I believe that materials do matter, well “new” materials of course because without them, teachers won’t be able to teach their students proficiently which will affect their student’s learning. Teachers need the right school resources in order to provide their students a sufficient education because without the right materials, students won’t be able to recognize the concepts of what the teacher is trying to educate them because not every student learns from listening to teacher’s lectures. For example, for a teacher who is teaching a science class should provide the class with the right science tools and up to date books. With the new materials, his or her students will learn better with the up to date information that is from the book and what’s being told by their instructors, and moreover; when it comes to labs, the right science tools will help them learn why things happen the way they do and it’ll effect their learning because the students get to use materials that gives them a better understanding of the major concepts of what they’re learning in class, and also because they get to test it out and see it for themselves. There are circumstances when school materials do matter and times they do not.  For example, an English class with books that are old but is still providing students to read at their grade level than there shouldn’t be a problem because it’s still useful. Times when school resources do matter is like computer labs, science labs, and art tools for students to use, without it, how can they be doing hands on activities and have fun and learning at the same time. A child feels like learning is boring when they don’t have the right materials, they feel like their life is over.  When students do have the school resources, it build confidence and boost up their self- esteem and it gives them excitement.  We can do donations and put the money to help students get school resources. Citizens that are produced from lack of materials have a negative mentality, no hope and their future is over because students go to school for a reason, but without useful resources, it won’t benefit them much.

In the Article “Dollars don’t mean Success” and the Book, Savage Inequalities, the similarities that I’ve found between the schools stated in the book and Bayside/ Martin Luther King Elementary that was informed in the article were: lack of academic achievement, change of principals, low- income families and low unemployment rate in the area, and racial problems.  The teachers in the urban schools that was stated in the book had a difficulty in helping their students raise their grades up and improving their academic achievement, had many new teachers in such a short time period, and most of the student’s come from a single parent or parents with low- income and living in a segregated town. Bayside school in the article had five principals in six years, the average income there is about $7,500 and unemployment rate is at 30 percent.  No effort to create a high- achieving instructional environment with 72 percent of graduates earning a GPA below 2.0, and majority of the 3,000 residents are African American, with students coming from poor, single- parent families as well and therefore, the schools have many things in common and need to make some positive changes.

              The information that I found in my article doesn’t really relates to my focus but more opposite from my focus. The Bayside/ MLK elementary school have a sufficient funding where there school had new computer labs and new equipment, and a two story library. With all the new and proficient resources that is at that school and provided to the students, it doesn’t really mean anything because students there don’t value what they have and take their education seriously.  Children there lack discipline and teachers have rough times dealing with them and their academic scores are below average, with a school that has everything need to provide a good education for its students. Money doesn’t really mean success for kids because it’s up to them to own their responsibility and take education more seriously, so students who don’t value their resources and use them to better their schooling, than there’s no point in having them in the first place because it isn’t really helping them.

The lack of federal funding is difficult for schools to put money into the construction and aesthetics of school buildings, putting students in an uncomfortable and unpleasant environment.  American schools are supposed to bring joy and comfort to every child who wakes up each morning. A place that builds curiosity and motivating students to work hard in order to fulfil their future dreams, but suburban schools aren’t getting the help and sufficient funding that’s needed to put their students in a positive learning environment.  kazol writes, "the school is a two- story building, yellow brick, its windows covered with metal grates, the flag on it's flagpole motionless above a lawn with no grass(Kazol, Jonathan 138. A building with bad conditions is no place for children to be around because it can harm a student on any random day, physically and emotionally.  If students are in an environment that is filled with dump and broken windows and unrepaired walls and buildings, it will lead majority of them to have low self- esteem and confidence to break those barriers in order to succeed throughout their schooling years.  Students will feel hopeless because it’s such a dull place that they are forced to be in.  Without the fund that is needed to improve their surroundings and buildings, students won’t have the mentality that pushes them to strive because if their classes are filled with ancient books, they won’t be up to knowledge and they are smart enough to know that they won’t make it to college or even graduate high school because they don't have the right textbooks and supplies that is needed for their class. If the outside of their school is filled with sewage and chemicals, they won’t be able to focus because they will be distracted from the smell and such horrible scenery that is presented.  Students need to walk down hallways and seeing inspiring posters, it can turn a child’s mind and making them think in a positive manner, but without the funding, there is no way to beautify a school and providing a safe and happy environment for students to put effort into their education and mostly their life.

Bad behavior is contagious which will effect students in every American schools to follow and they will not value their education more than they should.  Teachers are suppose to be a role model to their students and if they can't do that, students won't recognize how important it is to take their education seriously.  They won't be able to learn because there is no positive influence that's given from the teacher and therefore, the bad attitude from the teacher is what the student will become. 

The careless attitude of a teacher will show students that learning is boring which will unmotivated them and causing them to question why they're attending school in the first place.  Careless teachers are passive and not passionate because they don't touch a child's mind and aren't influencing their students positively but abandoning them.  Passive teachers don't tend to teach actively and so they don't have the capability to build a foundation for students to succeed.

Teachers take advantage of students because they aren't in a class room to prove that education is key to every student's success in the future.  Apathetic teachers see students as their paycheck and so they don't fulfill their duty to teach and go over the objectives of certain subjects that students should be learning or reaching the criteria in which students are suppose to get out of a class.  And they tend to put students second because they only care about their salary and therefore, they don't see students as the future. 

Response to TED Talk Sir Ken Robinson: Bring on the Learning Revolution

I really enjoyed watching the video. I thought It would be boring but his concepts and ideas really grabbed my attention and it gained my interest to keep listening becauses he spoke about many things that I can really relate too. Robinson informs us that we tend to make poor use of our talents which is really true and like kids and students, I believe that our dreams are being stumbled on. There isn't enough support and assistance from parents or teachers who are making us feel comfartable to present our true self and doing what we want to so istead, we endure it because we don't enjoy it. He made me think of my future career because it's accurate that passion will motivate me for the rest of my life and I don't feel like I'm able to show bits of myself, to express what I'm really passionate about to my family member because they might take it as a joke. I know I'm not alone and it's minority of us students whose passion is being judged and stigmatized which is no help in improving ourselves to recgonize what we're really good at. And like Robinson said how five minutes will feel like an hour when we are doing what we dislike, but five minutes will feel like an hour because we are so focused and passionate about doing what we love. I do want to persue in a career that relates with my interests because from doing what I love, I will value it more rather than feeling like it's a job. Robinson also convey how WE are obsessed with getting people into college and that reminds me of everyone in my family member. People in general want their kids to go to college and yes I get that it'll help us students in the long run, but sometimes we don't need to, maybe not right now and we can choose to later because our life isn't only based entering a University and graduating with a college diploma. Like parents are so obsessed and preaching to kids about getting educated in order to get in a professional career, to make a sufficient amount of salary. I get it but from what parents are doing, it doesn't help one bit. It doesn't motivate us to figure out how much our values and quality really means to us and so we try to please others in doing what they want us to or what they wanted to be in the past. Americans are so focused in forcing kids into the work force and hoping that we one day prosper and so it doesn't enable us to bring our passion into it and letting us figure out what we love doing. Furthermore, I really liked how Robinson said that life isn't linear but organic. I guess he's trying to convey a message of how life isn't about following a set of rules, like a straight line that will lead us to one place, to the same place. Life should be more organic, with no preservative so my life and everyone's else should be more original, more of our own taste and it's more about creating our life symbolically with our own talents than to be what everyone wants us to be just like how fruits and veggies should taste one way in order to please and give satisfaction to whoever's eating it. I really recommend undecided majors like me and people to watch this video because there's no doubt that one will relate to it the way I did.

Oanh Hoang

Monique Williams

English 1A

9/4/13

The Passion Project intersects with our writing assignment, Rule Of Three by communicating the relationship between teachers and students and focusing on the acts of disobedience in an educational setting. They both connect because on our Tuesday's assignment, we have to develop a focus about something in our educational system and my statement, It's important that we keep careless teacher's away from American schools. I believe that careless teachers are bad role models because being careless leads to bad behavior and it will effect student's attitude on how they feel about learning and they won't fulfull the responsability to teach. Watching the Passion Project, students also explain that teachers don't put enough effort in teaching, motivating students to learn and getting back up once they fail. When in a classroom, teachers are only teaching and it's never enough because there's no passion presented to the student, "they never told us about the books they read, talents they had, hobbies they loved, or beliefs they held(p. 63)Thomas." Students will know passionate teaching when they see one because it's effective. For instance, Thomas had a teacher who stood in front of him for six years but he didn't see a model in her, what it meant to be a lifetime learner. Students can't benefit greatly without seeing what their teachers are passionate about because passionate teachers talk about their passion to students, act like partners in learning, and moreover; creating curiosity within students which will build confidence in them than watching teachers do and say things. Students learn more if they like you and if can't make an effort to bond with them, they can't feel comfortable to share and participate actively in class. Besides talking about passion, teachers also need to prove that it's there. During Thomas's free time, he would peek on new teachers and "glance at their bookshelves and the posters on their walls. I hope to find evidence that they can bring themselves-their pasions-into a classroom(p. 64)Thomas." Thomas wanted to see that teachers bring their passion into their classroom, proving that it's tangible for students and not just something they hear about. Teachers need to remind students that their passion will motivate them for the rest of their lives and by having or talking about their favorite book, poems, etc., proves that the teacher's values are shared with the rest of the classs. Furthermore, to create an attitude for students to relate to so they can learn things about themselves and to teach others to grow by getting out of their comfort zone. Briefly, teachers across America needs to step up their game by presenting more passion in order for students to feel that learning is fun and education will bring them success in the future.

Thomas, Jerelyn. "Teaching with Passion." Education Digest Vol 73.3 (2007):

63-65. Academic Search Premier. Web. Nov. 2007.