Paper #3

In every school systems there are flaws that range from disinterested teachers to lack of funding. For every one of those problems there are a thousand opinions and a thousand options to fix it. Lewis Black touches upon this in his Comedy Central appearance, “On Education in America”. He comments, “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand our schools are broken. Which is good because none of us are.” This despairing attitude is sadly far too common. The schools, teachers and students that we have observed in the films and read about in the readings have provided excellent examples of teachers and students struggling for a good education. The most common issues seem to deal with lack of flexibility with the subjects taught. Our education is often hindered by overly strict syllabi, the priority of math and the sciences over the humanities such as art or music and the constant denial of student rights; the following changes need to be allowed or student performance will continue to decline.

I have taken a wide variety of classes in an attempt to graduate. They have ranged from math, which I despise, to history and creative writing which are far more engaging. The teachers greatly shape the course of the class however their decisions however are extremely restricted by their superiors. From the movies we watch to the book we are forced to read, our overseers, the all-powerful school board, review each and every decision. This system damages the education of each and every American student by controlling they're exposure to the different cultures that are prevalent in the world. Deb Aronson touches upon this in her article, “Arizona Bans”. She states, “These actions show students that a lack of evidence, an ideological agenda, and political motivation supersede student’s academic growth, identity, hope, and belief in a whole world”.  Her passionate response to the cancelation of her program for Mexican-American youth is on the same level as mine. Paolo Freire in “The Banking Method of Education” expressed the same sentiment. “Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry…” While the individual schools vary in the limits set on educational freedom, the vast majority has not updated the subject matter for the 21^st century. In many of the classes I have taken the novels we had covered are the same traditional choices that were picked in the past. There is no change, no modern books that touch upon the current issues troubling the world of today’s teens that we as young adults can relate to. These authors explain, in different ways, how the school system’s restrictions on what they consider “risky” subject matter irreparably harm education in this country.

These harmful effects on education are also affected by the classes student take. I have spent 9 ½ years in the American educational system and the frantic balancing act required to graduate is extremely challenging. So far I have been able to stay on track as regards to the graduation requirements set by my high school but it has been a struggle. Without the help of a knowledgeable and understanding counselor, similar to the one to whom I am now assigned it is almost impossible. The graduation requirements set by each high school have many of the same demands, a set number of classes devoted to mathematics, English, sciences and the humanities. However in recent years the balance has shifted. It is now, in many classrooms, heavily weighted against the creative classes such as Art, Creative Writing, Film Study etc. In “Children, Arts, and Du Bois” Keith Gilyard shares the bittersweet memory of an after school program where the students were, in his words a, “vibrant group of urban public elementary school students”. When he later on discovers that the program was canceled he expressed his feeling so, “A point of immersion in the humanities would be eliminated, thus possibly constricting perspective.” The benefits of a creative outlet in the daily lives of students cannot be denied. It is best explained by bell hooks who claims that, “Across the boundaries of, race, class, gender, and circumstances, children come into the world of wonder and language consumed with a desire for knowledge”. She continues to point out the flaws in the system in the same work, “Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom” previously quoted. I believe that this imbalanced system needs to be returned to an even scale. The importance of math, science and other related classes is not to be denied but America is not a place where one issue is more deserving then another. Keith Gilyard states quite plainly, “I take no position against science, technology, engineering, and mathematics efforts". The change he has asked for is the same as mine, to stop placing the arts so far below the priority.

Each and every school district tries to project an aura of authority over their students. It is their job to turn out successful high school graduates who continue onto to four-year colleges and fill a gap in the cogs of the American economy. This perhaps best summarized by Woodrow Wilson, our 28^th president as quoted in John Gatto’s “Against School…” He tells us that, “We want one class of persons to have a liberal education, and we want another class of persons…in every society, to…fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks." This statement is one that has remained the sole definition of our educational system since they were first spoken in 1909. The facts are simple; schools encourage their students freedom’s only as long as they do not interfere with there set goal of training American students into “adaptable manageable beings” as Paolo Freire states it. When a student speaks out against the administration their dissent is not tolerated for long. A student who wants to bring their same sex date to prom, fighting to save a beloved club or to keep banned books on the shelves, the situation in which student find themselves squaring off the administration are endless. One trait follows each and every case however; either side will not easily win the battle. Both are equally committed. Mark Twain, the well-known author of “Tom Sawyer” puts his feeling into words well worth memorizing, “"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education”. It’s right there in black and white, what we are taught in school is not what we need to know in order to survive to retirement. In order to give each student those necessary skills the student needs to be able to receive from their educators the right to demand an education worth the fight.

The authors quoted in this paper come from diverse background, some are teachers, others comedians. Each and every one has an opinion, each one has an individual path we could follow to perfect the system so many have called broken. Reading through them has granted a glimpse of the turmoil surrounding education that is illuminating. It illustrates the changes demanded by many to our schools, few of which are ever put into place. The average American student has the right to three basic traits of their schooling, syllabi that are less restricted to outdated morals, an equal importance place on the humanities as well as math, science and technology and the right of the student to demand a worthy education. If these three changes are implemented even in the slightest form the average American student will succeed in careers that flatter their life goals more closely then before.

Works Cited:

·      Aronson, Deb. "Arizona Bans Mexican American Studies Program." National Council of Teachers of English, n.d. Web.

·      Freire, Paolo. "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chapter 2, n.d. Web. 1970.

·      Gatto, John T. "Against School: How School Cripples Our Kids." N.p., Sept. 2003. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

·      Gilyard, Keith. "Children, Arts, and Du Bois." National Council of Teachers of English, n.d. Web. Sept. 2012

·      Hooks, Bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. New York: Routledge, 2010. 7-21. Print.

·      -Twain, Mark. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

Tuesday 26th Group Discussion

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

Paper 3 Draft

In every school systems there are flaws that range from disinterested teachers to lack of funding. For every one of those problems there are a thousand opinions and a thousand options to fix it. The schools, teachers and students that we have observed in the films and read about in the readings have provided excellent examples. The most common issues seem to deal with lack of flexibility with the subjects taught. Our education is often hindered by overly strict syllabi and the priority of math and the sciences over the humanities such as art or music; the following changes need to be allowed or student performance will continue to decline.

I have taken a wide variety of classes in an attempt to graduate. They have ranged from math, which I despise, to history and creative writing which are far more engaging. The teachers greatly shape the course of the class however their decisions however are extremely restricted by their superiors. From the movies we watch to the book we are forced to read, our overseers, the all-powerful school board, review each and every decision. This system damages the education of each and every American student by controlling they're exposure to the different cultures that are prevalent in the world. Deb Aronson touches upon this in her article, “Arizona Bans”. She states, “These actions show students that a lack of evidence, an ideological agenda, and political motivation supersede student’s academic growth, identity, hope, and belief in a whole world”.  Her passionate response to the cancelation of her program for Mexican-American youth is on the same level as mine. In many of the classes I have experienced the novels we had covered are the same traditional choices that were picked in the past. Paolo Freire in “The Banking Method of Education” expressed the same sentiment. “Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry…” While the individual schools vary in the limits set on educational freedom, the vast majority rarely uses modern works or touch on current news. Both of these authors explain, in different ways, how the school system’s restrictions on what they consider “risky” subject matter irreparably harm education in this country.

In Class Lab - Quote

1. Mr. Keating strived to impress upon his students the importance of trusting your own writing and creativity while still focusing on a traditional education. In a memorable scene from the film "Dead Poet Society" he states."We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love... these are what we stay alive for."

2, In his fond and joking interactions with his students, Mr. Keating shows that he truly cares about all interactions of his students lives.

3. According to John Taylor Gatto, a well known commentator on the educational system, "When you take the free will out of education, that turns it into schooling." This clearly shows the difference between the educational success of a willing versus a resistant student.

4. In a video posted on on Ted(Technology, Entertainment, Design), Mr. Robinson discusses at length the failing state of the current American education, one mistake he mentions is the failure to understand that "Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status."

5. In one of his many saying that have withstood the test of time, Mark Twain remarks that , "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.". This is very similar to Mr.Keating's attitude in "Dead Poets Society" in that they both believe that the school system is too rigid to allow for true learning.




Works Cited:
- Kleinbaum, N. H., and Tom Schulman. Dead Poets Society: A Novel. New York: Bantam, 1989. Print.

- Gatto, John T. "You Can't Get an Education From School Books." Alliance for Parental Involvement in Education Conference. 03 Dec. 2013. Speech.

-Robinson, Ken. "Ken Robinson: How Schools Kill Creativity." TED: Ideas worth Spreading. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. <http://www.ted.com/talks
/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html>.

-Twain, Mark. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."

Quotations

1. "So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays." 

— N.H. Kleinbaum (Dead Poets Society ) 

2. "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love... these are what we stay alive for."
— N.H. Kleinbaum (Dead Poets Society ) 

3."Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary. "
— John Keating (Dead Poets Society)

4. "When you take the free will out of education, that turns it into schooling."
— John Taylor Gatto

5. "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
— Mark Twain

6. "Creativity is as important now in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status."
— Ken Robinson

7. "If you are not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."
— Ken Robinson

Large, Boyce, Gilyard, Aronsen and hooks

1. Large's article is a nice change of perspective because he is not writing about his own work but instead a book written by Paul Tough called, "How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character". He describes the need to build character in order to help students succeed rather then focusing on academic acheivement. According to Large, Paul Tough supports his opinion with research and backs that up with real live experience as a parent.

5. In Boyce's article he  stresses the need for as Mark Greenburg states it, "Kindness, caring, empathy, being able to de-center from your own point of view and listen deeply to others..." Mark Greenburg is the director of the Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development at Penn State University. The atricle explains that yoga, meditation and even parenting classes can all help students succeed by helping them control their emotions and have greater empathy for others.

2. In "Children, Art's, and Du Bois", Keith Gilyard follows the trend of the previous articles in which he calls for changes in our school system. He does remark that "I take no position against science, technology, engineering, and mathematics efforts" . The changes he asked for are to stop cutting programs that encourage creativity such as the after school program he mentions in the first few paragraphs of his article.

3. Deb Aronson's article discusses MAS (Mexican American Studies" which was a program started in 1995 in Tuscon, Arizona. The program was intended "to improve retention and graduation rates among Mexican Americans," The program was cancelled due to statements by Arizona politicians claiming the program biased Mexican Americans against mainstream culture with the books chosen in the program. While students protested with marches, addressing the school board and even chaining themselves to chairs at meetings. In her article teachers are encouraged teachers to reach out to parents and the community about the books they are teaching. She even expresses frustration about the involvement of people who are not trained in education setting policy that affects education.

4. bell hooks, who stands out simply because of how she spells her name has a compelling narrative. She states that "Sadly, children's passion for thinking often ends when they encounter a world that seeks to educate them for conformity and obedience" I agree with her on that point, we are encouraged towards creativity only if it does not intervene with the required math, science and technical classes/training. hooks asks for schools to encourage critical thinking, a good relationship between teacher and student as well as an open mind. According to hooks this encourages students to learn and pushes students to "think passionately and share ideas in a passionate open manner."

Small Group Post 11-21-13

Freire discussed his concerns  about education in his paper, "The Banking Concept". One of the issues he mentions the training of the American students into worker drones or "adaptable manageable beings".  This is proved by the following statement: "It is not surprising that the banking....." (pg. 2) In "Chalk" this is backed up by Mr. Lowery trying to control his class and gain their respect he checked out a book on classroom management.

Gatto's main point in "Against School" was that American kids are being pushed to conform with standards set in the 1910's. There is a tendancy towards as a Gatto"forced schooling: six classes a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve years" (pg. 2) The documentary Chalk supports this point clearly when one of Mr. Stroope's female students disrespect him because she is bored with the class and curriculum.

Lewis Black, a comedian, discusses in the video "Back to Black" how American schools are "broken". "NBC dedicates one week to education and 51 weeks to incarceration." He further goes on to summarize the failure of the American system by describing it as "We are 25th in math, 21st in science. We fall behind in almost every topic except confidence. Who needs science, math and physics if he'd had a little more confidence he'd have cleared the roof."He and Mr. Stroope both utilized humor to make people pay attention and to motivate them.

In "Resolutions Someone Should Make for 2011" Mike Rose discuses the need to measure students and teachers success by improvement and knowledge instead of test scores. He explains it as "To stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness." In Chalk this is supported by Mr. Lowery's improved realaesionship with student which effected their desire to learn in his class. When his relesionship with them exceeded his exspectations his own personal confidence grew.

Similarities between Black and Rose

When I watched the video of Lewis Black, who it should be noted is a comedian not an educator,  I was immediately struck by the passion he showed about his subject. He honestly seemed to care about what to him is the despicable state of the American education system. He calls our schools "broken". He believe schools should not be too complex, he jokes that he "went to school in a Pal Mal. He frequently returns to the lack of commitment, when NBC kicked off their "Education Week" they told people to walk into schools even if their children didnt attend and to ask how they could help. Lewis Black immediately jumps on that statements saying, "Seriously! What kind of idiot just walks into the school and says I'm totally unqualified but I wanna help!" He finishes the clip with a not so encouraging statistic aimed at making us feel stupid. As a narrator explains the fact that out of 30 countries we ranked 25 in math and 21 in science that at least we were number one in confidence we are shown a clip of a stunt rider successfully launching himself of a ramp but then slamming into a rooftop. I understand that as a comedian his approach is to use humor to get his point across but sometimes a little seriousness is needed.

Contrastingly Mike Rose is more concerned with, and I quote, "To have more young people get an engaging and challenging education". That is a goal I share and I must admit that I find Mike Rose's approach a lot more appealing, it's less of a rant and more of an actual conversation. He continues in his narrative to explain the need to stop defining students by test scores and instead by actual achievement. He puts it this way, "To stop making the standardized test score the gold-standard of student achievement and teacher effectiveness." 

What is high school for?

What is high school for? The differences in opinion are drastic. The majority seem to believe that the typical 4 years of high school is to prepare for college. The classes taken in high school include Math, Science, and English as the primary classes. The desired course seems to have each student emerge from the halls of their high school with as basic a skill set as possible so we can be trained for any future career with no obstacles. This is difficult for me to accept. High school to me is a time to prepare for the degree you intend to study in college. Most people have chosen a major or two to focuses their studies on by junior or at least senior year. That decision means that the student can choose classes in high school that will enhance their college applications. If they are trying to get into a college that is inclined to accept freshmen who are good at math then taking extra or more accelerated would help. This is sometimes made hard by the graduation requirements which stipulate taking a certain number of each type of class. This includes, at least in Washington, 3 years of Math, 3 of English and so on. Succeeding in high school requires a balancing act between the classes needed to graduate and the classes the students needs to take to help prepare for their college major.

Notes on "Chalk" 11-19-13

First teacher is a history teacher, his name is Andrew Lowery.
1st Rule: Show Up
2nd Rule: Bring Paper
Reads with the students "History is society, tech, politics, culture.
He is slightly awkward, teaching for an hour and 10 min
When you are in this classroom you should show each other respect
Can't control classroom
Checks out books on classroom management
Tries to add in humor, make classroom more lively
Bonds with students over "Spelling Hornet", spelling bee of slang words. They coach him and he wins
At the end if the year he is a lot more relaxed with students
Being a teacher is a gift, maybe its something you can learn but no one's taught me
He 

Then there is Coach Lindsay Webb who does trust falls, 2 year P.E, she feels like you depend on other teachers to help.
People have assumed she is gay, she is straight
Thinks students will rise to expectations, students who aren't active will try if they think you believe they can do it
Tries to make her students comfortable
I have found myself interested in someone, we are not alike, i enjoy work more, looks forward to seeing him
Coaches volleyball
Bothered that no one remembers tardy policy
Learned that she is a little opinionated, needs to change approach

Mr. Stroope, 3rd year history,  takes pictures away from a student to get back later, asks about summer stories, what his students did.
Goals from last year:
Sarcasm
Cleanliness, organization
Lesson Plans, due Friday before they are due to be taught
They say don't be their friend, but have a relationship
I want my student to know I care
Tells teacher to stop using school funds etc
Wants to be teacher of the year
Got nominated for teacher of the year, he lost but turned it into a good lesson for students but the loses it yells at students
I lost the election but whats worse is I lost it in front of class

Asistent Principal, didn't expect to be AP, is unsure, best friend of P.E teacher
Is getting home after 10, hasn't had sex in 3 weeks
Seems to be getting to hang of the new job
Relationship with husband seems better
Friendship with gym teacher strained
Misses teaching
The teacher eat lunch together and discuss class, describe math in non a comforting ways
Number 1,2,3 up to 57 is home. 58 is school

My HS exsperience vs Gatto

My high school teachers were a mix of confusing, by the book, and just plain weird. The "confusing" teacher tended to like their subject but not have the practical skills needed to control a classroom. The "by the book" teacher could control their classrooms but they stifled creativity. The "just plain weird" teacher seem to be the most fun as well as the best balance of discipline and actual learning. Gatto summerises in his paper the apparent inability of the US school system to encourage each students potential. Instead he believes we stifle our students and attempt to mold them into what we think society needs, a small percent of skilled laborers and a large, docile workforce. Fortunately this has not be my experience with teachers as a whole. I have had enough teachers who are willing to let their students mold themselves rather then shape them into little suit wearing office drones.Gatto makes some good points about the US school system but the way he presents his ideas comes off with a little too much fire and brimstone for my taste. If you want to persuade someone to change a system as large and complex as the US school system you need to use honey, not threaten them with hell.

Discussion Question 4 on John Gatto's "Against School"

According to Gatto we believe:  We have been taught (that is, schooled) in this country to think of "success" as synonymous with, or at least dependent upon, "schooling," but historically that isn't true in either an intellectual or a financial sense.

5 Sentences:
1: I don't mean education, just forced schooling: six classes a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve years. Is this deadly routine really necessary?
2.  School trains children to be employees and consumers
3. School trains children to obey reflexively
4.  The aim.. . is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.
5.First, though, we must wake up to what our schools really are: laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands.

The purpose of education should be to encourage and developed the individual talents of each child, in there future career.

Paper #2

When I started school I was a daydreamer, it earned me several demerits on my grade reports. My parents had to talk to me several times about it. By 3^rd grade I was pulling out a book the moment I finished my work, to be fair I would occasionally read first and complete the homework later. If I was not interested by the topic I tuned out. I preferred to immerse myself other worlds, Harry Potter, Redwall and many more. My teachers scolded but as I showed that my work would be completed they allowed me to read, they preferred that occupation to that of a troublemaker.  As I entered middle school I was still a voracious reader, I devoured books by the day and I dreaded my classes. The sound of the bell meant I would have to close my book and learn about someone who died 100 years ago without a story to leave behind or a complicated math problem that left me with jackhammers attacking my skull. Despite those horrors it was in middle school that I first learned the value of a good teacher. A good teacher is one who inspires their students to love learning, and encourages them not to hide themselves away while their counterpart is one who teaches simply because it is a job, someone who does not have a passion for their subject.

The best example of a teacher who inspired me was Mr. Davis, my creative writing teacher from North Kitsap High School. Walking into the classroom I immediately decided that it had character. I sat at an old fashioned chair that swooped up to connect to a tan surface pockmarked with scratches and scribbles of verse. The walls were covered with posters featuring the immortal personalities of cinema. Sherlock Holmes was analyzing the members of “Spinal Tap” on the opposite wall while “The Hobbit” stepped out his front door on another. I felt comfortable there, a feeling that was solidified by my new teacher. Mr. Davis immediately sent out this aura of eccentric intelligence. That first week he learned our names and we dived into a world of writing. His prompts ranged from the subject of our least favorite class to the meaning of the color yellow. While the rapid plunge into writing was a little unnerving, the first reading of our work in class was nail biting, he always encouraged us to write without fear. He honestly cared about all of his students. He wanted to know what our writing styles were, and he understood that what we wrote came from a place that most of us wanted to keep hidden. Because of that we had pseudonyms to use whenever we submitted assignments. The project of the week would be stapled into a packet and then read out loud. The pseudonyms gave us anonymity, safety to write and receive comments, without embarrassment. The safety was one of the tools he used to draw us out of our shells and tell the truth in our writing. He never tried to censor what we wrote by telling us it was too political or try to shape our writing into a box of his design. Instead he preferred us to take that box, put it inside of a bigger box, tape it to some explosives and then drop it off the empire state building. That isn’t an actual quote, I’m simply paraphrasing but I feel like it sums up his teaching style. Mr. Davis was a supportive teacher who honestly wanted his students to succeed; he believed that the emotions and stories we conveyed through our writing were important.

The Dreaded Dr. Denton was, unfortunately, my Washington State History teacher in a mandatory 7^th grade course. We were supposed to learn, as the name suggested, the history of our state. Our governors, our founder’s etcetera etcetera, which is not what we learned. Dr. Denton’s first impossible quality was his voice. It was a cross between a monotone and, remember Charlie Browns teacher? I am pretty certain that those two are related. It didn’t matter if we were discussing the bloody death of Narcissa Whitman or the effects of logging in the Rocky Mountains. It was all rendered equally dull by his voice. The effect was often intensified when he gave lectures, which my brain refused to absorb. I don’t mean to suggest that we learned nothing at all, he simply didn’t teach us what we needed to know. We learned the story of the aforementioned Narcissa Whitman who became a missionary and traveled to the Oregon Territory, had numerous children and was then killed by the Cayuse Indians. We spent a month on a woman whose entire life I just summed up in one sentence. This trend continued all year. I don’t know who our first governor was or even who wrote our constitution. His preferred the seemingly most boring aspects of history such as the backwoodsmen of the 1800’s that roamed the Rockies. I am sure that those men, and their families led impossibly hard lives. It’s not so interesting to hear about however when you leave out the outlaws. He did not teach the subject he was hired to teach, instead he taught us subjects not relevant to Washington State or it’s history. His monotone voice was combined with a torturous interest in dull moments of history and this lead to the waste of the entire class.

The teachers I wrote about in this paper influenced my life again and again but each in different ways. Mr. Davis taught me not to be ashamed of my stories and even encouraged me and his other student to send in our writing to be published. He encouraged us not to censor our stories and to let our feelings flow to show the truth in our writings. He gave me a boost of self-confidence I needed in a difficult part of my life. Dr. Denton on the other hand was utterly uninteresting. His voice was dull, simply uninspiring. He did not teach us the history of Washington State. Instead he taught us parts of history that were not compelling. A good teacher is one who listens to their students and teaches them not only the subject but also how to trust there our knowledge. Their opposite is a teacher who teaches for the paycheck and not for the students.

Paper #2, the draft

When I started school I was a daydreamer, it earned me several demerits on my grade reports. My parents had to talk to me several times about it. By 3^rd grade I was pulling out a book the moment I finished my work, to be fair I would occasionally read first and complete the homework later. If I was not interested by the topic I tuned out. I preferred to immerse myself other worlds, Harry Potter, Redwall and many more. My teachers scolded but as I showed that my work would be completed they allowed me to read, they preferred that occupation to that of a troublemaker.  As I entered middle school I was still a voracious reader, I devoured books by the day and I dreaded my classes. The sound of the bell meant I would have to close my book and learn about someone who died 100 years ago without a story to leave behind or a complicated math problem that left me with jackhammers attacking my skull. Despite those horrors it was in middle school that I first learned the value of a good teacher. A good teacher is one who inspires their students to love learning, and encourages them not to hide themselves away while their counterpart is one who teaches simply because it is a job, someone who does not have a passion for their subject.

The best example of a teacher who inspired me was Mr. Davis, my creative writing teacher from North Kitsap High School. Walking into the classroom I immediately decided that it had character. I sat at an old fashioned chair that swooped up to connect to a tan surface pockmarked with scratches and scribbles of verse. The walls were covered with posters featuring the immortal personalities of cinema. Sherlock Holmes was analyzing the members of “Spinal Tap” on the opposite wall while “The Hobbit” stepped out his front door on another. I felt comfortable there, a feeling that was solidified by my new teacher. Mr. Davis immediately sent out this aura of eccentric intelligence. That first week he learned our names and we dived into a world of writing. His prompts ranged from the subject of our least favorite class to the meaning of the color yellow. While the rapid plunge into writing was a little unnerving, the first reading of our work in class was nail biting, he always encouraged us to write without fear. He honestly cared about all of his students. He wanted to know what our writing styles were, and he understood that what we wrote came from a place that most of us wanted to keep hidden. Because of that we had pseudonyms to use whenever we submitted assignments. The project of the week would be stapled into a packet and then read out loud. The pseudonyms gave us anonymity, safety to write and receive comments, without embarrassment. The safety was one of the tools he used to draw us out of our shells and tell the truth in our writing.

“We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”

- N.H. Kleinbaum, Dead Poets Society

Dead Poet Society Notes

• Welton Academy, A small prestigious prep school in New England
• Very traditional with religious values
• Some of the boys are very young
• Tradition, Honer, Discipline, Excellence are on the banners carried in during the first scene where candles are lit to celebrate the "light of knowledge"
• 70 percent of graduating boys go onto Ivy league
• Neal's father is very controlling and forces him to quit the school newspaper, he thinks he is taking to many extracurricular
• Trigonometry, Latin, Chemistry, English, Fencing
• The students call it "Hell-ton"
• Mr. Keating tells his students to call him either, Mr. Keating or Oh Captain my Captain
• Carpe Diem, he has the students look at the photos of past students and emphasies the fact that they are pushing up daffodil "Seize the day, make your lives extraordinary"
• Mr. Keating, "We don't read and write poetry because its cute.....Poetry is beauty romance love passion"         "The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a  verse"                                 "The dead poets were dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life" 
• Knox Overstreet, Neal Perry, Richard Cameron, Pitts, Shirley,  Tom Anderson, Meeks
•  "We must constantly look at things in a different way"
• Neals father finds out he is in the play, A Midsummer's Night Dream, as Puck and orders him to quit. Neal goes to Mr. Keating and asks for advice, he tells Mr. Keating about his passion for acting. Mr. Keating tells him to tells his father "everything you just told me". 
•  After the play which was a rousing success, Neal is dragged off by his father who is angry at Mr. Keating and tells him "to stay away from my son". When they arrive home he tells Neal that he is withdrawing him from Welton, he is enrolling him in military school and that Neal is going to be a doctor. That his acting was over.
• Neal committed suicide 
• Mr. Keating is blamed for Neal's suicide and when he comes to collect his things from his classroom Todd calls him back, "Oh Captain My Captain". The every boy in the Dead Poet Society except Cameron stands on their desks. he thanks them.

                                                     END SCENE

Group notes from tuesday 10-22-13

Three scenes of good teaching (group)
Mr. Escalante shows examples of being a good / bad  teacher in the following scenes

SCENE 1- Bad Yet Good Teaching. (Andrew)
This scene took place on school grounds not in the classroom, the leader of the group was in a fight and not winning, Angel sees this fight and runs out to join and back his friend up. While on his way out to help his friend Jaime grabs him and holds him back with struggle coming from angel trying to break free. Jaime then proceeds to tell the students to go get help and grab another teacher. Escalante breaks the rules of the educational system by intervening in the fight going against teacher code, yet shows his good teaching by helping Angel not get involved in any trouble. You can really tell he wants the best from his students in this scene, basically showing and letting Angel know that he can do better than to stoop to that level.

SCENE 2-Word Problems, Good Teaching. (Annika)
This scene took place in the classroom, Jaime asks the class to read the board aloud getting students to participate. The word problem uses students names and how many girlfriends they have making fun of them for more student interactions. As soon as the class started reading aloud the principle and another teacher enter the room, Angel had followed in as well and the class as a whole says, "laaaaaatteeee, late" Escalante tells them to calm down and try to solve the problem on the board asking multiple people to step up and speak out, 99% of the students didn't answer it correctly until Ana walks in the door and explains what the words on the board were trying to say and answers the word problem correctly. As soon as she walked in Jaime smiled and said, "Glad to have you back" and then proceeds to tell the class how it's not that they're stupid, but they don't know how to learn it yet. This shows good teaching in that it gives students a new challenge with personal connection.

SCENE 3- Apple Scene. Good Teaching (Megan)
This scene took place in the classroom , the whole class was in their seats and they are making fun of Mr. Escalante having a chef apron and hat on. He holds up his butcher knife and an apple and slams it down on the cutting board getting the whole classes attention. He then walks around putting different slices and parts of the apples on each students desk and asked them what they had. Some answered with joking answers saying that they have a "core" and an "apple" and others answered with fractions, Ana answered with a percentage, trying to get the class to engage in what percent or fraction of the apple that they have. This is good teaching in that he actively participated in the class activity and got the class to participate as well, he really tries to get his students to engage and see that math really isn't that hard if you think about it, it just comes to you.

Notes on "Stand and Deliver"

When he first meets his class they don't treat him with respect

The teacher sees two boys fighting in the yard and intervenes

He is not afraid of the gang members in his first class, in the second class.

He helps Elliot, who wanted to learn, by giving him three books, one for home, one for class, and one for his locker so he won't be seen carrying them around. He helped Elliot keep his reputation.

He treats them all equally

He goes to Anna's family restaurant after her father takes her out of school to try and get her back in school

He takes the students to his old work, and they see the computers. He tells one of his students that he will see calculas in college. His former coworker says his daughter uses it in high school. To me this emphasises the fact that the school is in a lower bracket.

While in class one day, Pacho say's he can't do calcules. Then Angel walks in class late because he had to take his grandma to the clinic. Mr. Escalante tells him to leave.

While teaching night class Mr. Escalente collapses, the next day his students know and react badly.

After all 18 students pass they are accused of cheating because they got a lot of the sme answers wrong. No one believes that they could all pass because their from a low income hispanic school. They have no choice but to retest.

There is a scene where the teacher confronts the testing officials and accuses them of being biased

The teaching styles of "Stand and Deliver"

I am going to be honest here and admit that I am not a fan of "Stand and Deliver". The plot didn't pull me in at all. I felt disinterested, I could everyone else typing a mile a mile a minute while I sat there with only 5 or 6 sentences. It felt like watching a BBC documentary on the history of tobacco, they grew , they smoked it, and then they added chemicals. Why do I remember all that,  I never even finished watching that show! But back to the point.

Mr. Escalante obviously cares about his students and he is willing to break the rules, or at least bend them, to help them. A great example of this is a scene where one of his students, Angel, comes to him and asks him for an extra book to keep at home so he can study without his "friends" finding out out. Mr. Escalante seems to understand that in high school, at least for most kids, reputation is everything. Another scene uses word problems about the number of girlfriends each "jiggelo" has to keep the students interested. He also intervenes in his students lives outside of class. He is walking through the school when he notices the students grouping around a fight in the yard. According to school rules,  he is supposed to stop the fight but  he sees one of his students, Angel,  and instead stops him from getting involved. When one of his star students, Anna,  drops out to work at the family restaurant he goes there to talk to her father. Even when her father grows angry with him he doesn't back off. He is one of those teacher who is willing to fight for his students.

What makes a good teacher?

Good teachers seem like that once in a lifetime sunset where you have to remember to breathe. I have been lucky in most of my teachers. I've found teachers who listen to their students, people who kick ass, plain and simple. And like that sunset they are very hard to find and impossible to hold on two. The only teachers I ever get more then once are, unique. Or math teachers who I dislike on principle.

When I read "What makes a good teacher?" I was a little confused. I thought, "Who is this mystical teacher and where do I need to transfer to get her?".  Marie Hassett seemed to understand that no matter what ivy league college you went to that does NOT make you a good teacher. According the my personal high school survival guidebook the qualities of a good teacher are as follows:

1. Passion- Everyone has had that teacher who hates their subject. The kind of teacher who hands out assignments and gives tests or quiz's, by the way I've never understood the difference between the two, and lets their despair of teacher leak thru. I did have a teacher in middle school who was the living incarnation of Professor Binns who has the honor of being Hogwarts only ghost teacher. Just like Binns he droned on and on and on about some white woman who became a missionary. Not the Washington State History he was supposed to teach us. He was a doctor though so the school wouldn't fire him.

2. Opinionated - I suppose this could tie into Passion (see above) but to me it's a separate catagory. My favorite teachers have been the ones who share their lives with their students. Who share their stupid mistakes and the accidental sucesses. Those teachers inspire students to talk about their own lives. My creative writing teacher helped show me how to pour my emotion into my writting instead of holding them in. My history teacher once went on a 5 min rant about how if Washington became its own state we would become District 13. They encourage students to grow, to imagine what their lives could be like without the fear of judgement.

That's the key right there, someone who isn't afraid to be judged is someone to be envied. The secret to life, and a good teacher, is someone who is not afraid to teach their student what they need to know and not what the school believes we need to be taught.

P.S Personal High School Survival Guidebook not available to public at this time

My experience is significant because.......

I believe that my experience is significant because I wasn't here when 9-11 happened. I moved back to this country in 2004. America, the culture and traditions were strange to me.  When people reacted to the subject of 9-11 I felt disconnected from that day. To most Americans alive today, they remember it vividly while I don't have a single memory of September 11th. It's strange to think about really, an American who does not relate 9-11, an attack on their country, to pain or sorrow. To me it was just a day. When I got older and realized the significance I felt....I don't know even know. I guess I could describe it as disbelief that because of one day we have endured 12 years of war.

Educational Narrative- Final

             In 2004, I was 7 years old and angry. We moved from a Navy base on an itty-bitty island in the Mediterranean Sea with only 300 Americans to a town with almost 8000 people. I didn’t know who Hannah Montana was or the name of our president. The date, September 11^th, had no meaning for me. For a while I insisted I wasn’t American, I was European and proud of it. It took me years to identify as an American and even now I miss Europe. It wasn't until middle school that I started to learn how our government worked, or rather didn't work. When I was in 8th grade my English teacher assigned a lot of essays. For the media assignment I wrote about political bias on TV and radio, for the political essay I researched the Patriot Act. Once I started to learn about the after effects of 9-11, my eyes were opened and I couldn’t shut them again. The victims of 9-11 are not just the people who died on September 11^th. They are also the Muslims who are persecuted for their beliefs, the soldiers who fought in the Middle East and their families. During the elections I listened to the candidates and for the first time in my life I understood that the promises they made were not the same as the changes they made. The promise that America would be what it once was could never be kept.

When you wind the clock back 7 years from that election you arrive in pre 9-11 America. We as a nation believed that we were unsinkable, similar to the boastful builders of the Titanic. That September my family was stationed at the Naval base at Rota in southern Spain. I don’t remember the panic that surrounded that day, until I moved to this country in 2004 I don’t think I even knew about the event. I was disconnected from the grief that we as a nation felt. That kind of pain and shock is hard to endure without lashing out at someone. Anger needs an outlet and we found one. On October 26^th, 2001 President Bush signed the Patriot Act into law. The act was signed into law with the resounding approval of Congress, except for a few stray votes here and there. Recently the American public started a media frenzy because one of the numerous government agencies hiding in the shadows was reading their emails. What they didn’t realize is that ever since the Patriot Act was passed the government has had that power. They have the power to request any information regardless of the legality pre 9-11.  “We, the people…” and all that entails, was written over 200 years ago by a nation fighting for it’s right to exist. We’re still fighting, many of us are frightened of our fellow citizens for no other reason then they are different.

The idea that someone is dangerous or evil just because they’re different is something I’ve never understood. After 9-11, we started looking at Muslim Americans as traitors instead of people searching for hope. People from all around the world come here looking for second chances, for a new beginning. We are a nation of immigrants; and yet there are those in this country who believe that those who worship Allah or wear a turban or a headscarf as a sign of their faith want to destroy us. That’s just not true, they are here because they wanted the opportunities we take for granted. Instead of giving them that chance some Americans choose to persecute them. The common belief is that because radical believers of the Islamic faith attacked us that all Muslims hate this county. But we’re not perfect; the mistreatment of Islam and its believers proves this. Their country, our country was attacked, their religion as well. American Muslims grieved beside us, and because of the attacks on their faith they are still grieving. In 2010 there was media frenzy about the building of a Muslim community center and mosque in Manhattan. There were a lot of people who believed that the builders were trying to insult the memory of those who died on 9-11, in New York, Washington D.C. and on Flight 93. The Muslim community of Manhattan simply wanted a place to safely practice their religion. Freedom of religion, wasn’t that one of the principals that founded this country? We seem to have forgotten what this country used to mean; we’ve forgotten how to feel safe.

All my life I’ve been flying, I can’t remember ever being afraid, even suspended 40,000 feet in the air. I like to watch the earth fly by out the window, even the food that have progressively worse over the years. When I grew older and my family told me about 9-11, I wasn’t afraid. I trusted the pilot to keep me safe, to keep me flying. I have been flying alone since I was 11, visiting relatives in California and Illinois. When I go through airport security though, I am nervous. I worry that I will be detained or questioned even though I am obeying the rules. The first time I flew alone was in 2007; I went to California for spring break. I obsessed over what to pack, I still do. When I got through security, I took a deep breath. Even now, I take a moment to breathe. American airports have better security then a super max prison and I am still worried. Not about a hijacker, that is what the security is there for. The issue on my mind, I’m afraid of the very people there to protect me. When a nations people fear their protectors, you know something’s wrong.  Perhaps a therapist would tell me my fear is irrational and in my head I know I have nothing to be afraid of. When someone tell me my fear is irrational, no fear is rational there is always some basis in reality. The reality here, our government in an attempt to protect its citizens, is instead alienating them.

The lesson that I’m trying to share is that our country has changed; it will never be what it used to be. We regained a sense of power but not the security we used to enjoy. We were invulnerable, then we were shaken and for a moment we felt weak. It seems to me that’s what frightens us, feeling weak, appearing weak. 9-11 was a day, a horrible twisted day but a day nonetheless. One that should have been remembered, whose victims should have been honored but it wasn’t worth a war. The victim’s number in the hundreds of thousands, maybe even in the millions. It started with those who died on 9-11 but continued with the deaths of hundreds of millions. The civilians in the Middle East, our military members, the soldiers they fought beside, even those we fought against. The lesson I learned is that the consequences of 9-11 are more severe and complicated them we imagined. 12 years of war and what have we gained?

Hello Mr. Robinson

We watched a video of Mr. Ken Robinson speaking about education and the death of creativity. That is a scary thought isn't it, "the death of creativity"? Creativity is what brought us the computer, the car, the watch even the someone suicidal practice of skydiving. I mean who wants to jump out of a plane thousands of feet above the earth with only a parachute to slow their fall. I may be fun for some people but I fully plan on keeping all my hands and feet inside the plane. Ok I'm going to focus now.

The question he asked is what makes a good education and I think I actually know how to answer it, no thanks to my education. A good education is one that focuses on thee student, their strengths and weaknesses. When a person is allowed to flourish and develop their passion for art, music or history, maybe even math their education as a whole will succeed. I've seen this in myself. When I took a creative writing class, it was like treating my mind with super food. All day, every day I was writing stories and poetry. Most of it wasn't even for class. I simply needed to write. By writing I could explain my problems as someone else's problem. Creativity provides an outlet for the student which is very effective at preventing emotional meltdowns. They are a common side effect of a high school education.

Hello Mr. Robinson notes

Main Ideas:
Extraordinary evidence of human creativity
No idea of the future
Everyone has an interesting education, everyone cares about education

Children starting school today will retire in 2065 and we have no idea of what the world will be like. Children have tremendous talents and we squander them
Creativity is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status
If your not prepared to be wrong then you aren't capable of being creative

Priority of schooling everywhere
1. Math
2. Humanities
3. Arts


Purpose of education to produce university professors, they live in their heads, and slightly to one side.

Prejudiced about educational ability
1. The most useful subect are at the top, school towards job
2.  Academic ability

Next 30 years, more people graduating from education then all people through history
Degrees aren't worth anything now,

Intelligent
1. Diverse
2. Dynamic,
3. Distinct

Women are better at multitasking because the bond between the two different parts of the brain is thicker in women.
If a man speaks his mind in a forest and nobody hears it is he still wrong?
Education has mined our minds like we strip mine the earth for a particular metal
Children for the hope that they are. We wont see this future but they will.

The most important thing I learned- DRAFT

All my life I have loved to learn, to read about history and the stories of magic and legend that are hidden there. It wasn't until middle school that I started to understand how our modern world work, or rather didn't work. My older brother was political and dedicated to the Democratic cause. Because of that my early political education was colored a deep shade of blue. In 2008 I was an 8th grader and my English teacher assigned a lot of  essays. For the media assignment I wrote about political bias on TV and radio, for the political essay I researched the Patriot Act. My political identity was forming as I listened to the candidates and for the first time in my life I understood that the promises they made were not the same as the changes they made.


When you wind the clock back 7 years from that election you arrive in pre 9-11 America. We as a nation believed that we were unsinkable, similar to the boastful builders of the Titanic.

My Rough Draft

Just a heads up, I don't do rough drafts. When I write a paper I start from the beginning and go to the end, rarely do I rewrite a paper. Any "rough drafts" I turn in are simply  the printed out pages of wherever I was when I had to stop writing. So I guess I'll start with my topic. For diplomatic reasons I've decided not to write about the moment I realized my family were of the "lovable but crazy" variety. I say diplomatic because well, bad things would ensue if my aunts read it so....that topic is zilch.

I searched my life for something other than the meaning of life or Aspergers Syndrome and I realized that the biggest educational moment of my life wasn't a moment. It was my entire life. My realization was that the consequences of September 11th were more far reaching then I thought . I had always known that September 11th was the reason we were in Iraq and Afghanistan but it took me years to realize just how many of our problems could be linked to that decision. The recession ring a bell?

My Favorite Narrative

"How I Learned to Love Traveling Solo" was interesting to read and very compelling. Cate Huston used this blog to write about the year she spent roaming Europe and Asia, what she learned from that. She advises us to embrace "Introvert Time" or as most people call it "me time".

"If it’s a short trip, or I’m starting with solo time, then I’ll “people myself out” before my departure by going out every night. That way, when I arrive at my destination I’m due some alone time, and I’m happy to embrace it."

Another piece of advice she gave was to, and this is a direct quote here,  to "Do Weird Stuff". I can understand that,everyone has hobbies or interests that other people find strange. I remember almost everything especially about history, including the origin of the phrase, "It raining cat's and dogs". Don't ask, the story is disgusting. Ms. Huston describes it this way,

"I love going along with what other people want to do: I see different things than those I would have chosen myself, and it helps reassure me that I don’t live in a filter-bubble. But when I go places by myself, I often do things that may seem odd, but so what—they make me happy"

Whenever I remember my years in Europe I feel sad. Since I came to America 9 years ago I haven't left the continent. Even knowing I can travel later in life I realized it will be a while before I will be there. Fortunately there are still old fashioned travelers who travel without guidebooks or tours, it's the best way to experience another culture. 

Comparing the Readings

The essays written by Malcolm X and Rose are much more polished, they seem rehearsed or drafted. The "blogs" on the other hand are simply written down, in a much more casual way. When you write for yourself rather then a professional or school paper more emotion slips in. A blog gives you permission to be yourself. It takes away the need for evidence and science.

Topics for Paper #1

1. Aspergers Syndrome
2. My family is Insane
3. Three years of speech therapy
4. I am also showing signs of insanity so, maybe it's genetic?
5. The meaning of life is not 42

So those are a few topics I am considering, I haven't been able to choose one yet. I probably won't write about my possible insanity. I know someone was quoted as saying all the most interesting people are a bit mad but...yeah no. Choosing an educational experience is difficult for me because I don't classify my life as "ohh I learned something, mark this moment in time". It all blends into who I am, not "before" or "after". Alright I need to pick something so, drum roll please! No? No drum roll? Umm..................ok then. Here's my topic: "My family is insane: or how I learned to stop worrying and duck"

And for those of you who love classic movies, yes I did just paraphrase Dr. Strangelove

As for how I learned that, I'll save that for another time

I'm analyzing a goat for class, why? I don't know

Goats are smelly animals with the dubious talent of causing trouble. As they have very tough stomachs they can eat almost anything including metal or trash. This means that they are harder to kill then the average goldfish. To be fair this is part of a per-writing strategy called "Cubing".

Now I have to compare zip lock bags. Apparently I have to be "creative". So a zip lock bag is similar to Simeon Cowell. We need them around because they serve a function but we hate them just the same. Simeon Cowell is just rude and zip lock bags? They always leak when you least expect it. And almost always on something expensive.

Traveling Solo

When I read the narrative, "How I Learned to Travel Solo", it struck me in two ways. Firstly it was refreshing to find someone else who doesn't believe in guided tours and who has seen the real Europe. Not the shiny guidebook covers or the tour buses but the Europe I remember. My family and I were stationed overseas of 5 1/2 years so I did get a little nostalgic. The blog is well written and gives some smart advice about overseas travel, it ties into the theme of the first unit rather well.

An Important Lesson

The teacher told us to type for 5 mins about the most important lesson we've learned so umm the meaning of life, Pirates of the Carribbean. Pretty sure I just misspelled "carribbean". Yep I did, well by now it's probably a moot point and yes I did just use the word "moot". It is a real word just look in the dictionary. Anyway the most important lesson I've learned is to never compromise your values, if someone asked you to change then they didn't love/trust the person you already are. Most parts of a relationship aren't that simple but well, life is mostly shades of grey. And for you people withe strange minds, I am not talking about the book. I'd rephrase it but well...never mind. The reason that is one of the most important is because every person, good or bad is unique and irreplaceable. If you change who you are to gain friends or power then you lose a piece of yourself.

Things that don't work well together

Prewriting and I get along almost as well as cat's and dog's. Outlines, Venn diagrams, rough drafts....they don't work for me.Whenever I write the words simply flow onto the page and the essay/story etc forms itself into a workable piece of writing. My typical writing session consists of this, I sit down at my laptop and I write what needs to be said. That's it, I don't have complicated rituals like jumping backwards 3 times and doing the Hokey Pokey every time I get writers block. That example isn't legitimate by the way, I just grabbed it out of my "stupid rituals" file cabinet. For me writer's block can usually be solved by rewriting the last paragraph or in extreme cases the entire essay. As soon as the words click the light bulb turns back o and I can finish the paper.

Randomness in a Nutshell

I was sitting at the computer reading a post on another blog about procrastination. Ironically, that's when I remembered to write my own post. So here it goes. Procrastination to me is taking the memory of being assigned homework, locking it in a box, putting that in a bigger box and then welding it inside a cabinet. After all that buildup I promptly throw the key to the original box down a well and fill it with concrete. Not cement, that's an ingredient in concrete. Also I'm sipping hot chocolate from the vending machine by the bookstore, it's surprisingly good by the way. I'm almost out of topics so I guess I'll complain about the weather for a minute. Everyone like to complain about that right? Last week the rains officially started and I was miserable. Now the cold has settled in and I'm wishing for last week's weather. At least it was warm. This time of year my mom starts to leave the heat constantly. I prefer to put on a sweater and call it a day. She on the other hand wants me roasted to a crisp. Naturally we have issues with each other on the subject. However, since she pays my allowance, I've recently decided to let it go. I just turn it off and tell her that it turns its self off automatically.

Education Narratives

When I started writing essays in 8th grade I loved it. I was able to express my thoughts and feelings but I also learned how to back up my opinions with facts and evidence.After reading the education narratives. I can use the format to guide my essays. I noticed that the narratives were more compelling because they were a personal, I paid more attention.The style of writing is drastically different from a normal essay. In a typical personal essay or explanatory essay every statement needs to be backed by solid evidence. If I am passionate about the topic of the essay then that will bleed through and the essay will fly onto the page. In other words, you might actually want to read it. But in a narrative you don't need to try it make it interesting, it automatically becomes a riveting story. Please remember that  even though a educational narrative is easier to write it's not wise to leave it till the last minute. I learned this from hard experience when my friend proofread my essay 5 minutes before class. She balled it up and tossed it in the recycling. Needless to say, I did not get a good grade.