Large, Boyce, Gilyard, Aronson, and hooks

Large:
Large talks about a book by Tough who indicates that you need to build character in your children and the rest will follow. This meaning, you can't always be their for your kids and they need to learn to get along fine without you. They need to experience the trial and error and overcome failure in order to truly build grit and character. Children can't be pampered by their parents all their lives.

Boyce:
Boyce brings up an interesting point when he says that traits such as; " being able to calm yourself and regulate your emotions in a variety of situations; understand your own emotions, accurately perceive others’ emotions, and empathize; listen attentively to what someone is saying, negotiate, and confidently persuade; think through problems effectively while considering others’ perspectives," are some of the most important things one should learn in life. He believes that these traits are what makes a person human and that these traits are what people use in the real world. One can't always rely on math to solve everything. Sometimes it takes special attention and true human emotion to become successful in the real world. He believes these things should be taught in classrooms to students who can benefit from these traits in the future.

Gilyard: 

Gilyard writes on a topic that is very near and dear to my heart; the arts. He writes about how he went to an elementary school and talked with very bright and creative students who were into arts. He talked about a young student who did poetry. Something that caught my attention is when he said that the arts was recurring less and less in schools because of lack of funding. He believes this is wrong and that students deserve to have creative freedom and not do a class that doesn't interest them in the slightest.

Aronson: 

Aronson talks about a successful program where many students graduated from high school and went to college. It was even higher then schools that didn't have the program. Yet, it was shut down and the books were banned. Yet, their was an uproar and the books were brought back into the library but not the classrooms. It's crazy to think that these kind of programs can be shut down with no second thought no matter how successful the students become. It's almost as if it's not about the students at all. 

hooks:

hooks main point is critical thinking. She explains that critical thinking is great because it gets students to use their initiative and not just something they've been taught is right "just because someone said so." They figure out solutions with evidence.It also brings out the passion in students and their passion to share their ideas and not be afraid of being put down because their is no right or wrong answer! It's their initiative! I agree that critical thinking does in fact empower us.