HW 48 - Treatment for Savior/Teacher Movie

Bad grades equal bad student, which translates to irresponsible, stupid, careless, etc. child.
That was their school system. The equation everyone followed. And no matter what they did, they could not change it. So why even try?
In the 12th grade there was a specific class which was known as the "dumb class". No one truly held any hoped for them to go to college. Their constant minor rebellions against their teachers and the school, led them to be considered as...hopeless.
A new teacher, graduated from an excellent school, applied for the job as the new 12th grade teacher. Soon he learnt about this class, and somewhat regretted his decision of working there. However, he went for it and presented himself to that class as their new teacher.
He did not wished to waste his time with children who did not want to learn. But, he would not give up on any of them until they did. There were only 5 students who were definitely not graduating. These five students happened to be the most problematic among the class. The teacher thought of a way to make a difference in their life, so he proposed an idea to the principal. Because of his impressive resume, the principal did not decline his idea of making an elite class consisting of the most outstanding students. For his class he chose those 5 students. Everyone thought of it as a waste of time, but no one went against it, not even the students who had to stay everyday after school to take that special class.
Then, the teacher made them a promise. "If you do not graduate and do not enter an excellent college, then I would have failed as your teacher, and thereby quit this job." None of the students could understand his mentality, but they felt glad that someone actually believed in them. The teacher began by helping them regain their motivation for the future. He helped them with personal problems, and taught them how to deal with some of their issues. Once they regained their motivation, and felt a little better about coming to school and going home, they began studying to improve their grades and preparing for the SATs.
In the end all of the students graduated, but only three were accepted into the college of their choice. They showed a different side of themselves to everyone, specially to those who lost hope in them. The teacher saw them differently since the beginning, but not as them being actually smart or hard worker, but as normal teenagers who simply wanted someone to believe in them. That alone helped them begin to make a difference in their lives. Their results were attained by their own hands.
After that the teacher quit his job as he promised, and the students continued to grow. He just hoped that their motivation would last long enough to finish college.

Extra Credit Opportunity - "The Class"

Answering question #3:

The film, "Entre les murs", and my own class experience are very similar to one another. Overall, in my opinion, the movie was boring. It was as if being in class myself. In the film, the french teacher teaches, the students listen or pretend to listen, and questions are asked/answered. Which is what commonly happens in a classroom. Unlike the teacher films seen in America. The teacher is not portrayed as some sort of hero who must save his students. It was very realistic. This being said, the main plot in the movie was not interesting. This is because, as a student I am familiar with students disrespecting the teachers and other classmates, and then teachers along with parents taking action over the matter. This happens very often, and the results are usually the same in every case. It could have been more interesting if the teacher teaches Karate instead of vocabulary during class, to get the attention and respect of his students.

Also seeing the different races in the classroom (asian, black, etc.) reminds me of my own class. In my school students usually come together with students of the same race, and therefore do what they are expected to do culturally. For example, if black, dress in that gangster look and if Asian, obtain good marks in mathematics. Despite the french culture, I had the impression that most students are greatly influenced by the American culture. It is reflected on their clothes, style and behavior. This caused me to relate even more to the students in the film.

I do not know about the personal life of the teachers in my school, but I do know that they might feel stressed when dealing with troublesome students, like Souleymane. As a teacher, it must be difficult to gain that special respect they think they must have from the students. The teacher in the film wanted that respect but he did not succeed. Perhaps he was not being very creative by sticking with the program (Tell children to always raise their hands before talking, remain quiet in class, ask interesting questions, send bad behaving students to the principal, etc.). The students at that age know very well what must be done in the classroom. They know what is right and wrong but they just do not care. For example, they learn...

"Respect; the adolescents learn gradually to respect their teachers because of their threats or for the fear of causing problems. To begin I respect him, and the respect should then be mutual... I must say this or the teacher will get hysterical. I respected him, and it is for that that I don't understand why I have to say that. I know that he has nothing against me, but I don't know the reason. I decided to sit quietly in this room to avoid more conflicts, unless I am provoked. I admit I can be insolent, but only when they provoke me. I will look at him again, so that he could see that my glance in not insolent. Usually in class of french, we should speak about French, and not about our grandmother, or sister, or girl's period. And it is for that that from now on, I will not speak to you again."
-Khoumba

In the film this would be the only glance to one of the student's personal life. Nothing happened outside of the school territory. And therefore, there was no need to show personal life, for always considering school as a place where we should be on guard.

Similar to my class, the students read the Diary of Anne Frank along with the teacher. They ask questions about the reading and vocabulary and the teacher explains. There are also class discussions about some of the student's experiences, such as examples any type of embarrassment. Some times most students participate and get very involved in the lesson and sometimes they are caught barely awake. There are side conversations, and some times students disrespect the teacher. I must say however, that in the film I saw something I have not seen in my own experience of SOF. Although the teacher was taking the "right measurements" to punish the bad behaving students, I had the impression he felt sorry for doing so. He did not want to be in bad term with his students and he did not want his students to feel trapped in any way. Often he pushed students to participate or to present their work, just to put them out there. And that does not happen in my class. If I do not want to participate, I will not participate and the teacher will not even try to encourage me to do so. They simply give up, just as I did.

The end of this film was similar to the end of every of my years of high school. Nothing special happened.

HW 47 - Class film preparation 1

"Savior/Teacher" film ideas:

1. School as an institution to keep children "locked in" for 8 hrs a day, as opposed to an institution to educate children. The teacher would try to change it.

2. A teacher who gets involved into the personal lives of troubled students to help them out.

3. A class who is totally devoted to its teacher. They believe his abnormal ideals and attempt to practice them in their daily life. The students will experience significant changes in their lives.

4. A class plan to get rid of the teacher, who attempts to change their ways.

5. A teacher who shows incredible favoritism to the troubled students, this includes giving them special treatment and advantages, other students are uncomfortable about this. "How could this be fair?"

6. A spoof, the students educate the teacher with useless information.

HW 45 - More Big Thoughts on Schools

E.D. HIRSCH AND TED SIZER SQUARE OFF ON STANDARDS" by Anne C. Lewis represents the two different arguments on education from Hirsch and Ted Sizer.The author explains her reasoning behind their two different opinions on the same matter. She said, "Part of the divisions between Hirsch and Sizer stem from their grade-level focus. Hirsch worries mostly about elementary schools, Sizer about high schools." In other words, it makes sense that Hirsch and Sizer disagree because they are targeting different levels of education. Sizer is concerned about how students End their education in high school, and Hirsch is concerned about children education in elementary school school (The beginning). Focusing on "transcendent" and "immanent" education, Hirsch and Sizer standards for a student would be both transcendent for focusing on how well students finish their education. Although they target different stages of education their response was very similar. Hirsch said, "Students should be able to read and know basic number facts by the end of the first grade." And Sizer said, "Students should leave school as well-informed skeptics, able to ask good questions as a matter of habit."
It seems that their points of view are not as different. The education received in elementary school and High School is indeed different. Seen from this point of view, their opinions cannot be entirely compared.

Analyzing Sizer and Hirsch' work separately would help distinguish their opinions. Perhaps these can be compared when seen as a way to improve the school system. As a student I wonder: Who has the best idea and what has it been done?
Supposedly School of the Future adopted Sizer's work into their system, just like many other schools. Sizer's speech in 1997 truly inspired headmasters to follow his methods. Reading Sizer's five imperatives for better schools, and comparing them to my current school system, it merely shows how my own school considered Sizer's opinion as a ticket to become a better school.
These imperatives are:

1.Give room to teachers and students to work in their own, appropriate ways.
2.Insist that students clearly exhibit the mastery of their school work.
3.Get the incentives right, for students and for teachers.
4.Focus on the students' use of their minds.
5.Keep the structure simple and thus flexible.


As a student of SOF I can distinguish Sizer's structures on the school's exhibition requirements. We must work on our Habits of Mind and be able to represent these beautifully in paper and speech. The exhibition process helps us to develop our minds, to "leave school as well-informed skeptics, and able to ask good questions as a matter of habit." Instead of presenting exams, which might not contribute as well as the exhibition process according to our school, we work on using our mind in a specific way.

Sizer also encourages teachers to not forget their place. According to him, us, the students are always watching the teachers and following their way of thinking. Therefore, Sizer as a teacher himself said, "We must live what we teach because how we live teaches. We cannot escape being models." These strict methods Sizer proposes will lead schools, teachers and students to succeed in their goals. As previously mentioned, Sizer's methods, are transcendent. The most important aspect of a school should be only results. This being said, most schools I have seen and known of work with the same system. Does this mean Sizer is right? Or perhaps Hirsch's idea is too complicated to practice and therefore seen as ineffective. However, based on the first article by Anne C. Lewis discussed on this post, Hirsch's work also suggests a transcendent education. So why has School of the Future adopt Sizer's work over anyone Else's?

Based on Sizer's speech and relating it to what has been discussed in class. He mentions the importance of every one's positions within the system. The teachers, for example, must present a good image and remain on their altar separated from students, and in some cases even looking down on them. These role models, known as teachers, are the ones with the authority within the classroom. But even the teachers are under the higher authority of the school's principal becoming part of a bigger chain within the entire country. There is always a higher power above us. This solid system makes things work due to its simplicity. As students we do not have to think much of what should be done in school. It is clear that we are there to learn for the future. If we enjoy it or not is not important. There are not speeches telling how children should have fun in school. The idea of going to school and have fun while learning everyday sounds too unrealistic to me. The same way it sounded to Sizer. High School is a crucial preparement for our futures. It should not be taken lightly by teachers and students. Sizer proposed a solid structure that would help schools and there are no fun activities involved.

Hirsch, just as Sizer, also completed his education and proposed his work on school system to help improve it. The essay, "E. D. Hirsch’s Curriculum for Democracy" talks about Hirsch's live and preparement. It mainly focuses on his experience in school and with schools. He saw how grown students did not have enough education and knowledge. For example, in his work he "had cited an experiment that found that college students unable to comprehend a difficult passage about the Civil War by historian Bruce Catton were also likely not to have learned anything about the Civil War in the early grades." He believed that these problems originated since early school life. Therefore something had to be done. Hirsch’s next book, "The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them" shows the democracy of Hirsch. He wanted to take the educational quality to a whole new level. He proposed different ideas to help children learn, such as poetry. It did not have to be necessarily fun but definitely helpful.


Because of his work, many public schools have taught students to read trough the "whole language" method, which involves guessing the meaning of unknown words instead of using the dictionary.
Comparing this to my own school. I have seen Hirsch's ideas of teaching in most of my classes. Therefore I can tell that my school is actually a combination of two great educational ideas. And perhaps there could be more. Hirsch was indeed very optimistic about learning. He focused on encouraging the student even more than the teachers. As opposed to Sizer who assigned different roles and positions within the school.
However, as previously mentioned Hirsch work is also transcendent due to his purpose always consisted of helping children leave school with important knowledge that would help them in the future.

Hirsch and Sizer due to have similar points of view, but they focused on different areas of school which might have made them seem differently. In my opinion this is not a Hirsch Vs. Sizer situation. Both contributed to the current system in a way that actually made a difference until our current date. Their ideals might sound too strict or boring but unfortunately these work.
Students learn many things in school and they also learn how to think. This knowledge will be passed on to next generations and therefore make new discoveries. I do not blame nor judge them for not focusing more on the student's feelings. If they had done it, things would be completely different, and perhaps school would be actually fun. But would it work? Would I learn as much as I have learnt without it?
I don't think there is a way of knowing at this point.

HW 44 - Big Expectations for School

"What school is primarily for" is preparement for a world that as a child we are truly not ready for. This preparement is shapes us in a way to fit in with the others. In our perspective this preparement is essentatial as a human being. This is because we are aware that as people we must have an education. In any place in the world, a child receives an education from older generations. According to the diccionary, education is the knowledge attained from teaching and instrcution. We receive this knowledge that meets our cultural expectations, and therefore become part of that culture. In some places, this given knowledge is less than in others. And the methods used to provide it depend on how much knowledge is intended to give to the child. In our society, it is believed that the more knowledge the better. Therefore, similarly to all cibilized cultures, we have a system by the name "School" to educate all children with the suffiecient knowledge to not only fit in, but to outstand other people.


This paper is based on my own perspectve as a student under the common system of school. Throughout history generations and generations have gone through and completed this system after many years. Some of these people choose to encourage children follow the system with a great performance. Others, discuss methods to change the current school system. And others are simply not interested. In this paper, some articles about school will be discussed. This information is communicated by an adult point of view based on his past experience in school. At some point, an author's point will be compared to my own as a current student. Perhaps former students felt the same way students feel now in school, even though times have changed. This can help demonstrate how the school system affects everyone in a general way. But most importantly, it can help discover our need to follow this sytem, although some of us are against it.


At the beginning of this school year, Obama gave a truly inspirational speech, which I wish I could have heard before. Unfortunately do to the length of the speech and predictability, I did not pay attention to at least half of it (As shown in the video I was not clearly the only one, seen when the audience was filmed, some were even more focused on getting Obama videotaped then actually listening. "Hey guys, look! Obama came to my school and gave a speech! Doesn't that make us cool?!") However, the following quote caught my attention...

"So today I want to ask all of you... What is your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in 20 or 50 or 100 years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions...I expect great things from each of you. Don't let us down. Don't let your family down, your country down, and most of all don't let yourself down. Make us all proud."

Now that is pressure...
According to President Obama there are hundreds of people expecting something from me and all students in this country. And, it is our responsibility to not let anybody down. Although Obama may see this country as a united community, and intend to communicate his vision as best as he can, we are not able to see such a thing. I am not absolutely sure about every single person in this country, but I can confidently state that other than family, friends, acquaintances, and ourselves we do not give give much importance about the future of other people. This personal idea seems to be awfully accurate. Therefore, listening to Obama's "encouraging" speech seems as the usual and constant message delivered from most adult to students. Based on the previous quote from Obama's speech, I definitely ask myself: What will my contribution be? What useful discoveries will I make? How will I be needed? These questions remain until today, and personally I do not feel anyone is actually helping me with any answer. I have always considered looking for our purpose in life as a one man mission. And that will be the only way we convince ourselves that we must contribute to this world (our own individual world) no matter what.

School will never be united. Judging is one of our natural bad habits that will never go away. We must divide everything into groups according to what we perceive them not according to what they are. Perhaps through years judgement has lessen among schools, or perhaps people have simply stopped expressing it as much. The following link, shows a NY1 News video about violence in school.

"School Violence Hotline Goes Live"

This news represent the state's concern on children being safe in school. The interruption of their studies must be prevented. Although the measurements that will be taken on the student who disturbed the system are unknown, it is clear that something will be done with the purpose of permanent "peace" in school. In other words, adults do NOT want rebellion from confused children. It is not only the wrong decision in their point of view, but it is also a waste of time. It is known by everyone that school system will never be terminated. Therefore, there is no purpose on going against it. If gone against it, consequences will be severe as that person experiences the great limits of being uneducated.

Also children are encouraged to help maintain school development by reporting their classmates actions. For instance, if one student reports another student who he suspects from, then precautions will be taken on the student reported on. If that student is emotionally struggling, and expresses himself the wrong way, then instead of receiving the help he needs, he will be under suspicion. As a student myself, If i were struggling, the least thing I would want for myself would be being under supervision to prevent me from being a bad kid. That would cause me to eventually make the wrong decisions, due to being already seen as Wrong, and give up. There is no way those children will be encouraged.

Why do we want an education?

Not only adults want to educate their children, but children also want to be educated. Looking back in History when the black community was not being educated, they ran numerous protests demanding an education. Today, students also want to continue on being educated. This is because their future depends on their education, or so we believe. It is not as if we will not have a future at all, it will only be dissatisfying. Most people would feel they failed when their education was interrupted. We see no good life, unless we are prepared to have one.

I believe that answer to this question is because we want to be needed and school provides the necessary tools to make it happen. Unfortunately, as part of this culture, I think that school is the right place for me. I belong no where else, but in school. I must finish my education and become SOMETHING. I cannot live without being Something that someone else could count on. The more they count on me, the more I express myself through my work, the more satisfied I would be. We all want to be part of the world, and we are, but at some point being just part of it becomes not enough. As time goes we are hungry for more, and we want to make our lives meaningful. We want to be remembered, in a way saying that our birth was not in vain. I think this is the reason we want to go to school.

But still...

And cannot wait for Friday.

HW 42 - More Research and More Thinking

School may not be the source of our depression, but it definitely is one hell of a helper. And
what bothers me the most about school, is thinking how it most likely contributes to the suicide of thousands of teenagers. What exactly are we getting from school?

Just to be clear, I am not against nor in favor of school. This being said, I do not consider school as an "evil system" which has the only purpose of ruining children's lives. Even if this may be the case, I do not think of it that way because I have been taught that school is GOOD. My negative thoughts on it come from self experience.

After researching on school as a source of teenage depression, I have found many articles suggesting that indeed there are many students being negatively affected by all the pressure and discomfort in school, and most importantly these teach how to identify depression signs in students to avoid the risk of suicide.
Suicide is not only ending your suffering, but your entire life. Personally I have never had serious suicidal thoughts. The typical phrase "I ll just kill myself so I don't have to go through this or that" has never actually meant suicide. However, there are people out there how are seriously thinking of way to end their lives. And these people could be my classmates. Thinking it from this perspective, I have become worried about my classmates and friends. I do not know what is happening in their personal lives, but I have an idea of what they are feeling in school, and it might not be helping them. And although suicide will end all our problems, it will also end our dreams, hope and goals. But these are not even recognized when when we are depressed.

This is not the case for every student. While researching I found poems about school. There were some children who wrote poem expressing their immense love for school, and that is completely valid, but not understandable from my perspective. I can barely relate to people who love waking up every morning to go to school. It is not only strange, but somewhat concerning. I tend to think that those people are not entirely aware of what is happening in school. In other words, they are living in their heads, where it's "safe". Or perhaps I am the one who is unaware of what is happening, and I just happen to be a rather negative human being.

This topic overall, personally matters to me because of the simple fact that I am a student and I do not like going to school. Much less studying or doing homework. Just thinking that I have to wake up at 7:20am to go to school ruins my night and morning. And my feelings of disliking school are clear specially when I realize how happy I am when I have vacations. These negative feelings toward school, also represent that I become sad when I think of it. Because of college I am not able to enjoy one second of class. I currently feel very pressured and I also feel that my teachers have given up on me. I am NOT happy in or about school. At this point not even seeing my friends changes my mind.

I am truly concerned about myself, and because of the research I did I have been looking at myself and searching for any signs of depression. Currently I have some of them, but personally I do not think these will become any worse. I cannot say that I will not definitely commit suicide because I do not know what will happen to me in the future. However, at the moment I do not nearly wish to do so. My sign of depression is my lack of motivation and interest.
No matter what i do I cannot become interested for a long period of time. By not being interested I live unmotivated. This is also causing me to skip school, avoid my chores, miss my private lessons, etc. I see no point in doing my best when I know that is not what I want.
I really truly want to feel motivated again, it is a matter of time until I find something interesting enough to motivate me. I do not like being in "stand-by".

This whole topic also reminds me the movie Pink Floyd- The wall. Although I do not remember very well the main story, I do remember a famous song about children and their interaction with society and education. School was represented as a factory of making worms. And these worms represented society. That is something similar to my own point of view. I think that school is teaching us to become SOMETHING that will fit into a bigger group of people. It teaches us how to think in a specific way, so that we can function properly individually. School might as well just be a factory, and the system is just a whole industry. We are the product. The following link shows the mentioned song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24hkfhw-uXs

This video shows many different aspects and characteristics from a child's point of view. And it also explain the teacher's character. This is more like the children defending themselves from the teachers, the system. Even though a teacher might have the best intentions of all he or she will still brainwash his or her student into his or her own beliefs. Those believes shape us into something that fits. It could be a worm like the ones in the video. However, it was all a fantasy in the end. Children could not really go against it. All students could never agree to destroy and burn down the entire school. Because for these children, it is too late.

HW 41 - Initial Internet Research on Schooling

Gray, Deborah. "Back to school blues: Symptoms of depression in college students". Health Central. Friday, September 01, 2006.
This provides a list of symptoms suggesting possible depression in a college student, some of these are the known: low self-esteem, lack of interest, difficulty concentrating or making decisions, absences for no apparent reason,etc. It identifies the typical life of a college student, including partying, and how this new life style may affect the life of the student. Although a depressive lifestyle is consider as popular in college in this article, it still encourages students to find help and work on their depression. The site also provides different resources that can help through depression.

While looking through this list I found that these sings are not only seen in college but in High school as well. In my personal experience I have learned that many people prefer college then High school because they had more "fun". That in mind I could not entirely understand how the author of this article described this lifestyle as popular. Perhaps there are many students out there in college with suicidal thoughts because of their lack of interest/motivation in life but, that is also seen in High school. Therefore, I believe that problems originate in High School and continue in college. Experts such as Deborah Gray should focus more on the life of a High School student as opposed to a college student for the simple fact that in high school. students tend to be more sensitive.

Overall this article in helpful for the fact that as a reader you can go through the list and identify some signs in your own life and begin looking for help. Although some students, including myself, think we will be alright without help it is still encouraging to find help to work on the different causes of our depression.


Walker, Joyce. "Adolescent Stress and Depression." Teens in Distress Series . 12/07/2005. university of Minnesota, Web. 23 Feb 2010.
This article discusses what it actually is to be a teenager, specially when attending high school. Often we may hear from parents that being a teenager was the best phase of their lives, therefore it will also be the same for us. This is because in High school there was the cool group of friends,"students energetically involved at a dance or sporting event, and a bright-eyed couple holding hands or sipping sodas at a local restaurant". But the article suggests that this is only part of it. Being a teenager is actually a very difficult phase for everyone. This is because most people around teenagers expect too much from them and this creates a great amount of pressure. Further information of this topic in specific is provided by the article.

As a reader I do recommend reading this because although it is known that teenagers get easily depressed and stressed, people continue to say that those were the greatest years of their lives. Perhaps some people did not experience as much suffering as others and therefore said it, however all of them went to school, and all of them felt the need to fulfill some one's expectations at some point. And it is most likely that they will not feel the same at any other phase of their lives as they did when they were young. This is because as an adult people get used to the type of person you have become and they stop expecting. Perhaps we actually enjoy more being pressured because we feel that someone is taking us into serious account. Therefore being a teenager and a high school student is the best.


Samhsa. "School Failure, Sadness, Depression, Anger, Violence". Helping Your Teen. Not Alone:You are not alone Web. 23 Feb, 2010

This article targets parents to help their teens with the depression, stress, etc. caused in school. It mainly encourages parents to support their children specially when they are experiencing failure in school. It is not recommended to nag them or ground them when this happens because it might lead to feel even more depressed than they already do. Different factors explaining failure in school are provided with the purpose of helping parents understand more about the situation and become more flexible. It also focuses on sadness and depression which are common feelings experienced in high school. To explain the outcomes of these negative feelings the author also uses personal examples so the reader can relate. It highlights how depression leads to suicidal behaviour therefore it is very important to do something about it.

After reading this article it reminded me of how I often think that parents simply forgot what it was like to be a teenager. They communicate to us as if they came from a very different world filled with very different types of emotions. I think this article will effectively help parents remember what it was like to fail and the feelings failing caused themselves and their daily routine. Also must suicides are committed at young age, knowing this by a fact how can the majority of parents still pressure and demand so much from their teens? Are they truly doing it for the sake of helping them have a brighter future or simply have a nice legacy to leave behind?

In conclusion I think it is very unfair and almost disgusting how many parents demand so much from a child. In my opinion our freedom is taken away and then we take other people's freedom, because we consider it as the world we live in. Thinking this way will make me sad, but it is nothing compared to when realizing that I have not done anything I truly wanted to do in my life so far. I have just being following the shepherd.

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Further Research...

Madison, Alexandra. "Depression in School: A Student's Trial"Healthy Place. Jan 08, 2009.
March 1st, 2010.

This article focuses on how teachers are unprepared when it comes to dealing with a student suffering from depression. Teachers however, "are trained to handle students who lack discipline, the slow learners, the extremely bright, and even kids faced with ADHD. Therefore because of the lack of preparement this article provides information and tips to help teachers deal with depressed students. Also, giving the adequate attention to those students seems to be the most important characteristic on helping them through their depression.

Although I am not a teacher I consider this article as extremely helpful. This is because often teachers tend to avoid learning about the personal life of students to avoid trouble, specially in high school and college, when we need attention the most...
However, teachers do need to learn the right way to approach a student and help him or her, because the majority of the teachers, or so I would like to believe, are concerned about their students.
In my perspective as a student I feel as if teachers have given up on me at this point of my school life. I am currently feeling sad and pressured, however, in school no one seems to understand that. Perhaps it is because my classmates are experiencing similar feelings and the teachers are too busy to dedicate the attention we look for or to at least pretend they are concerned.




Shipp Jasmine, "I can't go to school today". Poem Hunter.com-March 1st, 2010

As part of researching on School being a source of depression I have found a poem which might represent this main topic. The poem is the following:


I Can't Go to School

I can’t go to school because I am sick
If I walk out my house I’ll get hit by a brick

I can’t go to school because I’m afraid
On my way there I might get run over by a huge parade

I can’t go to school because I have a funereal to attend
School uniforms just aren’t the new trend

I can’t go to school because I woke up late
I broke my thumb while learning how to skate

I can’t go to school because I feel a little blue
My brother stuck my hands together with supper glue

I can’t go to school because school is boring
I wonder what excuses I’ll have tomorrow morning

Jasmine Shipp

Poems are known to be a great educational way of expressing feelings. Reading poems about school written by students can help understand better how students may feel about school. This is one of the many poems provided by PoemHunter.com related to school. I have chosen this one because represents a student's point of view on School, rather than an adult providing his professional opinion on student's depression.

As a reader and as a student myself I am sure that many other students who read this poem will relate to it because at some point in our school life we always looked for excuses to be absent. Although the excuses mentioned in the poem are unrealistic the strong desire of of the speaker of not going to school that day is quite real to me. The voice of the speaker also sounds a bit childish, and this is because excuses are often recognized as a childish act. Regardless, teenagers and adults also use excuses to be absent from something and it does not mean they are being childish. It could mean they simply do NOT want to be there.

Sarafolean, Mary H. "Depression in School-Age Children and Adolescents: Characteristics, Assessment and Prevention ". Healthy Place. Jan 02, 2009. -March 1st, 2010

Another article on student's depression provided by Healthy Place. Unlike previous articles, this one offers statistics and rates. Numbers are also important to consider the significance of Students' depression. It also discusses the characteristics of depression which have been based on adults characteristics, due to the result of recent studies showing that children and adults are actually sharing the same characteristics. This article, similar to the previous one, also mentions suicide risk factors. This list is not as complete as other articles, however it mentions the most basic factors to identify children who may comit suicide.

I recommend this article because it is brief and clear. It would not take more than 10 minutes or less of our time to become aware of different characteristics and factors to consider when it comes to student's depression. Throughout this research, I have repeatedly encounter the same type of information covering the same factors. This being said, I do not know how much depression in school is actually being studied, or even considered.
My experience researching this topic specifically has been somewhat troublesome. This is because it was not easy finding specific pieces of information suggesting that school, specifically, was consider as a source of depression. Perhaps school is not seen in such way by most people. However, It is a fact that thousands of students are in state of depression, even though it could come from different sources, school is always a problem when going through it.

HW 40 - School Interviews x 5 & Synthesis

Interview: Making school better

Do you like school? Why?

Hmm Yeah I guess, because of my friends. That is the only thing that makes school better really.

What can be done to make your school experience better?

Burn it down and kill the teachers. Teachers suck because even though I like school its annoying getting up in the morning.

If you could choose your own classes what would you take? (you can use your imagination)

Uhm..Wizard spells, photography, astrology, potion making, anything that is related to Harry Potter... Thats pretty much it.

How effective do you think school is?

I think it is very effective, because even to work in McDonnals you need to have some knowledge so yeah it is very effective.

What do you think are the biggest flaws of school?

Homework and bad teachers.

Define bad teachers?

Well, teachers that like put students down. And that doesn't help the kids at all.

If the school system were to change do you think children would like to go to school? why?

Yeah, because the school system we have now causes many children to drop out of school.

-Dahina

Interview: The experience of being a student

Tell me what was it like to be a student?

It depends on class, classmates and teachers. That is why because of some bad experiences I quit high school. I really enjoyed going to school until junior high. I found the reason why when I entered high school. I got separated from all my friends because I did not pass the exam to enter the high school I wanted, so I went to another one which was completely different and I didn't like it so I quit.

Do you think teachers make school better? why?

Sure, most students dont know why we have to go to school, but we have to study for the future and we have to build up our common sense and how to think in a public place. And I think we can't build up all these attributes without the good teachers in school.

Do you miss school?why?

Yeah, I mean actually I don't miss school itself but my classmates. Because they became very close friends of mine and we shared our minds together and we grew up together. And then I had the opportunity to reunite with my classmates twice a year and it was great to see them again.

Do you feel like you can build that special relationship with people you meet now?

I think its different, because I already have a solid way of thinking. The friends I made in school are people I grew up with so they had a really strong effect on me because I was growing up with them. People I hang out with now simple meet my expectations of a friend.

Did you ever felt depressed because of school?

I think I didn't until high school. Back then I was really depressed, I didn't like my classmates and my teachers. I felt like everything changed. My previous classmates naturally studied and got good grades, but the ones in high school only wanted to play around and I hated that.

Were you ever negatively affected by grades?

No, because my parents really didn't care about that. So how could I care about them. As a 10 year old boy I couldn't care about my grades because my teacher and my parents were now affected by it. I always has the worst grades specially in junior high. I was kind of a drop out since the beginning.

-Kenny

Interview: Pedagogic techniques - grading, testing, etc.

What are your general thoughts on pedagogic techniques?

I think the grading is stupid, because I don't think it shows your knowledge. It shows your responsibility and dedication but it doesn't show how much you know.

How does knowing that all the work you do in school will be graded feel like?

I think it is obvious that it is going to happen so I don't think anything of it. I think is actually fair because if its not graded then no one would do a good job.

Do you think those grades represent anything?

I already told you, it represents dedication not how much you know. If you get "F's" it doesn't mean you are stupid, just that you do not do your work.

What do you think grades and testing are for?

Grades are to show your work and dedication to school, and testing is to show what you know and what you don't know. I think school should be about learning not doing tests and such.

When taking a test what part of you do you think is being tested?

It could be many things, like how much you understand in class or how much you pay attention and study. They have to do something because it is not like kids can just go to school and do nothing.

How effective do you think grading is?

Well I don't think is effective because nothing comes out of it but it kinda is because it makers people work. It can make a person work and get into a good college, so I guess it teaches responsibility.

So do you think that good grades=good future?

Not necessarily but you do have better chances.

Do you agree that testing, grading, etc. may cause a negative impact to the student? why?

Yes, because students want to be successful. it really depends on what type of person you are, some people do not care if they get good grades or not. But others stress to much over getting good grades.

-My sister

Interview:The motivations of school - for the student, parent, teacher, system

How would you define motivation?

Whatever drives you to do something and keeps you on going.

What do you think motivates students and teachers to cooperate with the school system?

For teachers the paycheck, and for students basically because of the legal system behind it and because, I mean, I don't think school is that necessary, I think its more of a meeting people think. Because it is more like a social warehouse rather than a teaching warehouse.

As a student, what makes you wake up every morning to go to school?

Friends...Its a way for me to learn what is up with them. What are they doing. It is fun to be around them.

Do you think teachers teach because of the joy of it or because of the paycheck?Why do you think some do and why some don't?

Paycheck...Well some teachers actually like human interaction. They like the idea of being able to give something to other people and other teachers think they have no other career path...ha...

What do you think has to be done to motivate all children to go to school?

That is a hard one...Uhmm...I think having more interacting work instead of having them write essays all the time and doing homework, etc. I think that would really motivate them.

And how about teachers?

A bigger paycheck...I don't think teacher are truly appreciated for dealing with 34 kids 5 days a week for so many hours. I think that makes them tired. If they had a bigger paycheck they would definitely be more motivated.

Interview: School as machine for conquering and puppeteering a population

Do you consider the school system fair? why?

Yeah why not, I have no problems with it at all. Because it is reasonable that a child has to go to school in that way.

Do you think that school might be manipulating the population in some way? If so In what way?

I really dont know. I mean it could be possible but I do not know if it is true.

How different do you think your life would be if you had not gone to school?

Very different, I mean I would have still learnt many things if I hadn't gone on my own. But school is the place where you meet the people you grow up with and develope.

What do you think is the main idea school teaches to the population?

To be respinsible and organized. Also how important it is to have a social life and take care of it.

Why do you think almost everyone is in favor with the school system? Could this be brainwash?

Maybe it is but I don't feel like I am brainwashed in any way. I know all parents want to send their children to school because it is good for them and that might be brainwash but It feels like the right thing to do.

-father

Since the beginning of each interview I kind of anticipated each of their answers. I think this is because I know what type of people they are, and we all shared the same bad and good experiences of going to school. Until today I have never met anyone who has never gone to school. If most people have bad experiences in school, specially the ones that drop out why would they force their children to go?

The people I interviewed also agree that their children should go to school because it is effective. Although the only reason why they think this way is because they gained some knowledge in school (2+2=4) They still think it is very important to send all children to school.
I believe that the only thing that makes school better as a student's perspective are the friends they make in school. Growing up with other children and sharing their thoughts together (Kenny's interview) is truly positive effect on children. I think that is one of the greatest opportunities school offers.
Also from Bere's interview I got that kids interacting more with friends and classmates could truly motivates them to go to school everyday. Also her perspective on teachers is very similar to most people I have talked to. They see teachers are people who are doing this because they have to and not because they want to. It is their job to teach and our job to learn but things would be beter if both parties actually wanted to be there. At least both sides would feel more appreciated and motivated.
None of the people I interviewed and myself are against the school system. Indeed we do not like it nor enjoy it but we are not against it because somehow we truly believe it is good for us. And although school might make us depressed we still believe it is good for ourselves. This is just another example of one of my theories explaining how suffering is actually a positive sign for us.
We are and were students not because we wanted to but because we had to. Even if we drop out halfway through we still consider school as the place we belong when we are young. Most people do dream of living of living their lives freely out there somewhere but they would never go for it. Perhaps it could be because they are afraid of failing in the end or because they simply recognize it as a dream that will never come true. In other words freedom is just a dream that could never be achieved because we do not simply belong to it. We belong in school.

HW 39 - First School Assignment

Questions

• I am wondering, why are we spending most of our youth sitting down listening to a person talk in school instead "living our youth" out there?

• Since when did I start feeling/believing that I belonged in school now and in the next 10 years?

• How is school shaping me to fit into society's ideas and expectations?

Research: Why was the idea of school originated in Germany so appealing for neighbor countries and then the world? Was it seen as a great method to keep control?

Ideas

• I think that school suppresses our freedom and self expression by teaching us what is right and wrong, what is success and failure.

• Indeed there is a lot of material taught in school that will be not used in our futures, however, it is taught with the purpose of teaching us how to think through or solve situations we may encounter in the future.

• Perhaps school is helping us become someone needed in society (a hero), and people do not fight against the school system because we all want to be needed.

Experiences

• During my school life, I have experienced joy, pride, sadness, disappointment, and stress. The friends I made in school are the ones responsible for the good times I had, and the grades are the ones that bring everything else I have felt.

• In elementary school I had very bad grades, so I was often sad because my parents did not approve it. I had to take private math lessons in 2nd grade but it was not that bad because my favorite teacher was the one that gave the lessons.

• Receiving awards and a great report card feels great. Although I pretend not to care about I am proud I achieved something like that. In middle school, when I brought good grades things were well at home. Now in high school, if I have good grades or not it does not matter.

My experiences in school have led me to think that grades are the most crucial aspect in school. Personally when I think of school, I think of how well or how bad I am doing. I do not think about friends, or teachers, but the work that must be accomplished in order to have a good grade. I consider this as utterly awful and depressing. This is because grades do not make me happy at all. I am often stressed and worried about getting a good grades, and I feel like these emotions are eating me alive. When I get good grades I feel proud of myself and I can continue my daily routine well, but when I get bad grades I get disappointed and angry at myself causing me to be unable to do anything else well. I am aware that this is my strongest personal issue, and if I do not do something about my ego it will distant me from other people.

I think that this sad attachment to good grades has originated since my last year of elementary school when I transferred to a new school and separated from my friends. In this new school I was not able to make friends as well as before so I gave up on that and only focused on school work. When I saw the extreme positive change at home for bringing good grades, I began to believe that that was the right thing to do. I simply wanted to be well at home because I did not feel well at school. A year later in middle school I was able to make good friends but I did not stop on getting good grades. I thought that I had found a balance between my personal life and school, but what I did not realize back then was that grades were my personal life. Until now all that mentality has been developing through the years I've wasted in school. I do not know who I am trying to make proud anymore, because personally I am starting not to care about school anymore.

(Unless they are going home or on a trip, I do not understand why the children are smiling on this illustrated picture...)

Recently I have been feeling extremely unmotivated and pressured when it comes to school. I cannot remember what motivated me so much before. I used to think that good grades=good future because of college, but now I do not even think college can make a person have a good future. However, I cannot bring myself to feel happy for having bad grades.

I do not consider the school system as an evil phenomenon that wants to suck the life out of all human beings. It is just a designed system to make things work, including ourselves. Indeed people could go against it but I do not think that they would succeed on terminating the school system. We are being taught to learn about the world we live in, so we can fit in and even improve it. This does not suggest that I find the school system as a positive thing. I do think that it should be changed to give the students more freedom on what they want to learn about. And by doing this perhaps there will be student who may actually want to study math or science over anything else, and this is because they were not FORCED to study it, but because they chose it out of interest. This would also help determine one's personality much earlier than what it is common. Although I have not experienced this myself (seems like a dream) I do want future generation to be able to choose what they want to study.

HW 38 Art Project- Cool

Art Porject Cool from B1z， on Vimeo.

1. What insights about cool does the art integrate? What do you hope people will realize or question from their encounter with your art?

What me and Bao lin wanted to communicate through this video was how in school (specifically) people identify other people or themselves as cool. By identifying what's cool, people try to immitate it as seen in the video when the boys were going up the stairs. One of them was immitating the other one with the purpose of being like him. By going up the stairs represented that it is always about going up and up and up. Or so we attempted to demonstrate.

Part of the video also showed the windows in the high flights of our school. Based on out won experience, we feel like we are in jail. Altough we are aware that these are for "protection", these are also to keep us inside of school. We recognize these as uncool, because according to the general definition of cool it is about being out there in every sense. In terms of cool, I hope that people realize that must of us do not really mind about our surroundings even if they do not fit the definition of a "cool place"; we only care about how cool we are compared to other people, regardless of where we are.

2. Describe the process of making the project - how'd you do each step? If it was a group project, what did you contribute?

This was a group project, and I mostly contributed on the video clips that were shown. We began by sharing our ideas and visions on this project and together came up with a scence. I asked two middle school boys to help us contribute with our project, because it was easier for me to simply direct what we wanted and Bao Lin filmed. Then, with the purpose of earning credit, we decided to make up a scene with both of us in it. This was filmed by a classmate. So far there has been a problem editing the video, therefore I have downloaded different programs to see if they are compatible with the video type of file. After editing the only thing left to do is upload.

3. Does making art seem cool to you? Why or why not?

I have never considered art or the action of making art as cool. This is because art itself is like the term "cool". Not everyone will appreciate it, therefore is it art or not? Is it cool or not? Art is simply self expression such as "being cool". No one else will understand your purpose and choices as much as yourself.

HW 34 - The Cool Pose and Various Approaches to Life Rooted in Class, Race, Gender, Age, etc.

The poem We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks addresses the very generally known term of what is to be cool. As a reader of this poem I interpret it as being directed to teenagers who are very easily influenced at that point of their lives. I know this because the poem says "we real cool. We left School", which reminds me of the usual phrase, "we are too cool for school". In other words this poem written by an African American suggests that those who consider themselves as cool so not need an education, and as a consequence they will not have a quite promising future.

The article "A poverty of the mind" by Orlando Patterson discusses how an individual's race can impact that individual life choices. It mostly focuses on the African American culture in the United States. According to this article many African Americans do poor in school and have children while being unemployed at a very early stage of their lives. The author argues that this is due the poor economy since the 90's. He is certain that economy has an effect on culture.

HW 33 - Cool Paper Outline

Introduction

After this unit I learnt even more how meaningful our own words are to us. We live up to them and act accordingly to their meaning. One of the words that affects us the most is "Cool", and although there and hundreds of different definitions of it each individual narrows to one single idea of what is cool and categorizes everyone including himself to that single idea. There are many different factors to consider when talking about Cool. First, some people are desperate to be recognized as cool and others simply do "not care" about this term at all. In other words people do not consider this term equally, therefore those who are greatly involved with this term are either seen as superior beings for being cool or as confused and lonely beings trying to become something they are not, Cool. Which leads me to my main question of this paper: Why is it that BECOMING cool is so shameful but BEING cool isn't?
Most people think that when referring to Cool they are targeting two different types of people, the "naturally cool people" and "the wanna be cool people". And as we live under this society it is inevitable to be considered as one of this two different categories by the rest. Because uncool people want to become cool is seen as something negative, people who do this feel ashamed of it. Therefore, their attemption to become cool is carried out as secretly and subtle as possible, as if that was their natural way of being. In the other hand being cool from the start is seen as the opposite. People who are seen as cool are people who are followed, respected and admired. Therefore, being cool is not something to be ashamed of, but actually be proud of. In our society, becoming cool is something to be ashamed of because it is becoming something a person is not, in other words it is deceiving others and one self. But being cool is seen as some one's natural way of being that attracts positive attention and represents an ideal model to live and behave.

Arguments


1. Constructivist Exploration of Cool
Define the term "CooL" and based on this definition (s) where, what and to who does it apply?
Who decides what is cool and what is not?
Labeling people based on their behavior, words, style, etc.

2. Informal Research - Interviews and Surveys
What do people think is cool?
How is their definition of cool connected to the main theme of this paper?

3.Cultural sources of insight into Cool.
what does the media communicate is cool and what is not? Considering that these are shown everywhere everyday it is inevitable for us not to develop a one solid general definition of what is cool. When labeling people as cool or uncool, these messages greatly influence our perspective.

4. Merchants of Cool
Can cool be simply something you buy as opposed to become someone else? Or does that merchandise automatically make you someone else, so regardless a person is trying to become cool by purchasing what is cool. How can the cool people cope with things that suggest would make them cool?

5. Methods to aggrandize one self and Presentation of the self
What do people do in order to be cool? What are some of the ways people can achieve being cool efficiently? e.g. Plastic surgery, tattoos, piercings, etc. What is the ultimate price of this?

Importance

Perhaps becoming cool or being cool IS our natural self. We do not understand who we are therefore we try different methods and practice different ideas that would help us know who we are. Being recognized as cool or not depends on how we see ourselves based on our knowledge on what is cool and what is not. Other people's opinions will undoubtedly influence how we think of ourselves. But is being aware of this enough to change our lives and our expectations?

Connect to...

*Thanissaro Bhikkhu's idea
*Bikkhu Amaru's theory on cool

HW 32 - Plastic Surgery & The Presentation of the Self

Exploring Plastic Surgery as an instance of cool:

Every year Hundreds of thousands of Americans undergo different plastic surgery procedures. Both men and women find this is a rapid and effective solution to obtain their dream body, or so it is sold to them.
There are three different types of surgeries, plastic surgery, which targets the body for removing fat and shaping it; as well as removing tattoos and acne scars. Reconstructive surgery, which targets burned and accident victims. Also replaces missing "limbs or teeth, or arthritic hip and knee joints". And the cosmetic surgery, which is done on the face. This type of surgery for being the most performed is also known as plastic surgery overall; as long as it is performed for cosmetic purposes, otherwise it would be reconstructive.
Ever since 2006, "nearly 11 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the United States alone. The number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States has increased over 50 percent since the start of the century. Nearly 12 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in 2007, with the five most common being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty(tummy tucks).

But why do people choose having their body cut open as opposed to safely losing weight through exercise and an adequate diet?
I consider it the same as making money. Most people, if not everyone, rather win the lottery than working for hours and hours to become rich. As people living under this society we want free time to live the Good life. There are many requirements for this life to even happen. The most known are being financially stable, looking good, and being part of different groups/communities,etc. These characteristics would also represent someone who is Cool.
Plastic surgery would be like winning the lottery, although a great amount of money is being lost at the same time.



The truth is that most people do not like working for what they want, they just want to automatically obtain it. Things such as Hard work, determination, perseverance and commitment are not usually, if not ever, applied to anything we do in life. Does this mean we do not love or respect ourselves that much to dedicate time to achieve what our goals? I don't think so. It is more like we do not actually understand the effectiveness of hard work. And this is because it is uncool to work hard or to try hard(naturally cool). However the good results of it are always cool. So how can people obtain this good results, or good image of themselves, without working hard?

There are of course other factors to consider about being cool. People who go to the gym everyday or are part of any sports team is considered cool. And this is because they are physically strong and look good. But for those who do not have enough commitment or motivation to work out but want to look good might highly consider plastic surgery, because ultimately we all want to be cool. So this is a contradiction suggesting that being cool or not depends on people's opinion. However, looking -Good- is ALWAYS cool.


Experience
My mother had a breast augmentation and liposuction and she was still not satisfied with the results. It was not only expensive going through this procedure but she took weeks to recover. After experiencing this long and painful experience she realized that it was not the right choice after all. Because even though she was told to that it would make her look great she did not see herself that way. A few years after the surgery she still had the scars which made her even more upset everyday about her decision.

In my mother's case, she wanted to look physically better. Of course after being pregnant three times and breast feeding a woman may experience drastic changes in her body, but its natural. However this type of nature dissatisfies us. Those uncool looking marks and body shape that having a child cause are not something women want, and this is because it does not look good.
My mother decided to have a costly surgery to go back to good old days (before having us) and feel attractive once again. Unfortunately, the results did not meet her expectations and she regretted ever going through surgery. In my opinion she did look fine, even before the surgery because I never considered my mother as cool because of her appearance. And although I did communicate that to her, she still thought the opposite of herself, which makes me think that being cool or not it is something you decide at the end, not other people.

Another experience I had was with my friend Max from Venezuela. He wanted to become a plastic surgeon because he wanted to make women beautiful. I have never been against nor in favor of plastic surgery, therefore, I never argued with him on his idealism. He was really determined to become surgeon so he looked for many different colleges that would give him what he wanted. I lost touch with him and after nearly one year I saw pictures of him on facebook going to medical school studying to become a plastic surgeon.

Now that I think about it I am very surprised he is actually doing it. This is not because i doubted his determination, but because his reason to become a surgeon was ridiculous! I wonder if he ever consider that a woman can be naturally beautiful. And the way I see it all women can actually be naturally beautiful, they do not need to go through something such as surgery. But I just never told him.


So we know that plastic surgery is one of the methods to become cool. But there are other more simple methods that will make one person consider himself/herself as cool. One of these methods is having a tattoo.

Plastic Surgery v.s. Tattoos.

I personally think that going through plastic surgery takes a much more courage than getting a tattoo. Some people have one or the other and others have both, but all of them with the same purpose: Look good according to their own definition of it. Having a tattoo is something that is meant to last for the rest of your life, which is the opposite of having plastic surgery. Although with cosmetic surgery people can have their tattoos removed even if they thought that once it was cool.

In conclusion plastic surgery or any other methods to look good in order to be cool is just one more thing that makes us who we are and live as a society. These methods are just sold to us, our decisions are just making the economy run. A surgeon stops caring about making you beautiful and only about how many pay checks he earns. In my case I would not go through plastic surgery or any related procedure not because I like working hard, but because I am scared of the process. I also think that all that pain and money is not worth it. Even though millions of people out there think it is, we just do not know.

Sources

Plastic Surgery
Answers.com/Plastic Surgery