The Underdog
The underdog is the 9-5’er. The day in, day out people; specifically, people that
work a minimum wage job and are struggling to hang in there. He refers to them
as the underdog in my opinion because more than often, they are not recognized
for their value. Working extra shifts, doing over time on weekdays and
weekends, all to be able to have a roof over their heads and some food in their
stomach. What’s sad to me is that, they often are not paid what their worth
because any other person can be trained to do what they do. I like how he
describes the people in poverty as if they cannot arise from it. I liked the
line where he said “lot of homeless got jobs”. That really painted a picture on
my head. It made me think that the government sets a minimum wage that does not
pay the sufficient amount of money in order to cover all the costs of the
standard of living. I found it interesting that before we watched this in class
everyone was talking and you could feel the good vibes, and all that changed
after we watched it. I found it interesting cause that just goes to show how
unbalanced the wealth is distributed. Not one person in the room left skipping out
of class – not that anyone really does that. In my opinion it got everyone
thinking, like when a speaker just drops the mic. Everyone in the room was just like “WOW” with their jaw dropped. I felt that same vibe after having
watched that video. It’s sad that it is too relatable. I’m not entirely sure
who the “they” in the song is, because I don’t know who the “motherfucker” is
either. I want to say the “they” refers to the wealthy and the motherfucker
refers to the inequality. So if I rephrase it, it would say: The wealthy would
tear inequality if they really loved you. That’s what I believe it means and it
makes sense – to me at least.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Front Row Seats
Angel Rodriguez
English 1A
" I got us front row seats to see the teacher". That maybe every educators dream - that and a pay raise. Education has many problems and we need to experiment in order to find it's solutions. Technology has been constantly evolving, while education has been merely the same since my great grandma was in school. Students are not engaged when they are being taught irrelevant, boring and useless information. Students feel uncomfortable in class which impairs learning. School institutions inculcate the idea that without education we cannot achieve success and if we can't achieve success we cannot achieve happiness. Students are obliged to follow a curriculum in order to graduate. The education system is robbing us of our voice , and if we no longer have a voice we can easily be overpowered.
Technology has been advancing way faster than we can teach it. As we know, technology has been evolving at an incredibly fast pace; I remember like it was just 40 years ago, when I bought my first brick phone, and I remember Christmas like it was just 2 months ago, when I spent half a pay check on my kids iPhone - ok I don't have kids but you get the point. 40 years ago some rich guy spent nearly $4,000 dollars on a cell phone, when he could have only waited 40 years to buy a smartphone for $60 - Doesn't he feel silly. Education has not changed much over the course of history. My mom sat in the same class I did with the same teacher, teaching the same way and the same things. Teachers have to teach a certain way through a curriculum that the county gives them. The people that made the first car, the first airplane, the first cellphone, did not have any principles that they could use as guidance. What did they do? They had to experiment, in order to get the results they wanted. Teachers have to do the same, in order to get students to learn by heart and not memorization, which is what most education is based on. Students study a night before for a test and basically all the information they studied is forgotten. It's like a sponge in a bucket full of water, it will only retain so much water after it has been removed from the bucket. Educators need to find a way to keep the sponge submerged in the bucket.
In addition, education needs a change. I found it interesting that the people in the audience ages 25 and up wore a wrist watch even though it was unnecessary, given that the only function it has, is in all cellular devices. In my opinion the people that wore watches, wore them just because they're used to doing it. I believe some things in the educational system are the same. Teachers have not changed their educating methods because they're just used to educating in a certain manner. The teaching methods in the school's I've attended, if not all but most, are the same. Students are expected to learn from copying down notes and filling out worksheets. All of the learning was based on repetition for the sake that it would stick to your head; some of the information sticks with you but most of it fades away, which makes sense because of the lack of practice. What I find interesting is, how is it that we remember certain things easily and other things we have to dig deep in to our memory? What did the teacher do differently? What did the student do differently? I don't believe that the way teaching is done today has to be completely changed, it simply has to be updated-and it probably has to be a huge update, from teaching 1.0 to teaching 5.0. I remember a teacher was telling my class " I'm a math teacher but sometimes I'm a language arts teacher too" or something around those lines. He was explaining the origin of the prefixes on the names of some geometric shapes- which are in Latin and Greek. I didn't put much thought into what he said until now. I think that part of education is also a bit "out of date", that part being categorization. We expect to solely learn math in math, English in English, history in history, so on and so forth. However, as i go back and reflect on it, I do remember learning various subjects in one class.
Furthermore, Experiment with your classes, perhaps trying something differently with each one because not all classes are the same. Try implementing class discussions into your lesson plan. I believe we all have something to say and we'd like to be heard. Try making students comfortable as possible in order to have them express their thoughts and opinions more freely. By doing so you get the student more engaged because he feels important and he feels like he's a part of the class and not just that he's taking the class. The whole point of school is to prepare students for a job but they aren't given classes on how to actually get a job. For example they don't teach how to make a resume, how to make a first good impression on someone (for an interview).-Connections to me life- Classes are uninteresting because they aren't relevant to their lives. For instance you quizzed in history about " which countries did napoleon conquer/colonize?" when in your life will this be necessary? A trivia game is the only thing I could think of-It's pointless. It's unnecessary information that does not connect to us except for the point that we have to pass it to get credits to graduate. Students should be taught interesting and relevant things during the first days of school. Like in the beginning of an essay the first day of school should start with "the hook". Captivate the attention of students during the first days of school and they'll be eager to find out how it ends - "the conclusion".
Therefore, students may not be engaged because the lessons are irrelevant to their lives. If this perseveres, students will lose the notion to learn and will not pay attention at all. A solution to this out of my own experience, is to make connections between lessons and the students; for example, you can talk about the cold war as if it were two girls that gave each other the silent treatment and they're telling mean and nasty things about each other in order to get support from other people-Not the best example, but something like that. Making connections is like reviewing something you already know. For example, watching a play: the story is the same but there will be different people playing the characters; so all there is to it, is learning vocabulary.
A classroom should be like your bedroom , you should feel comfortable in it. It should be a non-judgmental place, where students can express themselves freely. In the past I've had teachers snap at me, which I understand, because it can be tiring to tolerate me- back then at least, but sometimes I would ask questions and people would laugh-thinking it was a joke; however I was genuinely interested in knowing the answer. So then I felt stupid and got mad at the teacher- I didn't say anything or do anything, but that's all I was thinking about and I would lose focus on the rest of the lecture. There's many situations like that. Another example that is pretty common, is when a student has a question but never asks it because classmates might think it's stupid and/or might laugh at him. If we don't give students this sense of comfort, it'll keep them from developing their ideas and beliefs. A great way to get students to feel free to express themselves is by having discussions on class subjects and of course teaching them again what their kindergarten teachers had once taught them -- and hopefully their parents as well: Respect, a very important value. This is key to the learning atmosphere!
School and society have planted the idea on us that without an education we won't live a happy life. This idea alone has made me feel very confused. If students grow up with this idea as am I they will end up the same way, confused without knowing what to do. I believe we do know what to do; however, we are discouraged because whatever we want to do: a) doesn't pay well ,
b) others don't respect it, c) takes to long to get the degree. As you may know, a lot of criteria and expectations to meet. When really it all comes down to what makes you happy. If this belief of ours keeps getting passed on, we might not have someone saying "do you want that with ketchup?". Not the most glamorous thing in the world if you ask me, but we all see things differently; and that should be the belief that should be passed on. All work is equally respectable and serves a purpose in society. We all depend on one another.
Furthermore, the fact that school is obligatory puts more stress on our shoulders. Making something obligatory makes us question it, challenge it, disobey it. From my experience, sometimes we need a little push. But if you chain someone they don't have a choice; freewill is lost. And again the confusion arises again, weather or not we should keep going to school. Some students might even lose their willingness to learn because they have gotten beat up over the years that they have to attend school. Then, when that magic number 18 pops up, they drop out or decide to discontinue studying. If we feel obligated to do something then it's probably not for us. Things should come out naturally.
.
English 1A
" I got us front row seats to see the teacher". That maybe every educators dream - that and a pay raise. Education has many problems and we need to experiment in order to find it's solutions. Technology has been constantly evolving, while education has been merely the same since my great grandma was in school. Students are not engaged when they are being taught irrelevant, boring and useless information. Students feel uncomfortable in class which impairs learning. School institutions inculcate the idea that without education we cannot achieve success and if we can't achieve success we cannot achieve happiness. Students are obliged to follow a curriculum in order to graduate. The education system is robbing us of our voice , and if we no longer have a voice we can easily be overpowered.
Technology has been advancing way faster than we can teach it. As we know, technology has been evolving at an incredibly fast pace; I remember like it was just 40 years ago, when I bought my first brick phone, and I remember Christmas like it was just 2 months ago, when I spent half a pay check on my kids iPhone - ok I don't have kids but you get the point. 40 years ago some rich guy spent nearly $4,000 dollars on a cell phone, when he could have only waited 40 years to buy a smartphone for $60 - Doesn't he feel silly. Education has not changed much over the course of history. My mom sat in the same class I did with the same teacher, teaching the same way and the same things. Teachers have to teach a certain way through a curriculum that the county gives them. The people that made the first car, the first airplane, the first cellphone, did not have any principles that they could use as guidance. What did they do? They had to experiment, in order to get the results they wanted. Teachers have to do the same, in order to get students to learn by heart and not memorization, which is what most education is based on. Students study a night before for a test and basically all the information they studied is forgotten. It's like a sponge in a bucket full of water, it will only retain so much water after it has been removed from the bucket. Educators need to find a way to keep the sponge submerged in the bucket.
In addition, education needs a change. I found it interesting that the people in the audience ages 25 and up wore a wrist watch even though it was unnecessary, given that the only function it has, is in all cellular devices. In my opinion the people that wore watches, wore them just because they're used to doing it. I believe some things in the educational system are the same. Teachers have not changed their educating methods because they're just used to educating in a certain manner. The teaching methods in the school's I've attended, if not all but most, are the same. Students are expected to learn from copying down notes and filling out worksheets. All of the learning was based on repetition for the sake that it would stick to your head; some of the information sticks with you but most of it fades away, which makes sense because of the lack of practice. What I find interesting is, how is it that we remember certain things easily and other things we have to dig deep in to our memory? What did the teacher do differently? What did the student do differently? I don't believe that the way teaching is done today has to be completely changed, it simply has to be updated-and it probably has to be a huge update, from teaching 1.0 to teaching 5.0. I remember a teacher was telling my class " I'm a math teacher but sometimes I'm a language arts teacher too" or something around those lines. He was explaining the origin of the prefixes on the names of some geometric shapes- which are in Latin and Greek. I didn't put much thought into what he said until now. I think that part of education is also a bit "out of date", that part being categorization. We expect to solely learn math in math, English in English, history in history, so on and so forth. However, as i go back and reflect on it, I do remember learning various subjects in one class.
Furthermore, Experiment with your classes, perhaps trying something differently with each one because not all classes are the same. Try implementing class discussions into your lesson plan. I believe we all have something to say and we'd like to be heard. Try making students comfortable as possible in order to have them express their thoughts and opinions more freely. By doing so you get the student more engaged because he feels important and he feels like he's a part of the class and not just that he's taking the class. The whole point of school is to prepare students for a job but they aren't given classes on how to actually get a job. For example they don't teach how to make a resume, how to make a first good impression on someone (for an interview).-Connections to me life- Classes are uninteresting because they aren't relevant to their lives. For instance you quizzed in history about " which countries did napoleon conquer/colonize?" when in your life will this be necessary? A trivia game is the only thing I could think of-It's pointless. It's unnecessary information that does not connect to us except for the point that we have to pass it to get credits to graduate. Students should be taught interesting and relevant things during the first days of school. Like in the beginning of an essay the first day of school should start with "the hook". Captivate the attention of students during the first days of school and they'll be eager to find out how it ends - "the conclusion".
Therefore, students may not be engaged because the lessons are irrelevant to their lives. If this perseveres, students will lose the notion to learn and will not pay attention at all. A solution to this out of my own experience, is to make connections between lessons and the students; for example, you can talk about the cold war as if it were two girls that gave each other the silent treatment and they're telling mean and nasty things about each other in order to get support from other people-Not the best example, but something like that. Making connections is like reviewing something you already know. For example, watching a play: the story is the same but there will be different people playing the characters; so all there is to it, is learning vocabulary.
A classroom should be like your bedroom , you should feel comfortable in it. It should be a non-judgmental place, where students can express themselves freely. In the past I've had teachers snap at me, which I understand, because it can be tiring to tolerate me- back then at least, but sometimes I would ask questions and people would laugh-thinking it was a joke; however I was genuinely interested in knowing the answer. So then I felt stupid and got mad at the teacher- I didn't say anything or do anything, but that's all I was thinking about and I would lose focus on the rest of the lecture. There's many situations like that. Another example that is pretty common, is when a student has a question but never asks it because classmates might think it's stupid and/or might laugh at him. If we don't give students this sense of comfort, it'll keep them from developing their ideas and beliefs. A great way to get students to feel free to express themselves is by having discussions on class subjects and of course teaching them again what their kindergarten teachers had once taught them -- and hopefully their parents as well: Respect, a very important value. This is key to the learning atmosphere!
School and society have planted the idea on us that without an education we won't live a happy life. This idea alone has made me feel very confused. If students grow up with this idea as am I they will end up the same way, confused without knowing what to do. I believe we do know what to do; however, we are discouraged because whatever we want to do: a) doesn't pay well ,
b) others don't respect it, c) takes to long to get the degree. As you may know, a lot of criteria and expectations to meet. When really it all comes down to what makes you happy. If this belief of ours keeps getting passed on, we might not have someone saying "do you want that with ketchup?". Not the most glamorous thing in the world if you ask me, but we all see things differently; and that should be the belief that should be passed on. All work is equally respectable and serves a purpose in society. We all depend on one another.
Furthermore, the fact that school is obligatory puts more stress on our shoulders. Making something obligatory makes us question it, challenge it, disobey it. From my experience, sometimes we need a little push. But if you chain someone they don't have a choice; freewill is lost. And again the confusion arises again, weather or not we should keep going to school. Some students might even lose their willingness to learn because they have gotten beat up over the years that they have to attend school. Then, when that magic number 18 pops up, they drop out or decide to discontinue studying. If we feel obligated to do something then it's probably not for us. Things should come out naturally.
.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Recycling education video response
For the most part I agree with what was said in the video; although, I do have some disagreements. The school system is made to prepare you for a job. Everything is based on competition; who gets the better grade on the test, who answers the questions the teacher makes, who has the better G.P.A. You can study the questions to a test a day before and pass it but then you’ll forget most of it the day after the
test. Most classes are “narratives” as they said in the video, classes based on a teacher giving a lecture without engaging the students. It’s as if the teacher we’re talking to a wall. The school system teaches
kids to memorize rather than to learn. I think we're naturally competitive. However, most student's don't necessarily think of competing against each other. I believe most of the time we're in competition with ourselves. I disagree that competition takes away the notion of people wanting to learn. I think it encourages them to learn more. Like for example, a difficult subject might not be pleasing to learn because of how much it makes us think and analyze. However, when a grade is given to you, it forces you to learn for the sake of keeping a good grade. Competition is not necessarily unhealthy because it does get the best out of us. And the competition is not individual all the time, sometimes we have projects with other people. In fact a lot of our work is done in group- at least from my experience. All the group work teaches us how to work with others. We're not always acting individually. We don't get the sense that we're isolated, we work as a community, in order to accomplish our goals. That is however, preparing us for a job. I also disagree that teachers don't engage their students. Teaching is revolutionizing. I believe it's a human behavior for us to not engage in things that are difficult. However, like they said in the video, we would be motivated to learn more if the subject we were learning would be presented in a much more fun way. I remember in my french class we had a lot of activities that involved group work. We engaged in conversations with each other and it helped a lot more. We learned from each other; when you pronounced something wrong your partner would correct you. We would have the class divided in two, and we would have a competition based on the new vocabulary. The fact that we competed against each other made it that much more interesting. We were concentrated on winning but unconsciously we were learning at the same time. Everyday in class was different. We were learning in many different ways: visually, listening, writing and communicating. It's easy to learn when you are having fun. I agree that school is made to "prepare" you for a job. I agree that memorization can kill creativity. I remember watching my little cousin drawing with a friend, and my cousin was drawing out of the outline of some cartoon and the other kid would stay inside the outline. At first I thought " why can't you draw like your friend" Then I thought to myself "maybe my cousin just has terrible hand coordination". After having watched the video though, I thought of what they said about the teaching methods today making us more like robots. Robots that are programmed to follow a set of actions. So I agree that a good teacher give us information but he doesn't tell us what to think about it. We are left to decide weather it's right or wrong. Are ideas and beliefs should be shaped by us, not a system.
test. Most classes are “narratives” as they said in the video, classes based on a teacher giving a lecture without engaging the students. It’s as if the teacher we’re talking to a wall. The school system teaches
kids to memorize rather than to learn. I think we're naturally competitive. However, most student's don't necessarily think of competing against each other. I believe most of the time we're in competition with ourselves. I disagree that competition takes away the notion of people wanting to learn. I think it encourages them to learn more. Like for example, a difficult subject might not be pleasing to learn because of how much it makes us think and analyze. However, when a grade is given to you, it forces you to learn for the sake of keeping a good grade. Competition is not necessarily unhealthy because it does get the best out of us. And the competition is not individual all the time, sometimes we have projects with other people. In fact a lot of our work is done in group- at least from my experience. All the group work teaches us how to work with others. We're not always acting individually. We don't get the sense that we're isolated, we work as a community, in order to accomplish our goals. That is however, preparing us for a job. I also disagree that teachers don't engage their students. Teaching is revolutionizing. I believe it's a human behavior for us to not engage in things that are difficult. However, like they said in the video, we would be motivated to learn more if the subject we were learning would be presented in a much more fun way. I remember in my french class we had a lot of activities that involved group work. We engaged in conversations with each other and it helped a lot more. We learned from each other; when you pronounced something wrong your partner would correct you. We would have the class divided in two, and we would have a competition based on the new vocabulary. The fact that we competed against each other made it that much more interesting. We were concentrated on winning but unconsciously we were learning at the same time. Everyday in class was different. We were learning in many different ways: visually, listening, writing and communicating. It's easy to learn when you are having fun. I agree that school is made to "prepare" you for a job. I agree that memorization can kill creativity. I remember watching my little cousin drawing with a friend, and my cousin was drawing out of the outline of some cartoon and the other kid would stay inside the outline. At first I thought " why can't you draw like your friend" Then I thought to myself "maybe my cousin just has terrible hand coordination". After having watched the video though, I thought of what they said about the teaching methods today making us more like robots. Robots that are programmed to follow a set of actions. So I agree that a good teacher give us information but he doesn't tell us what to think about it. We are left to decide weather it's right or wrong. Are ideas and beliefs should be shaped by us, not a system.
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