Class Movie reveiw

The role I played in the film was one of the gossip girls as well as the girlfriend (who u do not get to see clearly). The character who carded more about what happening socially than school. which was shown with us gossiping in the corner with each other. even though the three of us played small roles in the film they were still important. I believe they added to the setting of the class room. each one of us played a different role of the class, and each showed the different perspectives or outlooks on school. Next to us was the rebellious students who generally did not care about the material in school. then there were the smart kids, who did not contribute to the chaos of the class.

Our film demonstrated some of the different social groups found in school. it had a teacher who was tried to teach material that the students were not interested and unresponsive about. i think the message was that, students do not understand the value of school, and instead of making the best of it or taking advantage of what it has to offer they just ignore it. Our film was both different and similar from the other savior teacher films. In the other films like freedom writers the class room was a carnival. Those students were there because they felt like they had to be and they just cared about getting in and out of it. Everyone in the class each played a different role, but one thing all the students had in common was their disrespect for the teacher. Which was the case in our film as well. The bad boy, Ev and the others showed that they were not interested in the teacher, they did not care what he had to say. the reason: well because they did not see how in anyway it related to their personal life. Which was a re-occuring theme and characters we saw in most of the other movies we watched.

The big difference comparing our movie to the other typical teacher savior movies is the teacher failed. He worked at trying to get students to relate and interested in the topics, but was out of luck. and so our movie ended more like that of Dead poets society. except our teacher was no hero at all, because unlike dead poets society he was unable to change the students perceptive at all. Hence how the students in our movie continued on their lives unchanged after the teacher stormed out. which creates an overall sad, disturbing tone of the whole play. again similar to that of the Dead poets society.

And as a last point, i think their is a big gap between education and salvation in our schooling system. i have yet to find or have a teacher who tried to "enlighten" a class of mine. then again i am speaking for only about three schools, so there probably is a teacher out there who does have a great positive impact on students.

But when i think about it again....i guess in my opinion people can be saved in all sorts of ways though. So if you wanted to say that "saving someone" was just making them see in a new light then yes, there are plenty of teachers and students who have the power to do so. and IF that is the case then i myself can say i have been saved by one person or another.

Class Movie

"Savior/Teacher" film.
some aspects our class movie should have:

1.High school students disrespect their teacher until the teacher makes a bold move and earns their admiration. the teacher acts as though they are indestructible and calls students out.

2. School being represented as this dangerous, torturous place. where there are fights, weapons, bullies and violence. so the film has a overall mean, successful tone.

3. the students turn everything into a carnival. they do things there way. take the power about from the teachers by rebelling, with curses and not caring.

4. it should have typical students who play the typical characters roles of the class clown, the bad one, the good student, the nerd and so on.

5. maybe make a video that laughs at all the other ones. we could make a video that simply makes everything predictable. and the characters all act and say the stereotypical things

6. it should be stretched out to like a year long time period, like in the videos we watched. it was all abut one school year.

7. the classroom could be set up with students in different social groups. like the rebels, the smart students and such.

8. The teacher should try different approaches to try and get the students attention

9 then their is a breaking point in the middle where the plot goes on a turn for the worst and there is little hope for a solution. maybe the point when the teacher is about to give up, or the students step way out of line.

10. there is usally always A happy ending. where there are solutions to all the problems.

BOOK

I finally got to reading my book and weather this assignment has been graded or not i am doing it now. I am looking at the social aspect of school. Some key points I am searching for are peer pressure, relationships, social status and roles. And so a book relating to my topic.... I read Simply Alice written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor . i remember someone recommending it to me a while ago and thought of it now. It is an easy read book, but fit in well with my topic of interest.

Simply Alice is a book about the challenges on the road through adolescence. it is one book in a series of many. it stars a girl named Alice (as you could have guessed.) she is a ninth grade student. Shes gets so caught up in all her school work and that causes problems for her. Throughout the book Alice's priorities change and she ends up sabotaging the relationship she has between her friends and her boyfriend. Heres the place in the book where everything goes wrong and the character is forced to make a decision that will somehow be the solution to all her problems. Due to the drama she ends up looking at relationships in a whole new perceptive. She finds a new secret admirer over emails and the romance lurks once again. Throughout this book there is a sense of what lengths girls will go to for a boy, there is this idea of importance to our self presentation. The main character, Alice feels different about her self from start to finish. she starts out being confident and she forgets what is important to her. When she loses the friends she had she then realizes how much she loved and needed them. After solving her problem she no only feels self conscious and she no longer takes her friends for granted. this book is pretty much a typical high school story. It is a book i can defiantly relate too with my own experiences and what i have seen. because maybe We are similar to Alice in the way that we are just trying to fight through the bumpy road of adolescence.

This book inflicts a variety of teenage issues. The major themes of this book are all one that are useful to me with the topic i chose. i was recommended this book somewhere and i remember the person saying how it really just focuses in on one certain character. i was not sure if that was a good thing or not until i read the book. Now i know that it focusing on one character allowed me to get more details into her life. when Alice starts going out with her boyfriend she describes the butterfly feelings she gets, then later she describes her feeling of stress. It is a lot like what Anna said when i interviewed her about her school experience, she remember the complications of boyfriend relationships. i think it will be a good piece to add in with my research.

another book i just found and thought just maybe might be interesting for this occasion is PREP... but we will see about that one.

BIgger Thoughts on School

Both having different approaches when it comes to school...

Hirsh believes that students need to have a basic knowledge in order to really know that topic on a deeper level. he thinks the purpose of school is primary to teach the facts of history, science, math and such. once we are given the information we have more knowledge and are better able to think for ourselves. "Students should be able to read and know basic number facts by the end of the first grade," Hirsch said.

Sizer focusing on have students learn material on a deep level of thinking as opposed to memorizing facts and dates. unlike most schools the particular school we are in right now does just that. so that way students can be able to think for themselves rather than be brainwashed by the words in a textbook. "Students should leave school as well-informed skeptics, able to ask good questions as a matter of habit," said Sizer. he believes that a schools need to widen their horizon and not only be teaching based off a strict curriculum. the more i read about Sizer policy the more connected sof becomes.

more or less i agree with both ideas. they both make sense.

(A pretty rough draft)

Obama News

A school is an institution. It is a system designed to conform individuals to be in tune to society. A place that a person can discover they are good at. School allows for talents and skills to be uncovered. Which provides a person with insight to your future and the role they fit into in society. It acts as an escape ladder to success, or a coping technique for other challenges. Either way it is a battlefield, one that is not easily avoided, or beat.

The main purpose of the speech was to motivate students to do their very best in school. Obama is all about his phrases like “YES, we can” or “no child left behind” or the one on the sign that was hanging in back of him, “ My education, My future.” I do agree with most of what he was saying, but not all. He spoke to students all across America. It was inspiring. While he gave his speech No one dared to speak. The ocean of students seems to be captivated by his presence.

In this speech Obama tries really hard to relate to students all across America. He brought the ideas down to our level and gave us something to relate too. Obama verbalized the feeling most everyone gets on the first days of school. He talked about the joy that comes with being a senior. It makes everything a little more personal when he brings up his past experiences. In my mind he is saying that we all have the tools we need in order to be as successful as he is. By taking education seriously we will be lead to success. “You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it” Being success is hard. but if you work and work and work hard enough anyone can be successful. Schools provide the right materials in order for every kid to be successful. I agree that everyone has responsibly that they are held accountable for. An education does rely on the student. You can not make someone want to learn. "But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life…That’s no excuse for not trying." Everyone person in America has the opportunity to an education and it is their responsibly to take hold of it.

“The future of America depends on us” that’s a whole great big deal to deal with. Lets not screw this up. The faith of America is now a burden on our shoulders.

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“The future of America depends on us” that’s a whole great big deal to deal with. Lets not screw this up. The faith of America is now a burden on our shoulders.

Obama, Barack. "Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama: Back to School Event." whitehouse. N.p., 8/9/2009. Web. 11 Mar 2010. .

Herbert, Bob. "Where the Bar Ought to Be." New York Times(2010): n. pag. Web. 11 Mar 2

First write, in 1-3 sentences, as sharply as you can, the question/accusation/insight that forms the heart of your exploration. Then write 2-4 paragraphs about the significance of your topic/interest/question. Please consider one or more of the following questions and also any other significance that you can address:

The life of a student. what types of things we as student are forced to face on a daily basis.

School takes up a good amount of our time. We spend year after year in school. We all come out differently then when we started. School has an effect on people no matter what. it might be a stretch to say that school helps make us who we are, but i believe that. Everyone has difference experiences. That we chose to handle different ways. for some school is hell, full of bullies, drugs, mean teachers, bullshit, drama, embarrassing moments. we have all been through that at one point or another. On the other hand for some school can be fun, a place to socialize, learn, love.

and so im curious as to the things that make school worth going to. i want to know more about the experiences people have. Im interesting in the routines of an average day.

Sources

I. http://insideschools.org/index12.php?fso=57

On this site you can look you information on any school. Along with facts and a calculated percent numbers this website is very informational. It comes with a review that deals with different aspects of the school. While including quotes of mothers and students that have been involved with the school.

Relating to my topic this website helps me get a feel for a school. It allows me to get different qualities of different schools. i have to say it is all pretty accurate, i thought after i looked up our school. i plan to include my personal experiences at Sof with the information i have found here.

II. http://lebanon.or.schoolwebpages.com/education/dept/dept.php?sectionid=26&PHPSESSID=baeeee6e55149447ddd520788c080519

This website describes a typical student life. it details what it is like to be a student. This article is very one sided and does not go much into depth. It talks about typical qualities students develop while in school and who they become after. It describes how students might adapt to different situations and how they interact with other students. It discusses the social system of diversity and status.

All of situations brought up in this article are practical. they are typical issues that i think most people can relate too.it is interesting hearing things from the people you don't know. i was able to pull out some good quotes to use in my paper :)

Sadker, David Miller, and Karen R. Zittleman. "High School's Adolescent Society." (2006): n. pag. Web. 24 Feb 2010. .

This website has some book suggestions that look like the y would be very helpful. A website created by two author that do a good job summing up the books. they take excerpt from the book and included some great sources. one resource said, "high school is closer to the core of the American experience than anything else I can think of." This is a helpful website for people who are interested in the social part of school.

I really like this site. it is really long and includes different books that all relate to my topic. in this article there are detailed descriptions of the books including information, quotes etc. i think there are definatly some good stuff here that i can use for my project.

"Yahoo answers." High school experiences?. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090415171859AAQlkQc

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080904200111AAxwrcQ

Here people ask a question and anyone can respond to it. it is interesting the way everyone adds on their first hand experiences. Some people have more to say than other but they are all really helpful and kind of work out each other. i like how they are true personal stories.

This might not be a site that is legit as some of the others but it has good information that i am going to include in my research. most of the things written here i can relate too as well.

Peavy, Shannon . "My High School Experience Is a Total Hell: A teen tells about battling anti-gay prejudice in rural Georgia ." (2001): n. pag. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

Zolten, Kristen, and Nicholas Long. "DEALING WITH PEER PRESSURE AND BAD COMPANIONS." Center for effective Parenting. 1997. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

i was a little surprised when i came across this site. i do not exactly know why but it includes research and lists and a bunch of different subtitles. Focusing on peer pressure, friends, and parents this article is concerned with things to avoid in school. it talks about how people handle themselves in certain situations.

Although it does not include any person material, this website would be very easy to relate information too. so i am defiantly going to revisit it. and maybe anyone else looking for the above things i recommend this site.