Caught my attention while lying in a hammock
Sky gazing
For the moment
Only stars and clouds
Came and went
Felt like the beginning of the future
Just a memory
Nostalgia
The autumn
I thought I knew it all
But I didn't
|
|
Tiny lights twinkling for all of time
Caught my attention while lying in a hammock Sky gazing For the moment Only stars and clouds Came and went Felt like the beginning of the future Just a memory Nostalgia The autumn I thought I knew it all But I didn't
1 Comment
This piece is a work in progress. Enjoy.
While in the air, somewhere between the Philadelphia International Airport and Sangster International Airport, I gazed out the window and stared at a jigsaw puzzle. My thoughts should have been focused on a beautiful ceremony, exchanging rings under palm trees, and celebrating my nuptials with my new wife, family, and friends, but in that moment it was not the case. My thoughts focused on the land below, which had appeared to be cut into sections, like a grid. It reminded me of a microchip. Cars traveled up and down the roads as if they were caught in a feedback loop. This memory comes to mind when I hear people say that they’d like to get off the grid, minimalize their lives, and join the tiny house culture. The aerial view gave me a different perception of my habitat and the rat race. Can one really escape the grid? My thoughts move past the aerial view and into a galactic view. No matter what plagues my mind, from this position I perceive a new reality; I live on a gigantic rock that is hurdling through space, into infinite darkness. I wrestle between comfort and discomfort in this reality. Within the perimeters of the grid, I find a peaceful solitude in the natural world. Pine needles blanket the ground below my feet as the chilly breeze kisses my cheeks. Solar rays illuminate in shades of green, yellow, orange, red and brown, as they separate and scatter through the limbs of sap dripping conifers. With each step I take, fallen branches and dried leaves release a crackling sound. The deeper I walk into these woods, the deeper my perception of reality becomes, and the farther I drift into the only truth that I can account for, the present moment. This place does not pass judgment, nor does it speak any lies. It knows nothing of greed, jealousy, or envy. It possesses no ego, arrogance, or attitude of condescension. Its ambience is untouched by the plague that ills my mind, an infinite cycle of monotonous efforts of a society striving to keep up with the Jones’. Competition has never been my strong suit, at least not in regards to defining my strengths in the terms of defeating another man. I struggle with the challenge of proving the purpose of my existence to others, as the only competitor I have ever valued was the man I was yesterday. These topics are mundane and irrelevant as I gaze past my own water-mirrored reflection and into the cloud rippled sky. The creek runs naturally like my rapid thoughts. It is in my best intentions that I come here to discharge my thoughts and disinfect my troubled mind. The state of the economy is less than a drop in my sea of thought as my eyes focus on the morning dew settling on the feathered leaves of a fern. I pick up and skip a rock across a tranquil bend of the creek. “One, two, three, four”, I count. The ripples expand outward in perfect three hundred and sixty degree wakes, mimicking the infinite expanse that is our universe. With the rock I leave my worries. With the ripples I fathom eternity. A chipmunk scurries past my foot and brings my mind back into the present moment. I often get lost in my thoughts, even here. Week 6 Reflection This week I showed up later than usual for class. I fell asleep on the couch. I have no regrets. I was never one to take naps, at least not since I was age 2, but as I burn the candle at both ends by waking up early and going to bed late, naps have become a necessity. I hit the road late but traffic was minimal. I parked outside the stem building and hurried to class. Anna and Emily were sitting on the concrete benches. “You dyed your hair”, Emily said. “Yeah, I stay blonde like 1998”, I replied, “It looks like you colored your hair too.” “I did. Thanks”, Emily said. Anna talked about how she has been working a lot of hours at her job. John came down the hall and sat on the bench. Professor Mangini walked down the hall, resourced his phone for the door code, plugged the code in, unlocked the door, and entered the classroom. We took our seats. The professor drew the T chart on the board. On the left side he wrote what we’d be doing in class. On the right side he listed our assignments due by next week. There was only one thing listed on the left, informal presentation of AMA. There were 4 things listed on the right side of the T; Blog #12, Optional Bonus Blog – How to Tech, Revise AMA, and Revise sites. The focus points of site revision touched on navigation and links. Make the site easier to navigate. The student presentations began. Melissa Barry went first as we presented in alphabetical order by our last names. Her AMA was very descriptive in defining banking concept and problem posing educations, and growth and fixed mindsets. The class recommended that she add personal examples from her life in the essay. Next up was Ben Bond. Instead of reading his AMA Ben paraphrased. He chose the topic “Raising my child” and wrote about his niece and her father, Ben’s older brother. When he spoke about the love parents have for their children, I actually had to hold back tears for a second. It is obvious that Ben loves his niece as his own child. The class recommended that he focus more on explaining how he’d raise his own child to have a growth mindset. I caught the tail end of Dan Durst’s presentation because I ran off to use the restroom as he got started. His focus was about “not giving up on the bad kid.” I wish I saw more of his presentation. I read his AMA today and I like the perspective of a security guard witnessing how teachers treat problematic students. Zack Furterer’s AMA was about his challenges with dealing with authority figures while being the new guy at work. It was recommended that he revise his essay as it doesn’t focus as much on a growth or fixed mindset, but more on how he proved himself to gain respect from an authority figure. It was my turn to present my AMA. I had previously recorded myself reading the essay. I clicked the play button and sat back. Students offered their opinions about my essay. I got a lot of positive feedback. It felt good to hear Dan say that I inspired him to try and find more time to write. What I took as most valuable from the positive criticism is that I need to work on how I transition my piece from a third person narrative to a first person. I was also told that my spin is a predictable cliché. I explained that I wrote in the third person because I don’t believe that I wrote about myself, but rather a person who I used to be. The professor stated that he can accept that argument regardless of whether or not he likes my approach. One sentence in the essay stuck out to me as my favorite. I struggled with whether or not I should keep it. The professor asked the class if any particular word usage in the essay stuck out to them. Kylie White said, “The ghost of ambition. I liked that line.” It made me feel really great inside that a classmate recognized my favorite line. Professor Mangini recommended that if I want to try and get the piece published for ThisIBelieve.org, that I cut down my section that is addressed towards incoming freshmen and focus more on myself. I’m going to work on that revision this week. Courtney Huff jotted an extensive list of notes while students commented on my AMA. She’s good with details. Courtney Huff was the last to present the AMA. Her essay detailed in specifics what she has gone through while striving for perfection. I believe that her revelation of not embracing a growth mindset is the strongest part of her essay. Professor Mangini gave the suggestion that she could start her essay by describing that moment and then flashing back to the events that lead up to it and what happened after. He mentioned the movie Goodfellas as an example of starting a story at the middle. I think that’s a great idea. I know Courtney felt a little bummed about the criticism, because perfection is what she strives for. In my opinion, perfection isn’t a destination but a journey. We learn as we go. Whether or not Courtney realizes it, I believe that the reason she loves this piece so much is because when she sat down to write it, she got in the flow. She enjoyed the process of writing it. That is priceless. I only hope that she takes her professor and fellow classmates opinions as a positive thing and gets back in the flow and enjoys writing her revision. I am excited to read her revised AMA. So Aside from our presentAtions, we were told thAt we will be hAving one on one interviews with our professor to Argue our grAde on week 8. I’m not pArticulArly looking forwArd to this. I hAte to sound negAtive. I feel that I deserve An A, but I feel thAt regArdless of whAt grAde I receive, I ActuAlly leArned something this semester. The knowledge obtAined outweighs the vAlue of the grAde, but seeing my hArdwork Acknowledged on pAper with An A would not only be nice, but is deserved. I hAve to write An elevAtor pitch to give to professor MAngini during our interview. MAngini told us A story About his elevAtor pitch thAt he gAve to A professor once. I wonder if Any of my clAssmAtes recAll whAt he did in his pitch. Anyhow, I guess it doesn’t mAtter too much. Week Five in Class Reflection Week Four’s material focused a lot on social belonging. After reading my Week Four reflection, I decided to email my classmates and invite them to socialize before class. Instead of sitting in my car by myself like I had the previous week, I would socialize with new friends. I exchanged phone numbers with John Patton and Courtney Huff through email. John mentioned how he wouldn’t be early to socialize because of work. When the clock struck 5:00 I kissed my wife on the lips and my 3-year old son, Arthur on his cheek. My 2-year old son, Simon was sound asleep in his crib. “Hey Bubby”, I said. “Yes, Daddy”, Arthur asked. “Can you give Sai Sai a kiss for me when he wakes up”, I asked. “Yes, Daddy”, Arthur said. “Can I come to school with you Daddy”, He asked. “You will be going to school soon, Bubs”, I responded. “Have a good night”, my wife Shannon said. The door closed behind me. With rain dropping on my bald spot I pulled the hood up over my head and turned around to look at the front window of my home. While staring through the water as it poured down the windowpane, I witnessed a distorted image of my son was staring back at me. His lips mouthing the words “I love you, bye Daddy.” I said it back. I hit the road. Traffic was rampant. I texted John Patton and Courtney to inform them as to how I was running late. Courtney texted back, “Ditto”, and John did not reply. He had earlier stated how he gets busy at work and sometimes cannot respond. I understand. I parked out front of the stem, crossed the bridge and proceeded towards the doors. A female student walking ahead of me appeared to be talking to herself as she blabbed in her Bluetooth device. Nowadays it is very hard to decipher the lunatics from the lesser insane. She opened the door, walked in, let go of the door and proceeded to walk off and talk to herself. I gripped the handle, opened the door and looked behind me. There was no student to hold the door for. I walked to the elevator and saw an older woman, maybe in her mid sixties. We walked in the elevator. “Disobey”, she said. “Excuse me”, I responded. “That’s the mentality of most kids your age”, she said. My face reflected confusion. “Your sweatshirt”, she said. “Oh… This shirt is a spoof on a clothing company called Obey”, I explained. “You hear about that shooting at the community college somewhere down south”, she asked. Before I could reply she went back to talking, “10 people were killed”. “No, I didn’t hear about that. People are quacks”, I said. We exited the elevator and I headed down the hall for class. I’m never wearing that sweatshirt again. I walked towards the class. Anna and Courtney were outside. We talked about each other’s week outside of class. One of the kids, Anna babysits, got stung by a bee. I talked about a concert I went to the night prior. I found out that Courtney lives in Delaware. Ben came walking down the hall. He started asking us about our assignments. The conversations started to flow. To my surprise, John came walking down the hall. I was glad that he had joined us. We briefly talked about his job. Kayleigh came strolling down the hall. I mentioned to her that she missed a silent class last week. As we began to fill her in Professor Mangini came down the hall. “I’m talking tonight”, he said as he unlocked the door. We followed him into the classroom. He went to the board and started drawing the T chart as usual. Tonight’s class agenda was on the left side of the T and our assignments due by next week were on the right side. For those who haven’t figured this out yet, the left side of the T can be used as the blueprint for our class reflection. The class started with Professor Mangini playing a video of Courtney video blogging. He expressed how great he thinks it is that we are engaging in dialogue on each other’s blog posts. He instructed us to comment on a student’s blog from his morning class. He asked us to comment using questions. We were directed to comment on the classmate’s name that corresponds to where we are on our class list. For example, I am the 9th person on our list. I commented on Jenna Hawkins’ blog, because she is 9th on the morning class list. We reviewed the AMA assignment sheet. We were instructed to download the assignment sheet from the course page, and print it. Other resources on the course page that we were asked to review are under the heading “Rhetoric and Composition.” Mangini spoke about rhetoric and recommended that we read Rhetorical Situations. We were told to focus on ourselves as the speaker, our text and the audience who we are engaging, when we write our adaptive mindset essay. He told us to make ourselves our own audience at first. “Write for you”, Mangini said. “Think of the genre and media you will use; text, media, or a blend of the two. Think of tone.” Mangini said. “What is tone”, he asked. Anna said, “Tone is your attitude in script.” Mangini explained how his mother used to text him in all capital letters. “Are you mad at me, Mom?” The purpose of our project is to inform or persuade through narration, exposition, description and persuasion. Any combination of the 4 is fine. The audience is the class (professor and students). The secondary audience is the individuals outside the classroom setting that have no prior knowledge of who you are. Keep this in mind as you write your prologue. In our prologue we must link the adaptive mindset sheet and include context as to why we wrote the AMA. These are the 3 sections of the the essay: 1.) Prologue: My process Who did I work with? What is my adaptive mindset topic (please reference blog posts and link to the assignment sheet)? Why did I choose this topic? When did I compose my adaptive mindset assignment? Where did I compose my adaptive mindset assignment? How did I compose my adaptive mindset assignment (think technologies and revisions)? 2.) Project: Insert Title Draft #1 Draft #2 3.) Epilogue: My product What is working for me? What isn't working for me ? Focus on areas you want to revise and explain how to make the work stronger) We were informed to create a Drop Box that breaks up the Prologue, Project and Epilogue. On a side note: I was really doubting the quality of my AMA. My coworker, Kim was telling me about how she has to meet with some strangers to network for her new business venture. She took classes to become certified in laser hair removal and is working at a prestigious salon in center city. She was anxious as hell. I started telling her about how I was anxious upon entering college. I started telling her about the growth and fixed mindsets. She had no idea what I was talking about. Later last night, I texted her a link to my AMA. What she had to say eased my soul. I also shared my essay on Facebook. I was scared. I was scared of people's opinions... but the feedback helped me tremendously. The input helped me to revise my piece. I am so grateful to the people that have pushed me to reach for my dreams; coworkers, my wife, and my mother. Sometimes the smallest bit of positive reinforcement goes so far. I feel blessed to have Mangini as my first professor at DCCC. He has a passion for writing and teaching.. and he shares his passion with the world. I am super excited to have met all of my classmates. You guys have made me feel so comfortable. I feel like I belong at DCCC. It is much different from the experiences I had with clicky students, 18 years ago in high school. I have changed a lot in the past 5 weeks. I have a different perspective on the world, and my outlook on life has changed. Sabatino Mangini and my classmates in English Composition I are just a tiny fraction of what I will endure during the next 4 years of college, but your names and faces will be at the forefront of my mind as I walk at graduation to accept my degree. Thanks for the support. I couldn't have asked for a better class to start my journey with. I truly mean that. Transitioning to College
In response to the prompt: " The results of the Junior/Senior Survey suggest that, during freshman year students often worry about whether or not professors and other students at [school name] accept them. However, the survey results also suggest that most students eventually become comfortable at [school name] and find a family of people at [school name] with whom they are close and feel they belong. In an effort to further understand how the transition to college takes place, we would like to ask you to describe why you think this would be so—that is, why students might feel initially unsure about their acceptance but ultimately overcome these fears. Please be sure to illustrate your essay with examples from your own experiences in classes, seminars, lectures, study groups, and labs." I believe that transitioning to college is overwhelming for many students. The majority of freshmen students transition to college from high school. Last year's high school seniors are this year's college freshmen. During the 4 years of high school students experience a growth process from adolescence into young adulthood. Starting as high school freshmen at the bottom of the totem pole, students work their way up to the top as seniors. In the process students overcome fear and gain confidence as they strengthen bonds with new and old friends, form inner circle social groups, and take on new responsibilities, such as learning to drive a car or earning a paycheck. Students feel secure in their comfort zone. After high school graduation, students may begin to feel anxiety as their semesters approach. As students come to realize that they will be learning in a new, unknown environment outside of the comfort zone, they may experience fear, anxiety and a sense of loneliness. They may interpret their journey, from high school into freshmen year of college, as a leaping from the top of the totem pole to the bottom. At this time students may revisit many of the same negative emotions experienced in their transition from middle school to high school. The absence of students’ high school social groups may lead them to feel insecure upon entering college. They may doubt their own intelligence and their ability to excel in their studies. The void of the social connections made from K through 12th grade may lead students to worry about social acceptance from professors and fellow students. As time goes on students tend to feel more comfortable in their new environment as they come to realize that most freshmen feel the same emotions upon entering college. In reality, every college freshman is the new kid. This does not differ much from my position. I am a college freshman at 36 years of age. As I’ve had 18 years of life experience since I graduated high school, my worries probably differ from the average freshman student. The week before school started, worries stirred in my head. I asked myself questions like, “Am I smart enough to do this?” and “How am I going to juggle school, a family life and a career”? I began to doubt myself. I may not have the same worries and concerns as other freshmen, but I did feel insecure. In week three of my English Composition class I learned about growth mindset and fixed mindsets. The fixed mindset is the belief that an individual’s intelligence is a fixed trait and cannot be increased. The growth mindset is the belief that an individual can become smarter. After all, isn’t that the reason why people attend college, to become smarter? The growth mindset is backed by scientific research and evidence that concludes that as people learn and experience new things; their brains actually create new neural pathways for memorization and understanding. How amazing is that? We can actually exercise our brains, like a muscle, to become stronger through our studies. Our brains’ ability to change and grow is know as neuroplasticity. While learning about the growth mindset I started to make connections to the previous material I had studied in my psychology class. Upon reviewing the materials provided for the English Composition growth mindset assignment, the words “dendrite, axon and myelin sheath” visually flashed in my mind as I recognized the word “neuron” in the materials. While reviewing the materials I recognized many other terms that correlated with what I already had studied in my online psychology class. I felt relieved after discovering that I had retained information from my psychology class, as I have never attended an online class in my entire life. My retention of information is a personal testimony to the growth mindset. As we are entering our fifth week of the semester, I am much more confident. We created student blog sites in our English Composition class that allow us to network with other students. We interact by commenting with questions and solutions, offering positive criticism and feedback on each others' essays. My message to any new college freshmen is this: If you feel anxious or nervous, insecure or afraid, out of place and unsure if you will fit in… If you doubt your abilities and feel like you aren’t positive that you are smart enough for college… You’ve come to the right place. This is where you need to be. Whether 18 years old or 80 years old, most every college freshman feels that way in the beginning. You are in a new, unfamiliar place with new and unfamiliar people. It is normal to feel that way - but the feeling will pass. Don’t be afraid to question your professors; they get paid from your tuition. Don’t be afraid to question fellow classmates; you are learning from each other. If you aren’t asking questions because you are afraid of looking unintelligent - remember why you are in college; to gain knowledge. Ask questions. Take notes. If you recognize that someone in your class is excelling and doing very well in your class, sit close to that student. If you are excelling in a class and recognize that a fellow classmate is struggling, sit close to that student. Engage with each other. Find Yourself Here. Banking Concept of Education Paulo Freire’s essay, The Banking Concept of Education, details the author’s belief that the nature of conventional education is oppressive because the teacher objectifies the student while playing a hierarchical role. Freire’s solution to the banking concept of education is his theory of problem-posing education, a form of education that puts students and teachers on a level playing field. The Banking Education The banking concept classroom layout consists of the teacher being the focus located at the forefront like a stage with the students collectively oriented in a manner that faces in the direction of the teacher, like an audience. The banking concept implies that the teacher is viewed as an all-knowing superior being, as the student is viewed as an ignorant inferior being, not capable of true understanding. The banking concept’s method of depositing information oppresses the student because it does not promote critical thinking for understanding, but rather only promotes an atmosphere where the ignorant inferior student memorizes and repeats data back to the all knowing superior teacher. The process of memorizing data without obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter is oppressive and damaging, as it creates, within the student, a grandiose sense of pseudo intellect that hinders the development of the individual’s ability to think critically. The student remains ignorant and oppressed while believing he/she is intelligent and liberated. The banking concept of education serves to benefit the elite class only, by creating an easily controllable subservient class of ignorant workers who are obedient to authority, possess minimal critical thinking skills, and blindly accept information with out inquiry. *In a video that went viral on Youtube, a student named Jeff Bliss appears to be a disruption to class, but could it be said that he was simply stating his complaints with the banking concept? The Problem-Posing Education The problem-posing classroom layout may consist of student seating arrangements that wrap around the teacher in a semicircle, stadium seating where students sit at a higher elevation then the teacher, and many more, including the banking concept classroom layout. Problem posing implies that both the teacher and students are on a level playing field, though the teacher still holds the authority. Problem-posing education takes the focus off of the teacher’s role of authority and places it on the subject matter of the study. By encouraging open discussion, debate, brainstorming and the sharing of ideas, the problem-posing method of education academically benefits both teacher and student while it promotes creativity and individualism. Under the banking concept, students regurgitate memorized data without having an understanding of the data’s content, where as problem-posing education liberates the student by promoting critical thinking, allowing students to dissect and better comprehend the information that they have memorized. Problem-posing education liberates the oppressed and serves to benefit all of society as a whole, by influencing individuals to think critically, engage in debate and group discussions, and to share perceptions, ideas, and other information collectively for the sake of obtaining knowledge and progress. A society consisting of an informed competent majority class is not only harder to control or oppress, but more likely is capable of self-governance. *Student, Jeff Bliss gained internet fame when a fellow student secretly filmed Jeff disputing with his teacher. In an interview with ABC News, Jeff details how he believes the education system could be better. Some would say that Jeff's description of an ideal education shares many characteristics with problem-posing education. What do you think?
My Experiences with the Banking Concept and Problem-Posing Education I have experienced the banking concept of education through out my entire public school career, but one particular instance that stands out in my mind was in my 5th grade mathematics class. The teacher’s name was Ms. Neff. Neff had a notorious reputation for being an evil hag, but the students prayed that she’d be their teacher because it was known that she didn’t believe in the concept of homework. I was lucky enough to be a student in Neff’s math class. The rules of the class were simple but oppressive: Don’t speak unless called upon. Sit silently while the teacher writes notes on the chalkboard and teaches the lesson. Copy the teacher’s notes. Complete and submit the day’s assignment before the end of class. Please refrain from asking questions till the end of the lesson. If the class assignment is not complete by the end of the class, student must finish it at home and hand it in promptly at the beginning of the next day’s class. This was the ultimate hierarchical classroom setting. While the lesson was being taught, students were not permitted to ask questions. Questions had to wait until the end of the lesson. Our assignments, if not completed in class, must be completed at home. I thought she didn’t believe in homework… hmmm??? So basically, if a student did not understand the course material, he/she would be cornered to waste time by sitting in silence, waiting for the lesson to end when Ms. Neff would better explain the materials. I took the assignment home almost every day. Math was never my strong point, but 5th grade solidified a huge possibility that math would remain to be my weak point upon entering the 6th grade. Mr. Acker didn’t assign us to our seats but instead let us sit wherever we wished. If our chosen seating arrangement disrupted the class, he would implement his authority accordingly and reassign our seating arrangement. Every Friday, Mr. Acker would give us an extra credit assignment. He’d write a question on the blackboard. The question never had a right or wrong answer but always evoked thought. The one sample question I remember was “How do you think the world was created?” Some had comical off the wall responses to the question like, “God ate a sandwich and farted out the universe.” But most students answered with biblical or scientific responses. Mr. Acker challenged the beliefs from both sides. A student mentioned how the biblical answer was impossible because he didn’t believe the universe could be created in 6 days. Acker got the gears in our heads moving when he responded, “If God is an infinite being with no beginning and no end, and humans calculated the length of a day as the amount of time it takes for our planet to make one full rotation, how can we assume that one day for God is 24 when he existed before the Earth? Maybe one day for God is 600 billion years. How do you know?” Some kids responded with a good example of the fixed mindset, “The Bible says that God created the universe in 6 days, so I believe it was 6 days.” One student responded with his belief in the big bang theory, “I don’t believe in God. God said let there be light, but I believe in the big bang theory”. Mr. Acker chimed in with, “How do you know if the big bang wasn’t a result of God’s command of “let there be light?” Now let me include that Mr. Acker taught science and didn’t preach religion. He taught us the scientific theory. He was simply asking questions that made us think and question our own belief systems. I responded with nothing. I was blown away by the teacher’s ability to challenge of both beliefs while correlating them. The classroom was engaged in debate and discussion every Monday morning with responses to our extra credit assignments. Mr. Acker had nicknames for every student. He called me Mandy Gandy because I was dating a fellow classmate named Mandy Murphy. Sometimes he referred to me as Gandy Man. Mandy’s nickname was Murph Dog, but he also sometimes called her Mandy Gandy as well. Mr. Acker engaged the class with goofiness. “Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species” is ingrained in my head because of the jingle that man had taught us. Kenneth Acker furthered his education, earning a PhD, and is now the Principle of Garnet Valley Middle School. Mr. Acker taught me the greatest thing any teacher can teach, how to think critically. During a debate about the banking concept in my current English Comp 100 class, I stated that I believe that problem-posing education is better than the banking concept. A classmate named John Patton stated that he didn't agree with Freire that problem-posing education was better than the banking concept. Reading my other classmate's Banking Concept essays has led me to agree with fellow student Ben Bond, who stated that the it is best when the banking concept and problem-posing are used together. In Ben's essay he stated, "In my own experience, I have benefitted from both concepts in different ways. TBCoE has helped me in math by memorizing principles of the subject, and in english classes by helping me to remember rules central to language and the proper execution of it. Problem Posing has helped me to better grasp that which I’ve already learned. My teachers would work with us and encourage questions to be asked regularly. Class participation has been rising in schools and seems to help the class get a flow of things. In moderation these to can coioncide to promote a healthy classroom experience."I understood what Ben had stated, but his words alone were not enough for me to understand exactly how education is better when the banking concept and problem-posing are used together. While reading fellow classmate Courtney Huff's Banking Concept essay, she asked this question in regards to the banking concept, "So does this concept only work with adults who already have an understanding of the world around them? Which then leads me to a firm believing that I have had for years, children only know what they are taught. Can we utilize this method in our younger children to encourage critical thinking at a younger age or do they need a firm understanding of the basics." I commented on her essay with "Children only learn what they are taught.. That's a true statement, but who is teaching them? They observe what we do. They are active researchers. Even when we aren't teaching them, they are observing and learning, self teaching." To better explain herself, in a revision Courtney stated, "I believe Freire said it the best and I will quote him “Narration leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content. Worse yet, it turns them into containers into receptacles to be filled by the teacher. The more completely she fills the receptacles, the better a teacher she is. The more meekly the receptacles permit themselves to be filled, the better students they are.” In my margin this was marked as interesting because I see this being practiced with my 8 year old son. Memorization is key to multiplication and division was a statement his teacher made last week at open house. Is this truly the only way to have an 8 year old know how to do multiplication? Even for that fact was this something someone dumped into her receptacle or her own judgement of the easiest way to learn times tables? I think I have fell victim of being a banker. My daughter is now two. She can identify all the primary colors, as well as a multitude of shapes. The reason she can is because I bought flash card and showed them to her daily from age one on. Only after the revision of this piece did I realize that out on our walks, or at the grocery store, I rarely question if she knows these colors or shapes off of the white 4X6 card." Courtney's statement about her child memorizing through flashcards at age two has lead me to believe that there is nothing wrong with the banking concept when a child is too young to understand logic. My first born son had learned and recognized his letters, numbers and shapes by the time he was 18 months old through songs and watching videos. One day while in the car, as I pressed on the break pedal, My son said, "octagon", as he pointed his finger at a stop sign. In fellow classmate, John Patton's notes, he stated, "You're telling me knowledge creates more knowledge like wealth creates more wealth. To me this principle always implied that you already have an abundant supply to start with." Courtney's perspective combined John's perspective has influenced my new perspective. John stated that his perception of knowledge creating knowledge implied an individual needs an abundant supply of knowledge in order to create more knowledge. His perception evoked thought. "Do we need an abundance of knowledge to gain more knowledge?", I asked myself. My thoughts reflected on what Courtney had earlier said in regards to her daughter and on my experiences with my own children. I believe we don't need an abundance of knowledge to begin with to gain more knowledge, but yet only the memorization (banking concept) of 26 letters, 10 numbers, and a few basic shapes. Letters, numbers and shapes are symbolic representations of ideas. The numbers represent quantity. Letters represent sounds that when combined create words to which we attach ideas or beliefs. The memorization of these symbols is the catalyst for obtaining the ability to understand and communicate with other humans. Letters, numbers, and shapes could be considered the molecular structure of education. With that being said, I believe that problem-posing education and the banking concept share a symbiotic relationship, or in other words, the two concepts depend on each other for their very own existences. It was 5:00 when I left the house to venture out on the road to commute to class. I usually leave the house around 5:30, but I anticipated traffic as Pope Francis is visiting Philadelphia. The traffic was minimal. I pulled into a parking spot on the school campus with an hour to burn before class. I’ve been completely focused on my This I Believe essay. I took the extra time as an opportunity to listen to some of the essays on Thisibelieve.org to observe other’s writing styles. The clock was approaching 6:00, so I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed towards the stem building. I usually get to class fairly early and utilize my time to study for my psychology class. I took a seat on a bench, out front of the classroom, next to Emily as she was typing on a laptop. “Awe shit… You busted out the laptop. Your writing must be getting pretty serious”, I said. “My job gave me this laptop cause the Pope is in town, but my boss is a bitch and expects to see me at work tomorrow. I’m gonna call out. Fuck it. I have so many days I can use. I’m not going to work at the office”, Emily said, “I’ve had a shitty week” “If your job gave you a laptop, there’s no reason that you just can’t work from home tomorrow”, I said. “Yeah, I know. I’m gonna work from home tomorrow, but when I left work today, my boss said, I’ll see ya tomorrow. She wants to see me in the office. I don’t know why she needs to see my face. We can facetime if she wants”, Emily said, Just then Anna came walking up and sat next to me. “I brought paper this week”, Anna said. “Nice”, Emily said. “Were we supposed to bring hard copies of our assignments this week”, I asked. “No,” Anna said. “I forgot my paper for notes, so I ran to the computer lab and took some scrap paper to write on", Anna said. “Why didn’t you ask one of us for paper”, I asked, “We would have gave you some”, I said. “I had a bit of time before class started when I realized I left my paper in my car. I didn’t have enough time to get to the car, but I was walking past the computer lab, so I grabbed some scrap paper, but I didn’t realize it was printed on, on both sides”, Anna said. At this time, Mangini came walking down the hall and unlocked the classroom. The vibe was weird after we entered the class. Mangini wasn’t his normal talkative self. The students mingled with each other as Mangini started to write his notes on the dry erase board. Usually he would chime in with our conversations and laugh out loud as he jotted the notes on the board, but this week was different. He placed the Expo marker on the ledge of the board and sat at his computer. His computer screen is projected on a large projector screen for presentation purposes. He was shuffling through emails while still not talking. “He must be on his man period”, I thought. Mangini started to type. “I’m not going to speak for the first hour of class…” He followed up with a statement directing us to open our email. In the email was a 3-question survey about the growth mindset. We were to answer with the “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” rating system. Class was interesting. We had to follow Mangini’s gestures. It forced me to focus more and brought me to realize how often my head floats into the clouds while in class. During this week’s class, my head was pretty grounded. Last week we were assigned to write a paper on Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset. We were given 8 videos to watch as resources. Mangini asked us to hand in the notes we took on the videos we watched. Shit. I didn’t take notes on the videos. I felt confident that I could explain what I had watched, but I had no notes to detail specifics like; Who the narrator was in the videos, what their credentials were, etc… That aspect of the class opened my eyes to my own bad habits. I need to take notes. After the hour of silence, Mangini asked us to illustrate growth and fixed mindsets on the dry erase board. Bri was nominated to write on the board because her handwriting looks like a font. She draws a pretty decent brain too. I recommended that we draw two brains; one in a cage to represent a fixed mindset, and one with a muscular arm to represent the growth mindset. Kylie drew a barbell with books as weights in the hands of the growth mindset brain. I left my seat and stepped up to the board to help. I began to write along with Bri and Kylie as classmates spewed out characteristics of each mindset. It was an awesome exercise. Apparently Mangini recorded us and uploaded the video to his twitter account. After the exercise we began to discuss the videos. Turns out that the videos were posted in an order that persuasively promoted the growth mindset: Topic, Thesis Statement, Evidence and testimonies to support thesis statement, and conclusion. Mangini gave us the option to write an essay for extra credit that would involve creating a new blog category. I want to do it, but I’m going to focus my attention on the required assignments first. This week in class was very engaging even though Mangini didn’t speak for the first hour. I like how he takes risks and experiments to get the gears moving in the students’ heads. He mentioned how when students took the growth mindset vs. fixed mindset survey, 30% of those who took the survey before learning about growth and fixed mindsets were labeled as growth mindset students… He mentioned how this could be a correlation to only 30% of community college students completing school. He also mentioned how the survey revealed that 49% of the students, who took the survey after learning about growth and fixed mindsets, have a growth mindset. I’m starting to feel like this class is an experiment. I’m wondering which students in the classroom are observatory plants… lmao. Anyhow, Mangini is a great teacher. His excitement over the 49% proves that he’s passionate about seeing students graduate and succeed.
At the end of class Mangini asked, "Does anyone have any questions?" "This is off topic, but if I opt to try and get my This I Believe paper published, how many words does it have to be,” I asked. "My paper is pretty long and I assume I can't have a half an hour long recording, if I were to record myself reading it", I said. Mangini responded with a compelling story about how he wrote a story about when he worked with his father, doing tile. He went into detail about how decided to take the shot to have it published at school. He wasn't sure if he wanted his father to read it, but figured his father would never see it. The paper was published. He decided to take a chance and see if the newspaper would publish the paper. On Father's Day, the paper ran his article; the perfect gift for his father. He mentioned how he another publisher showed interest in his piece and wanted to publish it, but it had to be 500 words. He cut it down, recycled it, and was paid $500 for his piece. That is exactly what I did in this text, with the exceptions of being paid and published multiple times. I revised a piece I wrote earlier and used it for this piece.
After the exercise we began to discuss the videos. Turns out that the videos were posted in an order that persuasively promoted the growth mindset; Topic, Thesis Statement, Evidence and testimonies to support thesis statement, and conclusion. Mangini gave us the option to write an essay for extra credit that would involve creating a new blog category. I want to do it, but I’m going to focus my attention on the required assignments first. These week in class was very engaging even though Mangini didn’t speak for the first hour. I like how he takes risks and experiments to get the gears moving in the students’ heads. He mentioned how when students took the growth mindset vs fixed mindset survey, 30% of those who took the survey before learning about growth and fixed mindsets were labeled as growth mindset students… He mentioned how this could be a correlation to only 30% of community college students completing school. He also mentioned how the survey revealed that 49% of the students who took the survey after learning about growth and fixed mindsets, have a growth mindset. I’m starting to feel like this class is an experiment. I’m wondering which students in the classroom are observatory plants… lmao. Anyhow, Mangini is a great teacher. His excitement over the 49% proves that he’s passionate about seeing students graduate and succeed. In Blog Post 2, I spoke about my 6 elements for manifesting the flow. I haven't strayed to far from my 6 steps to becoming a better writer, but I have strayed from step 4; The Comfort Zone. I earlier had stated in Blog Post 2 that I needed a certain level of comfort when I write. Deadlines are very uncomfortable to me, and also may be included to my list of distractions. Despite my discomfort, I worked through my assignments an strove to not be too distracted by my deadline. For any student who might actually read this, take this advice: When you get home from class on Thursday night, immediately begin writing your weekly reflection while the events from the night's class are still fresh in your head. work towards finishing it by Friday night and you will have Saturday - Thursday to work on your other assignments. I believe in having an adaptive mindset. The year was 1993, and I was a longhaired 15-year high school freshman who had a deep desire to learn how to play the guitar. When I had asked my parents if they would purchase a guitar for me, I was quickly reminded with the list of prior items I had asked them to buy. The chemistry kit sat untouched, riddled in dust, next to the architecture kit in the corner of my bedroom. My Casio keyboard hid under my bed. The lonely wood burning kit was exiled to the dampness of the basement with boxes of unfinished car models as its roommates. ”We bought you all of these things you had asked for, but you never followed through. You always give up. Your mother and I aren’t wasting our money on a guitar”, my father said. But that didn’t stop me. In fact I think it may have motivated me, not to prove them wrong but to prove myself correct. Like most high school freshmen, I had very little money of my own. My mother suggested that if I really wanted a guitar, I should buy one for myself. I began delivering newspapers. The pay was minimal, but the subscribers gave me tips. I saved my crumbs. One day, as I was slinging newspapers from my BMX, I passed a yard sale. My eyes focused in on a cherry red knock off Stratocaster that was sitting amongst a mishmash of miscellaneous second hand items on the table. “How much you want for the guitar”, I asked. “Twenty Bucks”, the man replied. I cranked the pedals like the cops were chasing me, threw my bike on the front lawn, ran in the front door of my house, jolted up the stairs, and retrieved a wad of one dollar bills from a coffee can under my bed. At the speed of light, I sped back to the yard sale and made the transaction. I finally owned a guitar. I went from struggling to play the opening riff of “Come as You Are” by Nirvana, to wearing my headphones while playing along with their entire Nevermind album. This progress did not come without sacrifice. When my friends were hanging out after school, I was slinging newspapers to earn money for more guitar based literature and a new acoustic guitar. When they were going to the movies or partying in the woods, I was studying all I could about the guitar. At the time, I couldn’t afford to take formal guitar lessons. I purchased guitar magazines at the local newsstand, checked out books from the library, learned how to string the guitar, tune the guitar, and how to read tablature. I spent hours upon hours reading chord graphs and mimicking the finger placement on the fret board. The skin on my fingertips blistered and callused over. I was an awful guitar player, but determined. I watched concerts on VHS tapes and would pause, rewind, and replay the video so I could study the guitarists’ finger placement and strumming techniques. Single strummed notes evolved to become chords, chords had become songs, and guitar had become my life. I started to write my own songs and lyrics and collaborated with other musicians. I was no longer practicing by myself, but with others. Hours spent alone in my bedroom tediously practicing chords and scales evolved into hours spent refining those skills to later be utilized to create music with friends. We wrote 8 songs, 3 of which we performed on PBS channel 12 in Philadelphia. In my senior year of high school my friends and I performed in a benefit concert that we organized to raise money for The Ricky Orsino Art Scholarship, named after our late friend Ricky Orsino, a very talented artist and drummer who had passed away suddenly from an aneurysm. In more recent years, I have resourced the Internet to learn how to fix my clothes dryer, rebuild a carburetor, grow a vegetable garden, install some electrical sockets and a ceiling fan, and the list of other examples continues to go on. Hard work, dedication, and determination pay off exponentially when combined with a self-driven curiosity and hunger for knowledge. By teaching myself how to do something that I had no prior knowledge of, the building blocks for self-confidence and self-esteem sprouted in me. For the first time in my life I had followed through, I didn’t give up; I pushed forward. I proved to myself that I could accomplish what I set out to do. I taught myself how to play the guitar. And in my sophomore year of high school, on Christmas morning, my parents surprised me with the gift of an electric guitar. I believe in having an adaptive mindset. The growth mindset is the mentality of believing that hard work and determination will allow an individual to grow and become better at whatever they are practicing. The fixed mindset is the mentality of believing that people will never develop higher than a set IQ or past a fixed potential, despite how hard an individual practices or studies. In Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset: An Introduction, Carissa Romero describes the benefits of the growth mindset and the detrimental effects of the fixed mindset. In a TEDx Talks presentation, Derek Sivers explained how struggle and failure increases a student’s understanding of subject matter through the experience of trial and error. When students are challenged they retain more information. When their brains are forced to solve problems, new neural pathways are created for understanding. No pain no gain. Use it or lose it. People who possess the growth mindset focus on learning and aren't concerned with whether or not they look intelligent. Students who possess the growth mindset ask questions to better understand what they are learning. Scientific findings prove that, despite beliefs of the past, the human brain can be worked out through study and, like a bicep, can actually become stronger when challenged. Studies show that humans who have a growth mindset actually have heavier brain weight than those who have a fixed mindset. They are more likely to excel in school. The fixed mindset is a mentality in which individuals believe that their intelligence level is a limited trait. They believe that no matter how hard they work, they will not get any smarter; therefore they are more likely to give up on tasks. Individuals who possess the fixed mindset tend to gravitate towards tasks that come easy to them. By not challenging themselves, people with a fix mindset stifle their own opportunities to grow. I believe that I have had a combination of both growth and fixed mindsets in my nonacademic life. When I first started to teach myself how to play guitar, I had painful blistering calluses forming on my fingertips. I had to learn how to string and tune the guitar, how to practice finger placement on the fret board, how to play chords and scales, how to read tablature, and I had to continuously repeat the same practices again and again and again. Learning to play guitar was strenuous and hard, but I was determined. I practiced everyday after school, refining my skill. In the beginning I played horribly. Slightly out of tune notes became chords, and chords became songs. I purchased and read guitar books and magazines. I watched live performances on VHS tapes, pausing, rewinding and replaying the videos to study guitarists’ strumming techniques and finger placements on the guitar. I was a very lousy guitar player, but the harder and longer I practiced the less bad I became. It wasn’t easy, but I never gave up because it was something I held an interest in and wanted to learn. Years later when I started to teach myself how to play the drums I gave up fast. I held a genuine interest in learning the drums, but I found that I wasn’t up for the challenge for many different reasons. I didn’t have time to learn a new instrument. Other responsibilities took precedence over banging on the drums. I won’t blame a fixed mindset on giving up on the drums because I still believe that with determination and time allotted for practice, I am able totally capable of learning how to play the drums. When learning how to skateboard I practiced my ollies for two weeks before I actually popped the board off the ground and landed the trick. Standing on the board with my left foot positioned on the very back of the tail and my right foot positioned on the front truck screws, I kicked down on the tail with my left foot and slid my right foot from the truck screws to the nose over and over and over again for hours. The self-gratification that I received when landing that trick was the same feeling I got when I learned how to play my first chord on the guitar. I felt proud and accomplished. My determination paid off. In skateboarding all tricks revolve around the Ollie. I started ollying onto and over anything I could until I got bored. I started to try flip tricks. The heal flip is similar to an Ollie except when you kick your foot to the nose, you kick your heal out and over the top edge of the board, causing the board to flip forward. When kick flipping, you kick your toes off the opposite edge of the board, causing the board to flip backwards. Pop shove-its are a variation of an Ollie in which you kick your front foot forward while kicking your back foot backwards, causing the board to spin 180 degrees in the air. All the tricks I learned on the board took time, effort, and determination but the more I practiced and refined my skills the easier learning the tricks became. Each learned trick taught me the essential foundation for new tricks to be learned. One thing I didn’t learn was how not to tear my ACL. In 2012, at the age of 33, I tore my ACL while front side 180’ing out of a board slide at the Chichester Skatepark. As I came off the box, my right foot stayed on the board while my left foot planted on the ground. The momentum of circular motion caused both my right foot and the board to continue in a 180-degree turn while my left foot stayed planted on the ground. I heard a POP that could only be compared to the sound of a football stadium full of people all cracking their knuckles at the same time. In shame, my initial thought was in regards to how I could be so irresponsible. I thought to myself, “How could you be so irresponsible? You have a 6-month-old son to care for and your spending hours at a skatepark like you are Tony Hawk? You ain’t Tony Hawk, You are Phony Hawk!” I got reconstructive surgery on my ACL in February of 2013. I haven’t skated the park since then. I haven’t done much except Ollie. I know I could still skate if I wanted, but the surgery was so severe that I can’t justify taking the risk and possibly injuring myself again. Maybe I’ll take up golf like a yuppie. I heard that’s what dudes do when they get older. I don’t believe I have a fixed mindset outside of academics. With the exception of previously learned material like mathematic times tables, I don’t really believe that I have a fixed mindset in school either. There have been occasions in my life where I possessed a fix mindset. In grade school I tended to excel in baseball as it always came easy to me. When I decided to play soccer, I gave up pretty quickly. I was discouraged that I wasn’t as good at soccer as I was at baseball. Instead of pushing through and working hard to become better, I quit. I found that adopting a growth mindset has personally helped me to grow as an individual. The feeling of accomplishment gained by sacrificing hours, days, weeks, months and years to learn how to do something that you previously could not do is priceless. I believe anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it, just look at Stephen Hawking. My plan for sustaining the growth mindset through out college is to actively ask the professors questions if I don’t understand something, continue to be proactive and use as many resources as I can for understanding, continue allotting time for studying, and networking with other students and faculty. Above all else, I refuse to take no for an answer. If I experience failure, I will learn from my mistakes and push on harder. With a growth mindset, I will persevere. |
Categories
All
Arthur GandyI am a student, majoring in Nursing at Delaware County Community College. Archives
April 2017
|