Just because

My challenge to you all is to write about what you're grateful for in response or just because :) This is kinda like the final, assignment, that was unwarrented

idk, i'm feeling thankful about things and want to share that, so I hope you guys have things to be grateful for too, ie i'm grateful finals is over and we're all going to college :)

"I am grateful for what happens when blue and yellow make out"

I'm grateful that people are nicer than you give them credit for, I'm grateful to be alive and to be able to experience life and to have met all the people I have. I'm grateful for my friends, to have people who are so gracious and sincere, who annoy and also love me, but I also love and appreciate w/ all my heart, even if i forget that at times, i really really am happy to have you guys in my life. I'm grateful for the happy moments, and the sad ones that make me appreciate them, I'm grateful to the people I've meet who went above and beyond for me even when they didn't have to. I'm thankful and I want to say thank you, I've appreciated all of it.

Whether people read this or not, I wanted to put that out there :) thanks. for everything and anything. yeah.

Babies

1. Did one culture, shown in the film, have a better way of parenting than the others?

Based on the movie, no one culture had a better way of parenting than the other. These parents all tried their best to prepare their children for society and attempted to instill the socities' culture in them from the moment they were born. They all tried to make sure the child was happy by dislalying numerous methods of affection (i.e. hugging, kissing, and singing gently).
The children are, respectively, in order of on-screen introduction: Ponijao, who lives with her family in Opuwo, Namibia; was left mostly to her own devices, but her mother held her on her back while she was working. Bayarjargal, who resides with his family in Mongolia, seemed to be left mostly with his brother or by himself and the animals, and I think this parenting style makes lead him to become more independent. Mari, who lives with her family in Tokyo, Japan had alot of toys and care. Hattie, who resides with her family in the United States, in San Francisco, recieved constant attention; her parents seemed attuned to her every need and determined to satisfy her.

2. How did each family prepare the child to take its "place" in their society? Did communication, cuddling, supervision, discipline line up to "mold" the kid for that society? Or do you think that a kid from one society would have been able to transfer successfully/easily at age 1 to one of the others?

Each child's experience was diffierent in numerous ways. They learned of their culture by imitating what their parents and siblings did and in doing so they allowed each of their cultures to become a part of their identity. Parents and siblings showed them what was appropriate and what was not; they were who the child looked up to and saw as an role model. By age one, the child seemed accustomed to his/her style of life. By age one, Ponijao, the child from Africa seemed accustomed to walking around naked and singing tribal songs. It would have been difficult to bring him to a city where he would be fully clothed and immersed in a culture greatly different from the one he had experienced. The babies all had toys. Ponijao used rocks to hit other rocks, which helped wiht his cognitive development and learn that it made sounds and he could erode the rocks by putting it next to one another. Mari and Hattie, had toys that showed them that as well in addition to learning classes. Hattie had a baby yoga class and Mari had a mom and daughter class with other moms and babies, which got her used to other people and kids her age. Bayarjarul played with animals, sitting on the goats and cats. The parents would talk to the babies so the babies would pick up on the language of their culture.

3. What looked universal - common to all humans - from the film - at least as edited? Why is this universality significant?

Love and nurturing appeared universal from the film. Each parent displayed affection towards their child, taking care of him/her and playing with the child. They cuddled with their child, and played with them, by waving objects over their head. This display of love is very important because it's one of the most important things that a child needs to grow. A child needs interactions with his/her parents because it is neccessary towards the child's cognitive development. Affection is also important for a child's self-esteem because it makes them feel as if they are loved and it helps them grow into secure, healthy indvididuals.

Interviews and Survey Question

Melissa
What qualities do you look for in a friend?
Someone who has similar values, interests, who likes to have meaningful conversations but also have fun. Not take life so seriously but have times that we do talk about big issues. Someone I can count on to listen when I need to talk and give me sound advice even if its not what I want to hear.

What kind of personalities do the people who are close to you have?
Kindhearted, flexible, openminded, concerned citizens.

What makes someone close and someone not close?
Somebody who is honest but not judgmental is someone I like to have close to me. Someone who makes it a point to be adversarial just for fun, I keep at arms length. I like to spend time with people who its comfortable and easy, even if they push my thinking, but not at the stake of me feeling like I always have to save face.

What shift/turning point made someone turn into just a friend to a close friend?
The people I become really really close with there was a natural connection from the beginning. In some ways its through alot of common time together that relationship becomes closer and more developed. Based on proximity time, and a general spark, initial spark of collegiality. Even a romantic relationship, I feel that spark is like with a friend, where their life is and how you can get close to that friend.

Na
What qualities do you look for in a friend?
Mmm...I guess someone who will understand and root for you, or if you choose to do something they tell you if its good or not and try to guide you and not just choose whatever and get on with it.

What kind of personalities do the people who are close to you have?
Understanding, Good listeners, Try to guide you

What makes someone close and somewhat not close?
Someone who's not close is just a hi-bye person. Someone who's close is someone you can talk to and stay with more than an hour.

What shift/turning point made someone turn into just a friend to a close friend?
I think when the other person is sharing things with you, they're saying I want to be closer than just friends with you.

Lauren
What qualities do you look for in a friend?
Loyalty, a good listener, honesty, good advice, humour

What kind of personalities do the people who are close to you have?
They're funny, honest, and give good advice

What makes someone close and someone not close?
Being able to call them whenever with your problems, someone not close you can only talk about subjects and keep very light.

What shift/turning point made someone turn into just a friend to a close friend?
When I felt comfortable opening up to them on a personal level.

I feel like everyone brought up some very distinctive and subtle points on friendship. Melissa bought up good points about how people get closer, through time and proximity, because alot of our friends who become close to us are close through spending a lot of time together. The things that she said she was looking for in a friend was also what I looked for with my own friends as well as people who are not friends, are also the people I also try to avoid as well, people who are adversarial and judgmental just to be adversarial and judgmental.

Common qualities that people seem to look for in a friend is someone who listens to them, and is there to give you sound advice, even at the times you don't want to hear it. I think Na and Lauren, distinguished certain things to tell how you know someone is a close friend or not. Like, being able to talk to someone for more than an hour and wanting to, and with Lauren, its also someone you feel comfortable enough to call whenever because you don't feel like you are bothering them with your problems, you can count on them to listen (which is also something Melissa brought up as well). What seems to really distinguish a close friend from just another friend is the comfort level you have with them. Like judgemental/confrontational aren't really things that make people feel comfortable many times, it makes them feel self conscious or defensive, so most people choose close friends that aren't that.

How close do you think you are to your parents? (1-5)

HW 55

Original Question: What are primary causes for bonding in relationships?

Revised Question: How do we fall in romantic love? What hormones/areas of our brain are activated to indicate this?

Touch- Emotional closeness can be indicated by physical closeness.
The more comfortable you are with people the more you're comfortable with being close and touching them. If you're not as close there is an invisible comfort zone to how close you can get voluntarily. It's intuitive and yet not necessarily obvious: It's the continual search for a basic, secure connection with someone else.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200812/hold-me-tight

For Romantic Love, several areas of the brain are activated:

-For a start, a relatively small area of the human brain is active in love, compared with that involved in, say, ordinary friendship. “It is fascinating to reflect”, the pair conclude, “that the face that launched a thousand ships should have done so through such a limited expanse of cortex.”

-The second surprise was that the brain areas active in love are different from the areas activated in other emotional states, such as fear and anger. Parts of the brain that are love-bitten include the one responsible for gut feelings, and the ones which generate the euphoria induced by drugs such as cocaine. So the brains of people deeply in love do not look like those of people experiencing strong emotions, but instead like those of people snorting coke. Love, in other words, uses the neural mechanisms that are activated during the process of addiction. “We are literally addicted to love,”

(From brain scans of people who said they were madly in love)

Fisher, Helen. "Oxytocin, Chemical Addiction, and the Science of Love." Economist 12 Feb. 2004. Web. 13 May 2010.

Oxytocin: Love Hormone

Oxytocin is released during hugging and intimate touch; it also plays a strong role in sexual relationships, which is why sometimes people we feel closer with we're more comfortable hugging. Any positive experience can increase oxytocin levels – and so can simply recalling positive events. Simply put, oxytocin is associated with positive relationships. Oxytocin reduces fear, increases eye contact, and increases trust and generosity. This love hormone causes people to act differently – though they don’t necessarily feel different.

University of California, San Diego (2008, February 14). Love Hormone' Promotes Bonding: Could It Treat Anxiety? ScienceDaily.

Things that affect why we fall in love

"Smell. We fall in love partly because of smell. The scent of a bouquet of red roses, for instance, is a cultural preference that boosts the chemistry in romantic relationships. Dr Kristal says, “Smell forms part of the framework that conforms to cultural attractiveness standards. For example, smelling like a strawberry instead of mildew [makes you attractive].” Smelling delicious could be part of why we fall in love.

Love pheromones. Invisible signals are part of what makes people fall in love. “Pheromones are unlearned, and perhaps unsmellable, signals that enter the brain through the olfactory system. They can function in sex, alarm, territoriality, aggression, and fear,” says Dr Kristal. He believes that we choose specific mates not solely due to pheromones, but for other reasons. Other sensory cues are better explanations for why we fall in love, such as touch, smell, and hearing.

The brain. We fall in love partly because of hormones. Oxytocin and vasopressin are present when people fall in love and stay together for a long time. Dopamine is also part of the chemistry in romantic relationships. So, when you’re wondering “Why doesn’t he love me?” you may have to look to brain chemistry as the answer. It’s not necessarily you, it’s just that your brain chemicals didn’t mesh. Lack of hormones could explain why we fall inlove."

Pawlik-Kienlen, Laurie. SuitePyschology. What makes people fall in love. 6 Januarary, 2008.

HW 54

Extroverted (E) 54.29% Introverted (I) 45.71% Sensing (S) 52.38% Intuitive (N) 47.62% Feeling (F) 57.5% Thinking (T) 42.5% Perceiving (P) 54.76% Judging (J) 45.24%

I seem right about 50-50 for most of it, give or take 3-7%. That makes sense since I've always been paradoxal in nature. I think if I took this test a year ago, I'd probably get a more introverted result, since I've lived more in my head then. But that's just me changing again. I tend to stay around the middle though, almost right in the middle for any personality tests I have taken. I'm leaning more towards extroversion in general. I find though that the more I talk, the less I think, because when I talk I just say whatever comes to mind, without review or filter. Which I find detrimental, when it comes to school assignments like this which require more analytical thinking and its like using a muscle you haven't warmed up or put to much use, the muscle has atrophied.

For the Big Five, I got this as a result.

Extroversion	||||||||||||||	56%
Orderliness	||||||||||||	46%
Emotional Stability	||||||||||||||	58%
Accommodation	||||||||||||||	52%
Inquisitiveness	||||||||||||	48%

Extroversion results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting at the expense of developing your own individual interests and internally based identity. Orderliness results were medium which suggests you are moderately organized, structured, and self controlled while still remaining flexible, varied, and fun. Emotional Stability results were moderately high which suggests you are relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic. Accommodation results were medium which suggests you are moderately kind natured, trusting, and helpful while still maintaining your own interests. Inquisitiveness results were medium which suggests you are moderately intellectual, curious, and imaginative. It said my type is calm. Calm (6.6% of women; 16.3% of men) not easily hurt, rarely if ever loses temper, keeps emotions under control, positive, not prone to envy, rarely sick, self reliant, trusting, stable, sturdy, optimistic, fits in most places, not defensive, likes change, if they were to live life over again they would not change much, content (possibly over content), believes in choice more than fate, good at building things, good at taking advice, does not make enemies, good at fixing things, admits it when they make a mistake, gets along with others, has more desire than fear, motivated, self confident, believes the benefits of freedom outweigh then benefits of attachment

HW 52- Initial Theories on Human Relationships

This is more of an (basic?) observation than a theory, but we get closer to people by sharing things about ourselves. This may be deep and personal things or just the same interests and likes or the daily mundane details of our lives which we may find interesting. They're both as important in forming relationships, having those common interests in music, food, or books to having those deep and meaningful conversations. We feel closer to people who share things about themselves because it feels like we know about them a little more then we might others. So this process is reciprocal, and I guess our close friends should know more about us then people we might consider acquaintances or friends who aren't as close.

There's also a timing and way of receiving it, which influences how the disclosure goes. Sometimes people who disclose too much too soon might scare off the other person. But also when we disclose something about ourselves we want to be "understood" not just "heard" so how attentive and responsive the other person has a big impact on whether the listening that occurs leads to something more or falls to the ground.

Friends
We hold alot of friendships I think. Friends are supposed to support you and be there for you. Friends are supposed to be the ones who "understands your past, accepts your present, and believes in your future". They're the ones who stick with you even when times are bad. They aren't always like that, but good friends are. We've had all sorts of friends, good and bad. They're the ones who comment or criticize the things you do as "lame" or "stupid" just because it isn't something they would typically act, I think it kind of gets tiresome if you hang out with people like that all the time because they're basically rejecting that part of you. If that part doesn't do any harm to them or yourself, I don't see why it should be like that.

Relationships
In relationships people tend to change. Sometimes they lose themselves in a relationship, sometimes they mellow out, sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes they forget their friends because the person they're seeing becomes their number one priority. I think before people get into a relationship, they should have a strong sense of self, and don't lose that just because they're with someone else. I don't think people should change themselves just to appease other people, because in life people come and go, friends and family, and there's only one person that'll be there the whole time and that's yourself, so if you change yourself just to appease someone else they could go and you'll be stuck with the person that you changed it.

Lets Dance to this song

this reminded me of this class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJsp5WH-Yas

HW 50

John Taylor Gatto
Gatto's take on the pedagogy of the American school system is that it is isolating and takes away a person's individuality by making them part of the system. They are trained to have predictable reactions to authority, compliance. He states that school is anti-life by restricting kids with little sense of the future and past connectedness because everything is determined by the next bell or the next course. It reduces them as people because they are given very little time for themselves when many of the hours are dedicated to schoolwork. The kids of this system are passive, spoon fed, and that is the result of how the system was formulated, to make them passive and indifferent.

In some parts I do agree with Gatto's take on school's affect on the individual, I don't think it makes them afraid of intimacy because students still very intimate in this day and age, at least the kids in this school, because the school is like a community and for the most part, the kids in our school aren't excluding in any way to other kids. So I don't think we fear intimacy too much. Many times its the opposite because people often give full disclosure of themselves with things like twitter, facebook, blogging or vlogging.
I agree though, that it puts limits on the individual in some ways.

"School has done a pretty good job of turning our children into addicts, but it has done a spectacular job of turning our children into children. Again, this is no accident. Theorists from Plato to Rousseau to our own Dr. Inglis knew that if children could be cloistered with other children, stripped of responsibility and independence, encouraged to develop only the trivializing emotions of greed, envy, jealousy, and fear, they would grow older but never truly grow up."

I think this part of it is true because when you take away responsibility from a child, they will start to act like a child in our sense of the word. Like Peter Pan, who has never grown up, he has no responsibilities. I think the system was able to achieve its purpose and in some ways its rather brilliant how well it has done that by doing these basic things. In other countries like Japan, the schools in small towns give children as young as five, tasks and responsibilities such as wood carving and washing dishes. The kids don't get hurt (as so many adults seem to fear) and they're responsible because they're used to the work. In the past the people of our age are doing "adult" work at soon as they entered their teens they were considered adults and they acted like it too, because they had to. They were given responsibility. But the kids today are babied and as a result act like babies too. In school we have to follow an authority, so we learn how to do that as well.

Paulo Freire
Paulo Freire states that the problem with schooling is in which the authority figure sees to themselves as the narrator, to pour their words into the students, who are the receptacles. Because schooling is seen in this way, Freire says it is not not natural because it presents information in a way that is unrelated to the real world. Students come to see this form of knowledge in a way that is not connected to how related to how the world operates. To Freire this way of teaching is a form of nepotism, "love of death" instead of coming from a love of life, because it treats knowledge like it is a static thing, which it isn't, it grows, is re-invented, is continuing. This form of teaching Freire says expects students to be, passive containers to await the teacher's words, because that sort of behavior is rewarded by being considered good students.

I think that rote memorization, in some ways are helpful for things such as math and once you have learned all those equations, you can move on to practical applications but not before or else you won't understand what you are doing. Other things like language are better learned by doing and experiencing, which have more of a learning curve. I think when we are young like in elementary school, it can't be helped that teachers will treat us that way, because we are learning from them. The role of authority comes in play too, because we are taught to listen to adults from a young age which continues on till when we are older (which we can see from the Milgram Experiments, which best exemplifies how compliant people are in the face of authority). This way of teaching can be bad because its expected of students to learn from teachers, as solely the pupil.

Lisa Delpit

Her Method of teaching is to adapt to the student's circumstances that they are from and adjust her teaching methods to them.

"I have found from working with both pre-service and practicing teachers, they have to be extremely open to their students. Their hearts need to be open. They have to know how to observe and listen to their students. More than just having strategies they need to find out about the children and their parents. I call this ethnographic teaching.Teachers can create a curriculum based on strengths rather than weaknesses, then they are teaching to their student's needs. "

She doesn't think that kids should be subjected to the "basic skills" curriculum because that is exceedingly slow and kids find it boring. "Not by being forced to attend to hollow, inane, decontextualized subskills, but rather within the context of meaningful communicative endeavors; that they must be allowed the resource of the teacher’s expert knowledge, while being helped to acknowledge their own ‘expertness’ as well" I agree with this statement because I was once in a class where it operated like this and the whole time I was just wondering why it was going so slow, because in the previous grade, the teacher was able to teach more material in less time and the students where still able to fully comprehend it. In elementary school, my third grade class was the hardest out of 4th and 5th because it was the most challenging and I actually liked it the most. I kept noting the difference in pace in 4th and 5th grade in comparison which seemed too slow. So I imagine for other kids, if kids are placed in "basic skills" curriculum it'd be even worse. In third grade my teacher always said, "no child is stupid, they're just lazy" and he was right in the context of the typical American student, which we all were/are. That was motivating to me because he was saying you guys can do this if you just try. It wasn't out of reach.

"while being helped to acknowledge their own ‘expertness’ as well"

Delphini says that kids have to feel like they're learning something or else they'll feel cheated, this depends on the child, but in general its true, though kids rejoice whenever there is a substitute with the actual teacher they expect to learn something and get something out of it. If they learn they are able to do something then they're more willing to do it.

HW 49

In the film, the teacher is drunk, and in his drunken slumber he dreams of having intellectual discussions with them and sharing his knowledge with the students but the reality of it was very different. The dream represents his subconscious desire to make an impact on the students and to stir up the student's minds. When he wakes up, he tells the students off and makes a dramatic exit. The students don't say anything for a moment and then return to their conversations as if nothing had happened. Maybe this means that people's expectations are sometimes idealistic and they get disappointed when they aren't met, and their disappointment can sometimes lead to that person's meltdown which we see at the end of the film.

This is very different from most of the savior/teacher films we watched, where the teacher basically changes his/her student's lives. The dream that the teacher has is kind of like the typical teacher/savior film, like the Dead Poets Society where the words are really deep and insightful and the students are contributing to the conversations. But the ending, where the teacher wakes up, shows that doesn' t happen.

From the savior/teacher films, the message is basically to bring salvation to the students, and our education in our culture, is in part to do all that. Hopefully by teaching students about certain subjects they will be informed members of our society. Schooling is seen as a vehicle to salvation. That is why so much emphasis is put on getting a higher education. That once students get an education they can escape anything, their poverty, troubles at home, etc.

HW 48- Treatment

Shot in the Office style, with interviews.

Scene 1:
Camera follows Jack Greene, a man seeking to fulfill his longtime dream of becoming a teacher walks into an empty classroom, he is very bubbly, he smiles happily clutching his work planner to his chest. He clears off the desk and sets his work planner on it. He writes his name several times on the chalk board, before finally deciding on a Script format making a star at the e.

Scene 1.5:
Camera set. Still in front of his desk, Jack Greene talks to the camera about his first day. "Today's my first day teaching. I am SOOO excited. These kids are going to be in for a real treat. I am going to make history come alive" He waves both his arms when he says "alive".

Scene 2:
The students file into the class room. He introduces himself and underlines his name each time he says it. He plays a history game with them to remember their names. He precedes to sing a song about history exuberantly and tries to get the class to join along. They do albeit not as enthusiastically. He brings out a chest that he had been hiding and pulls out a huge turkey costume, shoots students reactions. He tells them that will be their new term project.

Scene 2.5:
Random Student Reaction. Camera is set in front of a studious looking student with glasses. She says Mr. Greene is weird. She pushes her glasses.

Scene 3:
The class are dressed in pilgrim and indian outfits and reenacting "Thanksgiving" One student dressed as a huge turkey is lying on the table. Boy student dressed in a Pilgrim costume fakes cutting into turkey and says it is good and asks about how the crops are going to another boy dressed in an Indian costume replies its good. Then Boy dressed in Pilgrim costume asks how the Indian boy feels about them taking the land. Indian boy replies ...bad but its okay because later the Indians are going to scalp them so they're good. Boy dressed in Pilgrim costume says cool.

Scene 3.5:
The bell rings and its lunchtime. The students leave.

Scene 4:
Camera set. Jack Greene at desk. Happy and smiling, "You know, I think I really got through to them today."

Extra Cred- The Class

Students and Teachers have different agendas when going to school. The problem seems to arise when the teacher's agenda clashes with the students. The students at 14 and 15 are trying to find out who they are. But everyone is trying to protect their egos, the roles that they have made for themselves and when they feel that being threatened or challenged they lash out to protect the persona they've developed. The teachers are like the judges and give commentary on the students on what they have to work on and its only one way in the film. The school wants discipline, the teacher wants respect, and the students want their respect as well as the respect of their peers, but the teacher doesn't really give respect to the students. Maybe because his role as a teacher places him as a higher authority and because his goal is to "tame" the students. He thinks that he needs to teach them but only views it as a one way thing. Its like when he called the girls skanks he defends himself and tries to say he didn't say it like that because it looks bad for his ego.

"Teachers can complain about us and vise versa, right?"
"No, It doesn't work both ways."

It seems a bit hypothecritical to me and in Mr. Marin's mind, it shows where the distribution of power is in school. So it kind of culminates in resentment from the students because they're kind of looked down upon, they're not treated as equals. Its always a power struggle between the students and the teachers. Thats because the students know that their role in the system is very little and they try to get power in any form they can. "It's always the same" and they know that any form of power given to them by the system is a facade because they can't really do anything with it.

"Whenever we talk, you yell."

I think that's because Marin feels threatened when the students have a voice cause he's afraid that means he has less of one. The students need to respect the teachers but the same doesn't hold true in the system for the teachers, and the students lash out to have some semblence of power (like the beginning of the film with Khoumba and Mr. Marin and Khoumba leaves him a letter saying that). I think that's the basis of it, or at least part of it. The idealistic approach would address this, to start from treating the students as individuals and respecting them as one. Maybe its still possible to have discipline without looking down on the students and the students will reciprocate that respect. Part of it is listening the students and of course the same goes for students. Just go from there.

I think the teachers do want to help the students because at the end with Souleymane, Mr. Marin is trying not to get the disciplinary hearing, the route they usually take, which 12/12 will leads to an expulsion because he doesn't want to risk Souleymane being sent back to Mali. Everyone's human and everyone makes mistakes, so I think that Souleymane should be held accountable but at the same time Mr. Marin trying to help him is right too because it might be in his power to do so. We always have to try, or attempt to so even if it doesn't work out, we know we did try to do something and made an effort.

HW 47- Class Film Preparation 1

Please compose a colorful list of 5-10 ideas that should be considered for inclusion in your section's version of the "Savior/Teacher" film. You could address plot, character, theme, tone, cinematography, dialogue, key images, tropes, references, or our collective process of making the film. Indicate which of the ideas are most important to you by putting an asterix by the one or few which you think are most compelling. Due the morning we return from Spring Break.

1. Trying to fix something that's not broken (Sam's Savior/Teacher film idea) where the teacher comes in with a "Lets save the students mentality" but the students are fine and there isn't anything really to save

2. Referencing Dead Poets Society- The teacher gets inspirational *cue inspirational music* gives a speech about going to college and tell the students to stand on their chairs. The students stare at the teacher and slowly stand on their chairs. *still standing* after a few moments, students are still standing on chairs *music stops* one student asks "now what?" teacher smiles and says "Just feel the inspiration." *music countinues*

3. Tone parody/satirical/silly

4. Trope- Blackboard Jungle- the teacher coming to talk to principal.

Parody version-

P: "I like what you're doing with the kids"
T: "I'm going to have them read Hamlet"
P: "Okay, sure if that's what you want."
T: "You can't stop me!"
P: "Okay..."
T: "These kids can do it I believe in them!"
P: "Okay, go for it."
T: Uh...what? You're okay with it?
P: "Yeah"
T: "Oh. Okay."

5. Cimenatography- Shot of cars or the brooklyn bridge (trope), have a shot of the school from the outside. Subway ride shot.

6.Trope- talk about death. The kids are on the roof, Teacher tells them to look around them. Asks them what they see. They say pigeons, buildings, a garden. Teacher tells them they're wrong, that its part of it, but what they see is the world that they're going to live in and to look carefully and things like that.

7.Go outside on a field trip

8. Shoot how school really is, with more than one class in a documentary style.
-have teacher interview or commentary about what they think about school and their classes
-have students interviews
-just one teacher so its not all over the place

HW 45- More Thoughts on Schools

1. Do these theories contradict each other? Intellectually, emotionally, practically? In what ways do they? Could they be adapted to work together? Hirsh believed that students need to know a certain amount of background knowledge to be able to understand certain texts or passages. He emphasizes knowledge in terms of memorizing and remembering. Sizer was more focused on the community and the environment of the students and the teachers so students can develop their intellect. He wanted to focus more on depth than coverage. He wanted to push students intellectually to what they were able to do. Hirsh was more focused on the practical knowledge of school that there were certain things that students needed to learn in order to be able to understand things in this society and that this information was background knowledge that would help students understand more detailed text. I think though it is practical, because rote memorization and drills are useful, it neglects the emotional aspect of school, from community and relationships. I think these two theories could work together. Students can learn a wide arrange of knowledge that is considered (by whom?) neccesary and delve indepth in certain points of these, while in an environment that always pushes them to do better and think intellectually like Sizer proposes to have.

2. Which of the two theories do you find more resonant in your own experience? Has your education at one of Sizer's schools (he not only inspired SOF, he also came and visited) taught you to use your mind well, to be intellectually alert, to be able to think about important aspects of your life and society? Have you had any teachers that seemed inspired, now that you know about it, by Hirsch? For instance, would you say that the chemistry class's focus on molarity and ions and the periodic table of elements create an emphasis on knowledge?

I think math classes in general is more inspired by Hirsh, or it always has been that way even before Hirsh, because in my experience from elementary especially, we needed a background knowledge such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division before we were able to understand more complex equations. I learned much of this through rote memorization and flash cards (like the multiplication table). But it was even more useful when I was able to practice it after I had a basic understanding of it. I think I experienced Sizer's method of teaching in third grade, where the teacher is like coach to the student, because third grade, out of the other classes in my elementary school was one of the hardest. The teacher would always push us to learn and teach us more things. But at the same time he developed a relationship with his students and we really respected him because he would share things that he liked like Motown, or Hannah Barbara cartoons. He was strict but that was balanced because he was also fun. So there was a community aspect to it. Also the course was simple in the way it was laid out. It was clear what we had to do in each lesson so it wasn't haphazard or confusing. We had incentives, because on fridays, if the class was good, which it almost always was, we would be able to watch Hannah Barbara Cartoons (I don't know if this would work with high schoolers but in elementary it worked well). I think in SOF, there is good sense of community among the students and teachers. I can see how it was inspired by Sizer. I do think though, there was some sense to Hirsh's emphasis on basic knowledge, because in math and science we should memorize certain information but because we don't need to, we don't. I think, I've always been a bit contrary, especially last year, I would often overanalyze and over think things, I don't think I do this as much this year because I have been trying not to. I think its more of my personal choice, than of my schools, because I was influenced by my contact with other people that led me to this conclusion. Sometimes though...I want rote memorization, because I have more of a clear goal, I have to do x in order to understand y.

HW 44- Big Expectations for School

Obama Speech
It presents education as a chance to discover ourselves and contribute to society. The basic message of his speech was that "Education is the road to sucess" and if you want to go somewhere in life, you have to have a good education. This is our society's basic answer for getting job, a career, and learning about what we want out of life.

In Obama's Speech, he addresses student responsibility to their education and wants students to put their effort in it. I don't see any harm in it, if you are using education to get a job, which most people are, you may as well put effort into it and be good at what you do. That is the basic premise of having an education in this country, that with good grades and a degree, it'll get you the career you want.

"We have a responsibility to ourself to discover what it that is" and find out what we are good at, which is something that going to school and doing well in it is supposed to help you do. Which I think it does along the subject areas we take in school because we find out what we like and develop our perferecnes. I feel like education is taken for granted, perhaps because it is so freely given it doesn't seem like a priviledge anymore, because it wasn't a choice, it was something we have to do, people usually value things more when they actually had to invest something to get it or if they feel like they chose something for themselves. "There is no excuse for not trying." He says that by not putting your effort in your education akin to letting yourself and your country down that's because education is our society's answer for what roles we are going to play in our lives.

Thomas Friedman
Education is in part capitalism--or at least it is partially what it is for. We see school as a place for learning and what are we learning for? To get a job. According to Thomas Friedman, traditional schools trains students to become employees and there should be an alternative school for entrepeneurs. It sets schools as the standard to having a prosperus society and that it needs to improve on school to help fix the current rate of unemployment. This is like what we said in class about people trying to fix institutions to fix society or in this case the economy. That perhaps if we created a new school that catered to entrepeneurs it would benefit students who wanted to be the bosses of businesses rather the employees. If they are focusing on the structure of schools and the way its structured and creating a more military structure with more emphasis on memorization, I think it'll be more like schools in Asia, that focus more on rote memorization as well. I don't know if having a school like this would automatically mean the creation of more jobs, but it might help. I think though if a school like this were to exist and work, parents would choose to send their kids there rather than a regular school because they would perfer if their kid was a boss rather than an entrepeneur. Its easier to attempt to fix the smaller problems through institutions and hope that by doing that there is a trickle up affect than to attempt to fix the larger problem by itself because fixing an institution is a more viable step for people.

Deborah Kenny
I think the top priorities of schools should be to try to foster a love of learning in their students, because once they accomplish that, the rest would be made much simpler if they actually want to learn and want to get better and grow as people and individuals. I think that's what this article is about, how this woman, Deborah Kenny, tries to create an environment where this is possible. Since this is a society that relies on this sort of system economically, socially, and in some ways mentally, then we should make this an institute worth going to and where kids can actually learn from. She focuses on developing good teachers, in addition to the cirriculum. Realistically, its not going to be perfect, but I do think having that sort of environment does affect the students and encourages them to try because students feed off the teacher and vise versa. In the summer, I got a job working with kids and part of the job training I had was be aware of our attitude, because our attitude affected the childs. We should try to encourage the kids to play in a group game, by wanting to play ourselves and being enthusiastic, because if a child sees you have a "oh this is boring" attitude, they'll copy you and adopt it and not play, but if you get up and do it, they'll copy that instead. Kids are very influencable, especially when they're younger, but even when they're older they're still like that. They can read what you're giving off. So, I think this is reasonable, that is something school is able to do, its not going to correct all the problems of our society, but at least it can get kids to learn.

HW 42-Significance

I've been in America for a very long time. I guess this is one of those "what if" scenarios for me. What if I had stayed? What kind of person would I be today? Would I be more studious? My mom often told me that when I was younger, I was the first grandchild and everyone doted on me. When I visit my family in China, they're very affectionate towards me but I wonder if I would be closer to them if I lived there. So I wonder about this scenario too. What if I went to school in China? Would I be better in math than I am now? Would I like math more as a result? How would this kind of schooling affect me? The math and science levels in Asian countries is higher than it is in America. In 3rd grade they would be learning 5th grade math with respect to America and it is always 2 or 3 grades ahead in terms of math and science. I also know the methods of teaching are different too. Rather than Socratic discussions it is more based on textbook learning and reciting. So while I don't dislike my current scenario, I want to find out more about the different ways the two countries educate their students and satisfy my curiosity, because I'll never know this "what if" scenario for real and researching this is probably the closest I'll ever get, even if on a superficial level.

I know that in the future, our countries' economics and "progress" is dependent on the schooling institutions that these institutions have provided our students as it is from these crop of students come the future leaders, scientists, and innovators. With globalization, people are not only competing state to state but country to country, each trying to be the most innovative and cutting edge, we can see this form of competition from car companies like Ford and Toyota. People are looking to schools to educate their young to prepare them for the future job market. If we are looking at this from the global perspective many companies are hiring from other countries because the same resources and brains are available at a cheaper cost. International Capitalism creates global competition in a free market economy. It shows where each country's priorities are. Understanding the economic factors to how these institutions have formed is like understanding where they are going to take it. By looking at their motivations and their wants you see what they're trying to do and what they're doing now to get it. That to me is rather interesting and comparing what they have so invested in and how well they have prepared their students for this task.

HW 41- Initial Internet Research on Schooling: Edited

Student Ethics Correlation with School Structure

Kassab, Monica. "Cultural Exchanges" Honors Today: Crossing Borders. University of Buffalo, December 2009. 13-14.

Its a first person account from an American English teacher in Japan. Monica Kassab talks about what she learned from the experience her three years in Japan as an English teacher. The dual perspective of an American teacher is helpful in comparing how students in Japan are treated and how they behave in comparison to how the American students are treated and behave and highlight cultural values that these methods of teaching are based on. It shows how the students work are influenced by the teaching method.

"Chinese students more organized, less imaginative than American counterparts". University of Florida. 22 August 2006. http://www.physorg.com/news75480082.html

It's a study done by Florida University that basically says that Chinese students prefer to have a more organized learning environment while American students want flexibility and creativity. It includes a little about gender learning preferences in different countries, similarities and differences in learning style preferences in different countries.

I think these statistics reveal a little bit about how the cultural values affect the way things are taught and the student's preferences in learning.

Wan, Guofang. "The Learning Experience of Chinese Students" College Student Journal. March 2001.

This article reports a case study on the cross-cultural learning experiences of two Chinese students in American universities. It described their experiences in the following areas: motivations for learning, frustrations and satisfactions, strategies used to cope with language inefficiency, assumptions of the impact of their learning on their lives, and awareness of cultural differences in classroom and daily life.

This study is helpful identifying the differences in culture, language, and social and political system between China and the United States and how it impacts the experiences of the student.

"Education reform in China: An interview with Aibe Chen". Kappa Delta Pi Record. FindArticles.com. 25 Feb. 2010.

It's an interview with Professor Aibe Chen who is from the Beijing Institute of Education in China. China is trying to adopt an American styled education so it will be less focused on exams and more "quality-orientated".

Aibe talks about the differences between American and Chinese Education and how he hopes the reform will help change the schools in China. I think this interview will help identify the styles and ways each country generally teaches in school.

My mom

She went to school in China and also went as a college student in the US. I think she can give differences in the external structure of the classroom because she knows how it is different, for example in China, the students stay in one classroom and the teachers change and go into the room rather the other way around like it is in the US. I think she can also give her experiences as a student as well.

Dillon, Sam. Study Compares American Students with Other Countries. New York Times, 15 Nov. 2007. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

A study called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or Timss, that tested foreign countries. The article compare US scores to these of other countries, specifically science and math.

I think the test can correlate to how much each subject is emphasized on to the students in the respective country that took it and I'm planning to research the hours and the study time that students in other countries use to relate to the test scores.

Friedman, Thomas L. A Word from the Wise. New York Times, 2 March 2010. Web.
3 March 2010.
Talks about the lack of U.S. is lagging in developing the next generation of scientific talent as well as the lack of incentives to induce big multinationals to create lots more jobs here when compared to China.

I think this can bring to focus, China's emphasis on Math and Science as compared to America. It displays the cultural values in some ways and how the U.S. is now in terms of teaching subjects in that area.

Education Statistics by Country. Nationmaster.4 March 2010. http://www.nationmaster.com/cat/Education-education
This site give an abundance of statistics on education and a number of other things by country. For example Student Attitude was one of them and the percentage of students that found school boring.

I think I can use this to compare U.S. and China in different areas and find facts and statistics that might contribute to finding out about the education and the students in different countries.

HW 40- Five interviews and What are some things you would change about schools if you could? The freedom of rights. They limit that. What doSynthesis

Middle School Student
How do you feel about school as a student?
Its okay.

What are some things you would change about schools if you could?
The freedom of rights. They limit that.

What do you mean?
Like. You know.

No, I don't. If you make grandiose statements please back them up.
Like when you're in trouble you don't really get to say what you want to say, they're just like oh, too bad and don't listen. Like this kid's watched beeped and my math teacher was like "Get out" and we're like what? its only a watch beep.

You're saying some teachers abuse their power and overreact?
Yes

What rights specifically are they limiting?
They are limiting our rights to speech.

So what would you do to change it?
Nothing. Nothing can be done.

Why do you say that?
Because no one will listen to a kid. They'll believe the adult of course.

SOF student- Henry
What have you learned from school?
Well I have really learned the most about social graces and how to interact. I have learned about the balance between work and socializing and how sometimes it isn't always crystal clear and honestly I think that a lot of the time the classes are an afterthought because it's all about the people

What are some things you might change about school that you think would make it better?
Well, I really think that's it's not the school so much as it is the student. School needs to have a consistent format and it needs to teach you certain things you might not like learning about because at the end of the day you don't always know what's best for yourself and the system works for the majority of people. If anything, I would say that the classes need to be more open, like more choices. More, shorter classes would expand people's horizons a lot and teach them more in the end if done right

Do you think fewer days per week at school would be more conducive to student learning or more detrimental?
Well I think that it could be either, and that depends on the student. It can work fantastically if the students pays attention and can keep up, but can crash into a wall if the students don't bring their A game. I also think that if this were done, you would need to have school until 5 or so, because a certain amount is needed

In terms of years, is the time spent at school too long and dragged out or is it fine as it is for the amount we learn?
I think that it is dragged out in a way. If you made school more specialized earlier you could teach the stuff that is really important to the people that would need it, while others might not. So somebody who wants to be a physicist could learn science and math while the writer would learn English and history. This would make things more concise in the long run.

How do you feel about school?
I like it. I have always liked it, because at the very least there is something that I find interesting in my day and I surround myself with people that keep it enjoyable. I feel happy about it for the most part. There is nothing that outright bores me or annoys me

Bard Student- Reggie
What are some things you might change about school that would improve it?
Take some of the years off i.e. middle school. Seriously, I learned nothing in middle school. They reviewed everything in high school. Take a year or two off elementary too. I mean how long does it take to teach kids to add and subtract? We spend enough time in school as it is and it just keeps getting longer.

Do you think fewer days per week would be more conducive to student learning or detrimental to it? It would be better. We'll have more time to get things done and sometimes my mind just needs a break and the ratios are retarded too, I mean 5:2?

How many days a week do you think school should ideally be?4:3. 4 days in school 3 days out

How do you feel about how school has changed?
In today's society you can’t really accomplish much without education. Now it’s all about the brand name colleges.

Do you think education focuses on the wrong things, i.e. tests and quizzes?
Yes, some schools base their entire course on regents but that's dumb b/c the regents really doesn’t cover all that much

College Student- Brian
What has school taught you? How to sit down for four hours without moving writing an essay. School teaches you discipline and work ethic.

How do you feel about school? It is a necessary part of society. That said it takes too much of my tax money and gives too little in return.

What are your feelings on middle school and high school? You're going to look back and realize that the days when you had no responsibilities at all were wonderful.

What type of school would you send your child and why? Private school where there are no teacher unions, where the acceptance rate is in the single digits. Unions are a general bane in American society.

Are there any flaws with the educational system? Moral integrity.

What do you mean? A lot of countries have classes teaching their students how to be good citizens and we don't, that’s why they end up being drunken idiots.

What is it doing right? Uhhhh..... well... we have really good literacy rates so obviously our kids can read and write which isn't that bad of an accomplishment.

What have you learned in school? High school or college?
HS be polite to people, you'll make enough enemies don't need to add more just because of rudeness

College? No one gives a crap about you so you better learn to stand of your own two feet. The professors don't give a crap about your excuses, you could be bleeding crawling to the door and the professors will mark you absent.

SOF Teacher- Melissa

How do you feel about school as a teacher?
I feel very conflicted about it. The whole emotion of school, I guess from my own personal experiences as a student and working as a teacher at SOF. I guess it is such a big contrasts. Hopes more opportunity for meaning making in school. I thinks Andy’s class is good for that. I think in some classes it’s not as easy as a Humanities class but I think the teachers in this school try to make it meaningful for students. I definitely feel the structures in school is very flawed. How stuck it is. So many hoops you have to jump through and things that confine you. At least in our world here fluid, we push the envelope even though it doesn’t always work. So much time is wasted experiences that you have to go through. I feel it’s important to question because we always know when it is happening when we’re having these experiences. Having awareness then trying to find ways to make them not occur or shift them in a way that feels more real.

How has your experiences effected your teaching?
So much, one of the reasons I went into teaching. There was no place to think about my own learning in school. My experiences also have shaped my career path and have informed my passion for being in a school where we try to not differentiate from students and put labels on kids and we just learn and grow from each other. I was raised in a tradition stuck setting where you have to muddle through one way. So I feel very strongly that there is not just one way, there are different ways, different entry points for kids to learn, and that will always be my passion for my career.

What is something you would change about the educational system if you could?
Oh my gosh, there’s so much I would change. Flexibility on schools supporting the needs of the student. I don’t think every school should be the same. What makes us successful is that we’re unique and students choose the school. A lot of times it’s the right one for them sometimes its not. I think it’s important for schools to have a vision, to create a diverse community of learners, from all backgrounds and socioeconomic situations and its starts from the schools. Because school is where students become young adults and if you’re in an environment with lots of people who are different from you. It demystifies it. It helps chip away those barriers because you form relations and see how other people live day to day. Its one of the most important aspects of school and I don’t think its valued enough where people learn from differences. That’s why we still have a lot of schools that are so segregated. It’s pretty pathetic.

Synthesis
I think I got a pretty varied responses but for the most part people seem to agree that there are certain parts of school that are not needed and things that could be changed because its not perfect. I did different ages and schools, mostly students to see what they thought about it. I think the most interesting insight was from the perspective of a teacher. To see what they thought about it and why they do it. One insight, that made sense to me was that by choosing our schools we're kind of choosing what learning style that we want and that different students will learn differently there is no one set way to doing things. I think most teachers do care a lot more than we think they do about teaching and they want students to be able to learn from them. All the interviewees were in a consensus that school has become a necessary part of our society, their reactions were interesting. Most excepted it, and even if they didn't want to, they dealt with it in one way or another. Some people like that and some people don't. It seems that its easier to point out the flaws than to say what it is doing right.

Hw 39- First School Assignments

Part A:
Ideas
-People go to school just to have something to do even though they don't like it
-We become socialized through school
-People base their success in school with their success in life.

Questions

-When did school become the main route to success in our society?

-What types of schooling is better, homeschool, public, private, charter, boarder, or unschooling? Where would we be without school?

-What ways does school make us smarter and what ways doesn't it?

Experiences

-At moments I enjoy it, though now, I'm kind of looking forward to the next step already and feel like its been prolonged.

-There are the teachers, and then the students who all the other students go to for help to for class

-I get to know different people from school and mannerisms from school and learn social cues

Part B:
Please explore one aspect or moment of school in a 2-4 paragraphs. Show us what's strange or great or awful about it. Talk about how you feel about it - how do you think it came to be - what consequences it produces.

One theory I heard in class that was interesting was Rachel's theory that school is the government's way of civilizing us so that we will fit into society. Perhaps that wasn't the original intention but that is certainly a byproduct of school, becoming "civilized" and taught the right and wrong way to behave according to the rules of our society. Children are taught to behave and be compliant with authority figures. We learn the conducts of behavior. This relates to what Beatrice said about school being "a big kid day care center" which is what it feels like sometimes because we are always here during the day, out of our parents way so we're not left at home alone and we're given something to do and looked after by the teachers. Jakob said about school serving two purposes- to occupy and condition, which relates to what they both said. We're conditioned to fit into our society, we're socialized to get along with people, and school occupies our time while doing all of the above and more.

The way society is set up, school is the main option available to us because we can't get fully paying jobs without a high school diploma and studies show that the degree that you get is directly correlated to your salary; so its set up that the main way to succeed in our society is by going to school.

HW 38- Art Project Cool

I made a MV to represent cool with a bit of what it means to be uncool as well. In the first half of the video I shot people in the park to show real life cool and the second half is a clip from a trailer of an action movie to show how media represents cool to contrast it with how people actually are in real life.People usually get ideas about what's cool and not cool from media and that doesn't always fit them. I guess what I hope that people will realize from seeing this clip that there are many different ways to being cool and not to let a label define them and find something that they think is cool thats real for them, their own personal cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKMAvJjuD4M

I thought the filming was fun. I got one of my friends, Regina, to help film and I kind of surprised them with it but they were into it and thought that it was a fun project. We basically trolloped throughout my neighborhood looking for people who were doing something that people might find cool or that was cool to them. When my friend and I were at the park she suggested we go to the soccer field since people were playing and I asked the players if I could shoot them. They were okay with it and I thought it was pretty cool. I think they played it up for the camera which I'm grateful for since I got to shoot someone scoring. The guy who was filmed doing martial arts was learning from another guy, I also got permission to film them beforehand. The trailer half of the video was not originally going to be in it but I thought it might fit well with the video and the song.

I was listening to music while I was adding the clips and this song seemed to go with it. It was a little difficult editing everything because finding a free editor took awhile and I'm not much of a techie in the first place, but my brother who had to do a video project as well found one online and downloaded it and I basically used that one after he was done. Lagging was a huge problem with my computer and the video editor I got, which was actually not that bad in itself, but every minute or so, a particularly bad lag would shut the editor down and I'd have to make sure to save or lose a chunk of work. It might be surprising but that 3-4 minute clip took around 3-4 hours to make and I think its mostly because of the lag and choosing what clips to use took some time too. I had shot a lot of other clips with my friend, some which didn't get included in the video. I think overall it turned out alright for the first try at it.

At first I thought it might not be cool because I wasn't sure what to do for it but I've always wanted to try making a music video so I thought I would do that for this project. What's surprising is that I actually liked it. It was a lot of fun editing and shooting everything in spite of the technical difficulties. I liked making the video and the whole process that it took to do it. Getting the timing of the clips with the music right felt pretty good. I spent the past few days doing something that I might not have done otherwise and it was something I had a great time doing too. I think its cool to try something new because drawing would've been a fallback for me since that's what I did last time and I didn't want to do that again for that reason. I feel pretty happy finishing this video.

HW 37- Cool Paper Done Draft

“We are all products of our environment.” During the last season of “The Bachelorette”, one of the contestants said this as a way of understanding why another contestant behaved the way they did, because their culture and the place they have come from have shaped them as they are and was different from theirs. We are all cultivated by way of society, media, race, class and gender. We get environmental and social cues to guide us to becoming the person that we are right now. When our environment changes we do too, because the cues we are getting are different, our friends and family influence these changes greatly. That is why our versions of cool will have certain differences and similarities because they come from these sources, some that we share, and some that we don’t.



From the cues that we get from our cultural maps, we develop the roles we play and who we think we are. Who we actually want to be comes from cues from our social environments, which is shaped by our status, gender, nationality, culture, and many other factors. We seek to live out the roles we have chosen from the ones available to us. From that we create our own hero’s journey and play the characters we’ve created through our actions (Goffman). How we choose to play out the scene that we’ve been given defines who we are as people. For example in this scene what would you do? Someone you know is being teased. Do we help, do we ignore it, or do we participate? Either way, we’ve made a decision, in that scene we are either the character that helped or the character that didn’t help. If we add enough scenes, the cumulative depicts who your character is.


Because of the way our cultural map is made, we are more open to certain kinds of messages than others (Synder). Certain things will be cool for us to do and certain things aren’t. Much of what we will do and how we’ll act is based on our past experiences, whose foundation is provided by our cultural maps and what is expected out of us. Certain group cultures will tend to have preferences or leanings because of how their environment was. For example, most people from the black culture will prefer hip hop or r&b. That is an effect of how media portrays their culture and closely links the two (Merchants of cool). That’s why in general; there is a preference for music like hip hop over music like country. The images that are more commonly seen and that we associate with more are the kinds of images that we will find cool. Things that don’t relate to us or the values we have from our cultural maps won’t be on our radars.



Roles


Our roles are seen through point of view, which is relevant in how we are seen by people because each person acts from foreknowledge from their cultural maps. So, whether they think you’re cool is based on values held by their cultural map. That doesn’t mean they only think cool is something directly related to their culture, but cool can also be values or qualities seen in a positive way in their cultural map. That’s why there are different versions of cool for each subculture.


Although people act accordingly to what’s expected of them, it doesn’t mean they are condemned to that cultural map, it means they are more likely to follow the standard model of the cultural map, unless something happens that leads them to a detour and they find a different route. John Fanning was raised in a middle class family in a fairly conservative place, but he got a tattoo even though it wasn’t common in his cultural map. That’s because his cultural map didn’t make sense to him and he wanted to find a new one. When he joined his band, he felt as if he finally met people who were “real” and he could relate to them. His discontent with his current cultural map, led him to a new route and he discovered another one that made more sense to him even though it appears to be very different from his previous one. He wanted to find a place that he could belong and the previous place he was at wasn’t it (Fanning).



For the most part, I’m comfortable in my own role. I experiment at times to see how people will react if I deviate from it or tweak it, because I don’t want it to feel confining or limiting. That is so I know that just because this is how someone sees me as; it isn’t what I have to be. But it depends on my environment too because if I see that people don’t really care if I act a certain way then I feel more comfortable acting that way. I keep tweaking my role(s) because I don’t find stagnation cool. I think exploring and finding out what suits you as role is cool.



Nature vs Nurture



The existence of cultural maps also brings up the question of nature versus nurture, whether we choose to be who we are today or were it created by our circumstances. The cultural maps suggest that these events are all circumstantial and to an extent it is. Some of it is nurture, but the two are closely intermixed, because eventually nurture becomes nature. The ideals we were brought up with usually become our own. Our cultural maps begin from our womb. “Sounds, smells and tastes are amongst the first environmental cues learnt, ahead of vision” (Beetle). If a pregnant woman chose to eat garlic or vanilla, then the baby will choose similarly flavored milk over normal milk (Beetle). As we grow older we get them from our parents, our friends, and media.



Conclusion



We take in social and environmental cues, our cultural map and everything else, but it doesn't mean we have to follow what they say (Huang). Having these maps is not necessarily a bad thing because we do have to draw from somewhere, otherwise what are we made up of? It’s unavoidable that these maps would be created because we are made from our experiences, our choices, and other people’s as well. But our cultural maps aren’t so great is when it is limiting or is limiting to us in a negative way. But the limits aren’t always as set or as immovable as we think they are. The child groomed to be a lawyer doesn’t always end up becoming one, they might be an artist or a teacher if they find that they actually enjoy that more (Jed). We use our culture maps as a basis of our structure for being cool, but we combine maps from several different people in order to create one that fits us, that person we want to be rather than the person we are “meant” to be (Jermanski).



Works cited


Dr. Beetle, "Twins and Evolutionary Psychology". 22 January 2010 .


Frontline: The Merchants of Cool. PBS Online, 2001. Web. 7 Feb.

2005

Fanning, John. “Personal/Political – Tattoo Talk”. Social Studies Class. School of the Future. Room 605.



Huang, Jia Min. “Personal/Political." Social Studies Class. School of the Future. Room 605.



Interviewees. “What is Cool?” Street Survey. 02 December 2009.



Jermanski, Rachel. “Personal/Political." Social Studies Class. School of the Future. Room 605.



Snyder, Andy. "Personal/Political." Social Studies Class. School of the Future. Room 605.

Hw 36- Triangle Partner Help

The comment box is missing so posting on blog first and will add to later:
Kate

Here's a rewrite/edit you could choose to use of your main idea. (Idk if its a good edit or not you can use it if you choose to.)

Cool is a mask we wrap around ourselves that hides our true self, a charade we must constantly play, with the risk of discovery of the fallacy of our acts. The performer hopes the audience sitting and watching don't rip apart their carefully created facades least they be charged as inauthentic. We have become products of ourselves. We choose to transform our selves into this image of cool. The only trouble is that cool is forever changing and means something different to each group and person. The definition is as forever changing as the wind. So to keep up with the constant shift, many roles and acts are played through out our lifetime. “And one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages” (Shakespeare). But why do we need these masks? Why bother trying to be cool and to fit certain aspects of what society wants us to be? This can be contributed to the fact that we try to cover up the hole we feel inside of us. We are all a little bit empty inside and instead of acknowledging this fact we try to fill the void (our lives) with meaningless attributes. People play roles to fit in, fit in to become cool,become cool get attention which all plays as distractions from what is really missing in our lives.

You have a lot of great details and topics in your post. There's alot of good stuff to go on for a first draft. I think since you have alot of topics, to try to connect them all to each other so it relates, so your not jumping, or title each different topic so its like a minichapter to introduce your new topic (haha jia min's did that so I think it might be helpful, I'm planning on using that too :)).

I think you should connect the henna idea back to the thesis because its mainly talking about profit maybe you can relate it to consumerism and how that feeds of of the emptiness people are trying to cover up. I agree with Sam about having the emptiness feeling together with your other topics since your topic seems to be talking about how cool is a mask that we use to cover up that feeling.

Jia Min
I like your post very much. The pictures are great and go with what you're saying. I think it flows together really well. You have good transitions.

"Thus, this puts us in a process that our inner self becomes the observer, gathering information from others as our outer self presents the representation of both our real selves and the “faces” we’ve created."

I think your main idea is that we observe what kind of faces we need to create in order to serve our roles, but even so, these roles we play are real because they are who we are becoming(?). Your topics and conclusion seem to support this well since you talk about your different roles with different people and situations and your feelings about it. I think its pretty true, what you said about why we play certain roles and how come we are more open to acting a certain way w/ our family or people close to us. It reminds me of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, when Cameron asks why is it easier to be mad at the people you trust and Tibby says Because you know they'll always love you, no matter what. Maybe that can relate some way to why we have these masks as well, so people will love us.

I agree that sometimes the roles we play are our "real" selves and sometimes they may not be. But how can you tell what is the real self or not? I think the only way anyone can tell is through how they feel about it. With these roles, feelings and perception are all that you really know and if you feel the role you are playing is real then it is and if you feel the role you are playing is fake then it is. I think of it like the "I think therefore I am" except its "if you feel then you are", and it depends on yhow you feel about it, because if you feel like its real then you feel like its authenthic and who you are and if you feel like its fake then thats you rejecting the role or its not the role you want to have.

These are possible topics you can think about. I really like your essay. Alot. Haha. You connect your paragraphs and ideas well. I think the only thing is grammar, but its not that big of a problem. Great job on it.