Hi, everyone. I hope you are all having a fun and relaxing break. I was just wondering if we really assigned an essay. At first I didn't think we were, but now I'm unsure. Does anyone know?

Idiom List

Hi there! I was looking up idioms out of boredom and I found this list of 66 idioms that have their meanings included. It isn't a lot, but I found it neat and I discovered some new phrases that I never heard of before like "a penny for your thoughts". If you're interested, here is the link.

Poor Education is a Lock with its Key Thrown Away

Everyone on the blog so far has said similar things, so we can conclude that the education system is antiquated. The majority can agree that this system, designed to help us improve and prepare for the real world, has; in fact, put a damper on our learning experience. However, rather than complaining about the grand-father system what are some ways that we as students can improve it? I was thinking a system this out of date probably hasn't been fixed because it's
simply too hard to change something that has been designed to be applicable to American students years to come. I figured the best way for our system to improve would be through the board of education taking the time out to do a poll, and genuinly ask students how they believe the system can be changed for the better. I assumed that since they took the time out to keep this obsolete system then they have plenty more to fix it. At the end the day, for this to be a success they would have to drop their parochial views and be open to change.  Because change is exactly what needs to happen with this method as schools continue to have new and different generations of students who are much too modern for something that has little to no impacting critique.
How do you all think we can improve our school system?
What measures would we  have to take to have a more sufficient method of education for future students?

Who Wore It Best

The education system that is implemented in our schools is designed to prepare the next generation of learning individuals so that they are able to go out into the world and make something out of themselves.  This key concept is the root of the issue.  Many would say that the whole point of high school is to shape us students into mature, hardworking adults so that we may be successful when we enter the real world.  This stays true to schooling and I agree that High School does prepare us for the real world but that is not the only reason we go to school.  From our first days of school back in elementary, things were obviously different because we weren't all competing for the best test score, or arguing about who was involved in the most extracurricular activities.  We were focused on the joy of making new friends and establishing bonds with our teachers but now, in high school, it has become a battle of competition.  It is a "who wore it best" type of situations. So many students are focused on who the top-ranked individual is or who has the highest score in their Math or English class.  Speaking for myself especially, I wholeheartedly believe that this battle for competition that has been carrying on for so very long should come to an end.  No matter what GPA we have, or what rank we might be, in the end, it won't matter because we are all equal.  Being that we are juniors here at Mayfair, I think we can all agree that High School has just become a battle for dominance.  Whether it be popularity or valedictorian, we can all achieve great things because we are all equal.  We are all people and we slip up and make mistakes but that is the meaning of life.  We learn from our mistakes so that we can correct them and develop as individuals.  Nobody is better than someone else just because they might have a higher GPA than that person.  This issue causes a domino effect that can be seen in our schools.  With the battle for dominance, it causes some students to not try as hard in school because they tell themselves that they aren't good enough.  That they won't be able to amount to anything because that one smart kid is in their class.  This idea of being superior to the rest only brings trouble down the road because when we go out into the world, there is nobody that is going to be at the top of the class.  Nobody who will have more friends than that one new girl.  Or the fact that someone is more involved than everyone else.  In the end, it won't matter.  To conclude, if we try our best and do what we love, we are making the most out of high school.  By setting goals and pushing ourselves to do better, who can pull us down.  When we compare ourselves to others, it only degrades us.  This is your life, do not spend it comparing yourself to anybody.  We are meant for so much more, we were not put on this Earth to live someone else's life.

Modifying The Educational System

In my essay, I explained how unnecessary school has become. Education is important to keep everything in society running smoothly. Our country would be even more chaotic then it already is without education; but I do believe that the educational system needs some modifications. The way that the educational system is currently set up, it does not allow students individual options, more specifically ones that offer opportunities that will benefit them throughout their lives. It is quite silly to make children generation after generation take the same classes that they most likely are not going to use during their daily lives.

However, Ms. Chick, the algebra 2 teacher made an interesting argument yesterday that I could not deny. She said that although it is true that majority of the things that we learn in school is irrelevant, there will always be that one time when you actually have to use the material that you learn. I would rather learn material that I am going to use nine times out of ten rather than material I am only going to use minimally throughout my life. Also I think that it is highly important for kids to be able to learn in a comfortable environment, and the way that schools are structured now are completely the opposite. Many people think that it takes money to efficiently run schools, and there is a lot of truth in that but one thing that I do not think is true, is that money is the sole factor for the sustainability of a school.

In conclusion, more options should be available to students, this would make them more ficus and interested, causing the dropout rate to decrease and to make sure that their future's are secured.

Success

Many people have different opinions about what they believe education is.  The world has most people believing that being educated means excelling in mathematics and English.  Although these subjects are important to know, it doesn’t make someone stupid or unambitious if they don’t pursue or excel in these subjects.  I think it’s important for schools and teachers to start supporting and inspiring their students to follow their real goals and desires.  People constantly feel pressured into pushing their passions aside in order to achieve society’s idea of success.

Education

In the article written by Tod Gitlin it explains how it is time for the education system to adjust. For they must now take in to consideration that unlike the past kids are now exposed to a vast amount of technology. All of these technological advancements such as television, Snapchat, and Google have adjusted the way kids process information. For now they are so use to receiving all of their information quick and unfiltered they do not fully recognize what of which they are being told is garbage or important. They are flooded with so much information so swiftly, and if they are watching television at the touch of a button can move on to be bambarded with more. This is why the education system needs to be adjusted, to help this generation of kids and the future generations learn to gain and comprehend the lessons they are being taught. As well as learn to not loose interest in the topic they are being taught in less than a few minutes.

The Change of Education

Education is very important to many schools; however, some schools go to a far extent to achieve the goal they want. This was demonstrated in "Stop the Madness" by Diane Ravitch. The NCLB wanted students to be proficient in areas like math and reading. However, they didn't take in to consideration about homeless kid, special needs, children who don't speak English, and students who just don't care. It is unrealistic to put goals and not take into consideration things like special needs. They are so focused on grades that they forget the importance of teaching and actually teaching children things they can use in life. Some feel that school should be more than just test and should teach kids things that will be useful outside of school. Ravitch believes that all students should have a fair shot at a great education. Also school is very important, because it determines what college you get into and whether you get a good job or a bad one. Since, the NCLB is putting pressure on the school and the teachers its causing the teachers to act in a way that is not necessarily right. For example teachers start teaching questions that seem exactly identical to the test. She suggest  that we should work together to help build are schools back to greatness. Also saying how we have free public education, and other places like Africa don't even have schools to teach their lessons in.

Language Learning

While I was reading Daine Ravitch's excerpt, "Stop the Madness", I realized how flawed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) policy is. In short, it required all students to be "proficient" at math and reading by 2014. This was obviously filled with the good intention of making our students smarter so we can catch up in the global education competition. However it has one fatal flaw, its strict and rigid goals for achieving this. Ravitch does a great job at explaining the downsides of the system so I won't go into too many details but the one I would like to stress is the differences each student has that could affect tests scores. Some people don't have English as a first language so they are naturally disadvantaged. It's worse if they are only beginning to learn it as they make their way through high school. I know people who had a hard time at first because they had to learn English in order to understand what was going on in their other classes. After much hard work they now know English well enough to be successful in their classes, but it took time. They did become good students yet it took them much longer to become one as a result of their disability. The strict and rigid goals of NCLB caused schools who did  not reach the goals to be heavily punished. My friends had no control over which language they grew up learning and the schools don't have much control over how fast someone can learn a entire new language. Imagine what would happen if a school had the majority of their students be English learners. That school would be punished severely as it couldn't meet the goals of NCLB. This is a very unlikely situation but the thought of my friends being the laggers in a strict education policy that they didn't want to be, or even know that they were, participating in left a bad taste in my mouth that emphasized the flaw in the NCLB policy. How do you feel about this policy? Do you know anyone who had to undergo the entire process of learning a new language?

"War on Boys"

Recently, Ms. Fletcher has shown us all some videos on creativity.  The current education system is negatively affecting students' sense of creativity.  As it so happens, schools are specifically hurting the creativity of boys.  In particular, elementary schools kill the creativity of boys because they punish the natural restlessness of boys.  Psychologist Michael Thompson states that "Girls behavior is the gold standard in schools.  Boys are treated like defective girls."  The fact that boys receive 70% of suspensions in grades K-12 confirms Thompson's idea. Christina Summers,  a former philosophy professor and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, gives another supportive fact that "compared with girls, boys earn lower grades, win fewer honors, and they're far more less likely to go to college".  By punishing boys for their own natural tendencies, they lose their imagination and creativity because it will only cause them further pain.

There are several helpful reforms that schools could enact.  To begin, more recesses should be given in elementary schools because boys socially participate better outside of the classroom.  Also, recess is a strong need for children and it has been on the defensive for several decades.  Since the 1970's, 50% of recess time has been taken away.  This is important time for children to embrace their needs and plenty of time must be given to it.  Most importantly, there must be less punishments for boys for energetic behavior.  Boys and girls are different and have different needs.  The needs of both boys and girls must be addressed.  By giving less punishments for boyish behavior, boys will be more creative and successful.  By helping boys, everyone will benefit.

Currently, third-wave feminism is taking much focus away from boys.  This is dangerous and frightening for everyone.  Boys are critical to society.  They make up half of the population and take up the majority of STEM jobs.  Men also tend to make more commitments to the workplace than women do.  As Camille Paglia, a woman professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, puts it, "If civilization had been left in female hands, we would still be living in grass huts."  Although this statement is controversial, it has some truth to it that men have helped improve the quality of life for all people.  To dismiss men's issues is to dismiss everyone's issues.

A very educational video that this whole post is based upon is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFpYj0E-yb4.

Introvert vs. Extrovert

     After watching the Ted Talk video in class about how education destroys creativity, I was curious too see other topics discussed on this program and watched a few on my own.  The one that really captivated my attention was "The Power of an Introvert" discussed by Susan Cain.  An introvert is defined as a shy, reticent person; whereas an extrovert is the opposite - an outgoing, overtly expressive person.  Cain introduces an important statistic that three out of four people are introverts but are pressured to be an 'ideal extrovert' by social pressures or the school environment.  School environments enforce children to work together in a group effort. In some aspects, this principle is great.  It teaches the children how to work in a group and exchange ideas, important tools necessary to obtain as an adult.  However, it is not good to constantly enforce group projects because eventually people may lose sense of their individuality.  By pressuring introverts to be more extroverted, society loses the capacity of this generation's introverts.  Cain adds that introverts exceed extroverts in academics because of their work ethic, so they should not be pressured to change. Being either an introvert or an extrovert is great, society needs both. She concludes that schools should "stop the madness for constant group work" and that everyone should "unplug and get inside of their own minds" to discover themselves.  What do you think? Should the education be set up specifically for extroverts or introverts? What are some ways to incorporate both work ethics and personalities into improving the education system?

Here's the link to the Ted Talk
https://youtu.be/c0KYU2j0TM4

Courses

Education is an important part of the social system since it prepares us for life yet not everything we learn is actually relevant to our occupation. I understand that the subjects we learn are usually all important yet if you are not going to major in anything math related then going pass algebra 1 is really not needed. Taking all these history classes does not seem relevant either unless someone wants to get into a political occupation when they get older. I know we must have some background in the nation’s government  system and we must know a bit about U.S history but going on to learn more will not help the people that want to pursue something in the field of science. I believe if students already know what they want to pursue at a young age they should take extra classes on that subject. For example if a student wants to major in science that person should be able to take an extra science course instead of  a history course.

High School Should Tailor of Students

(Let's ignore the fact that this being posted past midnight because I totally didn't fall asleep on accident)

High school is a place where kids develop in all aspects of themselves, mentally and physically. Students are required by the A-G requirements to take a type of classes, and a certain number of years for each category. I personally think that the school system requires students to take certain classes to long. For example, high school requires students to take 4 years of a history class. Students should be required to take 2 years of history so people know the basis of American and World history, and then be able to use those other two years to be in class that is more tailored to what they want to do after high school. If a student wants to be an accountant, they should only have to take two years of basic history instead of four, and then use those extra two years of class time to take an accounting class without the added pressure of having to memorize the Amendments or knowing the dates of all the presidencies. This goes for any kind of career as well. If you wanted to be a politician, then the 4 years of history is more applicable to that person, but any math passed Algebra 2 is not necessary. I see high school as a place where students should get a starting knowledge in the career they plan to pursue, but instead, a lot of students see it as just another mandatory schooling year that teaches you little to nothing on what you want to do later on in life.

Not a Fan of Public Schooling

I have never been a huge fan of the public school system in America for many reasons. I always felt like public school presented limitations despite the whole "free education" thing. Free education is a gift and luxury that we are able to receive luckily. However, I despise common core curriculum and how school emphasizes test scores more than learning. Getting a good score on a test does not necessarily mean that we fully understand the content and have actually learned. High school expectations and curriculum limit students from achieving their full potential. A through G requirements are good guidelines in preparation for college, however, I feel like as we get older, it would be better to focus on the classes we are actually interested in taking and drop the ones we aren't interested in. We shouldn't have to take a certain amount of years in math if we never plan on issuing a career involving math. This allows us to focus more on what we're good at and like, therefore further developing our skills instead of struggling to balance everything at once. College enables you to do this, however if we started that process in high school, figuring out what your major is in college should be easier. General education should still be established, however, there should be some reforms in order to benefit students more.

Can a Dolphin Walk on Land?: The Flaw of our System

   While doing this assignment I have noticed the major flaws of the education system today. Schools should start teaching students so they can learn the content and not just memorize it. This system of memorizing facts is not beneficial for students, because they are eventually going to forget it later. However, by implementing test taking over and over again, students feel like they have to know everything to get that good grade, so they start memorizing flashcards and notes. 

   Testing is used to asses how much a student has learned, but if a student receives a good grade on the test from pure memorization, than is that really learning? In addition, tests don't measure the altitude of someone's knowledge. Everyone has their different strengths and weaknesses and shouldn't be tested the same way. For example, if a dolphin, which is known to be the smartest marine animal, hypothetically is asked to walk on land, it won't be able to (unless Ursula changes its fins for feet), but that doesn't make the dolphin any less smart. This is where our education system is "wack" because testing everyone, who have their own unique traits, the same thing puts others at a disadvantage and some at an advantage. 

   School boards should start to change the way students' are being taught or else students will leave into the "real world" knowing nothing.

Unfair Funding

School funds comprise from real estate taxes. California is described as "flat", in terms of its capability to provide funding to districts that have a high poverty rate, meaning that there is no increase in funding to school districts that are located in areas that are in poverty. I feel like funding schools this way is unfair. Arcadia, for example, is known to have a substantially high amount of school funds through real estate taxes. Therefore, they are able to afford programs and materials that can further a student's education. However, school districts where poverty is present means schools are unable to purchase basic materials for students, because they do not receive as much school funds through real estate tax. Thus, students in these impoverish areas are unable to receive equal education as students in areas that are not impoverish. I believe students should be able to receive equal education even if they are living in an impoverish area, because every one should be able to receive good education.


- What are your thoughts on how schools are funded?

- What improvements should be made?

Curriculums Incorporating Creativity

Recently, in one of our assignments, we were asked to express our thoughts and include our input on how or what we believed could promote creativity to help better the economic situations and future stance of the world. This situation of lack of creativity is a serious issue that has concerned the world due to the fact that the ability to think outside of the ordinary and have originality is something that is quite essential to come across new innovative ideas that can improve the world around us. Often, the educational system has been criticized for its strong emphasis and focus on test preparations. These programs which force the school systems into spending time on strict and intensive standardized test preparations take away any opportunity of incorporating creativity into education. This leaves the worrisome question of how it is possible to include and promote creativity into our curriculums. Although some have suggested the addition of a class dedicated to creativity alone, in my personal point of view, the best way of truly and effectively placing the involvement of creativity into our education would be to incorporate creativity into tasks that are already required in the school curriculums.

Excessive Education

Yesterday, when we grouped up into groups of two, my partner and I were reading Let Teenagers Try Adulthood, by Leon Botstein.  We discussed Bostein's belief on how high school is providing teenagers with excessive education.  I agree that high school is excessive and that students should graduate two years earlier than they currently do.  Everything we learn in school will not all be used in our daily lives or will not be used at all.  Also, the things we learn in middle school are being taught again in high school.  If schools were to abolish two years of high school, it would provide many people with opportunities of exploring different careers and pathways of life.  Therefore, they could specialize and take classes related to what they plan to become.  Sometimes I would wonder why it is required that students who want to become a doctor or chef are required to take a class in art.  I do believe that high school is a great place to explore a variety of things, but a couple of those years of high school could be used to tour deeper into what one has considered as their potential future.  Do you guys agree that we should graduate school two years earlier than we currently do?

Classes of a Different Nature

The idea of this traditional education system has become less valuable, because it is a system that repetitively teaches a lot of content that we will likely never use.  I personally think that this education system should be reconstructed in a way that teaches students everyday life scenarios.  Perhaps, if there were classes such as racism, politics, poverty, and just a class that centers on what students want to do in life, then maybe students can enter into a realistic standpoint of reality.  Instead, we learn the same things repetitively with the same contents getting harder and harder as we progress in school.  Of course, it is valid to have reading, writing, and arithmetic, but that should only be taught up to elementary or junior high.  Then, for the last years of high school we can learn contents of a different nature.  These reforms will be a better preparation for students, because they will at least have some idea of what life really is.

Education a test?

Education should not be just a concern about test scores. If the students are learning the content and understand what is being taught, that is all that really matters. The whole system of scoring people with a grade is pointless because a kid can be a good student but not do any work. Leaving the student with a bad grade even though he had learned the content. Also test scores classify people all wrong. For example in Spanish class, a person does not need know how to speak Spanish to pass the class, all they have to do is memorize the conjugations. Then get As on the tests without learning any of the content. This proves the point that test scores do not reflect if a student has learned anything at all. The person just learns the content for the test then forgets it the next day. Students are not to blame for this because they merely work the system to their advantage. Kids if given the opportunity to, will choose the easiest way of doing things. So the education system should change to help teach students not test them.

Bring The Classes Back

I will always be disappointed in the fact that we don't have a driver's education or home economics class at school. I think these classes are important and necessary; they're useful and beneficial to our lives. Sure, we can take a driver's education on our own time, but it would be so much more easier and convenient if the class was offered at school. The only class that is the closest to classes like driver's education and home economics is health, and even that class is only a semester. Schools deprive us of classes that provide useful information; most of the classes we take don't give us knowledge that we can use in our everyday lives. For example, home economics teaches us how to cook, which are skills that we can use everyday, but knowing how to balance chemical equations won't help our everyday lives. I think schools need to realize the importance of teaching subjects that students can benefit from. What do think about this? Do you agree or disagree?

Standardized Testing

Even before we were assigned an essay about the current education system in America, there was always one issue that stuck out to me, and that issue is standardized testing.  More specifically, the extremely large emphasis on standardized testing.  After being in school for a long time, I have noticed how school would always teach the same few subjects: reading, mathematics, science, and history, and back in the early days, we would always take what used to be the CST every year.  I agree with the fact that they are important subjects to learn and very beneficial, however, it always seems like students are being trained solely to pass tests rather than actually learning new and preparing for the future. Leon Botstein even writes in his article Let Teenagers Try Adulthood that "the rules of high school turn out not to be the rules of life."

What all of this tells me is that the two things school does not do are teach life skills and help students improve on their creativity. In her article Stop the Madness, Diane Ravitch points out that "test taking skills took precedence over knowledge", which clearly shows the emphasis that schools put on standardized tests.  Furthermore, while she explains what she believes schools should be able to do, she writes " We want to prepare them for a useful life. We want them to be able to think for themselves when they are out in the world on their own". My question is this: Do schools actually prepare students for the future and help them think independently, or do they only teach students how to pass a few tests? What do you all think about this?

"Necessities"

The common reality of our schooling system is, you need to pass it (whatever the subject may be), your GPA should look better than the rest, or imagine how this could increase your chances to a better college or university. All things that we as students have heard throughout our lives because it's just that important to our parents, teachers and of course, us. We all push our selves to the limit as students to try and pass the standardized tests because after all of the work it all leads to a test, which will eventually lead to the final grade that will define us. However I would like to know something, why  is a letter grade that important? Why do we have to walk around with a label tagging along, telling whether we are applicable for the college or not?  Of course, we need them to tell if someone is smart or not but why is it this way. Everything would be much easier and peaceful if we were all on the same level when it came to education. No one would strive compete and become the best at everything for the fact that others would look up to them and not at them or down on them. Sure, competing to fulfill your innermost desires is awesome all in all but is it necessary?

The True Meaning of Valedictorian?

After reading "Best in Class" by Margaret Talbot, I started to think of what it really means to be valedictorian and how the title should be earned. To be valedictorian is to be the top student academically among your peers, but, for me, this is a bad way to gauge who truly is the top student. Elective courses and sports are not weighted like a core class so someone may have a GPA lower than the valedictorian by a hundredth percent of a difference and some may consider that unfair. Colleges are always looking for the most rounded-out student yet the valedictorians seem to hold some leverage over student-athletes or students involved in clubs. Therefore, who really should be declared the valedictorian? The student who balances between class, sport and club or the student who sticks to classes only?  Personally, I think the more rounded-out student should be declared valedictorian. A valedictorian based on who did more extra curricular activities - which is what colleges look for anyways, you challenging yourself to multiple tasks while maintaining a high GPA - is a better way to measure who really tried to be the best all around. What do you guys think? Who should be named valedictorian?

Creativity in the Classroom

The question on whether creativity should be in the classroom was brought up in our last weekend essay. Many high school subjects in our modern education system focus primarily on rubrics and multiple choice tests, which really isn't beneficial for the student in the future. In fact, Writer David Barboza discusses how schools in Shanghai, China, strictly base their education and learning to test scores, thus achieving number one in the global education performance. But they are missing one huge component, creativity, This lack in the ability to think critically and independently leads to the loss in innovation which tends to come hand-in-hand with creativity. Furthermore, innovation is essential for the growth of the individual and the nation.

In my opinion, I think that there shouldn't be class on creativity, but rather that every class hold some aspect of creativity. For example, maybe in history class, students should work together to find and understand meanings and connections within the assigned history period, rather than have the teacher lecture on the subject for an hour, five days a week. In the end, education should benefit the individual, not the test scores.

The Guy Who "Sued" the School System

A few days ago, I was able to watch this interesting video that has to do with the topic of education. So I suggest everyone watch this interesting video that comments on the real problem of the education system.------

I feel like I can watch this video over and over again and I am amazed every time. A guy by the name of Prince EA created this video confronting the school system about every single flaw. Prince introduces the quote by Albert Einstein preaching that, " Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." The sad truth of this quote is that most people do life such a life believing that they are stupid. Letter grades play a huge part in making those people feel like they are not as smart as others. Using a letter grade system only gives students the motivation to compete. As a student, I feel like my whole life in education has been one big competition. In high school, the competition changes into an even harder race to becoming valedictorian. We compete for this spot, yet most students do not rightfully deserve it. Most of the time, a valedictorian can be described as student who does anything to raise their GPA. This is similar to other average students who are given work and asked to complete it for a good grade. For example, I personally hate mathematics; however, I will do anything I can to make sure my grade is high enough by the time the quarter or semester ends. This implies the idea of working in order to pass. Unfortunately, I feel like my main concern in school has evolved to only focusing on the letter grade instead of the actual material. It is also interesting that the schools that are successful with education tend to use better tactics such as collaborative work. On the other hand, schools in America have tried to introduce programs that are designed to improve Americas education system, yet these programs tend to come off as annoying and irrelevant. Why is that? What do schools with successful education systems have that lower educated school systems lack? 

P.S. Watch the video! There's so many topics I can go on and on about! What do you guys think? 

Testing in Shanghai

In the excerpt "Shangahi Schools' Approach Pushes Students to Top of Tests", author David Barboza explore the academic and intellectual environment of Chinese classrooms. He describes the education system as too dependent on tests. He then continues to discuss how Chinese students tend to deprive themselves of creativity because they are focused on the goal of test success. China is in a quandary because they have a lack of occupations that require creativity, such as entrepreneurs and innovators. To the contrary, the Chinese have higher test scores than the students of the United States. The main questions I pose to you is as follows: Should the U.S. place more weight more on tests in lieu of  assignments and projects? Is it reasonable to give up our creativity for a stronger, more competitive population in the educational world?

Just How Important is Discipline?

Our current education system, Common Core, focuses on improving the students' critical thinking. However, it overlooks an important aspect of education-- discipline. Over the times, our education system has been declining in strictness, and thus leading to less obedient students. I believe that this is a major flaw in our education system. As can be seen in Barboza's Article, "Shanghai Schools' Approach Pushes Students to Top of Tests," simply having obedient students can have a profound effect on their test scores--though at the cost of their ability to think critically. What do you think? Is discipline truly an important factor in the education system?

How Creative Are You?

Take a moment to reminisce on your early years. Do you remember how creative we used to be? From making imaginary friends, giving inanimate objects (such as dolls or action figures) personalities, jumping across furniture because "the floor was lava"...  Heck, if someone asked our younger selves to draw a brand new invention to fix-- let's say-- global warming, we could probably come up with a creative doodle within minutes. What happened to this once-natural ability?

I would assume that a lot of us can agree that school has taken a toll on our creative abilities (I'm sure that video Ms. Fletcher showed us convinced us all that our creativity has been tampered with). In fact, that video really opened my eyes, and I never noticed how much grades shaved my creativity from fat to lean. To those of you that are dominated by AP classes: Do you have free time to be creative along with the loads of homework you are assigned?

Here are some questions to consider:

• How creative do you all consider yourself to be? 
• Do you want to nurture this ability back to its full potential, or do you not really care? 
• Do you have a method to harnessing creativity?
• In what ways do you feel school has taken a toll on your creative outlet? (Or do you think school hasn't affected this ability at all?)

On Teachers

Here in America, a teacher's ability to "teach" students is often strictly limited. Teachers are usually expected to teach the curriculum, and they are often prohibited from going beyond that. Teachers are expected to pass on basic knowledge to students without much interaction with their own students. Teachers are usually underpaid and have no incentive to go beyond their role, despite being a teacher. Instead, teachers should be able to go above and beyond the curriculum and teach outside the books. A teachers role should be that of a mentor, one who is able to inspire students to pursue different venues outside of education in pursuit of their goals.

Problems with Extra Credit

There have been many instances where we had hoped a teacher would give us extra credit all because our grade was close to becoming an A or B. Extra credit is a way for students to possibly raise their grades. However, there are many flaws in the way teachers give extra credit. One of the flaws is that teachers give out extra credit during Project Shepherd, which is when students are allowed to bring canned food to help out families in need during Thanksgiving. Teachers most especially like to give extra credit at this time. You will hear them say that if you bring a certain amount of cans you will receive a certain amount of extra credit points. Even though it motivates students to bring cans they shouldn't need extrinsic awards to motivate them, but simply the kindness of their hearts. Since students know they will receive extra credit that is why they bring cans. 

There are some teachers who give out extra credit for certain things that have nothing to do with education. For example, there was teacher that was giving out extra credit to students who dressed up during homecoming week. Even though that may encourage students to participate in our school activities and allow them to show more school spirit it isn't a reasonable way to give out extra credit. If teachers want to give out extra credit it has to be for academic reasons. What are your opinions on extra credit? Do you think teachers should give out extra credit at all or do you think it's fair when teachers give out extra credit for things such as dressing up? 

An Emphasis on the Liberal Arts

After reviewing Todd Gitlin's The Liberal Arts in an Age of Info-Glut, it really made me think about how little the education system emphasizes the liberal arts. Gitlin made a point when he preached that something as short as a thirty-second commercial can influence someone's opinion, and therefore people's minds are too easily changed. "When information becomes the noise of our culture - the need to teach the lessons of the liberal arts is urgent.", and I truly believe that there is a need for a liberal arts revival in the curriculum. Not only will the liberal arts help students deeply analyze their own reasoning, but as well as their peers who might not agree with them on certain subjects. The arts has the ability to open up narrow minds and support broader thinking that can be beneficial to understanding academic subjects, as well as in real-life situations outside of the classroom - especially in understanding foreign cultures and perspectives.

The Shanghai education may be onto something

After reading someone's essay who discusses the Shanghai complex, it made me start to wonder to what effects are tests beneficial to students' learning. The high competitive nature academically in such places really means that the education system is teaching towards the test. I believe this competitive nature can be good and bad. On the positive side, there are students who have memorized and analyzed to the best of their abilities. Their "left brain" abilities are probably much better than mine and I give them the respect for that. On the other hand, their creative skills or "right brain" abilities are most likely hindered from an early age. For innovation, this is definitely a drawback for innovation, design, and engineering hinder on the wonder and creativity in these people. So in terms as growth in technology, this type of learning does not benefit these areas. What is not realized is that there are many jobs that do depend on creativeness, there are also many jobs that are very much "busy work" jobs. Those typical office jobs we see in movies are very much so very uncreative. Filling out escrow papers? Filling out sales forms? These jobs do not require much creative. So in this sense, I do not think that the type of teaching and education in Shanghai is not that corrosive as it seems. What do you guys think?

Welcoming the Class of 2017’s Valedictorian

                After reading the text Best in Class by Margaret Talbot, who discusses the stress placed on students of high academic rank and that competition for the valedictorian title, I was interested to see how Mayfair students under this category of academic excellence felt. I decided to speak with Micah Rodriguez, a Mayfair senior who will accept the title of valedictorian for the 2017 graduating class. Micah has a total GPA of 4.7 and has completed 12 AP courses so far at Mayfair. When asked about her stress level because of AP classes Micah stated, “I understand that taking APs could seem stressful, but I look at the difficulties of these classes as obstacles to overcome in order to enhance my learning experience and try to not think too negatively”. In other words, Micah looks at stress in a rewarding way, noting that the different learning experiences of APs further her knowledge more than a regular class would. On the topic of competition for the title of valedictorian Micah claimed she wasn’t too concerned with her class ranking, she just aimed to do her best. Unlike most people assume, Micah shared that her parents are very proud but haven’t place too much pressure on her grades, instead she is very self-motivated and disciplined. Micah chooses classes based off of interest rather than for a boosted GPA with no specific subject preference. When I asked Micah whether she felt the valedictorian system at our school was fair she understood two sides to the argument. Micah agreed that while the status of valedictorian maintains competition which motivates students, it fails to take into account extracurricular activities and time such activities consume. Micah made a strong point by mentioning that colleges recognize your overall accumulation of accomplishments, taking note of these extracurricular activities, so well-rounded students will be recognized where it most matters. The status of valedictorian is fair enough in recognizing strictly academic achievement, and other forms of recognition should be used to celebrate the extra achievements aside from those academic.

Valedictorian Status

The title of valedictorian is a prized title that the most hard-working, intelligent, and competitive students attempt to achieve. It provides a unique feeling- a sense of pride, confidence, superiority, thankfulness, and a "I did it!" moment. I think it should remain as a part of high school tradition forever. The highest ranked student deserves it, and fellow graduates should applaud and cheer for him/her during graduation day rather than resent them. "No sore losers" as my mom says when I get mad for losing a game of 2K (: The competition is part of the race for valedictorian, and the winner should be respected. During my freshmen and sophomore years, I really wanted to become valedictorian. I just wanted to make my parents proud of me because it is their dream for me to be more successful than them. However, I'm beginning to believe the title isn't as important as I perceived it to be. I'm content being in the top 3 while being a well-rounded student. High school isn't just about learning, it is an experience. The main focus of school is and should be learning and your grades, but you should put yourself out there- be more involved, try new things, and just live life. The constant stress of high school shouldn't dictate your life. I want to remember it as a time of joy and youth and not a time of stress and constant work. There will be enough work to do in college (:You only attend high school once, so you should make the best out of it!

Teacher Pleasing

After doing the previous essay on education, it got me thinking about how I view the school system. I personally feel that school has become a series of memorization and teacher pleasing. I say this because most teachers give us worksheets to memorized and then were tested on it. This process usually is the same for most chapter, if not all. Also I think school has become teacher pleasing, because every year students have to adjust to what their teacher expect of them. For example in previous years I was told by my teachers not to us wikipedia as a reliable source, but after doing are book projects, Mrs. Fletcher explained that it is not that bad of a source to use. It turns out that wikipedia is actually a great source to use for certain things and a great example of a collaboration production.

A Small Story to Share

After reading Diane Ravitch's interesting article about the education sytstem, I started to think about our school system. I could see the reason why she would argue that many schools are very standardized test-oriented because it is actually true. I feel like sometimes schools get a little too carried away with tests and homework that they forget about actually getting kids to learn. From my experience in the past, (for example last year) I did not learn much. It got to a point where all I cared about was passing instead of learning so much. While I might've gottent he grades I wanted by doing that strategy, I realize that it I didn't get much out of school. I thought that all I did was hard work and  homework.
Have you guys had any similar thoughts and/or experience? Do you think we need less working and more learning in school?

Gary Johnson's plan to make a better education system

After writing my educational essay I decided to do some research of what my choice of presidency (Gary Johnson) thought about the current education system and it seems like both of agree on a majority of things such as having no student loans as it causes the prices of tuitions to higher due to the fact that many students struggle in repaying it.  He also believes that the removal of the board of education is the best choice to help schools earn and spend more money on education instead of having the federal government decide what a school should spend it in.  He states that “Without federal regulations and mandates, schools could choose to purchase new computers, better lab equipment…” This could really benefit our school as the principal could have the choice to decide whether to fix up the restrooms or update our textbooks that may be outdated. He also believes that the current way of grading test in schools should be approved upon as it seems schools do not think about those cheaters who look up the answers on the internet and get a better score by cheating. I hope by writing this informational paragraph, people could see why I believed Gary Johnson was the best chance of fixing the United States’ broken education system. 

Improving Education

When it comes to education students, educators, and people in general always have something to complain about or give advice on how to improve education. When educators try to improve the education system people always find a way to criticize it or find ways to make it seem bad. With the new Common Core standards in California many students and math teachers like to complain about how bad of an idea it is. The Common Core standards were created to get students to think more rather than memorizing things for their tests and not actually learning. It pushes students to think and elaborate more in school. Common Core was meant to improve education, but students dislike it because they have been trained to memorize instead of thinking. I think that we can agree that more people need to use their brains in society rather than be trained in memorizing. Rather than having negative comments about it we should understand that it is meant to improve education and society by producing a generation of thinkers and innovators. 

Personalized Education

While writing about problems in the current education system I found that too many students are struggling. I think that this problem can easily be fixed if we had personalized education. For example a student in a math class can fall behind while the rest of the class called behind. The student should be able to get one on one help from the teacher so the student better understands the lesson. What do you think about this? Is there another way to help struggling students?

Cheating?

I just watched the two TED Talk-esque videos Ms. Fletcher posted last week on this blog. The first one, by Sugata Mitra, was about his experients in placing a computer in a remote area with a camera and observing how the kids reacted to it and what they learned. His conclusion was that children can teach themselves in groups. Some children in a remote area in India taught themselves and each other English (with no access to an English teacher whatsoever, just the Internet) in order to be able to do more things on this computer they now had. The second one, by Sir Ken Robinson, was about how the "ADHD Epidemic" is coming from how children are educated and what it does to their development. The emphasis on the negative effects of standardized testing match what we've been reading about in our education unit.

The conclusion I drew from these two presentations is that most of the things that are considered cheating in our current education system should actually be a part of the curriculum. Googling answers on your phone under the desk is cheating in standardized education, but being encouraged to learn new things through looking up something that interests you on the Web can turn out to be an effective method of conveying information to students if such activites are implemented correctly. Copying each other's answers is simply collaboration if it's allowed, and I'm sure Shirky and Johnson have made the benefits of that clear to us by now. If any of you know of some other form of cheating, you have found a new solution to a problem. Obviously, we still have a standardized education system, so cheating is definitely not okay, but with a different kind of curriculum, cheating would not be cheating; it would be achieving.

Should Schools Teach Creativity?

The last weekend essay we did focused on people's lack of creativity and asked for solutions to the issue. One solution was if schools should have a class where they teach students how to be creative. Honestly, I do not think that is a good solution because creativity is something everyone has. There should not need to be a class on how to be creative. If anything, making one class for creativity is like saying you only need to be creative for an hour out of the day. Children should be taught at an early age to always think outside of the box. Yes, there are some subjects that require only one solution, but some classes should welcome new ideas as much as possible. It does not always have to be getting an answer that no one has, but making colorful assignments or giving projects with different themes also help. Lastly, encouraging students to take art, theater, and music classes seems like a good enough solution - playing a sport helps kids release stress as well. Children should care about receiving good grades, but there should be equal concern for pursuing what interests them. I feel that by encouraging more free-thinking in classes and reminding kids to do what they like will help them come up with help them to be more open-minded as adults.

Do you think creativity is a subject that should be taught? Would it be beneficial?

More Mature than Before?

After reading Leon Botstein's "Let Teenager's Try Adulthood" I feel like I have to agree with his statement of how teenagers have changed over the years, but I’m not too sure about the teenagers have matured. When the high school system was first created the teenagers of that time did not have the technology or access to information that we do today. The modern teenager is nothing like before, with a greater knowledge of the outside world with information that is constantly updated. And I know teenagers who can handle multiple AP classes and manage to sleep at night or are able to handle a job and a zero period and are able to spend time with their families. Of course, not all teenagers are mature enough to survive on their own at the age of 16, but what do you think? Are the teenagers of this age mature enough to survive on their own?

Our Outdated Education System

We've been discussing the topic about education and whether our education system is really as effective as it was designed to be. But the truth is, it is outdated! I've read an essay earlier this morning and it stated that our education system has been around ever since the seventeenth century. The education system back then can not teach the proper content that we need in our advancing society today. As stated in other blog posts, we have always followed the practice of testing students with standardized test. Sure this system forces students to think critically however, the will forget the content they memorized for the test. And that's the thing: students are not learning they are memorizing. We have been under this system of learning and memorizing but not actually taking in the content and reflecting on it. If there is something that stood out to me from the weeks of reading education-topic articles, is that the arts (dancing, music, art) should be taught like mathematics metaphorically speaking. We are all different individuals who learn very differently from each other. If a certain activity, song, dance whatever it may be helps one learn better than that is something our board of education should consider. This will also embrace students' creativity and it will help them think creatively as well as innovatively. And that is very essential to our rapid advancing  society today.

At the end of a semester, I do not believe that a student's grade should be based solely off of a final test. If a student has worked hard for half a year, then I think they deserve the grade that they have. Some see it as a final boost if you get a good grade on it; however, in many cases, a student with an A can get a B in the class all because they couldn't memorize 6 months worth of mere facts. I think that a student's work ethic should determine the grade that they receive in the class. Well, if not totally, then at least partly. Work ethic throughout the semester should be considered.

Not all about tests

I don't think that school should be so heavily dependent on a student's performance on tests at the end of the semester. There have been many cases where I've heard about someone who did all their work all semester long, didn't do so good on the semester test, and their grade was tremendously dropped because of it. I believe that if a student works hard all the way up until the semester test and maintains an A, then they deserve that A. Tests are pretty much just memorization of a bunch of facts, and at the end of half a year, there is an overly amount that we as students need to know to get at least a decent grade in the class. I think that a grade should be based off of the students' participation and their consistent work ethic.

Creativity

While watching the video of creativity in class I realized how much creativity we really are lacking. What really caught my attention was when the speaker mentioned how we are taught to thrive for careers such as a teacher or doctor or police but no jobs in the arts. It is okay when we are little to want to be a dancer or an athlete but as we grow older we are talked out of it by putting us in doubt. We are put in doubt by the question of having enough money to pay for our future bills or to support our future family. I believe schools should help us thrive for any career.

I would like to know your guys' opinion on this topic.

"The Education System Is Flawed"

Throughout all the years of my life that I have attended school, I have heard the same thing repeated over and over by students, "the education system is flawed." Every student in America disagrees with the establishment  and all believe that the education system doesn't live up to its standards in preparing students for the future. I completely disagree with this for a couple of reasons. I believe that even though our system isn't perfect, it is still one of the greatest in the world. Look at the advancement of where our education system has come from compared to the rest of the world. America has one of the best universities in the world that foreign students would die to attend. America has the best capitalistic economy that the entire world looks upon as a role model for wealth and intelligence. All of this is possible because of America's education system. I believe that we students often look only on the flaws of our system but ignore the benefits that come with American's education. We don't realize the great blessing we have available to us, the great knowledge that is provided for free to us by the government. Our system isn't perfect (what system in the world is perfect?) but it is the best there is in the world. Students may hate it now but they'll come to see the great long term impact that education will do to their life. And for those students who are still hating the entire education system, you should bring your ideas to the education board in the future to fix it and make it better for the future generations. Because the one great thing about the American system is that it accepts change, it knows its flaws and is willing to change it through the experiences of the students who have went through the system. The American education system will only improve in the future and get better and better for the future generations.

Not Creative Enough?

Not too long ago, our class watched a video about creative thinking and one of the weekend essays was based on creative thinking.  Ever since watching the TED Talk Notes and writing the weekend essay, I realized how much the education system lacked the effort to incorporate creative thinking into learning.  This is particularly the case with standardized testing, where there is only one correct answer.  Memorization and knowledge are valued more than creativity.  Creativity is often "saved for later" or in other words the it is not seen as important as other matters learned in school.  Therefore, the full capacity of many students' capabilities are constricted.

By fostering creativity within the confines of our current educational system, this can benefit and expand thinking.  Allowing students to figure out answers to questions through exploration can lead to activities where students are able to find out answers through trial and error.  “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’re not prepared to be creative.” 

What kind of improvements should the education system make?  Do you think Common Core was a step to educating us more creatively?

Two People Ranked Number One?

Margaret Talbot discusses the significance of the top rank in high school-- and how important it is to the students who compete for the "Valedictorian" title. These competitive students will do whatever it takes to reach the top rank, even if it means cheating their way through the system. Now, what if two people were tied? What then? Quite obviously, both students worked hard to reach that point, but now they're tied with each other. In that case, the top rank is meaningless-- it holds no significance if there are two of them in the top rank. Now, how about three people in the top rank? Four? This is a reoccurring problem in high school. Two or more students work their hardest only to be met with the same title as another person. Is there a better way to deal with this dilemma? Or do you think that, perhaps, it's alright to have multiple valedictorians?

It's All About The Tests

Isn't school and education supposed to be focused around learning? Instead, our education systems are focused around testing. We see it every day in A.P. classes where the main goal of the class is to score a 5 on the test in May. Teachers mainly teach and rush through content that will be asked on the test by College Board. For example, Mr. Nguyen skipped chapter 3 because it wasn't part of the content that would be asked on the exam. He would've taught chapter 3 so we could learn more math lessons if the class wasn't revolved around exams and testing. If we were in a school environment that focused on learning then teachers would teach content they want to teach and feel is important. There would be more class discussions, and the teacher would be more lenient in discussing a wide range of topics that don't relate to multiple choice questions.

The education system doesn't prepare us

It came to my attention that the education system is really flawed. It does not prepare us for life after high school. In the article Let Teenagers Try Adulthood, the author Leon Botstein talks about all the different flaws that the typical American high school has. One major flaw that he focuses on is the fact that high school does not prepare students for adulthood. Botstein really puts emphasis on the cliques that from in high school and explains how they are the reason why students are not prepared. He explains that when there are cliques everyone is just following along with what everyone else is doing instead of doing their own thing and being independent which makes them less prepared for life after high school and adulthood. Botstein also states that the people that are outsiders in high school are more successful in life after high school because they were independent during high school causing them to be prepared to make their own decisions. Therefore, the education system is very flawed and does not prepare us for our lives after high school.

Post #1

Education is essential for people that want to have success at life.  Although some may argue that school wires the students to become hard working robots.  Which is what is now the norm in america, you work your tail off until you're dead. What about the other important things that school does not teach to students such as how to do your taxes, and home economics should be a course offered at every school which is a course missing from Mayfair since I've enrolled here.  What classes do you guys think that Mayfair should offer that aren't available?

What the school system lacks...

After completing this past weeks essay on the American Education System, it got me thinking about the meaning of school. I have always loved school, no matter how difficult and frustrating it can be at times. But sometimes I think that the education system isn't what it should be. Many schools do not prepare students for life outside high school, or if they do, it isn't sufficient enough. They have trained us to become great test takers because that is how we'll get into a great college, but yet is this so important?

I believe that yes, college is important in order to further our education and later graduate with a degree that would later ensure us with a career. But do all these standardized tests actually benefit us as students? Many students are not great test takers and struggle with this, but that does not limit their intelligence. Schools no longer teach creativity, or if they due, they don't do a great job. To be creative is so important, without it how will we be successful in life? What are you thoughts on this? 

Are we prepared?

When reading the article Let Teenagers Try Adulthood ,by Leo Botstein, it was clear to me that high school does not prepare us for adult hood.  throughout high school we as getting our hand held and having to deal with a lot of things that just do not happen when you get older.  When i think about it it seems a little scary how we have been in high school for three years now and there are students around who still do not know what they want to go to college for or even if they want to go to college.  I feel that high school is supposed to be the place were you figure that out.  Another thing he brought up was that high school should end faster so that we get an earlier start on adult life.  I agree with this because if we are taught earlier how to be more independent and we just jump into adulthood we might just be a little bit more successful in life.  The problem is that schools are trying to students be kids for as long as they can. Even though that may seem like a good thing, it is not because, nowadays, less people are able to successfully make it through life with the dramatic shift after high school so it is very clear that more success will come from taking away that hand to hold in the beginning of high school or even in the earlier years of life.Do you guys agree with me or am I just being unreasonable?

Middle School?

After reading Leon Botstein's Let Teenagers Try Adulthood, it got me wondering on the idea of the elimination of middle school. Some people believe middle school is essential while others say it's not necessary. If middle school was abandoned then students would be able to graduate at the age of sixteen rather than eighteen. Botstein argues that the education system is not properly formed to the growing, new generations. School was formed on the basis of people from past generations; therefore, it doesn't match with the relevant standards of the people who are living today. Botstein also believes that the new era is capable of maturing at a faster rate, so there's no need for middle school. Letting students graduate earlier would allow them to experience the realities and responsibilities of the real world instead of staying concealed in a high school environment. How do you feel towards this idea? Do you think getting rid of middle school would be beneficial? Based on your experience in middle school did you benefit from anything during those years?  

U.S. Schools Aren't That Great, Huh?

While reading the few passages that were used for information for the Education essay, it made me think about the way that schools are and how things are done. There were a couple things that came up about how schools in the U.S. are so focused on standardized testing while schools in other places, such as Japan, teach students abilities they'd need and use once released (pardon my use of the word, I couldn't find a better word at the moment) to the world. For some students in the U.S., it's hard for them to even do anything with money to buy food or living spaces once they are out and going to college.

But then there's Shanghai, China, where they focus on schooling than abilities more than our country. They have their students follow every rule and do everything correctly without a way for them to be creative. That's one up that the U.S. has on Shanghai, our students have some, though very little, freedom to express themselves.

Money Problems

For the essay Fletcher assigned us on education recently, I chose number 2 which is as follows: Using the text in this conversation on the American high school, as well as your own insights in to high school, Identify two serious problems with the education system, and purpose recommendations for addressing them. Cite at least two sources from the conversation in your response.

I of course brought up one of the biggest issues: money. I wanted to talk on here to talk more specifically about Mayfair. I do not think I am the only one who thought that those "Soons" banners around school was a waste of money. Our school could have spent that money on the AC in the gym, or for the soap in bathrooms that does not seem to exist. I know I do not know how schools spend money, but I do know that money should be spent on the students' benefit.

(Honesty, who thought those banners where useful!?)

Is there anything you guys think that was a waste of money? I love my school don't get me wrong, but c'mon I'm not the only one that sees this right?

A Flawed System

With the end of high school getting closer by the day, I often wonder how life is going to be after graduation. The troubling thought of having to face the harsh realities of life leads me to think about if I'm going to be ready for it all. But that's just it. Is what the school teaches enough for students to be able to enter the real world and survive? Looking over all I've learned so far and how it was presented to me makes me realizes how much of won't help at all. With the current educational system, students are being under prepared for college or whatever they may choose to pursue after high school, leading them to struggle to figure things out on their own. Such a flawed system for something as important as this is needs to seriously be looked at and revised in order to help the newer generation of students. Just as humans adapt to survive, the educational system needs to adapt to the ever changing times to be more suitable for those who grow up in this new era.    

Becoming Valedictorian

Before reading Talbot’s Best in Class on valedictorians, I didn’t even think that there could be so much controversy on the position of becoming valedictorian in high school. After reading it, I was surprised about all the ramifications that have occurred out of it.  High school is full of competition and wanting to be on the top of the class.  Students would do anything to be the best and become valedictorian.  The position of valedictorian gives many students a goal to do their best and become #1 in their class.  The smartest student should be rewarded for what they achieved in high school, and the title of valedictorian is a good way to show it.  

However, a student’s school life should not be revolved around this high school goal of being valedictorian.  Even though it is good way to show appreciation to the smartest student, in all honesty, the title doesn’t matter much in the future.  There are so many more important things in high school than becoming ranked 1.  In Talbot’s article, one of her interviewees said that nobody really praises the valedictorian when college comes around, nobody cares.  The position of valedictorian shouldn’t cause all these school board cases and problems in education, when in the end it will not even matter.  All in all, becoming valedictorian is a cool thing, but not all as important as everybody makes it out to be.     

Valedictorian and then the rest

So the blog seems sort of dry, so I might as well just write one to get something going. As we should already know, our school only allows for one valedictorian in our school and everyone else is usually thrown under the bus, except the unbelievable smart ten. Some schools, as stated in Talbot's Best In Class, has multiple valedictorians and some has an abundant amount of them. What I'm trying to ask, or get at, is whether or not it is a good idea to promote this type of competition between peers and friends to become rank one. Should we just not have a ranking system in our school so then no one has to cry and mourn over all their efforts to become valedictorian only to get crushed by some supernatural intellectual(Vincent please teach me) who never really tried? Or should we keep the valedictorian system as it is because people could be recognized as the top student? I'd like to have this thing blowing up, so post all the comments in the world. I want to see what unravels from this.

Another talk by Sir Ken Robinson

Blog About Education

You've been reading, you've been writing, you've been watching TED Talks.  Not only that, you've been a student since you were a wee tot.  What do you have to say about education?  Write, please. A post and two comments by Friday, November 18.

Here's another TED Talk I like, and watching it is an assignment:

We'd like you to vote, please

This survey was created by Mr. Mike Headley, who will close it at 8pm on Tuesday, November 8. The survey asks you to vote for the national and state offices, and all the ballot propositions.  He will let us know how the Mayfair community voted on Wednesday.

Access the survey here.

Information on the candidates and ballot propositions can be found here:

http://voterguide.sos.ca.gov/ [show] 

https://ballot.fyi/ [show]

This week's vocab

Rhetorical Terms

I was searching the web for information and strategies to help me with my essays involving rhetoric when I came across this document. It lists various rhetorical terms that you can use in your essays. Hope you find it as helpful as I did!
-Matthew Ayala
http://www.prosseracademy.org/ourpages/auto/2008/2/4/1202184735622/Rhetorical%20Terms.doc

AF: A Reflective Essay >> Multiple Choice Monday

A reflective essay written about an assignment merely means that you think about the work, and write about the challenges and successes you experienced as you completed the work.

For the Multiple Choice Monday Reflective Essay, I want a ONE-PAGE, single-spaced 12-point Times Roman essay with an MLA heading (also single-spaced); it's a real essay, that is exactly one page long.  Do not stop before you get to the bottom of the page; do not go over one page.  Learn to develop, and then edit to achieve one-inch margins all around. This assignment also asks that you follow the conventions of writing:  developed paragraphs, complete sentences, capital letters and commas and end-punctuation, and all of the things you know!  

Sometimes, students hear the word "reflective," and they decide that this means they can ramble on like crazy people, and write one big paragraph that ignores the rules of written English.  

This is not what "reflective" means.

"Reflective" means you think about yourself as a learner.  Here are some things I would like to know, but don't go through this list and answer every question like a little machine -- use the questions to get you thinking:

• Because you know your work is not going into the gradebook as a test score, do you find yourself not trying as hard?  Explain.
• How is your focus as you read through the passages?  When you find that you have lost focus, what do you do?
• Did you find yourself getting talked out of answers that you had initially had correct?  Or are you the one who talks your partner out of their correct answer?
• During class on Tuesday, look through the entire packet to review the questions you got wrong. Does there seem to a pattern, or a type of question that you tend to miss?
• To what degree is vocabulary messing you up?  What kind of vocabulary gets in your way:  literary/rhetorical vocabulary? adjectives and adverbs? 
• How successfully are you reading for tone?
• How many did you get correct?
• What can you do independently to improve your performance on this assessment?

Type this up so that I can collect it on Wednesday.  Thanks!

Round 4 of Vocab

 Inexorable - Colloquial - Ingratiate - Egalitarian - Styme - Serendipity - Impetus - Banal 

Colloquial - "(I use 'talk to' here in its colloquial sense of 'type quickly to.')" (Shirky, 225-226)

Egalitarianism - "Charles Lindbergh couldn't bear to let anyone else answer his fan mail, promis­ ing himself he would get around to it eventually (which, of course, he never did). Egalitarianism is possible only in small social systems." (Shirky, 93)

 

AF: Slide Show Example

Here's the link to the slide show I created to show you how to do this project.

Round 3 of Vocabulary

           anomalous - conundrum - utilitarian - misnomer - vehement - tumult - jettison - repertoire


misnomer (Skirky, 83) 
"The catchall label for this material is "user-generated content."  That phrase, though, is something of a misnomer.  When you create a document on your computer, your document fits some generic version of the phrase, but that isn't really what user-generated content refers to."

vehement (Shirky. 112) 
"First, it became much easier to create initial versions of articles. The second effect, which they had not anticipated, was swift and vehement objection from their own advisory board." 

The Birthday Book Project

First of all, these are the groups and their chapter (assigned by random lottery).

The Birthday Book Project

Jan-Jun:  Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirkey

Jul-Dec:  Where Good Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson

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Objectives:

• Students will collaborate in groups to create a concise summary of an assigned chapter
• Students will use technology (Google Docs and Slides) to present knowledge and ideas
• Students will take notes in their notebooks when others are presenting
• Students will take responsibility for one aspect of the Slide Show, while working collaboratively on creating the content for the slides
• Groups will present their chapter orally to the class, taking care not to read slides to the class
• Students will reflect on their work and the work of the group in a one-pager

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The GOAL for this assignment is for the class to debrief the assigned summer reading; to demonstrate understanding of the assigned chapter; to build functional working relationships across social boundaries; to achieve mastery of Google Docs and Google Slides; to develop public speaking and presentation skills.  

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STEP ONE:

Logistics:  Create groups of four.  Chapters assigned by lottery.  Share email addresses, assign roles.

STEP TWO:

Each person will re-read assigned chapter to determine main ideas and their significance.  Each person will choose important quotes from the chapter for consideration by the group.  

STEP THREE:

Make an appointment to meet online.  The QC MANAGER will be the one to create the Google Doc, the Google Slide Show, and invite the rest of the group, including Fletcher.  Make sure that everyone has the power to edit the document.

STEP FOUR:

Everyone collaborates on a Google Doc with their ideas and submits quotes.  Although it is possible to track changes on a Google Doc, please take ownership and sign your work.

STEP FIVE:

Create the slides.  Once the Slide Show is complete, step into your assigned role to ensure that the slides are perfect and your presentation meets the requirements.

STEP SIX:  

Each group presents their chapter to the class on the assigned day. From there, each student has two days to submit their one-page reflection of the project and the work.

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DETAILS : the Slides

You are limited to using between 6-8 slides, total.  Slides are NOT intended to carry the content — that is the job of the speaker.  The slides merely focus the audience and illustrate the big, important ideas.  Slide Themes are assigned:  Here Comes Everybody will use “Modern Writer”; Where Good Ideas Come from will use “Tropic”.

Slide	Content	Format
1	Chapter title, with introductory, focusing text	Section title w/ description
2	Main ideas, ie., building the argument, setting the foundation, establishing background information	Title and body
3	Quotation from text to help focus the audience’s understanding (slide position can switch with 4)	Main point
4	Main ideas, ie., building the argument, providing important context, offering examples	Title and body
5	Main ideas, ie., building the argument, providing important context, offering examples	Title and body
6	Quotation from text to sum things up or to set up the next chapter	Main point

DETAILS:  Roles within Groups

Intelligence Czar	Responsible for keeping the presentation focused, accurate and concise - a Big Picture Person
Executive Editor	Responsible for making decisions about how best to use the information collected by the group - a Detail Person
QC Manager	Responsible for ensuring that formatting on slides is consistent; that the look is clean and open; images align with content - a Detail Person
Overseer of Significance	Responsible for the final selection of quotes; the quotes must work to help viewers grasp the content of the chapter - a Big Picture person

Assessment Information and Deadlines

Description	Grading Category	Due	Rubric Used
The shared Google Doc	Participation	Sept 19	Quality of work
The shared Slide Show	Participation	Sept 21 (??)	Quality of work
The notebook (notes)	Participation	Spot check	Quality of work
The oral presentation	Participation	TBD	Rubric TBD
The One-Page reflection	Performance - worth 50 points	2 days after presentation	9-point AP writing rubric

The One-Page Reflection:

This is typed, single-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman with an MLA heading and one-inch margins.  I know you think I am kidding, but this must be exactly one page, so fill the page, but go no farther. Focus on those 1-inch margins.  Your finished work should look like a picture in a frame. This is a good exercise in paragraph development (yes! One-pagers should be organized into paragraphs!) and editing.  Pretend you are a journalist with 15-column inches to fill.  

The content of the one-pager should include a discussion of your group, what your role was, and how the project worked out overall.  Look at the objectives and the goals written at the beginning of this assignment sheet; to what degree do you think you met these objectives?  To what degree do you think your group met the goals?  Give your group a grade, and give yourself a grade:  A = Above and beyond; B = Basically fine; C = Could do better; D = Didn’t try; F = Forget about it.  Be sure to include reasons and examples to substantiate your grades.

SEPTEMBER:  

• Sept 13: Handout BB Project
• Sept 14: Groups established
• Sept 15: Chapter lottery
• Sept 19: Shared Google Doc; everyone connected
• Sept 20: Back to School Night
• Sept 21: Google Slides created
• Sept 23: Oral presentations 1 & 2