The visualization that I posted on January 30 was that of the rugby pitch at sundown. Egocentric was one of the words that I previously chose, and I think it’s worth addressing in relation to the image I provided. Honestly, when taking into consideration nature and humanity, in my mind I tend to convert the word egocentric to human-centric. That having been said, I can’t help but acknowledge how very human centric my visualization of the campus actually is. Sure, I chose a secluded place to serve as my scape, but I also have to take into consideration the human-centric elements of this isolated space.

I was really interested in the idea that Kirp brings up several times throughout the book of "respeto", or respect, as he mentions pertaining to the school. While Union City has its fair share of gangs, violence and other crime, Kirp makes it clear that schools are not considered a risky place - they have no metal detectors, drug dogs, or anything like that in their schools. Gangs stay away, and fights at school are few and far between. Coming off of just having gotten home after my placement where these problems are more present, it makes me wonder why this idea of 'respeto' is so strong in Union City, and not necessarily in all city schools. I personally think it may have something to do with community strength.

One thing I found interesting in The Nation's article about charter schools was this: "Advocates of charter schools frequently make the argument that by providing parents with 'choice,' the educational system—public schools and charter schools alike—will be forced to improve through greater accountability.

While reading the article, I came upon this quote: "Charter schools...were never intended to serve all children."

This relates so much to our readings and discussions in today's class about Culture as Disability. Super interesting!

http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/378577902/how-to-become-batman?showDate=2015-01-23

“This suffocating pressure explains why Washington School changes its character during the months leading up to those exams—why a school where learning is fun turns into a school where fun comes to die.” (Kirp 175)

Tied to the work that I am doing in my Praxis placement, I would like to do an inquiry into the experiences of students of color during middle and high school in science and mathematics courses. Specifically, I want to investigate if there are correlations between how confident students of color felt/feel in math and science and how much/how little positive encouragement they received from parents, teachers, and other mentors both before and during college.