Final Draft PAper #3

School forces us to learn what we do not care about. Whether it be math, art, reading and writing complex writings, science, music, history, or even something more hands on. People need certain skills like basic arithmetic, writing, and reading, but these are all things that we should be taught at a young age. Going into high school people should not be forced to take such a large range of subjects. They need to have the freedom they will experience after high school, so they understand the importance of their decisions. By the age of a high school student, and even before then, we know what we are good at and what we enjoy doing, we may have figured it in class or after school, but we know. To force someone to do something they absolutely despise, barely tolerate, or is incredible difficult for them to understand, then tell them they need to work harder, is torture. Also, when given the chance to make decisions on our own we tend to take for responsibility in our actions. The requirements for students to graduate from high school should be changed to allow more control over students own educational path.

The classes offered to complete high school requirements can be quite repetitive as well. In a history class, for example, students learn about one thing in world history that happened in the United States and learn about it again in U.S. History. A good portion of a semester of math class is spent going over what was learned last year. In English classes novels with similar plots are read and essays about the same things are written. We just are expected to sound more grown-up with each passing year. In Mike Rose's “The Answer Sheet” one of his fourteen revolutions is “To have more young people get an engaging and challenging education.” Classes that students are required to take aren't challenging enough for them.

Something can be incredibly easy for someone to do, but if it is not interesting they are most likely going to make it harder on themselves just to prove a point. It becomes harder and harder to concentrate on these subjects students do not like which let's them fall further and further behind, getting them stuck in this loop of not caring followed quickly by not understanding. So putting a student back in a class they failed does not do them any good. They are just going to do what they can to not fail again so they can move on. Gatto says in his article "Against Schools: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, and Why" that, "Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it." Learning should be fun, and it can be if the students being taught information find the information worth their time and interesting.

Students need more freedom in what they do in high school. I am not saying they should be able to decide not to go to their science class some days, but rather not have to take a science class if they do not find it interesting or if it is not something they see themselves doing later in life. A lot of classes are assigned before hand, that is what I experienced at least. All juniors take this English or the AP version, but you are automatically put into the first, and you need to take biology as a sophomore and so on. After it is all said and done students get one or two electives, more as students get closer to graduating. They do not get a chance to figure out how interesting certain subjects are to them and end up having to spend a lot of money figuring out what exactly they want to to in life. In bell Hooks “Critical Thinking” he explains that we need to keep an open mind. How are students supposed to keep an open mind when we are force to worry about requirements instead of what they enjoy?

Some may argue that giving students to much freedom is dangerous. That teenagers will make bad choices. Acosta says in Deb Aronson's article “Arizona Bans [Latino/a History Program]” “Young people being empowered is scary to many people, institutions, and establishments.” But, if they do not make mistakes they do not learn valuable life lessons. After touching a hot stove as a child you learn not to touch it because it hurts you. You take a class you do not end up finding interesting, you do not make a career out of it. Also taking away peoples freedom can be even more dangerous. We saw in “Dead Poets Society” that Neil felt the need to take his life after his dad told him he could not become an actor. Freedom is very important, and as Americans we are lucky enough to be given freedom. We do not really get a good chance to realize the consequences that come with our decisions because we have certain freedoms.

Much like what Friere says in his piece “The Banking Concept of Education” that students are expected to blindly except information, they are also expected to blindly except what information they need. The requirements that students are expected to take as high school students are worthless and contain a broad span of subject matter. Students leave high school and are expected to make decisions they have no experience in making. Students should be given the opportunity to take the lead in their educational path earlier in their educational career. Given more freedom in what subject matter they get to learn. Students should be allowed to take an art class over science or a math class over history. In the current system of education students are limited to what they learn until the go to college. This puts us behind were we should be. Again I'm not saying students must know what they are going to do with their lives, but most students know what type of career path they are going into or what the aren't going to do. Having people sit through classes they get confused in is discouraging and should be stopped. Challenge students, but let them choose the types of things they want to be challenged in. 

Work Sited

Bell Hooks. “Critical Thinking.” 2009. Print

Dead Poets Society. Robert Sean Leonard. Peter Weir. 1989. Film

Deb Aronson. “Arizona Bans [Lationa/a History Program]” Print

Freire, Paolo “The Banking Concept of Education.” Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1970. Print

Gatto, John “Against Schools:How Public Education Cripples Our Kids and Why.” Harper Magazine.                    2003. Print

Rose, Mike "Resolutions Someone Should Make for 2011.”The Answer Sheet Web.

Rough Draft/Start of Paper #3

School forces us to learn what we don't care about. Whether it be math, art, reading and writing complex pieces, science, music, history, or even something more hands on. People need certain skills like basic arithmetic, writing, and reading, but these are all things that we should be taught at a young age. Going into high school people should not be forced to take such a large range of subjects. By the age of a high school student, and even before then. we know what we are good at and what we enjoy doing, we may have figured it in class or after school, but we know. To force someone to do something they absolutely despise, barely tolerate, or is incredible difficult for them to understand, then tell them they need to work harder is torture. Students should be allowed to take more classes that they understand and enjoy.

Something can be incredibly easy for someone to do, but if it's not interesting they are most likely going to make it harder on themselves just to prove a point. It becomes harder and harder to concentrate on these subjects we don't like which let's us fall further and further behind, getting us stuck in this loop of not caring followed quickly by not understanding. So putting a student back in a class they failed isn't going to do them any good. They are just going to do what they can to not fail again so they can move on. Gatto says in his article "Against Schools: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, and Why" that, "Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it." Learning should be fun, and it can be if the students being taught information find the information worth their time and interesting.

Some people just can't grasp some concepts. It could be how to read Shakespearean style poetry, the Pythagorean theorem, or a bunch of other things, but they just don't get it. It's not because they're stupid either. And often that's how they are seen. They just aren't wired to understand that type of information. When people are force to learn information that they can't understand it makes them feel stupid, which potentially could make them try less in subjects they are good at. It's a downward spiral. But they don't need that information, because who in their right mind will choose to do something in life that they don't understand and is a constant battle for them. And if they want to learn something difficult for them, good for them. But don't force someone into doing something they aren't able to do. It's not fair to them or their peers.

My High School Experience Compared to Gatto's Claims

I agree a lot with what Gatto said. Especially when he said that high school is boring. I would go to school to know what I needed to do. Usually teachers told us to do the following: read this part of your textbook or listen to me lecture about this, take notes (which I usually didn't do), answer these questions or do this worksheet, study the information, the test will be: insert date here. And if you have ever read a textbook you know just how completely uneventful they are. I mean I bet history is pretty interesting if told correctly. And I never understood how one was expected to study for a math test, but that may be because I am fortunate enough to be able to understand math easily. But a lot of every subject we are supposed to know is memorization. In math formulas. In history important information. In English vocabulary. In science all of the above. Let me tell you I am great at memorizing information, but for the most part after the information is irrelevant I can't tell you squat about it. I don't need it and it's taking up important space in this brain of mine. Of course other things happen in classes, but enough of it is just memorizing or writing information to make school dreadful to go to. Not to mention we were forced to be up at ungodly hours. Maybe not for adults, but believe me having to be at school at eight in the morning is pure torture after getting to bed at two in the morning because I had to finish that one paper that's worth 50% of my grade and that math homework from the week that is all collected at once the day of the test. Granted that is my fault. Regardless, it's too early for a lot of teenagers to be awake. School is basically torture: get up even though you need about three more hours of sleep and don't fall asleep while the teachers ramble on about information you might not care about and some of the teachers telling you this "important" stuff don't care either.

Final Draft Paper #2:No Two Teachers are the Same

It is difficult to judge how good a teacher is. A young student is probably going to have a different description of a good teacher then a parent or a student reflecting on their education. For example a student with a strict teacher who gives lots of homework is not going to like the teacher and, probably, say their teacher is bad. While the results of this teaching method may show great progress, so the parents will, most likely, appreciate the teacher's way of teaching. Circumstances can change how a teacher is viewed, as well. There is not one specific type of teacher that is good. Two of my best teachers, Ms. Merifield and Ms. Goodell, had very different ways of teaching. Ms. Goodell was always a pleasure to be around and knew her students well, she even introduced me to my best friend and we are still friends today. Ms. Merifield was strict and expected a lot of her students. I used to dread going to Ms. Merifield's classes and long for the time in them to end. With her constant shushing of the class and strict bathroom policies, the class seemed to dragged on. Two teachers can have different teaching styles and both can be considered good or bad teachers.

One of my favorite teachers growing up was Ms. Goodell, my fourth grade teacher. She had a reward system involving stickers, in which after a student got ten stickers they got to choose a prize from a prize box. Prizes included little toy cars, pencils, toys from kids meals from fast food restaurants, and key chains. We got stickers for things like getting high scores on spelling tests and participating in class. It was a very affective system that kept the class, of children between the ages of nine and ten, under control. Also while teaching the multiplication table, she gives any student that completes the sheets of multiplication problems up to twelve a king-sized candy bar. When I began eighth grade my English teacher, Ms. Merifield, had a very different way of keeping control of her class. In her class everyone was given a self-evaluation. This evaluation was a factored into your grade and not filling it out could lower your grade. After seven days, in a row, of getting A's on the evaluation you no longer had to fill it out, she would do it for you, She also gave you a “card” that would get you a treat once a month. The treats ranged from ice cream during warm months, during the winter hot chocolate, and sometimes just candy bars or chips. If you ever got a grade below seventy percent you would get it back and have to start all over again. I once left my hat under the desk and had to redo the week to get rid of the evaluation. Although the “card parties,” as the class referred to the treats, were greatly anticipated, the best part of not having an evaluation was not having to wait after class to put it in the basket and not having to fill it out. While stickers would not be effective for students that are thirteen and fourteen, a self-evaluation would be too difficult for fourth graders to fill out. Neither system can be used for all classes. These two teachers smartly used the best reward system for the age group they were teaching.

Both teachers made class interactive. In Ms. Goodell's class we would do exercises in our math books as a class and would randomly be called on to answer questions. In Ms. Merifield's class we would go around the class to correct sentences, in the homework, by adding punctuation, capital letters, spelling changes, or anything else that was needed for the sentence to be written correctly. We would also go over the vocabulary homework in class. Because we went over homework in class we were expected to have at least eighty percent on each assignment and anything less resulted in lunch detention until it was raised. In this aspect of teaching these two teachers are relatively similar, though as expected the fourth grade teacher was a lot less demanding. She would expect students to be getting the right answers after going over it in class, but wasn't taking away our time. An interactive class keeps students paying attention, although going from person to person may make students slack of until it's their turn it also assures each student must answer. Also, Ms. Merifield's students would pay attention for the purpose of not having to get detention. On the other hand, randomly calling on students makes it more likely for each student to do the problem. Both ways of selecting students keep students actively participating in class.

These two teachers regularly followed lesson plans and were able to adapt if needed. Ms. Merifield had the homework for the week written on a whiteboard at the side of the room, along with what would be done in class. Ms. Goodell would have students write in planners the homework for the night and would usually tell the class ahead of time if something different from the normal routine was happening, like a trip to the school library or a gym day. Another indicator that each teacher had thorough lesson plans is that whenever we had a substitute teacher they would know what was happening. In Ms. Merifield's class students would try to distract her from the topic at hand. Although it worked sometimes, the next day was always incredible difficult to catch up to the schedule. Ms. Goodell and Ms. Merifield were excellent planners and stuck to lesson plans as much as possible.

Scheduled into both teachers agenda was reading. Both had different approaches on grading the amount a student read. In Ms. Goodell's class parents would tell Ms. Goodell their student read by signing their planner. Later, if the book was in the schools system, we would be tested on our comprehension of the book. Ms. Merifield had her class write book notes for a each chapter and later write a book report using the notes, turning both in to be graded. Although a tedious task most students no longer practice, it was helpful in learning, not only how to write a report, but also note taking skills. After the book report was written and turned in we weren't required to take notes on the book, only read and have a book for silent reading in class. In both classes most students read the required amount and excelled at reading.

Obviously the age of students comes into play a lot in these two teachers way of teaching. A fourth grader can't be expected to write detailed notes on a book and an eighth grader is more likely to lie to get there parent to sign something they didn't do. However one of the things good teachers need to understand is the best way to teach the age group they will be teaching. One teaching method can not be the mold for all classes. These methods may have worked because of the students being taught. The school I went to was small and there were very few disruptive kids. Detention wasn't something you wanted to get, so we paid attention in class. In different circumstances the way of teaching these two teachers used could be considered bad. Obviously if they switched positions, but possibly if they went to the school in the next town that was twice as big and far more diverse. There is not one good way of teaching that is good, a good method can considered bad depending on the students being taught.

Dead Poets Society Day 2

• "I always though the idea of education is to teach to think for themselves"
• Wants to make sure Charlie stays in school
• "Because I love teaching how could I go anywhere else?"
• Wants Neil to do what he is passionate about- tells him to talk to his father about acting
• Mr. Keating is genuinely happy that Neil may get to stick with acting but is obviously upset that his father isn't fully supportive of his dream
• Mr. Keating seems to be the only teacher truly upset after Neil's death
• Students liked/respected him enough to get kicked out school 

Rough Draft

It is difficult to judge how good a teacher is. A young student is probably going to have a different description of a good teacher then a parent or a student reflecting on their education. For

example a student with a strict teacher who gives lots of homework is not going to like the teacher and, probably, say their teacher is bad. While the results of this teaching method may show great progress, so the parents will, most likely, appreciate the teacher's way of teaching. Circumstances can change how a teacher is viewed, as well. There is not a single type of teacher that is good. Two of my best teachers, Ms. Merifield and Ms. Goodell, had very different ways of teaching. While Ms. Goodell was always a pleasure to be around, Ms. Merifield was strict and expected a lot of her students. I used to dread going to Ms. Merifield's classes and long for the time in them to end. Two teachers can have different teaching styles and both can be considered good or bad teachers.

One of my favorite teachers growing up was Ms. Goodell, my fourth grade teacher. She had a reward system involving stickers, in which after a student got ten stickers they got to choose a prize from a prize box. Prizes included little toy cars, pencils, toys from kids meals from fast food restaurants, and key chains. We got stickers for things like getting high scores on spelling tests and participating in class. It was a very affective system that kept the class, of children between the ages of nine and ten, under control. When I began eighth grade my English teacher, Ms. Merifield, had a very different way of keeping control of her class. In her class everyone was given a self-evaluation. This evaluation was a factored into your grade and not filling it out could lower your grade. After seven days, in a row, of getting A's on the evaluation you no longer had to fill it out, she would do it for you, She also gave you a “card” that would get you a treat once a month. The treats ranged from ice cream during warm months, during the winter hot chocolate, and sometimes just candy bars or chips. If you ever got a grade below seventy percent you would get it back and have to start all over again. Although the “card parties,” as the class referred to the treats, were greatly anticipated, the best part of not having an evaluation was not having to wait after class to put it in the basket and not having to fill it out. While stickers would not be effective for students that are thirteen and fourteen, a self-evaluation would be too difficult for fourth graders to fill out. Neither system can be used for all classes. These two teachers smartly used the best reward system for the age group they were teaching.

Both teachers made class interactive. In Ms. Goodell's class we would do exercises in our math books as a class and would randomly be called on to answer questions. In Ms. Merifield's class we would go around the class to correct sentences, in the homework, by adding punctuation, capital letters, spelling changes, or anything else that was needed for the sentence to be written correctly. We would also go over the vocabulary homework in class. Because we went over homework in class we were expected to have at least eighty percent on each assignment and anything less resulted in lunch detention until it was raised. In this aspect of teaching these two teachers are relatively similar, though as expected the fourth grade teacher was a lot less demanding. She would expect students to be getting the right answers after going over it in class, but wasn't taking away our time. An interactive class keeps students paying attention, although going from person to person may make students slack of until it's their turn it also assures each student must answer. Also, Ms. Merifield's students would pay attention for the purpose of not having to get detention. On the other hand, randomly calling on students makes it more likely for each student to do the problem. Both ways of selecting students keep

students actively participating in class.

These two teachers regularly followed lesson plans and were able to adapt if needed. Ms.

Merifield had the homework for the week written on a whiteboard at the side of the room, along with what would be done in class. Ms. Goodell would have students write in planners the homework for the

night and would usually tell the class ahead of time if something different from the normal routine was

happening, like a trip to the school library or a gym day. Another indicator that each teacher had

thorough lesson plans is that whenever we had a substitute teacher they would know what was

happening. In Ms. Merifield's class students would try to distract her from the topic at hand. Although it worked sometimes, the next day was always incredible difficult to catch up to the schedule. Ms. Goodell and Ms. Merifield were excellent planners and stuck to lesson plans as much as possible.

Scheduled into both teachers agenda was reading. Both had different approaches on grading the

amount a student read. In Ms. Goodell's class parents would tell Ms. Goodell their student read by signing their planner. Later, if the book was in the schools system, we would be tested on our comprehension of the book. Ms. Merifield had her class write book notes for a each chapter and later write a book report using the notes, turning both in to be graded. Although a tedious task most students

no longer practice, it was helpful in learning, not only how to write a report, but also note taking skills. After the book report was written and turned in we weren't required to take notes on the book, only read and have a book for silent reading in class. In both classes most students read the required amount and excelled at reading.

Obviously the age of students comes into play a lot in these two teachers way of teaching. A fourth grader can't be expected to write detailed notes on a book and an eighth grader is more likely to lie to get there parent to sign something they didn't do. However one of the things good teachers need to understand is the best way to teach the age group they will be teaching. One teaching method can not be the mold for all classes. These methods may have worked because of the students being taught. The school I went to was small and there were very few disruptive kids. Detention wasn't something you wanted to get, so we paid attention in class. In different circumstances the way of teaching these two teachers used could be considered bad. Obviously if they switched positions, but possibly if they went to the school in the next town that was twice as big and far more diverse. There is not one good way of teaching that is good, a good method can considered bad depending on the students being taught.

Thesis Statement and One Paragraph

All good teachers may not have the same teaching styles. Two of my best teachers growing up had completely different teaching styles. One was kind and kept things fun and gave plenty of rewards using positive reinforcement. The other was when I was quite a few years older and she was a lot stricter and was one to use negative reinforcement to reward use. Both teachers did a fantastic job teaching as most of the students they taught were over prepared for the next year, rather then having just enough information or not enough. Not all good teachers have identical teaching styles, in fact two teachers with opposite teaching practices can both be considered good or bad.