Jack Macfarland vs Jaime Escalante

Mr. Marcfarland from "I Just Wanna be Average" and Mr. Escalante from Stand and Deliver are similar in many ways, but there is also a key difference between them. Both of them decided they want to teach seemingly on a whim, despite apparent success in their chosen career fields. And once they began teaching, both were successful, using similar methods, at motivating their students to learn. The most significance between the two, however, is in the students themselves. Mike Rose may have started high school in a vocational education program, but by the time he was enrolled in Macfarland's class, he was at the opposite end of the spectrum - a college preparation program. And he wasn't even new to it - Macfarland was his senior year English teacher, and Rose began his junior year in the college prep program. And the rest of the class was almost certainly a part of the college prep program for all of high school - Mike rose himself says "...I begin my junior year in the College Prep program. According to all I've read since, such a shift, as one report put it, is virtually impossible. Kids at that level rarely cross tracks." So, Mr. Macfarland was able to motivate a class full of college bound students to participate and succeed in class. Not nearly as impressive when put like that.
Mr. Escalante, on the other hand, had a class full of students who were prone to drop out of school entirely. None of them had any plans to go on to on to any college, or any kind of education at all post high school, and most probably weren't even going to finish high school. And despite having students like that, he was able to motivate them to excel in his class, starting with basic algebra and going all the way to teaching them calculus. He convinced a class of the worst students in the school to attend his class daily over the summer - not because they needed to be at summer school to graduate, but because they wanted to learn calculus. That is so much more impressive than anything that could be accomplished in a college preparatory English class. Mr. Macfarland and Mr. Escalante may have had similar teaching styles, similar backgrounds, and may have been met with similar success in their classes, but the vast differences in the kinds of students they taught is a significant difference between the two teachers.

"Daily Show: Back in Black: Education Crisis" with Lewis Black and "The Answer Sheet: Mike Rose's Resolutions on Education" by Valerie Strauss

http://politicsisstupid.com/link/223041
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/guest-bloggers/some-2011-resolutions-someone.html

Valerie Strauss' article is about Mike Rose's ideas about the American education system, specifically the problems facing it and how to deal with it. Lewis Black's video is about the problems in it, but offers no solutions, instead focusing on mocking them and using sarcasm. Both of them, like most everyone else with any knowledge about the subject, think there are big problems with our education system. Mike Rose's thoughts are clear and straight forward, starting off with one simple but vitally important goal in reforming the educational system: "To have more young people get an engaging and challenging education. Black doesn't offer and solutions to the problems he discusses, but instead just makes a joke out of the stupidity of them, for example talking about a reality television show where an unqualified actor teaches tenth grade English. I really don't understand why anyone would ever be asked to compare the two, one is entirely comedic from the television channel Comedy Central while the other is entirely serious, and written by someone who has spent his life devoted to teaching and to our education system.

Questions for a Second Reading - "The Banking" Concept of Education
http://samdipaola.wordpress.com/2006/11/07/questions-for-a-second-reading-the-banking-concept-of-education-by-paulo-freire/

There really isn't much to say about this blog post. It agrees entirely with the reading from Paolo Freire, without any disagreement, additions or improvements being made about it. I am truly not sure how I can respond to this writing in any way other than how I responded to the reading from Paolo Freire. I do agree with both authors on most points. The nice thing about this author is he/she speaks clearly and gets to the point - Freire is extremely length and wordy.

Audre Lorde illustrates her teachers as being very discipline oriented. Such as her catholic school teacher, referred to as "Sister Mary of Perpetual Health," who would swipe them if they where acting out: "A week after I started school she sent a note home to my mother asking her not to dress me in so many layers of clothing because then I couldn't feel the strap on my behind when I was punished". Audre makes it exceptionally clear that she was a very talkative and obnoxious child, who would constantly get in to trouble. She describes her first real learning experience learning to read with her library teacher, saying "My mother was pinching my ear off one bright afternoon, while I lay spreadeagled on the floor of the Children's Room like a furious little brown toad, screaming bloody murder and embarrassing my mother to death" Audre was throwing a temper tantrum when the librarian intervened and called Audre over by offering to read her a story, asking "Would you like to hear a story, little girl?" After listening to the librarian Audre fell in love with books and spent a lot of time learning to read. She took a couple of books home and began to study and admire the texts, "Right then I decided I was going to find out how to do that myself.". The librarian spoke to Audre in a gentle tone without seeming as if she was going to punish her in any way, and this cause Audre to settle down and listen.

Final - Paper 3

Critical thinking is a crucial skill for people to have in society. More importantly, many people's severe lack of critical thinking skills is a crippling problem facing our society.  To understand why this is a problem, one must first understand what the term “critical thinking” entails. According to Daniel T. Willingham, Psychologist at the University of Virginia, critical thinking consists "of seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms young ideas, reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and inferring conclusions from available facts, solving problems, and so forth." Essentially, critical thinking requires taking the time to understand and reason through all sides of an issue, rather than just one single perspective. To think critically means to be able to think open mindedly and empathize with other people - to not only understand one's own perspectives, assumptions, and biases, but the same for other people. Many people of all ages and backgrounds simply cannot do this. They form an opinion or belief and adamantly refuse to consider an opposing idea or perspective. Most people who feel strongly about a topic or issue cannot even begin to explain the reasons why other people have opposing opinions. When asked the simple question of why other people have opposing views, few can give a well thought-out or valid answer. Some are arrogant and assume that those who disagree are wrong or stupid, and others are lazy and will admit to not knowing why someone disagrees, but few are capable of thinking critically and making an earnest effort at understanding all sides of an issue. And when that is the case, compromise and progress are almost impossible. Therefore, for the benefit of all members of society as a whole, kindergarten through twelfth grade education curriculum needs to be changed to promote critical thinking, rather than prevent it. Our children need to be taught to think critically.

The problem with the modern education system as it relates to critical thinking skills is that not only are students not taught any of these skills, but in fact, the entire education system works to obstruct critical thinking. As stated by bell hooks in Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, "Most children are taught early on that thinking is dangerous... whether in homes with parents who teach via a model of discipline and punishment or in schools where independent thinking is not [an] acceptable behavior... children stop enjoying the process of thinking and start fearing the thinking mind." This starts early in one's educational experience and does not ever end during kindergarten through twelfth grade schooling. The film Chalk demonstrates this very well. In Chalk the viewer experiences exaggerated examples of many problems facing the high school education curriculum today. In particular, a history class taught by a teacher by the name of Mr. Lowrey does an exceptional job at displaying the way schools actively work to obstruct the development of critical thinking abilities. His method of teaching is one that many students are unfortunately familiar with, revolving around the memorization and recitation of information without thought or analysis. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paolo Freire refers to this as the "Banking" concept of education. He asserts that "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communication, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat." This style of teaching is not at all uncommon today. High school classes where questioning an instructor is even welcome are rare; classes where thinking critically and questioning what is being taught are encouraged are almost nonexistent.

            Therefore, changing the system to promote the development of critical thinking skills is not a simple task. Quite the opposite - creating a "critical thinking" class changes nothing - what is required is a significant reformation of curriculum and the way most classes are taught. Every aspect of the existing "banking" system of education would, optimally, be revamped. No more classes focused on teachers who do nothing but deposit information into students, who merely memorize and recite. In many cases, the entire "role" that a teacher plays in the classroom would have to change. To quote bell hooks again, she states that "So much academic training encourages teachers to assume that they must be 'right' at all times. Instead... teachers must be open at all times, and we must be willing to acknowledge what we do not know. A radical commitment to openness maintains the integrity of the critical thinking process and its central role in education." Succeeding in this education reform would not only drastically change the operation of classrooms and the functions of schools but would ultimately improve society as a whole. A population of critical thinkers would be vastly more capable of progress and compromise in social and political disputes. Effectively solving this problem in our education system would inadvertently work to solve many other problems facing this country.

            There are some very blatant problems with the education system in this country. Most everyone can agree with that claim - the students, the teachers, and even people who aren't involved at all in education. Some issues facing it are so apparent that American comedian and social critic Lewis Black jokingly states "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that our school systems are broken—which is good, because none of us are!" Despite this, there are those who might disagree with the entire premise that lacking critical thinking skills is a problem. Even acknowledging that there are many problems with the education system, these people would say that critical thinking isn't one of them, that it has no place in the classroom. These people would say this is the way our country or society has always been, and doesn't need to change; they would maintain that it isn't a problem. It is a very ironic counterargument, because while they cling on to tradition and dismiss the problem, they're blatantly showing themselves to be lacking the critical thinking skills that they're arguing against. There is truly no downside to possessing critical thinking skills, and to say that there is a reason not to promote critical thinking in schools is on par with being opposed to improving literacy rates. 

            As our country progresses into ever increasing populations and pressured economic power, the importance of critical thinking skills will be more and more imperative. It will be very difficult to deal with the social, political and economic problems that our country will be facing in the future while also maintaining an education curriculum which actively works to obstruct and prevent the development of critical thinking skills in students. The "banking" system of education described by Paolo Freire an entire forty three years ago has not changed at all, and continuing to accept it as a viable and effective method of teaching is harmful to all of the students who go through it and society as a whole. Therefore, for the benefit of all students and for the benefit of every aspect of our country, it is vitally important for the education system, kindergarten through twelfth grade education curriculum to be reformed to incorporate the development and promotion of critical thinking skills in students.

Works Cited

hooks, bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. Florence, KY: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Print.

Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.

Willingham, Daniel T. “Critical Thinking: Why is it so hard to teach?” gmu.edu. George Mason University, July 2007. Web. 3 December 2013.

Chalk. Dir. Mike Akel. Troy Schremmer. SomeDaySoon Productions, 2006. DVD.

Daily Show: Back in Black: Education Crisis.Dir. Lizz Winstead, Madeleine Smithberg. Perf. Jon Stewart, Lewis Black. Mad Cow Productions, Comedy Central, 2010. Web. 21 November 2013.

rought draft revision after workshop

Critical thinking is a crucial skill for people to have in society. More importantly, the severe lack of critical thinking skills many people possess is a crippling problem facing our society.  To understand why this is a problem, one must first understand what the term critical thinking entails. According to Daniel T. Willingham, Psychologist at the University of Virginia, critical thinking consists "of seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms young ideas, reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and inferring conclusions from available facts, solving problems, and so forth." Essentially, critical thinking requires taking the time to understand and reason through all sides of an issue, rather than just one single perspective. Many people of all ages and backgrounds cannot do this. They form an opinion or belief and adamantly refuse to consider an opposing idea or perspective. And when that is the case, compromise and progress are almost impossible. For the benefit of all members of society as a whole, kindergarten through twelfth grade education curriculum needs to be changed to promote critical thinking, rather than prevent it.

Naturally, there are those who might disagree with the entire premise that lacking critical thinking skills is a problem. <need refuation>

The problem with the modern education system as it relates to critical thinking skills is that not only do students not learn any, but in fact, the entire education system works to obstruct critical thinking. As stated by bell hooks in Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, "Most children are taught early on that thinking is dangerous... whether in homes with parents who teach via a model of discipline and punishment or in schools where independent thinking is not [an] acceptable behavior... children stop enjoying the process of thinking and start fearing the thinking mind." This starts early in one's educational experience and does not ever end during kindergarten through twelfth grade schooling. The film Chalk demonstrates this very well. In Chalk the viewer experiences exaggerated examples of many problems facing the high school education curriculum today. In particular, a history class taught by a teacher by the name of Mr. Lowrey does an exceptional job at displaying the way schools actively work to obstruct the development of critical thinking abilities. His method of teaching is one that many students are unfortunately familiar with, revolving around the memorization and recitation of information without thought or analysis. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paolo Freire refers to this as the "Banking" concept of education. He asserts that "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communication, the teacher issues communiqués and makes deposits which the students patiently receive, memorize, and repeat." This style of teaching is not at all uncommon today. High school classes where questioning an instructor is even welcome are rare; classes where thinking critically and questioning what is being taught are encouraged are almost nonexistent.

Therefore, changing the system to promote the development of critical thinking skills is not a simple task. Quite the opposite - creating a "critical thinking" class changes nothing - what is required is a significant reformation of curriculum and the way most classes are taught.

Works Cited

hooks, bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. Florence, KY: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Print.

Gatto, John Taylor. "Against School: How `Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why." wesjones.com. Wes Jones Home Page, September 2003. Web. 3 December 2013.

Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.

very rough draft

Rough draft
1200-1500 words, thesis-driven with atleast 5 relevant sources, arguing for a change to be made to the k-12 curriculum to mitigate a problem shown in Chalk or dicussed in readings

Topic: proposal to promote thinking in public schools, similar to the reading from bell hooks and Paolo Freire

Critical thinking is a crucial skill for people to have in society. More importantly, the severe lack of critical thinking skills many people possess is a crippling problem facing our society. <need further details and a source/quotation>. To understand why this is a problem, one must first understand what the termn critical thinking entails. According to Daniel T. Willingham, Psychologist at the University of Virginia, critical thinking consists "of seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms young ideas, reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and inferring conclusions from available facts, solving problems, and so forth." Essentially, critical thinking requires taking the time to understand and reason through all sides of an issue, rather than just one single perspective. Many people cannot do this. They form an opinion or belief and adamantly refuse to consider an opposing idea or perspective. And when that is the case, compromise and progress are almost impossible. <more details and thesis statement needed>

The problem with the modern education system as it relates to critical thinking skills is that not only do students not loearn any, but in fact, the entire education system works to obstruct critical thinking. <more details/quote> The film Chalk demonstrates this very well. In Chalk the viewer experiences exaggerated examples of many problems facing the kindergarten through twelfth grade education system today. In particular, a history class taught by a teacher by the name of Mr. Lewrey does an exceptional job at displaying the way schools actively work to obstruct the development of critical thinking abilities. Additionally, in her book Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, author and social Activist bell hooks asserts that "Keeping an open mind is as essential requirement of critical thinking... [It is] far too easy to become attached to and protective of one's viewpoint, and to rule out others' perspectives."

Works Cited

hooks, bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. Florence, KY: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Print.

Gatto, John Taylor. "Against School: How `Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why." wesjones.com. Wes Jones Home Page, September 2003. Web. 3 December 2013.

Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.

quotes/works cited practice

In her book Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom, author and social activist bell hooks asserts that "Keeping an open mind is an essential requirement of critical thinking... [It is] far too easy to become attached to and protective of one's viewpoint, and to rule out others perspectives."

According to Daniel T. Willingham, Psychologist at the University of Virginia, critical thinking consists "of seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms young ideas, reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and inferring conclusions from available facts, solving problems, and so forth."

John Taylor Gatto can attest to the problem of boredom in schools in his article "Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why," saying "Boredom is the common condition of schoolteachers, and anyone who has spent time in a teachers' lounge can vouch for the low energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there."

Works Cited

hooks, bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. Florence, KY: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Print.

Gatto, John Taylor. "Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why." wesjones.com. Wes Jones Home Page, September 2003. Web. 3 December 2013.

Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY: Herder and Herder, 1970. Print.

quotes

"Children are organically predisposed to be critical thinkers." bell hooks, "Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom"

"Children's passion for thinking often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to educate them for conformity and obedience only. Most children are taught early on that thinking is dangerous." bell hooks, "Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom"

"[Critical thinking consists] of seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms young ideas, reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and inferring conclusions from available facts, solving problems, and so forth." Daniel Willingham, "Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Hard to Teach?"

"Keeping an open mind is an essential requirement of critical thinking... It is far too easy to become attached to and protective of one's viewpoint, and to rule out other perspectives." bell hooks, "Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom"

"So much academic training encourages teachers to assume that they must be "right" at all times. Instead, I propose that teachers must be open at all times, and we must be willing to acknowledge what we do not know." bell hooks, "Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom"

"Boredom is the common condition of schoolteachers, and anyone who has spent time in a teachers' lounge can vouch for the low energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there." John Taylor Gatto, "Against School"

Group Argument on Mud Wrestling

Thesis:
Cartoonists do not value mud wrestling, but they should because mud wrestling actually increases their chances of becoming successful cartoonists.

Topic sentences:
1. Mud wrestling will increase their adrenaline and in turn their creativity.
2. Mud wrestling relieves stress from a long day of cartooning.
3. Mud wrestling is comical which can inspire them to create funnier cartoons.
4. Mud wrestling will increase their popularity as a cartoonists

In Class Discussion
1) The most important is the article by Keith Gilliard about creative arts in schools. Creativity should be appreciated and not subdued. Everything around us is art and if it can't be appreciated then the point of school is gone.
2) The second most important change was in the article by bell hooks. This is a skill that won't be developed without practice and is necessary for after life at school and to function properly in school. This is a necessary skill that will be used in things like jobs interviews and problem solving in life.
3) The third most important was the article by Jerry Large about persevering through school and developing character. No matter how hard you struggle through school you can always get through it if you maintain a level of perseverance and effort. This is also a skill that will be effective later on in life. If the school doesn't teach this it will be hard for students to learn this especially if they don't have parents who will teach it to them.
4) The forth most important was the article by Barry Boyce. This was about remaining calm and learning how to focus. When you run into stressful times in school you can practice remaining calm and it will help get things done. This skill will benefit and build off of your perseverance.
5) The fifth most important article was the one by Deb Aronson. This article was about preventing censorship. It is important for schools to present students with all the facts.

Blog Post: Rank their suggestions (1 - 5) in order of importance, and explain your ranking

1. bell hooks
2. Jerry Large
3. Keith Gilyard
4. Deb Anderson
5. Barry Boyce

Reasoning: The article from bell hooks (why isn't this name capitalized?) is largely about the value of critical thinking skills and how our education system needs to promote critical thinking, not obstruct it. I have for some time felt the same way - that one of the biggest and most overlapping problems in society is a general lack of critical thinking and ability to consider a subject from the perspective of others. This article was unquestionably my first choice. Jerry Large discusses the idea that in order to be successful as a student, one must have character. More importantly, that character - which I agree is vital to success in education - is something which can be taught. Large's writing is interesting to me and is it something I had not thought much about previously, so I ranked it second behind hooks. Third is Keith Gilyard, who is simply arguing for the importance of humanities and arts in education. While I disagree the extent to which these subjects are essential to one's education, arts programs are often being dropped completely, which is a problem. The biggest problem I have with Gilyard's writing is he hardly supports his argument at all. Fourth is Deb Anderson, who is saying that teachers need to become politically engaged and involved setting education policy. While education policy may need changes, simply saying that polititions can't make decisions on education because they're not teachers is useless argument. To say that someone's opinion isn't valid because they're not qualified to speak about something is completely unproductive. The focus of Anderson's suggestion is based not on the problem that needs solving, but rather, who is solving it. I had a hard time taking Boyce's suggestions such as having parents teach yoga to their children seriously, and ranked it last.

Small group blog post

Small group blog post: choose one scene from chalk and use it to show one of the concerns that each of the writers (Freire, Gatto, Rose, and Black) have about education.




Freire talks about how our education system uses teachers just as a machine to relay information to students who temporarily memorize it for a test. In Chalk, there's a scene where Mr. Lowrey is having all of his students simply repeating what he says; no thinking, no learning, just memorization.


Black talks a lot about unqualified people working at and teaching at schools. Mr. Lowrey is a perfect example of this, as he is completely new to teaching, and he's teaching History as a former Engineer. He goes to the Library and looks to check out a book about simply controlling his class, because he's completely new to teaching and doesn't know how to maintain control in his classroom.


Gatto talks about how students are isolated and separated by titles and how teachers treat them, saying "Schools are meant to tag the unfit - with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments - clearly enough that their peers will accept them as inferior and effectively bar them from the reproductive sweepstakes." The student in Chalk who is kicked out of class by Mr. Lowrey is an example of this idea; he is kicked out of class not just because of his cell phone, but because there's a "mutual disrespect" between them. Mr. Lowrey labels him both as a distraction and as disrespectful.


Rose says that one of the main goal in reforming out education should be "To have more young people get an engaging and challenging education." In Chalk, Mr. Stroope talks to some of his students after class, and tells them to stop using such big words and stop being smarter at history than him during class. To these kids, their education is not at all engaging or challenging.

The problem with American high schools is there isn't any specific purpose in any of it. Any argument for why a high school student is required to take a specific class is easily and effortlessly countered by an example of someone who doesn't need the class at all. This isn't just the writing of some kid who hates their English class, this is just a fact: An overwhelming majority of people who are required to take geometry won't remember or need to remember it at any point in their life. Most people who spend a month analyzing Hamlet in their tenth grade English class won't remember anything at all about it by the time they are in eleventh grade English. Some people say that the purpose in taking geometry isn't to know how to find the area of a sphere, but rather, it teaches skills such as analytical reasoning, but by the time most students graduate high school, they wouldn't be capable of proving a mathematical concept to save their life. And perhaps the reason tenth grade English students read Hamlet is to improve there vocabulary, grammar, and competence with the English language? Well, most high school seniors wouldn't even realize that "there" is incorrect in the previous sentence.

Mr. Escalante compared to Mr. Keating

Mr. Escalante's teaching where very student oriented, he made the classroom fun and interactive. Mr. Keating taught in a similar manner, he made the students look "outside of the box" and taught them to believe in themselves and to express themselves as an individual. Both of these teacher clearly car for their students, Mr. Keating pushed his students to write their own poetry, even if they didn't feel comfortable with speaking publicly.
But, both of these teachers are also very different because they teach in completely different environments. Mr. Escalant taught students who didn't believe they could ever excel in an academic environment, Mr. Escalante pushed his students from algebra to calculus. Mr. Keating took a different approach, because the students where so used to being pushed around by their teachers and parents to excel academically, he decided to bring things down to a human level and teach them about themselves. Instead of pushing the students i think he was trying to pull them back and let them reflect on themselves, instead of teaching them to excel academically he was teaching them how to excel in life.

Notes on Chalk



Guy introduction comes from a long line of teachers and talks about how his teachers in high school shaped who he is today

50% of teachers quit within the first 3 years of teaching

Starts off with a teacher asking his class a question about history, they all stare blankly, he waits and responds with "Okay, well that's why we're here"

Mr. Stroope starts off with a corny joke, he's a third year history teacher. Confiscates photos from some students on the first day of school

Coach Webb is a second year gym teacher, her students are already bored

Mrs. Reddell is uncertain how to deal with a student telling her to "kiss his white ass"

Mr. Stroope takes some photos from summer vacation from his students

Mr. Lowrey teacher requires his students to show up and have paper every day, and begins asking his students to repeat what he says. He's a former computer engineer and is completely new to teaching.

Mr. Stroope is working on his sarcasm and being prepared for his class. Doesn't always have his lesson plans done in time.

Mrs. Reddell breaks up a fight in a courtyard, yells at bystanders

Coach Webb has problems with students and teachers assuming she is gay

Mr. Lowrey is incapable of controlling his class

Mr. Stroope can't tell the difference between a student/teacher relationship and friendship

Mr. Lowrey continues to struggle at controlling his class

Mrs. Reddell makes a video before she goes to sleep, says her husband is asleep and she hasn't had sex in three weeks

Mr. Stroope is asking an elderly teacher for advice in the teaching lounge, says "that's a load of crap"

Coach Webb wants Mr. Lowrey to do yoga, and Mr. Lowrey had his yogurt stolen

Mrs. Reddell is continuing to get advice from the principle

Coach Webb interrupts a math class to say that the teacher isn't following the tardiness system because she witnessed someone running in the hall to get to class

Coach Webb is starting a teacher's morning walks club, has no members

Student's stole Mr. Lowrey's chalk, he's frustrated, walks out of class and says "when I come back, I want to see which one of you is going to finish teaching this lesson"

Coach Webb thinks students will want to exercise if she wants them to exercise

Mr. Lowrey wants to get a book from the library but they don't have it, also asks if the library has any books on classroom management

Mrs. Webb pressures Mrs. Reddell to attend thursday happy hour, which she can't go to, gets mad

Mr Stroope talks to students after class about using big words which he can't understand and not acting smarter than him

Mrs. Reddell is trying to chases someone down who apparently escaped through the ceiling tiles

Coach Webb is teaching a small group of her students yoga

Mr. Lowrey is still struggling to control his students, trying to incorporate humor in the classroom

Janitor dropped someone's piano

Mr. Stroope has been told to ask the other teachers some questions about incorrectly writing off expenses

Coach Webb is worried about being "pushy"

Mr Stroope tries to call a kid's parents

Mr Lowrey has a dream about dancing in the halls with Coach Webb, Mrs Reddell wakes him up

Mrs Reddell asks Mr. Lowrey if he is single, he's been divorced and single for almost two years

Mr Stroope goes out into the woods and shoots some with a handgun, compares his inaccuracy with teaching

Mr. Lowrey doesn't understand the need for a cell phone, kicks a student out of class for having his cell phone

The teachers are at thursday happy hour

Mr. Stroope is one of the two teachers who is potentially teacher of the year, talks to his class about it

Mr. Lowrey is talking to the mother of the student he kicked out of class for having a cell phone, she offers him a glass of wine, has the student bring it to them

Coach Webb talks to Mrs Reddell about the tardiness policy and recycling, Coach Webb gets angry about not treating tardiness as a black and white issue

Mr. Stroope debates Mrs Townsend for teacher of the year

Mrs Townsend wins teacher of the year, Mr Stroope is devastated

A student tells Mr. Stroope that "second place isn't last place" to comfort him and he gets angry

Mrs Reddel and Coach Webb argue

Mrs Reddell misses being a teacher, doesn't like being assistance principal

Mr Lowrey comes up with a "spelling hornet" for teachers to spell out words that students use

Mr Lowrey wins the spelling hornet contest after preparing with his students and writing down words on his nametag

Mr Lowrey attempts to rap with his students

Mr Lowrey isn't sure he'll teach again next year, doesn't know if he likes teaching much

the end

Most uninteresting and pointless documentary I've ever has the misfortune of watching

Paper #2: Comparison on What Makes a Good Teacher

Paper #2: Comparison on What Makes a Good Teacher

Having finally completed my kindergarten through twelfth grade education and starting on to college, I've taken many different classes from all kinds of different teachers. As a result, I have experience with great teachers, terrible teachers, and everything in between. The good teachers - the ones whose classes I enjoyed being a part of but also taught me a lot - left a lasting impact on me as a person and on my educational life. The bad ones were generally an unpleasant learning experience, where I usually learned less about the subject, and more about the qualities which make a bad educator. As a result of all of my years as a student, I have come to learn that these three qualities are crucial to being a good teacher: dedication, the ability to engage students, and an adept knowledge of the subject being taught. To demonstrate the importance of these qualities, I will use two of my previous teachers as examples: Mr. Carnegie, a Spanish teacher with whom I took three years of Spanish classes, and Mr. Nelson, who was my instructor for Geometry, Pre-Calculus, and AP Calculus. One of these teachers unquestionably possessed all three of the above characteristics which make a good teacher, while the other was lacking in one area, but his ability to excel at the other two still made him what I consider to be a good teacher.

Dedication is vitally important to being successful in any profession. Teaching is no exception to this rule, in fact, it is quite the opposite; dedication is perhaps the most important aspect of being a teacher, and a teacher who isn't dedicated to their job simply cannot be successful. Additionally, a teacher who is dedicated can make up for lacking in other aspects, enough to at least make the class a positive experience for both the instructor and the students. Mr. Nelson and Mr. Carnegie were both very dedicated as teachers. Each of them made it very clear that they cared about the success of all of their students, and much of their time, both inside and outside the classroom, was spent on their work. As the time to take the AP test was approaching, Mr. Nelson really showed that he was dedicated by scheduling times to refresh on concepts and study outside of school - time for which he received no pay, and could have spent it doing anything else he wanted to. Mr. Carnegie showed his dedication to teaching when he made sure to try speaking to his students in Spanish in the halls, or at lunch, or at any other time he saw them outside of the classroom. Without the dedication and enthusiasm each of them showed for teaching every day, they could not have been successful as teachers.

Being able to engage one's students is another essential quality of a great teacher. Many teachers can struggle in this regard, and as a result, students will be bored in class, unfocused, and unwilling to work. An instructor who cannot get his or her students involved in the class results in a bad educational experience for everyone, no matter how intelligent the teacher may be, or how dedicated he or she is. From my high school experience, this is easily the characteristic which most bad teachers lack, and no matter how hard they work and how much they know about their subjects, the students are bored and uninterested. Both of the two teachers I've used as examples here are extremely proficient in this matter. My Spanish teacher was known by most students, even those who never had a class with him, to very light-hearted and fun teacher. If taken out of context, Mr. Carnegie was sometimes closer to being a comedian than a teacher. Mr. Nelson on the other hand was always focused on the math, but his invariably upbeat and relaxed mood made his classes enjoyable to everyone. Also, he taught to all types of students - from a "Math Support" class for students who struggled to grasp basic math concepts and algebra, to AP Calculus, in my case. And in all of those different environments, and with students who ranged from completely novice in mathematics to taking college-level Calculus, Mr. Nelson was able to get all of his students to participate and be involved in the class.

The last aspect of a good teacher is something that many would think to be intuitive or perhaps just a given: knowledge of the subject. To be able to teach something, one would assume that a masterful knowledge of it would be necessary, but it's definitely the least important of these three characteristics. A decent understanding of the subject is required, certainly, but anything more than that can easily be made up for if a teacher is motivated and dedicated enough. That is why I would still consider Mr. Carnegie to be a good teacher. He really wasn't all that fluent in Spanish - I probably could have learned more from someone else, but all of the students in his class still learned a lot, and because of his proficiency in the previous two qualities, everyone enjoyed his class. His dedication and ability to get his students engaged in the subject were enough to overcome not being a native Spanish speaker, and because of his good teaching, I and many other students were encouraged to take a third year of Spanish, instead of just the required two. Mr. Nelson, on the other hand, excelled in this just as he did in the other two areas. He was really a genius when it came to math. This is demonstrated by the fact that he is very capable of teaching all levels of high school mathematics - many math teachers will only teach one part of it, such as only teaching algebra, or only geometry - in the same way a history teacher will only teach about a specific time period or geographical area. That wasn't the case with Mr. Nelson - as a mentioned, he was my teacher for both geometry and calculus, and was good enough in both to prepare me for high level math courses in college.

Throughout my kindergarten through twelfth grade education, I was fortunate enough to have some great and inspirational teachers such as Mr. Nelson and Mr. Carnegie, and I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. I unfortunately also had plenty of teachers who fell on the opposite end of that spectrum; terrible teachers who really could make me hate school at times. From analyzing both kinds of experiences, I determined that the three most important qualities for teachers to have are dedication, the capability to involve and engage students, and knowledge of their subject. Mr. Nelson, my math teacher for several years of high school, is a perfect example of a great teacher who has all of these qualities. Mr. Carnegie's Spanish classes, on the other hand, proved that he was able to be a good teacher despite lacking a bit in the third of those three characteristics. Both were great teachers and I was lucky to be placed in their classes.

Blog Post: How did your high school experience compare to Gatto's claims about high school? In what ways? Why?

One of the major themes of Gatto's writing is about the problem of how the school system is designed to leave both the students and teachers bored. My high school experience is certainly consistent with that statement; for an overwhelming majority of the classes that I took during my four years of high school, the best of times were boring and the rest were miserable. John Gatto frequently brings up the education system of Prussia that our education system is apparently built upon, and without any real background knowledge about the subject, I can't really make a comparison between the two. I can, however, say that John Gatto's essay and descriptions of that education system are very reminiscent of my own experience in kindergarten through twelfth grade education. Throughout high school, I constantly felt as though most classes offered were designed for even the most lazy and incompetent student to be able to pass. There were many classes for which receiving a passing grade was essentially just a matter of showing up for class most of the time - the academic equivalent of winning a game just by being at the field. I don't mean to say that people who aren't naturally gifted at a subject shouldn't pass, but passing should at the very least require effort. I also had the opportunity to take many Advanced Placement (AP) courses. These were much more challenging than standard courses - they actually required some effort to pass. It says a lot about the "standard education" one would receive from not taking any AP classes when the most distinguishing feature of the advanced classes is that they actually require effort.

Why do you think Gatto continued to teach for 31 years? What do you think he sees as his own role in public education?

Gatto acknowledges the problems of the education system and continued to teach in order to do his part to help mitigate the problem and to improve the lives of his students.  

His goals in continuing to be a part of the education system are clear in the second-to-last paragraph, where he advices the reader. Gatto says “Schools train children to be employees and consumers; teach them to be leaders and adventures. School trains children to obey reflexively; teach them to think critically and independently. Well –schooled kids have a low threshold for boredom; help your own to develop an inner life so that they’ll never be bored. Urge them to take serious material, the grown-up material, in history, literature, philosophy, music, art, economics, and theology – all the stuff schoolteachers know well enough to avoid. Challenge your kids with plenty of solitude so that they can learn to enjoy their own company, to conduct inner dialogues.” All of these suggestions show the goals that Gatto strived to achieve in his 31 years as an educator.

(very) Rough Draft

Having finished my kindergarten through twelfth grade education, and having now started in college courses, I have had experience in taking classes with all sorts of teachers. Through many different subjects, and several different schools, I've had some amazing teachers, some truly incompetent and terrible teachers, and everything in between. With that experience, as well as more recent experience in analyzing the teachers from various essays and films such as Dead Poets Society and Stand and Deliver,  I've learned what qualities make for a good educator, and the differences between good and bad teachers. The two most important qualities for a teacher to have are the ability to engage and involve students, and once engaged, the ability to effectively teach his or her subject. To illustrate this point, I'll use two teachers I had in the past as examples - both of whom are examples of what I consider to be a bad teacher, and will remain nameless.

I took three years of high school Spanish - the first two because of the common requirement amongst colleges for two years of a foreign language, and the last because I enjoyed my Spanish classes a lot and wanted to take more. It was unquestionably one of my favorite classes in school. Every day, I could look forward to the class, and no matter what might have been happening in my other classes, I could always enjoy my time in Spanish. So, how could that instructor be a bad teacher then? After all, not only did I enjoy two years of the subject, but I was inspired to take a third year. It's simple - as mentioned, there are two basic qualities any teacher must have to be successful. While he was exceptional at engaging all of his students and making participation in the class an enjoyable experience, that Spanish teacher was dreadful at actually teaching Spanish. Every minute spent in that class was awesome, but at the end of three years, I was practically illiterate in the subject of Spanish compared to what I should have been. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much - a more strict professor probably could have covered in one year what we did in three. Looking back at it now, and analyzing what affect the class really had on my educational life, it's impossible to rationally justify taking it. Those three years of Spanish were very much a waste of time, and the instructor was a perfect example of teacher lacking in one of the two basic and crucial qualities of being a good teacher.

The previous example is really a rarity. It's uncommon, at least based on my experience, for a teacher to be good at holding the interest of his or her class, but bad at teaching the class. What's much more common is for a teacher to more than adequately knowledgeable in their subject, but completely impotent when it comes to capturing and holding the interests of his or her students. I'm certain that most students can relate to this kind of teacher. My particular example is a chemistry professor I had. He was an old man, and a retired chemist with a PhD in the subject - literally as knowledgeable about the subject of chemistry as you can get. He could probably answer just about any chemistry-related question any of the students in the class could think to ask, and with enough effort, the class was a great opportunity to learn. However, that's only half of what makes a good teacher, and without the other half, he was just adequate. A good teacher's class isn't just an opportunity to learn, if a student is willing to try hard enough. A good teacher makes the student learn, so to speak, engaging his or her students so that they want to participate in class. This chemistry instructor didn't make an effort to engage his students at all. Every day, the hour I spent in chemistry felt like the longest hour of my life. The class was painfully boring. I was personally motivated enough to a fair amount about chemistry in the class, but absolutely none of that motivation came from the professor. Both this chemistry teacher, and my Spanish instructor are similarly bad as teachers, but for opposite reasons. One lacks proficiency in actually teaching the subject, the other completely lacks the ability to engage his students. Both demonstrate that both of these qualities are vital to being a good teacher, and that one is meaningless without the other.

 There are many attributes which make for a good teacher - but above all, there are two very basic but essential qualities that all good teachers must have: the ability to get their students involved and interested, and proficiency at instructing the subject. My high school Spanish teacher and chemistry teacher are two excellent examples of teachers who have one of those traits, but not the other, and as a result make for a bad teacher. The Spanish teacher was extremely good at making his class enjoyable, entertaining and getting all of his students to participate - but failed completely when it came to how much his students actually learned. The chemistry instructor, to contrast, made no effort at all at engaging his students in the class, but was intelligent and anyone motivated enough could learn a lot from him. Both teachers had strengths, and both had flaws, and both were ultimately bad teachers because they lacked one of the two mandatory qualities that all good teachers must have.

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Dead Poets Society Notes Part Two

Knox goes to the party he was invited to by Chris but she's with her boyfriend and Knox and doesn't know anyone while the dead poets society meets

Knox gets in a fight at the party

Dead poets society is drinking/smoking

Charlie Dalton posts article in the school newspaper from the dead poets society, society is angry with him, Mr. Knowlin of the school calls a meeting to find out who wrote it, charlie pulls a prank

Charlie gets paddled by Mr. Knowlin but stays loyal

Mr. Knowlin reprimands Mr. Keating for teaching the students to think for themselves

Mr. Keating warns Charlie and the guys

Neil's father finds out about his acting and his deception about it, forces him to quit, even though it is the night before the play

Neil talks to Mr. Keating in his living quarters, talks to him about being forced to quit the play, Keating tells him to talk to his father and convince him that acting is what he wants to do

Knox chris at her school and brings her a poem and flowers to apologize for what happened at the party

Neil was successful in talking to his father about acting

Chris comes to the school to see Knox and agrees to go to the play with him

Neil sees his father entering at the play, gets nervous, they stare at each other while he reads his lines

Neil's father is very angry, intends to transfer him to a military school

Neil kills himself

Todd goes crazy

Mr. Keating cries

Mr. Knowlin holds a ceremony for Neil's death and say's hes going to conduct an investigation into the matter

Richard talks to Mr. Knowlin and tells him Mr. Keating was to blame and tells the others they should too, to save themselves. Charlie punches him and gets expelled for it

New English teacher in class asks students to read from the pages Mr. Keating instructed to rip out whilst Mr. Keating is in the room his personal belongings

Todd Anderson stands on his desk and says "Oh Captain, my Captain" before Mr. Keating leaves, others join in until roughly half the class is standing on their desks in defiance, Keating is proud and thanks them

How are Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keating similar? How are they similar?

As I talked about in the previous blog post, Mr. Escalante and Mr. Keating are in completely different environments. Different time period, different kind of school, different kinds of students, and they teach different subjects. However, the teaching styles employed by a teacher are not limited by the kind of school he is teaching at or the subject being taught. The way in which Mr. Escalante teaches his 1980s public high school class of potential drop-outs calculus is similar to the way Mr. Keating teaches his 1950s class of privileged white males English. Both teachers work hard to make their students want to participate in and learn from the class, often using unorthodox methods from Escalante's publicly mocking his students to Keating's games of soccer with his English class. Both are so successful in motivating their students that the students are willing to continue working at the subjects outside of class - in the forms of summer class sessions and after school study sessions from Escalante's calculus class and the reformation of the Dead Poets Society from some of Mr. Keating's English students. The two teachers prove that the qualities which make a good teacher do not at all depend on the subject or the students being taught.

How are the two schools different?

The two different schools depicted in the two films we have watched or are in the process of watching could not really be any more different. A 1950s east-coast all-male private school versus 1980s public high school in Los Angeles. Different class of people, different time period, different location, different type of school. Everything about the two schools is different. I don't even know how they both could be compared, the similarities stop at saying they're both schools for the purpose of educating students. Taking just about any aspect of either school and comparing it to the other gets you a way in which they are different. In many cases the differing characteristics of each school are not even just different, they're the opposite. Rich families versus poor families, private school versus public school, students living on campus and not, strict traditional education teaching subjects such as Latin versus a typical modern public high school. Everything is different.

Notes on Dead Poets Society 

Neil attends an all male college

His roommate is a new student named Todd Anderson

Neil's father is very strict, forces him to quit being the editor for the schools newspaper

English teacher Mr. Keating casually strolls through the class on the first day and then leaves, expecting his students to follow

The class is still standing in the hallway, he has student read poetry, tells his students to seize the day and make their lives extraordinary

The next day, Mr. Keating has Neil read "Understanding Poetry" and then rip the page out of their books, as well as the entire introduction to poetry. He doesn't like trying to measure poetry, wants to teach his students to think for themselves

Kids find old yearbook from when Mr. Keating was in school, mentions him being a member of the Dead Poets Society, question him on what it is

Neil wants to recreate the Dead Poets Society and convinces his group of friends to join him

The new Dead Poets Society convenes after hours

Mr. Keating stands on his desk to remind himself that he must constantly remind himself to look at things in a different way, assigns students to write a poem

Neil wants to be an actor and try out for a part in A Midsummer Night's Dream

Mr. Keating has the students read lines from a poem and then kick a soccer ball?

Neil gets a part in the play, forges a letter from his father giving him permission

Todd didn't write a poem, Mr. Keating inspires him to make something up

Mr. Keating has the english class playing soccer again

The Dead Poets Society reconvenes smoking pipes, someone playing saxophone

Knox Overstreet works up the confidence to call up the Danburry girl

Mr. Keating has his students marching outside to teach them about conformity

Todd's birthday, his parents give him the same desk set as they gave him the previous year, Neil convinces him to toss it off a bridge

Dead Poets Society reconvenes, two girls there with them



The setting of this film is couldn't really be more different than that of the previous one - they are both schools, and then the similarities stop there. Different decade, different type of school, different class of people, nothing is the same. Mr Escalante and Mr. Keating are similar though, both have unorthodox teaching styles and are very good at engaging their students.

Mr .Escalante and Mr. Keating's schools are clearly very different, from their setting, to the students that attend the school. I believe that Mr. Keating's school took place in New England though they don't specify, and Mr. Escalante's school took place in a very Hispanic neighborhood somewhere in San Francisco.
The students in Mr. Escalante's class and school clearly came from very poor families and were never pushed to excel in school and go to college, when obviously Mr. Keating's school and students came from rich environments and were very pressured by their families to ace their school activities and eventually be accepted into very advanced colleges and attain doctorates. The faculty in both schools where also very different, at Mr. Escalante's school the educators had no faith in the student's abilities to succeed and low expectations for the students and never pushed them to attend college or even graduate. The teachers had poor disciplinary skills and only taught the students the basics of each course. On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, Mr. Keating's school is found. In Mr. Keating's school, all the teachers had very high expectations for the students and assumed each and every one of them would not only ace their courses but also graduate into Harvard or some other prestigious school and gain masters or doctorates. Their disciplinary actions where also very strict and worked to control every aspect of the student's lives.

Stand and Deliver Group Notes Part 2

Mr. Escalante shows his dedication to teaching his class when he continues to show up to class when he was supposed to be in the hospital because he had a heart attack from being overworked

He kicked Angel out of class for being late until Angel went to his house with his sick grandmother to explain why he was late

He makes a mistake and one of his students gets mad and leaves but he follows her in the hall and makes up for it

His students present Jaime with a plaque for his teaching and fix up and repaint his car

The students get angry when their scores are questioned which shows that they care about the class as a result of Jaime’s teaching

Because everyone was doubting their success he worries that the students “will lose their confidence in the system which they’re finally qualified for”

Jaime goes to the school board outraged about what happened with his student’s scores and accuses them of discrimination and tells one of them that “If I ever see you on the street, I’ll kick the shit out of you”

After the students decide to retake the test he makes sure to boost their confidence and spends the whole day preparing with them and even takes them to his house and continues studying while making them dinner

His family tells him that they never see him because he’s too dedicated and sacrifices too much for his calculus students

Because of Mr. Escalante’s dedication the school’s students continued taking calculus for the following years and more passed every consecutive year

Stand and Deliver notes part two

The class has to stay late again, girl named Claudia leaves, he accidentally insults her but comforts her in the hallway

Angel's grandmother is sick, can't get her help

Someone is struggling, thinks the class will be better off without him

Angel arrives late and is kicked out of class, gets mad

Family is waiting on Jaime for dinner, wife doesn't want him to teach over the holiday, Angel arrives at the door with his grandmother

Jaime gets mad when his students get a question wrong which should be review, leaves class

Jaime is teaching a language class, leaves the room and collapses down some stairs, difficulty breathing

Pancho and Angel are fighting while waiting for Jaime to arrive to class, substitute teacher arrives, but he's a music teacher. Jaime is in the hospital.

Jaime comes back to class when he's supposed to be in the hospital to prepare for the AP test

Kids are taking the AP test

After the test the students go to the beach, Angel is convinced to join them in the water

All 18 students passed the test, they present a plaque to Jaime

The education board thinks that the class cheated and investigates

Angel and friend get pulled over for taunting a police car, friend tries to start a fight with Angel, Angel walks away

Education board people in the class questioning them about who cheated

Angel jokingly admits to getting the test early, education board people are not amused

Jaime thinks his car is stolen and that he made a mistake teaching the students calculus and becoming a teacher in general, but Angel arrives at his house with his car fixed up and repainted

Jaime complains to the education board people and accuses them of discrimination

Students decide to retake the test, but only have a day to prepare, Jaime believes in them

Some students are studying at Jaime's home while he cooks dinner

Ana leaves during the test retake

All of the students passed the test retake

More students continue to take and pass the AP calculus exam at the high school every following year

the end

Group notes about Stand and Deliver

One of the important things he did was make sure the class respected him. At the start they did not respect him at all but he got their attention and made them listen to and respect him.

He got in the faces of his students and forced them to learn, and embarrassed them when they wouldn’t learn, making inappropriate remarks and even threats.

Made an effort to understand what was happening in the lives of his students and tried to help them personally.

He did a good job at keeping the class interested and making sure to get them to pay attention.

He’s the only teacher in the school that actually believes in the students and wants them to succeed and will go to any lengths to make sure they understand.

An example of his different teaching style, he was trying to get a student named Angel to answer a question, and had to intimidate and embarrass him in front of the class by telling him not to look like a loser in front of the class and that he’d snap his neck like a toothpick if he didn’t answer. This method was successful and boosted his confidence in the class.

During conferences between teachers he speaks his mind even when it offends or angers other teachers, such as when he wants to teach the students calculus and how he needed to hold a summer class to prepare them. The other teachers didn’t believe in him or the students and don’t want him to waste his time on them.

He shows up to a restaurant owned by the family of his student Ana Delgado to understand her life and why she was going to drop out of school. He told her father that she’s the top student in the class and that she wants to go to medical school, and convinced him to let her stay in the class.