Final Draft

Sydney M Hudson

Dr. Sonia Apgar-Begert

English 101

Final paper

Critiquing Education

There are endless varieties of teachers in this great nation, some who display passion and patience, others who simply "babysit" and retire each day with a paycheck. Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade rely on their teachers to provide them with the best education possible. This should not differ from state to state or district to district, all teachers should be giving these students a foundation for a future and the tools to develop the mind. It is not the job of one teacher, but of all working together. Evidence has presented itself that if we are not helping to guarantee this quality education, then what are we doing? Each teacher should be held to a certain level of expectations and accountability that will result in a better education for students, and a better group of teachers who will represent our American students. In America today we need to fix the problems in our K-12 educational system by changing the way we encourage and monitor our teachers’ proficiency.

There is evidence that proves the power of teaching. When diagnosing the movie "Freedom Writers" we are presented with a prime example. The teaching shown by Mrs. Gruwell shows the qualities that should be present in all schools, amongst all teachers. She is faced with a lack of encouragement from adults and an obvious lack of student involvement. The location of the school and the culture of the community are challenging to say the least. There was a serious lack of enthusiasm to learn and the area was one littered with crime, homelessness, and gang activity without an end in sight.  Mrs. Gruwell found encouragement on her own, from her students (Freedom Writers). She was stalled by other teachers’ criticism, skepticism, and pessimistic attitudes, those teachers were great examples of teachers that needed a reminder of why they were there. A quote that represents the kind of learning Mrs. Gruwell inspired goes like this;

 “We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success”, defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers”― Chris Hedges (Quote, Hedges.)

Mrs. Gruwell came in as a first year teacher and inspired the minds of her students; she did not hold them to career expectations like we saw done by Mr. Escalante in Stand and Deliver. He put the goal in the students heads to learn in order to become successful (Stand and Deliver), which poses the question of how did these students do in other classes? Teachers should be reminded at certain regular intervals in their career that they are molding minds, not careers. Remind them that all minds are different and try to see the potential in each student instead of focusing only on the academics and getting through the lesson curriculum.

Something that caught my attention that is proof of the need for teacher standards and proficiency is the “Lemon Dance”, or as some call it the “turkey trot’, or “pass the trash” (Waiting for Superman). It is a system used by principles and school boards to recycle their teachers from school to school. When one teacher is not working out at school A, they are moved to school B at the beginning of the next school year. The teacher who was not working out at school B was moved to school C, and the teacher who is not working at school C will then be recycled over to school A. School A then feels like they have a better teacher than they started with simply because it is a different teacher. That does nothing to improve our teaching standards. That system allows teachers to bring their bad teaching habits over to another group of students who will then suffer the consequences. Those teachers should be evaluated instead of sent somewhere else. Quite possibly they have become tired of teaching, or maybe they truly need a refresher course! These teachers should be monitored by other teachers or principles to find out what they are lacking. Even Mrs. Gruwell may have come to a point of boredom, or repetitive routine that could have hurt her teaching methods and success, which is why teachers need to have that support from their staff to keep each other at the top of their game and motivated to be doing the teaching.

Merit pay will help to separate the good from the bad; ultimately cancelling out the option of teachers being the reason for our failing education system, and then focusing on the next problem can become a reality. Merit pay is an increase in pay given to a teacher producing measurable results with students. A teacher who shows they are working harder, or better at molding the student mind will then receive an incentive or higher pay (Miller-Sadker, 4). When presented with this option by superintendent Michelle Rhee in Washington DC no one was allowed to vote on instituting merit pay because of the teachers union(Waiting for Superman). The teachers union is put in place to protect the teachers, it is frustrating to see that it has not been successful in helping the srudents.The teachers union of Washington DC has made it near impossible to fire a teacher who has not produced results with students(Teachers Union Exposed), but isn’t that their one and only goal? They say that all teachers should be treated the same “a teacher is a teacher is a teacher” (Waiting for Superman), most of this country would disagree due to different teaching methods that all have experienced. With merit pay we would clearly be able to see who is capable and proficient in their job and create higher standards for teaching.

Teachers who are supported and support one another have programs available to them to help build their teaching skills, handle a problem in class, and bridge the gap between home and school. In one of our own area elementary schools where I held an interview with a 1^st grade teacher, Kelley Daniels, I was informed of some of these programs. Mrs. Daniels has an entire staff available to her for round table discussion, bouncing ideas off of one another and committees to develop new strategy for teaching core math and reading curriculum. This school has Para educators, in class advocates for students who struggle, and special needs assistants, all of which work together to produce great results(Daniels interview). Each teacher is aware of the other teacher’s struggles and they have incorporated a system of helping one another find solutions.

When observing dedicated and goal oriented teachers who work FOR the student, KIPP and Geoffrey Canada come to mind. The KIPP schools that have flourished across our country and grown to 82 locations are producing results (Waiting for Superman). The mentality of the teachers there seems to be more focused on the children than on what the adults want. Michelle Rhee said there is “a lack of accountability” on the part of the adults and we need to produce results for the kids(Waiting for Superman). This has been done by Geoffrey Canada, who opened the Harlem Children’s Zone which serves 17000 children today. This is an example of adults helping children to flourish, with dentists, counselors, and nutritionists to add to the teachers who already serve the children(Miller-Sadker, 290). These types of schools have attracted the kind of teachers our country needs.

As a result of years and years of dysfunction because of lack of accountability, tenure, social problems and funding our nation needs to change the way we evaluate and monitor teachers for proficiency. We should be asking ourselves what we want to see in every classroom across America. The answer is learning, dedication, and teamwork. A level of acceptable efficiency needs to put in order to obtain the best teachers for our students. This field of work varies between those who are good at teaching students and those who have lost their drive and ambition for teaching. How can we guarantee that students are receiving intellectual stimulation to help develop their minds as well as the right core curriculum to succeed? We can do this by retraining or replacing those who do not produce results.

Rough Draft paper #3

The places where I have left two parentheses ( ) are places where I need to insert a citation and have yet to do so.

Critiquing Education

There are endless varieties of teachers in this great nation, some who display passion and patience, others who simply "babysit" and retire each day with a paycheck. Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade rely on their teachers to provide them with the best education possible. This should not differ from state to state or district to district, all teachers should be giving these students a foundation for a future and the tools to develop the mind. It is not the job of one teacher, but of all working together. Evidence has presented itself that if we are not helping to guarantee this quality education, then what are we doing? Each teacher should be held to a certain level of expectations that will result in a better education for students, and a better group of teachers there to represent our American students. In America today we need to fix the problems in our educational system by changing the way we encourage and monitor our teachers’ proficiency.

There is evidence that proves the power of teaching. When diagnosing the movie "Freedom Writers" we are presented with a prime example. The teaching shown by Mrs. Gruwell shows the qualities that should be present in all schools, amongst all teachers. She is faced with a lack of encouragement and an obvious lack of student involvement. The location of the school and the culture of the community are challenging to say the least. Mrs. Gruwell found encouragement on her own, from her students.() She was stalled by other teachers’ criticism, skepticism, and pessimistic attitudes, those teachers were great examples of teachers that needed a reminder of why they were there. A quote that represents the kind of learning Mrs. Gruwell inspired goes like this, “We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success”, defined monetarily, rather than learning to think critically and to challenge. We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers”

 ― Chris Hedges.()  Mrs. Gruwell came in as a first year teacher and inspired the minds of her students; she did not hold them to career expectations like we saw done by Mr. Escalante in Stand and Deliver. He put the goal in the students heads to learn in order to become successful(), which poses the question of how did these students do in other classes? Teachers should be reminded at certain regular intervals in their career that they are molding minds, not careers. Remind them that all minds are different and try to see the potential in each student instead of focusing only on the academics and getting through the lesson curriculum.

Something that caught my attention that is proof of the need for teacher standards and proficiency is the “Lemon Dance”, or as some call it the “turkey trot’, or “pass the trash”(). It is a system used by principles and school boards to recycle their teachers from school to school. When one teacher is not working out at school A, they are moved to school B at the beginning of the next school year. The teacher who was not working out at school B was moved to school C, and the teacher who is not working at school C will then be recycled over to school A. School A then feels like they have a better teacher than they started with simply because it is a different teacher. That does nothing to improve our teaching standards. That system allows teachers to bring their bad teaching habits over to another group of students who will then suffer the consequences. Those teachers should be evaluated instead of sent somewhere else. Quite possibly they have become tired of teaching, or maybe they truly need a refresher course! These teachers should be monitored by other teachers or principles to find out what they are lacking. Even Mrs. Gruwell may have come to a point of boredom, or repetitive routine that could have hurt her teaching methods and success, which is why teachers need to have that support from their staff to keep each other at the top of their game and motivated to be doing the teaching.

Merit pay will help to separate the good from the bad; ultimately cancelling out the option of teachers being the reason for our failing education system, and then focusing on the next problem can become a reality. Merit pay is the option for pay increase due to a teacher producing results with students. A teacher who shows they are working harder, or better at molding the student mind will then receive a raise in pay.() In Washington DC no one was allowed to vote on instituting merit pay because of the teachers union(). The teachers union is put in place to protect the teachers, but not the student? The teachers union of Washington DC has made it near impossible to fire a teacher who has not produced results with students(), but isn’t that their one and only goal? They say that all teachers should be treated the same “a teacher is a teacher is a teacher”(), most of this country would disagree due to different teaching methods that all have experienced. With merit pay we would clearly be able to see who is capable and proficient in their job and create higher standards for teaching.

Teachers who are supported and support one another have programs available to them to help build their teaching skills, handle a problem in class, and bridge the gap between home and school. In one of our own areas elementary schools where I held an interview with a 1^st grade teacher, Kelley Daniels, I was informed of some of these programs. Mrs. Daniels has an entire staff available to her for round table discussion, bouncing ideas off of one another and committees to develop new strategy for teaching core math and reading curriculum. This school has Para educators, in class advocates for students who struggle, and special needs assistants, all of which work together to produce great results(). Each teacher is aware of the other teacher’s struggles and they have incorporated a system of helping one another find solutions.

When observing dedicated and goal oriented teachers who work FOR the student, KIPP and Geoffrey Canada come to mind. The KIPP schools that have flourished across our country and grown to 82 locations are producing results(). The mentality of the teachers there seems to be more focused on the children than on what the adults want. Michelle Rhee said there is “a lack of accountability” on the part of the adults and we need to produce results for the kids(). This has been done by Geoffrey Canada, who opened the Harlem Children’s Zone which serves 17000 children today. This is an example of adults helping children to flourish, with dentists, counselors, and nutritionist to add to the teachers who already serve the children(). These types of schools have attracted the kind of teachers our country needs.

As a result of years and years of dysfunction because of lack of accountability, tenure, social problems and funding our nation needs to consider a plan for evaluating and monitoring teachers for proficiency. We should be asking ourselves what we want to see in every classroom across America. The answer is learning, dedication, and teamwork. A level of acceptable efficiency needs to put in order to obtain the best teachers for our students. This field of work varies between those who are good at teaching students and those who have lost their drive and ambition for teaching. How can we guarantee that students are receiving intellectual stimulation to help develop their minds as well as the right core curriculum to succeed? We can do this by retraining or replacing those who do not produce results.

Waiting for Superman

Stats that stood out for me:

• 13% of Daisy's classmates are proficient in reading and math
• She will then go on to an under achieving high school where 57% of her classmates will not graduate
• Only 3 out of 100 of the graduating 43% will head to college prepared for a four year university
• Between 5th and 7th grade the majority of minority students in the inner city will go form a B average to a D average.
• There are over 2000 failing elementary and middle  schools in this country according to Robert Ballfan
• In a very bad case scenario, 40,000 out of 60,000 students who attended this school over a 60 year period did not graduate.
• Sending prisoners to private school for 12 years would cost less than it costs to house them in prisons. 33,000 dollars per year is spent on each inmate, most of whom dropped out of school.
• Michelle Rhee is the 7th superintendent of Washington DC in 10 years.
• There are more than 14000 school boards across our country which only make funding and reform more difficult.
• In one school year a bad teacher may only cover 50% of the curriculum, while a good teacher will cover sometimes 150%.
• The NEA and AFT are the largest contributors to the presidential campaign. Federally supporting the democratic party.
• "Rubber rooms" cost around 100 million dollars per year to house teachers for a full work day, everyday until their court cases have been judged. This can take up to one year for one single case.
• In America, we score 25th in math and 21st in science on an international level. Even the best of the best in our country still place 23 out of 29 internationally.
• America scores 1st in confidence.
• In 16 years America has opened 82 KIPP schools.
• When graduating KIPP schools, 9 out of 10 gradutaes will be prepared for a 4 year university.
 

 The problems within our education system are vast. The first problem that I notice when thinking about the movie, Waiting for Superman is the dysfunction of having so many people governing it. Instead of having one set of standards, there are many due to the lack of federal organization. It is up to the states and districts to govern and provide proficient schooling. The students featured in this movie were a variety of young kids. Most were from poor neighborhoods and had families who struggled with school and finances. Daisy's parents had both dropped out of school to help provide for their families. They did not want to see the same for Daisy, instead they tried to "win the lottery" to a local charter school. This exact theme was repeated through the whole movie. Sadness on all the families faces when they were denied, and utter happiness when accepted. The people in the movie were depending on these education opportunities.

thesis and one paragraph

This is my rough draft of intro paragraph...followed by thesis. comments appreciated!

There are endless varieties of teachers in this great nation, some who display passion and patience, others who simply "babysit" and retire each day with a paycheck. Students in Kindergarten through 12th grade rely on their teachers to provide them with the best education possible. This should not differ from state to state or district to district, all teachers should be giving these students a foundation for a future. It is not the job of one teacher, but of all working together. Evidence has presented itself that if we are not helping to guarantee this quality education, then what are we doing? Each teacher should be held to a certain level of expectations that will result in a better education for students, and a better group of teachers there to represent our American students.

In America today we need to fix the problems in our educational system by changing the way we encourage and monitor our teachers proficiency.

Final Thoughts....Waiting for Superman

It seemed like most people featured in this movie were indeed just waiting for something better. These students are depending on it. Even those students who are very young knew what the outcome meant...success, or failure. This movie made me very sad, sad for the public, students, parents, teachers and those who do not have access to such wonderful programs as I did growing up. It is truly heartbreaking. Makes me wonder why aren't there more people like Geoffrey Canada? I will probably never forget this mans name. This movie reinforced my desire to become a teacher. There were many different possibilities introduced as far as what "the problem" is with our public schools. The blame was put upon the Teachers Union, the rules of the districts, states, and federal government, the teachers, and the location of the students. One main problem that I sided with that I will go on to write about in my 3rd paper is teacher proficiency. There are a certain kind of teachers that gathered at these innovative schools where the lottery's were held to determine the new students. These innovative teachers are there for different reasons than an average or below average teacher who is dependant on tenure. I am confused about how hard it can be for some citizens of this country. It is not localized only in New York or D.C, these problem schools or dropout factories are located all over the United States.

what is the most important change that k-12 education needs?

I have come up with more than one idea as to what I believe is the most important change needed in k-12. The first thing is the home/school connection. I believe that if there is a bigger and more evenly understood connection between home and school then our students will have more encouragement to continue their learning at home. Although many factors will get in the way. There is no way to guarantee that all home lives are similar, which is why I think that if there is more involvement from the school reaching out to understand each individual home life then children will feel more encouragement to succeed. There are at risk families who may need more help than others.

Another idea I have is to change the way we educate our teachers in an ongoing fashion. Allow teachers to have more trainings and mentoring available to them. I have seen examples of this at my sons school, where I recently did an interview with his teacher and was given some insight to what these teachers have available to them on a daily basis. I think that is part of the reason that his school is so valued by the community.I have witnessed student teachers, para educators, and in class advocates for those in need at his school. This seems to work to bridge the gap between home and school as well as provide teachers with a round table like place to bounce ideas off of one another.
There should be more teachers, or para educators, or "experienced" volunteers being the thresh hold between home and school.

"Against School"

This was a very interesting read, one that quoted many famous historical figures and provided a whole bunch of proof. After reading this I realize even more what the task at hand is with our 3rd paper. When Gatto starts to explain either a support or a contradictory part of his research he uses other works to back himself up. The idea of boredom at school and the remedy that children must carry that life within themselves seems very true to me. I grew up on a dirt road, away from my friends, and no kids around to play with. I was never bored. I feel like I was introduced to many many things by just being outside, writing poetry, playing make believe and learning through curiosity and self entertainment. John Gatto gave so many specifics to why school is viewed the way that it is. I agree with the initial goals introduced, 1.to make good people 2. to make good citizens and 3. to make each person his or her own personal best. But are these things we see as a constant guide to teaching? Not exactly. With the introduction of the easy entertainment and consumerism in this paper those core goals are overlooked a bit. We will not inspire good people, or citizenship or our best possible achievements with instant gratification. There is a large part of independent research and self enrichment that is lost within the world of computers, online shopping, google research, and television. Gattos comparison with Ben Franklin whom we read about previously proves the difference in today's learning standards and those standards that were undefined in Ben Franklin's time. I got a many good ideas from this paper to further research and use towards building my 3rd paper.

Rose vs. Black

From the article "resolutions someone should make for 2011" Mike Rose explains the things he would change in order to reverse the bad habits of the past, and change the school system for the better. I agree that we "should stop the accountability train" and really look into what makes each student an achiever. There are many achievements in school that may not be textbook "right" but may hold just as much value and importance as standardized tests. I had never thought about the idea of having a standardized test to judge any other professionals in their workplace. I also learned that sometimes these famous figures that are sent to report on a something to do with education may not be qualified to do so, for example the president coming to California to talk about education and then meeting with Steve Jobs? That makes almost no sense besides the fact that Steve Jobs was educated, the only correlation I see there.

In the video starring Lewis Black he shows different excerpts from reality TV show that portray American Education...my first thought, why are we using a child's education as a form of entertainment? The amount of money that goes into making these reality TV shows seems like a waste to me. He shows different reporters commentating on education, one says "we are going to dedicate this whole week to education" just a week? Why not a lifetime? Schools in America, especially in lower income areas are broken. The fact that these wonderful charter schools are being designed and legalized in many states across the country doesn't necessarily mean anyone we know has access to them. It is a "lottery" to get in like he said.

  The article by Rose states " There are many factors that affect student academic performance, and the largest is parental income" Such a sad reality. This is shown in the clip with Lewis Black as well, 578,000,000 dollars for a school?! I am sure those kids are receiving better than average education because their community can afford to employ that kind of teacher, and promote that kind of consistency much more than a low income area.

Notes on Chalk

In the introduction a man is sharing the reasons why this movie means so much to him, he says he was surrounded by teachers his whole life. His mother, aunts, and other relatives were all teachers. They complained, but they loved being teachers. This movie takes place in time periods; first day of school, 34 weeks until summer, one week before spring break, etc. but my notes do not go in this form. My notes on the movie were taken and classified by the teacher, and then by the main ideas that I got from the movie.

  On the first day of school each teacher is introduced. Mr. Stroop is a 3rd year History teacher, he begins his school year asking students how they spent their summer, making them laugh, and it seems like he has a connection with these students. He has a meeting with an obvious superior discussing his goals from the last years meeting. He hasn't improved his lesson planning, or his organization or sarcasm. " But the kids like the lesson" is his answer to why he doesn't follow and plan a specific outline for each class. Mr. Stroop had been told before he began teaching as a piece of advice, "don't be their friend" but he had found that he wants the students to trust him and bond with him.
   He is hard to take seriously, there is a scene where he is asking his students to tone down their intelligence, not to use big words, and not to correct him even though he may be wrong. There is a scene of him out shooting targets, he says"do your best, your not going to get every kid" referring to shooting his targets and the amount of kids that succeed in high school. "6 out of 10 get a college degree...i tried" he says. He shows great concern in being voted teacher of the year, seems as though more effort is put towards that than towards the curriculum in his History class. When he loses this election he shows his rage and loss of control in front of his classroom of students

  Mr Lowry is a first year teacher who seems to have come from basically no training at all. Right away the students know he is new, they ask him how long he has been a teacher and he replies "1.5 hours." He stumbles over his words, jumps back and forth between subjects, and shows his frustration and confusion all over his face. He checks out a book on classroom management to try to help himself find control, the kids joke alot, laugh, and hide his chalk from him. No one in this class seems to be learning. Then one day he agrees to be in the Spelling Hornet, the slang words spelling bee ran by the students that the teachers study for and compete in. He wins, with the help of his history class that came together to help him. They bonded and as a result we saw a huge change in the classroom dynamics. Its as though the kids did not respect him or consider his personality until he let them see it, let down his guard and poof, he was respected after that. His frustration showed greatly when there was a cell phone incident in class, Mr Lowry lost his temper and used cuss words, then went to the students home and bonded with his mother, didn't seem to solve anything except drive in the nail that he was inexperienced and lost within his job.

Coach Webb had the right idea on how to teach I believe, her students responded to her and she laughed with them, also holding control over her classroom at the same time. She said "you make students understand their expectations and suddenly they perform at that level". At the same time her skills at interacting with other teachers and staff were not so great. Many staff members confided in the A.P that Coach Webb was pushy, and condescending. She seemed very concerned about the little things, hall passes, food in the lounge fridge, more so than academics or physical education. She thought that having her best friend serving as the new Assistant Principle would help her to have more dependency on administration, that she could complain about something and her friend would help her out. There were multiple scenes when Coach Webb would be complaining about how things were done, that things "should Be in black and white, no grey area". In the end of the movie she does a little soul searching and decides that "I need to try and approach people differently, try to encourage them instead of coming down on them"

   The Assistant Principle in this movie went from teaching traditionally in the classroom to administration when a position became available. Right away you can see that the Principle, her superior is more willing to talk about his interests, and his life than he is to talk about her duties. He remains very vague and tells her to expect to spend many hours here, even some Saturdays. She becomes overwhelmed pretty early on as she is being bombarded with complaints by staff. Instead of being able to focus on academia she is always fighting a battle for someone. She mentions towards the end of the school year that she has been focusing so much on the "bad kids it makes her realize how much she misses teaching those who do care" She talks about academics and children learning the lessons in her class more than any other teacher. There is a scene in the end when she says schools need more nurturing, but it starts at home, a place that she herself had not been spending enough time focusing on.

     Throughout the movie the teachers spend some down time visiting in the lounge, they go out for drinks together, and that bonding between staff is something I agree with. Within this school there is no clear lines of who does what, or what is allowed. No consistency in a school can affect teachers, staff and students. Some teachers are appearing to be putting tons of effort into their class, while others appear to be lacking. The teachers in this movie complained and spoke more about each other than they did about teaching students. Even during the teacher of the year debate we heard topics including, copiers for every teacher, less faculty meetings, corporal punishment which had no relevancy to this school. The teachers were more passionate about improving their working conditions than improving the children's learning conditions.

  Watching this movie made me realize that teachers are always faced with their own trial as they are human like anyone else, but the focus needs to remain on the students, learning, and especially bonding since students are much more willing to listen when they respect you.

sections 48-49 WS

48- Classification is a way to organize information about a certain topic or topics. You find things in common between a studied group and use them to bring organization to your essay. Classification sums up the way we use body paragraphs to present information in an essay. You want each paragraph to represent a certain characteristic, or topic of your essay. These body paragraphs come together to explain in detail the characteristics you may have researched or observed for your essay. In our upcoming essay number 3, we will be "arguing for a change or addition we would like to see in the k-12 curriculum". These changes must come from what we have seen in the movies Chalk and Superman. Since we will be using two different sources we will have to organize this essay with classification in order to present the facts clearly and argue our point.

49- Comparison/ Contrast I believe we will be using the information presented in this section to help us write about the two movies we have yet to watch at school. I will be making a list of similarities and differences to help me to organize my argument. I have a tendency to begin trailing off and getting off subject when one thing leads to another, and so on..... The sample provided in our book helps to give a clear idea of what our essays should sound like when being read; a presentation of information on the two movies, organized and/or classified to argue our point of what we believe should be different in the k-12 curriculum.
 

challenges for students k-12

Brainstorming for paper # 3
 What seems to be the biggest challenge for students k-12?
 One challenge I think of right away is generalizing students. Teachers tend to generalize more in that age group than in college students. College students are at school by choice (in most cases) and usually they are of adult age. On the other hand k-12 students may be generalized or stereotyped because of many factors like the company they keep or the kind of learner they may be. These generalizations can be harmful to a child and may hold them back form their true potential.

Social anxiety, shyness, or introverted students can be a real challenge in the grades k-12. Many students who experience these things then tend to struggle with school work, or avoid school to avoid the uncomfortable scenarios. This is a challenge because it can be hard for a teacher to make a student feel at ease and the student may miss out on very important forming of fundamental skills.

 Other challenges may come from a students home life. In k-12 students are expected to still reside with their parents, some may not be provided with a healthy home life to nurture and prepare a student for school each day. They may miss homework, or have the stresses of home carry through to their school day. This is a challenge for younger students because they may feel embarrassed or sad and go to great lengths to try and keep that a secret. This could greatly affect school along with many other scenarios that pose a challenge for younger students.

paper 2 rough draft

My paper still needs to be shortened up a bit. It falls at 1800 words. I am not quite happy with my closing paragraph either...Open to constructive criticism and input! thanks!

Educators Roles

There are many important things that a teacher does for their students, many hats they wear so to speak. These teachers spend their free time planning lessons, and preparing themselves to make the best for their students. Their jobs are very multifaceted. Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Gruwell were faced with a very different set of students who existed in very different times. They were on opposite sides of the country teaching students of the upper class versus students of lower class. They were discouraged in their missions due to different kinds of hurdles.  Teachers are our guides through school, they help inspire our thoughts, and if they are doing their jobs well the information sticks with us forever. In school, from elementary through college the most important role played by our teachers is advocate for the student; Mrs. Gruwell and Mrs. Watson have represented this role throughout both movies.

Both women were unspoken activists of their time. They were mentors to their students in a way the students had not seen before. Mrs. Watson was a revolutionary of her time. She exposed the girls at Wellesley to think outside of their norm. She showed them modern art, helped them to see their futures consisted of more than just a wedding, and was at Wellesley to make a change. These were the smartest women in America and some of them had not even considered that they had more options other than marriage and what was expected of them in those times. They were expected to conform, and please their husbands. As well as retain major amounts of etiquette and poise while studying math, language, arts, history and writing. Mrs. Watson had come from California where she had seen other women as well as herself go through college and have a career for themselves. The life she knew and had seen other west coast women obtain was not one entirely focused around marriage, and that was the message she was bringing to the girls at Wellesley.

When we examine Mrs. Gruwell in her environment, we see the same characteristic there. She was also a revolutionist of her time. She was an activist more for equal opportunity of all people, not just women, or the elite like we saw in the last example. She spoke for the students of Long Beach and really represented their needs. When Mrs. Gruwell was told her students could not have certain textbooks and reading materials because they could not be trusted to take care of them, she went out and bought them for her students with her own money. She wanted these students to be challenged the same way other classes were challenged. The students in her class had no desire to learn English because they had never been shown dedication, or desire to be taught. Mrs. Gruwell invited them to share their life stories with her through diary writing and in turn she learned just HOW to teach them. In later years she continued teaching these particular students and even went on to work at the colleges they attended. Mrs. Gruwell fought for this right by going straight to the school board and superintendent to be granted permission to stay with her students, and allow them more learning opportunities than they ever knew possible.

Mrs. Watson was a very clever disciplinarian in her students’ lives. When she was first brought in to teach Art History at Wellesley, she was "welcomed" into a classroom of know-it-all women. They managed to embarrass her on her first day of teaching. All the women in her class had memorized their syllabus; they knew every slide she showed, leaving Mrs. Watson feeling very defeated. She set the tone of her classroom by returning to class with new and more challenging material. The women she taught were caught off guard and responded by having to work harder and learn new things about art history they had not been introduced to before. When Mrs. Watson was asked to forgive Betty for her absences and grant her an A for work she did not do, she instead questioned that system that had been in place for quite some time. She sternly told Betty that she was required to earn her grade and must make up the work. She also made the women feel disciplined when she read an article criticizing her for asking her students to think outside the box. She brought into class more slides that showed them how the rest of the country viewed their life choices. She was able to make the women understand and see what she was trying to teach them all along, that there were other options besides marriage and conforming to that role.

The characteristic that Mrs. Gruwell holds of disciplinarian is what got her class to come together in the first place. Without that, her students would not have the core discipline required of them throughout life. Mrs. Gruwell entered a classroom of students who already spent their early years struggling with authority, not being motivated by teachers, and not expecting to graduate at all. Mrs. Gruwell had a discussion with her students where she was able to point out similarities between all the different races in her classroom, she made the students move their desks and re-define their self-inflicted "borders" between the races. There was an instance where one student drew a very demeaning picture of another student who was African American. The picture circulated the classroom; it depicted black men with big lips and ears. Mrs. Gruwell got the entire class's attention by drawing a connection to the Jews and how Jewish people were depicted. The students were forced to see the wrong in racial discrimination and hate. Mrs. Gruwell was able to bring behavioral modification into her classroom by setting up a reward system for her students. If they did their work and showed that they were responsible enough then they would get rewards, like being able to go on trips, eating out with their teacher, being treated equally, and having a say in what they would study.

Mrs. Watson was an ally to her students once the students became more open minded to the way Mrs. Watson did things. She had come from California where women had careers and a family at the same time, so her outlook on life was very different than that of her students. Yet they managed to become a team at some point. When the girls held a secret gathering at their school they invited Mrs. Watson, made her feel welcomed and shared things with her about their personal lives. She in turn did the same, shared her stories with them allowing a bit more insight into the person she was. They were able to trust her since she kept this meeting a secret. One student, Joan, had told Mrs. Watson that she had an interest in Law school. Mrs. Watson was probably the only adult teacher that Joan could share this information with since women who worked were frowned upon by her society. Mrs. Watson helped her to apply and shared her joy when she was accepted. Joan had to let Mrs. Watson down when she informed her that would not be route she would take, instead she was married and that was truly what she wanted. Joan was able to explain her feelings to Mrs. Watson because she trusted her.

Mrs. Gruwell became an ally to her students when they allowed her into their lives by sharing their personal stories with her. She was able to get a firm sense of what they had been through and that led her to be able to teach them better. She read their stories that contained gang violence, abuse, drug use, and betrayal and survival that they had all endured. By taking her students out to see things in real life they knew they could rely on her to teach them, which was her first step in gaining their trust. Mrs. Gruwell was confided in by her students. They had not had a teacher before that they felt so safe with and respected by in the past. She worked hard to show them that she was going to go the distance for them. One student was able to connect with Mrs. Gruwell and take her advice to finally go home to his mother instead of living a life of homelessness and sadness. Another student was able to confide in Mrs. Gruwell about a court case that she was a witness on. She told the truth and was then in danger of being hurt physically because of her honesty that had put someone in jail for a serious crime. Mrs. Gruwell helped her out by allowing her to stay after school and then driving her home each night. At first they viewed her as another "white woman" trying to understand their lives, in the end they viewed her as a friend and confidant, someone they trusted and admired.

While both Mrs. Gruwell and Mrs. Watson had arrived at their new schools to make a difference, they had no idea what kind of difference they actually made. They both came together with their students to show them the true potential they had. They guided their students through this process in a very profound and admirable way. Both teachers were at first discouraged and they rose above this by truly speaking and acting on behalf of their students. Mrs. Gruwell and Mrs. Watson were exemplary advocates for their student body, the most important role they could have played.