Lewis Black Notes

He's upset at how much money is going into schools.
It doesn't have to be incredibly fancy or the best building you've ever been in
Thinks it's ridiculous that most don't focus on public schools education
Teach Tony Danza!

Citations

Works Cited

Freire, Paolo.  "The Banking Concept of Education." Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder. 1970. Print

hooks,bell. Teaching Critical Thinking: Practical Wisdom. New York: Routledge.  Print

Gatto, John. "Against Schools: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, And Why." Harper's Magazine. Sept, 2003. Web. 13 Mar, 2014

 Black, Lewis, "Back in Black - Education Crisis"  The Daily Show with John Stewart. 5 OCt, 2010. Web. 3 Mar, 2014

******************PUT THEM IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER*********************

Rough Draft Paper #3

Sheyanne Hughes

Creativity in High School

What is high school for?  High school is an educational program to get you ready for your adult life and future career choices. Not only that, it’s a place where students find themselves and to be creative. If this is true, then why do so many students drop out or feel like they benefit so little from high school? Is graduation one of the greatest moments of your life because you’re finally moving on to bigger and better things or because you can finally stop coming to high school? If I were to change high school, I would make it so kids would actually want to go and would benefit greatly from it. With improving the school system to match more of the student’s personal interests and cater to their creativity, there would be more academic and personal achievement.  High school would mean more to students in the sense that high school is something they want to do and not something they have to do.

The first change that should be made is to stop making so many budget cuts in the arts department. High schools focus so intently on science, math, history, and English. I agree that all of those subjects are very important by why should the arts be any different? Aren’t they just as important? The arts department is the creative side of education, while science, english, history, and math are the more technical and universal subjects of education. During my last year in high school, the arts department was targeted and was almost completely cut from my high school. Yet, students from the choir and band all stepped up and went to the school board meeting and defending the arts. If science or math was cut from high school, how many students do you think would be at a meeting defending it? The arts is a way for students to explore their minds and be creative. If schools were more understanding of students and didn't just fund math, science, english, and history, high school would be a much better place for those who want to express themselves.
Keith Gilyard states, "It is not that in my own gloom I predict doom for the students. Children can learn and grow in other arrangements. I merely assert-and parents and community members who are rallying in an attempt to save the program agree-that at this point in the children's lives, afternoons they spend in the program are better than afternoons without it.(19)" This being said, school should be not only an educational experience, but a fun one. 

The second change I would make is the teachers. In order for classes to be enjoyable, teachers must enjoy what they teach. They must be passionate about it. High schools need teachers who aren't just teaching because they just want their pay check, they need teachers who are passionate and love teaching. In the movie Chalk, there was a particular teacher who didn't much care about teaching his students; in fact, all he wanted was to win teacher of the year. And did he get it? No, he did not. In fact, one of his students was more advanced than he was, and the teacher got angry because it made him look bad. That teacher should have put his student in an advanced class. Described as the "differentiating function" by Gatto, he states, "Once their social role has been "diagnosed," children are to be sorted by role and trained only so far as their destination in the social machine merits - and not one step further. So much for making kids their personal best." This describes how teachers don't push their students to their full potential. A good teacher is active in their students' educational life and is willing to go above and beyond to make sure that student gets the education they need and no the education that others say they need. 

The third change I would make is the way school makes you think. There have been so many instances where students will cram right before a test, get a good grade, then forget everything the next day. What good does that do for anyone? Instead of teachers making the students memorize subjects, they should be making students think outside the box. Of course, memorizing some things does have its place, but make it more than just memorizing. Ask questions that exceed the limit that expand your mind into thinking about things you never would consider. Instead of students being containers to fill you should make them seeds that need to grow. As Paolo Friere stated in his Banking Concept of Education, "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor." This describes that teacher are doing nothing more than just filling a vessel, the students, and not expanding them. 

Paper # 3 Brainstorming

What is high school for? High school is an educational program to get you ready for your adult life and future career choices. If this is so true, then why did I feel like I barely benefited from high school other than getting a piece of paper stating I graduated? Honestly, if I were to change the way high school functions, I bet more students would benefit and become more successful.

One thing I feel like schools don't recognize/focus on enough is the arts. From my first hand experience in being in choir all years of my high school life, I can say that because of it, I did better in school, had a way better experience in high school, and was just a happier person altogether. Singing is something I love to do, and without it in high school, I honestly don't know how I would've gotten through it. My last year of high school, they started doing budget cuts towards the arts which was completely ridiculous. Yeah, english, math, and science are important to some, but it's focused on TOO much. Isn't high school advertised as the place where students get to explore what they want to do with their futures and start training for success? Where students can be creative? How is cutting the arts supporting this at all?

Something else I know I would change is teacher to student ratio. Does it make sense to jam 30 students in a class with one teacher? More kids would benefit with a smaller class room because that gives the teacher more opportunities to care for the students needs and when they need help. Everyone is different and for a student to get that individual time with their teacher on a specific area they need help in is very crucial.

Another area I would see needs attending to is thinking. Yes, thinking. I don't think we were made to be containers to be filled with information and just memorize it. We were made to expand our minds and to think outside the box! I can't tell you how many times I crammed last minute for a test, get a good grade on it, then forget everything the next day. (Banking Method)

What is high school for?  High school is an educational program to get you ready for your adult life and future career choices. Not only that, it’s a place where students find themselves and to be creative. If this is true, then why do so many students drop out or feel like they benefit so little from high school? Is graduation one of the greatest moments of your life because you’re finally moving on to bigger and better things or because you can finally stop coming to high school? If I were to change high school, I would make it so kids would actually want to go and would benefit greatly from it. With improving the school system to match more of the student’s personal interests and cater to their creativity, there would be more academic and personal achievement.  High school would mean more to students then just getting a piece of paper stating they graduated from high school.

The first change that should be made is to stop making so many budget cuts in the arts department. High schools focus so intently on science, math, history, and English. I agree that all of those subjects are very important by why should the arts be any different? Aren’t they just as important? The arts is the creative side of education, while science, english, history, and math are the more technical and universal subjects of education. During my last year in high school, the arts was targeted completely and was almost completely cut from my high school. Yet, students from the choir and band all stepped up and went to the school board meeting and defending the arts. If science or math was cut from high school, how many students do you think would be at a meeting defending it? The arts is a way for students to explore their minds and be creative. If schools were more understanding of students and didn't just fund math, science, english, and history, high school would be a much better place. 


The second change I would make is the teachers. In order for classes to be enjoyable, teachers must enjoy what they teach. They must be passionate about it. High schools need teachers who aren't just teaching because they just want their pay check, they need teachers who are passionate and love teaching. In the movie Chalk, their was a particular teacher who didn't much care about teaching his students, in fact, all he wanted was to win teacher of the year. And did he get it? No, he did not. In fact, one of his students was more advanced than he was, and the teacher got angry because it made him look bad. That teacher should have put his student in an advanced class. Described as the "differentating function" by Gatto, he states, "Once their social role has been "diagnosed," children are to be sorted by role and trained only so far as their destination in the social machine merits - and not one step further. So much for making kids their personal best." This describes how teachers don't push their students to their full potential. A good teacher is active in their students' educational life and is willing to go above and beyond to make sure that student gets the education they need and no the education that others say they need. 


The third change I would make is the way school makes you think. Their have been so many instances where students will cram right before a test, get a good grade, then forget everything the next day. What good does that do for anyone? Instead of teachers making the students memorize subjects, they should be making students think outside the box. Of course, memorizing some things does have its place, but make it more than just memorizing. Ask questions that exceed the limit that expand your mind into thinking about things you never would consider. Instead of students being containers to fill you should make them seeds that need to grow. As Paolo Friere stated in his Banking Concept of Education, "Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor." This describes that teacher are doing nothing more than just filling a vessel, the students, and not expanding them. 

Chalk Notes

The school and teachers are all unorganized and dysfunctional

"You hone your skills at teaching, then you let it fly. And sometimes you get it." -Mr. Stroode

The history teacher flips out at his students and goes to smoke as if he felt guilty and knew he was better than that

The vice principal isn't listening to the coach

Mr. L tries connecting with the kids more

Vice principal thinks it all starts with home

Gatto Answer

1) The adjustive or adaptive function. Schools are to establish fixed habits of reaction to authority. This, of course, precludes critical judgment completely. It also pretty much destroys the idea that useful or interesting material should be taught, because you can't test for reflexive obedience until you know whether you can make kids learn, and do, foolish and boring things.

-I believe when Gatto talks about this he is referring to schools prioritizing classes such as english, history, and math over music and art. Many students aren't even going into a career that has to do with mathematics, english, or history. Are they good to know? Yes. But do all careers require these things? Absolutely not. 

An example from my experience in high school is when the school board was trying to cut choir and band. Now this was really confusing considering we had an incredible amount of students in both band and choir! It was all budget cuts and even though they probably didn't care what we had to say when we went to the school board meeting, we still fought. The arts program wasn't cut completely, yet we still had to adapt to changes. 

2) The integrating function. This might well be called "the conformity function," because its intention is to make children as alike as possible. People who conform are predictable, and this is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force.

-When Gatto talks about conforming students he means that schools are trying to make everyone the same. That they're making them into little robots who can't think outside the box. 

Honestly, I can't say my school has really done anything to conform their students but I know their are schools who do such things. 

3) The diagnostic and directive function. School is meant to determine each student's proper social role. This is done by logging evidence mathematically and anecdotally on cumulative records. As in "your permanent record." Yes, you do have one.

-Gatto is referring to the placement of students to see where the student lies academically. But you can never know if it's accurate or not. Some students are what you call "lazy geniuses" or maybe a student got lucky on some multiple choice questions. 

In my high school we had something called the HSPE. Something we had to pass our sophomore year that required you to pass in Geometry, reading, and writing. 

4) The differentiating function. Once their social role has been "diagnosed," children are to be sorted by role and trained only so far as their destination in the social machine merits - and not one step further. So much for making kids their personal best.

-Gatto is referring how schoosl don't really push their kids to do their best. They just pish them to the "average" and not to their full potential. Although their are AP classes, students usually take those by their choice and aren't really referred to them. 

5) The selective function. This refers not to human choice at all but to Darwin's theory of natural selection as applied to what he called "the favored races." In short, the idea is to help things along by consciously attempting to improve the breeding stock. Schools are meant to tag the unfit - with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments - clearly enough that their peers will accept them as inferior and effectively bar them from the reproductive sweepstakes. That's what all those little humiliations from first grade onward were intended to do: wash the dirt down the drain.

-Their are schools who definitely favor students. And some only care about the "smart" students and furthering their education 

6) The propaedeutic function. The societal system implied by these rules will require an elite group of caretakers. To that end, a small fraction of the kids will quietly be taught how to manage this continuing project, how to watch over and control a population deliberately dumbed down and declawed in order that government might proceed unchallenged and corporations might never want for obedient labor.

-Now Gatto is saying that this is all a vicious cycle and that nothing is going to change. 

The Banking Concept of Education

Friere means to say that learning is more than just answering questions from a textbook, it's going through the actual experience. To learn properly, the teachers must show students the true experience in learning. Gaining knowledge is an experience in itself. However some teachers just spill out information as the student contains it. Some students just learn that way and some don't need an experience to understand something. Having information and guidance is one thing, but experiencing something is another learning experience. An example being drivers education. You can read the book 100 times and you still wouldn't really know what it's like to drive a car. Yet, this is why they have drives with an instructor to gain experience.