Paper #3: Final Draft

People go through life floating within their own individual bubbles... bubbles that can become smaller or bigger, have more integrity or less, bump into other bubbles and become a cluster or fall on unaccommodating surfaces and burst. Traditional school learning - this encompasses Montessori, Waldorf & Homeschool formats - is a safe, structured space for bubbles to be injected with general information - soapy solution - not only so that there is some uniformity & consistency in this world of metaphorical bubbles but also some reinforcement to face the daily grind. Life lessons are the ever present elements that help give these bubbles individuality and personality - like the pipe cleaner creations twisted into hearts or cubes, the air currents that encourage them to swirl joyously or the hot concrete sidewalks that cause them to explode. Traditional school learning is a journey of the mind where as life lessons are more of a journey of the soul.

Learning to read is a very important skill to acquire during the reinforcement phase. It is a key method of transferring ideas from bubble to bubble (it is the method by which you are now taking in the words of this essay). In chapter 3 of Audre Lorde's Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Lorde shares her fond memory of the amazing Mrs. Baker, a librarian, who sparked her love for reading when she was 4-years-old and before she started traditional schooling. Mrs. Baker introduced Lorde to the wonders hidden within books and showed Lorde's mother that her daughter was, in fact, capable of speaking - instead of screaming - and sitting still for a length of time... long enough even to be taught how to write - the partner skill to reading, so that one's ideas may be expressed in the first place. On page 22, Lorde writes of Mrs. Baker, "If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in her life, may she rest in peace. Because that deed saved my life, if not sooner, then later, when sometimes the only thing I had to hold on to was knowing I could read, and that that could get me through." At the age of five, Lorde then started attending a sight-conservation class. This traditional school learning definitely took place in a structured setting, but it was far from safe. Instead of providing the students with helpful instruction and encouragement, the teachers put their pupils down and punished them by separating them into "good" and "bad" groups, depending on their current capabilities. For Lorde, during the time she should have been receiving reinforcing soapy solution, she instead began learning one of life's hardest and most important lessons: survival. Already being strong of mind and spirit, she had learn to maneuver around the sharp grass blades and ride the breeze to avoid being ruptured.

Parenting is a perfect example of a never-ending life lesson that is made up of smaller lessons that can only provide guidelines but no one-way formulas (you would not believe that though based on the numerous almanacs available, promising magical solutions to becoming a super parent). When you become a parent, you fall back on your own experiences and accumulated life lessons to try and provide a better life for your kid(s). One of the more difficult mini-lessons of parenting that you can learn is that your children are their own people, their own bubbles and need to make their own choices so that they can effectively navigate this world independently of you, instead of extensions or better copies of yourself. In the 1989 film Dead Poets Society, Neil Perry, one of the movie's main characters, had an extreme passion for acting, but this was not something his father approved of or saw a need for. Mr. Perry, after all, had worked very hard for many years to beat a path for his son to become a successful doctor. Near the end of the movie, when Mr. Perry discovers that Neil deceived him and took part in the school play, he says, "I don't care if the world comes to an
end tomorrow night. You are through with that play... I made a great many sacrifices to get
you here, Neil, and you will not let me down." What Mr. Perry did not realize was that by taking this joy from Neil, he was slowly taking the wind from his son's sails or rather, his bubble. With barely any air left, Neil had decided to take control of his life in the only way he knew how and he committed suicide.

During his TED Talk in 2006, Sir Ken Robinson spoke of the importance of nurturing creativity within all school systems instead of stifling it. Through the process of deductive reasoning, he stated, "...as children grow up, we start to educate them progressively from the waist up. And then we focus on their heads. And slightly to one side... you’d have to conclude the whole purpose of public education throughout the world is to produce university professors." Knowing your ABCs and 123s are extremely essential in becoming successful, but knowing oneself, acknowledging and making time to cultivate or enjoy one's nonacademic interests is equally as important. Extracurricular activities like music and acting help give people confidence in themselves and a sense of individuality in this sea of bubbles. This confidence strengthens a person and allows them to make an even more substantial and positive impact on the world. Traditional school learning is central to every society's growth as it affects every citizen. It is therefore every human being's responsibility to make sure their school system is up to par with not only educating its students in the basics like mathematics and language but also to make sure the environment provides them with support while learning the life lessons they may encounter in the same time period.

Life lessons are no more important than the lessons we learn in school - whatever form that may take. Both are required in creating a wholesome individual with integrity. Being book smart and being capable of logical thinking helps a person to navigate their way around the other bubbles with intent versus random floating. The life lessons enable people to empathize instead of just sympathizing. They allow for making deeper connections, for building on friendships and creating community... and community makes this unpredictable journey more colorful and less lonely.

Works Cited

 

Lorde, Audre. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. The Crossing Press and W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1993. Page 22. Web. 4 June 2014.

 

Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Kurtwood Smith. Touchstone Pictures, 1989. DVD.

 

Robinson, Sir Ken. "How Schools Kill Creativity" www.ted.com, 2006. Web. 4 June 2014.

Different Strokes: Gruwell vs Keating (2nd Draft)

The question What makes a good teacher? does not procure a simple answer. Like in mathematics, there is more than one way to reach the same conclusion. If we look at it formulaically, it could look like this: Good + Teacher = Enlightened + Empowered Students. Like in 2+7 = 5+2x2, the combinations are numerous. In this essay, we will explore this equation by comparing two teachers: Erin Gruwell, the real life teacher whose story inspired the 2007 film Freedom Writers and John Keating, a fictional character from the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society. Gruwell and Keating are as different as 2 and 7, but in the end, they can both be considered effectual in having enlightened and empowered their students.

For starters, John Keating is a fictional character, but for the purpose of this essay, we will assume he is a representation of a teacher (or teachers) we all might have once had. He is loud, funny and a little bit odd. Unlike Erin Gruwell, Keating taught at his alma mater, a preparatory school by the name of Welton Academy. On the first day of the new school year, we see short clips of how the classrooms are run by various - and assumably all - teachers at Welton; students are well dressed, prepared, respectful and respond on cue and in unison. We see Keating nonchalantly enter his classroom through a front door, walk across the length of the room and walk out the door in the rear, whistling aloofly. After a beat, he then pops his head back into the room of now confused students and says, "Well, come on." This really helps set the tone of his personal teaching style and personality. In the hall in front of the school's collection of trophies and old team photographs, Keating begins by asking who among the group knows the reference of "O Captain! My Captain!" (Walt Whitman's 1865 poem about Abraham Lincoln's death). He says, "Now in this class you can call me Mr. Keating. Or, if you're slightly more daring, Oh Captain, My Captain." He relates to his students right away by sharing that he too "attended Hell-ton and survived". From day one, the main lesson Keating is trying to instill in them is to be free-thinking individuals and to "seize the day", carpe diem. He leads by example, teaching passionately and in unorthodox ways, such as instructing his students to rip out whole introductions from their schoolbooks where Poetry is described as a mathematical equation and encouraging them stand atop his desk in order to practice challenging themselves to constantly look at things in a different way. Because of Keating's ideas and methods he becomes an outcast among the faculty and some of the parents. After a tragedy, school politics come into play and he is forced to resign. One student, who has taken to heart his teacher's lesson to find and fearlessly use his Voice, is expelled for refusing to play a part in Keating's removal - and it didn't help that he admitted to being part of the Dead Poets Society, pulled pranks and punched a fellow student (and turncoat member of the Society). Keating also inadvertently teaches his students one of life's most important lessons: it's never too late to try and right a wrong. At the end of this movie, all the remaining members of the Dead Poets Society are coerced into signing a statement incriminating their teacher. In the closing scene, while class is in session and Keating is leaving his classroom for the last time, the remaining Society members defiantly stand on top of their desks as a sign of respect for him or maybe in solidarity, maybe both.

Now, Erin Gruwell had quite different circumstances. She came to Woodrow Wilson High School full of giddy optimism, eager to mold the minds of the next generation and make a difference - nothing like Keating's quiet, cool confidence. She is greeted by ignorant and power-thirsty faculty who have already become desensitized to the joys of teaching. Gruwell was assigned a freshman class of at risk students, most presumably from low-income, broken or otherwise dysfunctional households, apathetic to academic life and many are members of gangs. They have already been given up on by the school system and are not expected to achieve much of anything, much less attend school. On the first day of class, in her very nice skirt suit and pearls, her students are escorted in by a security guard after the second bell. She cheerily greets them with "hellos" and they respond with indifference, although one student is kind enough to give her a cold, disgusted stare that only young teenagers can give. Very obviously unsure of herself, it's painful to watch her fidget in front of the classroom as her students proceed to move their desks in accordance to their cliques (in this case, ethnic groups) and talk amongst themselves as if at a social gathering instead of in a classroom. Gruwell begins roll call and in less than a minute, a fight breaks out. After a few feeble attempts to get everything under control, she has to ask the security guard for assistance. Her second day of class is interrupted by a fight in the schoolyard. Despite this terrible introduction to her first year of teaching, Gruwell doesn't give up. On her third day, the topic she chooses to focus on is Poetry. She tries to engage the class by playing a little bit of Tupac, a modern artist, and it seems to be working, but it quickly turns into an Us versus You, "The Man" situation and they blatantly call her out on her inability to ever connect with them. In this scene, Gruwell seems to have reached her personal limit of disrespect and decides it's time to change the seating assignments, mixing "the borders". Some time after, Gruwell intercepts a racist picture being passed around the classroom. She relates this to what happened during the Holocaust. This begins a real dialog between her and her students. By the end of class, she realizes that 99 percent of them don't even know what the Holocaust is, but have been shot at at least once. This reignites her passion and she attempts to get books for them like The Diary of Anne Frank and Romeo & Juliet, but she is refused by the head of her department and is basically told again to not waste her time trying to teach these unteachable students. During her next class, she has her students do an exercise called "Step Up, Step Back"; she says a statement and they step up if it's true for them and then they step back. The students realize that although they might be different they also have similarities and the barriers between them come down just a little bit. At the end of class, she gives them journals. Bad guy doesn't always go to jail.

Both teachers were considered unorthodox not only in their methods but in their ideas as well. The staff members in (Gruwell's school) did not understand why she would even try to teach her students who were obviously unteachable. And the idea that students at (Keating's school) capable of free thinking was, ridiculous, blasphemous even!

Paper #3 Draft

Tradition school learning is a journey of the mind; life lessons are a journey of the soul. Traditional classroom learning is like [...], structured and planned. Even in Montessori and Waldorf schools - where children and youth are highly encouraged to self-teach, explore & discover and where there is more focus on building on one's creativity - the learning is done in a controlled setting with specific outcomes in mind (e.g. during free choice hour students may be able to choose from puzzles, painting and building blocks; they wouldn't be allowed to just wander aimlessly). Homeschooling might provide more freedom, but it still requires some guidelines and expected results - such as the mastery of standard mathematics and English for the appropriate age level. The lessons we learn in addition to academics (most commonly referred to as life lessons) are less straight-forward (usually catching us unawares), the [word for transfer/intake/transport method - like intravenous medication or nicotine patches] are numerous and the intended results/lessons [need a synonym] vary, sometimes taking years to be realized. Life lessons are often difficult and messy, unstructured and unplanned... and the most challenging battles from which one emerges victorious, above the ash and ruin, are the lessons that make the greatest difference. [rewrite]

First love. Everyone has gone through it or will go through it at some point of their lives. Sometimes beautiful, other times painful or extremely awkward and for a lucky few, lasting. For a lot of people, it's nothing like they thought it would be. It changes a person. It'll either cause disillusionment and so much pain one will build up walls to protect themselves from ever feeling that way again or...

Learning to read. Audre Lorde's journey took place mostly in  a school setting, but her lessons were between the structured lines. It began with a librarian who looked past the unmanageable nuisance that Lorde's mother saw and took the time to read to her. Lorde describes her first couple of years in [school name] in Zami and they were absolutely horrid. She learned how to not be noticed and...

Parenting or Death. Dead Poets Society. Parenting is hard and for those who are actually trying, parents only want the best for their kids and try to lead them on the right path.

Sir Ken Robinson.

Narrative to Third Person

I'm not quite sure there was a point as much as just a sharing of my experience with personal growth.

*She was not quite sure there was a point as much as just a sharing of her experience with personal growth.

New Thesis for Paper #1:
Life lessons are often difficult and messy, but the most challenging battles from which one emerges victorious, above the ash and ruin, are the lessons that make the greatest difference.

Essay #2: Working Draft

Different Strokes: Gruwell vs Keating

The question What makes a good teacher? does not procure a simple answer. Like in mathematics, there is more than one way to reach the same conclusion. If we look at it formulaically, it could look like this: Good + Teacher = Enlightened + Empowered Students. Like in 2+7 = 5+2x2, the combinations are numerous. In this essay, we will explore this equation by comparing two teachers: Erin Gruwell, the real life teacher whose story inspired the 2007 film Freedom Writers and John Keating, a fictional character from the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society. Gruwell and Keating are as different as 2 and 7, but in the end, they can both be considered effectual in having enlightened and empowered their students.

For starters, John Keating is a fictional character, but for the purpose of this essay, we will assume he is a representation of a teacher (or teachers) we all might have once had. He is loud, funny and a little bit odd. Unlike Erin Gruwell, Keating taught at his alma mater, a preparatory school by the name of Welton Academy. On the first day of the new school year, we see short clips of how the classrooms are ran by various - and assumably all - teachers at Welton; students are well dressed, prepared, respectful and respond on cue and in unison. We see Keating nonchalantly enter his classroom through a front door, walk across the length of the room and walk out the door in the rear, whistling aloofly. After a beat, he then pops his head back into the room of now confused students and says, "Well, come on." This really helps set the tone of his personal teaching style and personality. In the hall in front of the school's collection of trophies and old team photographs, Keating begins by asking who among the group knows the reference of "O Captain! My Captain!" (Walt Whitman's 1865 poem about Abraham Lincoln's death). He says, "Now in this class you can call me Mr. Keating. Or, if you're slightly more daring, Oh Captain, My Captain." He relates to his students right away by sharing that he too "attended Hell-ton and survived". From day one, the main lesson Keating is trying to instill in them is to be free-thinking individuals and to "seize the day", carpe diem. He leads by example, teaching passionately and in unorthodox ways, such as instructing his students to rip out whole introductions from their schoolbooks where Poetry is described as a mathematical equation and encouraging them stand atop his desk in order to practice challenging themselves to constantly look at things in a different way. Because of Keating's ideas and methods he becomes an outcast among the faculty and some of the parents. After a tragedy, school politics come into play and he is forced to resign at the end of the movie. One student, who has taken to heart his teacher's lesson to find and fearlessly use his Voice, is expelled for refusing to play a part in Keating's removal. In the last scene, a handful of students defiantly stand on top of their desks as a sign of respect for him.

Erin Gruwell was an underdog turned rebel. As a green teacher from surrounded by a desensitized faculty, she was given at risk students that had been already been given up on by the system and not expected to achieve much - much less attend school. Bad guy doesn't always go to jail.

Both teachers were considered unorthodox not only in their methods but in their ideas as well. The staff members in (Gruwell's school) did not understand why she would even try to teach her students who were obviously unteachable. And the idea that students at (Keating's school) capable of free thinking was, ridiculous, blasphemous even!

What Makes a Good Teacher

Recipe #143

1 Open Mind and Creative, Out-of-the-Box Thinking
1 Heart of Gold
Ton of Patience
Fired-Up Soul
Strong Sense of Self

Place the Heart of Gold in the right place and slowly pour in patience as needed. Blend, shake and enjoy! Also try the many other recipes for a Good Teacher. Different strokes for different folks ^_^


Every teacher that has ever made a difference in my life not only showed consistency and genuine compassion, but they also challenged me to think differently and pushed me to be a better person outside of school. From elementary through high school and now, I have been someone who struggles as a student; I procrastinate and easily lose motivation. I was lucky enough to have teachers who kept me from completely self-destructing by putting in extra hours to talk to me and showed me that they had at least some sort of investment in my success. I believe teachers are all around us and not all of them claim it as an occupation. Our parents, or the people who raise us, are teachers. Our friends and sometimes even the strangers we have random encounters with can be teachers. The one thing all these people have in common is love and a desire to see you succeed. The one other important factor is the ability to see a bit of yourself reflected back at you when you look at them; that helps to open up your ears to hear the message and put down your barriers, if only just long enough, to take it in... sort of a "if they can do it, than I can do it" mentality.

Notes on the Second Half of Dead Poets Society

- it seems like Mr. Keating likes to start exercises with his students (e.g. marching in the courtyard) and then tie it into a lesson
- he turns everything into a learning moment, he wants to inspire his students every opportunity that he gets
- renaming ourselves can be a very powerful experience... starting anew, taking charge
- alcohol and kids... not the best combination
- SERIOUSLY!? A PADDLE!?
- both Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell both were considered unorthodox, rebels and faced institutionalized ignorance... but Mr. Keating had to deal with pushback from parents as well
- schools aren't the only ones responsible to killing creativity in our kids... parents are just as guilty
- both Mr. Keating and Ms. Gruwell gave their students time outside of their teaching hours
- acting is such a healing medium
- SEIZE THE DAY! it looks so much easier when they do it in movies :/
-  suicide... the OPPOSITE of carpe diem... or an acceleration, I suppose, of becoming "worm food"
-  sometimes, we stay quiet about important things and you can never take back being silent, but you can start speaking up... taking a stand, like at the end of the movie, even if it's a small one, can make a very big difference...