HW 41 - Internet research on schooling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_United_States

This website is mostly about schools in the USA and who made the school system rules and basically the different types of powerful people who provide for the schools and who made up the policies that I have been wondering about. Talks about many different aspects of school and goes a little more deeper on the little things that people don't really understand but just go by.

This specific source can help me in many ways. I say this because my topic is why is it mandatory that we go to school, and with follow up questions why we have to do certain things at school and who made these certain rules up. And in this source it answers my questions not question and answer form, but it gives me a better understanding of why they have certain rules.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School

Even though this might be a little similar to the website above it also helps me in ways hat the other one didn't. This website helps me understand what school means and how it was developed. It also talks about how the discipline is and why they discipline in the first place. It gives me information on anything I want to know about school, why it was built, the different types of schools you can go to, and most importantly the operation of school in general.

My topic talks about the operation of school and why its mandatory for kids to go to school. When I look at this website and I want to see why school operates the way they do, then I can count on this website to do the job.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson274.shtml

Now this website is interesting. This site is basically about lesson plans that help teachers keep their kids in check by giving them rules to follow. They give rules in class rooms for children and they explain that they do this because they want the kids to learn when there are limits and what happens when those rules are broken. It gives information on why schools give rules and clearly shows why schools act the way they act towards kids and what the standards are.

It gives me many reasons why teachers make classroom rules. I just want to know why teachers always punish kids or kick them out, and with this website, I can give an example from this website and with a follow up of why they give these certain rules. I can also use this good information for my topic on the operation of school and why the schools do what they do.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3613479

This website is just one my example s that I want to have to back up my topic. Its this website that basically tells why it is school policies to fill out forms when you have to bring medication for school. And with this example they talk about why they make you fill out it out which is to be sure and legit that you really have to take that medication and that yo are selling it or taking it for fun. It's just an reliable source that i think that I can use to bring my issue across about why school have the policies the way they have them. Like I said before my topic is all about reasoning, and this website can without a doubt back up my topic and make me go a little deeper on where schools try and go with their policies and what kind of outcomes they want to have. his website has facts that I need and this is the reason I chose this particular website out of this certain topic. I need to make have many example of policies that schools have and why they have them.

http://reason.org/news/show/1007114.html

This website explains 3 different types of methods that schools use. They divide school violence-prevention methods into three classes—measures related to school management (that is, related to discipline and punishment), measures related to environmental modification (for instance, video cameras, security guards, and uniforms), and educational and curriculum-based measures (for instance, conflict-resolution and gang-prevention programs). They explain how these particular methods help them keep schools safe. They talk about how much violence is in school and their reasoning of making rules and regulations.

A reliable source like this can make a lot of things easier for me. It gives me information that can make me come up with arguments like, how policies are usually created to help kids stay in a safe environment. It can clean other people to believe that these policies weren't just built to criticize kids or to make teachers have discipline over the kids, but simply to just be on their side and try and make their lives as safe , positive and productive at the same time.

I want to go deeper into the understanding of the simple facts of why the schools and the state governments make such policies and that people don't seem to realize but instead follow what is the tradition.

HW 40 - 5 people interviews

How would your feelings change about school if you were able to construct your own curriculum?

Myself

If I was able to construct my own curriculum, My feelings about school would be better. I say this for many reasons. One of the reasons why My feelings for school would be better is because I would be learning about something that I am more comfortable with and if I am more comfortable with what I am learning, I feel that I would have a better time. Another reason I would like school better is because I would rarely be frustrated, I made my curriculum a certain way that would be understanding , interesting, and stress free.

My mother

People who build the school curriculum must build it a certain way for a reason, most of the people in high school and middle school don't know what they want to learn they just go by what is next. When I was in school and I was able to create my own curriculum it would be rather confusing more than comfortable. I didn't know what I was suppose to learn so how was I able to build a curriculum? Get my point? So for me personally, I feel I would like school as much as if I was or wasn't able to make my own curriculum.

My sister

Curriculum's are curriculum's. There is no point in making a Curriculum when you are eventually going to learn it in the near future. It sucks that we have to go by it but that's just they way the school system works. If they gave me a guide on how to build my own curriculum then maybe I would like school better. But I don't really think it would make that much of a difference. School is school, learning is learning, plain and simple.

My Aunt

I think kids who are able to build their own curriculum would in fact have better feelings towards, just because they can feel in control on where they want their education to go. But when I was a kid, who was thinking about that. I was more on hanging out with friends and having a good time at school, so in my eyes my feelings wouldn't really change if I was able to build my own curriculum. Now if I was able to choose who I wanted to be in my class, now that would be a different story. I would love to have all my friends in my class at the time. But school for school curriculum, my feelings would just stay the same.

My Cousin

My curriculum didn't really bother me that much. I liked school for the social part of it. Most of my friends went to my school and school is where most of my experiences came from. But the curriculum wasn't an effect. My feelings wouldn't be better or worse if I was able to build my own curriculum.

In what ways Can the neighborhood of the school affect the learning in the school?

Myself

The neighborhood of the school can affect the learning in school in some ways. If the neighborhood has a lot of projects and lot of bad things going on there, then most likely the school would have kids that would have a hard time learning. Whereas a school that is in a good neighborhood, would have a great ability to learn because there is less distraction from people who can't deal with school. I just feel that if the neighborhood is bad then the school is going to have those bad people in it and vice verse.

My Mother

Neighborhoods are going to be neighborhoods. Schools can pick up kids from a bad neighborhood and don't even know it. Learning is always going to be affected no matter what. everybody talks in class everybody has side conversations sometimes. And the funny thing is, it isn't even the kids fault. Schools now and days are so socially active that it's hard not to talk. Now I'm not saying it's right for the kids to do this but that's just how it is. neighborhoods can affect the school but schools learning is already affected.


My Sister

If the neighborhood is good then most likely the school would be good, but if the neighborhood is bad then the school is more likely not to be so good. There is nothing you can do about that. That's just how things work most of the time. Learning in school can be hard if the neighborhood is bad, due to the fact that there wouldn't be much motivation and focus going on, where in a good school is much of that.

My Aunt

I worked in good schools and bad schools. They are always going to have some knuckle head acting a fool. There ain't nothing you can do about that. I can't speak for all schools but the learning is fair, these teachers don't put their 110% effort into these kids education. But like I said I can't speak for all schools. But what I can say is that A neighborhood can definitely affect the schools learning just because a neighborhood school is where the kids school cause no body like traveling.


My Cousin

School is school. always going to have that somebody who just isn't following school policy. There is so many types of people in school that you are always going to have affects in school. Just like with neighborhoods.If the neighborhood is bad, your more likely going to have bad people in that school but if the neighborhood is good you are more likely going to have a good people in the school but this isn't for all schools. But for the most part yeah.

What are your feelings when you hear that success in school is generally success in society?

Myself

My feelings when I hear that is true for the most part. You can't really go anywhere career wise unless you go to school, unless you are a professional athlete. But even to be a professional athlete you have to do at least one year of college. So when you go to school and succeed I feel like a lot more opportunities open up for you which means you are more likely to succeed in society.

My Mother

Just because you go to school and and you succeed at it doesn't automatically mean that you succeed to society. I 100% disagree with that. You can be a bad bad person at heart and have a doctors degree. So if your a MD and a bad person, that means that you succeed to society. I'm sorry but that's just total Bull crap. My feelings towards that are very strong when I say that that is not true.

My Sister

In some way's succeeding in school would mean that you would most likely succeed to society. Not saying that i agree with it fully but some things is not just to a couple of people. This is just the way society works. It's bad in some ways but what can we do. We can only follow what society wants in order to get by in this world.

My Aunt

I strongly agree with who ever thinks that. If you are succeeding in school and you are getting all these academic awards and you are working hard, its going to look very good to society. Society considers people who can give you an opportunity of a life time. They give you your careers. People only like people who's resume is good. If your are successful in school , society sees you as successful which means you are successful period.

My Cousin

School isn't the answer to everything. I know people who haven't went to college and get a masters and still be more successful than people with their masters. But since this crooked society wants the "best of the best' they only look at your achievements and what you've done and what degree you have. But who am I, I can't change nothing, I can't beat society. If I could change it I would.

PART B

Throughout all these interviews that I have gave my family member's, I can see that they don't or didn't really mind what the school gave and what kind of school is each one. They mad me believe that not all, but most school are all the same, no matter what kind of people are there, what kind of neighborhood it's even or anything. But those factors can have some affect. And I also noticed through the interviews that being able to make your own curriculum wouldn't really make them like school better, but what Would make them like school better is if they would make the schools more socially active then they already are (well for my aunt and mother back then when they were in school). My family members overall likes or liked things the way they are, changing thing's around a little wasn't really what they had in mind, they just wanted to get the work done and have a good time in school. Some interesting points that's I noticed while I gave my answer to the questions and when my family members gave their answers were interesting. They gave me extra insights on school that I never really thought about. They gave great points that's I didn't even think about during my explanations. These interviews gave me better understanding on school and certain aspects on the feelings towards changing how school is and the meaning of success in society.

HW 39 - School

Experiences

1-Basketball
2-School trips
3-gossip

Ideas

1- Who made school
2- why do we have grades
3- Peoples social connections in school

interesting things

1- school food
2- Why is there racial cliques?
3- Why is school the place we have to be most of our day?

School has alot social connections to it. Since it is integrated it is easier for other people of other race to get to know something about one another. I feel that school is where most of our friends are which is one of the reasons why we have most of our eexperiences there. Like when we go on school trips and overnight trips, we are able to connect with eachother on a deeper connection due to the fact that we arent actually learning on these trips. We get to find out more and more things about each other. Gossip is another reason why school is the way it is and people connect to one another like they do. Everybody in school always wants to know the feed and whats the new topic in school. That is when gossip comes into part. Rumors get spread and thats how school becomes interesting because everybody wants to know whats going to happen next. Schools social connect is due toalot of experiences that we go through and the fact that we are all interested in trying to learn new people

I also wanted to learn why school is the thing that takes up most of our day. Out of 24 hours we are in school for 7 hours. Why? I feel like that that is wrong. Even though school is important and most of our friends are in our school, that doesnt mean we should have it for most of the day. How are we going to connect with people on the outside world when we are always trapped in school? I just feel like our personal lives should be taken into consideration more and not just some life that comes after all of this school. Us being in school this long is what makes people drop out and not finish. And on top of that school IS so early in the morning. Our brains cant take all that work from 4 different subjects everyday for 5 out of the 7 days days of the week.

School has its good aspecs and it definitely has its bad aspecs. Besides the way I feel about school I really look foward into learnig this school unit and being able to go deeper into it rather than having my mind only look through the broader lends of it.

HW 38 - Art Project

This Cool Collage I decided to put together was an idea I put together for a long time. I wanted to show that expenisve clothing and jewlery that people put on their bodies (As shown in the picture) is what make them feel like they are needed and that they are cool and excepted. I want people to realize that majority of the people who want to feel cool is the people who wear the name brand clothing and the expenisve jewlery. In the picture, nothing costs no less than 100 dollars and this is the exact replica of somebody that thinks that they are doing what it takes to be that somebody.

The process of making my project didn't take much. At first I wanted to make a bunch of pictures of me doing things that make me cool and what I go through to try and be that person. But then I decided to just have one picture that has meaning to this whole cool perspective that people have. I just wanted to send a message. And knowing that people always want to follow new clothing trends I decided to put all the trendy gear together and put it all on one body and have their prices along with it. I decided to add the prices because I wanted to show how much money people waste and how much people go through just so they can have a particular cool image. So I just picked all the trendy clothes together and put it all on a naked body.

Art does seem cool to me. I say this because when you can prove a point just by an image and without physically having to tell everybody, I kind of think that that itself is cool. Art has all types of emotions and messages in it which is other reasons of why I think its so unique and cool.