Author: Samantha (Page 8 of 11)

Annotations

1. (pg.221) “With its mechanical formula, the FPT is the perfect vehicle to ensure inter-rater reliability (consistency amongst test graders), allowing for both efficient and economic scoring sessions for testing companies. ” Writing five paragraphs for an essay was introduced to me when I was in eighth grade. For as long as I could remember, It’s always been this format in high school. It seems familiar to me, it does help me organize my thoughts as well. But I never really thought about the testing companies Makes me question if our education is based on how we take our exams.
2. (pg.223) “The simple solution to all of these problems would appear to be merely reducing our reliance on, or removing, the FPT from our curricula. However, as long as policymakers rely on standardized writing tests, and those writing assessments rely on the FPT, such a change in curriculum will not be possible.” I find it completely crazy how schools base their whole curriculum so students can pass the exams. A whole misconception I think is whether the  FPT  is effective or not.
3. (pg.234) “The logic is that teachers and administrators are biased; standardized testing provides a level playing field for everyone involved.”  Standardized tests we see that basically tests everyone, from the district to the school to the teachers and the students. But some may be against my opinions, I truly believe the way we are taught how to perform on an exam is not efficient in the future but it does help you organize your thoughts on paper.
4. (pg.235) “Which measure is the most accurate predictor of high-school students’ success at the collegiate level? If you answered SAT scores or performance on state-wide assessments, you would be wrong. Time and time again, studies show that a student’s high school GPA is the most accurate predictor of collegiate success!”. Are we serious the GPA is what determines our knowledge of our own education?. Perhaps there are students out there who cant seem to focus to do work and do well on exams but mainly the lessons could be inside their mind. I don’t believe we should be tested to find out how smart we are, I believe some students suffer from taking exams and we don’t see their full potential.
5. (pg.234) “The manner in which we assess writing will always exert a tremendous influence over how we teach writing. Since, for inter-rater reliability and economic purposes, standardized testing relies on the FPT, the only sure-fire way to reduce—or eradicate—the use of the FPT in our curriculums is to reduce or eradicate our reliance on standardized testing.” The way we assess our writing is literally based off of the exams. Makes you wonder what kind of writing is valid or not.

Annotations :

1.  “I knew enough about life by this time to understand that whatever you invent, whatever you project, is you! So where we are no is that a whole country of people believe I’m a “nigger,” and I don’t, and the battle’s on! Because if I am not what I’ve been told I am, then it means that you’re not what you thought you were either! And that is the crisis.  – This is something very important the author points out, he’s talking about self-identity and how society identifies himself. In my opinion, I think It is also very important to keep in mind that you are not what you’ve been told.
2. “Now, where the boy lives – even if it is a housing project – is in an undesirable neighborhood. If he lives in one of those housing projects of which everyone in New York is so proud, he has at the front door, if not closer, the pimps, the whores, the junkies – in a word, the danger of life in the ghetto. And the child knows this, though he doesn’t know why.” – The housing projects, even now people don’t want to go near them, bad things happen there. It is a shame that kids grow up in that atmosphere. It’s almost as if they’re falling into their social norm.
3. “What I’m trying to get at is that by the time the Negro child has had, effectively, almost all the doors of opportunity slammed in his face, and there are very few things he can do about it. He can more or less accept it with an absolutely inarticulate and dangerous rage inside – all the more dangerous because it is never expressed.”  – He makes a point here, how can African American people shoot higher than what they see around them? They practically have had all options declined to them, so they turn it into anger and violence. How is this ok? for the American society then and now.
4. “It is not really a “Negro revolution” that is upsetting the country. What is upsetting the country is a sense of its own identity. If, for example, one managed to change the curriculum in all the schools so that Negroes learned more about themselves and their real contributions to this culture, you would be liberating not only Negroes, you’d be liberating white people who know nothing about their own history (pg3. p5)”.  – Here he mentions white people,  he’s saying how they don’t know their own history correctly. How the Europeans came to America invaded and took everything they saw.  If African American people were given more possibilities in a society where would America be now?
5. “Let’s begin by saying that we are living through a very dangerous time. Everyone in this room is in one way or another aware of that. We are in a revolutionary situation, no matter how unpopular that word has become in this country. The society in which we live is desperately menaced, not by Khrushchev, but from within.” – I find this crazy, how he compares the American society to the society of a Communist Russian leader. He begins this essay with such urgency as well, his view on “negros” and the false history that has been taught.

James Baldwin said, “I would try to make [the student] know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him.” Here I can see that he is referring to African American student’s, that there is so much more out there in the world than what they see. There is a world of possibilities, and that they should make the world their own. That’s why I sense he’s giving off urgency to make teachers change the prejudice view on “negros”, and the purpose of their education.  He wants to create in a person the ability to look at the world themselves , to make their own decisions. A necessity to examine and an obligation to learn more about would be if school were to teach us more about roles in the society, I know it is covered in a class called sociology but why not generally in class. Why aren’t we taught to come out of our own social destinies, for example our races. They tell me how I must work hard because I am a woman, but twice as hard because I am a Hispanic woman. It’s so sad to see many Hispanic dropouts or teenage pregnancies, I feel like that is something that the world only sees when they refer to a Hispanic. Also public speaking should be obligated in school, how to defend ourselves by knowing the law is very essential, also the ability as citizens and students who are vocal about reexamining the society we will one day form and become a part of. I would like to learn these topics because I feel like it’s better to know the law in the back of your mind and to grow out of society roles you’re destined to fall into.

Walking into the music hall of my high school was one of the best feelings I could remember. Students and my peers would be sitting in the hallways, you would hear perfect harmonies, guitars being strummed all in sync, students laughing, some reading or some would be eating. It sort of felt like I was in the tv show “victorious” which seemed pretty cool to me. The feeling never gets old, completely immersed in the music department, passing every classroom as well was also very humorous. You would see a lot of kids and keyboards and in the next, you would see the strings class and in the next, you would see the choruses practicing.

My class was the very last classroom in the music hall. It was the biggest and it smelt of dust, it has wooden walls, for the better acoustics. The classroom would never be too cold or too hot, it felt very welcoming when walking in. My music teacher seemed very intimidating at first, he was very funny in every type of way, he could play any instrument in that classroom which was very impressive to me. In that classroom, we learned many important things about musicianship, but what stuck to me the most was hard work, determination, and punctuality. Three very important things and my life and one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in that class and high school, even now. Walking in I never really knew what to expect, you know regular music class, we practice and practice for the pieces we would be playing in concerts hosted by the school. But this class was much different than expected, I have never heard of homework in music class, or working 10x harder for sitting in a certain seat. Being the first clarinet and the first chair, let’s just say it was one of the best and worst things that have ever happened to me. The best because, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much hard work for results, I’ve always been pretty laid back in everything never really trying my best.

I remember being late to his class all the time, feeling his stare follow me for a whole century as if he was a scientist and I was the specimen. I look back and I’m like how could I disrespect my favorite teacher in his classroom. Forgetting my mouthpiece on purpose so I wouldn’t get to play that day. Music is hard when you play it, I felt like this class was not the best fit for me, I needed to go to beginner band, not concert band.  Until one day Mr.C  said something very important to me, “Samantha, you can’t be another tragic story of quitting this class, knowing you have the potential. I know it does not sound so serious or anything major but he had a point, how was I just going to quit this class because I was getting yelled at due to my lateness and being unprepared. Once Mr.C said that to me it was almost as if a switch had turned on in my brain, and that’s when I knew I needed to have the first chair. Every month the whole band individually would submit their videos playing the piece from home and that video would guide the teacher to sit us in our designated seats. So there was always that opportunity to level up or for someone to sit on your seat, in my opinion, that made it very competitive to be the best in your section.

I remember taking my instrument home every Thursday-Monday to practice at home the pieces and scales that were not asked for but helped with your playing. This is where the worst moments of my life began, where I learned to change my perspective in music class. When you are practicing a piece you don’t just play it so many times from beginning to the end until you get it right, you start from the end to the beginning, you start wherever it may trouble you, almost as if you’re changing your perspective. Wanting to be the first chair until the end of my junior year was very stressful due to keeping my grades up, and keeping my seat. I changed my perspective to value the hard work I was doing, the commitment I saw in the results of my hard work. I began to truly enjoy practicing music, accomplishing a music video without crying after I would stop recording.

I had Mr.C for the last two years and I would constantly be switching seats my senior year from first to second and second to the first seat. The girl who was also the first clarinet with me was tremendously good, she was so good I couldn’t even deny it, and that’s when I knew the time and experience correlate hand in hand. I realized that what I also needed to sound  good was the amount of time I was  playing my instrument, she has been playing clarinet for over 5 years, while I was there trying to outplay her with my 2 years of experiences Sophomore year was when I picked up that clarinet and it was senior year, I was in the symphonic band which was the best and the hardest class, I realized that I had done everything I could do to be the best I possibly could be, to treasure being first clarinet second seat, not having the pressure to tune the whole band. This reflected on my entire classes of senior year, to treasure how far I have come, how much I had grown in one class with one teacher. I hope that this would stick with me wherever I go, punctuality, hard-working, and determination