“A Minnesota teacher of seventh and ninth grades says that she has to spend extra time in class editing papers and must 'explicitly' remind her students that is is not acceptable to use text slang and abbreviations in writing” (Cullington 89). Also, “many complain that because texting does not stress the importance of punctuation, students are neglecting it in their formal writing” (Cullington 89). These points are valid, but the evidence is limited because it is based on a few personal experiences, rather then a large study with much more research.
On the seventh page of the book, Ruby is focused on doing her work in an isolated classroom; Ruby seemed to ignore the fact that she was isolated and fully immersed herself in her textbooks. This makes the reader react with admiration due to the fact that she values education highly to the extent that she does not care about not having friends. Based on these two texts, we can see that the documentary represents education as the only key to a better future, while in the picture book, education is treated as a step to encourage racial equality and a new change to the racially segregated society of America in the 60s. From this, we can see that both texts convey the idea of education in different
Markus Zusak uses her and her love for books to help portray the main idea of words and literature and the power they can have. When Liesel first arrived on Himmel Street she couldn’t read and was totally illiterate however Hans took the time to teach her to read and soon we find that Liesel has a real gift for writing and reading. Max says in his book ‘the word shaker’ “She knew how powerless a person could be without words” and it is from being illiterate till she was 10 that she gained this knowledge. Because of the events in her life, and her understanding of their power, she decides to use the words positively. We see this when she writes in her novel, the book thief, "I have hated the words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right."
She says her two classified students are very open about their home life, which makes it easy for her to recognize distant setting events and antecedents or present setting events. She said she does not really want to discuss any specific events for classified reasons, but she says that both of her students are very affected by distant setting events and that she and her staff usually spend a great deal of time in the morning trying to calm her students down and make them feel more comfortable. She also mentions that things like the weather can also trigger behaviors. As for antecedents within the classroom, Ms. Watkins says that while she and her staff do their best to prevent these types of situations, there will always be something unaccounted for that can trigger a behavior. She says that when dealing with such sensitive children, it is extremely, and she emphasized extremely important to be aware of the child’s surroundings at all times in order to provide them with the most safe and successful learning environment.
Jo Dawn Anderson was excited to tell us her story after she discovered that we were trying to learn about the meetings for a college class. Jo Dawn’s addiction began after she had multiple surgeries with difficult recoveries. She was prescribed painkillers to help with her pain and explained her ignorance about the drugs contributed to her addiction. She was unaware that she could become addicted. She took the medication more regularly than prescribed.
The Corla Hawkins story tells about impoverished students. Corla Hawkin in the Kozol story is a nice, warm, hard-working and friendly teacher. She is a 40 year old woman who spends her life helping and teaching students. Without any conveniences that can help her in teaching students, she has to spend her own salary to buy books, tools and anything that can help her students study, but she feels happy about that. She does not teach her students like other teachers, but she has her own way to help her students gain more knowledge and some skills in their life.
She talks about the books she has hidden under her bed; she reminds her siblings to do their homework and takes great pleasure in reciting new words to her sister and teacher. Mom is often talking or playing or feeding one of the other kids so Mary has taken her time alone to further educate herself. In many single parents homes children see the almost unbearable struggle that their parent has to bear and this would serve as encouragement to the child, to excel in his or her studies to secure a better future for them. A better education will lead to a better job and a more secure
Parks was also very intelligent and had a certain drive to learn as much as she could. She was devoted and loved to read, but seeing as she was a person of color it was hard for her to not only afford to go to school but to be allowed to go to school. She later had to drop out to take care of her family and focus on work, and around this time one of her friends introduced her to an activist named Raymond Parks, who would later be Mrs. Parks’ husband. After spending all of her time studying and learning about society Mrs. Parks wanted to act.
It is not easy for her because just like her, the students in her class all have their own life experiences and situations that they have had to overcome and still they are sitting in class trying to move on. She makes it her mission to help them and maybe help them finds way to overcome the scars that they have. Castellanos explains, “ I teach in a totally non-traditional way. I use every trick in the books: lots of positive reinforcement, both oral and written; lots of one-on-one conferences. I network women with each other, refer them to professor friends who can help them; connect them to graduate students and/or former students who are already pursuing careers” (pg 348).
11 December 2014 Drowning in the Discourse Julie Wildhaber says that “A strong, well-defined voice is the bridge between you and your audience: It helps your readers understand who you are, and it helps you engage them” (Wildhaber). For students in college, their audience will always be their professor. Along with expecting a strong voice, professors expect students, even first year students, to master and employ the many other writing skills that make up academic discourse. Most students tend to prioritize the more technical conventions of writing over the development of a distinguished and personalized voice. The conventions of college writing are very complex and if professors are more helpful and patient with first year students as they learn academic discourse, students will be better prepared for all future academic endeavors and they will have a better opportunity to strengthen and develop their voice.