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Teaching method that actually worked!

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E.R Braithwaite, a new teacher at Greenslade School, a secondary school, learns how to teach a group of students who are classified as “difficult” because they do not comply with the traditional forms of education because of their lack of respect for authority. Being black was definitely a disadvantage for him, seeing as the students did not respect him because of that fact, but he persists and tries a different approach to teaching them, giving them respect for their age, and asking them to have certain manners now in class. I think this made a huge difference in their minds for many different reasons.

By giving these students respect, Braithwaite earned theirs because they finally felt like someone genuinely cared about them and saw them as blooming adults, which they were. Giving them this sense of power gave these students the drive to prove their self-worth, to actually accomplish and learn things. By letting his students choose the topic they discussed in class, the students expressed real interest in the topic and the conversation just flowed. There was nothing strained about the conversation, since Braithwaite gave the students permission to ask anything they wanted. He let them explore the thoughts in their mind, answered any questions they had, and let them expressed their opinions. This was completely new to them, and being treated differently and learning in this kind of environment made these children not only better students, but better people, being able to survive in the real world with the different topics they discussed, like sex, love, marriage, etc.

I believe this was very important to them, treating these students like adults and teaching them things that actually meant something to them, to entice real interest from them. One can see how the students perception of their teacher changes throughout the movie, with good reason! In my opinion, Braithwaite could not have gotten through to his students any other way since I believe that in order to learn, a student must first be motivated to learn and express interest in the topics one is learning.

 

 

 

Free post

To Sir with Love and Malcolm X

In the film To Sir, with Love, I respect Mr. Thackeray for that he consistently makes himself as an example for his students. He is always self-composed and very careful with his anger management; he never acts too extreme even though he is furious. If he scolds and curses at the students often, the students would talk back even louder, then the classroom would eventually become a clamorous street market. Speaking from my own experience, what a teacher does can really unconsciously influence the behaviors of the students. The importance of following an example is also shown in Reading selection:  “Learning to Read” excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Malcolm X writes “when Bimbi first made me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversations he was in, and I had tried to emulate him” (par.4). Bimbi motivates Malcolm X to improve himself.

Mr. Thackeray changes his way of teaching when he realizes the traditional textbook lessons don’t work. In the case of Malcolm X, he adapts the prison environment and utilizes what he has access to. He borrows “some tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school” (par.5) and he “copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks” (par.7). This shows that during times of conundrums, working with what you’ve got is the best thing to do. You might accomplish something like both cases have shown. Mr. Thackeray gains the respect he deserves from his students; Malcolm X learns how to read.

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A Lesson for Life

In the various pieces of text that we have read for class, these text often elaborated on how to learn or what is a real education. James Bach brings the point that learning doesn’t stop or come from school. Locke and Emerson bring the point that books and information for others can only offer so much. However, Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying, brings a slightly different idea. The protagonist, Grant, taught Jefferson how to be a man, a person, and a way to live life. Which is far different from the other pieces of text that we have looked at.

I believe a changing point in the novel was when Grant says this line:  “I don’t know when I’m going to die, Jefferson. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe today. That’s why I try to live as well as I can every day and not hurt people” (Gaines 105). I understood that future is a mystery, a person can be here today and gone tomorrow. An individual should be nice to whoever, because it might be the last time they will converse and you want to end it with something nice. In a sense, not take people for granted. Grant was a very harsh and short-tempered teacher and he always lashed out on the students. Jefferson was really cruel to Miss Emma despite her hospitality. Miss Emma was a sick elderly and any day could be her last. While she was very supportive of Jefferson, it broke her heart how Jefferson was treating her. Grant’s application of the lifestyle, he started to be nicer to the students. More importantly, he has more active to Jefferson. He tried his best to get to him to make him a “man.” Grant also began to be more understand of Vivian. With regards to Jefferson, he started to talk more and socialize. He became a “nicer” and more “human.” Eventually he was able to become a “man” and die as one. Instead of teaching us how to learn, through Grant and Jefferson Gaines taught the reader how to live life. It is a harder lesson to learn, and if one to learn this from experience, it may have been too late for the individual like it was for Jefferson.

Close Reading Post, Free post

The Plight of Manhood

Both texts by Gaines and Malcolm X suggest a pattern that starts with writing and reading. These actions lead to a freedom of mind and therefore allow an individual to be more certain about himself. This self-certainty and education is what opens the doors to manhood, as these texts portray a man as someone who stands strong and tall despite the adversaries and obstacles that surround him. A man knows who he is and is firm in that belief, even if others try to destroy his self esteem.

Grant narrates, ““They must believe, if only to free the mind, if not the body. Only when the mind is free has the body a chance to be free’” (Gaines 200). Though this quote has quite the negative context, as Grant refuses to believe in God or that Jefferson has been fairly judged for his supposed crime, it can relate to Jefferson and even Grant himself in other ways. After receiving the notebook, Jefferson begins to write, and his words vary from thoughts about death to the difference between being a hog and being a man. Through his writing, Jefferson begins to understand himself more and with Grant’s help, starts to see himself as an actual human and not as an animal like he previously believed. Jefferson’s mind has become free and he has become overall more confident in who he is, something that Grant never really knew for himself. Grant recognizes this difference and tells Jefferson: “‘You’re more of a man than I am, Jefferson…My eyes were closed before this moment, Jefferson. My eyes have been closed all my life’” (Gaines 184). This experience with Jefferson has freed Grant’s own mind a bit, as he has never been sure of who he is or what his purpose is. Jefferson has taught him to get over this uncertainty and stand firm in his belief in himself. And through Jefferson’s own freedom of mind obtained by Grant’s encouragement and his own writing, Jefferson becomes a man, and his final moments display this change as he walks towards the electric chair.

Malcolm X also gained a sense of manhood through the freedom of mind that his self-education brought him. His first display of manhood is what actually started it all, as he was determined to be able to articulate his strong thoughts through writing and took charge of his own learning. Through his own willpower, he learned how to read and write, and soon enough, his reading would change his life forever. Malcolm X wrote, “Months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.” All of the books he read freed his mind and opened it up to concepts that he would have never thought possible to understand. The readings, especially those that had to do with black mistreatment, inspired him to take a stand. He wrote, “As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive” (Malcolm X). This mental alertness spurred by his freedom to think for himself is what showed him what it was he needed to do. Malcolm X, through his self-educated reading and writing skills, gained the freedom of mind to become a man – a man who dedicated his life to relieving the plight of the black man.

Brainstorming Exercise #2

Brainstorming Exercise #2

Image

 

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Peer Response Post

Books simply records

This is a peer response is to Beliana Krashi post which is titled books simply records of the past.  I agree with her statement that books are helpful for fundamental learning but only to a particular extent because as informative as books are, some types of writing can be considered a agreed upon opinion or written with a particular stances that is imposed on the reader. Historical textbooks can be considered one type of literature that can be written in a perspective that might not be fair or slightly bias to one side, a written depiction or record of what the winning side wanted told as there story. Emerson saids ‘books are more of a record of the past, records that “Each age… must write… or rather, each generation for the next succeeding.” This is true because now a days with so many different opinions and depictions of how a event occurs with the internet and social media it would be a lot more easy to finds one true version of a event or one that the reader finds true, before there weren’t as many outlets to write a version of a event that took place or so many possible opposing opinions that makes it a must to depict a event as accurate and unbiased as possible if you are writing about it. At one time books and literature were the only outlets for a person to learn and that can be used against the mass of people because it would be easy to impose a thought or idea through philosophical text, news papers and history books. This is why looking at books as records of the past and not completely take what we read as absolute is a better idea because then we can cone up with our own truths referencing the past and what we hold true.

Methodology Check In

Methodology Check In

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The goal of our ASM is to teach students individually based on what they are interested in, and focus more on hands-on experience of the subject. This way  they can relate it to the real world. The process of teaching will be done by teachers who will be specifically trained to focus on hands-on activities along with teaching directly in a regular classroom. This will take place in a classroom, as well as outside, depending on what field of interest each student has. For example a person who is interested in cooking will be placed at a particular restaurant where they can observe and even start helping out to see how it is.  Meanwhile,  for someone who wants to be a police officer, we would put them in a police station where they can see and experience the daily life of an officer. The best time for our ASM will be after regular school hours. Most students go straight home after school, but very few of them really practice or review what they have learned in school. Therefore, our ASM can help them to review what they have learned and most importantly, have them experience hands on practice, in order to understand even more. Lastly, the supplies that will be needed will be depended on what the subject is for the time being. For example, if the student is being taught how to shoot and edit video for a film or short, then we would need a camera and editing software. If the subject is how to cook then pots, pans and food are what is needed for the particular practice. The supplies would reflect what they will actually encounter in the field that they are interested in pursuing and it helps them become more familiar with them.

Brian Fernandez, Farzana Manjra,  Beliana Krashi, Yin Yuan, Eric Yao

Through the lens post

Explain Rather Than Demand

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Rousseau had stated, “Use force with children and reasoning with men; this is the natural order; the wise man needs no laws” (Rousseau 8), which I think means that when you want children to do something or to stop doing something you can forcefully control them, but you have to talk it out with a man. It means that when you want children to listen to you, you can scream at them, punish them or hit them to make them obey you, but with a man you can’t do that because a man is grown up and you have to explain to them and answer the “WHY” of the situation. This can be seen in A Lesson Before Dying when Miss Emma says, “I want the teacher visit my boy. I want the teacher make him know he’s not a hog, he’s a man. I want him know that ’fore he go to that chair, Mr. Henri” (Gaines 18), from this I think she’s treating him like a child by saying ‘make him know’ which is aggressive and forceful, instead if she really wants Jefferson to die a ‘man’ then she should let the teacher explain it to him and reason it out with him rather than demand him. Through Rousseau’s idea Miss Emma is basically treating Jefferson as a child rather than a man which she wants him to be before he is executed.

Methodology Check In, Methods Check-In

Finding One’s Own Way: Methodology

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Our ASM will teach an understanding of the city and its streets on the way to the destination. This will all be depending on the individual’s actual motivation to reach the goal or in this case, the destination, which is an additional lesson for this ASM. It will also help our students learn about their partners and how to use teamwork to reach a shared objective. The students themselves would do the teaching, as they are educating themselves by choosing their own paths and following their own intuitions to find the landmark hints we will give them. The city will also help with the teaching by making students pay attention to their surroundings and increase their sense of direction. Our ASM will take place in the city; it will start at 59th street Maison Kayser and end at 74th street Maison Kayser. We chose Maison Kayser because as a group we have never heard of this cafe. This cafe is also not as mainstream as Starbucks or Paris Baguette. Our ASM will take place at 12pm noon on a Sunday because that is usually a lively time and day in the city and hopefully the amount of people on the streets will throw our students off and make it harder for them to find a way to Maison Kayser. Also, if our students get lost, they would need a good amount of time to get there before it gets dark. For the group that will receive strict directions, we will have to prepare a printout of these directions and a map to give to them. As for the group without the map or directions, we will need to take pictures of certain landmarks to give them hints. We will need two cameras to record each group during their journey to the destination.

Steps:

  1. Meet up as a group one day that is separate from the day of our ASM and we will basically go through the process our students will go through for ourselves.
  2. Half of our group, Kelly and Angela, will determine which landmarks and buildings to use.
  3. This half will also take pictures using our cameras of these landmarks and buildings and print them out.
  4. The other half, Gabrielle and Ariane, will Google and print out directions from Maison Kayser 59th St. to Maison Kayser 74th St.
  5. This half will also walk the set path with directions to determine the time limit to place on our student pair.
  6. After determining the time it takes to get there by directions, we will add thirty minutes to that for the time limit to give them some leeway in the case of any disruption.
  7. Schedule a Sunday that works for all the group members, as well as our students.
  8. Meet up on that day at Maison Kayser near Columbus Circle.
  9. Explain our project to our students and distribute the materials to each pair.
  10. Divide the groups and introduce each student to their partners.
  11. Then we will divide the pairs among the members of our group. Kelly and Angela will follow and film the pair without directions or a map. Gabrielle and Ariane will follow and film the pair with directions.
  12. We will confiscate the phones from all students to make sure they do not cheat.
  13. We will give Kelly and Angela’s group a five minute head start to make sure they do not follow the group with directions.
  14. The students will begin walking and we will begin recording.
  15. When everyone reaches the destination, we will discuss what all of the students learned about the city, each other, and themselves. This will determine the success of our ASM.
  16. We will also ask them if they liked the project and ask if they have any suggestions on what we could have done differently. We will include these statements in our paper.
  17. Then when everything relating to our ASM is done, we will eat to celebrate and as a reward for all of the walking!
Peer Response Post

Education Allows for Hope and Opportunity

In response to Jenny’s post “The Path Towards, But Not To, Freedom” I agree that education is a essential source that allows for hope and opportunity. In the novel A Lesson Before Dying  by Earnest J. Gaines, an African American man, Grant, was a teacher. He was completely different because unlike the other blacks who had to work in the field/plantation, Grant had a high education. Grant stated, “I was too educated for Henri Pichot; he had no use for me at all anymore” (21). This quote emphasizes that with knowledge, he had his own thoughts and opinions, and therefore did not want to stay listening to the white master’s demands. However, as Jenny states, education alone, will not lead to freedom, rather, it is a path towards freedom. The main issue here is ignorance as well as discrimination towards blacks.

Further more, I agree with Jenny about the emphasis Emma makes on the word hog. Obviously, hog is stated in a negative connotation as she states, “Now his godmother wants me to visit him and make him know—prove to these white men—that he’s not a hog, that he’s a man” (23). With an increasing education, Grant slowly makes the transformation from a hog, to ultimately, a man.

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