The Boy In The Red Shoes...

Jeff Bliss became a hero the second he stood up to his high school teacher, when he felt he wasn’t being properly taught in class and gets kicked out for doing so.  There need to be more kids like Jeff Bliss, kids that are not afraid to stand up for what they believe is right, to stand against anyone who they believe is not doing right.  Bliss states that, “I want to see a teacher stand up and interact with the students, get involved, discuss, talk, question and get deep into the subject.”  Teachers need to be more involved when they teach. Teachers complain that when students fail and the first person they blame is the student, they do not take a step back and ask themselves what am I doing wrong as a teacher?  Most teachers think a student fails because they do not care about the class or their grade but sometimes they are just afraid to ask for help or do not want to get kicked out of class for standing up to an authority figure.  Public education system makes me really angry because most teachers just do not care about the students or their teaching just stinks.  We as kids deserve a great education whether you go to public or private school.  A commenter by the screen name of ScreenMonkeyMan commented, “public school is terrible my senior year of history class they were teaching about Elvis.  They also took down all maps and stopped geography class.”  How can you expect kids to be successful and do well in school if you are teaching about Elvis in a history class?  I know that Elvis’s music did play a role in history and was influential and what not, but in my US history class my Jr year we had an entire lecture on Elvis too.  It just seems silly to me that we cannot pass state standardized tests but we have time to learn for a whole class period about Elvis.

               Another thing I found interesting and that stood out to me is when Jeff Bliss went on his rampage he says that, “If you would just get up and teach instead of handing them a packet.  There are kids in here that don’t learn like that, they need to learn face to face. You want kids to come into your class; you want them to get excited?  You gotta make them excited! You want a kid to change and start doing better you gotta touch his freaking heart.  Can’t expect a kid to change if all you do is tell him.”  It just reminded me a lot of Dunken Andrade. Dunken Andare talks about schools and public education how the way teachers teach will leave an everlasting impression on kids.  And how education is the most important possession we have at a young age. 

Growing Roses in Concrete

Tupac does poetic justice in this poem A Rose That Grew From Concrete.  he describes the situation of millions of kids and young adults that live in unreliable neighborhoods.  where growing up means surviving another day not getting shot at.  When it feels like  everything is against you, and it might be but it is extremely hard to be that rose that is growing from the concrete when every time you turn around  something else has gone wrong in your life, you feel like the world is against you but you rise above all that you make it and u are the rose that even when all the odds where against you, you were able to rise above all the obstacles in your live and make it.  Jeff Dunken Andrade talks about how impressionable kids are.  children teachers anybody can imprint on them.  If you can change a kid when they are young enough you can change their whole life... essentially forever.  McFarland brought up a good point the other day he said that, you are safer in Iraq than living Oakland right now.  how sad is that the death rate is so high in Oakland that a war doesn't even measure up to the death toll.  Andrade also talks about a key to children's success in school pyramid and on the bottom of that pyramid was children need clothes, food, safety, if these kids are worried about things food and clothes do you really think they are going to do good in school? 
Another concept that Andrade talks about is Maya Agelou and how Maya broke up a fight that Tupac was about to get into and she tells him do you understand how important you are?  and Tupac  cried people want to know that they matter to somebody even if it is a complete stranger.  we want to know we matter.
(Question 1)How do you get teachers to care as much as Dunken Andrade? (Question 2)And when you do find teachers like Dunken Andrade how you make your students thrive and want to learn? (Question 3)How can you change the heart of a child that is so use to seeing negative actions?

Me, Success & My Community!

Success to me is not defined by material objects or by wealth. Success is what you make of it. You can be homeless on the street and have a

successful day and be successful. For example, a homeless person might not have home or food to eat but maybe that day somebody gave them a blanket and a pillow or some food. Success can mean getting the necessities you need to live Success can mean living another day, seeing another tomorrow.  Living in a neighborhood that struggles with gang violence and hardship, you could walk out of your house one day being a innocent person and get shot and killed to death so living another day and not getting harmed is success to some people.  Drug addict make it threw the days, weeks, months even years sober which is success in my eyes. Success to me is the courage  to wake up every morning and fight your demons. My community does not help me to succeed if anything it hinders me.  Living in a poor community sucks, and it is extremely hard to be successful in a neighborhood that all your life you have seen unsuccessful people.  People who are very well capable of going and getting a job but much rather beg for money for drugs and alcohol.People who dropped out of high school that had a chance at success but chose a different route. Living in a poor neighborhood means crappy public education.  I have experienced poor public education first hand and it is hard to get the help and resources the things that I need to be successful when the teachers do not care you cant get tutoring because the school does not have enough money for those kinds of things. When you have people who care and the resources to help and the money for tutoring of course it is easier to thrive and be successful. the teachers at Chabot are like robots they come in to class teach you and try to instill knowledge into you.  But like the other day in my math class I asked for further explanation because I did not understand, my professor continued to just repeat himself he went on a rant and at the end of him talking I was still confused if not more.  My professor is supposed to help me not confuse me even more.   I would say that I am one of my biggest issues I face in college is myself.  I have this incredible ability to get inside of my own head which put a lot of stress on myself. Thinking the worst of everything makes it damn near impossible to thrive and do my best in college. I am my biggest demon, I'm my own worst enemy. I can tear my self to pieces with just my own thoughts and its not like what I'm thinking is a reality or the truth I just beat myself down with these thoughts.  I'm just like every other college student I'm afraid.  I'm afraid to fail at school and at life. I want to be someone who matters I want to make a difference in this world.  So to think the worst possible thing is easy for me because there is so much in my life that could go wrong.  I make it impossible to be a successful thriving person here at Chabot college. Money is another issue that I find makes it hard to thrive at Chabot college.  If you do not have money for classes books supplies etc.  How can you thrive? It is impossible to be the best you, you can be if you don't have the tools necessary.  I had to get a part time job so I can afford school and the things I need to get to school on time.  So my parents wouldn't have to struggle to help me out. It makes life more stressful a part time job and a full time student.  it is hard to be successful.

Passion&Privilege

What is the relationship between passion and privilege? 
    The relationship between passion and privilege in my opinion is that people who are privileged can easily pursue their passion, and make their passion not a dream but their reality.  It is a lot harder to pursue your passion when you are not as privileged as others.  When people stereotype you because of the color of your skin or the way you look or dress it is a lot harder to be successful, and do all the right things in your life to make your passion a reality.  For example I live in a crappy neighborhood, so my education wasn't the best and the people that live around me aren't successful.  There were little girls in my neighborhood both shot and one killed the other left mentally challenged for the rest of her life.  It is hard to pursue your passion when you are busy worrying about other things like the safety of not only your self but your family.  So when all you know and all you've been raised around are unsuccessful people violence and hardship how can you possibly pursue your passion into making it a reality?  you cant and that's were privilege comes in to play, when you are white and live in a great neighborhood and the school you go to is top of the line and you children and family do not have to worry about shootings and when you feel safe in your perfect little community, its easy to have passion its easy to pursue what you want to because all you have to do is worry about being a kid and not grown up business.

Passion Project!!!

In the passion project they talk about how their parents want them to be doctors, lawyers and cops, but that is not what they are passionate about.  I find it hard to relate to these people because my mom dad and step mother have all encouraged me to be and do whatever my heart desired.  they have supported me in everything I do and have done.  they want me to go to school and have a career in something that I am passionate about, whether it makes me a lot of money or not.  All three of my parents want what is best for me and for me to be happy so if that means making $50,000 dollars being a zoologist versus a doctor who makes well over double that, they are completely happy.  I feel the majority of the teachers here at Chabot love what they do but they do not love to teach.  Do not get me wrong they love and know the subject at hand, but I feel like I am a burden to some professors, and others I feel were not meant to teach.  I feel teachers should not only be passionate about the subject that they are teaching and about teaching in itself.  For example, a math professor can really know his stuff anbout math but if he sucks at teaching you are screwed.