Final Essay 3 - No More Pretending

No More Pretending

It seems to be on the news all the time – how can America change to make its schools better? How can we help our students learn? What is the real cause for our education crisis? These questions are asked every single year in the fall-time, but no one ever seems to have an answer, since it just seems like America “spend[s] a week or two pretending we're going to do something about the conditions of our schools.” (Education Crisis) With all the plans and budget cuts and shuffling of jobs, there is always one subject that seems taboo to even mention: tenure, and if the Board of Education should get rid of it or not. Even though the very thought of getting rid of tenure is frowned upon, it may be the very thing America needs to get a kick-start on improving its schools.

Tenure, by definition, is to give (someone) a permanent post, such as a teacher or professor. No other job in the entire world has a policy like tenure. No doctors, lawyers, contractors, or garbage men are promised their job no matter how good or bad they do it. Why do teachers get it, then? Well, it's to protect them from getting fired over false allegations such as “he looked at that kid weird” or “she screamed a bad word at the class.” While teachers do deserve protection from false allegations made by angry students, it seems that the true purpose of tenure has changed since it was first put in place.

But, what if a teacher really did do something that could get them fired? What if these accusations made by angry students weren't so false? Drinking on the job, touching a student, screaming profanities – these seem like extreme examples, but they really aren't. Almost every single school in America has one or two teachers like this, and every year they come back to teach some more. The logical solution would be to simply fire them, but because of tenure, even the middle-aged male teacher who is known to looking at the teenage girls a little too much is allowed to come back and teach. Even if it's a little less extreme, such as Mrs. Smith gives easy A's because she is too lazy to put effort into every single essay graded, tenure lets her come back year after year to keep passing kids who may not be learning a single thing. It is because of tenure that these bad teachers are able to come back, and there is nothing the students can do about it.

It is not the kids to blame. Most school officials say that kids just need to work harder, pay attention, cell phones are the root of the problem. But more often than not, educators forget “that the true purpose of education is to make minds” (Hedges); teachers, much like their students, have spent years being conditioned to think about good grades and how to get them, even at the cost. But, how can intelligent little Sally get perfect marks when her history teacher is filling her brain with why it's the Native American's fault for getting massacred? Teachers have begun to teach what they feel is right, even if it's not factual. Kids then are taught the wrong information, which would later greatly effect them later in their academic career.

It is not just the wrong information being taught in the classroom. Teachers often forget that it's not just about the perfect grades their students can or can not get – it should be about molding the minds of our country's future. The exceptionally poor teachers always forget about this. “You really connect with your students” (Chalk) is not something every teacher gets to hear. Even the really good ones don't hear it that often. Poor educators have impossible high-standards for their students, but basically refuse to give them the materials to achieve. It is not enough to have kids memorize how many countries are in Europe – they need to learn how to apply this knowledge in the real world.

Kids simply cannot learn from bad teachers. If a teacher refuses to encourage them to attain knowledge that will help them later in life, how will these students figure it out for themselves? Unfortunately, it is more common to have a teacher that only cares about the perfect marks their students are getting, or a teacher that really does not care at all, than to have an educator that genuinely cares about what their students will be doing after their twelve years in primary school. It is simply outrageous, because it seems that “the more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are” (Freire, 1). Over the years, kids will allow themselves to be 'dumbed-down' so that they fit the expectations of their poor teachers. Which, in turn, causes them to never actually learn anything. Kids begin to feel lost and left behind in the academic life, always feeling like “there [is] no one coming with enough power to save us” (Waiting for Superman).

So, how does eliminating tenure help the teachers at all? It doesn't. Yes, it will be much easier for a teacher to get fired, but that can be solved by replacing tenure with guidelines of how teachers should be behaving in a classroom. If a teacher does not meet the standards, they will be put under examination. The news, government, and school boards always say that they have the kids in mind when they're trying to come up with new ways to improve the American schools, but in reality, they are only thinking about the adults involved, and trying to keep everyone's feelings from getting hurt. By directly removing the adults that are causing the problem, students will do better in school. It would also give other people who aspire to be great educators the chance to do so.

Getting rid of the tenure policy would be a risky move. But, instead of every year talking about how much change is going to come about to the schools, it's time to actually do something about America's education crisis. Yes, there are many other things that need to be changed (funding, for example), but it needs to start with the source of why kids are doing so poorly in a select few classes. It is time to take action.

Works Cited

Akel, Mike, dir. Chalk. 2006. Film. 15 Mar 2013.

Guggenheim, Davis, dir. Waiting for Superman. 2010. Film. 15 Mar 2013.

"Daily Show: Back in Black: Education Crisis." Milkandcookies.com. N.p., Oct.-Nov. 2010. Web. <http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/223041/detail/>.

Hedges, Chris. Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle. New York, NY: Nation Books, 2009. Print.

Freire, Paulo. "The "Banking Concept of Education." 1. Web. 16 Mar. 2013.

Rough Draft Essay 3 - No More Pretending

Kelsey Hammond

English 101

Essay 3

No More Pretending

It seems to be on the news all the time – how can America change to make its schools better? That questions is asked every single year, but nothing ever really seems to actually change, since it just seems like “we spend a week or two pretending we're going to do something about the conditions of our schools.”(1) With all the plans and budget cuts and shuffling of jobs, there is always one subject that seems taboo to even mention: tenure. Even though the very thought of getting rid of tenure is frowned upon, it may be the very thing America needs to improve its schools.

 

Tenure, by definition, is to give (someone) a permanent post, such as a teacher or professor. No other job in the entire world has a policy like tenure. No doctors, lawyers, contractors, or garbage men are promised their job no matter what. Why do teachers get it, then? Well, it's to protect them from getting fired over silly allegations such as “he looked at that kid weird” or “she just simply can't teach.”

But, what if a teacher really did do something that could get them fired? Drinking on the job, touching a student, screaming profanities – these seem like extreme examples, but they really aren't. Almost every single school in America has one or two teachers like this, and every year they come back to teach some more. The logical solution would be to simply fire them, but because of tenure, even the middle-aged male teacher who is known to looking at the teenage girls a little too much is allowed to come back and teach. Even if it's a little less extreme, such as Mrs. Smith just cannot teach to save her life, tenure lets her come back year after year to keep 'not-teaching' to more and more kids.

It's not the kids to blame. Most school officials say that kids just need to work harder, pay attention, cell phones are to blame. But more often than not, educators forget “that the true purpose of education is to make minds” (2); teachers, much like their students are forced, only focus on the good grades. But, how can intelligent little Sally get perfect marks when her history teacher is filling her brain with why it's the Native American's fault for getting massacred? 

 

It's not just the wrong information being taught in the classroom. Teachers often forget that it's not just about the perfect grades their students can or can't get – it should be about molding the minds of our countries future. The exceptionally poor teachers always forget about this. “You really connect with your students” (3) is not something every teacher gets to hear. Even the really good ones don't hear it that often. Poor educators have impossible high-standards for their students, but basically refuse to give them the materials to achieve.

Kids simply cannot learn from bad teachers. If a teacher refuses to encourage them to attain knowledge that will help them later in life, how will these students figure it out for themselves? Unfortunately, it is more common to have a teacher that only cares about the perfect marks their students are getting, or a teacher that really doesn't care at all, than to have an educator that genuinely cares about what their students will be doing after their twelve years in school. It's simply wrong, because it seems that “the more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are” (4). Over the years, kids will allow themselves to be 'dumbed-down' so that they fit the expectations of their poor teachers. Which, in turn, causes them to never actually learn anything. Kids begin to feel lost and left behind in the academic life, always feeling like “there [is] no one coming with enough power to save us” (5).

So, how does eliminating tenure help the teachers at all? It doesn't. Yes, it will be much easier for a teacher to get fired, but that can be solved by replacing tenure with guidelines of how teachers should be behaving in a classroom. If a teacher does not meet the standards, they will be put under examination. The news, government, and school boards always say that they have the kids in mind when they're trying to come up with new ways to improve the American schools, but in reality, they are only thinking about the adults involved. By directly removing the adults that are causing the problem, students will do better in school. It would also give other people who aspire to be great educators the chance to do so.

Getting rid of the tenure policy would be a risky move. But, instead of every year talking about how much change is going to come about to the schools, it's time to actually do something about America's education crisis. Yes, there are many other things that need to be changed (funding, for example), but it needs to start with the source of why kids are doing so poorly in a select few classes. It is time to take action.

Argument Excersize - Essay #3

What: Tenure - get rid of it
Who: government/school board
Why: They should care because bad teachers result in poor students, and bad teachers also result in a bad outlook on the school
Gain: better students, peace of mind
Lose: bad teachers will lose jobs
Reasons to agree
   1. bad teachers result in poor students who don't actually learn anything
   2. bad teachers make the school look bad as a whole
   3. bad teachers keep their jobs, even when they have every right to be fired
Reasons to disagree
   1. loss of jobs
   2. where would the schools find more teachers?
   3. the protections of educators is at risk
Answers to objections
   True, however people are going to college to become teachers, so there will always be educators
   Well, yes, but we can always hire new teachers
   Not in this case, because the protection of the students should always come first
Support
   Reason 1: the kids who come from poor teachers will never live up to the standards the school sets for them, so said student will always be behind in classes
   Reason 2: even just one bad teacher will make the entire school look bad because that's what everyone in town will be talking about
   Reason 3: even if a teacher does something illegal, they keep their job. a teacher can sexually harass a student and not get fired, which is just wrong.

Argument Excersize - Chosen Topic

Topic: Art Museumes
What is it you want to prove?: Why cartoonist should go to art museums
Who is the audience: cartoonists
Why should they care?: Inspiration (gain), confidence and time (loose)
Reasons to agree:
   1. gain knowledge os other artists/art
   2. new ideas/inspiration
   3. recognition/networking
Reasons to not agree
   1. wasting time
   2. loose individual style
   3. knowledge may not be applicable
Answers to objections
   True, however it wouldn't be a waste of time if you learn something
   Well, yes, but all knowledge is applicable
   Not in this case, because people are surrounded by things that an diminish your individuality all day long (TV, radio, books)
Supporting material: art parody's; cartoonists always do a parody of a piece of art

Poor Teachers = Poor Students

Taking into consideration what we have watched and read over the past couple of weeks, there is one thing that seems to be universal - bad teachers equal bad students. If an educator simply cannot teach or is unwilling to teach, how will their students learn anything at all?

From personal experience, I know what it's like to have a terrible teacher. Whether they just didn't want to teach, or their own opinions got in the way of the facts, it was always very difficult to lean in those classes. Even when a teacher is being accused of sexual harassment, he did not get fired. The reason? Tenure.

Teachers are guaranteed their jobs because of one simple thing - tenure. After a teacher has had their job for a couple of years, they are granted tenure, which basically keeps them from getting fired for any reason at all. Sure, it seems really good in theory, but what about in application? Even if a teacher cannot educate their students whatsoever, they will keep their job. Thus, they will keep pumping out kids who just aren't learning anything at all.

So, how do we fix this? One way: get rid of tenure. Out of all the possible jobs in the world, is there any other that have anything like tenure? No, not any that I can think of. Yes, tenure is there to protect the rights of the teachers, but we need to stop thinking about them so much. We need to shift our focus to the students, to their futures. Without tenure, schools will be able to fire teachers that are doing a poor job.

Teachers = Bankers?

Friere describes teachers as using a 'banking' way of teaching - as in, instead of encouraging their students to absorb and apply what they are learning, teachers merely present the material to the kids, hope the kids memorize it, and have them regurgitate this false sense of knowledge on a test.

To change it, Friere believes that teachers must begin to reject the idea of 'banking' teaching. Instead, he wants them to use 'problem-posing' teaching, where the teachers would have their students understand fully what they are learning and encourage them to ask questions and have opposing ideas. Friere wants the teachers to be able to think about the material just like their students will be.

Chalk (2006)

This movie was a bit of a disappointment. Like Waiting for Superman, it only really focused on the adults as being the problems/solutions to the education problem. Why are these movies putting so much attention on the adults when we are aiming to help the kids?

Chalk also didn't really show how horrible it can be to have a terrible teacher. Sure, the history guy was bad at first, but he learned from his mistakes and grew as a person. Not all teachers do that - in fact, almost all of them learn nothing from their mistakes.

It is also seen that, like students, teachers care way too much about how they appear to other people. As adults, they really should care that much about how their students see them.

I think Chalk was really hard to connect with because it was a mokumentary, so I didn't really have high expectations from the very start.

Waiting For Superman

This movie is strange in the way it presents itself. It doesn't outright say "hey, Charter Schools are better", but it is certainly implied throughout the whole movie. Yes, it gives very good evidence as to why Charter Schools work, but they left out the reasons as to why they might not be for every kid out there.

It really is strange that those who are fighting for education are white, while those who struggle for education are not.

Firing a teacher should really not be that hard. Some teachers really just stop caring about their students as the years go by. I can think of at least two teachers from my personal experience that should have been fired - one for sexual harassment and one for poor teaching. But, because of tenure, those horrible educators will keep their jobs until they die. It's weird that it's like that though, because with any other job position in the world, on mess up and you're axed. It just strikes me odd that the one job that can actually make a difference is the one where the most unqualified people are.

Black VS Rose

Lewis Black on Education:
Lewis Black sure did have a lot to say about the education system. Even though he does agree with Charter schools, he is still concerned with how the country is handling public schools. Since the admission to a charter school is very selective, most kids are still attending public school, where it's obvious that kids are not learning everything they need ("25th in Math, 21st in Science, 1st in Confidence"). Even though Black didn't have any answers to how America can fix it's public schools, he did bring light to the situation.

Mike Rose - Resolutions
Mike Rose had a very nice list of what he thought should be changed about the education system, but it was very boring to read. Most of what was on his list had to do with the media's approach on education, not what could actually be done. His first point to to have "more young people get an engaging and challenging education", but how? Rose doesn't really give any answers or solutions, just a lot of ideas.

"Critiquing Education"

In my opinion, there are quite a bit of things that need to be changed about the K-12 curriculum in the schools of America. Nutrition, encouraging the arts, foreign language funding - while all of those things are important, the biggest change I would like to see is actually preparing students for real life.

How many years do you spend in school? 12, if you skip kindergarden and pre-school, 14 if you attend. Most of your life is in primary school. Yet, the minute you graduate, it's as if you have no idea what to do next.

Every student can say that throughout their school life, their parents and teachers had always told them "do well in school so that you can go to a good college." But how do you even apply for college? How do you know you're even good enough? What if college life isn't suited for you? So many questions that go unanswered and overlooked.

I guess that the biggest change I would like to see in schools is to stop pumping out kids that are ready for college. Instead of being like "you do this and this and this and BAM! College", maybe it should be more like "what do you want to do with your life and how can we get you there?"

Essay #2 - Final Draft

What exactly makes a good teacher? Their ability to cram knowledge into kids skulls? Or is it judged by how nice they can be? To some, it is determined by how professional of a relationship teachers keep with their students, and how much the teacher is willing to share about themselves to their class, as seen by Ms Watson (from Mona Lisa Smile) and my old French teacher, Mme Haveman.

The major thing Ms Watson and Mme Haveman have in common is that they are both very strict teachers. Neither of them takes any nonsense from their students, which is surprising considering they were both new teachers to their schools. Being a new teacher at a high school can be a pretty terrifying thing, so Ms Watson did let her girls get to her on her first day of Art History when they purposefully tried to make her drop her own class. But, she soon gained her footing by scrapping the syllabus, surprising her girls with what then was considered ‘grotesque art’, and aimed to teach her girls about more than just paintings and their artists. Mme Haveman never seemed to let her students get to her, no matter how mean they were to her. She always kept a straight face and told everyone to do what they were told, even when her students where outright being mean to her face. Haveman never let that bother her (or at least show her students that it bothered her) because she knew she was a good teacher. Petty words would not keep her down.

Another thing both teachers had in common was that they were both very dedicated to their work and beliefs. Ms Watson was dedicated to the progression of women and trying to change the way they think about their futures.  Ms Watson was so dedicated that when the Headmistress of her school wanted to approve every single lesson Watson was going to teach in the upcoming year, she left. Being restricted like that, restricted in trying to show girls that marriage is not their only option, was not what she wanted. Watson also was so devoted to her students that when she found out Joan would be giving up law school; she fought for Joan to attend. Even though Watson lost that fight, it still shows that she wanted so badly to see her girls strive for the same things she did – the advancement of women being equal to men. Mme Haveman was very dedicated in teaching her students the French language and culture. Mme Haveman was so committed to the French culture that her students would watch the French news, movies, and cartoons (with no subtitles, can you imagine?) and discuss them with her and the other students. Haveman was also very devoted to her students learning the course material. She would offer extra tutoring to those who felt they needed it; offer test make-ups to those who had a horrible grade; try and get kids truly excited about the country of France, the language, and the delicious food that comes from there. Haveman wanted everyone to be excited about learning, and she was very good at doing that.

One small difference that both teachers had was that while Mme Haveman was very kind to her students, Ms Watson was extremely passionate about her line of work and her beliefs. Mme Haveman did her best to connect with her students, offering tutoring and test make-ups while most of the other teachers at her school did not do that. She also would not stand for bullying taking place in her classroom (or in the rest of the school), and she really did care about the well-being of her students. Ms Watson, though she was kind, she was more passionate about teaching women that they can be more than just a housewife, that they can be married and work and have a family - they can have it all, if they put their mind to it. Watson was passionate about art and the meaning behind a painting, and she wanted her girls to be just as passionate. She was keen on keeping herself from becoming the model housewife that her school had set up for their students, which was why she decided not to marry her Hollywood boyfriend. Mme Haveman was passionate about her line of work, but she just didn't show it so outright like Ms Watson did. It was only when you talked to her alone that you saw how much she loved what she was doing.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Ms Watson and Mme Haveman is that Mme Haveman never let her personal life get in the way of her teaching, and she also never spoke much of her personal life to her students. In the movie, Mona Lisa Smile, it is shown that Ms Watson let her personal life get the best of her when she burst into the Italian classroom in a rage. She also let her emotions get out of hand when she found out about Joan declining law school. Even though she was very passionate about wanting what she thought was best for Joan, Watson let her emotions cloud her judgment in what would be the right course of action for talking to Joan about her decision. Mme Haveman never let her emotions carry her away like that. The only time she got even slightly personal on her part was when she was one-on-one with a trusted student, and even then her talk of ‘sometime adults sell their houses because they just can’t afford them’, wasn’t directed at herself.

Though Ms Watson and Mme Haveman are both very different in how they express their personal life around their students, they are very similar in how kind and dedicated they are to teaching and to their beliefs. There is no doubt that they are both very good teachers. A good teacher should always have that quality - the desire to want to teach to their students.

Rough Draft Essay #2

What exactly makes a good teacher? Their ability to cram knowledge into kids skulls? Or is it judged by how nice they can be? To some, it is determined by how professional of a relationship teachers keep with their students, and how much the teacher is willing to share about themselves to their class, as seen by Ms Watson (from Mona Lisa Smile) and my old French teacher, Mme Haveman.

The major thing Ms Watson and Mme Haveman have in common is that they are both very strict teachers. Neither of them take any nonsense from their students, which is surprising considering they were both new teachers to their schools. Ms Watson did let her girls get to her on her first day of Art History, but she soon gained her footing by scrapping the syllabus and aimed to teach her girls about more than just art. Mme Haveman never seemed to let her students get to her, no matter how mean they were to her. She always kept a straight face and told everyone to do what they were told.

Another thing both teachers had in common was that they were both very dedicated. Ms Watson was dedicated to the progression of women and trying to change the way they think about their futures. Mme Haveman was very dedicated in teaching her students the French language and culture. Ms Watson was so dedicated that when the Headmistress of her school wanted to approve every single lesson Watson was going to teach in the upcoming year, she left. Being restricted like that, restricted in trying to show girls that marriage isn't their only option, was not what she wanted. Mme Haveman was so dedicated to the French culture that her students would watch the French news, movies, and cartoons (with no subtitles!) and discuss them with her.

One small difference that both teachers had was that while Mme Haveman was very kind to her students, Ms Watson was extremely passionate about her line of work. Mme Haveman did her best to connect with her students, offering tutoring and test make-ups while most of the other teachers at her school didn't do that. Ms Watson was also passionate about teaching women that they can be more than just a housewife, that they can be married and work and have a family - they can have it all, if they put their mind to it. Mme Haveman was passionate about her line of work, but she just didn't show it like Ms Watson did.

Perhaps the biggest difference between Ms Watson and Mme Haveman is that Mme Haveman never let her personal life get in the way of her teaching, and she also never spoke much of her personal life to her students. In the movie, Mona Lisa Smile, it is shown that Ms Watson let her personal life get the best of her when she burst into the Italian classroom in a rage. Mme Haveman never let her emotions carry her away like that

Though Ms Watson and Mme Haveman are both very different in how they express their personal life around their students, they are very similar in how kind and dedicated they are to teaching. There is no doubt that they are both very good teachers. A good teacher should always have that quality - the desire to want to teach to their students.

Drafting WS

Role: ability to connect with students

Teacher 1: Ms Watson

Teacher 2: Mme Haveman
Ms WatsonA: Dedicated
  1. Joan and Yale
  2. helping Bettie find an apartment after divorce
  3. not wanting fiance to sleep in same bed because it would disturb landlord

B: Strict
  1. does not let girls get to her after 1st day
  2. 50's advertisments as art
  3. threatens Bettie with an F

C: Passionate
  1. Van Gogh painting boxes
  2. leaving because of teaching restrictions
  3. marble art in the warehouse

Mme Haveman
D: Dedicated
  1. test make-ups
  2. offer tutoring
  3. pen pals.

E: Kind
  1. Class parties
  2. bullying
  3. offer extra classes

F: Strict
  1. expects kindness to subs
  2. expects students to only speak in French
  3. no goofing around

Conclusion
Though Ms Watson and Mme Haveman are both very different in how much they express their personal life around their students, they are very similar in how kind and dedicated they are to teaching. A good teacher should always have that quality - the desire to want to teach to their students.

Beginning of Essay #2

What exactly makes a good teacher? Their ability to cram knowledge into kids skulls? Or is it judged by how nice they can be? To some, it is determined by a teachers ability to be able to connect with their students, in and out of the classroom, as seen by Ms Watson (from Mona Lisa Smile) and my old French teacher, Mme Haveman.

As seen in the film, Mona Lisa Smile, Ms Watson does her best to connect with her students while also trying to teach them something more than art. Even though Ms Watson is strict and takes no nonsense from the girls, she does show that she really cares about them on a personal level. She wants to see her girls, especially Joan, become something more than just a housewife that the school prepares them to be. Even after Betty wrote those terrible articles about Ms Watson and Ms Armstrong, Watson was still there for her when she decided to divorce her new husband. Like Mme Haveman, Ms Watson wants to see her girls grow up into happy, healthy women.

Compare/Contrast Ideas for Essay 2

Though many people would want to take the easy way out and just compare/contrast Ms Watson with Mr Escalante, I have chosen to compare/contrast Ms Watson with my beloved French teacher, Mme Haveman. If you had read my first essay, it wouldn't come as a surprise to you that I chose her and that I think very highly of her.

The reason I chose Mme Haveman to compare with Ms Watson is because Ms Watson reminds me very much of Mme Haveman. They are both dedicated to their work and strive to make a difference in a students life. They both also want to connect with their students, to become someone their kids can trust and feel comfortable with.

There are differences between them, but I will go into detail about that in my actual essay.

Mona Lisa Smile VS Stand And Deliver

Presentation of Schools:
The schools are presented very differently. Mr Escalante's school was presented as a low-income school where mostly minority trouble-makers attend. Ms Watson's school is a n all-girls school, which is very different from Mr Escalante. The rules are also stricter and the teachers put more of an effort into caring about the girls.

Even though Ms Watson is teaching at a more prestigious school, she is just as scared as Mr Escalante to start teaching. They both were just as unsure of their actions and wanted to make a good impression on their students. The fear is shown better in Mona Lisa Smile, though, especially during her first class.

Different/Similar:
The students at Ms Watson's school are very similar to the kids at Mr Escalante's school. It doesn't matter how much money your daddy makes or what kind of car your mom drives to the store, kids will always act the same in their teenage years. They always go looking for trouble and the next exciting thing.

Both teachers had ideas and teaching styles that the schools they worked for didn't approve of. Ms Watson wants to teach her girls about modern art and the progression of women, but the conservative school she works for doesn't agree with those things. Mr Escalante wanted to give his class of trouble-makers a second chance at having a better life, but the other staff didn't think those kids would actually want to learn.

They are different in how they show their love for their students. Mr Escalante pretends that the personal lives of his students are of no concern to him, even though he actually really does care about them succeeding and living a better life. Ms Watson openly shows her girls that she loves and cares for them, even after they were so mean to her.

I Just Wanna Be Average, Mr Escalante

Mr Escalante and Mr MacFarland are similar in their teaching styles. They both care deeply about their students and will go to great lengths to see them succeed. While Escalante provided extra classes to teach his students calculus, MacFarland reached out to Mike Rose and helped him get into a good collage.

Escalante and MacFarland show their care very differently though. MacFarland directly reached out to Rose and his friends and did what he could to educate them and enrich their minds. Escalante, however, presented himself as not caring about his students personal lives, that he was only there to teach them math.

 Though both teachers taught their students in great ways, they went about it in very different manners. Both were able to change the lives of their students.

Stand and Deliver

The movie starts in a great way - showing the viewer the neighborhood that Esclante is in. Even though it is a low-income area, it's not presented as a ghetto or dangerous.

As the movie goes on, the viewer can see that Esclante is not cut out for this job. He wanted to teach kids how to use computers, but is stuck with a low-level math class instead. The class is full of kids who aren't given second chances due to their track record or race. It's sad, but Esclante does his best to try and teach them anyway. (his finger-multiplication thing is freaking genius!)

The way the kids are presented is actually pretty tame compared to how high school kids can really be. Sure, Angel is considered a troublemaker, but the viewer can see that he really does want to learn. In fact, all of the kids are like that. Compared to my experiences with high school kids, these kids are pretty tame. In real life, they were probably hell, but in the movie they are just normal kids.

Teaching is also seen as a poor mans job. Some people don't understand why Esclante left his work to go teach. The girls father at the restaurant doesn't think school is all that important in the real world.

When the kids try to revolt, it reminded me of something that happened in my 8th grade year. My class hated my teacher (she was pretty mean to us, especially this one kid, Sawyer), so Sawyer convinced most of the class to purposefully show up late to her class on the last day of school. Of course, my teacher was pissed and called the principal down and threatened to give us Saturday school. Let's just say I never participated in a school-related revolt ever again.

Another thing I noticed about the movie is that all the kids come from broken backgrounds. Sick family, working parents, unsupportive parents - you name it. The thing that makes Esclante so likable is that even though he says that he doesn't care about their personal lives, he actually does. To these kids, Esclante is the adult figure that they all need.

The AP test was very relatable for me. I know how nerve-wracking it is to wait months for your scores, your heart beating so hard in your chest as you open the envelope, the relief that washes over you when you see that you passed - I know all those feelings. So it made me really sad that those kids were obviously being discriminated against because the test people found out they were Latino. Esclante was right - if the kids had been white, no one would have thought twice about the scores they got.

The movie overall was very good, but I felt that it didn't really go that deep into the story. I only remember one of the kids names (Angel), and I just wish that I could have gotten to know the other kids better. It was a good movie about Esclante's teacher career though.

Jaime Escalante (summary)

Born on December 31, 1930 in Bolivia. Came to America in the 1960's to seek a better life. Took a teaching job in 1974 at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. This school was considered "run down" and was known for violence and drugs. The math class he was assigned to were the kids who were deemed "unteachable." He did his best to teach them anyway.

In 1984, his largest class took an advanced Calculus test. Because of the students backgrounds and race, many of their tests were considered "invalid" because the company believed they cheated. Escalante protested and a few months later, the students took the test again and passed, proving that they didn't cheat.

After Garfield High School, Escalante went on to teach at another high school in Sacremento, but did not find the same level of success. In 1998, he retired from teaching. In March of 2010, Escalante died after a long struggle with cancer.

Many consider Escalante one of the best teachers in history. A book called Jaime Escalante: The Best Teacher in America was published in 1988. A movie called Stand and Deliver, starring Edward James Olmos, was also made about him.

A Good Teacher Is...

To me, a good teacher is someone who teaches you their subject (math, english, french, etc), and does a good job at it. I have had many teachers who were very smart people, but just didn't know how to teach. For example, my math teacher in 11th grade of high school. Probably the smartest man I have ever met - couldn't teach to save his life. It was frustrating.

Not only should teachers actually be able to teach, they should be kind to their students too. Again, I have had many mean teachers (like Mrs Hannah, who wouldn't teach me how to divide in 4th grade). Teachers should be understanding and lend you a hand when you need one. They shouldn't judge you on appearances or whatever is on file in the principal's office. They should get to know you, not what is on your record.

Audre(y) Lorde

(i am so sorry this is late i was sick and i'm doing my best to catch up D:)

Audre Lorde, in her early years of school, had many different teachers. The first one, though it may not be obvious, is Mrs. Baker. Mrs. Baker is the whole reason Audre wanted to learn to read. Audre describes Mrs. Baker as a very quiet person with a voice that gave no "damnation for my noise." Mrs. Baker gave Audre the drive to want to learn to read and write, which her mother was very happy about.

The second, more obvious teacher would be Audre's kindergarden teacher (who I will refer to as Mrs. K). At first, it seems that Mrs K will be strict, but nice, but the reader soon finds out that this is not true. Mrs K called Audre fat straight to her face, which is very traumatizing for a girl at such a young age. Audre also already knew how to write the alphabet with a pencil, but Mrs K didn't like that. Mrs K wanted Audre to learn slowly with the other kids in class. Mrs K ended up trying to get Audre in trouble with her mother, but Audre's mother just took her straight to Catholic school to be put into 1st grade.

The third obvious teacher would be Sister Mary. This is Audre's first encounter of harsh racism, as seen with the "Fairies" and "Brownies", with the Brownies being the 'bad' side of the room. Even though the reader doesn't see Sister Mary teaching Audre anything academically important, she remembers the racism.

The last 'teacher' is her classmate, Alvin. Though it is not as obvious, Alvin was Audre's first experience in loss. They were just beginning to become friends, teaching each other numbers and words, when he died of TB. Even though Audre only learned three numbers from him (8, 10, and 20), he was able to teach her something meaningful - the importance of friends.

Final Essay #1

Kelsey Hammond

English 101

Exam #1

High school was hard for me – in fact, it's hard for almost everybody. Those awkward years of trying to figure out who you really are and the type of people you fit in with, only to have it ripped apart when you reach college; it's a terrifying time in everyone's life, especially if you don't have many friends. High school was hard for me for 3 reasons; 1) I hated everyone at my school. The girls were mean, the boys were stupid, and the staff favoured the mean and the dumb. 2) My best friend had moved away, leaving me alone. I had my boyfriend, who is now my best friend, but the sting was still the same. 3) My French 3 class was literally full of people who were friends with each other.

But let's rewind a little. Before we discuss the hell of French 3, I need to describe my other classes. I didn't have particularly hard subjects – in fact, they were pretty easy for me. I was taking three AP classes (English, Photography, and Psychology), and I did very well in them. The fact that I didn't like anyone in the school didn't hurt my grades one bit.

I had lunch after third period (Photography), and I always dreaded going to French 3 right after. Complaining to my twin sister and my boyfriend, Josh, never really helped much with my frustration. I hated going, and I thought nothing was going to change that.

The class was really small – people wise and space wise. There was only maybe 15 kids in my class, but we had the portable room outside with the wasps nest right hanging over the door. We all had assigned seats that my teacher, Mme Haveman, would change every month or so. That was fine and all, but it also meant that I couldn't just sit in the corner away from everyone like I wanted. No, fate would decide to have me sit literally in the middle of the room surrounded by people I really could care less about.

In any other class, this wouldn't have bothered me that much. I would just ignore everyone and talk to my boyfriend or my sister. But, alas, I didn't have either of them in my class. Most of the time, I tried to not talk to or acknowledge anyone sitting near me, but Mme Haveman loved to have us talk in broken French to each other.

To top it all off, everyone was friends with each other. I am not joking. Normally, it wouldn't really bother me that no one in a class would talk to me, but my teacher always tried so hard to pair me up with people to do projects with. I understand that she was looking out for me and probably felt bad that I didn't have any friends, but I didn't want to talk to these people, especially the girl who sat next to me who would boast about going to Sweden with her family every summer. I just smiled my way through it though, and did my best to be nice to these classmates that I hated. People usually didn't like Mme Haveman because she was very strict (she had also replaced our old French teacher, Mr Johnson) and didn't take BS from anyone, which caused kids to talk bad about her behind her back. I liked her because I thought she was doing a good job at filling an old teachers shoes, and I always said kind things about her to Josh and my sister.

One day, Mme Haveman was absent from school. We had a substitute teacher, and I think you can figure out how class went that day – no one sat in their assigned seat, no work was done, and everyone pretty much goofed off. Personally, I just sat in the corner, turned on my iPod and ignored everyone. Oh, I did the classwork. And the homework. Then I did homework for my other classes. I actually got caught up with all my other classes, so it didn't really bother me much that no one was talking to me. To be honest, I quite enjoyed it, even if I was a bit bored by the end of the period.

Well, the next day, Mme Haveman came back from being sick. She was mad at the class, mainly because the sub had left a note saying that the whole class had just goofed off, except for a couple of people. To be honest, I kind of tuned her out because I knew she wasn't talking about me. I started on my classwork while she lectured the other kids.

It wasn't until she said the words, “It is not right to leave one person out in the whole class,” that I realized she was talking about me. I tried not to think about it and kept working.

Class went on as normal. We all learned some French that I can't remember today anyway, but it was still a normal class. Then, class ended. I always breathed a sigh of relief when class ended, because my next period was AP Psychology, which I loved.

That day was not my lucky day though. Mme Haveman asked me to stay after class. It's not that I didn't like her, but staying after class never meant anything good.

She waited for everyone else to leave the classroom before turning to me from her desk and simply asked, “How are you doing today?”

I was even more confused. Why did she have to wait for everyone to be gone just to ask me how my day was? “I'm fine.” I replied.

Her face became a little more serious. I was starting to get a little nervous now. Teachers had always made me slightly weary, and I really hate getting in trouble with them. It seemed like she was collecting her thoughts, so I waited patiently for her to continue.

After a couple seconds, she began talking again. “It's just, you know, the sub left a note about everyone, and I was worried about you.”

Then it hit me. She wasn't mad at me, she wasn't lecturing me, she wasn't blaming me. She was worried about me. Mme Haveman knew that the sub had been talking about me in the note; she realized that the whole class had left me out. She was mad at them for doing that to me. My French teacher just lectured everyone about leaving me out.

I can't for the life of me remember what I said to her after that. I think it's because I was so amazed that a teacher, someone who literally knew next to nothing about me, stood up for me. I do remember crying about it later, though, because it meant to much to me that she did that. Even Josh was surprised at what she had said to those kids.

Never in my life had a teacher stood up so totally completely for me. I don't think a teacher will every do that again.

Mme Haveman was really nice to me for the rest of the year, always asking how I was doing, or what my plans for summer were, or asking how my boyfriend was doing. Of course, I warmed up to her right away – she was a very nice person, and people just didn't give her credit for it.

My classmates attitude changed after that. They included me more - while Mme Haveman was there, forcing us to be in groups doing projects together. I eventually realized that it was all for show, but I found that I didn't really care either way what they thought of me.  

The thing that really stuck with me about this whole experience is that someone really stood up for me in a way no one had done before. This wasn't just my best friend telling the class bully to leave me alone – this was a teacher telling a whole group of students to be nice to me. Not even my own mother had done that before, and here was this new, young teacher (who was probably worried about people liking her at her new job) stood up for me

You may be wondering – what did I learn from this? What was the life lesson Mme Haveman taught me? Well, I learned that the most unlikely people may be looking out for you. Believing a teacher wouldn't care about how their students are doing is the wrong mindset. Teachers do care; you just need to give them a chance to show it. I don't suggest, however, to put yourself through bullying in order to recieve this treatment. It's just merely a reminder to kids that teachers are there to help you and are there to listen to your problems - either personal or educational.

I also learned that what those kids were doing – ignoring me and purposefully leaving me out – was a form of bullying. Before this incident in French 3, I never really saw ignoring people as a form of bullying. When I was in Elementary school, they didn’t really teach us that ignoring kids on purpose was a form of bullying – that was something that came about later, when I was too old to really care about it. But now that I’m much older, I do understand and realize how much it can hurt people.

Rough Draft Version 2

High school was hard for me – in fact, it's hard for almost everybody. Those awkward years of trying to figure out who you really are and the type of people you fit in with, only to have it ripped apart when you reach college; it's a terrifying time in everyone's life, especially if you don't have many friends. High school was hard for me for 3 reasons; 1) I hated everyone at my school. The girls were mean, the boys were stupid, and the staff favoured the mean and the dumb. 2) My best friend had moved away, leaving me alone. I had my boyfriend, who is now my best friend, but the sting was still the same. 3) My French 3 class was literally full of people who were friends with each other.

But let's rewind a little. Before we discuss the hell of French 3, I need to describe my other classes. I didn't have particularly hard subjects – in fact, they were pretty easy for me. I was taking three AP classes (English, Photography, and Psychology), and I did very well in them. The fact that I didn't like anyone in the school didn't hurt my grades one bit.

I had lunch after third period (Photography), and I always dreaded going to French 3 right after. Complaining to my twin sister and my boyfriend, Josh, never really helped much with my frustration. I hated going, and I thought nothing was going to change that.

The class was really small – people wise and space wise. There was only maybe 15 kids in my class, but we had the portable room outside with the wasps nest right hanging over the door. We all had assigned seats that my teacher, Mme Haveman, would change every month or so. That was fine and all, but it also meant that I couldn't just sit in the corner away from everyone like I wanted. No, fate would decide to have me sit literally in the middle of the room surrounded by people I really could care less about.

In any other class, this wouldn't have bothered me that much. I would just ignore everyone and talk to my boyfriend or my sister. But, alas, I didn't have either of them in my class. Most of the time, I tried to not talk to or acknowledge anyone sitting near me, but Mme Haveman loved to have us talk in broken French to each other.

To top it all off, everyone was friends with each other. I am not joking. Normally, it wouldn't really bother me that no one in a class would talk to me, but my teacher always tried so hard to pair me up with people to do projects with. I understand that she was looking out for me and probably felt bad that I didn't have any friends, but I didn't want to talk to these people, especially the girl who sat next to me who would boast about going to Sweden with her family every summer. I just smiled my way through it though, and did my best to be nice to these classmates that I hated. People usually didn't like Mme Haveman because she was very strict (she had also replaced our old French teacher, Mr Johnson) and didn't take BS from anyone, which caused kids to talk bad about her behind her back. I liked her because I thought she was doing a good job at filling an old teachers shoes, and I always said kind things about her to Josh and my sister.

One day, Mme Haveman was absent from school. We had a substitute teacher, and I think you can figure out how class went that day – no one sat in their assigned seat, no work was done, and everyone pretty much goofed off. Personally, I just sat in the corner, turned on my iPod and ignored everyone. Oh, I did the classwork. And the homework. Then I did homework for my other classes. I actually got caught up with all my other classes, so it didn't really bother me much that no one was talking to me. To be honest, I quite enjoyed it, even if I was a bit bored by the end of the period.

Well, the next day, Mme Haveman came back from being sick. She was mad at the class, mainly because the sub had left a note saying that the whole class had just goofed off, except for a couple of people. To be honest, I kind of tuned her out because I knew she wasn't talking about me. I started on my classwork while she lectured the other kids.

It wasn't until she said the words, “It is not right to leave one person out in the whole class,” that I realized she was talking about me. I tried not to think about it and kept working.

Class went on as normal. We all learned some French that I can't remember today anyway, but it was still a normal class. Then, class ended. I always breathed a sigh of relief when class ended, because my next period was AP Psychology, which I loved.

That day was not my lucky day though. Mme Haveman asked me to stay after class. It's not that I didn't like her, but staying after class never meant anything good.

She waited for everyone else to leave the classroom before turning to me from her desk and simply asked, “How are you doing today?”

I was even more confused. Why did she have to wait for everyone to be gone just to ask me how my day was? “I'm fine.” I replied.

Her face became a little more serious. I was starting to get a little nervous now. Teachers had always made me slightly weary, and I really hate getting in trouble with them. It seemed like she was collecting her thoughts, so I waited patiently for her to continue.

After a couple seconds, she began talking again. “It's just, you know, the sub left a note about everyone, and I was worried about you.”

Then it hit me. She wasn't mad at me, she wasn't lecturing me, she wasn't blaming me. She was worried about me. Mme Haveman knew that the sub had been talking about me in the note; she realized that the whole class had left me out. She was mad at them for doing that to me. My French teacher just lectured everyone about leaving me out.

I can't for the life of me remember what I said to her after that. I think it's because I was so amazed that a teacher, someone who literally knew next to nothing about me, stood up for me. I do remember crying about it later, though, because it meant to much to me that she did that. Even Josh was surprised at what she had said to those kids.

Never in my life had a teacher stood up so totally completely for me. I don't think a teacher will every do that again.

Mme Haveman was really nice to me for the rest of the year, always asking how I was doing, or what my plans for summer were, or asking how my boyfriend was doing. Of course, I warmed up to her right away – she was a very nice person, and people just didn't give her credit for it.

Sure, my classmates were nice to me on a very impersonal level, but I was never really included with them. They did it for show, just to make themselves look better for leaving me out. And it was usually only when Mme Haveman said we were working with partners or groups that they were nice to me. It didn't really bother me, I could care less what they think about me.

The thing that really stuck with me about this whole experience is that someone really stood up for me. This wasn't just my best friend telling the class bully to leave me alone – this was a teacher telling a whole group of students to be nice to me. No one had ever done that before, and even when I'm writing about this now, it makes me want to cry a little. She didn't have to do that - she was a new teacher at the school, and I know she must have wanted her students to really like her.

You may be wondering – what did I learn from this? Well, I learned that the most unlikely people may be looking out for you. Believing a teacher wouldn't care just isn't how people should be thinking. Teachers do care; you just need to give them a chance to show it. I don't suggest, however, to put yourself through bullying in order to recieve this treatment though. It's just merely a reminder to kids that teachers are there to help you - either through studying or personal problems.

I also learned that what those kids were doing – ignoring me and purposefully leaving me out – was a form of bullying. It didn't really bother me much then, and it certainly doesn't bother me at the present time, but it does give me a great experience so that I can help others who are affected by bullying. Before this incident in French 3, I never really saw ignoring people as a form of bullying. But now I do, and I realize how much it can hurt people. It didn't really hurt me, but Mme Haveman thought it was.

Malcolm X Is Pretty Cool

Out of Malcolm X, Rose, and Franklin, the essay I liked the most was Learning To Read by Malcolm X.  Though the other two essays were good and they served their purpose, I actually had fun reading Malcolm X's essay. Franklin was terribly boring, and Rose (though it was much better than Franklin's), just didn't interest me like Malcolm X's did.

"Let me pull your coat about a cat.." is probably the most interesting line I have read so far in this class. It just strikes me as awesome - like, even though Malcolm X taught himself how to read and write, and went on to use his knowledge for greater things - he's still a street kid. He's still 'street smart', and I love that he shows that in his writing.

I went back to the handout to see what other quotes I had highlighted. "Look, daddy, let me pull your coat about a cat, Elijah Muhammad-" was the only one I highlighted. In the other essays, the ones written by Franklin and Rose, nothing was highlighted at all. That one line was what stuck with me, and I still think it's a pretty cool line.

Rough Draft For Essay 1

High school was hard for me – in fact, it's hard for almost everybody. Those awkward years of trying to figure out who you really are and the type of people you fit in with, only to have it ripped apart when you reach college; it's a terrifying time in everyone's life. High school was hard for me for 2 reasons; 1) I hated everyone at my school. The girls were mean, the boys were stupid, and the staff favoured the mean and the dumb. 2) My best friend had moved away, leaving me alone. I had my boyfriend, who is now my best friend, but the sting was still the same. 3) My French 3 class was literally full of people who were friends with each other.

But let's rewind a little. Before we discuss the hell of French 3, I need to describe my other classes. I didn't have particular hard subjects – in fact, they were pretty easy for me. I was taking three AP classes and I did very well in them. The fact that I didn't like anyone in the school didn't hurt my grades one bit.

I had lunch after third period (Photography), and I always dreaded going to French 3 right after. Complaining to my twin sister and my boyfriend, Josh, never really helped much with my frustration. I hated going, and I thought nothing was going to change that.

The class was really small – people wise and space wise. There was only maybe 15 kids in my class, but we had the portable room with the wasps nest right outside. We all had assigned seats that my teacher, Mme Haveman, would change every month or so. That was fine and all, but it also meant that I couldn't just sit in the corner away from everyone. No, fate would decide to have me sit in the middle of the room surrounded by people I really could care less about.

In any other class, this wouldn't have bothered me that much. I would just ignore everyone and talk to my boyfriend or my sister. But, alas, I didn't have either of them in my class. Most of the time, I tried to not talk to or acknowledge anyone sitting near me, but Mme Haveman loved to have us talk in broken French to each other.

To top it all off, everyone was friends with each other. I am not joking. Normally, it wouldn't really bother me that no one in a class would talk to me, but my teacher always tried so hard to pair me up with people to do projects with. I understand that she was looking out for me and probably felt bad that I didn't have any friends, but I didn't want to talk to these people. I just smiled my way through it though, and did my best to be nice to these classmates that I hated. People usually didn't like Mme Haveman because she was very strict (she had also replaced our old French teacher, Mr Johnson) and didn't take BS from anyone. I liked her because I thought she was doing a good job at filling an old teachers shoes.

One day, Mme Haveman was absent from school. We had a substitute teacher, and I think you can figure out how class went that day – no one sat in their assigned seat, no work was done, and everyone pretty much goofed off. Personally, I just sat in the corner, turned on my iPod and ignored everyone. Oh, I did the classwork. And the homework. Then I did homework for my other classes. I actually got caught up with all my other classes, so it didn't really bother me much that no one was talking to me. To be honest, I quite enjoyed it.

Well, the next day, Mme Haveman came back from being sick. She was mad at the class, mainly because the sub had left a note saying that the whole class had just goofed off, except for a couple of people. To be honest, I kind of tuned her out because I knew she wasn't talking about me. I started on my classwork while she lectured the other kids.

It wasn't until she said the words, “It is not right to leave one person out in the whole class,” that I realized she was talking about me. I tried not to think about it and kept working.

Class went on as normal. We all learned some French that I can't remember today anyway, but it was still a normal class. Then, class ended. I always breathed a sigh of relief when class ended, because my next period was AP Psychology, which I loved.

That day was not my lucky day though. Mme Haveman asked me to stay after class. It's not that I didn't like her, but staying after class never meant anything good.

She waited for everyone else to leave the classroom before turning to me from her desk and simply asked, “How are you doing today?”

I was even more confused. Why did she have to wait for everyone to be gone just to ask me how my day was? “I'm fine.” I replied.

Her face became a little more serious. I was starting to get a little nervous now. Teachers had always made me slightly weary, and I really hate getting in trouble with them. It seemed like she was collecting her thoughts, so I waited patiently for her to continue.

After a couple seconds, she began talking again. “It's just, you know, the sub left a note about everyone, and I was worried about you.”

Then it hit me. She wasn't mad at me, she wasn't lecturing me, she wasn't blaming me. She was worried about me. Mme Haveman knew that the sub had been talking about me in the note; she realized that the whole class had left me out. She was mad at them for doing that to me. My French teacher just lectured everyone about leaving me out.

I can't for the life of me remember what I said to her after that. I think it's because I was so amazed that a teacher, someone who literally knew next to nothing about me, stood up for me. I do remember crying about it later, though, because it meant to much to me that she did that.

Never in my life had a teacher stood up so totally completely for me. I don't think a teacher will every do that again.

Mme Haveman was really nice to me for the rest of the year, always asking how I was doing, or what my plans for summer were, or asking how my boyfriend was doing. Of course, I warmed up to her right away – she was a very nice person.

Sure, my classmates were nice to me on a very impersonal level, but I was never really included with them. They did it for show, just to make themselves look better for leaving me out. It didn't really bother me, I could care less what they think about me.

The thing that really stuck with me about this whole experience is that someone really stood up for me. This wasn't just my best friend telling the class bully to leave me alone – this was a teacher telling a whole group of students to be nice to me. No one had ever done that before, and even when I'm writing about this now, it makes me want to cry a little.

You may be wondering – what did I learn from this? Well, I learned that the most unlikely people may be looking out for you. Believing a teacher wouldn't care just isn't how people should be thinking. Teachers do care; you just need to give them a chance to show it.

I also learned that what those kids were doing – ignoring me and purposefully leaving me out – was a form of bullying. It didn't really bother me much then, and it certainly doesn't bother me at the present time, but it does give me a great experience so that I can help others who are affected by bullying.

They All Sort Of Say The Same Thing

Malcom X's, Franklin's and Rose's essays are very different - on the surface. Sure, the writing styles are polar opposites and the topics are all over the place, but they all basically say the same thing - personal experience can teach you more than books and schools.

Unlike the essays on computers from a couple weeks ago, these 3 essays talk more about personal experience rather than book work. Sure, their initial goal was to become smarter and be able to read or write better, but they learned so much more than that. All three men learned that, through reading, they can discover so much more about life. Malcom X discovered exactly what slavery was, and how wrong it was. Franklin discovered that even though he wasn't very good at on-hands tasks, he could read and write very well. Rose discovered that his school wasn't really teaching him at all - it was the kids in his class that taught him an important life lesson.

Yes, all 3 of these essays were written extremely different (seeing as they were written in different time periods and all that), but they all pretty much come to the same conclusion. School, and the math you learn there, isn't nearly as important as your own life experiences.

Exploring My Essay Topic

I had never really seen it as bullying until this year, actually. I hated all the kids in my class (those upper class a-holes who used daddy's car and mommy's credit card), and I was actually happy that they never talked to me. In fact, I really hated it when they went out of their way to converse with me.

It might be because I'm an introvert; it might be because I didn't like how they treated other kids in school. Either way, i never went out of my way to be nice or befriend any of them.

When I was younger, of course I was bullied by the class bully (he liked to kick water in my face when I was tying my shoes), but that's just what happens in elementary school. You get bullied for being slightly different (in my case, I had a twin and diabetes), but you get over it. In class, when the guidance counselor would come in and lecture us on bullying and how to prevent it, they never said that ignoring your classmate was a form of harassment. I don't think that really was seen as a problem until recently.

So of course I didn't realize these kids were bullying me. I hated them probably as much as they didn't like me, so where is the harassment? It did surprise me when my teacher, Mme Haveman, saw it as such. It hadn't really bothered me until she stood up for me. It made me realize that I didn't have to put up with these high school jerks alone - teachers actually do care. Teachers notice things that even students don't.

Out of all my experiences in my years of school, this was the one that I remember the fondest.