Amazing Two Legged Dog

Empowering Education Ira Shor

"you must arouse children's curiosity and make them think about school."

I really agreed with this quote because if a teacher cannot get the students to get curious about things they will never be interested in learning about anything. The more a teacher gets the students involved in the work, and makes them think about why things happen the way they do, then they will want to learn more.

"To socialize students, education tries to teach them the shape of knowledge and current society, the meaning of past events, the possibilities for the future, and their place in the world they live in."

This quote is really saying that school is a place where students makes friends and socialize but also a place where the students find their place in the world. The students find their place in the world by discovering what they like the best to learn and then they proceed a career in that subject. For example if a student really likes history then they may want to be a history teacher. Also, schools teach about things from the past to the future because students need to know about past events as well as things for the future to help them make important decisions.

"They learn by interacting, by experimenting, and by using play to internalize the meaning of words and experience."

Students do not just learn from their teachers they learn from there peers as well. When i was little i can remember learning things from my friends that my teachers never taught. Sometimes when a student cannot understand a specific topic they can as their friend and the friend can explain it to them. When another student explains the topic the other student can usually understand it better.

"There is now a good deal of research evidence to suggest that the more time and effort students invest in the learning process and the more intensely they engage in their own education, the greater will be their growth and achievement, their satisfaction with their education experiences, and their persistence in college and the more likely they are to continue their learning."

When students invest time into their school work it makes them better students. The more time that is spent in school work the better the student will understand what he or she is doing. If at a young age the student gets into a good habit about studying and doing homework it will lead to a  very successful school career. If the student slacks off and does not put the time and effort into their work than  they are are not going to be very successful.

Christopher Kliewer

“Fundamental to constructivist teaching is a respect for each student as both an active agent in the learning process and an essential member of the learning community.”

This quote is basically saying that the teacher needs to recognize each students importance to the class. Each student brings a different piece to the class. The teacher should allow the students to do things that express themselves. Also, part of being a teacher is respecting the students so they will respect you back. Every student in the class brings something new which makes every class unique.

I really liked the part in the article when shayne Robbins was saying how the class would not be half the way it is without the children with down syndrome in it. She then goes on to say "we are all in it together". Going back to the first quote each child brings something different to the class. Each child may learn different or may look different from the rest but they still do bring something to it. What shayne robbins was basically saying was the class would be incomplete if you took those three children out of it.

Community] requires a willingness to see people as they are-different perhaps in their minds and in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or in their willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic of society.”

this was by far my favorite quote from this article. This is how a community should be. It should be one in which people can go to talk about any problems they have. A community has to be filled with people who you know you can count on in hard times. Also, within the community you need to be able to understand the different people and they need to understand you. I think it is great when schools have their own little communites such as the after school clubs, or sports. When you have a group of people you know you can count on it gives you a sense of belonging and everyone deserves to feel that.

Jean Anyon

I had many mixed feelings reading this article. I like certain parts of it and some i did not like nor did i agree with them.

When i was reading about the Affluent professional School, i really liked "how student work is creative activitiy carried out independently."
I think it is good to be able to use creativity and to have them express their feelings and apply ideas and concepts to them. I do not agree with having a research project for young students that us says to research and write a paper. I feel as though if you have them do a research project they should be able to research it then use a poster board or create a power point to present it. This way they can put creativit and feeling into making the visual. I also believe visuals always help a student understand material better than just reading it.

I also liked the Executive Elite School. I liked their goal which said "thought is to conceptualize rules by which elementary elements may fit together in systems and then to apply these rules in solving a problem."

I liked how the teacher discussed many different formulas to solve the problem then let he students try one themselves. I particularlyl like this way of teaching because it can help the student better understand the problem rather than if the teacher just put one example up on the board explained it then made the students do it on their own. I know for me i learn better when things are fully explained and when the teacher goes over a few problems together with the whole class and then makes us try some one our own.

When reading about the Middle Class Schools i did not particularly like everything. "Most lessons are based on the textbook""Work tasks do not usually request creativity"

I do not always beliveve that textbook lessons are the best lessons. I feel as though a lesson should go outside the textbook. I think for example in reading a teacher should make the story come alive and act out parts. I also think in science experiments should be done and in social studies visuals should be shown like movies, or photos. I also think that work should include creativity. The more creative a student is the better their work will be.

Race, Class, and Gender Why students fail

Specifically blacks and similar minorities believe that in order for a minority person to succeed in school academically, he or she must learn to think and act white."

I agree with this statement because in some parts of our country in order for them to fit in they have to change their entire lifestyle to a white person's. Especially for example a spanish person they must learn to speak english and when they do this it pushes them further away from their culture and more into a white person's culture. I feel that people that are black or latino etc do feel the need to think they have to act white so that they will fit in.

"each group needs to be understood separately within its own cultural, class, race, and gendered frames of reference."

i think that this statement is so true because different groups are so different from one another. For example spanish people are so different than black. They have different things that they do in their culture so therefore they should be looked as two separate groups not as one.

"Disadvantaged females not only constitute an exonomically subordinate group; they are also opressed by the very fact that they are females."

I agree with this statement. Many females are opressed because they are females. I learned last semester in my woment studies class that women are paid much lower than men and also recieve less pretigious jobs. When i leared this i did not agree with it at all because women can so things just as good as men do. I do not think they should be discriminated against because they are females.

"Marriage appeared as a trap from which they saw few avenues of escape"

I really liked this statement because some women really feel like it is a trap. Many women are scared to escape their marriage. Those women are usually the ones being abused. They are afraid that if they try to escape things will get worse. I also learned last semester in women studies class that when a women is being abused she usually will not do much about it because she is scared that if she did she would get more hurt.