Spayde writes about “Learning in the Key of Life” and gives a fantastic view of how little American education really is. He talks about the different types of education such as Buddhism and the importance of education to different groups such as multiculturalists. I love how he says that education, like class is power. This is such a true statement because your social class dominates how important you are to society and your education is what can get you to higher social classes. Also, I agree about the humanities of life because those do allow people to live a better life instead of looking at things in a negative aspect you learn how to think positive and act against these forces thrown at your life and this says a lot about a person. He quotes John Saul about training and I disagree with him because training is essential to learning a skill and becoming proficient at it such as nursing skills or engineering skills. Spayde goes on further to quote David Orr and his argument on education about slow knowledge and I completely agree with him. Slow knowledge is better because it helps bring in cultural and ecological aspects about education and that allows humans to better adapt and learn. In addition to Spayde’s writing, I agree with Goethe saying that we truly learn when we love something because we find the time to perfect our knowledge on that subject. This is when we would question every aspect about that subject and find insight to it and learn the most on it because that subject would fascinate us. This just gives us some momentum about education because it is such as huge topic that education truly does happen everywhere. It occurs when we interact with others and learn through seeing, communicating and hearing what they do.
In response to a few of the questions after Tyack’s reading “School: The Story of American Public Education”: The question says that the twentieth century saw the rise of the expert and asked how tracking back then makes me feel about the value of tracking today. I think that tracking back then consisted of one plan. Tracking today can send each student on many different choices of plans. Tracking today is better because it is helping more and more students figure out their area of expertise. Tracking in high school gives students the specific training they need for the area they are interested in at the time. Even though the young student will most likely change his or her mind a few more times before they begin their careers. Having the option of taking culinary, autoshop, dental, or tons of other career oriented classes gives students a taste of whats available earlier on.
Another question asks how i feel about the statement “schooling produces workers whose skills can be bought or sold.” It is true that school gives you the knowledge and experience to be valuable in the workforce, however, this statement undervalues the fact that we are people, and makes us seem like objects, rather than human beings.
In response to whether or not I think this article sounds credible without numerical evidence. I think this reading was incredibly boring. If there was more numerical evidence I think it would be even more boring and not interesting to read. Which to me, makes it less credible.
Comment by Rebecca Whisenhunt — May 26, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
I’ve decided to do a response on one of our in class discussions. When the class gave responses on what is the most and least difficult when writing a paper I realized that the answers given were similar to mine. Then as a class we thought of very beneficial tools that could help with the problems associated with writing a paper. Some of the tips that were very useful to me were using the databases and catalogues on Wayne States website, managing your time according to the length of the paper, finding something interesting about a topic given to you, and brainstorming/outline.
One of the hardest parts of writing a paper to me is when a topic is assigned to you. I realized that I can find something interesting within that topic to make the writing easier. Now you’re probably wondering what if I can’t find anything interesting on that particular topic and my answer to that question would be than you’re screwed. Of course, one of the least difficult things when writing a paper for me would be thinking of your own topic.
Most teachers want more that just books as references. Matter of fact I haven’t ran across a teacher who just wanted books as references. Suggesting things that Wayne States’ page offers were very beneficial. Managing your time when writing a paper is very crucial. When you manage your time appropriately you will have time to not only proofread it yourself, but also let others look over your paper as well. You can also use workshops and writing tutors to help with your paper. Now how will you be able to use all of these helpful resources if you wait until the last minute to finish your paper.
Brainstorming is a tool used when starting your paper because you’re able to think of interesting things to write in your paper. Outlining is helpful because you’re able to organize your work. I hope that everyone received as much beneficial information as I did.
Comment by Ashley Griffin — May 26, 2009 @ 6:23 am
The first essay was “School: The Story of American Public Education” by David Tyack. The main idea of this essay is that school is a necessity, however there are some issues with the size of schools, what is taught, and who is teaching.“Equality meant difference, not sameness, of treatment” is one quote from the essay that I strongly agree with. I believe that equality, in the sense of school and education, means allowing each child to have the same potential to reach his/her highest level. This requires different treatment for each particular child because not everyone has the same privileges and similarly, not everyone will attain the same level of knowledge. It is about helping them to become their best. With regards to the size of schools, I also agree that classes achieve more when they are smaller in size because it allows the teacher to have more interaction and one-on-one time with each student.
In the second reading, “Learning in the Key of Life” by Jon Spayde, the argument is that current education in schools are focused more on teaching people to be “competitive” as opposed to teaching things like humanity. Our society relates class or social standing based on education and the amount of money a person makes, when really it should be based on moral character. It unfairly defines people based on those characteristics, which in turn decreases the number of opportunities available to them, just like the essay points out that the best hope of “poor Americans…is ‘training’ at fly-by-night computer school.” In some ways, I believe that there is a need for education in technology because that makes up the majority of our world today, however it is important to also emphasize developing personal character and goodwill. Class should be established based on not only education and money, but as well as integrity.
Lastly, the essay by Jonathan Kozol entitled “Savage Unequalities” is the reading that I felt the strongest about. It mainly compared and contrasted the differences between schools in poor areas of New York and schools in its suburbs. It is hard to think that children would be subject to those school conditions and still be expected to learn something but it is the reality in our world today. Some people may view these children as hopeless and destined for trouble, but by assuming these things, they take away the potential futures that these children may have. Even in “rich” schools you can see the same inequalities by separation of classes such as gifted, special, and mainstream. Just like I mentioned about the first reading, equality in schools is about giving each student the same opportunity to achieve his/her best, yet gifted students are receiving more education than those in special and mainstream classes. Those children have risen to their potential already so the extra attention should be given to the special students.
Amal Nahhal 05/26/2009
Reading is not just taking the words. Reading is to get the main ideas when you are reading because that’s help you mopre to understand the what the writer want to tell you in his topic. Previewing is an important step in reading, because it gives us a framework to understand what we are read. Previewing is:
- Read the title.
- Get the main ideas.
- Know the writer’s position in his ideas.
- Summarize the article.
- Bring your own knowledge.
The second step is: to understand reading u should get a pen and write down the important notes about what we read. John singer illustrate that composition is a way of work that organized to shape our response. William H. Johnson depicts that a color is a dominate element in his work because it helping us to see the amused by this reading. Georgia O’keefe in her story “The Lowrence Tree”, demonstrates how line transforms a simple scene. Mary Cassatt illustrates in her story “The child Bath” how size and shape influence our impressions. “The Banjo Lesson” is a story written by Henry Ossawa Tanner, illustrates how dark and light used to focus attention on the subject. Knowing the background knowledge is very important in art work, because it let us understand the elements and how they contribute to the effect. Careful reading and understanding are the beginning points of good writing. Develop your ideas to let people see what you see. To success in your writing you have to be open mind, and come up with new ideas. When you are writing you should present ideas to others. The last step in becoming credible involves in checking the supporting logic tying the evidence to the ideas. To create a first draft you have to look closely at the subject you choose, then come with a list of ideas that answered the questions that you asked. In second draft the arguments should occur in your writing. In final draft the task should shift from rereading, and rethinking to make individual sentences. In your writing you should take some of examples about what you write. A specific detail will describe the writer’s point. Describe what you writing about and the images of your writing. To help the readers understand what you are writing about you should compare it to something that they already know. Summarize another writer’s ideas that gives you arguments in your writing.
How could this have happen? Who is to blame? What can be done to change this? These are some of the underlying questions concerning poor education conditions that many American students face today. In class we discussed these questions and other issues associated with the poor education in this country. Some felt that the teachers were to be blamed, while others blamed the parents. Some believe that it’s due to lack of support from the community, while others believe the students are to be blamed related to their lack of self-motivation. All of these are sound arguments, but realistically what is the cure to all of this? Money.
Money can change everything. Can it be as simple as that? Sometimes complex problems can be solved by simple solutions. With enough money, districts can afford to provide new books, desks, proper teaching equipment. In turn would raise moral of both students and teachers, providing a positive environment for education. A more general outcome would be an increase in migration to the area due to the reputable school district, leading to a stimulation of the local economy. More money schools could offer extracurricular activities, allowing students to devote their free to something constructive. Looking at the big picture, juvenile crime rates would decrease, gang activity would decrease, etc. Money is the simple solution to this complex problem facing many school districts.
How do we get this money? It’s simple to say, more money, but where to get the money is obviously the problem. There are many foundations, charities, organizations devoted to raising money for poor school districts. As well as many philanthropists who donate millions of dollars each year, but the money that is received from these sources should be viewed as financial aids. The primary source of funds comes from the government. We need to stop relying on these finical benefactors , we need more money from the government. Each year the government collects hundred billions of dollars, and each year a relatively small percentage of that is used to fund education. While trying to keep political issues aside, it seems only right to use our money to enlighten lives rather than to destroy and decimate. Possibly with a new president, our money will be spend on a greater good.
Is money the only way to improve school districts? The poor education is an enormous issues that may require many steps, over many years, involving whole population nothing is certain . One thing that is for certain is that underfunded school districts cannot be ignored any longer. The adults of tomorrow are the youths of today. What types of decisions are to be made by poorly educated citizens? As US citizens we are guaranteed a free education, many other countries can only hope to offer that. However what is a free education worth, if it is of poor quality?
The piece I will be responding to is Chapter One, Reading and Writing Arguments in the Seeking Common Cause textbook. In this chapter it basically explains how to write and paper from the start of thinking of a topic to creating a masterpiece of an essay. I feel that this chapter can really help a person who is in need of writing a paper and isn’t the greatest writer. Writing isn’t just what you know about a certain topic. Yes, I understand that you have to know what you are talking about when you are writing your paper but you also have to have your audience (your readers) to feel that you are creditable to talk about your topic. As the book states, “Much of the time, arguing is not about persuading someone that you are right, but about being believable. It’s about helping others see, by clarifying for yourself and others, one way to interpret a text, picture, or issue.” And to become even more credible with your arguementive topic is to show both sides of the issue. For example, if your topic was stem cell research, you would show both sides on how someone can be for it and how someone can be against it.
The text also gives you excellent ideas on how the writing process can go. Creating the 1st draft is the work in progress that you can just jot down anything you know about that topic to generate and shape ideas. The 2nd draft is more towards getting the information onto the paper with more focused and deliberate work. Finally the final draft is geared toward making individual sentences easier for the reader to take in. The text also gives many ideas to add into your paper to give it more length. Some examples may include, using analogies by comparing your topic or thought to something your readers may already know, or quoting by showing others to feel that you are even more creditable to talk about your topic. I feel that this chapter in the book can really help a student very significantly. To be frankly honest, I might just keep the book and not to a buy back at Barnes and Noble just for the fact that how they gave such simple explanations and reason for writing a paper.
Comment by Nathan Missler — May 26, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
I would like to write a response regarding on tips to write a good paper. The tips discussed in class include factors such as brainstorming, researching, breaking down into specific parts and using past experiences to come up with ideas and so much more. However, I believe that the best option is to probably just dive into it straight on and just start writing. First time never needs to be perfect nor polished; randomly writing out sentences regarding the topic could probably open many ideal doors for the writer, now that he/she have finally tested the waters. All the technical preparations discussed in class is as important, of course – but one must actually gain experience or try it first hand to get the actual feel.
Also from the SCC reading about the reader noticing different components of a writing such as the kind of emotion the author portrays throughout his/her writing and the way the words are displayed – basically taking ‘hints’ as a reader to analyse accurately, I found it very interesting. It’s actually pretty boring if all writers were the same, used same kind of opinions or words to describe certain things. It’s always attention-grabbing if an author writes very bluntly or realistically rather than trying to sugar-coat certain sensitive topics to make the writing more amiable. I think that loses the audience’s effort to analyse the paper even further, because it can almost be predicted to as what the author’s final words would be. Therefore, having a unique writer really helps with the reader to dig deeper into the structure and get a better understanding and be more interested.
I would also like to write in response to Monday’s discussion – mainly on the topic of poor public schools and its environment for the student, and the staff and parents who are helpless about the situation. It seemed that people in class were taking one or the other side to this. However, it is a really hard thing to actually decide upon what to do. Sure, it is very important for students to get proper schooling, education, teachers and learning environment, but as what the mayor of New York sad about giving these schools money being ‘hopeless’ – I somewhat agree. Yes, it is important that these students are unfortunate and needs help. But how much of a donation going to help? It will be a great recovery in the short run, but in the long run, it really depends on how the students are taken care of. Some money can only help so far unless the parents and the teachers have a determined mindset to make it a better environment. I’m not trying to say that these kids don’t deserve help, but it is somewhat understandable on what the mayor has decided. It is impossible to make everybody happy. The mayor might see a lot more potential and success in ‘richer’ schools if more donation is made for them – whereas the amount of potential and success he sees with poorer schools is pretty much a minimum. This is also the reason why these levels of classes has always existed – the United States may be the richest country in the world, but it is also a land of democracy.
After reading Jonathan Kozol’s essay entitled Savage Inequalities, it is quite clear that the there are components of the education system that are quite flawed. Although it may have been written eighteen years ago, Kozol’s essay addresses issues that are still prevalent today, especially in Detroit. Kozol did an excellent job of describing the state of the contrasting schools, making Room 111 of State Hall feel like the “Taj Mahal” compared to the cramped and suffocating classrooms of District 10’s Public School 261 in New York City. It is ridiculous to think that any child, “special” or “gifted”, could effectively learn in an environment such as that of P.S. 261. Unless there was a dire need for a roller derby training school in the neighborhood, the building should have never been considered as a candidate for a learning institution, of any type. While reading the essay, I couldn’t help but envision these poor children wearing jail garb as they sat in their windowless classrooms and fended off the cold.
While I would be lying if I said I was oblivious to these problems in the inner-city schools, I was absolutely shocked to learn that children were being labelled as “EMR” and “TMR” (educable or trainable mentally retarded). The children that were lucky enough to attend some of the better-funded schools were still being prevented from reaching their full potential by these labels. Instead of spending money on special tutoring or programs to help the children learn and possibly overcome their learning disabilities, they were thrown into wood-working shops and taught how to punch in and out of a time clock. There is nothing wrong with doing such jobs, but these children were being told it was their only option in life, ignoring any goals or ambitions they may have had. Not everyone has what it takes to be a doctor or a lawyer, but it should be every child’s right to have a quality education where they can have the books they need, the individual attention they need, and a safe place to learn that was actually built to hold students.
Comment by Stanley Wandeloski — May 26, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
I’m going to write about two of our in class discussions on personal experiences in English classes and tips to writing a paper. Writing can be a tedious and difficult task if not approached the right way. It can always be on your mind if you wait until the last minute to do it; I know this from personal experience. Often times, when I have a paper do write I tend to put it off because I do not want to touch it at all. You can call it, ‘the fear of starting.’ This is primarily due to the fact that I cannot choose a good topic to write about, so I just wait till’ the last minute. The papers I had to write in my English classes in high school were easier for me to do because often times we had to write about a book we read. I know that some people completely dreaded doing this, and I myself didn’t find it too enjoyable. However, it wasn’t that difficult for me to do because I was given a topic and all I had to do was address an issue, evaluate/explain it, find quotes supporting or defending it, and give some commentary. This sounds quite simple because it’s expressed in a ‘formula.’ My best papers have been from writing about books I read. Primarily, because I was given a topic and I didn’t have to go and do any research to find it. If I needed evidence, all I had to do was look through the book; it was easy as pie! However, now, I have to choose topics on my own and write about them, which hasn’t always been easy. I’ve only taken one English class before this class since I’ve been at Wayne State, which was English 1010. In this class we had to write three papers: one was based on a reading and the other two were topics based upon our choosing. This class was actually not very difficult and I did well. However, this is my first college English class where I have to write a research paper, so I’m not exactly excited. But, I know that I need to do this if I want to become a better writer.
On another note, I want to talk about some good tips to writing a paper. The first thing is to clearly analyze and understand what the writing assignment entails. If you have the option of writing about a topic of your choosing then you must brainstorm ideas of what you are interested in and what you would like to write about. For me, this is the difficult part; nonetheless, it is essential to writing a paper. Next, you need to find something that you can argue about within the topic you have chosen. It is best to read about both sides of the argument and then choose the side that you agree with or support. Then, you need to make a list or outline of what you want to talk about for your argument and make sure you include points that support the other side of the argument. Once you have chosen the side you want to support and found some good points that support both sides of the argument, you can write your thesis statement. The thesis statement is the backbone of your paper, so it needs to be strong and the points you include should be points that you can explain and expand on. The next step is to write your introduction. I often like to ask a question or use a statistic to capture the reader’s attention immediately so they will be eager to read on. Next is to give some background information of the topic you chose and the argument that you are going to discuss, and typically, the last sentence or two should be your thesis. For the body paragraphs, you need to develop the key points that you mentioned in your thesis. You’ll need to have assertion, evidence that supports the point that you are making and commentary on the evidence that you used. This should be done for each body paragraph. Since it is an argumentative paper, you have to provide support for the other side with assertion, evidence, and commentary. The conclusion should restate your thesis, the key points that you made in your body paragraphs, and an overall conclusion of your argument. You should not add any new information here. You want to make the reader support your stance on the argument by reminding him or her why he or she was reading the paper. These are my tips to writing a paper.
Comment by Therese Kochuparampil — May 26, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
Response # 1
The basis of juvenile life is that of education; without it, there are no guarantees of a good future. However, now-a-days, according to the essay “School: The Story of American Public Education” by David Tyack, schools are losing their way and not providing as good of an education for their students as they once did. One of his main points was describing public schooling from when it first began, when it changed in the early twentieth century, and finally, when it changed back to its old manner in the early 60s. I strongly disagree with the way public schooling was changed in the early twentieth century. They used public school and children’s “needs” as a mandate to discriminate against those who were less fortunate than other children. For example, Tyack states “ Such leaders would be able to educate all children according to their abilities and destiny in life” (202). First of all, how is someone supposed to know what a child’s destiny in life is? That statement “destiny in life” is discrimination all on its own, however, it does not stop there; apparently schools wanted to educate children based on their abilities so that it could be equal. In spite of this, schools used equality as a means of justifying “difference, not sameness, of treatment” which was again a way to validate their discriminations (202). Although the schooling system today is not perfect, I feel a lot better knowing that the system of the twentieth century is not still intact.
On the other hand, I’d like to jump to a new topic about the discussion we previously had in class about our strengths and weaknesses in writing. I really enjoyed that class because I noticed that a lot of the problems I faced in writing, other people faced in writing also. That discussion made me feel like I wasn’t alone with my struggles in writing and it gave me good tips on how to avoid or improve on certain writing problems. For example, one part of writing I have trouble with is actually starting the paper. A good tip I got from other srudents was to brainstorm or create an outline of my paper so that I know where to start. I felt that this was a really good tip because the next time I sit down to write a paper, I’ll already have an idea of where I want to start. Another problem I seem to have is managing my time wisely. I always tell myself when I get a paper assigned to me that I’m going to start on it a couple weeks before it’s actually do, however, I always end up working on it the night before. I hate procrastinating because I literally pull my hair out because I feel like I’m not going to finish it in time, or a I waste my whole day writing the paper. So my advise is to use your time wisely by managing it, organizing it, and separating your paper into sections so that you’re not overwhelmed all at once with the whole entire paper.
Comment by Diana Daghlas ENG 3010 — May 26, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
When it comes to writing I have strengths and weakness just like everyone else. I would like to continue our discussion on writing tips, strengths and weakness’, because my book has not yet arrived. I will start out with my strengths. I do believe I am good at picking topics that keep my and the readers’ interests up. The main method I use for picking a topic is just to sit down and write down a bunch of topics I can think of. If a paper has to be about a book or poem I would narrow my options. I believe for some reason papers that are open to any topic like the one we are writing for this class, really creates a problem for some people. If they just sit down and just write down a list of topics they are interested in and sort out ones they would get bored of easily, a person could come up with a topic easily. My main weakness is spelling I am a horrible speller. When it comes to paper writing on a computer I am alright because of the spelling processors, but when it comes to editing or hand writing my spelling is horrible. I really need to practice spelling, especially if I am going into education I need to spell things right on the board. It is my biggest fear in the classroom spelling things on the board, and misspelling a word. It makes me feel people are judging me and gets me a little nervous. With practice thought I believe I can over come my spelling weakness. I hope by the end of this class I will really have tweaked my writing skills and strengthen the skills I am weak at.
Comment by dan czartoryski — May 26, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
It wasn’t clear which way the author (Tyack) was going until the very end, which – in my opinion – is disingenuous, and not very powerful as a paper to persuade anyone to his way of seeing the world of public education. He “talks” about public education being “common” and “free” (Adlai Stevenson). Stevenson was quoted as referring to public education as “…the most American thing about America.” I’d argue that the most American thing about America is… the American citizen. Tyack argues Jefferson thought public education would produce a “virtuous citizen” and local control would render self-rule for adults within the community. With this in mind, might I suggest we return the control of all public schools (ALL schools, for that matter) to the local adults within the community the school(s) in question is situated!?! Tyack also argues that the federal government took control of the public schools – to the point of adding a cabinet seat that reports to the President! At the risk of stating the obvious, the “benefits” (liabilities, really) of that decision are seen all around us in the nation’s public school system! I’d rather have less-educated – but common sense smart – local adults running the local boards of education than having a bureaucratic “expert” defining what should and what should not be taught in the public school system! The idea of local control would prevent kindergartners being taught sensitivity training, as evidenced in California as of late. Some believe taxpayer-paid-for education means “free,” but again I’d like to point out the education systems in the states of California, Arizona, and other border states with Mexico. This “free” education costs a LOT of money – all paid for by the productive members of society – and now we have illegal immigrants granted free and unlimited access to education they haven’t paid for. I’m not against the indigent, but I AM for paying for things I want and need. If I can’t afford them… I don’t buy them!! I wish others felt the same. Should others wish to “give” their share of their tax dollars to non-citizens that’s wonderful and they should feel free to do so; I wish I at least had the choice to do so or not… for I do NOT need/want a government telling me what is and what is not acceptable for my children to learn. After all, it should be “We, the People” that is telling the government what is and what is not acceptable. Somewhere along the way, we lost our moral compass: WE’RE the boss of the government bureaucrats, not the other way around!!!
For this response I will continue our in class discussion on writing tips. Personally, I excel at the creative aspect of writing rather than the research. With this in mind, I think choosing a topic that you personally hold interest in is very important if you have the chance. Once you have this topic of personal interest, the research will be far more enjoyable compared to a topic that was either forced on you, or you blindly chose. With research, I also find it easier to utilize resources that are close to you rather than out of your way. For example, a local bookstore may be just as effective as commuting to the library. Or maybe you could check out several books on your topic, bring them home, and do your research as you write your paper simultaneously. Obviously, the internet is also a great means of obtaining information immediately. It is easy for me to distance my writing from my research. For this, I often find it better to break my research down into more specific points on my topic. More specific research can be easier to integrate into your paper than broad chunks of information that don’t seem to fit anywhere. Research can, however, be very helpful to spark your creativity. Quickly reading over some internet articles can expose an interesting point or argument that you can elaborate on in your paper. I also keep in mind that as I continue to write my paper and research, I will gather more and more information on the topic. I can add this newly acquired knowledge to previous parts of my paper, and refine any ideas or arguments. Constantly looking back on my writing is very important to me. It allows me control my flow of ideas better, and catch certain things that I may not have noticed at first.
During the discussion on our writing strengths and weaknesses it made me look back at past projects. I have actually had a lot of writing projects were it was very easy for me, but on the other side I have also had writing projects I found to be extremely hard. I find myself struggling mostly in the aspect of not repeating myself. During many essays (notably the longer ones) I will bring forth an idea which I then elaborate on. Then going through the essay I will pretty much say the same thing but with different words. I find this makes my writings become very boring to read. But after countless essays I have found that this is a very easy thing to solve. Now I take steps to stop my repeating of ideas. The first part of eliminating repeats is planning. I think about what I am going to write then jot some quick notes on paper. These notes I use as a sort of guide on what I am going to write about. I then take these notes and elaborate on them, adding minute details which enhance the writing. Finally the easiest step is one that you don’t even have to do yourself, get someone else to look at your plan. This takes away the “tunnel” thoughts that many people fall into.
Another thing I would like to touch on is about a discussion we had today. This was about the reading on the two schools of different investments/races. I’m going to quickly touch on the point I brought up in class about the “giving up factor.” In today’s standards its ok for kids to give up. If they give up in grade school they just flunk out without any repercussions on them, if they do it in high school they can just get a crappy low paying job, and if they give up in college they can just get welfare. We give many options for people that really do have it hard, but it’s also becoming an enabler in our society. Many people are relying on others (government/family) and that is ok for everyone. I just personally believe that there needs to be a repercussion for giving up, I may not know what it should be but something has to be done. People are supposed to add to their society, not let society become their crutch.
Jason Trefil
I talked about Kozol, and the essay on salvage integration. Kozol gave an outstanding description of the schools he was talking about. Everyone in the class did a good job participating and I thank you. Although the topic was curious, I’m still a little unsettled on a few issues. I understand that the Board of Education gave a crappy explanation as to why the “roller skating rink” wasn’t given much funding if any at all. So what was the outcome? Did the school just settle for that? How long did it stay in that condition? Did New York City ever replace it with an actual sufficient building for learning? I don’t understand, regardless of whom makes that type of decision, how on earth an educational establishment could just be “defeated” that easily! The author explained how various people were complaining on its condition, but the school could have been fixed. How about community service? What about grants or charity? There had to have been someone out around in the United States that would have helped out. It seems that the Board of Education wasn’t the only ones who failed the children. I believe the kids felt so easily defeated because their mentors were easily defeated. Regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or whatever, something could have done and the cruelty that those children endured could have had a stop put to it. The actual educators should have taken a stand and made a fuss. That description of a school was far beyond unacceptable.
In Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol, racial and social inequalities played a major role in the New York public schools. The narrator observed three elementary schools in the same district and tried to get explanations on why the schools are the way they are. On one of the schools, there was a sign that said “All children are capable of learning”. From this sign alone, it showed that this school will do whatever it takes for their students to have an education. Although most of the students in this school were poor and minorities, they should still have the opportunity to get the same education as the rich white students do. However, the community and the Board of Education believed that these poor districts would never get the same education. With this perceptive, the poor children will start to believe they are nothing. This will result in children misbehaving. The misbehaving will lead to violence and drug abuse, which can affect the whole community.
Even though their classrooms were overcrowded and uncomfortable, the teachers still had the ability to teach the students. They cared about the students and, they were not going to let anything stop them from teaching them. For example, when the narrator asked the teachers about the conditions of their school, the teachers were hesitant to answer because they didn’t want any bad consequences to happen to their school. This school was the only place where the teachers can teach the students without any racial judgments.
One of the most shocking/horrible parts of the essay was when the mother took her little girl to the North Central. The intern told the mother that the child was upset by ‘family matters’. However, the girl really had a disorder. This made me really disgusted with doctors like this one. No doctors should give false assumptions to anyone, not even if the person is poor. With the advice from the school nurse, the truth came out. People, like the teachers and nurse, will help improve the poor students’ education mentally and physically. With these people’s help, the poor students will know certain logic things, just like the gifted students, because they will, one day, get taught.
Comment by Christina Anagonye — May 26, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
The reading by Jonathan Kozol was a writing about his experiences in school district ten in New York, and how it seemed there is an intense amount of racial segregation between districts in different areas of New York. He traveled to several different schools in the district, including those that are grossly overpopulated and run down and those that are in near perfect condition, are very well off, and have plenty of room for more students.
I agree with him in the sense that there definitely is segregation between the schools in district ten, and I’m sure in other districts as well, but I also feel that a lot of it stems from self inflicted issues coming from the people that live in the area. The schools in say downtown Detroit are most definitely less well off than those that are in troy and though that is surely due to some underlying racism I can’t help but feel that if the district leaders of the schools would be more than willing to give the money to the schools to help them out of their dire situations, if they had the money, and if they were sure it wouldn’t get broken into and destroyed.
The social status in some cities definitely leaves something to be desired, in the sense that some of the people that are there either don’t want to better themselves and leave behind their childhood aspirations and grow up, or they are so jaded by the way they view the world that they see no sense in trying just to get shot down. That is not to say that every one chooses to be in the position they are in, I’m sure there are situations that a family is so down on its luck that they are stuck in a rut hoping for a miracle, but from what I’ve seen in the different areas I’ve been and the different people I’ve met families like that are few in number.
Mr. Kozol’s article is very well written and I think that he hits the nail on the head that there is most definitely a great deal of racism still alive in the world today but at the same time I think that some of it is, not necessarily deserved but, brought about because of a few people spoiling it for a whole group of others. The schools of different school districts may leave something to be desired but even if the school districts had the money to send them what makes you think that they would send the money if they knew that the areas of the school district they fix will just be torn down in criminal acts? For things to change in the cities of America or even the school districts for that matter people need to realize that just because on person of a religion, race, or any other category may be a criminal or bad person does not mean that the whole group is.
According to dictionary.com, education is “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.” The definition does not say that the opportunities for lower- and working-class children are limited compared to all the opportunities the suburban schools provide for their kids. So why do schools educate kids differently depending on where one lives and what race they are?
Knowledge can be acquired anywhere. A bum on the street can sit me down and teach me all the wonders of the world, without any textbooks, using only his experiences. However, that’s one perspective, one opinion, one point of view. I would need peers that can debate and discuss the bum’s ideas. I would need a building to in which to concentrate where there is no noise coming in from the outside world. I would also need books to prove the bum’s ideas, computers for further research, chairs, tables, maps, pencils, etc. I would need materials that are specifically designed for the topic being taught (lab supplies for science related subjects, a calculator for Math, a notebook for English). In the end, you will see me sitting in a classroom inside of a school. Once peers start to accumulate by the hundreds, the bum (the teacher) is sharing information with too many people. There needs to be a set number of kids per teacher. That means, finding another smart bum, which helps the peers (students) learn more content faster. This is when knowledge is gained through an education and not just from mere facts/opinions presented by a stranger.
This is a playful way of showing the essentials needed to comprise a school. Without them, education is close to impossible. Imagine that I am an African-American girl living in a low-income neighborhood/district in Detroit. Should I go to a broke-down school right down my street or take the bus for an hour and a half to a school that is far more professional and equipped with everything? The answer is neither. No school should be as filthy, segregated, and lacking in much needed material like the schools observed by Jonathan Kozol, especially Public School 261. When I mentioned the building that soon became a school, I was expecting it to include windows and doors. School 261 didn’t even have windows, a usual asset to a house, church, school, and firm. Kozol kept repeating that every room in school 261, except one, had no windows. I think he was trying to show the reader that if a school, holding 1,300 children, comes with only one window, then we can’t expect anything else to go right.
It is outrageous that children are squeezed in gymnasiums and libraries because the community can’t afford to build a bigger school. If money is that big of an issue, teachers should take some responsibility in showing the children that society isn’t purposely, or at least consciously, doing this to them. They need to show that they care a little by putting motivating posters on the walls with quotes and pictures. One teacher can make a huge difference by teaching the black and Hispanic children the same material kids in suburbs are taught.
“Perhaps the worst result of such beliefs is the message that resources would be ‘wasted on poor children.’ Children hear and understand this theme-they are poor investments-and behave accordingly” (Kozol, 222). This is the most touching and sad part of the essay. At this moment I feel like a horrible citizen knowing that something like this is happen and not doing anything about it. Government officials and school faculty, whether intentionally or unconsciously, are letting this continue. People might think that students need only teachers to get an education. That is not the case at all. We need time for interaction with peers, time for breaks, even windows that reassure us that the world outside of the school has more opportunities for us to succeed.
Comment by Sejla Kulaglic — May 26, 2009 @ 8:58 pm
Education
The discussion we had today in class made me realize the differences in education between Canada and the US. I myself have went to several different grade schools and two different high schools. Of the two high schools, one was a public school for grade 9 and 10 and the other one was a Christian school that was not private for grade 11 and 12. It seemed as if the Christian school was very focused on the appearance of the building and the reputation that the community had of the school. Every second Friday for half an hour at the end of the day, all 1600 students had to go outside and pick up garbage. I personally do not think that has any positive affect on my education. I really do not think that I will need to master the school of garbage picking to later on use in life. That school seemed to be very materialistic. While the public school I went to was very strongly focused on the quality of education each student received. The building was not in the best condition, there was only one computer lab for 900 students and there were not too many elective classes to choose from but this school really focused on the bare necessities of education. The english, math and science classes expected the highest from the students. This school has scored the highest on many provincial tests. I think this proves that the quality of the building does not have THAT much of an effect on the ability of a student to learn. It may be uncomfortable in the summer with no air conditioning, but isn’t that better than picking up stinky garbage in the summer?
“What is education” or what does it mean to be educated? Why are we bothering going to school anyways? Most would say to get a job, to have a career, maybe even to follow a passion or obtain prestige. But to think of education as simply being involved academics is seeing something great in a very narrow mindset. We spoke about those people who are very capable of reciting half a book of quantum mechanics, but once they step outside the classroom they find themselves lost. That is lost potential. Then there’s the question, is knowledge power? Maybe only if you know how to use it or combine it with other aspects to truly fulfill it. I once read a story about two men who stood in front of a crowd and tried to convince the crowd of two different views. One was an academically fit professional who knew the subject inside and out. The other had no specific knowledge of the subject, but was social and was great with words. And interestingly enough, most of the crowd sided with the “wrong” point of view (the one who had very limited knowledge of the subject). To me, this was a powerful story… it showed how rhetoric could overwhelm knowledge if used properly, and how important it is to have many abilities and step beyond just knowing facts.
What about the value of a degree? Does it lie in how much someone pays or how much someone learns from it? I believe we are given the tools – whether it is the internet, textbooks, lessons, etc – but it is our responsibility to act on them, to use them in the proper manner and gain the most from them. Whether it is through being persistent, consistent, or just placing a lot of effort – everybody has the capability to succeed and it lies with them to do so.
Education is one of the most fundamental aspects of life. But learning itself is more than that; it is discovering something new. In a very vague answer, it is what we do on a daily basis – whether it is through our parents, our books, our friends, our television, etc. Although nowadays we see education as a consumer good, I think it should be a common good. As humans we have depended on the learning ability of one another to make up for what others fall short of. History has shown contributions in every aspect of life from every culture. As an individual, there will always be some limits. But as a group, those limits can be overcome, or at least made more probable. The great Sir Isaac Newton himself boldly stated that he was only able to look far because he stood on the shoulder of giants. Our future and our progress depend on one another – meaning we have to avoid discriminating, stereotyping, and looking at education as a consumer good. In the world today a very small percentage of the population occupies most of the material value in the world, or has the most opportunities. When we think of areas like Africa, we immediately think of “poor IQ”, poor education, etc – but really that’s only because of their poor opportunities. Who says that if given the same opportunities someone from that area cannot revolutionize the world as many other individuals have in the past? Some people are born with natural abilities – those that cannot be taught no matter how much money you have. Whether it is the ability of being able to take the logarithm of any number in their head, or create beautiful works of art, or historic symphonies, or think in ways very few people in the world can… what is that ability without the opportunity? And who does it help? No one. Some people may force others to stay poor so that they remain rich and powerful, but it is actually a negative more than a positive for them. One of those suppressed may have had the ability to save lives or improve lives if simply given the opportunity. Limiting them also limits our own possibilities.
When writing a paper everyone has some strength and some weaknesses. Some of the tips that we discussed in class include picking a topic, researching, brainstorming, making an outline, and much more. Whenever I am having trouble coming up with a topic on my paper, I usually list all the things that I am interested in learning more about or my hobbies. After I make this list I pick the one that will keep me more enthusiastic throughout the paper. Always have to make sure that the topic is not a boring topic for you because then you might lose interest in the middle of your paper and your paper will lose the attention of your readers. Once you have your topic picked out the best way to go now is do research for your topic. When you are researching for the topic you picked make sure that you read both sides of the argument, because it is important for you to know beforehand whether your are for it or against it.
After you have the information that you need, you can start brainstorming or making an outline on how you want to write your paper. I have never written an outline, in my opinion it does not really let you go out of the box, it makes you stay inside it. Without the outline you can free write more and sometimes when you free write you come with really good ideas or sentences that you might not have thought of with the outline. I just go ahead and start writing my introduction with a good attention getter. Usually I make my attention getter a really good question or a four to five sentence story. There are a lot of ways to go about writing the Introduction, for some this is the hardest thing. The thing that I do that might be helpful also is after I come up with my attention getter, I go over the information I have on my topic and then I come up with four or five main points that I want to talk about in the body. After I have done this I just summarize those parts into my introduction. The toughest thing about the introduction is coming up with a thesis statement, this statement needs to be strong and make sure that you get your point across in that one sentence.
Once you have your main points in your introduction, you can expand those main points individually into your body paragraphs. You will need to make sure to develop key points and support that information with evidence from the research you have done. Also make sure to point the view of the opposite side, do not always do your point of view, but also the other. You also need to make sure that when you go from one paragraph to another that you need to have a transition sentence. This is one of the important things because you want your reader to be able to follow what you are talking about. The transition statement makes it easier going from one topic to another.
In the conclusion you need to restate your thesis statement in different words. Also make sure that you provide no new information in the conclusion. You just want to summarize the key points that you have made and the overall argument and your stand on the subject, whether you are for it or against it.
These are just some of my tips on how I would write the paper.
Comment by Sukhreet Sandhu — May 26, 2009 @ 9:55 pm
Writing is something I truly enjoy. In fact, I have chosen it as my major for Pre-Law. However, I do have my weaknesses along with strengths. I think my weakest quality in writing is my transitions between paragraphs. While editing I notice the flow of my paper isn’t as smooth as I thought. I found that reading your paper out loud helps you catch your mistakes. I enjoy being able to discuss issues such as these with the class because I think it will benefit me greatly, being able to correct my mistakes now rather than later. My next response will be based on the reading, “School: The Story of American Public Education,” written by David Tyack. I will also briefly discuss the importance of education in today’s society, in relevance to this writing. Tyack states that, “Treating schooling as a consumer good and giving parents vouchers for the education of their children solves the problem of quality and decision making: parents choose the schools that will best suit their children” (203). I agree with this statement mainly because it’s the way many families in the twenty-first century handle the education of their children. In my opinion, education today is a consumer good, mainly for the reason that education has become extremely expensive, so expensive that students who have the motivation to continue further in their education cannot due to money issues. Today education is very important. Social and people skills will get your far but education is what gives you the respect you deserve. People who have higher educations such as bachelor degrees, are handed more opportunities.
I chose to write my response about our discussion in class this morning in regards to the first essay on education in underprivileged communities. Ironically, I am writing my final paper for this class on a very similar topic. I found our discussion in class not only stimulating for prospective ideas that could be argued in my paper but also gave me hope that there are still individuals who value the importance of student/teacher/parent involvement in education. One of the most interesting points that was debated were whether the responsibility should fall upon the teacher or the parent when an at risk student is enrolled at an educational institution that resides in an underprivileged community where there are few resources available and a lack of dedication from the district for school improvement. Some students felt that it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their child/ren the value of an education as well as behavior management so that the teacher can properly educate the child once arriving at school. On the other hand, some students, as well as myself, argued that although parents should raise their children properly there comes a time when the parent fails at doing so and then it takes the true passion and dedication of a teacher to step up and take responsibility and help train the child. This view stems from the African proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child”. Overall, I found this discussion extremely interesting and made me more anxious to write my paper proposal. Who do you think the responsibility falls upon?
Comment by Shaquitta Stanley — May 26, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
We’ve discussed several topics in class as of late, and these conversations have proved to be helpful in several ways.
The workshop we had during our first week of class helped everyone to see where are individual strengths lie as a writer, and we also covered weaknesses and how to develop methods to combat these problems when writing papers. More importantly the skills we talked about were comprised to form a general outline on how to create a proposal, as to which we broke the proposal down into for components, including proper research that includes facts and subjects relevant to description of the research topic, clearly defining our research queries, as well stating your side of the argument.
Another topic I felt of interest was the class discussion of the problems facing underfunded education in impoverished neighborhoods in comparison to schools in better areas with greater resources and money. I thought it was interesting to hear the differing opinions of the class, although there was a general consensus that all parties involved must share the same enthusiasm in handling and dealing with the problem of properly educating children. The situation will only worsen as apathy on all sides continue to degrade the desire for children to learn, teachers to instruct with the purpose of having students retain knowledge, and the parents to properly instruct their children on proper values and respect for adults. Something else I found of mutual interest was the conversation about whether education was closer to a common or commercial commodity. There were quite a few differing opinions on what part of the educational experience constituted as commercial and common, college education being more likened to commercial, and there was a small conversation about the use of general education requirements, and how despite that fact that they may seem of no use, they only go to further show that as people our capacity to learn never truly ends, and there is no pinnacle to our overall education as people.
Comment by Marsailis Bryant — May 26, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
Many people experience difficulty when writing papers but as we discussed during class each person has their own strengths and weaknesses when writing. My personal writing strengths include writing an introduction and correcting mine and others spelling and grammatical errors. For myself, I find that writing an introduction is the easiest when I come up with a thesis and state it in my introduction. The main focus of my thesis states a small amount of information about points in which I will include more information on during the body of my paper. When I comes to spelling and grammar I find it most useful to read my paper out loud and sound out or look up works that I am unable to spell. When reading out loud I can decipher where I need commas. When doing so, you can hear the natural pauses, which indicate the need for the commas. On the other hand, I too have many difficulties when writing. My difficulties include forming an outline and developing a conclusion. When I am assigned a paper I always aim to come up with an outline in order to keep a timeline so that way I am always on track with my deadlines. Even though I come up with the outline, I never seem to stick with it and usually finish it up at the last minute. To me, the most important part of the entire paper is the conclusion, which I seem to struggle with the most. The conclusion is the last thing the reader reads and I want to leave them with a strong, lasting impression on the paper I have worked hard on. I always feel as though I am not finishing off it strong enough so it always takes me a lot of time to complete it. With discussing out writing strengths and weaknesses I found that other classmates encounter the same problems as I do or their strengths are similar to my weaknesses. Finding this out made me feel more confident in my writing and knowing that I have classmates that I can approach when a problem arises eases the stress of the upcoming assignments.
Comment by Michelle Fillion McLean — May 26, 2009 @ 11:39 pm
I would like to continue our class discussion about strengths and weaknesses in writing. A lot of people mentioned how they think that picking your own topic is the easiest thing about writing but I have always thought the complete opposite about that. Being as indecisive as I am, I struggle so much with picking a topic. I will pick one, start my paper, and change my mind five minutes later. When you are given a topic, it just makes everything so much easier. If the teacher gave you a certain topic, then you already know that there is enough information about it or else the teacher wouldn’t have picked it. Also, if the teacher says you need a certain amount of book, database, or online sources, you will also know that those resources are out there based off of the teacher. I have picked a number of different topics that I could potentially use for my 15 page paper but every time I research the topic, I can’t find enough information about it. Teachers usually always give your more than one topic to choose from which, in my opinion, is by far the easiest thing about writing classes. You are more than likely able to find one of the topics interesting enough to create a good paper out of. Every time I have been given a topic, I worry less about the deciding on the topic and more about writing the best paper possible using that topic. I have never had trouble creating a good attention getter or thesis. I also have never had trouble researching information or making a good conclusion. Regardless of the topic, I am confident that I can write a great paper. That said, having a topic already chosen for me just makes it that much easier for me to write a paper.
I’ve decided to do a response on one of our in class discussions. When the class gave responses on what is the most and least difficult when writing a paper I realized that the answers given were similar to mine. Then as a class we thought of very beneficial tools that could help with the problems associated with writing a paper. Some of the tips that were very useful to me were using the databases and catalogues on Wayne States website, managing your time according to the length of the paper, finding something interesting about a topic given to you, and brainstorming/outline.
One of the hardest parts of writing a paper to me is when a topic is assigned to you. I realized that I can find something interesting within that topic to make the writing easier. Now you’re probably wondering what if I can’t find anything interesting on that particular topic and my answer to that question would be than you’re screwed. Of course, one of the least difficult things when writing a paper for me would be thinking of your own topic.
Most teachers want more that just books as references. Matter of fact I haven’t ran across a teacher who just wanted books as references. Suggesting things that Wayne States’ page offers were very beneficial. Managing your time when writing a paper is very crucial. When you manage your time appropriately you will have time to not only proofread it yourself, but also let others look over your paper as well. You can also use workshops and writing tutors to help with your paper. Now how will you be able to use all of these helpful resources if you wait until the last minute to finish your paper.
Brainstorming is a tool used when starting your paper because you’re able to think of interesting things to write in your paper. Outlining is helpful because you’re able to organize your work. I hope that everyone received as much beneficial information as I did.
I am writing a response to the assigned reading in SCC; 77-108.
I found the first three articles dealing with names, and the identity that coincides with them particularly interesting out of all of the assigned reading. I thought each of the authors individual stories were profoundly informative, despite the obvious differences in each story; I found that I could relate the tales they told. As someone who had a unique name, I found that many people were trying to understand how a child could receive such a name, let alone pronounce it with such clarity, and certain people, my relatives included called themselves shortening my name to ‘Marty’, a nickname that did no justice to the etymology of my name.
My name also caused me to stand out when I was a young man in school, many teachers found my name particularly interesting due to their difficulty in pronouncing it, something I never understood when all one had to do was tackle the pronunciation in syllabic form, many too overwhelmed by the sight of the name and the arrangement of the letters to say it correctly. At times, I felt that the name was unique to only me, a certain vanity came along with knowing that my name was indeed special, that is until I met someone else who shared it with me, but that wasn’t until high school. I decided to research the origins of my name and discover it was of Roman origin, Marcellus in the language of Latin, but my name had undergone something of French spelling, my name not as original, but its spelling was unique.
Comment by Marsailis Bryant — June 30, 2009 @ 9:14 am
My response is pertaining to the 3 articles that we discussed in class today. I believe that names give people meaning. Although my name is Michelle now, my parents had named me Lindsay when I was first born. This name lasted 3 days until my parents decided that the name did not really suit me as much as they thought. As we discussed in class, names and words can mean many different things with different languages. My father is Italian, and we have many dialects within our language. The same English word usually has 2 or 3 different Italian words that can mean the same thing as well as names. My nickname to all of my friends that have the same cultural background is Mishu but to most of my family I am either Michelle or Michele (pronounced Mikelle’). This means Michael or Michelle in Italian. Although many people do not like nicknames, I do not mind the ones that have been given to me. On the other hand, my cousins, who have 2 little boys wanted to name their children names that could not be put into short form. They ended up naming their two boys Maddox and Ronan. Clearly, many people have different outlooks on names. I myself, do not care whether a name has a significance to it or not. I lean towards more names that are culturally distinct within the Italian language or names of my Grandparents or father. On the Italian side of my family, our tradition is to name the boys usually after their grandfather or Dad. My grandfathers name is Marco, so is my Uncles and so is my Uncles son, my cousin Marco. Although this can be confusing at family gatherings it’s the way we do it within my family. It is our tradition and is what we are known for.
Comment by Michelle Fillion McLean — June 30, 2009 @ 6:50 pm
Christina Bekris
ENG 3010
Response #1
Spayde writes about “Learning in the Key of Life” and gives a fantastic view of how little American education really is. He talks about the different types of education such as Buddhism and the importance of education to different groups such as multiculturalists. I love how he says that education, like class is power. This is such a true statement because your social class dominates how important you are to society and your education is what can get you to higher social classes. Also, I agree about the humanities of life because those do allow people to live a better life instead of looking at things in a negative aspect you learn how to think positive and act against these forces thrown at your life and this says a lot about a person. He quotes John Saul about training and I disagree with him because training is essential to learning a skill and becoming proficient at it such as nursing skills or engineering skills. Spayde goes on further to quote David Orr and his argument on education about slow knowledge and I completely agree with him. Slow knowledge is better because it helps bring in cultural and ecological aspects about education and that allows humans to better adapt and learn. In addition to Spayde’s writing, I agree with Goethe saying that we truly learn when we love something because we find the time to perfect our knowledge on that subject. This is when we would question every aspect about that subject and find insight to it and learn the most on it because that subject would fascinate us. This just gives us some momentum about education because it is such as huge topic that education truly does happen everywhere. It occurs when we interact with others and learn through seeing, communicating and hearing what they do.
Comment by Cristina Bekris — May 25, 2009 @ 7:36 pm
In response to a few of the questions after Tyack’s reading “School: The Story of American Public Education”: The question says that the twentieth century saw the rise of the expert and asked how tracking back then makes me feel about the value of tracking today. I think that tracking back then consisted of one plan. Tracking today can send each student on many different choices of plans. Tracking today is better because it is helping more and more students figure out their area of expertise. Tracking in high school gives students the specific training they need for the area they are interested in at the time. Even though the young student will most likely change his or her mind a few more times before they begin their careers. Having the option of taking culinary, autoshop, dental, or tons of other career oriented classes gives students a taste of whats available earlier on.
Another question asks how i feel about the statement “schooling produces workers whose skills can be bought or sold.” It is true that school gives you the knowledge and experience to be valuable in the workforce, however, this statement undervalues the fact that we are people, and makes us seem like objects, rather than human beings.
In response to whether or not I think this article sounds credible without numerical evidence. I think this reading was incredibly boring. If there was more numerical evidence I think it would be even more boring and not interesting to read. Which to me, makes it less credible.
Comment by Rebecca Whisenhunt — May 26, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
I’ve decided to do a response on one of our in class discussions. When the class gave responses on what is the most and least difficult when writing a paper I realized that the answers given were similar to mine. Then as a class we thought of very beneficial tools that could help with the problems associated with writing a paper. Some of the tips that were very useful to me were using the databases and catalogues on Wayne States website, managing your time according to the length of the paper, finding something interesting about a topic given to you, and brainstorming/outline.
One of the hardest parts of writing a paper to me is when a topic is assigned to you. I realized that I can find something interesting within that topic to make the writing easier. Now you’re probably wondering what if I can’t find anything interesting on that particular topic and my answer to that question would be than you’re screwed. Of course, one of the least difficult things when writing a paper for me would be thinking of your own topic.
Most teachers want more that just books as references. Matter of fact I haven’t ran across a teacher who just wanted books as references. Suggesting things that Wayne States’ page offers were very beneficial. Managing your time when writing a paper is very crucial. When you manage your time appropriately you will have time to not only proofread it yourself, but also let others look over your paper as well. You can also use workshops and writing tutors to help with your paper. Now how will you be able to use all of these helpful resources if you wait until the last minute to finish your paper.
Brainstorming is a tool used when starting your paper because you’re able to think of interesting things to write in your paper. Outlining is helpful because you’re able to organize your work. I hope that everyone received as much beneficial information as I did.
Comment by Ashley Griffin — May 26, 2009 @ 6:23 am
The first essay was “School: The Story of American Public Education” by David Tyack. The main idea of this essay is that school is a necessity, however there are some issues with the size of schools, what is taught, and who is teaching.“Equality meant difference, not sameness, of treatment” is one quote from the essay that I strongly agree with. I believe that equality, in the sense of school and education, means allowing each child to have the same potential to reach his/her highest level. This requires different treatment for each particular child because not everyone has the same privileges and similarly, not everyone will attain the same level of knowledge. It is about helping them to become their best. With regards to the size of schools, I also agree that classes achieve more when they are smaller in size because it allows the teacher to have more interaction and one-on-one time with each student.
In the second reading, “Learning in the Key of Life” by Jon Spayde, the argument is that current education in schools are focused more on teaching people to be “competitive” as opposed to teaching things like humanity. Our society relates class or social standing based on education and the amount of money a person makes, when really it should be based on moral character. It unfairly defines people based on those characteristics, which in turn decreases the number of opportunities available to them, just like the essay points out that the best hope of “poor Americans…is ‘training’ at fly-by-night computer school.” In some ways, I believe that there is a need for education in technology because that makes up the majority of our world today, however it is important to also emphasize developing personal character and goodwill. Class should be established based on not only education and money, but as well as integrity.
Lastly, the essay by Jonathan Kozol entitled “Savage Unequalities” is the reading that I felt the strongest about. It mainly compared and contrasted the differences between schools in poor areas of New York and schools in its suburbs. It is hard to think that children would be subject to those school conditions and still be expected to learn something but it is the reality in our world today. Some people may view these children as hopeless and destined for trouble, but by assuming these things, they take away the potential futures that these children may have. Even in “rich” schools you can see the same inequalities by separation of classes such as gifted, special, and mainstream. Just like I mentioned about the first reading, equality in schools is about giving each student the same opportunity to achieve his/her best, yet gifted students are receiving more education than those in special and mainstream classes. Those children have risen to their potential already so the extra attention should be given to the special students.
Comment by Alyssa Lopez — May 26, 2009 @ 10:11 am
Amal Nahhal
Response #1
Eng 3010
Amal Nahhal 05/26/2009
Reading is not just taking the words. Reading is to get the main ideas when you are reading because that’s help you mopre to understand the what the writer want to tell you in his topic. Previewing is an important step in reading, because it gives us a framework to understand what we are read. Previewing is:
- Read the title.
- Get the main ideas.
- Know the writer’s position in his ideas.
- Summarize the article.
- Bring your own knowledge.
The second step is: to understand reading u should get a pen and write down the important notes about what we read. John singer illustrate that composition is a way of work that organized to shape our response. William H. Johnson depicts that a color is a dominate element in his work because it helping us to see the amused by this reading. Georgia O’keefe in her story “The Lowrence Tree”, demonstrates how line transforms a simple scene. Mary Cassatt illustrates in her story “The child Bath” how size and shape influence our impressions. “The Banjo Lesson” is a story written by Henry Ossawa Tanner, illustrates how dark and light used to focus attention on the subject. Knowing the background knowledge is very important in art work, because it let us understand the elements and how they contribute to the effect. Careful reading and understanding are the beginning points of good writing. Develop your ideas to let people see what you see. To success in your writing you have to be open mind, and come up with new ideas. When you are writing you should present ideas to others. The last step in becoming credible involves in checking the supporting logic tying the evidence to the ideas. To create a first draft you have to look closely at the subject you choose, then come with a list of ideas that answered the questions that you asked. In second draft the arguments should occur in your writing. In final draft the task should shift from rereading, and rethinking to make individual sentences. In your writing you should take some of examples about what you write. A specific detail will describe the writer’s point. Describe what you writing about and the images of your writing. To help the readers understand what you are writing about you should compare it to something that they already know. Summarize another writer’s ideas that gives you arguments in your writing.
Comment by amal nahhal — May 26, 2009 @ 12:05 pm
Ryan Lim
ENG 3010
How could this have happen? Who is to blame? What can be done to change this? These are some of the underlying questions concerning poor education conditions that many American students face today. In class we discussed these questions and other issues associated with the poor education in this country. Some felt that the teachers were to be blamed, while others blamed the parents. Some believe that it’s due to lack of support from the community, while others believe the students are to be blamed related to their lack of self-motivation. All of these are sound arguments, but realistically what is the cure to all of this? Money.
Money can change everything. Can it be as simple as that? Sometimes complex problems can be solved by simple solutions. With enough money, districts can afford to provide new books, desks, proper teaching equipment. In turn would raise moral of both students and teachers, providing a positive environment for education. A more general outcome would be an increase in migration to the area due to the reputable school district, leading to a stimulation of the local economy. More money schools could offer extracurricular activities, allowing students to devote their free to something constructive. Looking at the big picture, juvenile crime rates would decrease, gang activity would decrease, etc. Money is the simple solution to this complex problem facing many school districts.
How do we get this money? It’s simple to say, more money, but where to get the money is obviously the problem. There are many foundations, charities, organizations devoted to raising money for poor school districts. As well as many philanthropists who donate millions of dollars each year, but the money that is received from these sources should be viewed as financial aids. The primary source of funds comes from the government. We need to stop relying on these finical benefactors , we need more money from the government. Each year the government collects hundred billions of dollars, and each year a relatively small percentage of that is used to fund education. While trying to keep political issues aside, it seems only right to use our money to enlighten lives rather than to destroy and decimate. Possibly with a new president, our money will be spend on a greater good.
Is money the only way to improve school districts? The poor education is an enormous issues that may require many steps, over many years, involving whole population nothing is certain . One thing that is for certain is that underfunded school districts cannot be ignored any longer. The adults of tomorrow are the youths of today. What types of decisions are to be made by poorly educated citizens? As US citizens we are guaranteed a free education, many other countries can only hope to offer that. However what is a free education worth, if it is of poor quality?
Comment by Ryan Lim — May 26, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
Nathan Missler
ENG3010
The piece I will be responding to is Chapter One, Reading and Writing Arguments in the Seeking Common Cause textbook. In this chapter it basically explains how to write and paper from the start of thinking of a topic to creating a masterpiece of an essay. I feel that this chapter can really help a person who is in need of writing a paper and isn’t the greatest writer. Writing isn’t just what you know about a certain topic. Yes, I understand that you have to know what you are talking about when you are writing your paper but you also have to have your audience (your readers) to feel that you are creditable to talk about your topic. As the book states, “Much of the time, arguing is not about persuading someone that you are right, but about being believable. It’s about helping others see, by clarifying for yourself and others, one way to interpret a text, picture, or issue.” And to become even more credible with your arguementive topic is to show both sides of the issue. For example, if your topic was stem cell research, you would show both sides on how someone can be for it and how someone can be against it.
The text also gives you excellent ideas on how the writing process can go. Creating the 1st draft is the work in progress that you can just jot down anything you know about that topic to generate and shape ideas. The 2nd draft is more towards getting the information onto the paper with more focused and deliberate work. Finally the final draft is geared toward making individual sentences easier for the reader to take in. The text also gives many ideas to add into your paper to give it more length. Some examples may include, using analogies by comparing your topic or thought to something your readers may already know, or quoting by showing others to feel that you are even more creditable to talk about your topic. I feel that this chapter in the book can really help a student very significantly. To be frankly honest, I might just keep the book and not to a buy back at Barnes and Noble just for the fact that how they gave such simple explanations and reason for writing a paper.
Comment by Nathan Missler — May 26, 2009 @ 2:57 pm
I would like to write a response regarding on tips to write a good paper. The tips discussed in class include factors such as brainstorming, researching, breaking down into specific parts and using past experiences to come up with ideas and so much more. However, I believe that the best option is to probably just dive into it straight on and just start writing. First time never needs to be perfect nor polished; randomly writing out sentences regarding the topic could probably open many ideal doors for the writer, now that he/she have finally tested the waters. All the technical preparations discussed in class is as important, of course – but one must actually gain experience or try it first hand to get the actual feel.
Also from the SCC reading about the reader noticing different components of a writing such as the kind of emotion the author portrays throughout his/her writing and the way the words are displayed – basically taking ‘hints’ as a reader to analyse accurately, I found it very interesting. It’s actually pretty boring if all writers were the same, used same kind of opinions or words to describe certain things. It’s always attention-grabbing if an author writes very bluntly or realistically rather than trying to sugar-coat certain sensitive topics to make the writing more amiable. I think that loses the audience’s effort to analyse the paper even further, because it can almost be predicted to as what the author’s final words would be. Therefore, having a unique writer really helps with the reader to dig deeper into the structure and get a better understanding and be more interested.
I would also like to write in response to Monday’s discussion – mainly on the topic of poor public schools and its environment for the student, and the staff and parents who are helpless about the situation. It seemed that people in class were taking one or the other side to this. However, it is a really hard thing to actually decide upon what to do. Sure, it is very important for students to get proper schooling, education, teachers and learning environment, but as what the mayor of New York sad about giving these schools money being ‘hopeless’ – I somewhat agree. Yes, it is important that these students are unfortunate and needs help. But how much of a donation going to help? It will be a great recovery in the short run, but in the long run, it really depends on how the students are taken care of. Some money can only help so far unless the parents and the teachers have a determined mindset to make it a better environment. I’m not trying to say that these kids don’t deserve help, but it is somewhat understandable on what the mayor has decided. It is impossible to make everybody happy. The mayor might see a lot more potential and success in ‘richer’ schools if more donation is made for them – whereas the amount of potential and success he sees with poorer schools is pretty much a minimum. This is also the reason why these levels of classes has always existed – the United States may be the richest country in the world, but it is also a land of democracy.
Comment by Julie Lee — May 26, 2009 @ 4:34 pm
After reading Jonathan Kozol’s essay entitled Savage Inequalities, it is quite clear that the there are components of the education system that are quite flawed. Although it may have been written eighteen years ago, Kozol’s essay addresses issues that are still prevalent today, especially in Detroit. Kozol did an excellent job of describing the state of the contrasting schools, making Room 111 of State Hall feel like the “Taj Mahal” compared to the cramped and suffocating classrooms of District 10’s Public School 261 in New York City. It is ridiculous to think that any child, “special” or “gifted”, could effectively learn in an environment such as that of P.S. 261. Unless there was a dire need for a roller derby training school in the neighborhood, the building should have never been considered as a candidate for a learning institution, of any type. While reading the essay, I couldn’t help but envision these poor children wearing jail garb as they sat in their windowless classrooms and fended off the cold.
While I would be lying if I said I was oblivious to these problems in the inner-city schools, I was absolutely shocked to learn that children were being labelled as “EMR” and “TMR” (educable or trainable mentally retarded). The children that were lucky enough to attend some of the better-funded schools were still being prevented from reaching their full potential by these labels. Instead of spending money on special tutoring or programs to help the children learn and possibly overcome their learning disabilities, they were thrown into wood-working shops and taught how to punch in and out of a time clock. There is nothing wrong with doing such jobs, but these children were being told it was their only option in life, ignoring any goals or ambitions they may have had. Not everyone has what it takes to be a doctor or a lawyer, but it should be every child’s right to have a quality education where they can have the books they need, the individual attention they need, and a safe place to learn that was actually built to hold students.
Comment by Stanley Wandeloski — May 26, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
I’m going to write about two of our in class discussions on personal experiences in English classes and tips to writing a paper. Writing can be a tedious and difficult task if not approached the right way. It can always be on your mind if you wait until the last minute to do it; I know this from personal experience. Often times, when I have a paper do write I tend to put it off because I do not want to touch it at all. You can call it, ‘the fear of starting.’ This is primarily due to the fact that I cannot choose a good topic to write about, so I just wait till’ the last minute. The papers I had to write in my English classes in high school were easier for me to do because often times we had to write about a book we read. I know that some people completely dreaded doing this, and I myself didn’t find it too enjoyable. However, it wasn’t that difficult for me to do because I was given a topic and all I had to do was address an issue, evaluate/explain it, find quotes supporting or defending it, and give some commentary. This sounds quite simple because it’s expressed in a ‘formula.’ My best papers have been from writing about books I read. Primarily, because I was given a topic and I didn’t have to go and do any research to find it. If I needed evidence, all I had to do was look through the book; it was easy as pie! However, now, I have to choose topics on my own and write about them, which hasn’t always been easy. I’ve only taken one English class before this class since I’ve been at Wayne State, which was English 1010. In this class we had to write three papers: one was based on a reading and the other two were topics based upon our choosing. This class was actually not very difficult and I did well. However, this is my first college English class where I have to write a research paper, so I’m not exactly excited. But, I know that I need to do this if I want to become a better writer.
On another note, I want to talk about some good tips to writing a paper. The first thing is to clearly analyze and understand what the writing assignment entails. If you have the option of writing about a topic of your choosing then you must brainstorm ideas of what you are interested in and what you would like to write about. For me, this is the difficult part; nonetheless, it is essential to writing a paper. Next, you need to find something that you can argue about within the topic you have chosen. It is best to read about both sides of the argument and then choose the side that you agree with or support. Then, you need to make a list or outline of what you want to talk about for your argument and make sure you include points that support the other side of the argument. Once you have chosen the side you want to support and found some good points that support both sides of the argument, you can write your thesis statement. The thesis statement is the backbone of your paper, so it needs to be strong and the points you include should be points that you can explain and expand on. The next step is to write your introduction. I often like to ask a question or use a statistic to capture the reader’s attention immediately so they will be eager to read on. Next is to give some background information of the topic you chose and the argument that you are going to discuss, and typically, the last sentence or two should be your thesis. For the body paragraphs, you need to develop the key points that you mentioned in your thesis. You’ll need to have assertion, evidence that supports the point that you are making and commentary on the evidence that you used. This should be done for each body paragraph. Since it is an argumentative paper, you have to provide support for the other side with assertion, evidence, and commentary. The conclusion should restate your thesis, the key points that you made in your body paragraphs, and an overall conclusion of your argument. You should not add any new information here. You want to make the reader support your stance on the argument by reminding him or her why he or she was reading the paper. These are my tips to writing a paper.
Comment by Therese Kochuparampil — May 26, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
Response # 1
The basis of juvenile life is that of education; without it, there are no guarantees of a good future. However, now-a-days, according to the essay “School: The Story of American Public Education” by David Tyack, schools are losing their way and not providing as good of an education for their students as they once did. One of his main points was describing public schooling from when it first began, when it changed in the early twentieth century, and finally, when it changed back to its old manner in the early 60s. I strongly disagree with the way public schooling was changed in the early twentieth century. They used public school and children’s “needs” as a mandate to discriminate against those who were less fortunate than other children. For example, Tyack states “ Such leaders would be able to educate all children according to their abilities and destiny in life” (202). First of all, how is someone supposed to know what a child’s destiny in life is? That statement “destiny in life” is discrimination all on its own, however, it does not stop there; apparently schools wanted to educate children based on their abilities so that it could be equal. In spite of this, schools used equality as a means of justifying “difference, not sameness, of treatment” which was again a way to validate their discriminations (202). Although the schooling system today is not perfect, I feel a lot better knowing that the system of the twentieth century is not still intact.
On the other hand, I’d like to jump to a new topic about the discussion we previously had in class about our strengths and weaknesses in writing. I really enjoyed that class because I noticed that a lot of the problems I faced in writing, other people faced in writing also. That discussion made me feel like I wasn’t alone with my struggles in writing and it gave me good tips on how to avoid or improve on certain writing problems. For example, one part of writing I have trouble with is actually starting the paper. A good tip I got from other srudents was to brainstorm or create an outline of my paper so that I know where to start. I felt that this was a really good tip because the next time I sit down to write a paper, I’ll already have an idea of where I want to start. Another problem I seem to have is managing my time wisely. I always tell myself when I get a paper assigned to me that I’m going to start on it a couple weeks before it’s actually do, however, I always end up working on it the night before. I hate procrastinating because I literally pull my hair out because I feel like I’m not going to finish it in time, or a I waste my whole day writing the paper. So my advise is to use your time wisely by managing it, organizing it, and separating your paper into sections so that you’re not overwhelmed all at once with the whole entire paper.
Comment by Diana Daghlas ENG 3010 — May 26, 2009 @ 6:13 pm
Dan Czartoryski
Response #1
When it comes to writing I have strengths and weakness just like everyone else. I would like to continue our discussion on writing tips, strengths and weakness’, because my book has not yet arrived. I will start out with my strengths. I do believe I am good at picking topics that keep my and the readers’ interests up. The main method I use for picking a topic is just to sit down and write down a bunch of topics I can think of. If a paper has to be about a book or poem I would narrow my options. I believe for some reason papers that are open to any topic like the one we are writing for this class, really creates a problem for some people. If they just sit down and just write down a list of topics they are interested in and sort out ones they would get bored of easily, a person could come up with a topic easily. My main weakness is spelling I am a horrible speller. When it comes to paper writing on a computer I am alright because of the spelling processors, but when it comes to editing or hand writing my spelling is horrible. I really need to practice spelling, especially if I am going into education I need to spell things right on the board. It is my biggest fear in the classroom spelling things on the board, and misspelling a word. It makes me feel people are judging me and gets me a little nervous. With practice thought I believe I can over come my spelling weakness. I hope by the end of this class I will really have tweaked my writing skills and strengthen the skills I am weak at.
Comment by dan czartoryski — May 26, 2009 @ 6:44 pm
RE: The Story of American Public Education
It wasn’t clear which way the author (Tyack) was going until the very end, which – in my opinion – is disingenuous, and not very powerful as a paper to persuade anyone to his way of seeing the world of public education. He “talks” about public education being “common” and “free” (Adlai Stevenson). Stevenson was quoted as referring to public education as “…the most American thing about America.” I’d argue that the most American thing about America is… the American citizen. Tyack argues Jefferson thought public education would produce a “virtuous citizen” and local control would render self-rule for adults within the community. With this in mind, might I suggest we return the control of all public schools (ALL schools, for that matter) to the local adults within the community the school(s) in question is situated!?! Tyack also argues that the federal government took control of the public schools – to the point of adding a cabinet seat that reports to the President! At the risk of stating the obvious, the “benefits” (liabilities, really) of that decision are seen all around us in the nation’s public school system! I’d rather have less-educated – but common sense smart – local adults running the local boards of education than having a bureaucratic “expert” defining what should and what should not be taught in the public school system! The idea of local control would prevent kindergartners being taught sensitivity training, as evidenced in California as of late. Some believe taxpayer-paid-for education means “free,” but again I’d like to point out the education systems in the states of California, Arizona, and other border states with Mexico. This “free” education costs a LOT of money – all paid for by the productive members of society – and now we have illegal immigrants granted free and unlimited access to education they haven’t paid for. I’m not against the indigent, but I AM for paying for things I want and need. If I can’t afford them… I don’t buy them!! I wish others felt the same. Should others wish to “give” their share of their tax dollars to non-citizens that’s wonderful and they should feel free to do so; I wish I at least had the choice to do so or not… for I do NOT need/want a government telling me what is and what is not acceptable for my children to learn. After all, it should be “We, the People” that is telling the government what is and what is not acceptable. Somewhere along the way, we lost our moral compass: WE’RE the boss of the government bureaucrats, not the other way around!!!
Comment by David Riley — May 26, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
Response #1
For this response I will continue our in class discussion on writing tips. Personally, I excel at the creative aspect of writing rather than the research. With this in mind, I think choosing a topic that you personally hold interest in is very important if you have the chance. Once you have this topic of personal interest, the research will be far more enjoyable compared to a topic that was either forced on you, or you blindly chose. With research, I also find it easier to utilize resources that are close to you rather than out of your way. For example, a local bookstore may be just as effective as commuting to the library. Or maybe you could check out several books on your topic, bring them home, and do your research as you write your paper simultaneously. Obviously, the internet is also a great means of obtaining information immediately. It is easy for me to distance my writing from my research. For this, I often find it better to break my research down into more specific points on my topic. More specific research can be easier to integrate into your paper than broad chunks of information that don’t seem to fit anywhere. Research can, however, be very helpful to spark your creativity. Quickly reading over some internet articles can expose an interesting point or argument that you can elaborate on in your paper. I also keep in mind that as I continue to write my paper and research, I will gather more and more information on the topic. I can add this newly acquired knowledge to previous parts of my paper, and refine any ideas or arguments. Constantly looking back on my writing is very important to me. It allows me control my flow of ideas better, and catch certain things that I may not have noticed at first.
Comment by dpietrusa — May 26, 2009 @ 8:23 pm
During the discussion on our writing strengths and weaknesses it made me look back at past projects. I have actually had a lot of writing projects were it was very easy for me, but on the other side I have also had writing projects I found to be extremely hard. I find myself struggling mostly in the aspect of not repeating myself. During many essays (notably the longer ones) I will bring forth an idea which I then elaborate on. Then going through the essay I will pretty much say the same thing but with different words. I find this makes my writings become very boring to read. But after countless essays I have found that this is a very easy thing to solve. Now I take steps to stop my repeating of ideas. The first part of eliminating repeats is planning. I think about what I am going to write then jot some quick notes on paper. These notes I use as a sort of guide on what I am going to write about. I then take these notes and elaborate on them, adding minute details which enhance the writing. Finally the easiest step is one that you don’t even have to do yourself, get someone else to look at your plan. This takes away the “tunnel” thoughts that many people fall into.
Another thing I would like to touch on is about a discussion we had today. This was about the reading on the two schools of different investments/races. I’m going to quickly touch on the point I brought up in class about the “giving up factor.” In today’s standards its ok for kids to give up. If they give up in grade school they just flunk out without any repercussions on them, if they do it in high school they can just get a crappy low paying job, and if they give up in college they can just get welfare. We give many options for people that really do have it hard, but it’s also becoming an enabler in our society. Many people are relying on others (government/family) and that is ok for everyone. I just personally believe that there needs to be a repercussion for giving up, I may not know what it should be but something has to be done. People are supposed to add to their society, not let society become their crutch.
Comment by Anthony Injic — May 26, 2009 @ 8:38 pm
Jason Trefil
I talked about Kozol, and the essay on salvage integration. Kozol gave an outstanding description of the schools he was talking about. Everyone in the class did a good job participating and I thank you. Although the topic was curious, I’m still a little unsettled on a few issues. I understand that the Board of Education gave a crappy explanation as to why the “roller skating rink” wasn’t given much funding if any at all. So what was the outcome? Did the school just settle for that? How long did it stay in that condition? Did New York City ever replace it with an actual sufficient building for learning? I don’t understand, regardless of whom makes that type of decision, how on earth an educational establishment could just be “defeated” that easily! The author explained how various people were complaining on its condition, but the school could have been fixed. How about community service? What about grants or charity? There had to have been someone out around in the United States that would have helped out. It seems that the Board of Education wasn’t the only ones who failed the children. I believe the kids felt so easily defeated because their mentors were easily defeated. Regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or whatever, something could have done and the cruelty that those children endured could have had a stop put to it. The actual educators should have taken a stand and made a fuss. That description of a school was far beyond unacceptable.
Comment by Jason Trefil — May 26, 2009 @ 8:39 pm
In Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol, racial and social inequalities played a major role in the New York public schools. The narrator observed three elementary schools in the same district and tried to get explanations on why the schools are the way they are. On one of the schools, there was a sign that said “All children are capable of learning”. From this sign alone, it showed that this school will do whatever it takes for their students to have an education. Although most of the students in this school were poor and minorities, they should still have the opportunity to get the same education as the rich white students do. However, the community and the Board of Education believed that these poor districts would never get the same education. With this perceptive, the poor children will start to believe they are nothing. This will result in children misbehaving. The misbehaving will lead to violence and drug abuse, which can affect the whole community.
Even though their classrooms were overcrowded and uncomfortable, the teachers still had the ability to teach the students. They cared about the students and, they were not going to let anything stop them from teaching them. For example, when the narrator asked the teachers about the conditions of their school, the teachers were hesitant to answer because they didn’t want any bad consequences to happen to their school. This school was the only place where the teachers can teach the students without any racial judgments.
One of the most shocking/horrible parts of the essay was when the mother took her little girl to the North Central. The intern told the mother that the child was upset by ‘family matters’. However, the girl really had a disorder. This made me really disgusted with doctors like this one. No doctors should give false assumptions to anyone, not even if the person is poor. With the advice from the school nurse, the truth came out. People, like the teachers and nurse, will help improve the poor students’ education mentally and physically. With these people’s help, the poor students will know certain logic things, just like the gifted students, because they will, one day, get taught.
Comment by Christina Anagonye — May 26, 2009 @ 8:54 pm
The reading by Jonathan Kozol was a writing about his experiences in school district ten in New York, and how it seemed there is an intense amount of racial segregation between districts in different areas of New York. He traveled to several different schools in the district, including those that are grossly overpopulated and run down and those that are in near perfect condition, are very well off, and have plenty of room for more students.
I agree with him in the sense that there definitely is segregation between the schools in district ten, and I’m sure in other districts as well, but I also feel that a lot of it stems from self inflicted issues coming from the people that live in the area. The schools in say downtown Detroit are most definitely less well off than those that are in troy and though that is surely due to some underlying racism I can’t help but feel that if the district leaders of the schools would be more than willing to give the money to the schools to help them out of their dire situations, if they had the money, and if they were sure it wouldn’t get broken into and destroyed.
The social status in some cities definitely leaves something to be desired, in the sense that some of the people that are there either don’t want to better themselves and leave behind their childhood aspirations and grow up, or they are so jaded by the way they view the world that they see no sense in trying just to get shot down. That is not to say that every one chooses to be in the position they are in, I’m sure there are situations that a family is so down on its luck that they are stuck in a rut hoping for a miracle, but from what I’ve seen in the different areas I’ve been and the different people I’ve met families like that are few in number.
Mr. Kozol’s article is very well written and I think that he hits the nail on the head that there is most definitely a great deal of racism still alive in the world today but at the same time I think that some of it is, not necessarily deserved but, brought about because of a few people spoiling it for a whole group of others. The schools of different school districts may leave something to be desired but even if the school districts had the money to send them what makes you think that they would send the money if they knew that the areas of the school district they fix will just be torn down in criminal acts? For things to change in the cities of America or even the school districts for that matter people need to realize that just because on person of a religion, race, or any other category may be a criminal or bad person does not mean that the whole group is.
Comment by Kyle Mueller — May 26, 2009 @ 8:57 pm
According to dictionary.com, education is “the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.” The definition does not say that the opportunities for lower- and working-class children are limited compared to all the opportunities the suburban schools provide for their kids. So why do schools educate kids differently depending on where one lives and what race they are?
Knowledge can be acquired anywhere. A bum on the street can sit me down and teach me all the wonders of the world, without any textbooks, using only his experiences. However, that’s one perspective, one opinion, one point of view. I would need peers that can debate and discuss the bum’s ideas. I would need a building to in which to concentrate where there is no noise coming in from the outside world. I would also need books to prove the bum’s ideas, computers for further research, chairs, tables, maps, pencils, etc. I would need materials that are specifically designed for the topic being taught (lab supplies for science related subjects, a calculator for Math, a notebook for English). In the end, you will see me sitting in a classroom inside of a school. Once peers start to accumulate by the hundreds, the bum (the teacher) is sharing information with too many people. There needs to be a set number of kids per teacher. That means, finding another smart bum, which helps the peers (students) learn more content faster. This is when knowledge is gained through an education and not just from mere facts/opinions presented by a stranger.
This is a playful way of showing the essentials needed to comprise a school. Without them, education is close to impossible. Imagine that I am an African-American girl living in a low-income neighborhood/district in Detroit. Should I go to a broke-down school right down my street or take the bus for an hour and a half to a school that is far more professional and equipped with everything? The answer is neither. No school should be as filthy, segregated, and lacking in much needed material like the schools observed by Jonathan Kozol, especially Public School 261. When I mentioned the building that soon became a school, I was expecting it to include windows and doors. School 261 didn’t even have windows, a usual asset to a house, church, school, and firm. Kozol kept repeating that every room in school 261, except one, had no windows. I think he was trying to show the reader that if a school, holding 1,300 children, comes with only one window, then we can’t expect anything else to go right.
It is outrageous that children are squeezed in gymnasiums and libraries because the community can’t afford to build a bigger school. If money is that big of an issue, teachers should take some responsibility in showing the children that society isn’t purposely, or at least consciously, doing this to them. They need to show that they care a little by putting motivating posters on the walls with quotes and pictures. One teacher can make a huge difference by teaching the black and Hispanic children the same material kids in suburbs are taught.
“Perhaps the worst result of such beliefs is the message that resources would be ‘wasted on poor children.’ Children hear and understand this theme-they are poor investments-and behave accordingly” (Kozol, 222). This is the most touching and sad part of the essay. At this moment I feel like a horrible citizen knowing that something like this is happen and not doing anything about it. Government officials and school faculty, whether intentionally or unconsciously, are letting this continue. People might think that students need only teachers to get an education. That is not the case at all. We need time for interaction with peers, time for breaks, even windows that reassure us that the world outside of the school has more opportunities for us to succeed.
Comment by Sejla Kulaglic — May 26, 2009 @ 8:58 pm
Education
The discussion we had today in class made me realize the differences in education between Canada and the US. I myself have went to several different grade schools and two different high schools. Of the two high schools, one was a public school for grade 9 and 10 and the other one was a Christian school that was not private for grade 11 and 12. It seemed as if the Christian school was very focused on the appearance of the building and the reputation that the community had of the school. Every second Friday for half an hour at the end of the day, all 1600 students had to go outside and pick up garbage. I personally do not think that has any positive affect on my education. I really do not think that I will need to master the school of garbage picking to later on use in life. That school seemed to be very materialistic. While the public school I went to was very strongly focused on the quality of education each student received. The building was not in the best condition, there was only one computer lab for 900 students and there were not too many elective classes to choose from but this school really focused on the bare necessities of education. The english, math and science classes expected the highest from the students. This school has scored the highest on many provincial tests. I think this proves that the quality of the building does not have THAT much of an effect on the ability of a student to learn. It may be uncomfortable in the summer with no air conditioning, but isn’t that better than picking up stinky garbage in the summer?
Comment by Jill Starnes — May 26, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
Sarah Gorgis
ENG 3010
Response 1
“What is education” or what does it mean to be educated? Why are we bothering going to school anyways? Most would say to get a job, to have a career, maybe even to follow a passion or obtain prestige. But to think of education as simply being involved academics is seeing something great in a very narrow mindset. We spoke about those people who are very capable of reciting half a book of quantum mechanics, but once they step outside the classroom they find themselves lost. That is lost potential. Then there’s the question, is knowledge power? Maybe only if you know how to use it or combine it with other aspects to truly fulfill it. I once read a story about two men who stood in front of a crowd and tried to convince the crowd of two different views. One was an academically fit professional who knew the subject inside and out. The other had no specific knowledge of the subject, but was social and was great with words. And interestingly enough, most of the crowd sided with the “wrong” point of view (the one who had very limited knowledge of the subject). To me, this was a powerful story… it showed how rhetoric could overwhelm knowledge if used properly, and how important it is to have many abilities and step beyond just knowing facts.
What about the value of a degree? Does it lie in how much someone pays or how much someone learns from it? I believe we are given the tools – whether it is the internet, textbooks, lessons, etc – but it is our responsibility to act on them, to use them in the proper manner and gain the most from them. Whether it is through being persistent, consistent, or just placing a lot of effort – everybody has the capability to succeed and it lies with them to do so.
Education is one of the most fundamental aspects of life. But learning itself is more than that; it is discovering something new. In a very vague answer, it is what we do on a daily basis – whether it is through our parents, our books, our friends, our television, etc. Although nowadays we see education as a consumer good, I think it should be a common good. As humans we have depended on the learning ability of one another to make up for what others fall short of. History has shown contributions in every aspect of life from every culture. As an individual, there will always be some limits. But as a group, those limits can be overcome, or at least made more probable. The great Sir Isaac Newton himself boldly stated that he was only able to look far because he stood on the shoulder of giants. Our future and our progress depend on one another – meaning we have to avoid discriminating, stereotyping, and looking at education as a consumer good. In the world today a very small percentage of the population occupies most of the material value in the world, or has the most opportunities. When we think of areas like Africa, we immediately think of “poor IQ”, poor education, etc – but really that’s only because of their poor opportunities. Who says that if given the same opportunities someone from that area cannot revolutionize the world as many other individuals have in the past? Some people are born with natural abilities – those that cannot be taught no matter how much money you have. Whether it is the ability of being able to take the logarithm of any number in their head, or create beautiful works of art, or historic symphonies, or think in ways very few people in the world can… what is that ability without the opportunity? And who does it help? No one. Some people may force others to stay poor so that they remain rich and powerful, but it is actually a negative more than a positive for them. One of those suppressed may have had the ability to save lives or improve lives if simply given the opportunity. Limiting them also limits our own possibilities.
Comment by sarahgorgis — May 26, 2009 @ 9:13 pm
When writing a paper everyone has some strength and some weaknesses. Some of the tips that we discussed in class include picking a topic, researching, brainstorming, making an outline, and much more. Whenever I am having trouble coming up with a topic on my paper, I usually list all the things that I am interested in learning more about or my hobbies. After I make this list I pick the one that will keep me more enthusiastic throughout the paper. Always have to make sure that the topic is not a boring topic for you because then you might lose interest in the middle of your paper and your paper will lose the attention of your readers. Once you have your topic picked out the best way to go now is do research for your topic. When you are researching for the topic you picked make sure that you read both sides of the argument, because it is important for you to know beforehand whether your are for it or against it.
After you have the information that you need, you can start brainstorming or making an outline on how you want to write your paper. I have never written an outline, in my opinion it does not really let you go out of the box, it makes you stay inside it. Without the outline you can free write more and sometimes when you free write you come with really good ideas or sentences that you might not have thought of with the outline. I just go ahead and start writing my introduction with a good attention getter. Usually I make my attention getter a really good question or a four to five sentence story. There are a lot of ways to go about writing the Introduction, for some this is the hardest thing. The thing that I do that might be helpful also is after I come up with my attention getter, I go over the information I have on my topic and then I come up with four or five main points that I want to talk about in the body. After I have done this I just summarize those parts into my introduction. The toughest thing about the introduction is coming up with a thesis statement, this statement needs to be strong and make sure that you get your point across in that one sentence.
Once you have your main points in your introduction, you can expand those main points individually into your body paragraphs. You will need to make sure to develop key points and support that information with evidence from the research you have done. Also make sure to point the view of the opposite side, do not always do your point of view, but also the other. You also need to make sure that when you go from one paragraph to another that you need to have a transition sentence. This is one of the important things because you want your reader to be able to follow what you are talking about. The transition statement makes it easier going from one topic to another.
In the conclusion you need to restate your thesis statement in different words. Also make sure that you provide no new information in the conclusion. You just want to summarize the key points that you have made and the overall argument and your stand on the subject, whether you are for it or against it.
These are just some of my tips on how I would write the paper.
Comment by Sukhreet Sandhu — May 26, 2009 @ 9:55 pm
Writing is something I truly enjoy. In fact, I have chosen it as my major for Pre-Law. However, I do have my weaknesses along with strengths. I think my weakest quality in writing is my transitions between paragraphs. While editing I notice the flow of my paper isn’t as smooth as I thought. I found that reading your paper out loud helps you catch your mistakes. I enjoy being able to discuss issues such as these with the class because I think it will benefit me greatly, being able to correct my mistakes now rather than later. My next response will be based on the reading, “School: The Story of American Public Education,” written by David Tyack. I will also briefly discuss the importance of education in today’s society, in relevance to this writing. Tyack states that, “Treating schooling as a consumer good and giving parents vouchers for the education of their children solves the problem of quality and decision making: parents choose the schools that will best suit their children” (203). I agree with this statement mainly because it’s the way many families in the twenty-first century handle the education of their children. In my opinion, education today is a consumer good, mainly for the reason that education has become extremely expensive, so expensive that students who have the motivation to continue further in their education cannot due to money issues. Today education is very important. Social and people skills will get your far but education is what gives you the respect you deserve. People who have higher educations such as bachelor degrees, are handed more opportunities.
Comment by Joumana Amine — May 26, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
Shaquitta Stanley
Eng 3010
Response #1
I chose to write my response about our discussion in class this morning in regards to the first essay on education in underprivileged communities. Ironically, I am writing my final paper for this class on a very similar topic. I found our discussion in class not only stimulating for prospective ideas that could be argued in my paper but also gave me hope that there are still individuals who value the importance of student/teacher/parent involvement in education. One of the most interesting points that was debated were whether the responsibility should fall upon the teacher or the parent when an at risk student is enrolled at an educational institution that resides in an underprivileged community where there are few resources available and a lack of dedication from the district for school improvement. Some students felt that it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their child/ren the value of an education as well as behavior management so that the teacher can properly educate the child once arriving at school. On the other hand, some students, as well as myself, argued that although parents should raise their children properly there comes a time when the parent fails at doing so and then it takes the true passion and dedication of a teacher to step up and take responsibility and help train the child. This view stems from the African proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child”. Overall, I found this discussion extremely interesting and made me more anxious to write my paper proposal. Who do you think the responsibility falls upon?
Comment by Shaquitta Stanley — May 26, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
Response #1
We’ve discussed several topics in class as of late, and these conversations have proved to be helpful in several ways.
The workshop we had during our first week of class helped everyone to see where are individual strengths lie as a writer, and we also covered weaknesses and how to develop methods to combat these problems when writing papers. More importantly the skills we talked about were comprised to form a general outline on how to create a proposal, as to which we broke the proposal down into for components, including proper research that includes facts and subjects relevant to description of the research topic, clearly defining our research queries, as well stating your side of the argument.
Another topic I felt of interest was the class discussion of the problems facing underfunded education in impoverished neighborhoods in comparison to schools in better areas with greater resources and money. I thought it was interesting to hear the differing opinions of the class, although there was a general consensus that all parties involved must share the same enthusiasm in handling and dealing with the problem of properly educating children. The situation will only worsen as apathy on all sides continue to degrade the desire for children to learn, teachers to instruct with the purpose of having students retain knowledge, and the parents to properly instruct their children on proper values and respect for adults. Something else I found of mutual interest was the conversation about whether education was closer to a common or commercial commodity. There were quite a few differing opinions on what part of the educational experience constituted as commercial and common, college education being more likened to commercial, and there was a small conversation about the use of general education requirements, and how despite that fact that they may seem of no use, they only go to further show that as people our capacity to learn never truly ends, and there is no pinnacle to our overall education as people.
Comment by Marsailis Bryant — May 26, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
Many people experience difficulty when writing papers but as we discussed during class each person has their own strengths and weaknesses when writing. My personal writing strengths include writing an introduction and correcting mine and others spelling and grammatical errors. For myself, I find that writing an introduction is the easiest when I come up with a thesis and state it in my introduction. The main focus of my thesis states a small amount of information about points in which I will include more information on during the body of my paper. When I comes to spelling and grammar I find it most useful to read my paper out loud and sound out or look up works that I am unable to spell. When reading out loud I can decipher where I need commas. When doing so, you can hear the natural pauses, which indicate the need for the commas. On the other hand, I too have many difficulties when writing. My difficulties include forming an outline and developing a conclusion. When I am assigned a paper I always aim to come up with an outline in order to keep a timeline so that way I am always on track with my deadlines. Even though I come up with the outline, I never seem to stick with it and usually finish it up at the last minute. To me, the most important part of the entire paper is the conclusion, which I seem to struggle with the most. The conclusion is the last thing the reader reads and I want to leave them with a strong, lasting impression on the paper I have worked hard on. I always feel as though I am not finishing off it strong enough so it always takes me a lot of time to complete it. With discussing out writing strengths and weaknesses I found that other classmates encounter the same problems as I do or their strengths are similar to my weaknesses. Finding this out made me feel more confident in my writing and knowing that I have classmates that I can approach when a problem arises eases the stress of the upcoming assignments.
Comment by Michelle Fillion McLean — May 26, 2009 @ 11:39 pm
I would like to continue our class discussion about strengths and weaknesses in writing. A lot of people mentioned how they think that picking your own topic is the easiest thing about writing but I have always thought the complete opposite about that. Being as indecisive as I am, I struggle so much with picking a topic. I will pick one, start my paper, and change my mind five minutes later. When you are given a topic, it just makes everything so much easier. If the teacher gave you a certain topic, then you already know that there is enough information about it or else the teacher wouldn’t have picked it. Also, if the teacher says you need a certain amount of book, database, or online sources, you will also know that those resources are out there based off of the teacher. I have picked a number of different topics that I could potentially use for my 15 page paper but every time I research the topic, I can’t find enough information about it. Teachers usually always give your more than one topic to choose from which, in my opinion, is by far the easiest thing about writing classes. You are more than likely able to find one of the topics interesting enough to create a good paper out of. Every time I have been given a topic, I worry less about the deciding on the topic and more about writing the best paper possible using that topic. I have never had trouble creating a good attention getter or thesis. I also have never had trouble researching information or making a good conclusion. Regardless of the topic, I am confident that I can write a great paper. That said, having a topic already chosen for me just makes it that much easier for me to write a paper.
Comment by Chris Henien — May 27, 2009 @ 1:52 am
I’ve decided to do a response on one of our in class discussions. When the class gave responses on what is the most and least difficult when writing a paper I realized that the answers given were similar to mine. Then as a class we thought of very beneficial tools that could help with the problems associated with writing a paper. Some of the tips that were very useful to me were using the databases and catalogues on Wayne States website, managing your time according to the length of the paper, finding something interesting about a topic given to you, and brainstorming/outline.
One of the hardest parts of writing a paper to me is when a topic is assigned to you. I realized that I can find something interesting within that topic to make the writing easier. Now you’re probably wondering what if I can’t find anything interesting on that particular topic and my answer to that question would be than you’re screwed. Of course, one of the least difficult things when writing a paper for me would be thinking of your own topic.
Most teachers want more that just books as references. Matter of fact I haven’t ran across a teacher who just wanted books as references. Suggesting things that Wayne States’ page offers were very beneficial. Managing your time when writing a paper is very crucial. When you manage your time appropriately you will have time to not only proofread it yourself, but also let others look over your paper as well. You can also use workshops and writing tutors to help with your paper. Now how will you be able to use all of these helpful resources if you wait until the last minute to finish your paper.
Brainstorming is a tool used when starting your paper because you’re able to think of interesting things to write in your paper. Outlining is helpful because you’re able to organize your work. I hope that everyone received as much beneficial information as I did.
Comment by ashley18 — June 16, 2009 @ 9:48 am
I am writing a response to the assigned reading in SCC; 77-108.
I found the first three articles dealing with names, and the identity that coincides with them particularly interesting out of all of the assigned reading. I thought each of the authors individual stories were profoundly informative, despite the obvious differences in each story; I found that I could relate the tales they told. As someone who had a unique name, I found that many people were trying to understand how a child could receive such a name, let alone pronounce it with such clarity, and certain people, my relatives included called themselves shortening my name to ‘Marty’, a nickname that did no justice to the etymology of my name.
My name also caused me to stand out when I was a young man in school, many teachers found my name particularly interesting due to their difficulty in pronouncing it, something I never understood when all one had to do was tackle the pronunciation in syllabic form, many too overwhelmed by the sight of the name and the arrangement of the letters to say it correctly. At times, I felt that the name was unique to only me, a certain vanity came along with knowing that my name was indeed special, that is until I met someone else who shared it with me, but that wasn’t until high school. I decided to research the origins of my name and discover it was of Roman origin, Marcellus in the language of Latin, but my name had undergone something of French spelling, my name not as original, but its spelling was unique.
Comment by Marsailis Bryant — June 30, 2009 @ 9:14 am
My response is pertaining to the 3 articles that we discussed in class today. I believe that names give people meaning. Although my name is Michelle now, my parents had named me Lindsay when I was first born. This name lasted 3 days until my parents decided that the name did not really suit me as much as they thought. As we discussed in class, names and words can mean many different things with different languages. My father is Italian, and we have many dialects within our language. The same English word usually has 2 or 3 different Italian words that can mean the same thing as well as names. My nickname to all of my friends that have the same cultural background is Mishu but to most of my family I am either Michelle or Michele (pronounced Mikelle’). This means Michael or Michelle in Italian. Although many people do not like nicknames, I do not mind the ones that have been given to me. On the other hand, my cousins, who have 2 little boys wanted to name their children names that could not be put into short form. They ended up naming their two boys Maddox and Ronan. Clearly, many people have different outlooks on names. I myself, do not care whether a name has a significance to it or not. I lean towards more names that are culturally distinct within the Italian language or names of my Grandparents or father. On the Italian side of my family, our tradition is to name the boys usually after their grandfather or Dad. My grandfathers name is Marco, so is my Uncles and so is my Uncles son, my cousin Marco. Although this can be confusing at family gatherings it’s the way we do it within my family. It is our tradition and is what we are known for.
Comment by Michelle Fillion McLean — June 30, 2009 @ 6:50 pm