantage. We are showing them that according to these tests, they are not up to par and breaking their esteem. Making students perform at a “standard level” is what is crippling the education system, tests should not be a make or break situation.

 

 Grading the work is not creating potential, it is killing it. Students get graded on assignments, work, tests, and behavior. But what really happens when the grades are given? If a student is failing and warned about their work what happens next? Educator should be paying more attention. Teachers find it menial help students understand the curriculum, example: Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat. (“The Banking Concept of Education” from Pedagogy of the Oppressed – Chapter 2, by Peole Friere, 1970).Why is that student failing? Why do they not understand? These are the questions that the parents, teachers, and school counselors should be asking and getting answers, not looking past the issues. Education should be looking into the creativity of a child finding their strengths, and focus on strengthening the weaknesses.

 

In our schools we should be teaching about life, how to bank, how to fill out applications, how to do taxes, how to manage money, sexual education, how protect yourself after high school. We should not have to rely on the parents alone to teach their children about life, because they also don’t have the answers. When a student graduate’s high school the education system is pushing them into a world they have never had to experience before. Most students won’t have a job, won’t go to college, and won’t have a car. Wouldn’t you want them to be a bit more established leaving high school? Knowing how to get a job or fill out a college application knowing what you need to do before you can buy a car or sign an apartment lease. Our education system should prepare students for life. These are life goals that go with education. Accomplishing all of these and graduating high school bring more hope for a young person’s future. How do we allow our teachers to teach the things that would make a better life for students and society? A radicle commitment to openness maintains the integrity of the critical thinking process and its central role in education. This commitment requires much courage and imagination. (Bell Hook’s Practical Wisdom, Teaching Critical Thinking Teaching 1).  The education system should have the courage to stand up and teach the students about life during and after graduation.

 

Society today puts a lot of pressure on the education system. It blames the schools for the bad apples and the welfare cases. But it’s not the schools fault. Schools and teachers can’t control how someone grows up, but they can try and make it a better place through learning. Society complains about the school system but never follow through with taking an initiative to fixing the schools problems as Lewis Black roughly we spend more time on how a school is built or what types of fixtures we have but it’s about the quality of education that the child receives. (Dailey Show: Back in Black: Education Crisis, Lewis Black. http://politicsisstupid.com/link/223041)

It’s time that society figure out that it takes a village to raise a child, and with all the influences today we have to keep our kids aware of the outside world and making sure they get the knowledge they need to prepare for it. It’s not the schools fault your child is now a teenage parent, but the school can offer sexual education and condoms. It’s also not the schools fault that your child begins drug addiction, but the school can offer drug and alcohol awareness. Blaming the education system for examples like this is not going to fix the problems of society.

 

Technology is one factor in the problems with schools. It is a blessing and a curse. Requiring students to type out papers and do internet research as homework make people feel bad for not being able to afford a computer or internet service. When did penmanship leave the curriculum?  Why is it not important to spell without auto spell check anymore? In the five years the dictionary may be out of print. Writing teaches patients and willingness to learn. We should bring back penmanship as a standard. Technology makes it so easy for students to cheat and cause distraction.

 

Schools should try and eliminate as much of societies reliance on technology and bring focus back to learning, not to Facebook. The education system is broken, it needs to be fixed. We need to find ways to fix it. Making changes to the current situations can have an outstanding effect on how students learn and teachers teach. Schools need to worry less about having the latest and greatest food, or track fields, or cafeterias. They need to focus on making school a better place for learning. Cutting down class sizes and removing standardize tests is a start, but to really fix it is to reevaluate the education structure and redefine what is truly important. It all needs to start at the top each person involved in education needs to be held accountable and bring our education system to a higher standard for the future generations.

 

 

Arguing Education (Rough Draft)

              Education is one of the most fundamental staples in life. Education starts at birth, you never stop learning; but your education really starts at age five. In school you learn how to read, write, arithmetic, science, and history. If you are good at one or all subjects you advance into higher classes, but if you are not good at any of the courses you just float through school not understanding or grasping the knowledge. Educators are supposed to educate you and make you understand, but with the classes overcrowding and standards being generalized there are many students being depraved of a quality education. In the United States has a very poor educational system. States officials elect people to boards who run lower boards and those boards are over the superintendents who are over the principles and the line continues all the way down to the parents of students. Who do you blame for the issues within your state, county, or district? Who is going to make changes to education? Who is going to stand up and hold all accountable for the low grades and school success rates? And last who is going to change the system to benefit the student not the test scores? Even though those are great but the best question is what could we do about it?

 

There are changes that can be made, small changes like the way students are taught on one curriculum and tested on another, abolish standardized tests. Teach students how to succeed in life not just school. Fewer students per classroom and more one on one learning. Take more focus on students and less on the money. These are just some things that our education boards need to focus on. When did education become this destructive mess? Most people will agree that it has been a mess since its creation and some may feel it’s the changing of time. We need to focus on the current and less on the past.

 

Education starts at home, when you are learning to crawl, talk, and walk, we are already being prepped for a life full of institution. Society is to blame for some problems in the education system, like if your child is hyper they may have a learning disability, or if your child is a slow learner they also may have a learning disability. As soon as children are labeled with these brands of ADD, OCD, a form of Autism, Dyslexia, Etc. the system automatically rules them out. “These kids slow down the class” as teachers tell parents and advise them to look at other alternative learning. This is where smaller classrooms come in handy, stop throwing these labeled students into special education classes that do not teach them at the class level they are. Educators grow intolerant of student behavior and ignore the signs for help; this is another change that needs to happen. Stop labeling students and start reinforcing there esteem. 

 

In preschool children learn the alphabet, to count, to match colors, and shapes. They learn words and how to use them. There should be education before preschool, when a child hits preschool they are already behind, most children have not been socialized with other children, they are slow to learn and interact. We should have earlier head start programs that teach our young children sign language to start forming communication skills, the benefits are outstanding. Children are more susceptible to learning and retaining knowledge when you start teaching them before they can talk.

 

Parents should be held accountable to for their children; it is their responsibility to teach them as well as teachers. Teachers cannot do it all. If parents would read to their children starting at a young age, children will have a higher reading comprehension when they hit kindergarten, most students who have been read to, tend to have at least two grades higher reading levels. If schools and educators pushed the issue of early communication and reading, learning comprehension would be higher in K-12 schools.

 

Education is just that EDUCATION; schools should be able to fulfill their dreams of fully educating the classes for life. Standardized tests set all students up to fail, there is no such test that can be accurate for each learner, why would we do this? Why would we make our children take tests that they are no way prepared for? Awe, yes because the schools need money, they higher the scores the more money the school receives. But what is that showing the students who cannot perform the standards of the test? We are showing them that according to these tests, they are not up to par and breaking their esteem. Making students perform at a “standard level” is what is crippling the education system, tests should not be a make or break situation.

 

 Grading the work is not creating potential, it is killing it. Students get graded on assignments, work, tests, and behavior. But what really happens when the grades are given? If a student is failing and warned about their work what happens next? Educator should be paying more attention, why is that student failing? Why do they not understand? These are the questions that the parents, teachers, and school counselors should be asking and getting answers, not looking past the issues. Education should be looking into the creativity of a child finding their strengths, and focus on strengthening the weaknesses.

 

In our schools we should be teaching about life, how to bank, how to fill out applications, how to do taxes, how to manage money, sexual education, how protect yourself after high school. We should not have to rely on the parents alone to teach their children about life, because they also don’t have the answers. When a student graduate’s high school the education system is pushing them into a world they have never had to experience before. Most students won’t have a job, won’t go to college, and won’t have a car. Wouldn’t you want them to be a bit more established leaving high school? Knowing how to get a job or fill out a college application knowing what you need to do before you can buy a car or sign an apartment lease. Our education system should prepare students for life. These are life goals that go with education. Accomplishing all of these and graduating high school bring more hope for a young person’s future.

 

Society today puts a lot of pressure on the education system. It blames the schools for the bad apples and the welfare cases. But it’s not the schools fault. Schools and teachers can’t control how someone grows up, but they can try and make it a better place through learning. It’s not the schools fault your child is now a teenage parent, but the school can offer sexual education and condoms. It’s also not the schools fault that your child begins drug addiction, but the school can offer drug and alcohol awareness. Blaming the education system for examples like this is not going to fix the problems of society.

 

Technology is one factor in the problems with schools. It is a blessing and a curse. Requiring students to type out papers and do internet research as homework make people feel bad for not being able to afford a computer or internet service. When did penmanship leave the curriculum?  Why is it not important to spell without auto spell check anymore? In the five years the dictionary may be out of print. Writing teaches patients and willingness to learn. We should bring back penmanship as a standard. Technology makes it so easy for students to cheat and cause distraction.

 

Schools should try and eliminate as much of societies reliance on technology and bring focus back to learning not to Facebook. The education system is broken, it needs to be fixed. We need to find ways to fix it. Making changes to the current situations can have an outstanding effect on how students learn and teachers teach. Schools need to worry less about having the latest and greatest food, or track fields, or cafeterias. They need to focus on making school a better place for learning. Cutting down class sizes and removing standardize tests is a start, but to really fix it is to reevaluate the education structure and redefine what is truly important. It all needs to start at the top each person involved in education needs to be held accountable and bring our education system to a higher standard for the future generations.

Chalk

Chalk Notes

• Opening Scene shows that the students are not enthused about school
• Mr. Stroope is excited
• Coach Webb is enthusiastic
• Mr. Lowry is not sure what he is doing
• Mrs.Reddell is confused about what she needs to be doing as an AP 
• first day of class Mr. Lowry is having trouble getting to participate and respect
• Mrs. Reddell is a choir teacher who is now the high schools AP
• Mrs. Reddell has no Idea what she is in for
• Mr. Stroope wants to be the most popular teacher, he wants to be all the students friend.
• This is Mr. Lowry's first day ever of teaching
• Mr. Stoope only cares about popularity
• Coach Webb is a little apprehensive and takes school policy and roles very seriously, she feels that her friend will back her up all the way 
• Mr. Stroope has his appraisal and going over his goals and he hasn't created any lesson plans
• Mrs. Reddell does not handle conflicts well, not knowing how to handle the situation
• Coach Webb Constantly thinks about her self
• Mr. Lowry in the class room scene where the students aren't listening and throwing around someone's backpack he is almost losing it
• Mr.Stroope worries about the wrong things.
• Mr. Lowry Cannot get a handle on his students
• Mrs.Reddell is having a hard time adjusting to being an AP, it is taking a toll on her marriage
• The Principle tries to give Mrs.Reddell some very cryptic advice.
• Coach Webb confronts a teacher about the tardy policies and is very aggressive about it.
• Mr. Lowry is not good under pressure and is then ridiculed by his students
•  Coach Webb does not really have a very good outlook on teaching, but she tries to.
• Mr. Lowry is very embarrassed about having to ask for instruction book on classroom managment 
• Coach Webb confronts Mrs. Reddell on her lack of friendship and is very confrontational about it.
• Mr. Stroope confronts students about using big words and about being to smart.
• Mrs. Reddell shows her frustration while chasing after a student by calling him a bastard
• Coach Web during the yoga scene shows a sense of humor
• Mr. Stroope has a lot of over confidence about the election
• Mr. Lowry lost his cool with a student
• Mr. Lowry learns a lot from the students mother
• Mr. Stroope tries to bring the bright side to him losing the election and fails miserably by breaking down in front of his students
• Coach Webb attacks Mrs. Reddell over their friendship and how she feels that Reddell doesn't want to help her.
• Mrs. Reddell feels the pressure of her position
• all the teachers compete in a spelling bee about slang words. having fun with their students
• The Teachers all sit around and talk about their year and making big changes for the next year.
• Mr. Lowry has doubts about returning to teaching
• Mr. Lowry finally connects with his students the last day of class.