Dead Poet's Society - Notes 10-29-13

New England Small Boys Prep School - Welton

First Scene:  2 young boys getting picture taken.  At Graduation ceremony with banners marching into room.  Looks like a church service.  "The Light of Knowledge" given to boys sharing the candle.  Speaker:  What are the four pillars? Discipline, patience, excellence.   Introduction of new teacher (Robin Williams).

After ceremony:  Everyone greeting at door.  Families saying goodbye to the boys.

Roommates .  Boys in hallway going to rooms, In room:  Boys coming in teasing about summer school:  Going over 4 principles.  Smoking, Introductin...Todd Anderson, ...Silverstreak....welcome to ...knock, knoci  "Father I thought you'd gone" Father, "you're taking too many extra curricular activities", son, "wouldn't be fair"...getting balled out from father..."don't speak to me that way in front of others" "you know how much this means to your mother", "Yes, sir", pondering in outside of room, upset.  "Don't tell me how to talk to my father", "What are you going to do" I'm dropping what I have to" "Latin", "Join us Todd".

Boys going down to class:
 Chemistry.  Teacher..."due to tomorrow"
Latin: Teacher - route memorization
Trigonometry: Teacher, going over rules "will be penalized"
Mr. Keeting (Robin Williams) comes in whisteling around the room, leaves "Well, come on", all go out into hall as he whistles.  Recites a poem "Oh captain, my captain", "who knows where that comes from" ; INtroduces self, calls on Mr. Piss "Unfortunate name" to read from book, seize the day while ye may...Asks students what its about.  Gives an illustration of poem.

Illustration:  Cruiz past old students pictures:  "Listen to them, what are they whispering from the grave" "seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary".  They all go out discussing the class.  "Spooky", "Weird".

Shower room:  Boys discussing studying, plans.  "Come to study group"

In the room, student writing "seize the day", crumples paper and throws it away. 
Knox Silverspoon and principle driving in car to go dinner at Danberries home.

Study hall:  boys discussing, Knox sharing about meeting such a beautiful girl at dinner.  Can't forget her, can't think aboaut trig...Teacher, "All right boys, 5 minutes"...

Mr. Keeting's classroom:  "Understanding Poetry"....reading about poem & objection/importance.
Mr. Keeting writes on board, like a formula. Discribe poetry.  "Rip out entire page in book", "tear out entire introduction", "I want Mr. Princhard out of here, I want nothing left of it".  Everyone rips out pages, Mr Galister comes in "Whats going on here" Mr. Keeting comes back with garbage can.  Throwing papers away.  "In my class you will learn to think for yourself, words will change the world".  Taking a different teaching method other than the book. 

"We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is full of passion" "life exists, power of the play goes on and you may contribute a verse" "What will your verse be"?

Dinner Scene:  Teachers at table, discussing Mr. Keetings class.  Telling Mr. Keeting his way is wrong.  Mr. Keeting developing "free thinkers"

Boys table, senior annual, "Dead poets society".

Next day in school ground asking Mr. Keeting about dead poets society.  "What was it" "Dead poets were dedictated of sucking marrow out of life"  "Let poetry work its magic, let it drip like honey"
Walks away whisteling.  Boys discussing going to cave tonight.  "Be careful, can't get caught."  "Whos in" ...all decide to go to cave,

In study hall, discussing how to get there, "don't read, come and listen" , in bathroom all getting ready for bed, boys getting flashlights and ready to go to cave.  Taking poetry book with them, sneaking out, dark, dog barking.  Dark out. Spooky, misty, foggy.  Running through woods.  Found cave, starting fire, smoke everywhere.  Forget fire.  "Reconvene dead poets society" Reading from book, going to "marked pages" reading exerpts.  Putting in food in pile.  Reading more exerpts.  Telling spooky stories.  Memorized poem:  shows picture of naked lady, read made up poem.  Next: Tennyson, "Come my friends to seak, to find, not to yield" .  Acting all silly, rapping poem, leave to their rapping poem, sneak back to school. 

Next day:  exhausted in class, Mr. Keeting...asking students.  "Wiliam Shakespear" , giving illustrations of different actors, John Wayne, ...then reads a poem.  funny description in different
"constantly look at things in a different way" (standing on desk)  "must try to look at things in a different way" boys all get up on desk and look around.  "break out" "dare to strike out and find new ground", for essays "compose your own poem deliver on Monday". 

Different scenes:  rowing on lake.  Competition.  Boys getting radion going, sword fighting.  Dancing on roof. 
in room, roommate "wants to act" trying out for Midsummers night dream.  Talks about asking father to get permission.  Doesn't want to ask father, wants to enjoy idea for awhile. Neal running around room, chasing each other.  Acting crazy.  (Neal's father has heavy hand on him.)

Mr. Keeting taking boys out to soccor field: Gave each one a paper with a part of poem on it.  Music starts up as boys read papers, kicking balls.

Neal all excited "I got the part".  Roommate "how are going to do this", Neal forges permission letters to be accepted into play.  Obviously not going to ask father. 

Classroom:  students reading own poem.  Boys laugh at each other. "don't let your poems be ordinary" Todd Anderson "you're up" Worst fear, embarrassing, . Mr. Keeting writing on board. 
Making Todd go up front and  "YAWP".  he's shy. Mr. Keeting doing demonstrations with Todd, ends up getting a poem and making a discovery of self "can do it".

Playing soccer and put Mr. Keeting up carrying him.  Boys in cave, smoking.  talking about smoking pipes.   Neal brings in a lamp, "god of the cave".  Saxaphone...lets start this meeting. "gotta be more"
Knox"I can't take it no more" I'm gonna call her.  Has crush on Kris Danberry girl, trying to call her, all scared.  Calls her, gets asked to party on Friday night.  Going to party. Point is "She was thinking about me" "only met her once and she was thinking about me" "she is going to be mine"...

Poety class illustration:  Strolling in circle, getting the beat, in a cadence. "everyone started out with their own pace" "BEliefs unique" "find the one less traveled by".  Find your own walk, walking around being silly, going against the stream.  . 

Weekend, Todd sitting out, his birthday.  Same gift from parents as last year.  "Desk set" Neal cheering him up "desk set wants to fly" They throw it off the roof.  "oh well I wouldn't worry, you'll get another one next year". 

In dead poets cave, Charles brings a couple of girls. 

Mr. Keeting using many live examples which is a way that Mr. Escalante used.

 

Similarities/differences between Mr. Escalante and Mr. MacFarland, how or how not?

 

Similarities:

Quizzing students on a regular basis.  Giving them plenty of work.  Mr. MacFarland brought a prep school curriculum to the school; Mr. Escalante brought the calculus to his school.  They both walked around the room and asked questions to get the students thinking.

Mr. MacFarland  “slowly and carefully built up our knowledge of Western intellectual history-with facts, with connections, with speculations.”

Mr. Escalante would work the problems using some similar methods, connections and speculations, like the apple demonstration, where he cut part of the apple out and asked what was left? 

MacFarland's barbs were literary. “If Jim Fitzsimmons, hung over and irritable, tried to smart-ass him, he'd rejoin with a flourish that would spark the indomitable Skip Madison - who'd lost his front teeth in a hapless tackle - to flick his tongue through the gap and opine, "good chop," drawing out the single "0" in stinging indictment.”  “The notorious Voc. Ed. crowd settled down as well when MacFarland took the podium.”

Mr. Escalantes took control of his classroom from the first day, by rearranging the seating, speaking on the kids level, having a reply to every student’s smart-alecky remark.

Mr. MacFarland tapped Mike Rose’s oId interest in reading and creating stories giving him a way to feel special by using mind.

Mr. Escalantes tapped into the students minds and made them feel like they could do it.  His attitude was, “Students will arise to the level of expectations”.

Differences:

Mr. Escalante lived in a home, had a family, he was neat and tidy, had come to the college with

Mr. MacFarland  was single, lived in an apartment which was cluttered with cigarette butts all over.  He was also a “tobacco-stained intellectual”.  He seems like a frumpy, disheveled teacher.

Part 2 Stand and Deliver - My Reactions

I feel the stress that it takes to study for a test like that.  I can't relate to Mr. Escalante, but I can relate to the students.  I've already shared in my first essay about learning and growing through the process of taxes.  I also had to study and take the test for IRS called "Registered Tax Return Preparer".  This test was a 3 hour test, 120 questions and was a required test if I wanted to be rehired for the next tax season.  I had started studying before the end of the tax season - 2012, which was around April.  I planned on taking my test in August.  The first couple of months I studied randomly, there were vacations and other things that kept me busy after the tax season.  Then as time progressed I really started pushing in July for the test in August.  I studied everyday, a couple hours per day.  Then took the practice test through the company I was working for.  I knew if I passed that test I would pass the IRS test.  I had to take the practice test 3 times before I got a passing grade, I knew I was ready.  The morning of the test I had to catch the ferry from Kingston to Edmonds and go to a testing office, where that's all they do is  testing.  All a new experience for me.  I got there by 9 a.m., signed in, started my test.  I worked hard at getting all the answers finished and was done by the 3 hour time.  (You got immediate results if you passed or not).  So I went out of the room, extremely exhausted and emotionally drained.  I waited as the testers checked me out and gave me my results.  I was so tense about it.  As they got the results and put their "seal" on it, I realized that I had actually passed!!  It was such a relief, when I got out to my car I burst into tears.  There was so much pressure released.  But another accomplishment.

I can feel their anticipation and pressure as they prepare for this exam, plus all the pressure of not letting down Mr. Escalantes, and taking the test and passing.  But then the crash of being accused of "cheating".  What a blow after all that work.  I found myself very upset with the testing board and not believing the students.  But to give the students credit for retaking and passing the test.  It was a great ending. 

Group 1 Discussion - Thursday 10-24-13

Group 1 Discussion from 10-24-13.  Classroom scene:  Bad teaching. Students all get the same answer, Mr. Escalantes wrong.

The students were in the process of learning calculus from Mr. Escalantes and had been studying very hard:  there on Saturday s and staying late at night, plus summer school.  Everyone was burnt out and angry.  Mr. Escalantes is pointing at a problem on the overhead projector and asking, “What are the limits on the first quadrant bounded by the curve, anybody?” Several students answer and come up with the same answer. As each one answers, Mr. Escalantes replys, “Wrong Lupe”, “What’s wrong with you”,  Each student is coming up with the same answer which is making Mr. Escalantes more angry he then says,* “You should know this. Now, no way.  What’s wrong with you? This is review! You’re acting like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that isn’t there.  What’s wrong with you guys?  I don’t believe it. You’re giving me a shot from the back! No way, No way!”  Mr. Escalantes then storms out of the room.  Pancho  states, “Kemo finally blew a head gasket.”  The students are correct and Mr. Escalantes is wrong.  The pressure is great for all the students and him.  He later goes to his ESL class where he has a heart attack.  But rally’s after being in the hospital and gets back with the students working towards the calculus test.  

*quotes taken from website: www.qedcat.com/moviemath/stand_and_deliver.html

Stand & Deliver Notes 10.24.13

Field Trip:  Class going to  a computer math class.

Teacher Break Room:  Mr. Escalantes, "I want to teach calculas", objections "we haven't taught that" summer classrooms are for remedial courses"  "Take advanced placement test" "You really think you can make it fly" "teach calculas"  "thinking about those kids, will shatter what self confidence they have"; objections "no one can teach it or learn it"

Swimming pool;, complaints from students...too hot, "think cool, think cool, think cool"...cool, cool,.....

Teacher complaining walking down hall, Mr. Escalantes chasing trouble makers, tossing stuff over balcony......3 of them, get away.   Looking at them, ask student "ok" "sre" "yes sure"...

Preparing for calculas...."step by step"  passing out contracts,  for  complaints about when & how. 

Kid talking to mom about calculas and where and why...don't have to depend on some guy rest of life, getting ahead. 

Students returning signed contracts.     Student wanting to work and make more than a teacher.  Mr. Escalantes takes car out with student, grinding gears, running it hard.  Stop.  "All you see is the turn and not the road ahead" (Mr. Escalantes)

Students showing up for calculas class early, needing to be let in.  Saturday classes, Mr. Escalantes....

Calculas class, watching students outside Claudia....looking out daydreaming, Claudia leaving early "don't appreciate you using my life as entertainment" Mr. Escalantes follows her, Claudia, "I hate my life, discouraged "in class all day" .  Jo with grandma as clinic....she is sick.  Jo making appeal for grandmother to be seen.  "take a number"

Classroom:  equation on board, student working, hits...."been with you guys 2 years, I can't do it"  "how can we laugh, you're breaking out hearts"  "have to work through Christmas break" Mr. Escalantes upset with Jo....not understanding, when grandmothers dying.  Jo gets mad, walks out.   Mr. Escalantes does project on board.

Home:  Family upset that Mr. Escalantes not home all the time, "don't teach this holiday", "no, no teaching"  "see, his son has problems with math" Jo brought grandmother to house,

Classroom:  Asking formula, "this is review"  getting mad at students ....each student had same answer.

Mr. Escalangtes teaching ESL, has a health problem, walks out of classroom....having heart attach, falls down stairs......  Classroom, students trying to work without Mr. Escalantes.  Burn out....he was asking for trouble, fight in the class room, principles break lup "settle down angel"  Report "mr. escalantes mild heart ache, will be fine."  introduce substitute...never taught calculus before, is amusic teacher.  Students open book...frustrated. 

Hospital scene:  Wife, Son...."no job related activity for amonth" ....Formula on paper from hospital, gives to nurse, then he shows up in class the next day.  "Shouldn't you be in hospital" "I should be with you"...Practicing all year, encourageing them, "piece of cake, upside down, open your eyes"  reviewing/practicing for test. 

Test:  instructions; opening test; starting to work; time....everyone in seats spread out.....reward ...going to beach....after test, enjoying day....

Students waiting and getting test results:  Opening, reading, PASS!!  "announcing passing of test, 18 took, 18 passed"  student announcement:  "present plague to teacher"....clapping....students proud and love teacher.....very emotional.....

Phone call.....students upset, questioning of test, board doubts grades are invalid....Mr. Escalantes....educational testing service checking validity of sucre system.  Students questioning relationship problems.....All acting out....discouraged, pulled over by copes; get a ticket....fight between friends. Angel walking. 

Classroom:  board examiners in room, questioning students, "anyone, anything to say?"...asking for truth, "nothing happened"  THEY THINK THEY CHEATED, TRYING TO GET TRUTH OUT OF THEM...Angel says "ok" "we're busted, just admint it"...."got the test ahead of time"  making a joke....

Bottom line:  Kids worked hard and weren't believed....

Mr. Escalantes:  someone put a letter of resignation in his brief case; someone wants him out of the school so the problem will go away.  Leaves, someone steals car, he walks home, .....Discussion with wife; discouraged, "made a mistake in teaching them calculas" wife, "they learned" "what kills me, they lost confidence in the system"  "those kids love you"  students fixed up car.

Mr. Escalantes goes to education board, to make an appeal....to board.  Introductions.  Asking "why you think my students cheated" "Mr E....sorry you drove out here", "I know my kids"  "students"inocent until proven guilty" "retest" "I want to see test" "not out to get any body" "conspiracy" Mr. Esc...."prejudice against racism"

kids calling in to retake test.  getting ready, reviewing in one day.  Harder test, step by step by defence...no pencils no erasers, no opportunity to call you cheaters.  "you are the tru dreamers, you will accomplish great things, you will prove you are the champs"

Mr. E cooking with students in kitchen.  ...one wanting to go home...argue with Mr E.

Boyfriend/girlfriend kissing and making up, "admitting wrong"...

Test day again:  going into classroom spread out..prepared.  Mr. E, tense, waiting for time to pass.  Working deligently to get correct answers

Mr. E in office waiting for results....worried...wanting to go over test again because of misunderstanding, call mr rameris....All got 4 or 5's....."want original's ....pas

Mr. Escalantes made a differesce, 1982-1987 many students passed the test.  Happy , proud....

Stand & Deliver notes 10.22.13

1st day of teaching:  Stand and Deliver, Jaimie Escalonte - Teacher

Edward James Olmos - Actor

Driving through down town in volkswagon, light blue.  High School James a Garfield High; School office - Jaime, being ignored, Compter teacher, no computers; Teaching Math instead.  Trying to get everyone find a seat; getting class in order; discussion - back & forth with students;  Barely getting started, bell rings, looking dismayed.....everyone in halls, teachers trying to get order.."back to class", getting class back in order, premature bell.  End of day, find radio stolen from car; Jo (neighbor) friendly banter, discussion..."wanna teach"

Next day in classroom:  illustration....Jaime with cook outfit on, asking students "whatcha you got" apple, asking shy student "wch you got"  25% (apple with 1.4 cut out) .  Book chapter 2, pg 26...percentages 22%, 75%, 100%. 2 students late for class.."you gotta slip?"  stand in back until another desk.  Read math  dialog with late student......asking what he knows...times tables, "finger man"?  looking stratight at student doing math with fingers...looking straight in eye....student bullies coming back at end of class...like gang showing him "who's boss"...warning.

Jaime and fellow teacher walking after school, other teacher leaves...group of kids, Jamie talking with "johnny"  not johnny man.....sees fight on outside of fence , everyone gathering around, teacher grabs  student

Back in class...name  Frank Garcia, late students again...tough kids, "one man gang"..."this is my domain" .....teaching algebra , teaching concepts negatives -2+2 =  "fill the hole" = 0
Neither greeks nor romans had concept of 0, mayos had concept of ....repeating negative x negative = a positive....several times,,,  Why?

Teacher meeting...review recommmendations for accreditation...lack resources to implement changes.  Remainder of year before get accreditation. 
Jaimie - "Students will arise to the level of expectations"...need

Back in class room, quiz, no free rides, 2 strikes against you,  "math a great equalizer", asking gunes
New student comes in, smart elec student leaves class; new student taking quiz. 

Walking in hall, smart elec (Jo) in hall confessing a problem.....asking for extra books - library (3), taking home, doesn't want gang to know he's learning/liking class.

Students outside, having lunch discussing school accreditation....girl goes with kid in car, jealous girl.

Classroom:  quiz, discussion, bantering, students commenting....10 minutes.  Stands by girl "whats the matter", "not taking quiz" "don't do homework, don't get a ticket to the show" .....student in small chair up front.  Asking "what's the matter with you", walking around classroom, talking...do it anyway...sits back down. Getting students to like class, to participate, study....then she's

Student at home, taking care of mother...speaking Spanish....going out..meeting up with friends in car.  Girl at home packing up fathers lunch, kiss.  Taking care of brothers/sisters...go, go...to bed...running after children.  Mom gets home late, doing homework, dad go to work, mom on couch....showing her home life of taking care of family.

Boys in car driving around city all night, doing pranks,....Jo.

Back in class, green light red light...Jo late to class from being out all night.  "your the man, you know"  (not wanting to go to principle) acting out giving illustration of "Christ on cross"  got to stay in class even though late, bad news, ....Shy girl..."speaks up, todays my last day"....had to go work at home in restraint.

Jamie going to shy girls  - Anna - papas restrauant, ask dad/owner to sit at table,  making an appeal for Anna to come back to school.  Talks about going to medical school, papa..no, everyone works here, papa mad...banter between Jamie and papa....

Classroom:  students clapping...."look at board"...read, problem....principle, come in to watch class.  Students discussing problem, Anna back in class...solves problem.  Illustration...

Group 1 – Scenes picked out from 10-22-13 class

As our group was discussing the different scenes from Stand and Deliver, there were several we liked but decided on the following two scenes.

 The Restaurant Scene:  This scene starts out in the restaurant, but was picked up from the previous classroom scene where Anna announces, “today’s my last day”.  This is not good.  Mr. Escalante sees in Anna, great potential and if she doesn’t come back, that would be a waste.  (That’s what it feels like he is thinking).  So he is sitting in the restaurant, which is Anna’s parent’s Mexican eatery, and meets Anna’s papa and asks him to sit down.  As they are sitting and getting acquainted Mr. Escalante asks if he would allow Anna to come back to school explaining, “she wants to go to school, to college and  has talked about medical school”, papa replys, “our family has run this business, it’s good enough for us, I do dishes, what’s wrong with that”, Mr. Escalante explains, “he started out washing dishes”.  Mr. Escalante was not putting down the fact that the family runs a business, but Anna had other visions and would like to further her education.  Papa seemed all offended with the idea that Anna wanted something “better”, but you could also tell he loved his daughter and had a special place in his heart.  The next day at school, Anna came in with a big happy smile.  Mr. Escalante was pleased.  

 

Teachers meeting:  The teachers were gathered discussing the accreditation for the school.  The principle and vice principle were very concerned about getting more funding for the school.  The teachers were discussing back and forth, one says “I’m not coming back, I’m going….” Another asks, “What do they pay”, (he is the one that didn’t seem to care about what he was teaching or what the students were learning – but how much “effort” he would have to put out).  Everyone is going back and forth.  Mr. Escalante makes it clear he is interested in the students, what they are learning, he states, “Students will arise to the level of expectation”.  They all look at him like “now that’s a new thought, maybe our students could learn more”.  It is apparent that this school is for the “ghetto kids”, poor backgrounds, rough family lives.  Not many would succeed or could succeed.  Mr. Escalante obviously thinks differently from the way he is thinking and the way he is teaching. 

Is Mr. Escalante a good teacher?

 

Mr. Escalante shows his great desire for teaching.  He comes from a better paying job, but has a heart for kids.  He has a real down at their level attitude, but not going to take any bunk from them either.  The first day of class, all the students are rowdy, not sitting down, jabbering with each other.  When he comes in students don’t pay him any respect.  He ends up rearranging the seating and one student says, “hey, I have a seat”, Mr. Escalante replys , “don’t worry, I will get you a seat”! 

One great example of his teaching:  The students arrived at class and he was in a chef’s outfit.  Everyone had an apple on their desk.  So he is asking them, “whatcha got”…Some of the students are smart alec, “I have a core”, “I have an apple”…he is trying to get them to think in percentages, finally he asks Anna and she says, “25%”, they then all get the idea of what he is wanting.  He uses illustrations and talks in their “language” to get the meaning across.

I didn’t like the example he made of the girl who wouldn’t take her quiz.  Not sure if she couldn’t or hadn’t studied, anyway, he puts her in the “dunce” chair.  She sits there for a short time and finally gets up and goes taking her quiz. It seemed like a harsh example, but it did work in the end.

The example of “rising to the level of expectations” is shown by “everyone” taking the quiz and him giving the quizzes regularly. The students knew it was coming and had to prepare for it.  The one student, Jo – with the pony tail, actually wanted to study, but afraid of criticism from his peers, but ends up getting 3 books he could use at different locations.  He was “rising to the level of expectation”.

Lorde’s Illustration of the Teachers She Encountered

 

Lorde illustrates Mrs. Bakers desire to help Audre get past her fury by reading to her “Madeline, and Horton Hatches the Egg” and another story “about a bear named Herbert who ate up an entire family, one by one, starting with the parents.” Which gave Audre the desire to read.  Her mother teaching her to read and write, they were able to send her to the sight conservation kindergarten for children with sight problems.

 

“Miss Teacher” terrified her by making her write with a crayon the letter A which Audre could do but did not understand to do, the teacher shamed her by telling her in front of the other students "Imagine that, a big girl like you. Such a shame, I'll have to tell your mother that you won't even try. And such a big girl like you!" Then she would threaten her with, "I see we have a young lady who does not want to do as she is told. We will have to tell her mother about that."

 

Sister Mary of Perpetual Help ran the first grade class with an iron fist.  Audre’s mother let Sister know that Audre was a handful.  I think it gave Sister MPH a preconceived idea that Audre couldn’t read or write as well as she could.  She thought the worse before believing the better for instance when Audre did her homework of cutting out words from the newspaper Sister MPH said, "This was to be our own work, children," she said. "Who helped you with your sentence, Audre?" Of course Audre had done it herself and she was proud of it. But Sister MPH didn’t believe Audre and tried to get her to tell the truth by bullying her with "Our guardian angels weep when we don't tell the truth, Audre. I want a note from your mother tomorrow telling me that you are sorry for lying to the baby Jesus."  The note came from her mother and Audre got promoted from the “Brownies” to the “Fairies”.

 

It seems a lot of teachers back then didn’t know how to handle the children and used shaming or threatening as a way of producing the truth. 

Notes from video of Ken Robinson

As we watched the video of Ken Robinson,TED Lecture on Education, it was very eye opening on the way our society's focus on education has been.  According to Ken, it has been on the academic side, while putting the artistic side at the bottom of the list.  He stated that "all children are born creative, they grow out of it", which is because we don't encourage that side of them.  Part of the "growing out of it" was due to the industrial revolution, where we were focused on getting a good job, saving for retirement, then retiring. End of story.  In the early years, kids take a chance at being wrong, where as we grow up we learn to be prepared to be wrong.  At the end Ken stressed that we need to:  Rethink fundamental principles and realize the gift of the human imagination, by shifting our paradigm.

What Makes a Good Teacher - Marie F. Hassett, Ph.D.

What Makes a Good Teacher reading was very interesting.  Her list of 8 points are good to help in evaluating teaching.  In her first exercise of closing your eyes and visualizing your 3 best teachers is interesting.  When I think of my 3 best teachers, I am not sure if they were my 3 best teachers.  It has been over 40 years since I was in k-12 grade.  I can think of specific teachers, but not sure why I think of them.  After class on Thursday the 17th, I woke up in the middle of the night remembering certain teachers and what I was going to do my Unit 2 paper on.  Using this publication of Marie Hassett's will be a good resource to go back to when evaluating "what makes a good teacher".  I look forward to viewing the movies and the other readings to open up my mind and coming up with a paper.  :)

What makes for good teaching, What makes for bad teaching.

One of the things I think makes for good teaching is not having to stay in the box.  A teacher that is making the study interesting will bring in different ideas.  Vs the teacher that lectures and expects the students to get "all the notes"  and doesn't want any interaction from the students.  I believe good teaching will enable the student to not only "know" the material but put it into practice.  Bad teaching, the student just wants to "get out of there".  Using interesting ideas, using examples, helping the students to "get it" definitely is good teaching. Trying to pull the creative ideas out of the "cobwebs" or hidden spots in the mind is also good teaching.  It is not square thinking.  I enjoyed the video by Ken Robinson and the way that he thinks we need to change our way of thinking plus his way of analyzing the student, for example:  the student that was so fidgety, couldn't sit still, instead of putting him/her on drugs, he/she needed to dance.  He was artistic.  So finding out the childs learning style is a great way to to direct them.  True it is not always easy when there are 30 students in the class to focus on just a couple that are a little different in their learning styles. 

That would be interesting to know how many students are "artistic" vs regular learning types. 

Just a thought.

My main thing about my educational experience

The main thing that I wanted my readers to understand in my educational experience was:  Being older, a grandmother,  and going out into the work force had challenges that I had to overcome which included learning new skills and getting training to be able to get a job. 

Unit I, Narrating Education: The Challenge

The Challenge

             Being a stay at home mom for thirty plus years and then entering into the working world has had many challenges.  When first starting out the questions that plagued me were, “Who will hire me and what do I do?”  The first place I spent a lot of time at was the WorkSource office.  I took some classes (Word, Excel, Resumes etc.) then started applying for jobs using my resume.  I applied for many jobs and was actually hired for a couple of part time jobs that helped me gain experience.

The question, “What do I do?” was answered one day about four years ago as I was walking down a sidewalk.  I came upon a sign that said “Tax Preparation Class” with a web site giving the information and how to sign up.  I did.  I found myself registered, starting a six week course in how to prepare tax returns.  Upon completion of the course you might be considered for employment.  My thought was, “If I don’t get hired I will be able to do our own taxes and save money!”

            My first day of class everything was new, scary and intimidating.  In my mind of comparisons, I was least on the scale of knowledge and everyone else (I thought) was really smart.  It seemed they had at least a two year degree and were either an engineer, teacher, or CPA.  The pressure of learning a new skill, passing the class, and not knowing anyone left me feeling very alone and inadequate.

            After getting the text book and doing the first lesson, I found that it was in an easy to read style with open book quizzes at the end of each chapter. The class was divided into study groups, question and answer time.  The teacher was down to earth and had been a stay at home mom with no degree.  It seemed as if I would fit in. 

            While working through each lesson I realized that preparing a tax return is much the same as putting together a puzzle, as my mom would say, “Inch by inch is a cinch, yard by yard is very hard!”  Step by step, I started understanding the concepts of basic tax law and completing a 1040 tax return.  I learned that to start a tax return first I had to gather the personal information such as: name, address, single, married, dependents and what line that information goes on and why.  Next were types of income: was it wages, retirement, self employment, foreign income.  In addition, what other forms may have to accompany the tax return? Finally, finding out if and what kind of credits can go with the tax return.  Is there a child credit, a school credit, a business credit, plus many others.  There are many details in a tax return that has to have detailed research before it can be completed.  A great resource, that I leaned on, was The Publication 17.  You can get it free either by ordering it from the IRS web site or picking it up at the local tax office. 

            Another challenge I faced was learning a new computer program that the tax return was going into.  I am a grandmother, with limited computer knowledge (the most I ever did was type emails or search on line for something). The students got to pick a study buddy and had to share the computer.   I chose to watch my study buddy and learn the program before taking my turn.  Between us, we were able to get through the program, putting the tax information where it belonged.  The hard thing about that was each line or section of the tax return would go into separate pages in the program, looking totally different than on the 1040 form.  It was very mind boggling.

            The final step, after preparing the tax return, is filing it.  There are a two different ways to file your tax return.  You can either mail it in or electronically file.  Either way your return has to be sent in by the deadline, which is usually April 15.  If you miss the deadline there are fees, penalties, and interest that will be owed to IRS. 

            The tax class was held two times a week, three hours per night for six weeks.  After each class we had an assignment to do at home.  Once the lesson was complete (could be several sessions for one lesson), we had a test.  Oh, the dreaded test!  I have never been a test taker, especially with other people in the room and a time limit.  The tests were open book.  They included a “scenario” as an example to go by, putting it into the computer program, and finding out the end result.  If we didn’t pass we could retake the test or study it more to find out if we missed anything in the scenario.

 Most of the tests I passed, but the final test was the one that really counted. The difference was, you could only do it one time and it was not open book.  During the whole course I was the one who had trouble putting the concepts together and the last one to finish.  It was the same with the final test.  We all got started, had our turn, and it took me the longest time.  All my doubts about what I had learned, my inadequacies, came flooding back.  I kept on, finished the test and the class.  When I got my results from the test I scored a 92%! I had done it; I had succeeded. 

            The interesting part in all this was:  if you passed the course you could get an interview and be hired.  Well that was my goal from the beginning.  The stay at home mom going out into the world questioning, “Who will hire me, what do I do?”  I had just proved that I could do something; now to see if I would get hired.

I was called for an interview, which was a scary process, but after being interviewed, they offered me employment. I accepted. I have now worked for them for three tax seasons.  I have completed over five hundred tax returns.  I have taken and passed the Registered Tax Return Preparer test.  Now, here I am going to college and working on my business degree. 

The challenge of getting out of my box, learning and moving forward has helped me to overcome many of my fears and inadequacies and the way I view myself and the world around me.

Rough draft for: The Challenge, page 3

              The final step in preparing the tax return after gathering and putting together all the information, putting it into the program and printing it out, is filing the return.  There are a two different ways to file your tax return.  You can either mail it in or electronically file, either way your return has to be sent in by April 15, which is the deadline.  If not you are subject to penalties and late fees. 

                The tax class was held two times a week, three hours per night for six weeks.  After each class we had an assignment to do at home.  Once the lesson was complete (could be several sessions for one lesson) then we had a test.  Oh, the dreaded test.  I have never been a test taker, especially with other people in the room and a time limit.  The tests included a “scenario” as an example to go by, putting it into the computer program and finding out the end result.  If we didn't pass we could retake the test or study it more to find out the details if we missed anything in the scenario, plus it was open book. 

                  Most of the tests I passed, but the final test was the one that really counted. The difference was, you could only do it one time and it was not open book.  During the whole course I was the one that had trouble putting the concepts together and the last one finished.  It was the same with the final test.  We all got started, had our turn and it took me the longest time.  All my doubts about what I had learned and my inadequacies, came flooding back.  I kept on, finished the test and the class.  When I got my results from the test I scored a 92%!  I had done it; I had succeeded. 

                The interesting part in all this was:  if you passed the course you could get an interview and be hired.  Well that was my goal from the beginning.  The stay at home mom going out into the world wondering who will hire me, what do I do.  I had just proved that I could do something; now to see if I would get hired.

I was called for an interview, which was a scary process, but after being interviewed, they offered me employment which I accepted.  I have now worked for them for three tax seasons, completed over five hundred tax returns, taken and passed the Registered Tax Return Preparer  test.  Now, here I am going to college and working on my business degree. 

The challenge of getting out of my box, learning and moving forward has helped me to overcome many of my fears and inadequacies and the way I view myself and the world around me.

Rough draft for: The Challenge, page 2.

            While working through each lesson I realized that preparing a tax return is much the same as putting together a puzzle, as my mom would say, “inch by inch is a cinch, yard by yard is very hard”!  Step by step, I started understanding the concepts of basic tax law and completing a 1040 tax return.  I learned that to start a tax return first I had to gather the personal information such as: name, address, single, married, dependents and what line that information goes on and why.  Next were types of income: was it wages, retirement, self employment, foreign income.  Plus with the types of income I had to learn what and where the income goes on the tax return and what other forms may have to accompany the tax return.  Finally, finding out if and what kind of credits can go with the tax return.  Is there a child credit, a school credit, a business credit, plus many others.  There are many details in a tax return that has to have detailed research before it can be sent off to the Internal Revenue Service.  If you are doing your own tax return a great resource that is free is The Publication 17.  You can get it free either by ordering it, at the local tax office, or the IRS web site. 

                Not only was I learning tax law and how to prepare a tax return, there was the challenge of learning a new computer program that the tax return was going into.  The students got to pick a study buddy and when it was computer time we had to share the computer.  I am a grandmother, with limited computer knowledge (the most I ever did was type emails or search on line for something), I chose to  watch my study buddy and learn the program before taking my turn.  Between my study buddy and me we were able to get through the program and put the tax information where it belonged.  The hard thing about that was each line or section of the tax return would go into separate pages in the program, looking totally different than on the 1040 tax form,  which was very confusing.

Rough draft for: The Challenge, page 1.

The Challenge

             Being a stay at home mom for thirty plus years and then entering into the working world has had many challenges.  When first starting out the questions that plagued me were “who will hire me and what do I do?”  The first place I spent a lot of time at was the WorkSource office.  I took some classes (Word, Excel, Resumes etc.) Then started applying for jobs using my resume.  I applied for many and actually was hired for a couple of part time jobs that helped me gain experience.

             The question, “what do I do?” was answered one day about four years ago as I was walking down a sidewalk and came upon a sign that said, “Tax Preparation Class” with a web site giving the information and how to sign up.  I did and found myself registered and starting a six week course in how to prepare tax returns.  Upon completion of the course you might be considered for employment.  My thought was, “If I don’t get hired I will be able to do my own taxes and save money!”

                My first day of class everything was new, scary and intimidating.  In my mind of comparisons, I was least on the scale of knowledge and everyone else (I thought) was really smart, with at least a two year degree and it seemed they were either an engineer, teacher, or CPA.  With the pressure of learning a new skill  and passing the class,  I felt very alone, not knowing anyone and dealing with my inadequacies. 

                After getting the text book and doing the first lesson I found that it was in an easy to read style with open book quizzes at the end of each chapter. The class was divided into study groups, question and answer time. The teacher was down to earth and had also been a stay at home mom with no degree.  It seemed as if I would fit in. 

Ed Narrative I like best

The ed narrative I liked best was Mike Rose's "I Just Wanna Be Average".  In his story telling manner, he captures my attention from the first sentence.  He has a sense of humor that keeps me captivated and makes me laugh. For example when he talks about Bill Cobb and Johnny Gonzales who were "grease-pencil artists extraordinaire, who left Nembutal-enhanced swirls of "Cobb" and "Johnny" on the corrugated walls of the bus".  The picture immediately comes to my mind and I "see it". 

His example of how he got selected to be part of the vocational education group of kids and the way he described his teachers, Brother Dill, "a troubled and unstable man".   Another one that stuck out was Mr. Montez "a tiny man, slight, five foot six at the most, soft-spoken and delicate."

Out side of his humor and descriptiveness, he has depth and a point to make that brings it back to the title "I Just Wanna Be Average" with Ken Harvey who was "gasping for air".  It shows that the kids were  trying to survive in the world of vocational education, while they were "trying to shape an identity, your body is changing, and your emotions are running wild".

 This helped me to see into their inner beings and the struggles kids have in school and getting through school with their peers, teachers and themselves..  My heart goes out to them, then and now. 


  


 

How do Malcolm X's, Rose's, the the 3 bloggers differ?

I am more oif a reader that loves stories and gets inspired by them.  That was what Malcolm X and Rose's stories did for me.  They were more emotional and gripping in what and how they said it.

Malcolm's is inspiring in the fact that, he learned from the bottom up.  Instead of prison being a place to learn more terrible things, he applied himself and learned to read to make a difference in the world.

Rose's was catching from the first sentence, "It took two buses to get to Our Lady of Mercy", and he goes on from there, drawing my attention immediately.  Then he went on to describe the scenery, the people.  The whole thing was exciting and made me want to get to the end quickly.

The other three were telling how to do something.  They each had their own area of expertise. Web design - Feross; Google Free - Joshua Romeros; and Traveling Solo - Cate Huston. 

Feross was interesting and kept my attention;  Joshua was boring and sentences too long, lost my attention half way through; Cate - kept my attention and I would probably take her advise if I took a trip. 

Freewrite: Re:your education experience...

How did I learn to enter the working world after being a stay at home mom for 30 years.  Checking out my options in different areas.  Seeing what my strengths were and going for something that would enable me to use my strengths.  I checked out different job postings online, I put together my resume, I took some classes through Work Source, and finally found a course that appealed to me that I could use to further my education and use for employment.

The process was very long, took lots of thinking skills...sweeping the cobwebs out of my head of what my past job experiences were and putting that on paper for others to see and view.  The thing that finally stood out to me was the idea that I needed some education to get a better paying job,to have some retirement, to be a functioning part of my community, pushing myself past my insecurities and feelings of inadequacy.

Finally, I found out that I could do things I never thought: such as, dealing with difficult tests and learning situations.  Having hard conversations with employers and fellow workers and students.

How I learned to Love Traveling Solo - Cate Huston

The title Cate Huston chose to use seems a bit confusing for having a education narrative.  It didn't seem that she was actually sharing how she learned to love traveling solo, it was more on tips of what she does when she travels.  This was different compared to the other narratives as they actually taught us how they got to where they were going.  In Malcolm X's, Learning to Read, it was a heartfelt direction and how he did learn to read.  Maybe that is the difference with Cate's and the others, it is not from her heart, just what she does in a factual way.  She has her data, goes for a long walk, gets comfortable etc.

As a blog, she did a great job of putting together ideas in separate paragraphs on each activity. If I was going to travel it would be great tips to put into practice. In fact, my husband and I are planning on going to Italy for our 35th wedding anniversary, 3 years away.  Many of Cate Huston's tips we may be able to use on our trip and make it a fun, relaxing, enjoyable time.

I hope to follow a more heartfelt, personal direction in my education narrative. Lessons learned and what has happened since then.  We shall see.

Group class project - October 3, 2013

1.  All the ed nars have in common are:  Share personal experiences or choices.

2.  What features are present in some but not all:  2 put photos in, but story line didn't effect.  The other ones were interesting to read.  3 distinct types, 2 most recent ones singular experience, even if a large one, the other ones this is what I have done as a programmer,

3.  Why are these distinctions important?  Pictures helped us be engaged the others with emotions to engage the readers.

4.  What do the variations do?  Create a different style to each of them, appeal to different audiences.  some with pictures.  Google Free was boring.

5.  Which appeal to you the most?  Mike Rose was more a twist, with the unexpected happening.  Mike Rose was more of a life long learning experience.  Malcolm  changed his life, where Mike experiences changed his life. 

What does each one want to get across to the readers?

Google Free:  Purpose was to tell readers how google is addictive and google controls a lot of the internet.

Feross:  His point was to not only to just do it but to keep doing it even if you're not as successful as you had hoped for.

Malcolm X:  Show that you can help yourself even when you hit rock bottom.

Rose:  Have a moral story of learning from what others say to you and using it in your life.

The most important lesson I've ever learned

The most important lesson I've ever learned has been to say "I'm sorry".   Saying sorry and meaning it has been a most difficult thing for me and for most people.  The thing is:  when you acknowledge that you have had a part or are responsible for hurting others, whether it be words, actions, or attitudes, to go back and acknowledge how you've hurt someone and be truly sorry that you did opens up a relationship that could have or was damaged.  Saying sorry takes a humbling attitude and believe me it is humbling.  At first, my pride always gets in the way, because "I'm right", but then on reflection even if I am right, if I was 10% wrong, saying sorry will bridge the gap.  It takes a lot of inside fortitude to take the next step or be the "bigger person" if you may.  In my past I have had to go to those who I have hurt and apologize for hurting them.

Why it is most important is because ruined relationships are harder to build than forgiven relationships.  If you say sorry right away, accept it and move on sincerely, the other person is more likely to be your friend and respect you more than if you had stubbornly gone on your way and not said anything.  As I stated earlier, I have had to go and apologize for either words or actions, but the relationship that was rebuilt was far more worth it than my pride or my stubbornness.  All in all, saying sorry is far better than not.

Prewriting Used Successfully In The Past

 I have never done any prewriting. The writing I have done has been sending emails to friends and family.  I have kept a journal off and on over the years but, truthfully, its been more off than on.  I have written letters and cards to people but that was usually from living such a distance from friends and relatives.  Growing up in Montana, with family from Canada and Texas (my mothers and fathers side, we were stuck in the middle) we mostly wrote letters. 

In the textbook there are several exercises, on prewriting, which showed me how to get an idea.  One of the exercises was on brainstorming. When ever I have been put in a brainstorming situation, my mind goes blank.  When working on the  brainstorming exercise in the book, I was all alone and sat for 10 minutes and thought of random ideas to put down on paper.  That actually worked!!

I also enjoyed the looping exercise.  Writing a paragraph about a subject, going back and highlighting something in that subject, writing another paragraph, highlighting again and writing again.  It's amazing how different ideas flow from one thing to another. 

I can see where  prewriting helps to give you ideas to put down on paper.  So far everything I have been learning in English 101 has been interesting and very useful. 

Comparison

One of the things in my life has always been "comparing myself with others".  I hope that during this adventure of writing, while I may be comparing myself, I will draw from the other posts, using them to advance and expand my learning. Comparison is one of the things in my 1st paper "The Challenge" I want to address, as it has been a drawback from advancing myself, many times, overcome with everything I think I can not accomplish, coming to a point of realizing I can and will accomplish this task of getting educated. 

Comparison can be a crippling effect in ones life.  For one thing, it shows an attitude of ungratefulness.  When that attitude sets in, you are never happy with anything.  You're not pretty enough, smart enough, skinny enough, rich enough and the list goes on.  To think that there are countries in our world where people actually live in huts, grass ones, and all they have to eat is rice. 
I used to use that example with my children as they were growing up.  Maybe that wasn't the best example, but didn't want them to fall into the trap of comparison and ungratefulness. 

We, as Americans, have so much to be grateful for and to compare what our strengths and weaknesses are is unappreciative for what we do have.

Malcolm X, Feross Aboukladiejeh, Joshua Romero

Malcolm X was very interesting.  Even though I don't like the direction his life went he did bring himself up from illiteracy to being quite educated.  The thing that is interesting is his determination. Looking at ones self, realizing what you can't do and then doing something about it. What an accomplishment and a way to learn. 

One of the ways that Malcolm is similar to Feross and Joshua, is their step by step process.  "This is what I want to do" and "this is how I will do it".  Feross and Malcolm were wanting to "learn how", while Joshua was wanting to "give up google". 

Feross and Malcolm use story like examples, drawing from their past, what they didn't know, while Joshua is using the here and now - realizing how he was caught up in all the google products and wanting to see how to "get out". 

Malcolm and Joshua are similar in that they both set out to get done what they wanted to get done.  Where Feross, when he was 11 probably didn't realize the direction making his first web site would take him and his interest in it. 

Each of them did accomplish their tasks and this tells me that English 101 can be accomplished as well.