6.29.2012

1)            I am fortunate enough to have parents that appreciate art and history.  From the time that I was ten years old until I became incorrigibly annoying, my parents and I packed our bags and travelled throughout Europe to see the classic empires and their masterpieces.  Although a single moment never comes to mind specifically, these summer experiences are the framework of my, sometimes euro-centric, view of the world and love for the lamp of history.  I interacted with other cultures, other languages, and probably most importantly, challenged the visual possibilities of culture as compared to the distinctly suburban houses of the U.S.  Because of these trips, I never stopped reading.

                I followed these vacations up with college trips to Europe and South America.  These allowed a bit more freedom and choice in finding my way throughout Europe.  After graduation, I found my first job working at an art museum that focused on European art in the Eugene community.  Here I experienced my first interactions with education.  These experienced caused me to view the world with an open lens (or at least as much as these experience allow that lens to be open- tricky slope here).

                As an adult, I now realize the many possible avenues of choice that culture, government, literature, and policy can take.  Therefore I make specific efforts to try and stay educated within the community.  These are not limited to, but include Membership or patronage with SFMOMA, de Young, Commonwealth Club, Cal Shakes, Foreign Affairs, American Historical Association, The Economist, and The New Yorker.  Constant interaction with each of these organizations allows me to, try to, fulfill the claim that we put on our students as a lifetime learner in my subject matter.

                The Commonwealth club is a specific example of a continuing education for our public.  (A little tip here, SMC students get tickets for only 7$ and your student ID continues for two years after the date you get the I.D.  Therefore, get it in December when we finish class, and you get cheap tickets to movie theaters and Commonwealth Club for two additional years! This also happens to be my favorite seen in Blazing Saddles.)  Wednesday’s nights are a great time to get away from grading and take BART into the City.  These experts challenge me to think about these issues from different perspectives and also challenge the issues with actual data and expert points of view.  This is especially powerful in the social studies because these lectures allow detailed explanations that are not longer prevalent in the media.

2) I haven’t had the opportunity to discuss this topic with another student yet.  I will repost this specific question after I offer someone candy, coffee, or cash for their opinions.

3) I’ve got my topic down, but I don’t have a working thesis statement.  I need to perform more reading and see what evidence is actually in the databases.  I know that I want to focus on either shared-spaced teaching (two teachers working on the same class at the same time) or benefits of academies and seeing if these academies could be applied in the suburban setting.  These are going to be the focus of my A.P. Comparative Government and English 12 classes this year and I want to have information before we propose structural changes to DVHS.  But I just need to read more.

4) Too stressed for artwork…I’ll try again later.

Quotes from this week’s reading that I found powerful:

“she conceives of mathematics as a system of human thought rather than as a fixed body of procedures, she believes that those students must have experience in developing and pursuing mathematical hunches and learning to make mathematical arguments for their ideas within the context of a discourse community.”

“To regard physics or English classes exclusively as sites for learning about force or Mark Twain is to underestimate their potential impact’

                We have to mold how they look at all of literature and how they apply that contextual situation to their lives and then apply the language use to how they would manipulate a blank page.