Reflection 16

Rhetoric is one of the oldest disciplines of the entire world. The earlist sophist for rhetoric is found in the classical Greece. Originally, rather than texts the study of speech with the onset of wilder literacy rhetoric became more closer associated with the written word. Students were still required to learn grammar, letter writing, and a more modern version of rhetoric consiting largely of delivery and style. As the writings of Greeks and Romans rhetorical scholars became lost during the Middle Ages. Rhetoric kept losing it's intellectual edge. People put forth a lot of effort but as time passed on rhetorical theory was going through a long period of sad neglect. Even though rhetoric was still a part of the curriculum it was impoverished and most likely limited to the study of tropes or maybe even the figure of speech. Peter Ramus was a person who did a lot to push the margins of rhetoric. He chose to divide the the traditional cannons of rhetoric into a dialect version and a modified version of rhetoric which contained style and delivery. The Age of Enlightment did very little to bring the rhetoric fortunes, even though the rise of sciences during this time wanted clarity. Because of this the rhetoric turned it's back on the study of ornamentation and more towards issues of properness and the ignoring of fallacies even though it stayed a body of technical skills. Rhetoric found an advocate during the enlightenment who try to re-start rhetoric's epistemological dimension and it's overall importance to science and and also to humanities. This person was Giambattista Vico. But just like Augustine wasn't able to pull rhetoric out of the restrictive box religion put on it, Vico failed to save thetoric from the scientific reason of "new religion." Since rhetoric started to specialize in form and style, instead of content, it later on becanme a problem. Rhetoric itself, was imported from Greece anyways. Therfore, it was highly regarded and very suspious. The rhetoric specialty fascinated the adults, dominated the schools, and even gave a style to both literature and oratory. Later on it became a genre of it's own right. Controversia was a more difficult and advanced do5rm rhetoric. It was a made up legal case with a fake jury. It was broken down into three parts. The three parts were: sentantiae, divisio, and colres., Sentantiae were the arguments for and against during the case. The divisio was a skeleton statement of the legal points included. Last but not least, the colores was the conjectures abut motive or the reasons or explanmations for what happened.

Reflection 15

In the Roman Empire during the early Republic, there were no public schools. The boys were taught to read and write by their parents. In some cases the educated slaves also know as the "paedagogi" taught the boys how to read and write they were usually from the Greek original. The main focus in education for the boys was teach train them in agriculture, Roman traditions, warfare, and public affairs. Little boys learned about accompanying their fathers to political and religious functions. At the age of sixteen, the sons of nobles were given to highly prestiged politicqal position. At the age of seventeen, the sons of nobles were campaigned to the army. The practice of education followed the Hellenic kingdoms and the resulting Greek influence. However, the Roman education still had differences from the Greek education system. Unlike the Greeks, if parents coudn't afford for their children to go to school, at the young age of seven boys and a few girls were sent to a private school outside of their homes. These private school were called a "ludus." The teacher of this school was a " magister ludi". They taught their students reading, arithmetic, writing, sometimes Greek. At the age of twelve, the students would move on to secondary school. The teachers were then called "grammaticus". They learned both Roman and Greek literature. By the time the student was sixteen their educational level was based on their legal careers. The students were even required to memorize Roman laws. Students went to school every single day unless there was a religious festival or maybe a market day. Unlike the Greeks there was also summer holidays. The differences between the Greek and the Romans were easier to see at the highest tiers of education. Romans students went to Greece if they wanted to study Greece philosphy. The Roman educational system found it's own final form of education. Rome was growing in size and power after the Punic Wars. The value of a family as a central unit began to change. They put a lot of Greek educational precepts to their own system. The older Roman school system was carried out by paterfamilies. This gave way to a new and fresh educational system supported by Romans among the Hellenistic Greeks. Now, formal school were established. It was normal for boys and girls to be educated although they didn' neccesarily have to work together.

Reflection 14

Aristotle came after Socrates and Plato. He was also a philospher that left a great imapct on the western civilization. Aristotle was interested in more than just the biological world. He tried to build a theory on the world as a whole. He believed that nature could be seen as a continum of organization from lifeless matter to the most difficult forms of life such as earth, water, fire, and air. He saw humans as different from other animals because of our capacity of reason and thought. Aristole called our reason of thought " The Great Chain og Being." With this he tried classification or taxonomy. He just wanted to make sense of the relationships among all things that are living. To him, all species could be placed in some sort of order. He put all living things from lowere which were the worms in the Eatrth and the highest as God on top. He saw the world as perfect. It was perfect to him because there were no links in his chain. In addition, there was no link with more than one type of species. This idea imapcted the western civilization for centuries. Even today, it holds a major influence on how we think today. The Great Chain idea put's restraints on how we think of species today. If every link is taken up or being used then no species can move or two species coudn't be put together. That means that in his perfect universe species could never alternate or change. Aristotle also had an idea called the unmoved mover. It was more like a principle that the universe than a God as Jews and Christians and Muslims think of God. It doesn't intervene and it is not to be prayed. This is more like a principle of some sort of physics. He also had the idea of the four causes. The classificatory causes are the first and second causes. The first cause question that you ask is "What kind of being is it?" The answer to this is the formal cause. The form is seen as an example of the particular being or class beings. The form is actually inside of them. The second cause question is "Whats is the thing or being made of? What sort of stuff is it composed of?" The answer is the material cause. The last two causes which are the third and the fourth causes are reffered to as the dynamic cauises. The third cause question to ask is " For natural kinds, what are the functions of their mature state? For artifacts, what is their specific function?" The answer to the question is the final cause. You can always think of a reason but don't become too theological here. You should think much more biological about it. The fourth cause question to be asked is " How did the thing or being come to be?" The answer to this question is the efficient cause. The parents are usually the efficient cause. People who create the art are the efficient causes for artificacts.

Reflection 13

Plato focused on idealism. Idealism is the theory based on the absolute forms or truths and not on materialisms. His theory of idealism is one of the oldest systemstic philosophies in the western culture. Plato was a student of Socrates. After being inspired by Socrates who was known for challenging materialists convention he developed a theory of his own. He greatly influenced the future of public education. Socrates had a method that challenged the views of life of the Greek citizens dialect which was done orally there was nothing written down. After Socrates was executed, Palto interpreted and added on to some of Socrates dialogues. Nowadays, scholars usually prefer to refer the ideas of both of the philosophers as the Platonic philosophy. Platonic idealism consists of the of the ideas of the Greek philospher Plato. Plato be;ieved in the Socratic or elenchus method. Plato opened a school after Socrates died. The school was based on the search for truth in all things. The first principle and basis for platonic idealism is the idea of absolute truth. According to Plato, people should for look for the truth because the truth is perfect and eternal. Plato professed that the truth is in all things. Because there are universal truths in math, Plato saw that there must be the same in other fields like politics, education, and even religion. He was against materialism so he wrote his second principle in which was in the republic. The concept of good was the source of all true knowledge. The world of idea and the world of matter are seperated. In order to progress toward good, he taught that people should encourage ideas and reject matter. The world of matter was constantly changing so that made it untrustworthy. He then had a third principle. The third principle was that he believed knowledge wa not created but discovered. He believed that people were born with true knowledge but it was lost during the birth process. As you grow that knowledge comes back to you. It may take a person a lifetime who remember these forgotten truths. His education wanted for students to embrace the concept good and the world of truths that already exists. He saw a society where everyone were given an equal opportunity. Boys and girls could push themselves to the fullest but he encouraged those who had a problem with abstract thinking should pursue more practical jobs. The practical jobns were in three classes which were workers, militia and rulers. The others who showed great skill in dialectic would become philosophers who would lead others to attain the good. Forgotten truths are what matter and what we know. Whenever we call many things by one name, it is only because we think one name confers a specific trait in those things. This pivots the ideas of forms or ideas.

Reflection 12

A curriculum is something that teachers struggle with. A curriculum is a description of the class beign offered, or a description of what the students should be learning. Over time the curriculum changes. It all depends on what century the student is in. During the colonial time which is the seventeeth century schools were focused on the "two r's". The "two r's" were religion and reading,. Schools were focused on the puritan morality. The few to graduate were forced to remeber a lot Latin and Greek. Sadly, for females, African Americans, Nati ve Americans, or poor you were not allowed an education. The would lock the school house doors because they felt that these people were not worthy of an education. The eighteenth century was focused on building the new nation. The new nation emphasized on the secular to free the formal curriculum from the strict bonds of religion. The classes were still based on reading, religion, and morals. However, math and writing were the center of attention. In the secondary level, students were able to learn vocational skills. Some examples of the vocational skills were, surveying, bookkeeping, accounting, and even navigating. At this time there was still a color barrier but more and more women were going to school. In the nineteenth century students had a more secure curriculum. The more and more the nation developed, so did the curriculm. Elementary schools really focused on math, spelling, behavior, writing, and even geography. Secondary students were most likely enrolled in an academy. They had a choice to focus on the original Latin curriculum or the new English curriculum. They both included public speakinhg, history, grammar, science , algebra, modern language and so much more. Luckily for students in the first half of the second century education was more progressive. Many new immigrants dominated the curriculum. It was good to be creative and in the arts. The curriculum consisted of arts, and the original courses like history, geography, civics, reading, writing, spelling. These were squeezed into the language arts and the social sciences. One of the most intriguing of the change of curriculums was the in the 1950s through the 1960s. When the Soviet Sputnik which is the first artificial satellite launched, the low point for the West in the Cold War was launched. The American schools used as the scapegoat for the U.S failure to win against the Soviets in space. The prestigious universities were made to create a more demanding curriculum. The focus was mainly science, math, and foreign language. Students weren't taught for memorization but on being taught to think like mathematicians or scientists. All of the problems going on around the students caused the students to be higher-order thinkers.

Reflection 11

Socrates was a Greek philosopher and a very important founder of the Western philosophical traditon. His major contribution to the Western train of thoought is his method of enquiry also known as the method of elenchos. The method of elenchos is the foundation of much later Western philosophy. His main focus were the five virtues which are : piety, wisdom, temperance, courage and justice. He would question other men that were known to be wise and lead them to believe that their beliefs made no sense at all. He himself taught to be ignorant in those types of matters. However, because he was aware of his ignorance he felt that meant he was wise. Unfortunately, Socrates left no writings. The only reason we know of his work is because of his contemporaries such as, Plato and Xenophon. He lived during a transitional time from the height of the Anthenian Empire was defeated by the Spartan coalition. People who were supposed to be wise back then did not appreciate his questions. Socrates believed that the unexamined life was not worth living. To him the purpose of life was to "inquire into ethics." Socrates did not teach in schools and he did not charge for his teachings. His method of teaching was by asking questions to someone and forcing them to believe in their own beliefs of ethics. He claimed that he did not have knowledge. He felt that he only had knowledge when iot came to elenchus which dod not include epistomology. He did not see hisself as a teacher. He only taught by getting those who would listen to him to think. According to Socrates, the highest type of wisdom was practical and definitely not general. To Socrates, happiness was moral excellence. His main interest was the five cardinal virutes. When he asked questions about these virtues people would realize the flaws in their beliefs. A virtue is simply a chracter trait that is conbsidered to be the right thing to do in a society. On the contray, a vice is the corruption of a virtue. One of the five virtues that he focused on is piety. This is basically the desire and willingness to practice religious tasks. Because religion is like the only way to win the forgiveness of deitities, piety is a traditional virtue. Next, is wisdom. The definition of wisdom is the ability to incline and make choices that stand the test of time. It is very important to understand that a wise choice usually is to be made from information that is not complete. The justification does not have to be based upon a reak belief. Another virtue is temperance. It is the practice of moderation. In the Hellenic culture temperance is very vital. It can be applied to as the avoidance of crazy behavior. The fourth virtue that Socrates was interestred in is courage. Courage is the ability to overcome your fears during pain, danger, or intimidation. Last but not leastm, there is justice. It is the ability to recognize ones debts and to simply pay them.

Reflection # 9

The Sumerian education came from their invention of writing. This was a big contribution that the Sumerian's had given to the world. The tablets however, were not dealt with firectly with the school system. The information found from the Sumeria neducation came from the first half of the second millenium B.C. Evacuated tablets have bewen found that have all kinds of practices for the pupils. It goes from a not so good first grader to a more advanced and older pupil. The tablets didn't say much about the style of teaching in the Sumerian school. Luckily, the teachers themselves wrote about the schools and their styles of teaching. Now, we can understand more about how the First school were organized. The original goal of Sumerian school were to train the scribes to take good care of the economic and all of the administrative demands of the land, mainly those in the temples or the palace. Later on the education moved on and became the center of learning and culture in Sumur. Unlike, present schools today the Sumur schools was also the center of creative learning. Most of the graduates of the Sumur schools became either scribes or teachers themselves. the teachers got paid out of the tuition of the students attending the schools. Education wasn't something that everyone was forced to have like it was more for students coming from wealthy familes. Poor students couldn't afford the expenses of the schools or had enough time that a prolonged education demanded. The head of the school was called the "ummia" , which means the expert or the proffesor. They would also be called the "school father" while the student was called the "school son." They called their assistant principal the "big brother." Like the original goal of the Sumerian schools the Egyptian students were being taught their trade or occupation. Most of the students in Egypt were home schooled. Their parents instiled in them their views of life and taught them what their job was to the society. If a man did not have a son to teach their was adoptian to take care of property inheritance and succesian in proffesion. The girls that weren't from wealthy households learned how to manage a household. The priests were the teachers for the students in Egypt. Like the Sumerians the students were usually being taught to become scribes. Paper was very expensive. If the students made even one mistake the consequences were harsh. They had to recite what they learned over and over so that they could remember. The Sumerian and the Egyptians schools were not so different. Teacher effectiveness today compared to then has changed tremendously. The students can choose to look up to the teachers or not. Teachers can not discipline their students anymoree. Teachers do not teach students according to what their future occupations will be, unless the student is in college. Students can even be disrespectful to the teachers.

Reflection 10

The meaning of "The teacher is the gatekeeper" is that teachers control most of the talking in the classroom. Teachers are invloved in about more than a thousand conversations with their student's everyday. That is a lot of verbal exhanges. It could be about the smallest things but teachers talk during most of the day. Phillip Jackson came up with the term gatekeeping to describe the things that keep teachers the busiest. As gatekeepers, it is up to the teacher who talks, when, and for how long, along with the normal direction of the communication. There are classroom patterns that have effects on the interaction between both the student and the teacher. Some of these patterns are beneficial and some not so much. About two-thirds of classroom time is nothing but talking. And all of that talk is from the teacher. If that is the case then there really isn't much conversation coming from the students. There is just a whole lot of listening. When teachers give lectures eighty five percent of the lecture is the teacher talking. There is just a lecture and direct. The teacher gives the lecture asks questions and reacts to the students comments. Yes, questioning triggers curiosity from the students but it is usually the teacher asking the questions. The teacher asks about three hundred and forty eight questions a day. It is very rare that a student will ask an academic question. Teachers should make it a part of the requirements for students to come up with at least five questions about each lesson. That will increase conversation between the teacher and the students, In my classroom i would have students sit in groups of five. Each student wil come up with one question about what I just taught. The students will dicuss what question they want to ask me as a group when I get to their table,. I will answer the question that the group has asked and have the other groups write down that groups question and my answer. I think this will help out with the interaction crisis and it will keep students invloved in the lecture. Most of the questions asked from students use only rote memory. Usually teachers only wait a few seconds for students to ask questions about what was just taught. I believe it takes more than a few seconds for the student to get their questions together in their head together before they say them aloud. Maybe the children are too shy or ashamed of their questions, and teachers should encourage them more to ask the question. Students are told to be quiet inthe classroom and just listen. However, silent students have less positive atitudes and lower achievemnt. New teachers should challenge themselves to turn their gatekeeping role into a way that is beneficial to students, instead of gatekeeping for behavior.

Reflection 8

There was a report that showed declining test scores, from U.S students compared to students in other nations. In 1983, there was a high number of illiterate American students. This caused the fear that the U.S was losing ground economically to other countires. Schools had to find a way to respond. In 1893, the National Education Association came up with the "Committee of Ten" to create a policy for high schools. Most of the committee were college presidents and professors. They wanted to make the high school curriculum a easier transition into college. They required that high school students take certain required courses four or five times a week for a year. The students progress would be measured by the Carnegie Units. That way it was easier for colleges to choose which students were ready to do colege level work. Later on in 1918, the National Education Association got together to develop another national policy for high schools. Instead of the committee members being college presidents and professors they were education professors, high school principals, and the U.S commisioner of education. They were not focused on the transition to college but on getting students ready for their live rules. At the time, very few Americans went to college. Most students just went on to work and started families. The committee was interested in what high schools can do to improve the daily lives of students in an industrial democracy. This committee report which is called the "Cardinal Principles of Secondary Education" figured out seven goals for high school. They are the following: 1.) health 2.) worthy home membership 3.) comand of fundamental academic skills 4.) vocation 5.) citizenship 6.) worthy use of leisure time 7.) ethical characters. The high school was seen as a socializing agency a chance to make better all aspects of citizens life. It's almost a century later and the 1918 goals still seem balanced and useful. In 1983, the "Nation At Risk" reports called for a more demanding curriculum. Today, the educational reform has taken on a life of its own. As the new millenium came, No Child left Behind, has a huge testing culture, became law, and now schools success is measured by test scores. AIf students scored well, the school was seen as a good and successful school. If the students scored low, the school was considered a failing school. Although I passed the FCAT the first time around, I strongly disagree that a test should determine whether or not a student is going to graduate. I think that the No Child Left Behind is the dominant wave of educational reform because it became law. It's not focusing on life after high school but more on how well a high school is teaching and doing academically. This reform was not created by a committee but by taking on a life of its own.

Reflection 7

Like today, children in ancient Egypt imitated adult behavior. The difference between the children today and back then is that the children were being taught their eventual trade or duty by that very imitation. As the child got older they took on more of the duties on the farmers, the workshops, the vineyards and aquired pratical skills and knowledge from their elders. Their parents taught them most of their ideas about the world, about folk rituals, their religious views, their thoughtds on correct behaviors toward other people, and towards their deities. Formal vocational training and scribal and at home teaching existed. Young men didn't choose their own careers after. Usually they followed in the family trade or duty, even up to the highest offices in the land, only if they had the blessing of the king. There had to be exception to the job by heredity, like if a man didn't have a son to follow him. They often used adoption to instill property inheritance and funeracy provisioning. There was also succession in the profession. The girls learned how to maintain a household, how to sing, dance, and play musical instruments. These skills would be helpful if the girl took on temple service for musicians. The children of farmers were usually included in the scenes of harvesting, fishing, or caring for cattle. The textbook they used back then is now called the "Papyrus Arestes I", they used this book for teaching geography in Asia and math in a military context. They didn't have to learn foreign languages or religious texts and rituals. Only princes learned physical education. Students did their math silently. They said their text aloud until they knew them by heart. They would try and write them down from a teacher's model or from their own memory. Mesopotamia created education similar to Egypt, with respect to it's purpose and training, the purpose of formal training was to become a scribe. It included basic reading, writing, and religion to higher learning in law, medicine, and astrology. Only the youth from the upper class were being prepared to become scribes. The priests in Mesopotamia took over the intellectual and educational domain as well as the applied. Intellectual activity and training was centered around the library. The library was towned in temples that were watched by influential priests. Memorization, oral repetion, copying of models, and individual instruction were the methods of teaching. Education was long and rigorous with harsh discipline. Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, all had systems of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship was covered in code. The code demands that in apprentice was to be dealt with like an adopted son. "If a artisan takes a son for adoption and teach him his handy craft, one may bring claim for him. If he does not teach him his handy craft, that adopted son may return to his fathers house."

Reflection 2

Different inventions made by man changed the man's way of thinking. The inventions tools that they made were probably made by accident. These tools and weapons made human life different. The human probably looked at the animals that he feared or didn't pay attention were essential to him. He realizes that he can change his diet. He can use these tools to hunt and eat the animals and enjoy the delicious red meat. He won't have to walk around naked anymore because he realizes that now he can use the animal fur as clothing. Over time the Homo Erectus made more complex tools. They made hand axes and sharp edged flakes. These tools were the first complex designd tools. That means that the skills of the person making the tools had to be greater. With better tools the Homo Erectus had bigger hunting game. The change in paradigm according to Sanderson Beck, went from primitive to more sophisticated hunter. To be a successful hunter you have to be smart, patient, good with timing, a sense of perception, and know how to work as a group. This gave the Homo erectus a more aggressive instint and the animals they hunted became seperated from them. All of the thinking and teamwork stimulated their brains to not only hunt the animals but to have a sense of compassion for the animals. Now the parental care for an infant moved up to five years. The females began to have single births and were now reliable on the maes were bonded with each other and hunted with eachother. I understand what the author means when he says that man's inventions change the way humans think and see the world. The same thing occurs today. Once oil was discovered the world changed. Now countries are fighting over oil because it helps the world go around. If computers weren't invented students would look at the world different. We would know that to do a research project we would have to use books and we woudn't look at that as a difficult task because it's what we are used to. Cell phones changed people's perception of the world. We no longer think they we have to use beepers and pay phones because there is an easier way. The more inventions created the more our views on life and the world change.

Reflection 1

Back in the colonial times teachers had to go to a normal school. It was a two-year teaching program where teachers learned academic subjects as well as teaching methodology. Some of the teachers came straight from elementary school and others completed secondary school before going to nornal school. Teachers didn't get special treatment due to the fact that they didn' thave too much proffessional training to become a teacher. The had a teacher's contract that looked very unproffessional and tacky compared to a teacher's contract today. They coudn't get married and if they did the contract became null and void. Nowadays a teacher cna marry or stay single and no one cares. They only got paid $75.00 a month. Eventually normal school expanded to three and sometimes four year programs. From there these normal schools changed into state teacher's colleges. By the 50's many of the state teacher colleges. Most of the universities today started off as normal schools. In the 1980' s people were ready for a reshape of education. There was controversy about whether or not teachers were properly prepared. The Carnegie Forum and The Holmes Group reported that teaching should have higher standards and higher professionalism for the countries teachers. Some universities reacted to this report and made teacher education programs five years long which is the bachelor's and master's degree. Other colleges still have undergraduate programs. Critics blame the universities for the unprepared teachers because they didn't fund and support the schools of education. There are alternative teaching programs that focus on a sort of "on the job training." One of the most knopwn alternative programs is the Teach for America (TFA). The TFA recruits work for two years in inner city schools. It is relatively small in size. This program cathces many college students attention. College students see this as a perfect oppurtunity to prove themselves as good teachers. It's for college students that have the desire to help poor students do well in school. The TFA does not just let anyone in the group. In fact they are very selective. They only accept a small percentage of people that apply. Critics think the TFA is not a good idea because the program is all too short and the teachers will be overwhelmed by being assigned to a difficult inner city school with little training. Reality will hit them and if the teaher fails in teaching the students fail in learning. Most TFA members leave teaching after there two years are up. The TFA members say that the teachers from the program would be trained better if there was more money towards the program.

Reflection # 6

There are many reasons why the inventins of writing was so crucial to the foundation to the worl's greatest ancient civilizations. Pictures and symbols were used for sounds not just the meaning. When the Sumerians made their symbols they were not that essential to them However, scholars are now able read many of the thousands of the cuneiforms inscriptions that made it this far. The Sumerians also used this cuneiforms as help for memory for their economic data. They used it as a way of record keeping and inventory of their merchandise by drawing pictures of them. They used everything to denote sound. Their pictograms were used to denote their sounds. They used their pictograms a if they were sound symbols. Then there was Homonymy which was abstract symbols for sound. All of these inventions for writing was used for sound this helped them a lot. That way they would know how how much merchandise they had and how to pronounce certain words. Writing helps out memory for them. Some scientist argue taht writing makes the brain lazy. I disagree with this. It's used for inventory. They could use it to count how many products and agriculture they had. Imagine a world where there is no writing and you had to remember everything. In class when a teacher teaches we take notes there is no way we can remember everything that the teacher says. That is the same way the ancient civilizations felt. They needed something to help them remember everything and how much of everything they had. They also used the invention of writing as a calendar for the crops. That way they would know when the crops were suppose to arrive. They also used writing for religious reasons. They used it as a way to talk to the spiritual world. Whatever it is they felt they needed to say to their spiritual world they would write in the wall and wait for a response. It is said that writing is essential to civilization. It was used to keep the civilization under control. For example, they used ot for socio-political reasons. It's how they wrote their rules. Here we have the constitution to keep us in line. They needed something like that too. If it wasn't for the invention of writing the world woudn't be able to function. Imagine having no books. What would we read? Most learning comes from reading. We need every symbol and word that we can get. Words is what keeps the world to go around. We use words fro communication, rules, learning, internet, inventory, notes and so much more.

Reflection # 5

Although our teaching and rites of passage is somewhat different from the rites of passages in the stories "Siiting Quieitly", "Facing Mt Kenya", and the "Sambia" they are all pretty much for the sme purpose. That purpiose is to teach the child to prepare for the real world and changing them from immature children to adulthood. Here in America the child transitions throughtout each grade. They are taught to read, they learn math, and at higher levels they learn how to do things they will need to kno throughout life. For example, they have home economic classes where the child will lern to cook. There is human groth and development classes where the child learns where babies really do come from and they learn about sex. Even at home the child learns many things that she/he will have to know to survive when they are adults. Our children here may not go throught what the children in those articles go through but they are learning for the same purpose which is to become adults. In the article "Sambia" the boys go through much more to become a young man in their rites of passages but while they are going through these things there is a lot of teacing and learnin going on. They are taught that a woman's vagina is dangerous to growing boys and that the young men will become stronger by drinking semen from penises that have not been in a vagina yet,. When the man becomes older he has sex with his wife so that they can have a baby. Once he has done this he can only have sex with a woman. They don't see sex as only pleasure the way we do but as a duty. Just like our education programs the whole purpose for their rites of passage was for the young men to be taught and for them to learn what a man's purpose is so thta they can become sucessful when they are grown men. "facing mt Kenya" is a rite of passage for both sexes. They sre circumsized and was the ceremony is over they are considered adults. They are told to never look back and they can not participate in the activities that a child would participate in. They get this done to them at a young age. The girl gets it done before she even had her period. I think it's safe to say that children in these tribes start their adulthood lives way before children in America.

My Bio

Hi, I'm Kia and I'm eighteen years old. I was born into the world on September 13, 1991 in Broward General hospital. This makes me a virgo. I'm the middle child and daddy's little princess. I graduated from Miami Central Sr High School in 2009. This is my second semester of college life and I'm here so that I can become an elementary school teacher. Teaching has always been something that I wanted to do since I was a little girl. My parents always remind me of this by telling our company that I used to line up all of my stuffed animals and play school. Playing school consisted of me putting on clothes that I thought teachers wore and reading and teaching math to my "students." I would take them to the bathroom and make them "lunch". I would get angry when my little brother woudn't want to pretend to be one of students. I love to teach my little cousins how to read because I get this warm feeling inside. I don't want to be a teacher forever. I want to move up the education ladder and eventually become a principal. I would like to be one of the few that turned an inner city "F" school into an "A" shool. Teaching is not my only passion though. I wuld also like to be a model. I think I would do great with my beautiful smile, height, body, and my bubbly personality. Whenever I get on the runway in heels and I see the flashing lights and I feel all the eyes on me I feel like a queen. I was debutante for the Delta Sigma Theta sorrity. This was a rite of passage where teenage girls became young women. It was a three year journey to get to the end and I loved every minute of it. I grew a bond with my former debutantes that I will cherish forever. Towards the end we had a coutillion at the James L. Knight Center. I wore a beautiful white wedding gown with pearls around my neck and white glove on my hands. My ex-boyfriend was my escort. The girls and I performed four dances one with by ourselves, one with our escorts, our mothers, and our fathers. Dancing with my father wa a very touching moment, I almost cried. I've always been a dadd's girl and I feel like I have the best father in the world. Throughout my life I have tried many things such as dance classes, I played basketball, modeling, and karate. I've won a lot of awards especially for my debutante year. When I'm dead and gone I would like to be remembered by many. I want to be useful in this world. People will remember me as Kia Hall the woman who taught children from her heart, the woman who gave so much to charity, and the woman that was full of life and could turn any quiet room into a party!!!

Reflection 4

I've learned alot from reading these articles. Maybe even too much than what I wanted to learn. I see now that there is proof that humans come from Africa. All of the remains that I have read about in these articles are found in some in part of Africa. In 1974, a complete skeleton nicknamed Lucy, was discovered near Hadar in Ethipia. She's classified as an Australopithe cus afarensis also known as Hominid. a Hominid is an ape similar or related to humans. Lucy looks like a chimpanzee and also has huma characteristics. Because of this dicsovery, some scientist believe that humans originated in Africa, while others believe or Hominid ancestors pre adapted to a more open country thst came to prevail in Africa later on. After this DNA test (still debated today) it seems as if Homo sapiens evolved once in Africa, then moved out of Africa to Europe and Asia. Although there is plenty of proof that evolution could be true. I don't know what to believe. These theories don't go hand in hand with my beliefs about where humans come from. You may argue that when it comes to these types of thing s one has to be open minded. There are so many questions that i have that have to be answered before i even begin to consider this statement to be true. If humans come from monkeys, why are there still monkeys? How is it possible that we evolved from them but there are still some of them here? That makes no sense to me. Maybe the bines that they are finding are just a type of mokey that walks up straight. Monkey's already look like humnaks so maybe those did too. When Lucy was discovered did any one take the time to figure out if she and all othe australopithecus afarensis were just another type of monkey? They probably just died out over time and now only the monkeys that walk on all fours exist. After reading these artivcles my mind can't stop racing about the discoveries and what I have been taught all of my life. I was taught and rased to believe that God created man, and when he created man they were in human form. Therefore, I refuse to believe that we evolved form chimps. There are alos ttheories about humans evolving from cavemen and historic fish, so what makes this theory any different for me to believe? Theses articles do nothing but confuse me. These are the subjects that i often avoid because they make me feel quite uncomfortable.

Reflections 3

I woudn't consider my elemtary or secondary schools multicultural. In fifth grade my teacher didnt teach us anything about black history month. However, when it was Hispanic Heritage month we knew everything there was to know about the Hispanic countries and their customs. My secondary school, only recognized Haiian Flag day. My experiences in school were indicative to the addictive approach. This approach is effeicient to a certain extent. By using the addictive approach we are only learning about a few cultures. The school is not year round. If we wait for a holiday or even an event ot show up, then we won't be able to cover a lot. In the time that we are waiting for something to come for example, black history month we can be teaching about other cultures. If I could go back to elementary and secondary school, I would want my teachers to use the social action approach. The social actions approach is all of the spproaches combined. Not only will you learn about other cultures, but you will also make decisions on the social issues and get invloved in helping the issue. I would have understood much better the things that were going on around me back then if my schools practiced multicultural education. For example, I didn't understand what was going on with the whole Elian Gonzales incident back then. If my teacher would have taught us about Cuba and what was going with the young boy, maybe I would have cared or paid the situation some attention. If I knew then, what I know about Cuba I would have felt bad and wanted to voice my opinion and help. I must admit I was rather ignorant back then. I woudn't accept anybody as friend that looked diferent to me. Everybody and every culture was either white or black. In my eyes Hispanics, Indians, Arabs, Asians and everyone else that was not African American was white. My friends and I would pick at anyone that looked different from us. if my teachers used the social actions approach I feel that I would have looked at different people with different eyes. instead of picking at them, I proabably would have been tempted to ask them questions about where they came from. All schools should embrace multicultural education. That way, when children grow up they won't be surprised to find out that the world is not consist of people that are similar to them.

Coyote

This was very creative and well written. It makes me look at coyotes diffferent. However, I don't see a coyote in the picture I see two dogs facing opposite directions.

Bat
This makes me terrified of bats. Calling it a devil bird was really creative.

Two Gnomes Dance the Celebratory Hopaky
I see two the two gnomes dancing. I never really took the time to think about gnomes. To refer to them as african soldiers makes perfect sense.