Solitary Confinement

After listening to this story from NPR on the radio, I found myself struggling with the idea of solitary confinement, and other ways that men are punished. One of my favorite quotes is this one, by Eugene Debs: "While there is a lower class I am in it; while there is a criminal element I am of it; while there is a soul in prison, I am not free”. This is what I contemplated as I listened. I thought of the fact that we only get one chance on this earth, one chance to make a life that fulfills us. And to think that one mistake (granted, one huge mistake) would warrant 36 years in a solitary cell 23 hours a day, after a trial that was biased by prejudice. I find it so tragic that a human life can be thrown away so easily, even if it is the life of a murderer. Now, don't get me wrong, murderers should be punished. However, I disagree with this idea of solitary confinement, and I disagree with our inherently unjust justice system, and I disagree with the idea that criminals never get second chances. Especially if it is only because of their race. I am an idealist, and ideally, I would live by Debs' quote, and consider myself not to be free while one human life rots in a cell. However, it is a corrupt world in which we live, and it would take a mighty wind to reverse the dangerous course of our justice system. Can this wind ever begin to blow?

Freedom Writers

I just finished watching "Freedom Writers", a film about a teacher who united students who were expected to fail, and made it possible for them to succeed. Of course, I was inspired by this true story. It made me think about all the wonderful teachers that I have had, especially Ms. Smith. I am a student assistant for her this year, and I have found out some amazing things. I already knew the lasting effects of Smith's compassion and devotion to her students through personal experience, but I learned the depth of her compassion when reading through the comments of some of her non-honors freshman students. Though the grammar was hardly perfect, the voices of these sometimes forgotten students was clear. They wanted her to know that she meant something to them. There was one student in particular, who admitted that he was not trying as hard as he could be in school. He talked of how much Ms. Smith had inspired him to do more with his mind. He talked about his desire to succeed in her class, because he believed in what she was teaching him, and he finally believed in himself. I remember going through the rest of the day wishing that every teacher could have that kind of an effect on their students. My school has many amazing teachers, most of whom care deeply about each and every one of their students. But I still worry about those kids who do not get the opportunities that I have in my amazing classes. I worry that they have been told all their lives that they cannot rise above, and that they must fail, because that is what they have always done. They settle for D's just because they are not F's (Ms. Smith has found a way around that of course!) and they hate every day that they have to walk through the doors of this amazing school. People blame it on video games, TV, and many other elements of modern culture., but very rarely do we blame it on the ideology that they have carried with them since that first F, the ideology that tells them of their incompetence, because they must be stupid if they cannot pass that one class, or even that one test. It starts with one grade, or one comment, or one lack of a comment, and it turns into a hopeless life. How do we change this? I don't have the answer to that question, but I do know this: teachers like Ms. Smith can, and will change the lives of their students by showing them that they are not failures, and that at least one person cares about them. It is inspiring to know that these people still exist, and that I get to walk the same halls as them every day of the week.

Frederick Douglass

Our English class read The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave this past week. It had been a while since my peers and I had discussed racism, not since freshman year. We have been having some interesting discussions on race in America. For the student opening activity that my group is doing on Chapter 11, I created this blog which will lead the students to a fishbowl on the discussion tomorrow (Wednesday) at around 1:15. If you are up for a discussion, jump in, or just read the interesting comments that are sure to pop up. I love that our teacher is allowing us to teach each other this book, because I really enjoyed creating this blog and I think we really understand the implications of his text.

A Return to Reading

After taking a transcendental mini-trip to the glorious mountains, I came home full of disappointment that I could not live among the trees here at home. I was disgusted at the prospect of watching a pointless TV program, and I felt the need to open my mind a little and walk around in the many unfurnished rooms of my imagination. I opened up the fragrant pages of Brave New World and finished what I had started only two days earlier. What a wonderful novel, I highly recommend it. After finishing that, I searched through my bookshelves (which are alphebatized and entered into a spreadsheet, hehe) and decided that now would be a good time, after having just watched "Into the Wild", to read the book that inspired it by Jon Krakauer. Ever since discovering the life of Chris McCandless in my English class, I was fascinated and enthralled by his journey and his ideals. It was hardly challenging for me to embark on this short book, and it was a wonderful experience. I started reading it at 7:00 on Wednesday night, and it was finished by 12:00 the next morning (that included about nine hours of restful sleep, mind you). After consuming this extraordinary story of survival, I decided to continue my journey into the mind of McCandless by reading one of his favorite books, Dr. Zhivago. I'm a little more than a hundred pages in, and I'm loving it. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I have returned to reading after a few months that were littered with other mundane activites that inevitably come with high school life, and I am happy to be back. By the way, if you, my dear reader, are ever in the mood for a four way connection between some great books, read On the Road, Anthem, Into the Wild, and Walden. Your mind may tire a little, but it is so worth it to find the plethora of parallels between these wonderful pieces of literature!

PSAT...rific!

Today I took the PSAT, which is ironic because I was taking the practice test for a practice test of the SAT, even though I already took the SAT for practice in 8th grade! It's funny the way these things happen. I have always been opposed to standardized tests, but eager to be successful when I get back my scores. I always take risks, writing essays (though not for the PSAT) that answer the prompt, but in a creative and roundabout way. I am not a nervous test taker, and I never feel "pressed" for time. Today, I found myself staring at a sentence in the writing portion, knowing which answer I should put down but wanting to reword the sentence completely. I thought to myself, pencil in hand, "Wouldn't it be great if I could just rewrite this sentence in my own words in a way that makes more sense?" I'm sure many people have felt this way about similar sections, but then again, who isn't at least a little dissatisfied with standardized tests (besides those who write them)? Of course, I will continue making myself into a score until I apply for college, eager yet dissatisfied. Maybe someday "they" will understand that each student is an individual, and that quantifying that individuality is a crime against education. But then again, maybe someday we'll ride hovercrafts, you just never know!

Sophomore Year...

It wasn't until I reached this year that I realized how fortunate I was in all of my classes as a Freshman. I had a history teacher who understood that her role as a teacher was not to tell us what to think, but to encourage us TO think. I had an English teacher who pushed the boundaries of education, encouraging us to become "professional learners" who cared more about the big picture and the personal growth than the grades or standardized tests. I feel like I had my own little team, a support group that showed me why and how education can work for me, instead of the other way around. After a summer of personal discovery and intellectual growth, I came back to the same amazing place where I had learned so much the year before, only to find myself back in the very same setting that I thought I had escaped. The first day of school, I entered history class, eager to see how cultures of the world interacted with one another. I was, sadly, dissapointed by a teacher who seems to care little about his students and even less about their learning growth. The class consists of an endless barrage of notes, memorization, and regurgitation of useless information. There is no discussion, and I feel like the world is getting smaller instead of larger. He might as well be standing 200 feet away speaking through a microphone for how much he listens to our opinions. Math is, as ever, seemingly useless. It consists of notes, problems, and tests over and over again in a never-ending cycle. I get through it, but somehow miss the point. Chemistry is hardly cohesive, jumping from subject to subject and laden with busywork that I see no point to, except for the insuing grade. For all of my whining, there is one thing to rejoice in, my Honors American Literature with a wonderful teacher who challenges us to read between the lines and forget about the grade. I feel free in her class and even if I didn't need to be there every day, I would go.

I guess the point of my little rant is this, I am fed up with an education system that seems to care nothing about me as an individual, instead caring only about me as a test score. I am tired of infinate campus (which is hardly infinite), teachers who are afraid of change, and tests that simply show how well we can retain the one-sided lectures of our old-fashioned teachers. I want a teacher, like my two wonderful English teachers, who is there to guide, not to dictate. I want a teacher who understands that grades are not the end all, be all. I want to come to a school where my excitement over a recently read novel is not looked down upon by my peers, but respected and even common. I want every teacher to embrace technology instead of fear it, and give us every opportunity to explore ourselves and the world of learning. Only through highly personalized education can we combat drop-out rates and careless students.

I feel alone in my student body, one of the only remaining students who looks forward to meaningful assignments and learning. We need a change, and we need it now.