Author: Brooke Wiredu (Page 3 of 4)

1. What is the name of the Twitter account? Do you know anything about this source already? (Although it’s okay to start with something like the Twitter profile, you also need to go outside the post!) 

The name of the Twitter account is Lois Beckett. I’m not too sure about what exactly is on, but you can tell from the posters the middle schoolers are holding they want something to change in their community or the world in general.

1. What can you learn about the person behind the Twitter account? (You will probably need to leave Twitter to do this!)

For searching her name, it said that she is a senior journalist from the Guardian in Oakland, California who covers a lot of serious topics. So to simply put she is an Activist.

1. What sources did you use to learn about the person behind the Twitter account? How do you know that these are good sources?

I looked at her Twitter account but then later realized that anything can be anything on social media, so I googled and saw her on The Guardian’s page, plus she was also talked about on the Insider

1. Based on your lateral reading, do you think this account is a trustworthy source of information about the school walkouts? Explain.

Yes I think it is trustworthy because the place she claims to work not only verifies that she works there, but also other things she has worked on

Growing up, I had the privilege to experience education in the States and Abroad. In parts of Africa, most children do not have the luxury to be able to study or go to school full-time. Most kids would even drop out before they finished high school. Classes were not only hard and competitive, but they would post your grades regardless of the position you were in. Teachers and parents would make comments about how if you don’t study hard enough, you might end up like someone who got the least grades and you would never amount to anything. I grew up thinking you’re best was never really the best. Where you would have to compete with friends so you wouldn’t be the rant of the pack.

Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t always bad and we did get breaks that were very much needed. We would never get Vacations per se but we got ‘Breaks’, as in we had to go back to school most of the time in a month or 2 two at most. Personally, I didn’t like the way we were being taught in schools, because it was so cramped. The school would start for kindergartners and most other students at 8:00 am, but if you were 7th grade through 9th grade, school usually started at 6:00 am at my school because we ‘needed’ to have morning classes and if you didn’t come it meant that you were missing 30 mins of normal 8:00 class; By the way, these classes were paid for differently than normal schools fees that we had to pay. So basically if you didn’t have the money you would miss lessons that were essential for your graduation.

After 14 years of constantly competing with people in a literal life and death situation, I came to the United States with my average grades. I went to a school that would accept my conditions because we were being rushed and I needed to go to school immediately so my older sister could graduate on time. I didn’t really mind going to the school I went to because it was a totally different experience than what I thought ‘American Highschool’ would be like. During my time there with my sister I got to learn that although studying is important, I also need time for myself. I could barely sleep back in Africa because all my sisters were in a sense smarter. I always felt like I had to compete with people. I felt like I always needed to best someone. This took a negative impact on my health and it made me feel like whatever I did was not good enough.

If I could take anything from my time in Africa, I learned that though trying your best was important and looking forward to improving it needed, you should also take time for yourself and study at your own pace. Thankfully coming to America helped me focus on things other than studying; it helped me realize that though you might be as good with things as others you could just divert your focus to things that you might be good at. Also failing doesn’t mean the end of the world, but you can take failing as a lesson to find out the things you are good at and build yourself up with that because your best should only matter when you give it you’re all.

“How to Read Like A Writer” By Mike Bunn