January 30

Today we began by responding to a quote by Cizek for our writing into the day.  Then, Megan walked through "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" and highlighted the important parts of the article.  These parts discussed the intended benefits of this Act.  After that, we got into our inquiry groups and made a list of the positives of standardized testing according to Kaplan (using "My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT).  We listed the following:

• The SAT can be used for lower income kids to be able to get into more prestigious schools
• It tests thinking ability rather than just facts from the core subjects
• The SAT levels the playing field
• It tests the "why" and "how" of subjects rather than the "what"
• The test requires a student to apply knowledge rather than regurgitate facts
• It provides a fair way of assessment
• It is the "academic yardstick for college admission"
• It is reliable and predictable
• It tells you where you are compared to other test takers

Then, we watched a Why Standardized Testing Fails (a TEDTalks video) and had the following discussion about the ideas in the video:

• Students should be taught the way that they learn
• Grades do not define the whole person/student
• You need a what to figure out how much knowledge a student has gained and testing is the easiest way to do that.
• Tests are easy and convenient for schools
• If you changed testing, you'd need to redo the whole educational system.
• How would teachers fairly grade?  Would they look at the quality of the work, effort, the potential of the student?  It would be subjective
• Tests should be paired with something else
• Testing scores can hinder confidence.  Assessing on potential should help give a student something to strive for.
• Broader tests (with more than one right answer) would work against the careers that require only one answer like math and science careers
• People rely on testing because of laziness. 
• Should we have different classes based on the student's learning style?
• No, students need to learn to adapt to different situations.
• Creativity is too opinion based to test
• Everyone knows testing doesn't work, but no one can come up with a better way.
• Even if someone did, people don't want to change.
• Most colleges base admission on test scores.  It's an easy way to filter people out.
• Essays and recommendation letters should be added to the admission process in addition to test scores.
• The college should look at the applicant as a whole student rather than a number.
• Jobs look at GPAs when they are hiring.  Again, they look at the number.
• What you learn in school rarely helps on the SAT
• GPA measures more than intelligence.  If someone has a high GPA, he/she also likely has social skills, good relationships with teachers and the ability to participate.
• Classes at some schools might be easier than at other school so GPA is not really the best judge for admission.
• The same issues apply with class rank.  The IB programs have more weight so those students usually have the highest rank.
• Admissions aren't using the best numbers because of the variables

Homework:

• By Sunday at midnight:
1. Post answers to the four questions as a reflection for the comments you received on your paper today.
2. Comment on two blog posts from your inquiry group.
• By Wednesday before class:
1. Read your assigned section of "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work" and post a reading response.

If you missed class, you need to email me so I can send you an electronic copy of your paper and the questions for reflection as well as assign you a section of the reading.

January 28

Today, we responded to a quote by Paulo Freire for the writing into the day.  Then, we got back into the groups from last class, watched clips from Dangerous Minds, Gilmore Girls and Freedom Writers and answered the same five questions from the "Pop Culture Representations of School" handout.  We combined the eight groups into four groups and answered the next three questions on the handout in small groups.  Finally, we listed the similarities among the movies and TV shows and discussed the last two questions on the handout as a whole class.  The discussion was as follows:

Similarities:

• Teachers motivate students to achieve success in school
• The students will continue going to school after interacting with the teacher
• The teachers saw potential in the students and helped them realize that potential
• The students realized how important education is for their future
• Education is a choice
• There is always a rebel who questions and pushes the teacher
• There is no middle (average) student
• The student is responsible for learning
• The teacher is responsible for pushing students and for teaching creatively

Which of these school stereotypes do you see in school in real life?

• In college, all the responsibility is on the students, but in high school the teacher will push the students to their potential
• Teachers care, even college professors
• The extremes of the students were very present in high school but it is harder to tell who is what kind of student in college
• Most students won't outright say to the teacher that school is pointless
• There are students who will play the martyr role
• You can tell who the martyr students are even if you don't know them well
• Why don't students take advantage of the support system at school even if they don't have it at home?
• Some students look at teachers like they look at their unsupportive parents so they misinterpret the teacher's motives when the teacher tries to push them
• Why do students go to school if they don't care about school?
• Free meals
• See friends
• To tell their parents that they went
• Teachers in movies are always motivated, but that's not always the case in real life.
• In other countries, people don't have the education opportunities we have.  We take it for granted.
• You always have a choice to learn and to do better.
• Why would you let yourself fail?  You'll just have to take it again and, in college, pay for it again.
• Some people need more attention.  That attention is easier to get in high school.

What does success look like in school?

• Pulling from prior experiences to motivate you to learn even when school is hard
• Gaining motivation from friends and teachers
• Liking what you are doing
• Motivating yourself
• Working hard
• Success can start at any age
• Involvement
• Getting A's, especially in hard classes
• Getting your priorities in order
• Success can be measured differently depending on what the student's motivation is (social, academic, etc.)
• Pushing yourself
• Working toward something that will earn income
• Being well rounded
• Social skills
• Handing in work on time
• Going to class
• Time management
• Having confidence in school
• Working on things you aren't good at
• Believing you can do well on tests and assignments

Homework:

Watch "Do Schools Kill Creativity?" (a video on Moodle) and answer the questions (also on Moodle) on your blog.

January 23

Today, we did a writing into the day about a Calvin and Hobbes comic.  Then, we looked at examples of blog comments (from the class' actual blogs) and talked about what makes a "good" comment.  We came up with the following:

• Asking questions about information the author did not think about initially
• Making connections
• Offering information (such as links to readings) to keep the author thinking, reading and writing
• Offering a different point of view
• Giving examples of other kinds of writing
• Constructive criticism (exploring the author's weaknesses and/or strengths in writing)
• Giving feedback
• Creating a discussion with the author
• Answering the author's questions
• Starting a debate
• Thinking critically about the post before commenting

Then, we started watching clips from movies and TV shows that depict school.  We watched clips from Dead Poet's Society, Boy Meets World and Dawson's Creek, and answered the first five questions on the "Pop Culture Representations of School" handout about each set of clips.  We will continue this next class.

Homework:

• Read "My 54 Year Love Affair with the SAT."  Read only the first five pages (page = a page of the book, not an 8X11.5 page.)  Stop reading at the three stars.
• Post a reading response on your blog.
• Post an additional post to your blog.  This can be a post about anything we have talked about in class or anything you are thinking about in the topic of school/education.
• Comment on two of your inquiry group's posts.

January 16

Today, we did a Writing into the Day about the characteristics of school and discussed the characteristics in groups of two or three.  Then, we did the mind-body exercise with our names again and another game called "Zip, Zap, Zop."  We did "Zip, Zap, Zop" to help us pay more attention to and be more aware of each other.  We compared this game to a class discussion and talked about how, in a discussion, people need to be aware of each other, how each person needs to take a turn speaking and how to know when it's your turn to speak.

After these games, we talked about the due dates and expectations for this week as well as the expectations and due dates for the Exploratory Essay (the first draft is due February 25 for workshop; the second draft is due on March 4).  During this talk, we discussed the idea of taking risks in our writing and how I want my students to constantly push themselves as writers.

Finally, we watched part of "Education is Broken," a TedTalks video (minutes = 0:00-5:30; 9:30-10:30).  While we watched the video, we wrote down lines that seemed interesting to us and then spent some time writing down what we were thinking after watching parts of the video.  For the last 15 minutes, we talked about the concepts in "Education is Broken."  During this talk, the following ideas were discussed:

• In high school, people are pushed through a number of classes.  However, there is a point to these classes because they help you pass the test, which helps you get to the next stage (graduation and college).
• We should not be forced to take a bunch of classes about things we are uninterested in.  We should take classes that focus on our strengths and interests.
• High school is a "factory."  You are pushed to complete certain tasks, repeat those tasks on a test and then dump the useless information over the summer.  You are supposed to go through school "knowing your role."
• We should not look at subjects as separate.  We should push ourselves to find the connections and interactions between classes and to ask and answer difficult questions. 
• Students should be pushed to find the connections between classes and their future occupations.
• When teachers make a student write, learn, think, etc in a particular way (for a specified curriculum and a statewide test), they are taking away the student's individuality and choking his/her voice.
• Even teachers get frustrated because they are forced to teach to a test or to a particular curriculum because the administration thinks they should.  This also leads students to expect to be given a rubric or a particular set of actions to take in order to succeed.  When you aren't given this rubric, it can be really scary.
• In high school, students are trained to split up their subjects.  When they walk into Math, they need the Math mindset.  When they walk into English, they need the English mindset.  This doesn't help in college, though.
• Some classes can provide a student with a break from their major classes.  Therefore, having the "subjects are separate" mindset can help a student relax while he/she is in the class that provides a break.
• In writing, there is a particular context a student needs to follow, but (at least in this class) you can push yourself by taking risks and, at the same time, cater to your own style.
• The biggest change between high school and college is the idea that now a student can choose his/her own academic path.  In high school, a student is forced to take particular courses.  In college, a student can change his/her major and choose different classes to take.
• General education courses in high school are beneficial because they allow a person to change his/her interests.  They give a person enough background knowledge in a subject to enable to person to go in different directions for their majors and/or careers.  After high school, the person can then elaborate on a particular knowledge in college.

Homework:
In addition to the homework from last class, write and post on your blog your Writing History Response before class on January 23.

January 14

Today, we did a Writing into the Day with a quote about positive thinking.  In response to this quote, we had a debate about whether positive thinking leads to success.  Some people said that positive thinking is the key because no one will believe in a person if he/she does not believe in him/herself.  In addition, positive thinking can give a person the motivation to work hard enough to succeed.  Other people argued that, although positive thinking is important, a person cannot be over-realistic and needs to have a goal in order to succeed.  In other words, just because a person thinks he/she will succeed, the person is not guaranteed success.  We also talked about how having positive thinking in failures can lead to success. Finally, we talked about how motivation can come from negative thoughts as well, but positive thinking tends to give a person more motivation than the negative thoughts.

After our discussion, we did a mind-body exercise to help us remember each other's names.  Then, we discussed how to post and comment on the blog as well as the expectations for reading responses and inquiry process posts.  Next, we discussed the Writing History Response (due January 23 on your blog and on Moodle).

For the last 30 minutes of class, we brainstormed about our trajectories as writers and students using the "Writing Timeline" and "School Trajectory" handouts.

Homework:
Post the following on your blog (in one post) before next class:

• A picture and/or description of the interaction between your writer and student timelines.
• Respond to the last bullet point and at least 3 other bullet points on the "Writing Timeline" handout.
• Respond to all the bullet points on the "Schooling Trajectory" handout.  Read the last arrow on this handout.  If you do not feel that you answered these questions in your picture or description of the interaction between your writer and student timelines, answer them.  If you feel like you answered them with the timelines, then you don't need to write anymore.

Respond to at least two of your inquiry groups' posts by Sunday (January 20) at midnight.

January 9

Today, we covered the course objectives and policies as well as the sequence of assignments.  We also talked about how to read the daily calendar as follows:

• The "In Class" column explains what will be covered in class that day.
• The "Homework for Tonight" column explains the homework that will be due the next class.  For example, the homework in the row of January 9 (today) will be due on Monday.
• Anything in italics signifies things what needs to be brought to class.  The in-class readings are not italized, though they will still need to be brought to class too.
• Anything in small caps signifies something that is due on Moodle.

We also responded to quotes about trajectory.  We talked about how small decisions can lead to big changes, how perspective can change what one sees and experiences and how "city" can mean a real city or become a metaphor for anything else that experiences change.  We thought about the connections between the different uses of trajectory and how the defitniton of trajectory can change the purpose and experience of school.

Homework: Create a blogger account and post the hyperlink to Moodle.  The subject should be your name.  Make sure to bring your laptop or tablet with you on Monday.