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Conflict With Self

By Ariel Skye
March 14, 2015 - 15:53
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I think that poetry, like any art form, offers its readers and listeners a contact zone. In fact, this characteristic of art is what gives it power. People can read a poem, look at a painting, listen to a song, and find points of contact, points of empathy. The dynamic interaction between “art” and “the beholder” arises because of art’s openness. I always envision a work of art as having a core from which thousands of strands extend from, forming different “contact zones” with different people.

What it means to learn and unintentional curricula

By marian.bechtel
March 14, 2015 - 15:27
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I really enjoyed reading "Against Common Sense." I though Kumashiro had a lot of great ideas, and I actually ended up reading through the ending chapters as well on the natural sciences and mathematics, because it related so well to the things I'm particularly interested in. Two general ideas that really stuck out to me in the book were the diagrams in Chapter 2 on what it means to learn, and the discussion on uninentional curricula. I really like the diagrams, because although oversimplified, I'm a huge fan of visuals and I thought it was a great visual representation of the process of re-learning how to teach in anti-oppressive ways and re-shaping our views, as teachers and students, on the purpose and process of education itself.

Rewards of A Decent Education

By pbernal
March 13, 2015 - 01:23
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" Give them a decent education and they'll make it in this new land- that has been the immigrant story ever since the first European settlers came to this new world. But toss them on the education scrapheap, as opponents of the DREAM Act are doing, and they'll live futureless lives." 

Difficulties in Forming Connections with Literature

By tajiboye
March 9, 2015 - 23:20
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For me to openly connect with a piece of literature and take away a lesson, it requires that I feel as though I, as a reader, am not being attacked and that my ideas and values are not disregarded.  In addition, for this connection to occur, I also have to be able to find a way of relating the ideas back to myself and understanding all angles of the story, not feeling as though I am only being fed one side of the whole story.

Issue Analysis: No Child Left Behind

By qjules
March 7, 2015 - 22:07
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            The No Child Left Behind act has been a constant source of questioning to me for a while now. I have heard of it many times, but was never formally introduced to it. For this reason, when we read No Child Left Behind as an anti poverty measure by Jean Anyon and Kiersten Greene I was inspired to finally get acquainted with No Child Left Behind (NCLB). When I learned what NCLB entails I realized why is it such a hot topic in education; it is inseparable from other core issues in education, including: charter schools, testing, the achievement gap, and funding.