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.