hw 46

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time was about a boy named Christopher who had autism. He finds a dog murdered with a gardening fork and makes it his responsibility to find out who killed the dog. Throughout his searching a detective work to find out what happened to the dog, he uncovers letters from his mom (who passed away) that revel a nasty truth.

This relates to my topic because since Christopher has autism he is in a special school, and although he is in this special school kids still make fun of each other for being different. Although Christopher is in a special school he is allowed to take special math and science test that will allow him to get into a good college. This relates to my topic because it shows how event though kids have certain needs and disabilities there are always ways to give them the same opportunities of kids without disabilities.

The fact that the kids in Christopher's school still make fun of each other is a good example of how no matter the surroundings are kids are going to get picked on. Also when ever Christopher talked about school he talked about how one of his teachers would draw certain things to show an emotion or a color to show a meaning/point, this relates to my topic because many current teachers can find simple things like to draw in the attention of kids with a.d.d or a.d.h.d any little thing such as bright colors could change the way a student focuses into something.

hirsch and sizer

. Using quotes from the text make arguments of your own that address (in a paragraph or two each) one or more of the following angles:

Hirsch's main argument was that when compared a community college was not able to obtain the same level of understanding of the American civil as a University could. This is understandable because a community college doesn't offer the same educational opportunity's as a university does. Hirsch then came up with the concept of cultural literacy, which is understanding the back round information of the topic your learning about and then learning the fine details. Although his theory's have been criticized and he has kept on with his work and made several books on curriculum starting at kindergarten going up to 6Th grade.

Sizer was known as the father of the essential school movement, this movement brought both public and private schools to a common understanding of a common principle. The principle was that students are part of a community and in that community they are the workers, while the teachers are meant to be mentors or a coach. Although his principle started with only 12 schools it expanded to several hundreds. Sizer's inspiration sprang from personal seminal books that he wrote which later turned into a trilogy.

1. Do these theories contradict each other? Intellectually, emotionally, practically? In what ways do they? Could they be adapted to work together? Both Sizer and Hirsch brought up great points, Sizer with his idea of schools being a community and Hirsch stating that if students had more background information on topics learning specific points and dates would be a lot easier. These two theories don't contradict each other, they set a mode of aggression and determination. "Begun with 12 schools, the coalition now encompasses several hundred across the country, plus a handful overseas." Sizer's theory began in only 12 schools and then expanded to over a hundred schools, to me that shows a lot of determination and aggression. I think if both Sizer's and Hirsch's theory's where put together and really set into action education could go a lot farther and deeper then it is right now.

3. What additional points does reading these theorists make you think of, about your own education and philosophy? After reading "The principles hold, among other things, that a school is an egalitarian community and that the student is a valued worker in that community, with the teacher in the role of mentor or coach." It made me realize how School Of The Future has many teachers who take the roles of mentors and try to guide us instead of just spitting out ideas and teaching us things without giving us the deeper meaning. SOF has definitely made me stringer as a student.

HW 44

After reading Obama's "Back to school" speech i felt like him connecting his speech back to his life was a nice touch but i didn't feel like that changed the way i felt about the first day of school and sleeping in. He brought up responsibility's and how if everyone put there part in America could have some of the best teachers and schools, but then he slides in his own opinion and sorts of puts us down and says if we don't fulfil our responsibility's we won't achieve his goal of having amazing schools and teacher's. I feel like this relates to the classroom because although most teachers look out for the students and try to help them out, some teachers slip in slick comments that just demotivate us to do anything and shoot our self esteem down.

After reading the benefits of intellectual and social awakening, it was clear to me that people who have a strong opinion about education and school always have a strong clear plan they want to follow in order to put there plan in action. Both articles had very strong opinions about making classrooms and teachers the best they can be and responsibility's. Although i agree that if more schools had better teachers and curriculum it would make some students want to come to school more, but i think if school wasn't so demanding and didn't require as much work and stress a majority of the kids would cause less trouble and do a lot better.

If a student gets good grades and goes to a good college that doesn't always mean that they are set with a wonderful job that will pay good money. There are other aspects that connect with getting a good paying job and you don't always gain those aspects from going to school. If people have been trying to improve schools and give us better futures since 1932 and making pledges and have yet to make a major difference in the way schools teach i think that's making a major statement. My opinion to this problem is that schools shouldn't be the decision maker in kids life's, there should be another element so kids who are slower learners have an equal chance of making it big.

42 Significance

How do teachers help students diagnosed with ADHD?

I believe this topic is significant because there are many children diagnosed with ADHD or ADD such as myself and its very hard for us to stay focused. ( I'm not saying that's an excuse to be distracting in class) I think it would be a lot easier if teachers would take into consideration that kids with attention problems such as staying focus and talking in class should be given assignments that's are more verbal and or more short assignment's so children don't loss focus.

This topic relates to my personal life but it doesn't effect how i am going to live. In school i get distracted but i get my work done. If teachers where more aware of the students with ADD orADHD in there class and made more hands on activities i think it would have made my earlier years of school a lot less stressful and i wouldn't have gotten in as much trouble. Although medicine helps a lot of kids it is still very easy to get caught up in the gossip of school of school and get off task. Not only would the teachers help ADD and ADHD students but they would help the whole class if they did more activities that draw the students in.

This relates to society because many people are effected by ADD and ADHD although society accepts people with ADD and ADHD it would be interesting to see how people would react if the symptoms where more outspoken such as turrets or autism. Society only likes normal itdisagrees with difference and makes up excuses to why difference shouldn't be aloud. Not many schools have a place for disable kids and i believe that should be changed.

41 insights into school

Corporal punishment started in England in the middle ages until the early 19Th century, then it lead to the British army and navy, and shortly after that it ended up with 20Th century ancient world teachers beating there students with rods or birch twigs. Corporal punishment progressed into modern day schools. I want to use this to see if kids where scared into behaving better in school back then.

Lambert, Tim. "A BRIEF HISTORY OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT." n. Page. Web. 23 Feb 2010http://www.localhistories.org/corporal.html

Private vs public schools

The major difference between public and private school is if the person applying holds enough cash. It is very hard to get a disable kid into a public school because not many public schools have a special Ed programs. Many parents think that just because they are paying a tuition their child is going to get a better education when in most cases that is not true. If i choose to write my paper about this i want to get more into detail how hard it is to get a special Ed kid into a private school and show the pros and cons of each type of school.

Greatschools Staff "Private versus public" great schools February 24 2010

Girls and there effects in school

Girls gossip regardless of there age, race, or social class. In middle school girls gossip in order to fit in and make sure they don't stand out. The media just helps to that gossip by giving off this barbie doll image that most young girls are raised off of. This i can use to explain and show how school doesn't only come with the stress of your teachers and work, but also the stress of your fellow peers.

Irene S. Levine, Ph.D Middle school frenemies: Why are girls so mean? Psychology Today February 24 2010

Should hair length be regulated by school dress codes?

A 4 year old boy in Texas was suspend for having his hair to long because he wanted to grow it and cut it for a kid with cancer. The school gave him options such as braiding it or pinning it up but wouldn't allow him to leave it down. It seems like this school is a lot more interested in dress code then teaching the students what they have to learn. This could help my paper if i compare dress codes and how they sometimes help with self confidence and competition between students, teachers may pay to much attention to it instead of the curriculum there supposed to be teaching.

Dress codes limit the ability a kid has to express themselves. Just because a school has a dress code shouldn't make them a better school. I want to use this in my paper to prove how having a dress code doesn't effect the way a kid can learn, or perform in school.

A.D.H.D and the effect it has with kids in class.

It is much harder for a child with A.D.H.D to focus and maintain concentration when given an a long assignment. They are distracted easily and tend to do better when given assignments that involve speaking or typing something on the computer. Although i disagree with some of what is said in this article i want to use this in my paper to show some of the side effects and how teachers could make learning a little easier for kids with A.D.H.D even tho now a days it seems like every child has it."ADHD in school." Rev. of Ways to improve kids learning who have ADHD. Web log post.FamilyEducation. Ed. Alan Wachtel. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. .

After look at my second article about ADHD and how teachers should handle it, they both had similar steps and suggestions, such as giving short quizzes giving more verbal assignments, etc. This will help my paper because it will show that teachers do care and are trying to find a solution for this common problem, but i want to really know if they work. I will be looking for more sites with statistics on if these suggestions really help a child with ADHD focus, because personally i think the person with ADHD will be distracted regardless it all depends if there drawn into the class work/assignment. "Dealing with ADHD in the classroom ." HomeroomTeacher (1998): 1. Web. 1 Mar 2010. .

A class room with 30 students is most likely to have between 1 to 3 students with ADHD, 1/4Th of children with ADHD have another disability such as oral expression, reading compression, and or math. These are only some of the statistics that Dr. Russell Barkley stated. This i can use in my paper to compare to other statistics based off of how teachers follow through to help the students. http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/1443/13716/addadhd-statistics

Leah

Why do you think teenagers spend more time socializing, then focusing in school? Please explain.

"School is not as interesting as people an they want to enjoy life an they spend more time socializing because they are focusing more on the present not the future"

What's your opinion on test and quizzes? Do you think test such as midterms should be the last thing your grade is based off of? Explain in detail your opinion.

"I don't think our last grade should be on midterms because we Could fail the midterm just because we are not good at taking tests but know the concept of it I think sometimes it's good to have little quizzes an what not to show the kid's understanding."

Christine

What about school would you change so that it would be more fun?

"I would like to go outside the class room more, instead of sitting in a chair all day. If I were to change school in order to make it more fun, I would like to leave the classroom more often to learn classroom topics. For example visiting more museums, and theaters. I would also include more curriculum activities during school hours, such as music, art or dance. Teenagers have a life other than going to school. I would make shorter school days in order for us to go on with the rest of our day."

If school started later and we didn't have so many rules such as no texting, or talking in class do you think more kids would come/ stay in school? Why or why not

"The rules in schools being less strict wouldn't make a difference in the attendance of students. Students who constantly miss school or drop out are doing this because they are either too lazy to do the work, so they decide not to attend, or because they want to just hang out. Texting or talking in class being allowed wouldn't make a difference because; students find a way to text and talk in school anyway. Most students’s, who drop out of school, drop out because. They don't get the work, this is why teachers should take time out with students like this and we wont have as many dropouts."

My mom

What do you think changed from when you where in school to know? Do you think if corporal punishment was still allowed, kids would behave better in school?

"There appears to be less structure in the way young people are taught school today from the way I was taught. We were expected to memorize quite a bit of information for all our subjects with flawless spelling and excellent penmanship. Young people today are encouraged to understand the big picture and present their grasp of the subject matter thoughtfully as opposed to a lot of detail and countless hours of homework. I would like to think that the students today can express themselves more freely than we did years ago. Certain subjects were taboo especially for those of us who attended the local parochial schools and some of us were considered to be naive when we moved on to college. We did have less distractions than the students of today and schools were safer and better maintained. Corporal punishment often" upset everyone in the classroom and did not model appropriate behavior in my opinion, however, it did result in a quiet classroom environment with more learning and less disruption."

If you knew school would effect your future so much would you have taken school more seriously at a younger age?And if you already did, what/who made you take it seriously?

"Yes, I would have been much more serious about my understanding of the subject matter and less concerned with the detail. When I left HS I took a full-time job. The great job I took was counting securities by hand and mailing them out. Within 8 weeks I was registered for college to avoid the boring work and to sink my teeth into a more meaningful career. After all if I was going to work a good part of my life, I should really like what I am doing."

If you had the amount of technology we have now when you were in high school do you think you would be more distracted in school and just focused on texting or being on the computer for social reasons?

"I think it would have made our Math courses a lot easier to deal with for sure. At the schools I attended, electronic equipment would not have been allowed unless it was a calculator or a word processor. We mostly communicated in person or one on one phone conversations which gave us a lot of practice in verbally communicating our feelings."

Jenise

Why do you think teenagers spend more time socializing, then focusing in school? Please explain.

"I think this is because some teenagers don't understand the work or don't feel like thinking. It can also be because of some teens ego, Talking seems much more cooler then doing work cause when you do, you seem like a "nerd"."

If school started later and we didn't have so many rules such as no texting, or talking in class do you think more kids would come/ stay in school? Why or why not

"well i think both, I think the reason why kids would go is because they can pass easily, Do what they want with out and consequences. Reason why they won't go to school is because They wouldn't see any reason to go."

If you knew school would effect your future so much would you have taken school more seriously at a younger age? And if you already did, what/who made you take it seriously?

"Hell fucking yeah. I would of stayed on top of my stuff. I didn't know it was so important until junior and senior year. I would of studied for the s.a.t in freshman year instead of waiting so late. I Feel like the institute waits too long for students to do something. Sometimes I feel like they set it up for us to fail."

Part B

I reread over my mom's answer to the first question i asked her (what do you think changed from when you went to school to know? And how do you think corporal punishment would effect kids now?) And i found it interesting how she was taught small important facts while now a days we are taught main ideas, and how penmanship was taken very serious. In school most of our papers are asked to be typed and many classes use blogs... does technology have an effect on the values of what school use to be about? Such as writing and grammar? Everything is automatic now when we type so our brains don't do as much work... is this indicating a downfall in schools?

Part A and B of school

Part A

Questions:

1. Why are classes spilt into the smart kids and the "dumb" or slower kids, why can't we all be looked at as the same?

2. Why is it that grades and test such as the S.A.Ts determine weather or not where smart and what kind of a future we will have?

3. What occurred that allowed corporal punishment to start and end?

Ideas:

1.School has all these rules no food in class, no phones, no running, blah blah blah everyone knows each rules is broken by at least two students a day. Why make up rules for school when there just going to be broken? Cellphones and food should be allowed as long as we focus afterwards and not cause a disruption.

2. School was probably made so that kids couldn't figure out a way to over power the government.

3. Our futures shouldn't be based off of test such as the S.A.Ts, regents and grades.

Experiences:

1. Getting suspended is stupid

2. Having my mother called or emailed because i talk to much is pointless and makes me want to sabatash your class.

3. School lunches should be illegal and if not they should be made better and not taste like plastic and rubber.

Part B

I've been getting in trouble at school since second grade. Weather its running in the halls, txting in class, or talking back to the teacher i always seem to get caught. What i don't understand about school is why must the teachers be such snitches? If they can't handle you they tell the principle's who then tells your parents. Once you get home your parents explode on you. Now i understand that i shouldn't have done what i did in order to get in trouble but there are some things that parent's shouldn't be bothered with. Especially if its for the same reasons (such as talking to much in class).

If the teachers can't handle there students then they shouldn't be getting paid to teach us. I have had a lot of experiences with getting suspended and i find it the dumbest thing in the world. School of The Future is the only school that makes us come in until 10. We might as well just stay for the whole day. The rules that school's make seem so pointless at this age i don't understand why parent's agree with them and take the teachers side when we get in trouble.

Schools are places for kids to go when parents don't know what to do with there kids and need to be alone, and since where forced to go we don't appreciate it as much. If schools where made more interesting and fun then a lot more kids would be eager to go and not cause so much havoc.