Brainstorming for Paper #2...

To me, the role of a teacher is to not only teach their students whatever subject their focus is, but also to help prepare them for life in general. By having interactive in-class assignments and such, children are learning valuable social skills, as well as problem-solving and critical thinking.

A good teacher can teach lessons based on a curriculum and have their students retain the knowledge. But a great teacher will find a way to connect to their students, no matter how difficult it may be. Their students should not only retain the knowledge, but become intrigued by it enough to want to learn more. A great teacher should inspire confidence in the student's abilities, and teach them that they can do anything they want to, as long as they work hard enough for it. Another important factor (that Sir Ken Robinson also talked about) is that teachers should encourage students to embrace their creative abilities. Without the encouragement of things like art, music, etc., future generations will not have the Picasso's, DaVinci's and Shakespeare's of their own time.

Notes from Sir Ken Robinson's video...

At an educational conference in Monterey, CA in 2006, He spoke of:
--> Human creativity
--> We have no idea what the future holds for education
--> Education goes deep with people
--> The future of education is unpredictable, yet we're supposed to prepare kids for the future.
--> Creativity is as important to education as literacy is.
--> Kids are more creative because they're not afraid to be wrong
--> We get educated out of our own creativity.
--> The heirarchy of education:
         --> Math & Languages
                 --> Humanities
                        --> The arts
--> The most useful subjects for the working world are at the top of the educational heirarchy.
--> Intelligence is diverse, dynamic & distinct
--> Jillian Lynn - one of the world's greatest choreographers - today would be given medication for ADHD and told to settle down.
--> We need to learn to reestablish our greatest gift: the human imagination.

Educational Narrative: Final Draft...

Jennifer Daniels

English 101 – Begert

1/28/2013

Learning to Drive My Way Through Life:

            It seems simple, right? “How I Learned to Drive”. How generic. How ridiculously simple. She’s writing her paper about that??  Yes, I am. Here’s the clincher: the basis for my educational narrative. I see learning how to drive as a metaphor for the most important lessons one can learn throughout their life. Rules for applying the brakes translate as: stop whenever necessary, but do it slowly. Stopping abruptly & without cause can lead to a collision. Rules for acceleration: learning how to move forward. Take your time, and look both ways. Think before you act. And finally, being in neutral: stop and smell the roses. It is your halfway point between what lies in front of you and what you’ve left behind.

            Driving a car is not the easiest thing in the world at first. For me personally, I was terrified. I was also eighteen years old when I learned how. Not for a lack of wanting to learn, but because of geography. I grew up in Wilton, California. A country town that was so small, it wasn’t even on the radar. You’d have to drive for miles before you ever saw your neighbor. Because I lived way out in the sticks, the driving schools from the nearby cities wouldn’t come out to our house. They said it was too far. (Understatement of the century!) So, it wasn’t until I graduated high school and moved to Folsom that I learned how to drive. And I was at a serious disadvantage. My uncle Dave comes to my apartment & says, “Come on, it’s time to learn so you can pass that DMV test.” To my astonishment, we walk outside & I don’t see his champagne-colored Suburban he always drove. I see a shiny black Honda Civic; and it’s mine! We get in and that’s when it hits me: this car is a stick shift! He took me up the hill and tried to teach me how to drive it. Big problem! I’m stopped at a stop sign in a residential neighborhood. No big deal. Except I forgot to mention that this stop sign is on the steepest hill I’ve ever seen in my life!! There are cars behind me honking, and I’m trying to get them to go around me. I know that as soon as I take my foot off that brake, I’m sliding backwards and I will crash right into them. After everyone had gone around me, I pulled the emergency brake, got out, and demanded that my uncle take over. It wasn’t until about a week later that I actually got the hang of it. My dad came over and said, “Enough of this. You have a car, you need to know how to drive it”. He took me up into the hills a bit, to an area that was undeveloped. It had steep hills, points where I needed to make three-point turns, etc. One of the best things he ever taught me took place on the biggest hill, which overlooked all of Sacramento County. He showed me that without even hitting the gas, I could make my car move forward. He said it is a matter of balance, between releasing the clutch and stepping on the gas. And from then on, I got it. I could drive the car and I was so happy to finally have my freedom.

The way I see it, driving takes time, and so does learning. The difference between childhood and adulthood is equivalent to the difference between learning to ride a bike without training wheels, and learning to drive a car. The best thing that I could do for myself was to learn how to embrace life. When you are thrown out into the adult world without any warning, as I was, then your take on life is a bit stunted. I learned this lesson from seeing what happened to my older sister’s life. She had a drug problem. She also had two beautiful daughters. Abbigail was two years old at the time, and Natalie was just three months old. When everything went awry, I was seventeen, still in high school and still living with my parents, as I should have been. But all of a sudden, everything collapsed around us. We found out that my sister Cassie was addicted to crystal meth. What?? Cassie? No way! She was always so straight-edged and prissy. It’s got to be a mistake! And with two beautiful reasons to cherish every moment of life, how could she have a drug addiction? Unfortunately, it was true. And within a month of finding out, Cassie’s fiancée had left her, she was homeless, and she didn’t have a job because she had been a stay-at-home mom. So her only option was to move back into our parents’ house. It was a small place, with only two bedrooms. After about a week of sharing a room with my moaning, screaming sister (who was going through withdrawals) and her two infant daughters, I realized it was time to go. So I was thrust into the world of adult life. I had to find a place to live, get a job, support myself and still manage to finish high school. Not graduating high school was not an option for me. I was hell-bent and determined to have a better life. But when you are stressing over things like rent and bills and family drama, especially when you should only be worrying about grades and boys, your view of life can become a bit distorted. I know mine did. The next few years of my life were very complicated and very stressful. I was supremely unhappy and I knew that I needed a change. I felt like I had a building rage inside me. Like I was thrown into this life because of bad decisions that my sister had made. I was the one suffering for her mistakes. And I was enraged.

            The rage followed me everywhere. Now, I’m fairly certain that everyone has experienced road rage at some point in their lives. Personally, I laugh at myself when this happens. Someone cuts me off, and I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, “Are you KIDDING me!?!?!?” And don’t get me wrong, I’m really mad. But usually once a few minutes have passed, I’m cracking up laughing because I got so upset. And it’s not like the person in the other car could hear me. They were long gone. I try to keep the “road rage” out of my everyday life. I was a lot more dramatic in my teens and early twenties. It seemed like every little thing that happened had the potential to destroy my day. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that “road rage” is not the answer. If you spend your life worrying about all the little things that can, will, and might or might not happen, you’ll miss out on the beauty of it all. So the next time you feel road rage coming on, take a deep breath and remember this: it’s not the end of the world. There’s no point in stressing over the things you can’t control.

            I know it seems like a cliché to say this, but learning how to drive a car really is like riding a bike. It’s really scary in the beginning, especially if you don’t have your training wheels on! It’s just one of those things in life that you need to learn how to do, and after a while (hopefully) you’ll be really great at it. And over time, no matter how long it’s been since the last time you were behind the wheel, it is a skill that you will never forget. It wasn’t until many years later that I dissected the meaning behind my dad’s words. When I look at my uncle Dave, who is wound as tight as they come, and my dad who is very easy going and has that “go-with-the-flow” mentality, it is obvious that my dad is the one to listen to. If you are faced with a problem in life, you can’t panic and stress and lash out. That won’t solve the problem. It’s a matter of balance. Learning to find that special point when you release the clutch and hit the gas. Once you can find that point, everything will move forward smoothly.

Educational Narrative Rough Draft...

Jennifer Daniels

English 101 – Begert

1/28/2013

Learning to Drive My Way Through Life:

            It seems simple, right? “How I Learned to Drive”. How generic. How ridiculously simple. She’s writing her paper about that??  Yes, I am. Here’s the clincher: the basis for my educational narrative. I see learning how to drive as a metaphor for the most important lessons one can learn throughout their life. Rules for applying the brakes translate as: stop whenever necessary, but do it slowly. Stopping abruptly & without cause can lead to a collision. Rules for acceleration: learning how to move forward. Take your time, and look both ways. Think before you act. And finally, being in neutral: stop and smell the roses. It is your halfway point between what lies in front of you and what you’ve left behind.

            Driving a car is not the easiest thing in the world at first. For me personally, I was terrified. I was also 18 years old when I learned how. Not for a lack of wanting to learn, but because of geography. I grew up in Wilton, California. A country town that was so small, it wasn’t even on the radar. You’d have to drive for miles before you ever saw your neighbor. Because I lived way out in the sticks, the driving schools from the nearby cities wouldn’t come out to our house. They said it was too far. (Understatement of the century!) So, it wasn’t until I graduated high school and moved to Folsom that I learned how to drive. And I was at a serious disadvantage. My uncle Dave comes to my apartment & says, “Come on, it’s time to learn so you can pass that DMV test.” To my astonishment, we walk outside & I don’t see his champagne-colored Suburban he always drove. I see a shiny black Honda Civic; and it’s mine! We get in and that’s when it hits me: this car is a stick shift! He took me up the hill and tried to teach me how to drive it. Big problem! I’m stopped at a stop sign in a residential neighborhood. No big deal. Except I forgot to mention that this stop sign is on the steepest hill I’ve ever seen in my life!! There are cars behind me honking, and I’m trying to get them to go around me. I know that as soon as I take my foot off that brake, I’m sliding backwards and I will crash right into them. After everyone had gone around me, I pulled the emergency brake, got out, and demanded that my uncle take over. It wasn’t until about a week later that I actually got the hang of it. My dad came over and said, “Enough of this. You have a car, you need to know how to drive it”. He took me up into the hills a bit, to an area that was undeveloped. It had steep hills, points where I needed to make three-point turns, etc. One of the best things he ever taught me took place on the biggest hill, which overlooked all of Sacramento County. He showed me that without even hitting the gas, I could make my car move forward. He said it is a matter of balance, between releasing the clutch and stepping on the gas. And from then on, I got it. I could drive the car and I was so happy to finally have my freedom.

The way I see it, driving takes time, and so does learning. The difference between childhood and adulthood is equivalent to the difference between learning to ride a bike without training wheels, and learning to drive a car. The best thing that I could do for myself was to learn how to embrace life. When you are thrown out into the adult world without any warning, as I was, then your take on life is a bit stunted.

            My older sister had a drug problem. She also had two beautiful daughters. Abbigail was two years old at the time, and Natalie was just three months old. When everything went awry, I was seventeen, still in high school and still living with my parents, as I should have been. But all of a sudden, everything collapsed around us. We found out that my sister Cassie was addicted to crystal meth. What?? Cassie? No way! She was always so straight-edged and prissy. It’s got to be a mistake! And with two beautiful reasons to cherish every moment of life, how could she have a drug addiction? Unfortunately, it was true. And within a month of finding out, Cassie’s fiancée had left her, she was homeless, and she didn’t have a job because she had been a stay-at-home mom. So her only option was to move back into our parents’ house. It was a small place, with only two bedrooms. After about a week of sharing a room with my moaning, screaming sister (who was going through withdrawals) and her two infant daughters, I realized it was time to go.

            So I was thrust into the world of adult life. I had to find a place to live, get a job, support myself and still manage to finish high school. Not graduating high school was not an option for me. I was hell-bent and determined to have a better life. But when you are stressing over things like rent and bills and family drama, especially when you should only be worrying about grades and boys, your view of life can become a bit distorted. I know mine did. The next few years of my life were very complicated and very stressful. I was supremely unhappy and I knew that I needed a change. I felt like I had a building rage inside me. Like I was thrown into this life because of bad decisions that my sister had made. I was the one suffering for her mistakes. And I was enraged.

            I’m fairly certain that everyone has experienced road rage at some point in their lives. Personally, I laugh at myself when this happens. Someone cuts me off, and I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, “Are you KIDDING me!?!?!?” And don’t get me wrong, I’m really mad. But usually once a few minutes have passed, I’m cracking up laughing because I got so upset. And it’s not like the person in the other car could hear me. They were long gone. I try to keep the “road rage” out of my everyday life. I was a lot more dramatic in my teens and early twenties. It seemed like every little thing that happened had the potential to destroy my day. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that “road rage” is not the answer. If you spend your life worrying about all the little things that can, will, and might or might not happen, you’ll miss out on the beauty of it all. So the next time you feel road rage coming on, take a deep breath and remember this: it’s not the end of the world. There’s no point in stressing over the things you can’t control.

            I know it seems like a cliché to say this, but learning how to drive a car really is like riding a bike. It’s really scary in the beginning, especially if you don’t have your training wheels on! It’s just one of those things in life that you need to learn how to do, and after a while (hopefully) you’ll be really great at it. And over time, no matter how long it’s been since the last time you were behind the wheel, it is a skill that you will never forget. It wasn’t until many years later that I dissected the meaning behind my dad’s words. When I look at my uncle Dave, who is wound as tight as they come, and my dad who is very easy going and has that “go-with-the-flow” mentality, it is obvious that my dad’s words were the ones to listen to. If you are faced with a problem in life, you can’t panic and stress and lash out. That won’t solve the problem. It’s a matter of balance. Learning to find that special point when you release the clutch and hit the gas. Once you can find that point, everything will move forward smoothly.

Continuing the Drafting Process...

The way I see it, driving takes time, and so does learning. The difference between childhood and adulthood is equivalent to the difference between learning to ride a bike without training wheels, and learning to drive a car. The best thing that I could do for myself was to learn how to embrace life. When you are thrown out into the adult world without any warning, as I was, then your take on life is a bit stunted.

My older sister had a drug problem. She also had two beautiful daughters. Abbigail was two years old at the time, and Natalie was just three months old. When everything went awry, I was seventeen, still in high school and still living with my parents, as I should have been. But all of a sudden, everything collapsed around us. We found out that my sister Cassie was addicted to crystal meth. What?? Cassie? No way! She was always so straight-edged and prissy. It’s got to be a mistake! And with two beautiful reasons to cherish every moment of life, how could she have a drug addiction? Unfortunately, it was true. And within a month of us finding out, Cassie’s fiancée had left her, she was homeless, and she didn’t have a job because she had been a stay-at-home mom. So her only option was to move back into our parents’ house. It was a small place, with only two bedrooms. After about a week of sharing a room with my moaning, screaming sister (who was going through withdrawals) and her two infant daughters, I realized it was time to go.

So I was thrust into the world of adult life. I had to find a place to live, get a job, support myself and still manage to finish high school. Not graduating high school was not an option for me. I was hell-bent and determined to have a better life. But when you are stressing over things like rent and bills and family drama, especially when you should only be worrying about grades and boys, your view of life can become a bit distorted. I know mine did…

Attention Dr. Begert and fellow readers...

I was just flipping through my blog posts and realized that I hadn't actually posted the last 2. (The ones that were due BEFORE class tonight). I had accidentally saved them as drafts instead of actually publishing them. Oops!

So I just published both of them, sorry for the delay!!

Jenn

Why I Chose Malcolm X...

Anyone who’s read my blog posts so far knows that I am in favor of Malcolm X’s essay. It is his true passion for knowledge that is really inspiring to me, and I’m sure, to a lot of people. He didn’t HAVE to learn how to read, he chose to. And why? Because he admired the knowledge of Bimbi, his fellow prison mate. “It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, 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… Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I had received the motivation that I did”.

I believe that anyone who is motivated enough to teach THEMSELVES how to do something is worthy of praise. It can be a simple thing, like tying your shoes, or it could be a longer, more drawn out process, like learning how to read. But Malcolm X just craved knowledge. He knew that knowledge is power, and ignorance is not really bliss, as everyone says it is. He worked with what he had and he made it work for him. And that is truly inspiring. Another reason I like his essay more than the others’ is because I can relate to parts of it. Especially when he talks about the difference between reading something and understanding what you’ve read. (It reminds me of my blog post about speed-reading). “No university would ask any student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being able to read and understand”. To me, this is one of the most powerful quotes in his essay.

Comparing The Three Essays...

To me, the biggest difference between the essays by Mike Rose, Benjamin Franklin, and Malcolm X is the voice/tone of the essays. They all tell a story of how they learned to do something significant to their own lives. But Malcolm X’s essay was pure passion. Benjamin Franklin’s was a bit harder to read both in the language of the time as well as the interest level. It just didn’t draw my attention in the same way. And Mike Rose’s essay was both informative AND interesting, but it was more of a slam against his previous teachers. (Even though they deserved to be slammed).

Malcolm X described his experience in an extremely positive light, and he illustrated the struggle that he went through in his quest for knowledge. His essay was an inspiration. Benjamin Franklin spoke more about what was expected of him, and the process of his learning experience. His was definitely more informative than anything. And Mike Rose’s essay was really more of a reflection. It was something that he analyzed, though it was years after the fact, and used as a way to reach out to others who may have dealt with the same abysmal educational experience.

All three of these essays are very similar in the sense that they tell a story about a learned experience. But they differ greatly in the voice and tone. One is passionate, one is neutral, and one is almost angry. And in my opinion, it is the voice of the paper that speaks volumes and will engage the readers.