KIDS WINNING THE LOTTERY!

I think the system is fair because if everyone went to the high school they want to go to then the schools would be too full and when I was in the 8th grade me and my mother did the lottery i chose for my first choice Metropolitan Business Academy and then my second choice was career Magnet school and then my third choice was Coop school.The first time I applied i got into Metro but didn't go because i wanted to go to West Haven High. My mom did it again at the end of freshmen year at West Haven High and my choice was 1.Career 2.Coop 3.Metro. I got into Metro again I was surprised and went to Metro Sophomore year and now I'm a Jr. at Metro and I will stay here until I graduate. I think that kids doing the lottery is a good idea so they can go threw the proses of going to a magnet school.

Class Work 3/28/12:

The feature film that can be compared to the article is Waiting for Superman, the significance is that it talks about the education reform that is going on in the city of New Haven. It tells another side of the issues of education that many people do not know. The coverage of the type of news they received is equal since they told of about 4 people that get into the schools that they wanted, and many more that did not get into the schools they wanted to. The effect is that you are seeing both sides of the topic the good and bad sides of the lottery. Yes, it can because when I go the letter from the city of New Haven I was happy I got into one of my choices so I wouldn't have to go to West Haven High but I was disappointed that I didn't get into one of my top 2 choices.

Do Now 3/28/12:

What I know about the Magnet school  lottery is that when you are going to go to a middle schooll, or high school you fill out an application for the Magnet School Lottery. You are given a packet with a description of each school and at the end there is a paper that lets you pick 3 schools. Which ever school the computer picks you to go to is what school your put in. No, I do not think the system is fair because many people do not get into the school that they want to go to. I did the application for the New Haven Lottery when I was in the 8th Grade for high school. I got into this school but was wait listed at my other 2 choices.

Do Now and Classwork 3/26/12

Do Now:

"It takes a city: school change starts with me."

I think this means that change starts with one person. If only one person does something to make a difference, it can possibly have an effect on others and maybe influence them to follow in their footsteps to improve the city and schools.


A. ....


B. I feel the Students First organization really isn't fair. It reminds me of the whole Wall street and economic situation of how "the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer." They're making schools that are already good schoolsbetter while leaving schools that aren't very good, nothing to help them inprove. Yes, there's "always room to improve," but I think the main focus should be on schools that actually need improvement and will thrive from it opposed to schools that can use improvement, but don't neccessarily need it.


C. I think it's a good thing that NHPS ended its practice of social promotion.Social promotion, in my opinion, is ridiculous.Students should HAVE to work hard in order to prceed to their next grade level, not just move up because they should stay with their peers.I feel like the fact of letting immature, poorly educated kids into a (higher) grade that they're obviously not ready for, is not only a distraction to students who who deserve to be there based on their perserverence and hard work, but it alwao in a way takes away from the students who actually are doing what they're supposed to be doing's education. It's basically like putting students who don't care with students who actually do care, which to me, is unfair.

D Now 3/14/12:

  I think that some of the proposals are good, when looking on how to improve the quality of our education. I think that increasing rigor is good because some kids need a challenge. Some kids are not given hard enough assignments in middle school, and some factors for being behind in the curriculum would be that they give there students more time then needed to complete an assignment and are not leaning what they need to. Even though some people will protest the over all purpose is to give their kids a quality education. The increase in seat time is good if its by an hour or so, I do not think the increase in school year is good since we are one of the districts that has the longest school years. Waterbury for example gets out in the middle of May generally is there isn't many school cancellations during the year.

DoNow and Class Work 3/26/11:

Do Now:

   I think that it means it takes a city, to make a change happen, mainly the school reform movement. It all starts with one person, just one person can make a big difference. As to have it applies to me I think it means that my help would be needed to get things started and move it along. I do not know how I can personally can make a change I will be graduating in June and it will not effect me or any one in my family since my sister is in a private middle school.  

Class Work:

A.  My thoughts is that as long as children are learning, and are getting the help that they need. We should advocate for this, it will help the children become more educated. But all schools need help not just a few in the area. Yes, it's because even thought the teachers that were there didn't boo the bill there weren't many of them to begin with. The event was publicized enough.

B. In terms of student first being the leader of S.B. 24 it makes sense since they are the voices for students in the city of New Haven. Taking money all of our money and giving it to specific schools isn't right, every school should be given money in order to help them give students a quality education.

C. Social promotion is allowing a student to advance to the next grade level even if they do not meet the education requirements needed. It's benefits is that the student will graduate with the knowledge needed to have good life. If I wasn't were the district said my education should be I'd rather stay back and learn what I need to so that I would be at the same page as everyone else is. The only drawback would be that you would be older then the other kids and have to do everything over. No, I do not think it's all gone I believe it still exists in some places but hopefully in the next couple of years it will  be.

Do Now 3/22/12:

Geoffrey Canada: Is an American social activist and educator, since 1990 Canada has been president of and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone. An organization dedicated to increase the rates of High School and College graduation rates.

Michelle Rhee: A public figure involved in the American education system, In late 2010, she founded Student First, a non profit, tax exempt political advocacy organization. Which works on education reform issues ex. teacher tenure.

Randi Weingarten: She is an American labor leader, attorney and educator, the current president of the American Federation of Teachers. The AFT is to represent the economic, social, and professional interests of classroom teachers and is an affiliated international union.

Regionald Mayo: Is the superintendent of the New Haven public schools, is a seasoned leader whose 37 years as an educator has cumliated an remarkable growth in the New Haven public schools.

Tenure: Is a guarantee of the permanence of a college or university teachers postiton, awarded upon successful completion of the probationary period usually 7 years.

3.12.12 - Memorable Learning Experience

I remember the 1st time I went driving with my mom. I almost killed her. I almost ran into a bush because I can't drive even if it could save my own life. I did park good though, I guess that is a good thing. Also, my mom complimented me on my parking but not so much on the turning around bushes. Then she yelled at me because I pushed on the gas a little too much and I think i jerked the car and she kind of went forward toward the dashboard. Well, we did not tell my dad about me driving the car for the first time because first of all, I was only 15 when I drove the car and he would have flipped out. I guess I could say that I did have a pretty good driving experience due to the fact that it was my first time ever even though I almost crashed the car. But I didn't. So thats good. If I were to say one thing that I learned from this whole process with my mom, I would have to say that I learned to wear my seat belt in the front seat and make sure I am aware of my surroundings and how close the front end of the car is to objects that I can get hurt in. :) Hopefully I can try to drive again soon with my mom but more carefully. I do not think I am going to be getting my driver's license any time soon though.

3.14.12 - State Bill 24

I do not think any of these proposals for the State Bill 24 would encourage kids to come to school. Like yeah maybe it will help our education in a tremendous and great way but if we made school days longer, it will affect our sleep schedule. Students are not going to want to wake up in the morning just to come into school for more than 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. I definitely have no doubt that it will, increase the number of drop outs that the school has. We already have students that talk about dropping out just for the hell of it. Also, it will increase the number of tardy and cuts that teachers have with their students. Students will wake up later so they can skip certain classes . At least they are not coming to school and falling asleep at their desks or disrupting the class and being rude right? I know for a fact that I would not be coming to school every day if they made school days longer and the school year longer. That would take away our 2 1/2 months of summer that we get off every year. Having an increase in rigor for our school will also higher the amount of students that transfer to school that do not have much discipline or a high consequence level like our schools will have if we go forth with these proposals and higher the rigor, lengthen the school day and the year. I think it is total ridiculousness.

Do Now 3/14/12

After reading and hearing about the proprosal that the governor of ct is trying to prolong our school year and increase our seating time i higly disagree with this idea. not only do i disagree with this proposal but i also think that it is a very selfish act to try and profor on the children of this state. i understand that it would be to try and better our school system and our students learning levels and abilitys . there is already a 44.8% drop out rate in the state of conecticut mostly do to the lack of motivation that students have and also becasue of this rigurous 10 month school year. now do they honestly think that by extending not only the school day but also they school year , that the drop out rate wouldnt increaese rapidly! i can personally say that as a highschool student myself i would be very upset . school stre4sses me out enogh and sometimes feel like i cant tak it anymore and if the we had to spend even another hour in school a day i would seriously consider some other type of learning method where i didt have to sit constintly all day and be lectured for six hours a day for a 180 days which would ultimatly requer unfortunitly dropping out of school.

Teachers Letters

This Idea Will Not Increase The Quailty Of My Education. I Think That The Longer You Make Someone Sit To Learn The Less They Will Understand. Kids and Some Teenage Students Attention Span Is Not That Long And Some Students May Say That They Learner Better During The Morning And Less In The Afternoon. It Is Also Proven That The Best Time To Teach Is In The Morning Where Students Are Allert And Energized Compared To The Afternoon. You Cant Force A Someone To Learn A Teacher Can Teach All Day And Some Students Will Still Not Have A Good Understand Of What Has Just Been Tought To Them. So The Time Of The Classes Or How Long The School Year Is Will Either Decrease Or Increase The Performance Of Students.

the articles I found present this issue in the same manor and that is from a critical stance. I think this because, instead of presenting just one side of the issue it presents both sides.

I think its a good idea to take action if you disagree,because otherwise the bill will be passed and nothing will be accomplished if you just disagree.

I would consider taking such action, because if I decide to disagree I'd do all I can to make sure this law wont get passed.

they don't essentially have any relation to the question, but this issue is a good example of how Journalism can cause social action and change, because its spreading awareness of the issue and getting more people to fight for what they believe should be the appropriate action.

State Bill 24

1. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/03/14/news/new_haven/doc4f60037990319077040555.txt
2. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/03/13/news/new_haven/doc4f5fa76907110482393905.txt

- Both of these articles discuss how governer Daniel Malloy wants to push officials to consider passing the school reform, which includes longer school days and years, and also adds more time into the actual classes. Alot of people are against this law, simply because of the extra stress it would add to the students.

Questions

1. The articles discuss teh problem in a similar fashion, with both explaining how Daniel Malloy would like government to take a look at his proposal and agree with it. The articles appear to take the side on a critical stance, since Malloy is fighting against everyone else in order for this law to be passed so that education could be better.

2. I think that I would agree with this student, simply because I believe that it only adds more stress to students lives and it also takes away their free time, unmotivating them to try and do better in school.

3. If I was given the option, I think that I would consider taking action against the law because of what the law would do to students laws as discussed in previous answers.

4. My answers for two and three relate back to the Essential question becuase if students and others retaliate against this law, and for example, threaten not to re-elect malloy, then it can really have an affect if this law is passed or not.

Do Now 3/16/12:

Teachers Boo Malloy:

"Take the CMT" In this article the teachers are opposing the State Bill 24. Teachers criticized his bill for making teachers scapegoats, overlooking root causes of the achievement gap, and over-emphasizing test scores at the cost of innovation and critical thinking.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/teachers_meet_malloy/

New Haven Teahcer's Union to propose new rules tenure at Malloy's forum tonight in city:

We say no. This article will offer a new proposal for tenure that reduces the time on a dismissal decision to 90 days, the appointment of one arbitrator, rather than three, and a binding decision rather than a recommendation.
http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2012/03/13/news/new_haven/doc4f5fce4973028567116765.txt

1. The both present the same ideas but the one on New Haven Independent is more detailed. While the one in New York Times is straight to the point. They both seem to not want the bill to pass since the majority of people who have heard of it do not want it. yes I believe they do.

2. I think that its a great idea, for me personally it would not matter since I am going to graduate. I would sign it to voice my opinion.

3. Yes , I would I think lengthening the school year would not help any one.

4. Journalism is the way most people find out information, it's an effective and common way.

state bill 24

Personally, I would not like to have longer school days. Do I think it would be good for our school systems in Connecticut? Yes. I think  having longer school days would improve students GPA and over all test scores. The longer day gives more time for students to focus and learn more. I personally, would rather keep the time we have now. I could not deal with being in school for the amount of time that if the bill was passed, we'd be in school for. However, I think coming in as freshman, or starting in middle school will help students get used to the schedule which will help them actually learn to make good use of the long days they have in school.

SB24 Questions

I think the articles I read present information in a similar fashion and are all on the same subject and somewhat the views. Each article appears to critical stance in this date because they are not taking sides they are just stating the events and the views on each side. I think anyone should sign the petition who actually is for the cause, not just because. I would consider taking such an action because I think that the schools who need more help than others should be focused on more. Schools who already have everything should not be given even more when there's other schools who need it more.

i don't think that this is a good idea because what is the whole point of this? where is this going to take us in the future? student are still going to be the same and teachers are still going to teach the same thing. what the GOV'T is going to say is that if they increase the school hours its going to keep our students safe and keep students from the streets. well that's not ganna happen because when school is over that's where they first go to the streets and students would never be safe unless they keep themselves from the streets.

Scavenger Hunt

1. The articles are the same, but different. The New Haven register has hard facts about standardized test, yet they ended the online version from the hard copy of the news paper. The New Haven Independent is rawer about people’s feelings towards the bill.

2. A few of my classmates signed the petition. I personally believe they don't understand SB 24 and signed it just because they had the opportunity to.

3. I refuse to sign the petition because I do not fully understand it and I don’t want to sign something I’m not sure of.

increasing seat time, good or crime?

It wouldnt increase it due to the fact kids are kids. the statement is blantent itself. There attention spand is not large atfter a while kids would just begin to foundle with there pencils papers. they"ll start to wonder where else they could be what else they could be doing and question why are they even there? its not a good choice theres other way teachers and students should be capable of executing the lesson in the amount of time given. yet teacher goverment parents etc, have to learn its the way you teach the lesson. if the lesson is brought out with excitment and clarity it'll be fine. sometimes teacher get frustrurated because the student doesnt gett it forgetting that were just learning this sometimes i just cant fathom and feel bad for students whats the outocme of them being in there longer when they dont even want to be in class in the first place? its border line questionable. is this a crime, will it be bad for the students or do they think time is the answer? would i consider taking such action? probably yeah, only because im graduation lol so its like yeah put them in school ,onger i haven experienced it so i wouldnt know yet i do beleive that if scores increse grades increase all of the above then it most defitnitly should happen. if they opposed it is completly beleviable and understanable there are possible pro's and possible cons to the situation i mean utimatly the only way to know is to try.

Response to rigoring from Education

I would have no problem with longer time in a school day, but I am not other kids. If the school year increases then the breaks should either be longer or happen more often. They also have to think about the stress of other kids being in school longer. I think the older kids get more fustrated than younger ones. Being that older kids have less days of school than the younger one the kids they would become aggravated if this change takes place. I understand what rigoring would do, but will it make the students have a better way of learning or will it aggravate them to the point they don't want to?

school reform

This article talks about the positive ways that this bill can affect the school system! It looks promising if you ask me but what do you guys think about it?
http://gov.cbia.com/issues_policies/article/take-action-how-you-can-support-education-reform


This article talks about the facts about the bill and myths!.
http://ctedreform.org/blog/2012/03/senate-bill-24-myths-facts-part-1-top-myths-about-the-proposals-to-improve-teacher-and-principal-quality/

SB24

I don't think its a good idea to change our school schedual more than we already have. I think that it will be harder for students to concentrate if classes are to be longer. It's kind of hard to focus now and im in class for 90mins. I don't think it will make people do more work seeing that they arn't doing any work as it is. I do my work and listen but that don't mean that everyone else is the same.It depends on the person. So i will say that keeping us longer will help anyone just add stress.

SB 24

As most people are aware, two New Haven teachers, one from Celentano and one from Sound school are backing State Bill 24 (SB24). SB24 is a new state bill which seeks to increase seat time, lengthen the school day / year, and to increase the rigor in the class room. Of course there are two distinct sides to the story, one for increasing "rigor" in the school and one which thinks the extra work is unneccesary. On the "for" side, some of the higher-ranking students might benefit from the increased challenge from the system. On the "against" side, this policy can be very bad for students. I think that over-working students will cause less work to get done and make grades drop. These new policies will probably end up frustrating students and discouraging them to work rather than to motivate them to do better as the plan intended to. I think that having a longer school year micht make things more frustrating for students including those who are employed. This longer school day may interfer with their work schedule or other important after-school activities. Also, since many students neglect to do their homework in the first place, adding more to this will only cause grades to lower more. In my opinion I think that this bill is not going to help anyone nor will it raise any scores, skill levels, etc. This bill will most likely end up "backfiring by only making school harder and decreasing in any progress that there would have been if the schools had just enforced their policies more instead of trying to apply a new "usless" one.

New Haven Independent-This not only tells about the SB 24 it gives a petition that you can sign to be against it http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/teachers_rally_colleagues/


New Haven Register-  Gov. Dannel P. Malloy addressed a raucus crowd of teachers Tuesday who feel his education reform package fails to address the real needs of failing students, incorrectly blames them and continues to put too much emphasis on standardized testing. http://www.newhavenregister.com/articles/2012/03/14/news/new_haven/doc4f60037990319077040555.txt

SB 24

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/teachers_meet_malloy/
-The pros and cons about SB 24 held at wilbur cross last night (3/15/2012)

http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2012/03/14/news/new_haven/doc4f60037990319077040555.txt
-Malloy puts too much emphasis on teachers

Reaction to State Bill 24

I personally think that the A block, B block school schedule is the most effective way of learing for me with the same amount of classes and the amount of "seat time" which is about 90 minutes. To me its like the less time learning in class, the less a student learns, but the more time a student learns the more they may get impatient and kranky. I just don't agree with the fact of increasing education time, no point.

Lengthening The School Year? Umm NO.

I think the proposed idea of a longer school year (and longer school days) will do more harm than good. If anything students will be more inclined to miss school more and more and rebel. As it is right now, we have a lot of pressure on us in school everyday. We're struggling to get that extra 2% grade so we can go from a C to a B, we're missing sleep slaving over already hours of homework, we're irritable from sitting in a chair for 90 minutes. The governor needs to have several seats. I also think something the government and education officials throughout this whole nation grossly overlooks is the fact that we, the students TOO have personal lives. Some of us have jobs that we NEED to keep, some of us are helping raise our siblings, some of us have health problems, and MOST of us have obligations to attend to everyday after school. And who is the governor to tell us to ignore it all?

School Proposal Bill

Lately, two teachers claim that the Governor- backed State Bill 24 looks to increase the rigor in classrooms, increase seat time, and lengthen the school day and year. I think that this proposal is ridiculous. Students are fidgety in school as it is, so why should the school day become longer. Also, our seat time in class is already 90 minutes long in each class, so why make it longer. They shouldn’t also increase the school year in general because half the time in school, we really don’t do much. Even though I don’t like this proposal, I do like the part where they would make school a little more challenging. In my school alone there are maybe only ten teachers that really care about the students and actually teach us something. Most of the rest are just here to collect their paychecks. So overall I am against this proposal.

State Bill 24

I think that the State Bill 24 is so unreasonable because sitting in class for a longer time, extending school days and years is straight ignorant. You know what I think they need to do is extend the school year for those schools that get out in the middle of May. Longer class periods are unhealthy and the reason why is because if you look at the basic facts, a kid goes to sleep during a class period, so when he/she gets home they don't go to sleep until 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning. Making classes longer will mess up the sleep rotation. Longer school days will not be tolerated because students have things to do after school such as, practice, work, or something to do after school.  

"SB 24"

I really don't think this is a good idea. I feel comfortable with my current school schedual in each of my classes and to me, it doesn't really matter how long you keep a student in class if they don't listen, if they don't listen they won't learn nothing. in my classes i still learn alot with the amount of time i have in class so i really don't get what the government is trying to do

State bill 24

  I think the state bill to lengthen the school day and year is bad. lengthening the school day is bad because kids are going to get tired. And they are going to start doing less in class. Teenagers have very small attemtion spans. The average attention span of a teenager is 20 minutes So half way through class they gonna stop paying attention. And then teenagers will start failing. And extending the school year is a terrible idea because as teenagers we need time to just relax and be teenagers.

Longer Class/School Time?

I think the idea of lengthening the school day and year is good because it gives students more time to actually sit, get their work done, and hopefully learn more. Also, it gives teachers more time to teach and possibly fit in lessons that they do not normally have time for during one schoool year. Some people may disagree becaue there is already complaints about school being too long and sitting too long makes some people uncomfortable and may result in impatients causing it to be more difficult or frustrating to learn.

State bill 24 opinon

I think making the classes more challenging it's a good idea. It'll make us study more and actually be worried on doing good in the class. Also making the classes longer can be a good idea because it'll allow the teachers to have time and help students that has difficulty with subject. Also they can use the extra time to do homework in class. But i disagree of making the school year longer. It's going to take days away from our vacation, which every kid is looking forward too! But then again it depends how long they are thinking of making the school year. If it's like 3 weeks more then it's fine with my but if its like 2 more months i would be so bad! and not just me i think every kid would be.

School Reform Bill

The governor is planning to pass a bill in school reform. I personally do not believe his choice to extend school years and lengthen school days. Extending school days and years won’t necessarily help students to get better grades. But for some students who cut the already short days; it may encourage them to skip and not participate in school more. The choice to lengthen school hours would make the New Haven Public School District much more like Achievement First. Achievement First is the owner of several charter schools where students are in school from the times of 7:30AM to 5PM at the latest. The earliest time one of their schools lets out is 4:15. If the bill of reform goes through, much of New Haven students wouldn’t be able to take the responsibility of such a long day of academics and short transition times. Being an Achievement First student gives you the upper hand because they encourage you to stay in school keep high grades and participate frequently. Another way Achievement first keeps students having good grades is by eliminating one letter grade from their grading bracket. With 69% being a failing grade students need at least a C average to pass to the next grade. If New Haven were to take on this method many students would work harder and the students who were barely passing by before would be forced to try harder. So instead of extending the days and school year, the governor could simply pass a bill to take away the letter grade D.

School Proposal

Recently, there have been letters written by two New Haven school teachers that would like to see changes made in the classroom. They proposed that schools should increase the "rigror" in classrooms, increase seating time, and also legnthen the school day and year. In my opinion, these proposals have have good intentions but I do not think they would actually be passed, since so many people would probably fight against it. When people, like the actual students for example, hear that the government and teachers want to make changes like legnthening the time of the school day and also "rigoring" the time in classrooms, it would only be undertandable as to why they would want to retailate against it (no student actually wants to have more class time and later school days.) Also, I think that taking away free time from students is not a fair thing in the slightest way. If they did insert more time into school days, and made students stay for a longer time in school, it would unmotivate them to do well in school even more because they would be too tired to even want to do anything. I am aware that education in the United States is not as affective as it used to be, but there could be other ways to motivate students to do better rather than taking away vacations and free time. I think that if they do carry out these laws, however, eventually they would maybe work out on the classrooms.

Thoughts on Proposals:

I think that the proposals are good ones, when looking at ways to improve the education gap. I believe that increasing the vigor of the curriculum, am good and should be taken into consideration.  Since some kids, are not getting challenged enough to the extent that they should be. An example is not being given work that challenges their thinking skills or being given too much time to do the work. Even though some parents or students will challenge the proposals it’s needed in some schools where the education is poor. The point is to help the students work, and learn at a more productive rate; putting these changes into effect will help everyone. The increase in seat time is good if it’s not an additional hour 15-30 minutes seems reasonable.  Lengthen the school year I think is not needed since we are in school 8 almost 9 months as it is and that seems like a long time. Some schools get out as early as May or June.  I believe that 2 of the proposals are good such as more rigor and increase seat time. But the idea of a longer school year is not going to help anyone since they would not want to do anything. When school drags on for a long time you no longer care, just want to get things over with. Summer is needed to give kids a break and time to have fun not worrying about school, test, and homework. Being in school till 4pm or 5pm will make children lash out and behavior badly.

Our education

Lately there's been so many issues about education and how the teachers arn't teaching their students enough like they're suppose to. And i agree they're not. We need more teachers like then one on the article because i bilieve if we have more dedicated teachers like her then our school system would improve so much

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/star_teacher_weighs_future/

New York Curriculum Debate

In New York, they did a research and found out that more schools uses the "balance literacy" curriculum rather than the core knowledge Foundation way. You can read more about this if you click this link.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/nyregion/nonfiction-curriculum-enhanced-reading-skills-in-new-york-city-schools.html?_r=1&ref=education 

School Reforms

1. Pressure’s On As “CMT Olympics” Begin. CMT's have already started for grades 3-8 and many schools have prepared their students mentally for the challenging test. They have afterschool programs and special tutoring classes available for the students that need help on the test.

2. State, City At Odds On Parent Plan. The New Haven school district wants parents to be more involved in their child's education. Dr. Mayo (school superintendent) is shocked to see that the percentage of parent teacher groups is not making such a good impression to the state.

Shame: The Solution

Teachers, administrators, parents, and adults alike seem to love to pressure our young souls. They yell at us for not mastering a class or course, they patronize us, but sometimes they baby us too, make us believe that everything is fine and dandy; there's a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow and life doesn't revolve around bettering yourself academically. Maybe they need a new approach, a new method to reach us? Maybe they should "shame" us? I know you're probably saying, "Shame? What?!?" But, here's the thing, I find that I normally do better at EVERYTHING when I'm ashamed or feel bad/guilty. Take a look at this:

A Perfect Example

School Reform

http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2012/03/13/news/doc4f5e67e3a32f3818029559.txt
-Mayor of New Haven speaking with the predident and multiple other mayors

http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2012/03/13/news/milford/doc4f5eb6871befd591204733.txt
-Milford will be spending 90 grand on there special education school systems

school reform.

in this year and the recent past we have come across many ideas of school reform. some suggest that the fringe of teachers based on students scores may be at the very least part of the solution. this creates an atmosphere where  everyone is a target every one can easily be linked by linked as nobody is excluded and we all can be put together and have the goverment make millions of reasons for why we need this education reform! Uually teachers are fighting this even going as far as filling lawsuits yet, that goes but so far! Alot of media has stated that the huge part of this education reform is the easy way to become a teacher so they'll make it harder not only to become a teacher yet stay a teacher. the dropout rate has become terrible and we need to do more to be better students teachers staff etc!

"Articles On Education Reforms"

New York Times, Charles Murray, the author of “Coming Apart,” which addresses the divide between the professional and working classes in white America, has suggested “four steps that might weaken the isolation of at least the children of the new upper class.”= http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/author-suggests-higher-education-reforms-for-the-new-upper-class/?scp=3&sq=education%20reform&st=cse

New Haven Register, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expected to be greeted by another group of upset, skeptical teachers Tuesday night as he tries to sell his far-reaching education reform plan through the same town meeting format he employed to shop the budget last year.
 = http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2012/03/12/news/new_haven/doc4f5ebd4edebbf919183247.txt

Most Memorable Learning Experience

Freshman year was the most memorable time on life and learning experience. This school was fun because the teachers we have. I like to say that it is still fun, but we learn the same thing every years and that bothers us. There is nothing wrong with us learning, it is something wrong with the school. Change the curriculum up once in a while. My history teacher, Mr. Manciero was the best teacher I ever had besides DeCrosta, but where I'm getting at is that in his class I'd learned new things. Yeah he used the curriculum that was given, but he used his own teaching style. The game every child played, "Ring around the Rosie" relates back to the black plague and I didn't know that until he taught me and I also learned the curse words was the last thing people said before they died in the black plague.We need to learn new things and fun things. That is all i got to say.

Memorable learning experience!

My memorable learning experience was when i was finally able to a perfect cartwheel on a balance beam. This taught me to get over my fears of thinking i was going to get hurt. My gymnastic coach taught me to do this sport i would need dedication and discipline. And that meant to just give it my all. By all of this when i was finally able to do it i realized that if you set your mind to do something and never give up, you can achieve your goal. And that's what i learn :)

Learning Experience

A positive memorable learning experience that I had a while back was when my mother was driving one day and decided to get out and let me drive the rest of the way to my grandfather's house, as well as some of the way back. After that day now sometimes she'll let me drive her car more for more experience and practice so I can get my own license soon.

My Most Memorable Time

My most memorable experience is when i go to Puerto Rico. The main reason its so memorable is because its my homeland. Other reasons for it being my most memorable experience is that i get to see my entire family, friends, and random girls i may come across. I love the clean, blue water beaches, parties every weekend, street races and especially the food. Basically everything from the island is memorable.

Ev's Learning Experience.

Ms.Blatteau's A3 media studies class. in this class we learned about the potenial banning firm the ethnic studies class. it was a postive learning experience because i learned new vocabulary and also i was informed about what had been taking place in the poor classed of tuscon arizona students. it was defitnitly an amazing lesson due to the signifigance of an amazing lesson about an amazing class. it did pester me though simply because they think that these mexcian studies with hold resentment towards others races most importantly caucasion, this was really not the case. its instresting to me though, its wrong and i was visceral upon learning what was really going on to these students. its not an class for just mexicans its all races, its compelling there story is remarkable i think they should pay attention to the graduation growth rate rather then hendering these students class because an opinion. they havent took the class, they dont know they understand but of course they wouldnt because they are not the students.

Memorable learning experiences

A memorable learning experience to me is in middle school when we use to make acronyms to remember stuff in math class. Another memorable learning experience was that we would make up funny poems to remember formulas and stuff like that. It really helped to.

"Learning Experience"

   When I first started to pay attention in class, I felt so smart because I really got everything my teacher was saying. That made me realize even more that my problem wasn't that i was slow, it was the fact that i wasn't paying attention. From that day, I started to pay attention in class and saw that I did way better on tests and quizzes and by doing that my grades raised to an A in that class. This whole experience showed me that I can do whatever I want if i put my mind to it. Even though this experience happened in school i do believe that learning can happen outside the classroom. Everyday people make choices that have either a positive or negative outcome, some take those outcomes and learn from them and some don't but either way there's a lesson in it.

Learning Experience

One of my most memorable learning experiences was becoming independent. This was positive in my life because everyone needs independence to succeed in the world. I started to become independent at a young age and as I grew the more independent I became. I started to wake up in the morning on my own for school, cook my own meals, and find my own transportation. Being independent is important, but it doesn’t all just happen at once. It starts out as something small and grows into something big as time goes on. Learning to be independent wasn’t that hard for me because I always wanted things done fast for myself. You can’t depend on someone if you want something done speedily; you have to do it yourself. Without self preservation you can’t be independent, you need that push from yourself to be able to depend on yourself. Independence was the best self taught attribute for me. It has made me into who I am and opened many doors for me to use in my future. It has allowed me to make my own working network of people and make connections with companies and respected people in communities.

Scavenger Hunt:

New Haven Independent:

TFA Teacher Hits Stride and May leave Town:

  In this article this is basically about the Teachers For America's organization's recruit who is working in a turn around school. It's about her decision on whether or not to stay for the rest of her duration or to go home to be with her family. Ms. shorrock is a hardworking dedicated teacher that knows how  to engage her students, show compassion, help, and help spark interest in her students. She wants her students to be successful, if she doesn't stay working for the school she would be missed.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/star_teacher_weighs_future/


105 Promise Grads Stay Enrolled:

  This article is about the New Haven Promise students are persisting in college thanks to a partial scholarship, and 10 have put their studies on hold. 103 Promise students enrolled in college in the fall, earning $45,000 in scholarships. Because the program is being phased in, they received up to 25 percent of the scholarship, which is up to full tuition at public in-state colleges and universities and up to $2,500 at in-state private nonprofit colleges and universities. Of that group, Yagla said, 10 are not currently enrolled in school. Some alerted Promise ahead of time that they’re taking the spring semester off for “personal reasons.” Others who hadn’t enrolled in the fall did enroll in the spring, bringing the total to 105 students currently enrolled, for a total scholarship of $48,000.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/new_haven_promise_midpoint_report/

New York Times:

New Haven state law maker calls for major inroads in reading skills for children:

  After a great amount of students were put  in summer school for lacking in reading skills. The district decided that a new way of teaching was needed to help the students learn and work better.  There would be some exceptions, such as students with limited English language skills who have received less than two years help as English language learners, and some special education students.

  Holder-Winfield also wants to decrease the number of students who are mistakenly put in special education classes, but whose real problem is a lack of reading skills. There would be some exceptions, such as students with limited English language skills who have received less than two years help as English language learners, and some special education students. Holder-Winfield also wants to decrease the number of students who are mistakenly put in special education classes, but whose real problem is a lack of reading skills.
http://newhavenregister.com/articles/2012/03/06/news/doc4f56c1f261b0a673036898.txt?viewmode=2

(Do Now B) Crystals Memorable Moment

A very memorable learning experience that ive gone through made me learn alot is a very personal story but what i did learn from that perticular experience is that you have to be causious of the people that you involve yourself with because everyone doesnt always have your best intrest at heart. my father has always told me that i myself have the best intrest for myself more then anyone else does. by involving myself in drama or being around people who isnt benefial to me and my future is quite pointless to be around becasue they'll always leave you a stray even if they feed into your ears telling you that there your realist friend always be aware of your surroundings . ive been through alot but every trial and tribulation i go through i never let it define the person that iam today i was taught to make my weeeknesses my strengths. doing good for not only yourself but for others also is so much harder to do then being rude and acting out and going down the rode of distruction. ive went through and still continue to go through my share of pains and wrong doings but nobody is perfect. but just because no one is perfect, does it ever give you an excuse to follow the wrong crowd . yes we all make mistakes but if a person thinks that thats always going to be an excuse for the things they do then they have alot of growning up to do. i will never forget where i came from but i will never let it define me .

Memorable Learning Experience

An experience I had was being friends with someone who I am no longer friends with. Out of respect I won't use her real name, I'll say B; the first letter of her first name. I met her in fifth grade but we didn't actually become close friends until the summer after sixth grade - going into seventh grade. I eventually cut her off around the beginning of freshman year. Here is why:

First of all, she was the type of person to gossip. She would tell me about all her other friend's business that, if I were them, I wouldn't want people to know. She would tell me that they were dirty or that their family seemed poor, etc. They were just unnecessary things to share; especially with me - someone who doesn't even know who they are. At first it seemed kind of funny, but after sitting back and realizing exactly what she was doing - gaining their trust, learning their personal issues, then sharing them to get attention and conversation - I began to reconsider our friendship. I didn't cut her off yet, I just made sure I didn't tell her anything that I wouldn't want anyone else to know; considering the fact that she'll probably tell all her other friends. She was always very sneaky about it too. I learned she's not someone I can trust.
Second of all, she was one of those people who mooches off of other people and uses them to bring themselves higher, but doesn't give anything back. Here and there when she needed an extra dollar or two, I always had one to spare. But when I needed one, there was always an excuse of why she couldn't use it on me. Another time, we were at the mall and she lost a 20 dollar bill, but she saw a pair of jeans she wanted that were on sale for 15 dollars so me, being a good friend, I thought I'd loan her 15 dollars, and she's pay me back eventually. Well, she never did. And every time I brought it up, she would say something like "Yeah I know, I didn't forget. I will as soon as I get the money. To this day she never paid me back. Also, when buying Christmas gifts, I know it's the thought that counts, but I honestly believe if I'm spending MY money, that I had to babysit and clean for, on you, you should do the same. I'm not saying I never received a Christmas present from her, but they weren't what she said they'd be. She told me she was getting me a gift card somewhere of 20-25 dollars. So, assuming she was really going to do that, I went and spent MY money on her and bought her a pair of earrings and a hat which amounted to about 20 dollars. She gave me a pair of pajama pants that looked like they had been worn and returned already. That was where I drew the line. After all that, I no longer offered to buy her anything or loan her money and when she asked I'd make up excuses. I didn't care if she knew I was lying.
She also used my family for rides places. Sometimes it seemed like she invited me places just so we'd have some type of transportation home.

After about two years of putting up with her and trying to be a good friend, I had had enough. I cut her off completely. Every time she called or texted me trying to make plans, I'd make excuses. When she texted me just to say hey, I ignored her until eventually she just stopped contacting me all together.

As much as I dislike her, I'm glad I became friends with her because it really opened my eyes to make sure I watch what I tell people, what kind of friends I want in my life and what kind of people I want to surround myself with.

Sb's learning experience

The most memorable learning experience I had was as a child and it was negative and partially positive, in the other words there was a good and bad to my situation.It was a hot summer day, my friends and I had nothing to do so we thought it would be the perfect day to ride bikes, bmx, and race. My friend Chandler had just got a new ramp and it was sweet. he put the ramp on the sidewalk so all my friend and I can go off it. He specifically told me not to not to go off it with my bike because it was a mountain bike and to go off with his. I didn't care what he said because I was young and hated when kids other than adults told me what to do not realizing he wasn't telling me what to do but he was just being a good friend and looking out for my safety. I rebelled against what he said and did it anyway but, I didn't just not listen I went off the ramp going full speed instead of taking it slow. I flew in the air, fell to the ground and the bike immediatley fell on my face. The impact of the fall and the bikes weight left me with a mark on the back of my head. I was lucky to be o.k. because I could have severely injured myself or worse. I learned to stop being ignorant and just take the time to listen to what people say. It's good to listen becaue sometimes people aren't being mean, or telling you what to do but they are trying to help you. I also learned to stop being a know-it-all because I don't know everything especially things I never done before. Lastly the #1 rule when you decide to ride bikes or do tricks on them ALWAYS WEAR HELMETS!!!

the wandering mind bringeth misfortune

red, representing anger and at times, love. Tis also the color of my heart and on this very day it occupies my thoughts and fills my being. but why is it that I am red all over? the reason for my colorful discomfort is because I regretfully recall my memories of my very first act of paid labor. during that time I made the most mistakes and caused much displeasure to my elderly employers. I grind my teeth as I grudgingly recall my foolish erroneous acts such as placing objects in places that they weren't supposed to be in or misplacing others, and being incapable of finding several objects or unable to follow orders. but even though the troubles caused by my idiocy were plentiful, it was still a very valuable learning experience that I believe will aid me in future occupations.
note: since this is a truly awful memory that I wish to forget, I do not wish to write about it any longer than what I currently have.
 

Memorable Learning Experience:

A memorable learning experience would be going to New York, with the senior class. At the Metropolitan Museum of Art I learned more about American and Egyptian History.

The Egyptian way of life is an interesting one; they were very advanced for their time period. The jewelry they were was absolutely amazing, and I for one would definitely wear some of their pieces.  The clothing seemed light and airy would be useful with their hot climate. The mummies and way of preservation is far beyond their years and its crazy how the artifacts can last thousands of years. They made everything to last for years. In the section of American History I learned more about the times of the knights and the way they lived. All of their furniture was small and seemed to be built for slim people. Rooms were done very extravagant and used to show wealth and status. Most of their objects were made out of silver and gold. Jewelry seemed to be heavy and very exaggerated. It was a positive learning experience that allowed us to walk around the museum and see things that we had interest in.

In the city of Harlem we got to walk around and shop, as well as explore the city. I learned a little more about how the train works, and where to catch it. I’ve been on the subway a couple times so I know how it works and how to get on one. Lunch at Sylvia’s was nice and relaxing to be able to spend some time socializing with my fellow seniors; was nice and something we do not get to do often. Most of the senior’s leaver early, work has a college class or a sport to do. So we hardly ever see each other but the trip to New York was very nice and I enjoyed everyone’s company.

Memorable Moment

I have had many memorable moments in my life: for example, learning how to ride a bike and tying my shoes are only a couple of these moments. In my opinion, the most memorable moment in my life was learning how to drive for the first time. I did not know what to expect when i first got behind the wheel because even though I heard from others that driving was a very easy thing to do and even though I learned alot from driving school, I was still nervous. As soon as I got further into the driving lesson, I realized that driving was not as hard as I thought and my drving instructor actually sad I drove very well for someone who just started driving, so i was relieved about that. In my opinion, this experiance was both a positive one and a negative one, due to the fact that my turning could use alot more work but my driving overall was very good. It was a good experience and hopefuklly I will be able to drive again soon in order to work on my turning.

juns memorable learning experience

one of my learning experiences was when i was learning how to drive an atv and a dirt bike another learning experience was when i was learning how to drive a manual car at first it was kinda hard beacause i didnt have the hang of it but after doing it over and over everyday i got the hang of it and thats when i tried riding in the streets and in the woods

AK | memorable learning experience..*

A memorable learning experience that I remember is when my teacher Mr.Donhue made a rap about formulas so we could remember them for the CAPT. I think that was a good idea to teach the class because math isn’t the most exciting class, also most students like rap so the formula would make sense more & be remembered easier. When I was taking my CAPT I thought of the rap & remembered the formula. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .