Homework 54

Jung Test Results
My type is: ESFP - "Entertainer". Radiates attractive warmth and optimism. Smooth, witty, charming, clever. Fun to be with. Very generous. 8.5% of the total population.

This is the second time i have taken a personality test, the last time was in Mr. Tusi's class when we were working with a program with business men and women, called business leaders of tomorrow. The first test was not as specific as this one and there were not as many questions to be answered. I feel like this one was not as spot on as the first one i took, i can not see my self being an entertainer because i am too shy of a person, although i am outgoing with people i know i am extremely shy with strangers and its take a very long time for me to get comfortable with people i do not know. I am not sure how accurate the test really is cause there were a few questions that i didn't really understand and had to ask friends what certain words meant or what they questions meant. Overall i really enjoy taking surveys or questionnaires like this because it makes me evaluate how i go about living life and if it is really as meaningful as it should be. This questionnaire in specific focused on how people go about handling relationships, while i was answering most of questions i was answering for how i interact with people i am already friends not really thinking about the ones i am not as close with, i think that was a mistake and i would re-think some of my answers if i was to answer it all over again.

HOMEWORK 53

While taking this survey at first i was not really sure what to think. I just started answering the questions very quick and casually not really giving them that much thought because i saw how many questions there were and to be honest i just wanted to get it done. As i read on the questions began to hit closer to home and stared to become very personal, i began to actually consider what was being asked and apply each of the situations to my life. I was surprised by some of my own answers and it slowly made me really analyze the relationships i have with my family. I didn't realize i felt as distant as i do. It was a wake up call in a sense, i have never been very comfortable talking to my parents about anything even though i know they will be accepting and are some of the least judgemental people i know. Seems like my relationship with my parents should be picture perfect but in reality its far from it. i wonder myself what happened in life to make my parents and my relationship the way it is. I feel as though they think they are closer than we really are and that's a little scary, is it possible they have too much trust in me? I was able to take some time and actually think about my family and friends and my beliefs on the matter, which for a majority of the people is very sensitive. I feel like I answered all of the questions honestly because i knew it was anonymous and in the mean time I was able to learn more about myself. The questions that made me stop and think were the ones about my family. Overall i enjoyed taking the survey!


There were many results that caught my eye after looking over the results of the survey i found it very interesting the amount of people said they had seriously thought about suicide 17 people answered that is had once been a thought. That shocked me cause for the most part when the questions asked about their relationship with family and friends few had very negative things to say. Most people associate being happy with having the love and support of close family and good friends so why were so many people so unhappy that they had thought to take there life. humans are incredibly social creatures but how much of having friends and family keeps a person happy? Although society paints a very clear picture for the "perfect" family no one will ever have one, every family is dis functional in their own way, i find it so interesting how relationships with whole family differ. this a topic that i am excited to explore. Based on the survey most of us also seem to feel that friends play a huge role in their lives, some even think that close friends over rule family, i can see where people come from saying that, not all of us feel close enough to confide in parents or relatives but friends are somehow more trust worthy. is there a right way to handle any type of relationship????

The survey that we had taken got personal at some points but they were still questions that could be answered pretty easily. However the other surveys were more focused and specifically asked questions about a certain area, the formal surveys were about "teen health" and a topic that most people our age can somehow relate to, sex and relationships. The informal survey we had to take was easy to get through and thought provoking for the most part, the survey we had to take focused on a couple of different categories: friends, family, the world, politics and there were a few short answers,. The two surveys were from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and The national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). These are more like facts, and looked totally different than the survey we took in class. The one we took in school seemed more personal, while those surveys seemed more factual and not based as much on peoples take on the issue. This is a personal example of how researching can be really impersonal and most of the time it does not really mean the same thing as what it appears to be on paper.

Homework 52

Let me first say that i am very excited to start a new unit.. this ones actually seems to be somewhat interesting! I am hoping that i will gain some new insight on the topic, and the class discussions in class will be more like last year. So why and how do humans do what we do -- in the sense of all relationships. I think humans in general are extremely self conscious people, i think we are all out to please and make other people happy. I don't think there is any one type of way a person acts, different people bring out different personalities out. How natural is this? I almost feel as if we do not create our own character and personalities but allow everyone else to be the determining factor for why we act the way we do (or play a certain role). we are in a never ended acting class, its a little bit scary if you think about it. For example we plan what we say before we meet new people potentially we are handed an exact script, but as the relationship changes with the person you just met so does the script that we need in order to deal with the situation given. I feel very strongly that human need constant social contact no matter what we will always need people around, we like people; maybe not all the time but most of the time we don't want to be alone and crave attention wether it be positive or negative. We want people to see us for who we are so that they in turn like us and continue to want to be around us, but how to we determine "who we are?" hopefully we will explore this further.

When i think about relationships we seem to put on a face for two different social groups, one our family and how we act around them and two our friends and how we act with them. I feel friendships are based on what people have in common with eachother. When people have best friends, those are the people that you enjoy to spend time with, you go over their house, go to lunch with, share you secrets and gossip to, play favorite games or sports, the list goes on. Are friends in school different that ones outside of school? The type of friend that helps you with your hw or do projects with eachother. And the other type of friendship where you only say hi or bye to eachother. You don't really say much to eachother, or maybe once in a while say how you doing or ask you a question about something thats not thats not that important. And lastly, there is the child hood close friend. Thats the human relationship where they know everything about eachother and they tell eachother secrets. I feel it is almost inpossible to judge other peoples realationship and weather or not they are genuine and meaningful, nowadays it seems as if people and different groups of friends value there friendship.

Family is the people people that love you the most, care for you the most, protect you the most, and make sure that they are always there when you are down.Different people could agree or disagree the phrase "Family comes before everything", that is because they do or dont have a strong a bond with eachother. The family memebers are the ones who know your weaknesses and your strengths. Is this why when you always see familys come together on special holidays to celebrate? is it because they want to or they are forced to? Besides the gifts and everything, its to show their appreciation for one another and to show their love with one another and have a good time. Family is known to be top priority but what is to say that friends cant be family???

50

John Taylor Gatto:
Believed that schools did not fully allow children to learn but instead made information being received very confusing. Programming kids even adults to memorize things would not help them because in the long run everything will be forgotten. They don't have any real application to children's real lives so it is not as helpful as most would think. Gatto compared schools to a "cell block style" environment, he said that he thought that school did not allow kids to stay interested and instead of promoting maturity it encouraged kids to act childish. Student don't really have a say in there position in society because they have just done what they were told to do their whole life. School devalues children's views and potential in life. Children for the most part only do what they are told to do, the school system promotes this idea of acceptance by others, not just teachers but making friends. We as students always look for approval and rewards. School is such a robotic thing and many might argue that it is not allowing us to explore out own intrestests and creativity instead we obey and are almost robot-like.

If you ask anyone why we go to learn you will only hear about two different answers, some believe because they feel they are getting an "education" and other want to keep there kids out of trouble. But in reality most teachers really spend a large about of there time acting as the care taker, they have no choice but to try and keep out of control teenagers in check. Gatto argues that school conforms students and makes them in the end all the same; indifferent from society, child-like and very dependent people. Why is it so hard to control students?... maybe because they are bored or even that the teachers are bored! we are forced to sit and listen to stuff that most of us are not even very interested about, while teachers are teaching stuff they are told to by higher authority. If you think about it, it is a cycle. Why is it made to seem that people can not be successful without a college education. Gatto argues and strongly believes that people can make it in the world with out a traditional education.

Paulo Freire:
He discusses the "banking meathod" of teaching, he believes teachers should insert a certain about of knowledge and have their students memorize it. This is the total opposite than what other think is an effective education. In his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed he discusses the people he feels is oppressed and their oppressors. This quote stood out to me because it explained how he felt the school system worked "teacher-of-the-students and the students-of-the-teacher cease to exist and a new term emerges: teacher-student with students-teachers." teachers are doing the teaching, and the students are the ones left memorizing what the teacher is saying and that is considered learning. While the 'teacher-student' and 'students-teachers' is a relationship where the teachers are learning from their kids, and their kids are learning from their teachers, this second method seems more effective. The relationship where the teachers and students are learning from each other is much
more effective from first hand experience. When the teacher is doing the lecturing and the students are the ones taking notes, the teachers accepting that the students have actual experiences and insights worth sharing, while the teacher that teaches to be heard treats the students as objects and prevents them from actually learning everything they could be. Freire is saying is that the teacher that is only really interested in making sure facts are embedded in the students' minds (the oppressor), however the students that are memorizing what the teachers are saying are the oppressed ones

Lisa Delpit:
while reading about her she believed that schools should provide strategies to be able to teach both the kids that have already mastered the knowledge to use what they already know to expand and learn other things. Education should be used as a resource to help children that come from homes that cannot provide a bery decient education in order for them to be prepared for the real world. She felt it very important that teachers get to know the students they are teaching on a more personal level and also explore the life they live outside of school as well. Art is very important to her and i strongly agree with this aspect of her educational plan, i also feel it is important for kids to beable to be creative. Lisa Delpit believes that the teacher should build on how their students as individuals already are, and to incorporate that into what they are being taught "teachers can create a curriculum based on strengths rather than weaknesses, then they are teaching to their student's needs." She thinks that instead of teachers just teaching by the book, teachers should understand their students and how they can help individuals learn at their own pace and in their own way.

49

I was absent for a few days while our class was in the middle of production, however the first day i was in class. Being as though i am not a natural born actress i wanted to have one of the smaller parts, i guess you could say i played an extra (just another one of the students). In one scene i walk in on the first day of class excited to see everyone and catch up after summer break, In another scene we are listening to out drug addicted teacher (however we do not know that he suffers with a problem yet) speak, he seems to be a very intelligent and have a interesting take on most of everything he talks about. In the scene not all of the students are engaged some are in their own world throwing paper balls at each other or talking in small groups. Later on in the film four students pass by his classroom after hours to discover that their teacher Jake Westwood is taking cocaine in the back of his room on his desk.

The film could be interpreted in many different ways, we were talking about what it means to be a "super-teacher" and i think the movie passes along the message that we are not as happy as we might all seem. In this movie the students would have never probably guessed the problems the Jake suffered from... but if someone needs help, help them out! At certain points in the film i assume it gets very serious and seems to have a deeper emotional meaning, all the students seem to act very sympathetic towards Westwood. The students turned out to be his strength, he realized he had to make the change to better his life and with the support of his students he did so.

Compared to the other films ours was a little different, but after a certain point there are not many more "original" stories lines. Ultimately our class film was trying to show how students taking a stand can help a teacher/mentor and provide strength for them to overcome obstacles. This was a little different because unlike most films about teachers, the students are all trouble makers and the teachers get stuck teaching kids that they have to babysit. Our film was a little different because the teacher was the taboo one who needed all the guidance and direction he could get, because he could not provide the help he needed for himself.

Our film connects to reality and our life in general as students because lots of times the teachers try and make everything better, they want to be looked up like the heroic figure. The target the kids who they know need help so that evetually the students will obay the athority figure because they were being nice and treating them like they were special. But sometimes teachers need help, its just not as obvious a thing.

HOMEWORK # 48

Anne Parker wakes up to start her first day at work, she looks through her closet but her choices very limited she decided to wear the newest grey suit out of her collection. She walks over to her vanity does her makeup and adds the sting of delicate pearls around her neck. She locks the door to her apartment walks to the subway to get to work. It is her first day teaching the 10th grade at a public school in the middle of the city, but more importantly her first day as teacher. She cant help but be nervous, she does not know what to expect. From the look of the things most would assume she looks like the average white American women, most would think she grew up in a stable household in the suburbs with a white picket fence... a brother, maybe a sister and a dog.

Walking into the school the first person she interacts with is her boss the principal who gives her a few words of advice. Anne is not sure how to take the advice given should she run with it or be scared. She is escorted to her classroom, walks in takes a few minutes to look around and get comfortable before the students come in she writes her names up on the dry erase bored... 10 minutes pass she takes one final deep breath and opens the door for her students. Chaos immediately fills the room, Anne is not sure how to handle it. students come in screaming exchanging hugs and kisses, some banging on the desks, some decide to jump on top of the tables breaking out i song. Its the first day back everyone is excited to see their friends. Anne lets the excitement continue for 5 minutes before she attempts to get the students attention. the first few attempts fail miserably, she begins to panic but she does not wanna let the kids see the fear in her eyes. Sitting in the very front of the class room are a group of students waiting to begin what the came to school for.... learn. Anne regathers her self and begins to take a different approach in stead of trying to get everyone attention and wasting time she begins to introduce herself to the few that are listening. little does everyone know she is probably able to relate to most of the students on a more personal level than most other teachers. She decides to take a different approach and let the students come to her rather than forcing them to conform when they dint want to! Anne suddenly gets a confidence boost and says to herself in her head i will get these kids respect. She begins to tell the few students sitting in the front about herself and decides to completely ignore the ones that are giving her trouble.

Weeks go by and things begin to get a little better but there are still a few students giving her trouble, she is still putting up with the students disobedience because she knows the deeper issues going on better than most might think. She begins to come into school dressing a little less conservative, Anne knows that the more relatable she is with them the more respect she will earn. she begins to open up more about her life and the struggles of have two drug addicted parents, living in foster homes, she tries to relate to their lives. she was just like one of them when she went to school and is not knew to the game. After a long day of work she goes home sits and thinks about why she really was so scared the first day on the job, she realizes that she was living her school days experience through the other kids, at first it was a little scary but she realizes she can have control over the students eventually. She does not want her students to be scared of her, her goals are to be able to create a place where they look forward to coming to everyday .

HW 46

To further investigate the idea of school and what is all really behind it, i wanted to explore the differences (pros and cons) of public school education vs. private school education in America (more specifically New York City) At first i began to browse through a book about teenagers and there rights, i can not recall the exact name of the book but didn't find it very insightful or helpful for what research i needed. A friend of mind was doing a similar topic and recommended a book called "Academy X" written by Andrew Trees. The book was based (a true story) around a private school teacher and his experiences while working, to my surprise it was more about his traumatizing experience working than what he enjoyed about teaching at an elite academy. In the book he discussed what he though of students and his colleagues. My first impression was that he would be a successful teacher who went far, he thought it was important to always be fair and showed everyone equal amounts of respect. Like the movies we have seen clips on in class it became apparent that teaching was not an easy of a job despite what everyone else might think. While reading it became apparent that public schools where nothing like private schools and have me some outlook and perspective on what to look for while researching schools in the city.
Private schools seemed to hype up there reputation but was the enormous about of tuition really worth it. It seemed to me that schools made it there number one priority to market the school to who they know would be willing to pay for their children to attend. Parents who grew up thinking status and class was the number one thing, shopped for schools like they would the newest designer brand handbag. They thought if their child attend a renowned school with the name they might be more likely to help their children land a spot in a top ivy league for college. The way the school system was described in the book seemed almost like a scene form gossip girl. If the children misbehaved or got in some sort of trouble there million and billionaire family could essentially buy them selves out of the mess they created. I was shocked to see that the according to the author of the book his boss (the principal) saw the students parents customers, they were just what was gonna make him richer and his business up and running.
Teachers seemed to also get away with much more than they should have been allowed to, in some cases teacher students relationships became controversial. I wonder if this is really any different in public schools... i doubt it. One of the student Andrew talked about had claimed to have been raped because of a copied paper. this resulted in the separation of students vs. kids sides where being taken and it became almost impossible to prove. For some reason is not schocking that teacher will get away with crimes like this. I think this could be a topic on its own for why teacher students flings are appealing. School was at one point in time a place for childeren to learn but how much do we actually retain if any... I wonder if there is a more effective way to get into teenagers minds, there does not seem to be a earge to learn maybe that is because as americans we are too lazy and spoiled... standards are not high enough, we get away with too much so we continue to push limits.