HW42-Significance

A school system based solely on testing is going to fail as most test are forms of memorization.


While high school is based over a 4 years period of learning, the SAT being one of the most important test in a students life, only is placed in a span of 4 hours. With students parents pressuring them to do well on this test, it causes many students to think it is make or break. They are pressured by society to perform well on this test or will be considered an idiot or worse, an under achiever. They think this test will be the answer to the outcome of their lives, do well and you will have a great life seems to be the motto flying around.
To me personally, testing seems a way of ranking students and while some kids have equal ambition to do well, they are simply not test takers and become anxious or blank out when taking tests. I only place so much value on testing because I do not think there is really an alternative that would be equally beneficial and how much a student knows.
This topic matters functionally because society is the majority of the pressure that is placed on doing well. Although it in turn can cause kids to perform well, the constant pressure that we face causes us to think if we make one mistake we will not be able to do quite as well in life. The whole learning from your mistakes has been out the window for a while now.

HW41

Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York, NY: Basic, 2010. Print.
Divided into chapters on how each specific aspect in undermining American education. Talks in depth about testing and includes benefits and problems with it. Deals mainly with the school reform debate. Also talks about faults in the "No child left behind" project.

Very interesting book, Interesting how it gives the reason on why we rely on standardized testing so much more than other countries. Numbers are easier to compare than personalities. Diane Ravitich shows why our present day education does more harm than good based on what is actually being taught in the classroom. I like how it talks about more than just curriculum and breaks down how different children learn.

Johnson, Dale D., and Bonnie Johnson. High Stakes: Poverty, Testing, and Failure in American Schools. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2006. Print.
Written in story form on how a very impoverished elementary school was affected through standardized testing through having less "common knowledge" Touches on how instead of learning from the basics and moving up gradually, the school was given the same curriculum as a rich white school and was therefore unable to prepare students properly.

I found this book interesting because it explained how careless the board of education gives each school the same curriculum to every elementary school. Some children come in with certain knowledge and ability while others do not. Some parents are not able to read to there children at night and do homework with them while some are, yet still they are expected to learn the same stuff instead of splitting the class based on ability to make it more even and to group students with other children that are closer to there current level.


Lawler, Jennifer. Drug Testing in Schools: a Pro/con Issue. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2000. Print.
Discusses how the debate whether drug testing in schools should be allowed. Shows peoples reactions and thoughts on drug tests and many articles by NCAA coaches with what they think about the process of drug testing players.

I thought this book was interesting and the part I found most appealing was a coach from NCAA football team discussing drug tests and his approach towards them. They do not give his name or the institution he is coaching for but he is under the opinion that drug tests used to find marijuana, cocaine etc. should be used more and less drug tests should be used for athletic enhancers such as steroids. I found it interesting that a coach would in a sense support steroid use and as a head coach I would imagine he would know the side affects of steroids and be completely against it.


other sources researched:

Lewis, James. Implementing Total Quality in Education to Produce Great Schools: Transforming the American School System. Westbury, NY: National Center to Save Our Children, 1993. Print.

Schneider, Mark R. Disconnect: Why Americans Don't Understand the World and How We Can Learn. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2009. Print.

Homework 42 first part:

Urban, Wayne J., and Jennings L. Wagoner. American Education: a History. New York: Routledge, 2009. Print.
Goes all the way back from pre colonial education to present day education. Talks a lot about how the education in America was changed when the British came over. Brings up testing very briefly but places more focus on old education and is written as a time line.

I liked reading parts of this book because it talked about native american education methods and how they were not even looked at when European settlers came over. They were ironically quite similar to the practices that the native americans had. I also think that the changes in education made throughout history rarely had the childrens purpose in mind.


Zhao, Yong. Catching up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD, 2009. Print.
Talks about how education needs to be changed in America because of the technology and globalization our society has been faced with. Does a good job of showing what is being done right in the American school system but seems to argue that the foundation that it is based on is wrong and that we are currently at a crossroads. Often mentions how we place less emphasis on the creative part of school and more on the effectiveness of school, where other countries are heading in the other direction.

I found this book to be a bit boring because it was so similar to other books I looked at. Not much of what it said really stood out to me, very few original ideas. I certainly did not agree that the creative part of school is becoming less and less because although many schools are having there music and art programs cut out due to budget cuts, I think now more so than ever teachers are getting more creative with their assignments because it will inspire the students more and I think that often basic work from a textbook is just simply not done by the students because it is so grueling and boring to them.

HW40

Interview #1:

I asked my father what his experience in high school was like and although not a word for word response, this was his general feeling:

High school for me was a time to figure shit out, you come out of middle school thinking you run the place and get humbled by the seniors of high school. High school served as a period for me to learn about myself. My parents getting divorced did not help the situation out. I don't like to share it but I dropped out midway through my sophmore year. At the time it seemed like the best thing to do. I had a car and was in a band so it felt right leaving school. My parents were not for it but at this point they had little hope left in me. Schools seemed too repetitive. Everyday I would come in and do the same thing over and over, and if that wasn't repetitive enough, I had to repeat 9th grade and learn the material over. I wish I could say more about my high school experience, but I just wasn't there long enough to have the full experience. Oh, and I definitely was not a jock.

Interview with Soccer coach on what it takes to be successful in school:

You have to understand that school in about earning things. You have to see school as a chance and privilege rather than something you are forced to do. School is an opportunity to make something great out of your life. To have the things you want. No school can force you to want it. It is mostly internal. Now of course the school you are at can help you but you need to have the drive and ambition. My father used to always tell me " if ambition could be forced on someone, you would be the smartest kid in the world" It means that I was very smart but I was lazy and did not really want it. You look back the rest of your life with regret on not working hard enough in school. It is the most straightforward way or path to have a good life. You need to put in your share of work. It is not the teachers job to be on your back, you have to get your shit done.

Interview with out of school friend on testing

I dont think its right at all. You work and work through high school with hopes of making it into the best possible college and the majority of it is a make or break test they call the SAT. It comes down to 4 hours of testing that will be the biggest factor in a lot of schools admission. You fuck up here, and you can kiss your parents ivy league goodbye. Two words loom in your head. Safety School. How does the college know that my school is harder to get an A+ than at another. I work to get A's in Sociology where other kids merely sit in English class and text there way through the week. The process is so completely rigged.

Asking sister in Germany why she thinks school started:

This is a stupid question yet it is kind of interesting. School was probably started to teach people skills they need for life. Which is ironic because that is what we should be learning today. I think school now is just too norm for people to not send there kids there. Without it parents dont see a solid second option. Homeschooling seems like too much "effort" on the parents part. School is ruined by movies. Movies about high school put too much emphasis on there being cliques. Teens are then relating to the movies in high school causing cliques to be more important throughout high schools.

Interview with school friend on school as an escape latter


School takes you places, even if you start out low school can get you up. You do well in school and you set yourself up for life. The work you put in can make you rich and wealthy. The problem is the reverse is not true. Well I dont know if its true completely but often rich kids who have more privileges in life but do not necessarily put in the work will still be able to go to a good colleges because of the connections they have and the money there parents have made. But still, at some point the work was put in. In that situation it is the father who worked hard in order to allow his son to have more opportunities in life. It boils down to the amount of input.

B:

All my interviews were extremely predictable which was the thing i was trying to avoid. I assume it is the questions that I asked the interviewers that caused them to turn out like this but still i expected the answers they gave me to be a little more original and well thought. The insight I had was that we all say school as a big equal sign to success and fulfilling dreams. I found one of the more interesting points written was that between school and movies. How cliques in movies cause us to put more emphasis on the group we spend our times with. This causes us to make different decisions than we would if we were not so stuck with a certain circle of friends.

New post #39

questions, ideas, and experiences


Questions:

Although the curriculum learned in school is often considered worthless in life, is it just used to teach us how to learn, placing more emphasis on having the ability to learn than the actual curriculum.

Will an Ivy league education prepare you better for life or is it merely the reputation the specific Ivy has in the job market?

If SAT is used to even the playing field, then what role do expensive 1 on 1 tutors play on helping to even the playing field?

Ideas:

An Idea I think would make sense would be to mix high schools with colleges. Sort of how Baruch high school and college have it. Only I would make the bond between stronger. I think the gap between middle school and high school is so big that they should be separated.

A school that strictly prepared kids for life and not college but still had the option of it. I think it would be a good solution for kids that do not aspire to go to college to get a leg up in the job market by doing internships and preparing resumes.

The idea to eliminate private schools would be interesting too. Who knows, maybe it would make the students that typically get into less prestigious schools more confident because of the students they are learning with...or they would just give up.


Experiences:

I remember way back when my parents were concerned about me because I was the only kid in first grade who was not able to tie my shoes, I had to wear Velcro shoes everyday and was embarrassed by it, it just became a matter of fitting in with the norm.

A school experience that I once was switching schools from private to public. It shocked me at first how different it was. The main difference to me was the fact that a public schools, the teacher is not going to care whether you fail or not because you really have to put in your share of work where at private school they will just push and be on your back to get your work done.

An experience that is always interesting is the first day back to school after the summer. It seems overwhelming because everyone has changed so much. Mixed emotions float through the air as everyone wears there new outfits. But you also realize how much people have changed from last summer.

B:

For the majority of the time we are in school, we are learning material that will rarely ever be used again in our lives. We learn about graphing limits and identifying parent functions when some of us aspire to be artists or own restaurants. I think Math as a subject is still critical for schools but I think it should be geared more towards preparing for life. Basic math should still be a necessity and can be taught in grade school and reviewed in the later years of high schools. Why not teach us how to do our taxes, or work out how credit cards work. Even in science we learn about moles and chemical bonding when it would be much more beneficial to learn about animals and survival of the fittest.
Most of what we learn is taught in elementary school. Learning how to read and write, understanding how to add and subtract. English and history continue in the later years to go in depth on what we learn in grade school. But still by high school many of us are unable to interpret advanced texts. Now regardless of whether a mother reads to her child at night, understanding text is taught in grade school but after that it is never really stressed. Through middle school and high school it drops off and goes down on the list of importance. Similar to proper grammar use.

HW #38

http://www.toondoo.com/View.toon?param=1391542

1. What insights about cool does the art integrate? What do you hope people will realize or question from their encounter with your art?

2. Describe the process of making the project - how'd you do each step? If it was a group project, what did you contribute?
3. Does making art seem cool to you? Why or why not?

1. I think my comic shows the value we place on material items and the affect they can potentially have on our lives, although my cartoon is very straight forward, the situation itself is very common in school. A students social life is can be changed completely because of materials such as clothing. It makes it revolve more around money and less around personality.
To be honest my project was pretty straight forward. After a good amount of searching google I found a program that allows you to create cartoons using different backgrounds and characters. Ideally I wanted to find a program where I could add sound but seemed to be out of luck. Recently, art adds to being part of the cool image especially in NYC. Artists used to make up what is now Soho and people respect that style of life and think it is new and original which goes hand and hand with cool.

History Essay final

Being cool and hip has become the most natural way for teens in America to mask and cover up there insecurities, it is rarely the case that we face our character flaws.
The majority of kids spend countless hours in stores carefully picking out clothing that will give them an image of cool. The area in which the clothing they choose is acceptable is such a thin line. If they dress too flamboyant, they will be looked at as a person that is trying too hard and going overboard. Dress with too little flare though and the person will be too boring and average. The style and mode of the current time changes so frequently making it extremely difficult to keep up with every move. Putting these two together makes it near impossible to truly stay in style and cool while also remaining good in school. Plus you have to find your image for personality. You need to have this role or image you relate and compare to but at the same time you have to take that image and make it seem original and effortless. The problem many teens face with school relating to cool is that working hard to do well in school is lame. But if you can some how manage to pass with little effort and work ethic than you remain cool because of the fact that you are relying on natural smartness and do not really care about it. Being cool in high school alone is a basically a full time job. You cant be seen wearing the same clothes often and you be seen working and studying hard. Slacking yet passing is one of the important factors. The interesting part of being cool in high school is that unlike many other things, you financial background is not the most critical aspect of being cool. In other words, you don't need to rely on money to be extremely cool. Of course having money will make the cause easier for you but you can get buy with spending the money you have and depending on a "careless" attitude while still being genuine and original.
The crazy part is that although the majority of people use cool to cover up character flaws by being cool, the people in our society that are at the peak of the cool mountain are not typically using it as a cover up for insecurity. This small group is the one that predicts the fads before they come. There are in a image of ahead of the game and are respected for this. There personalities do not count so much because there style of hipness can cover up for that. It is not usually purposely done so and can therefore not be referred to as insecurity. The majority of us conform to the styles of these people in some way. The style part of cool becomes so vital because it is the first thing you see when you meet someone. You first impression is always a lasting one because it is what you refer back to. For instance if are interviewing for a job and you dress extremely well and then follow up by dressing poorly you will be viewed as a well dressed person who has been dressing poorly lately as opposed to a poorly dressed person that dressed well once. The image you remember of the person is often the first one. Its sort of like a name. If you meet someone with the name Jane and your ex girlfriend happened to have the same name, you automatically relate them. First impression is vital.

A persons image and how it is perceived by others also plays a major role. Once an image of a person is determined, he constantly relates to it. For instance the jock may be naturally good at sports but equally good at school but decides to pursue his athletic talents because of his parents role. And although he could go through high school being a good student and athlete, his role of the jock allows him to rely to heavily on sports and his education to be squandered.

A ruined image causes a person "true colors" come out. Tiger Woods for instance played the role of the focused and extremely talented golfer that truly enjoyed the game. His passion and dedication seemed unreal. Little was known about his social life and people assumed it was average and he remained loyal to his family. His impressive golfing career was enough for people to respect him. But now with all these women admitting that they had affairs with him, his character and image come into question. Although his golf talents likely remain exactly as they were before, companies such as gatorade, nike and bing no longer want to sponsor him. Technically they were sponsoring him for his golf abilities and not his social life. It is interesting how in some cultures, including men in college are respected for how many women they are able to do sex with but when a professional athlete does it, it is considered a bad image for children and people who look up to him. I am not defending what Tiger Woods did in any way it is just interesting.
In conclusion, It seems like although not all of use cool as way to cover our insecurity, the majority of us feel the need to because we are in deep denial of our character flaws. Cool is merely an opinion and image of someone that you would like to see yourself as. Everyone wants to be someone else. We constantly strive to be someone we are not and can never be truly satisfied with who we are. Although some people claim to be themselves and respectively, some people get quite close. No one is completely satisfied with themselves. There would be little point to living to we were completely happy. We have ambition to make money and be successful. Some have it more than others but to an extent we are born with this idea of "get rich and famous" we set our standards of cool too high.

History Homework #36 Triangle Comments

Arden,

I enjoyed reading your essay as it was very in depth. I think the foundation of it is very strong and with some solid editing you would have a great paper. The fact that you used examples and direct quotes from some of your interviews is helpful in portraying direct examples of what some people are like as opposed to just speaking from opinion of what and how you think people would respond. My favorite section that you wrote in your essay was the rules of cool. It was written in a very honest and straight forward with an alternative approach. As far as improvement goes on what you already have. I think by labeling your draft ideas in a mess, you already sort of know that organization of your essay is going to be vital for it. What is very good though is the fact that you use many hard facts including numbers which add strength to your essay as a whole. I think you should definitely expand on your ideas of the rules it takes to be successful at cool and hip. Some of your other arguments are not as relevant to your thesis which I think you could drop and therefore make fewer arguments but stronger ones. Its often quality not quantity. I do look forward to reading your final draft and think you have the potential to make a good draft an excellent final.

Omar,

Although you are not technically not in my triangle partner group. One of my partners failed to submit there rough draft essay so i figured i would read your essay. For starters, great essay with solid points all around. At this point I think the points you have are strong enough to squeeze out 1000 words for your essay. I dont think you need to add any more arguments, i just think that you should expand on the current ones and provide more supporting arguments for them.
The most interesting point and argument that you provide in your rough draft is the one about how important connection and touch is in our lives. It immediately reminded me of the book Tuesdays with Morrie. In the book one of the characters talks about how important touch and connection is in our lives. We are never touched and held enough as children. Although we are held a lot, the connection cannot be used enough. No amount of phone calls and emails can substitute for physically seeing and connecting with them. When you write that we are helplessly slaves of cool you immediately move on to another topic. I think this is a shame because that phrase really catches the reader and think you could expand on how and why we are slaves of cool because that phrase is so interesting but is not quite straight forward enough to be not supported with any arguments.