Year: 2019

I’m on the train on my way home from class and all I can think about is how much work I need to get done. I have an essay due at 8 am, an assignment due in my psychology class, and I have to study for a test I have in two days. But when am I going to do all of this? As soon as I get home I have to shower, eat, and go to work. I don’t get out of work until 11 pm so, that means I’m most likely going to be up late getting all of this done. College. Stress. These two words go together just like peanut butter and jelly. As a student, every spare minute seems to be filled with worrying. You always feel like you have to achieve something and make plans for your future. Instead of relaxing on your days off, you’re worrying about assignments you need to complete, or working to earn some extra money. Whether it is your first or last year in college, you’re under some kind of stress. To my fellow students, you’re not alone and I completely understand. But, we can’t let the stress control our lives. It’s not healthy. As for college professors, we should turn our attention to making sure students can rebound between intense intellectual activity, just as athletes rest between hard and intense workouts.

 

According to Psych Central, 1 in 5 college students have stress and may even consider suicide. Most students juggle part-time jobs along with school, worry about assignments, stress about the future, and finally how and when to make the next step. Trying to handle all these things at once can leave you feeling overwhelmed. This stress can cause multiples problems, not just emotional, but physical as well. With the pressure to do well in college, students may become sleep deprived. Such sleep deprivation impairs mental capacity, but this is only one of the many problems that may come with stress. There have been so many instances where students are so overwhelmed they turn to drugs or alcohol in hopes of reducing the stress or just “letting go” for a moment. Next thing you know every time you’re sitting down to get an assignment done, you’ll also set down a bottle of wine or vodka at your table. The abuse of Adderall is also very common in students. It is a strong central nervous system stimulant that is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But, college students who face a long night of cramming for exams often whip this out in order to improve focus, sharpen mental acuity and provide a small energy boost for more productive study. There’s just so many effects and things that stress can come with. 

In my case since this is my first year of college, the transition is what has caused most of my stress. I went from attending a high school where the education wasn’t the best, where teachers barely taught to becoming a young adult, juggling college and a part-time job. Then the rest of my stress was caused by how unprepared I felt coming into college. Saying that my high school was shit, is an understatement. So now in college, I feel like I have to work twice as hard to make up for what I didn’t learn that I should have knowledge about. The flawed educational system also takes a toll on the students; take me as an example. But in college, I see that one of the most common problems is how professors manage the workload in the class. During my first semester, I felt like it was just a workload after workload. For example, in my psychology class, we had to study for a midterm and then the same day that we took the midterm, we had to do an essay. Of course, everyone knows that college isn’t easy because it requires a lot of work from you. But, you gotta cut us some slack. How would you not be stressed out with such intense work being given to you back to back like that?

The statement that “the transition from high school to college might be difficult” is a huge understatement for me. It might be for you as well. I went from almost failing high school and thinking that college was going to be a breeze to dreading having to go to class every day. One day I decided to take a step out of my paranoid mind and saw things for how they really were. College wasn’t as bad as I had thought it was. I was risking more by not going. I had to at least try it before I judged it. Yes, college is hard, but it is not too hard for you.

When you hear the word “college” what do you think of? Some may think of college as being a gateway to many opportunities. Others may think that it is not worth the time, stress and effort. Based on my college experience I have held both views. In high school I didn’t take it very seriously. I was very laid back and procrastinated frequently. When I was at my final years of high school I rarely went to class and when I did it would only be for about a day or two a week. I didn’t understand the point of going to high school and learning all this useless stuff. I did not realize that high school was my preparation for college and school is what you make it. While reading the article “Learning (Your First Job)” I found that Robert Leamnson has some pretty good points about school and learning. He states that “…learning is not something that just happens to you, it is something that you do to yourself” (1). He also says that “…you do want to learn something while getting a diploma” (1). From this information I take away that you must be willing to learn in order to learn and you need to be engaged in the journey in order to get to the destination. Yes, we might not agree with all the things that you have to learn in school, but enjoy the things that you have been interested in while in school otherwise you will be stuck in the position of wondering what it is all for like I and many others have done. High school isn’t there just for doing tasks and getting grades. It is to prepare you for college. It is there for you to learn how to learn.

So, what is learning how to learn and how does this have anything to do with college? Well, when I first entered college I was overwhelmed with work and would overthink the simplest tasks. This reflected my high school performance. Since I didn’t attend high school very often, I did not have the experience of a school environment. I didn’t have the drive or study practice that would transfer from grade to grade. I was so focused on the useless information being taught that I did not realize what mattered most. It may sound simple, but just practicing doing work in general is very important. When you don’t do your school work for a long while you start to get too comfortable. Everything is fine until you are presented with a task. You are very capable of doing that task, but are forced out of your comfort zone and into uncharted/abandoned territory. By simply going to school and getting into the habit of completing tasks you are more well off than someone who hasn’t. I know that I’ve been talking a lot about high school, but learning and practicing learning doesn’t stop with high school. It travels through college and life afterwards as well.

As a student, I also spent long hours in school learning different subjects sometimes feeling like class was long even if only 20 mins had passed, taking forever to end and other times when time went by fast that I lose track. What I noticed in my 4 years of high school, was that not only some classmates would take naps with the teacher unbothered while in other classes everyone was so attentive to what the teacher was saying but that I also grew as an individual. School is defined as an institution where children are educated. As students we are taught to listen carefully, think critically, be able to connect points together and the ability to think on our own but there are various ways for a person to be educated such as learning from personal experiences and lessons thought to us by our elders.

School plays an important role in developing skills because their goal is for students to learn and it’s up to us as students do our part also .The issue that revolves in the school system is whether or not each student is provided with enough resources and good school environment or if the student is even aware and taking advantage of those resources. To John Taylor Gatto we may just mindless consumers produced by the school system, implying that school is in fact useless and pointless but why is that some students show more interest than others?, not only will the desire of being successful always be stronger than poor teachings that may exist but it may just be because students don’t know how to ask for help and fight against the system . As students it’s our duty to do our job and be responsible in school which means doing our homework, following directions but most importantly being able to learn and take something from each class and apply it to other classes and especially outside of school.

School benefits us in some of the following ways: learning a new subject, allow us to interact with other people, have access to teachers and friends who support you so you can be the best you can be, the environment we are in allow us to build friendships with our classmates, the ability to learn how to work with others which is also crucial in life and most importantly prepare unto succeed and strive in a profession we worked hard for our entire life, not only for satisfaction but for stability. In “ Learning (Your First Job) by Robert Leamnson“knowledege is what has the potential for improving the individual and society ”(9), the information,strategies and lessons we learned in school can be used to our advantage and outside of school. Based on my experience being part of the school system I disagree that it manipulated us into becoming consumers and addicts but rather provided us with opportunities to become successful and be able to fulfill our desire.

A school environment provide students with access to teachers and classmates when we are in need of help, when we aren’t completely sure about something. In my opinion, a teacher should go beyond just teaching their knowledge to their students but rather be role models, a mentor and nature them. If a teacher offers you help but you don’t show that you care, they’ll eventually give up and it’s up to you to show effort. When I have trouble and need a deeper explanation I would most likely refer to a textbook but it’s important to realize we have teachers there to help us, teachers aren’t only meant to give us information that we have to learn for the class but are there to be utilized and allow their knowledge to enforce and grow ours. We have the ability to work in groups, pairs, do projects together even doing projects alone will enhance your ability to know new information while we can discuss about how we can help each other, not only improving ourselves but others also. Gatto suggests that the school “has done a spectacular job of turning our children into children”, the idea of turning us into children isn’t relevant because as we go into the next grade the lessons get harder rather than education being dumbed down to make it easier for us to understand. Schools basically challenge students allowing them to exceed their limitations and what they thought they weren’t capable of doing .

Deonarine Karan

English 1101

Revision One

 

We are trapped in a society that if we have no education people look down upon us and treat us unfairly. Many people think they could buy their way through education. We should bring real reforms that make sure we have a good teacher in every classroom and gives parents the option of where they send their kids to take the steps they need in order to be successful. “The federal government throws dollars at the state, the state throws dollars at local school boards and the local boards throw dollars at schools”, which shows money affects the way schools operate because if they don’t do what they are told the money schools get could be affected. So, schools have no say in education because their primarily focus is the “money”, the positive is making the school better but on the other hand the  government controls every aspect of education. According to Robert Ware, the school board should develop a SWOT analysis Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) which shares reports with other schools to help each other. “Buying education” by Robert Ware is connected to people cheating their way through education because they are afraid of failing.

 

Many teachers don’t enjoy their jobs because students are focused on passing the class and not really caring about learning but you can’t blame us we are afraid to fail in this society so we have to turn to cheating to succeed. But if we get a education and not a schooling like John Taylor Gatto states students would try their best to succeed in school rather than cheating or buying their way through school. The difference is that “schooling”is something that kids have to do for twelve years, and five days a week for nine months and “education” is only if a kid really wants to. Is it possible that George W. Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said we would “leave no child behind” (Gatto 2), students want to be motivated to be encouraged to have the qualities to succeed in life they don’t want to feel like they were forced to learn material that society thinks they have to. We suppress our genius only because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women (Gatto 5), which shows the solution that we should be able to manage our life ourselves rather than depending on anyone. We could encourage the best qualities of the youthfulness- curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight by being more flexible about time, texts, and testing (Gatto 1), these methods would be more meaningful for a students learning life span that would help them grow, develop, and succeed.

 

In Robert Leamnson article “Your First Job”, he shows the difference between the two components of learning and understanding. “So it is that we can understand something quite clearly, and some time later not be able to remember what it was we understood” (Leamnson 3) which shows we didn’t keep the information we learned because we feel like we don’t need it in everyday life. “The reason something must be said about so commonplace a thing as the classroom is that too many students see it incorrectly and so they waste a highly valuable occasion for learning” (Leamnson 3), many students see the classroom like a jail cell that has you locked away from society with no place to move or be free. In other words there’s no space for a student to spread his wings and fly independently and show their true worth. They need experiences to keep succeeding in life, and the only way to gain this knowledge is to learn about life, to see and experience how to manage them in life.

Zevanya

Carrie Hall

English 1101

April 4, 2019

Too Cool for School

“ Hey! Can I copy your homework? I was really busy yesterday.”
Busy? But your Snapchat story says you were at the karaoke.
“ Why is our math teacher mad all the time? Does she know we all have a life?”
Why? Probably because 95 percent of the class never submits the homework.
“ I can’t believe I failed!”
Why is it hard to believe you failed when you put zero effort into studying and cheated off someone else?
Must be nice to have parents that can afford your tuition even when you have to repeat the same grade twice. Must be nice living under a three-story house with three maids and not worry about anything because mommy’s credit card got you covered. Honestly, why are you even in school? Why are you guys so proud of wearing branded clothing from head to toe when your parents were the ones who paid for it anyways. Instead of wasting time on trivial things like “should I buy Coach or Gucci”, start thinking about your future. Stop being spoiled teens that take education for granted because there are thousands of kids in Indonesia that are willing to die for one.

Before I moved to New York, I attended an international school in Indonesia. My school adopted Singapore’s education system and we also followed the Cambridge examinations curriculum. In this system, we were taught solely based on textbooks and worksheets. I don’t entirely agree with this method of teaching as it creates a closed discussion on other possible answers and theories. Nevertheless, the school was still known to excel students in academics and human skills. We were taught advanced mathematics, chemistry, biology, and physics during the eighth grade. Later on, during the ninth grade, we were split into two majors: business and science.

I admit that the school gave us a very narrow choice but regardless of which major we chose, all of us entered college with our own desired majors instead of just “business and science.” I chose the science major and ended up choosing hospitality management in college but that didn’t affect me negatively. In fact, I was able to use my knowledge from my science classes into my hospitality courses. It was mandatory for the science students to take advanced mathematics and thanks to my school I was able to understand and ace my college math class. Another example is my friend, Yolanda. She was in the same science major as me and drifted to interior design when she started college. Surprisingly, she said that she was able to understand certain concepts of interior design thanks to the physics class we took. Sometimes I look back and think to myself “what if our school had already planned everything? What if they knew that these two majors would be beneficial in any field the students go to?”

I can’t say this is and will be the same case for every student that went to my school because it depends entirely on the student. I’ve had a few classmates that couldn’t care less if they had to repeat the same grade because well, their parents could afford it. The way they spend their money has no correlation to me in any way but for some reason, it bothers me seeing them waste not only their parents’ money but also their hard work. Earning money isn’t easy regardless if your family owns their own company or manages their own business it still takes hard work and dedication to keep the business alive. On the other hand, I can’t entirely blame the kids because their parents were the ones who raised them to become spoiled. They’ve always given their kids the easy way out and never taught them how harsh and competitive the real world is.

In Indonesia, numerous children around the age of five to thirteen are unable to receive an education. They had no choice but to help their parents earn money by selling water, tissues, and cigarettes. Also, you would find numerous kids on the streets in Jakarta playing the role as an unofficial parking ranger. Keep in mind that the government does not pay these kids, they receive their income from small tips from people riding cars, motorcycles or trucks. Around four years ago my mother’s company held a volunteer work trip. My mother asked around ten kids what their future goals were and every one of them replied the same, they all wanted to go to school, wear uniforms and learn something.

It broke my heart to hear that these kids only wanted something so simple but was something most of us took for granted. Gatto states that “your children should have a more meaningful life, and they can.”(5) I am aware that not all schools are like my school and private schools are indeed not on the affordable side but I was able to have “a more meaningful life” because I actually learned. Not only did they help students excel in academics, but they also promoted fund-raising events to help the less fortunate. We would visit orphanages and hold talent shows where the students themselves would put on small shows like singing or acting. We would also come to school earlier to make packaged meals for the kids and staff. It was also the school’s idea to chip in a few extra changes from our pocket money to donate for families living in the villages that needed assistance for giving their children a chance of receiving a proper education.

My classmates that were “too cool for school” never really participated in these events so they weren’t able to visually see what the less fortunate were going through. The teachers thought holding activities and events like this would open the students’ minds and for those who actually did participate, it built a whole new perspective for us. I matured sooner than most people my age, learned to appreciate more for what I have than what I don’t and apply what I learned in high school into college and the real world.

Works Cited

Gatto, John Taylor “Against School”

Nina Darbonne

Dr. Carrie Hall

English Comp 1 1101-D355

4 April 2019

Guide to Success in School

“College is super easy, I pass all of my exams, my GPA is sitting pretty at a 4.0, I don’t have to study after class, and my social life is flourishing!” said no successful college student ever. Being completely candid, more often than not, failing grades, long hours pouring over textbooks and class notes, along with turning down offers to turn up with friends are common college experiences. College life is not an easy task, students often must overcome problems both in and outside the classroom. The struggles that arise tend to negatively affect schoolwork. A common misconception is it is the teacher’s responsibility to take extreme efforts to combat the issues that arise. Students need accountability to persevere and seek help when necessary. Education is not a passive process it takes time and considerable amounts of effort.

Dr. Robert Leamnson wrote “Learning (Your First Job)”, which describes the components of the learning process (understanding and remembering) and several methods to aid this process both in and out of the classroom. Many of Leamnson’s learning strategies ring true. One example from the text Leamnson writes, “…we have to practice what we understand. Without rehearsal, that fantastic circuitry that enabled our understanding will gradually disintegrate and we can no longer reconstruct what we once understood.” (Leamnson 3) This stresses that without repetition, the initial learning that was achieved will be forgotten. Leaving the learner unable to access the knowledge. The teacher can help the student with the initial understanding portion. But in order to truly learn and commit the information to memory, the student must then put in the effort to review and deepen their understanding of the material. Leamnson goes on to write, “… bright students… understanding what they hear or read. But… get very poor grades and sometimes drop out. The reason is, they neglect the second part of learning, which is remembering.” (Leamnson 2) In essence, despite being able to understand different material, students that do not commit the information to memory will not be able to perform well academically. Great comprehension ability can not help a person if they are unable to later draw forth and make use of the information.

John Taylor Gatto taught in the New York City school system for thirty years. He grew to believe the public school system hinders children as opposed to educating and preparing them to be responsible, productive adults. Gatto identifies his major gripes with the public school system in his article “Against School.” Some of the concepts Gatto mentions in the article I previously never gave much thought to and took for granted. A prime example being, Gatto mentions in the article, “1. To make good people. 2. To make good citizens. 3. To make each person his or her personal best. These goals are still trotted out today… as a decent definition of public education’s mission.” (Gatto 2) Based on this information, the public school system should aim to mold each young mind into morally good people that strive to achieve their best and are productive members of society upon graduation from high school. At the age of eighteen, approximately the same age many complete “the twelve-year wringer,” many aspects of the world transform and opportunities open up to individuals. For instance, eighteen marks the age when people are considered legally adults with the capacity to make their own decisions and be held accountable for said decisions and actions, enlist in the military, and the ability to vote is available. Personally, I never attended public school. However, through my experiences in Catholic schools I feel the parochial educational institutions I attended have strived to instill the objectives of the public education’s mission in their students. This was done through requiring volunteer work, stressing the importance of the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), and rewarding good behavior and academic success while conversely reprimanding negative behavior and poor academic effort. The academic institutions I attended ensured we were aware of current events through a myriad of assignments that emphasized news articles while excluding sports and celebrity tabloids.

In my school experience, I encountered several teachers that sought to keep the classroom interesting and students engaged by challenging students to fact check in order to possibly correct the teacher for various incentives, the chance of getting extra credit or a gift card was more than enough to capture the attention of the entire class. On several occasions, I found myself reeled back into lessons after zoning out giving more thought to impending lunch over the “golden nuggets of wisdom” tumbling out of my teacher’s mouth. I can recall the moment in my education that sparked my curiosity and effectively tethered me to Science. An interest that made obtaining my Bachelor’s of Science in Biology truly a labor of love. Sophomore year of high school, my Chemistry teacher converted lab class into a veritable fireworks display conveying the whimsical applications of the Science.

Most of my learning experiences have been and continue to be positive, although not necessarily remarkable. However, as I sat in my high school’s Chemistry lab nearly fifteen years ago, I was not expecting the lesson of the hour to impact me so greatly. It was third period, I sat wondering what was in store for us in the darkened lab. As I looked around at the closed windows and shut off lights, I heard Mr. Mallia drone on about chemical reactions as he set up for the experiment. But being completely honest, I didn’t catch a word of what he was saying, I was far too distracted by the hushed whispers of my classmates, trying to catch up with the latest gossip, and the sounds of lacrosse drifting in from the field right outside the window. I’m staring at my closed lab manual and notebook in front of me and fiddling with the pen between my fingers. Suddenly my attention is ripped away from the dark lab bench by a brilliant white flash in the center of the room. All heads, eyes, ears, and attention are focused on Mr. Mallia who stands behind a Bunsen burner decked out in safety gear, tongs, and strips of Magnesium. Mr. Mallia capitalized of the moment of undivided attention to explain how fireworks function while highlighting the importance of Chemistry. He didn’t settle on telling us the different color reactions that result from burning various elements. He demonstrated with samples of Boron, Calcium, Copper, Iron, and Lithium creating flames that ranged from green, red, teal, and orange.

Leamnson writes, “You cannot be ‘given’ learning, nor can you be forced to do it. The most brilliant and inspired teacher cannot ‘cause’ you to learn. ” (Leamnson 1) A good teacher can not force a student to learn it is the student’s responsibility as well. Conversation is not one sided neither is the learning process.

A person’s achievements are not based solely on their educational background but their motivation and perseverance are major components. That being said, some careers, such as medical doctor, require substantial schooling that would seem unattainable without the “twelve-year wringer” as a adequate base to build upon. School systems, teachers in particular can help spark curiosity in a given subject by escaping the humdrum routines. Whether it’s bringing the lesson to life in new and unexpected ways or offering incentives to ignite passion in the material, teacher are integral parts of the education process.

 

Works Cited

Gatto, John T. “Against School.” Against School – John Taylor Gatto, wesjones.com/gatto1.htm.

Leamnson, Robert. “Learning (Your First Job).” MA, Dartmouth, Dec. 2002.

From the article “against school”, we learned about all the concerns Gatto had about schooling in general. From what I learned, Gatto  thinks that the obstacles students have to go through for that long time is very difficult and were basically setup by a system in order to take advantage of kids in the long run. Furthermore, he also expressed his concerns about school system and how kid are prepared for a future labor force. Is that true and how come the vast majority of kids are still applying to school? It is obvious that school is a very convenient way of success nowadays and the department of education and teachers put a lot of effort for kids to learn and become better tomorrow. School is a bigger path no matter what one is planning to accomplish in his life. However, public schools still have a lot to do in order to improve the overall learning experience. In my opinion, Gatto probably experienced some of the worst school systems and generalizes his opinion accordingly.  The way classes are dispensed can seem overwhelming and this may give some students very different thoughts about school. However learning can be more interesting if the department of education and the teachers load more learning topics because one cause of boredom is repetition.

 

Kristopher Baptiste

March 27,

Revision introduction

In today generation kids are basically going to school just to be given unnecessary information that will not go no where in life. Parents should start taking action in trying to change this corrupted school system because teachers these days preferably the teachers in high school cause that’s where its really noticeable. Parents should go up to the school and talk to the principle about their child’s education because they are basically wasting there time coming to school and learning literally nothing that will help them in life. students should also stand up and say something about this problem before it gets even worse than it is right now. Students aren’t getting the proper education they deserve in today’s society. It could be both the students and teachers or just the students or just the teachers on why the students are not getting the proper education they need in order to make the right decisions when they get older.

Education is definitely important in anyone’s life.  A gift of knowledge can bring us to the top of our dreams. It leads us to the right path and gives us a chance to have an amazing life. Education makes people capable of doing new interesting things that can go a long way to improving human living conditions and standards. Creating an education system that is capable of preparing students for the future, education systems need to be configured into a new, more knowledge centered way of learning. The key of success for our future is education, and education plays a very important role in our society. But first let’s start with the problem of our current education system. The biggest problem is, it did not motivate kids. Millions of kids do not know any purposing of going to school, except obligation. How should we take school seriously when half of the teachers/ educators doesn’t take teaching seriously? There should be more teachers/ educators in the educational system that actually care for student’s education/ future. I personally feel like I have been robbed for my education throughout my four years in high school.