Reading+reflections*

Quarter 1:
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
 * Definition of Education**

Miss Jean Brodie stated 'To me education is the leading out. The word education comes from the root 'ex' meaning 'out' and 'duco', 'I lead'. To me education is simply leading out of what is already there.' I agree with Brodie, I do not think that education should be a form of intrusion, if it was, teaching would be simply easy. It is in fact simple for a child to memorize something that is being told, but to pull out what they already know and actually benefit from it, is rather difficult. I think there needs to be an equal balance between 'leading out' education and 'putting in'. Not all students are born with the same abilities to memorize one hundred math problems. That is something that is needed to be 'put in'. If a student understands the basic concept of lets say the sky is blue. The teacher should be able to pull out that information and the student will have that ability to learn more from the basic concepts. But the question is are teachers today really 'leading out' education? or are they teaching students what they need to know and memorize 'putting in information' for these high stake tests? If a student does not remeber what they have learned five years from now, that information was never really there, or 'pulled out'.

The prime of Miss Jean Brodie **
 * Brodie as a teacher?

Although, Jean Brodie has good intentions and she claims she knows what will become of each of her students, the way she teaches education is unprofessional and absurd. Brodie wants to make all of her students into the //creme de la creme// by molding their minds. With this said, one of her students she does not expect to be the best of the best; Sandy. We find out towards the end of the book that Sandy was the one student that betrayed her. Brodie strongly opposes standardized curriculum and engages her students with her "love life" lectures. She blurs the fine line between "friendship" and "teacher" by meeting with the "Brodie set" outside of school to discuss personal life information. Brodie imposes her beliefs of Communism upon the students, she tries to duplicate herself in her students. She does not follow her view of "leading out education" by not teaching any relevant information in her classroom. Brodie is a horrible teacher, although she is passionate about education, her wrongful use of "molding young minds" soon led to her atrophy.

Pygmalion
 * The "Pygmalion effect" on Eliza Doolitle

The pygmalion effect states that "expectations shape outcomes". This effect also highly plays a role in education between the teacher and students. Despite a students actual ability, researchers have found a strong connection between expectations and outcomes in a students performance. Phonetics professor (Henry Higgens) claims he can transform a flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) into a Duchess. Higgens has high expectations of Eliza only because he wants to win the bet he has made with Colonel Pickering. Eliza points out that it doesn't matter what she learns for Higgens, how she is treated determines her outcome. Higgens treats her as a flower girl, and that is what she will always be to him. Pickering treats her as a lady, and she will always be a lady to him. This pygmalion effect shows that you should also expect the best. **

Pygmalion
 * Eliza Doolittle's** **outer** **__transformation__**

Eliza Doolittle's role in Pygmalion share aspects of a Cinderella story, in which both characters change from poor, unsuitable and vulnerable ladies into upper class, independent women. Although Elizas transformation into a Duchess has only been based on sight and sound, the inner change of Eliza has not been reached by Higgens. Higgens was so caught up in changing her sight and sound, that he never focused on the inner etiquette of Eliza Doolittle. As Eliza undergoes changes from deplorable language and the way she dresses, it has not proven to completely transform her. Elizas inner transformation was shown when she spoke against Higgens insensitive approach towards her transformation. This showed that Eliza Doolittle was not a Cockney flower girl, but a self respected and powerful woman.

__Quarter 2:__
The uses of Enchantment
 * Fairytales; what are they REALLY saying?

Most children grew up reading and watching fairytales. We give our children these books and movies to teach them good morals. What these children do not know is innuendos pertaining to sex or drugs play a role in most fairytales. In all fairytales men are perceived as the strong, smart and powerful, meanwhile the women are portrayed as beautiful and passive people who depend on men. These fairytales were not always meant for children, they first became popular for adult entertainment only. Now a days, these fairytales are being viewed by children all around the world. Of course the children are too young to understand these innuendos, but why have them there anyway? **

Grimm's Fairy tales
 * Grimms Cinder-ella v.s Disneys Cinderella**

Both versions have the same basic story line. The Disney version creates a fairy god mother to make her wishes come true. In Grimm's, there is no fairy god mother, instead Cinderella visits her mothers grave in which she brings beautiful gowns for her to wear to the ball (the birds who bring the dresses are her "fair god mother"). When Cinderella loses her slipper in the Disney version, girls are desperate to fit into the shoe, but the only one that fits is Cinderella. In Grimm's, the stepsisters are cutting off their heels and toes to fit into the slipper. In the end, the stepsisters eyes were gouged out by birds as a punishment for their wickedness. The Grimm's Cinderella story is a less "sugar coated" version of this well known fairytale.

The uses of Enchantment "the fisherman and the Jinny"
 * Outwitting parents**

The basic idea of this fairytale is that children believe the only way to avoid punishment from their parents is to outsmart them. The fisherman is willing to deal with the hardships to reach an award (parents) meanwhile, the jinny (child) is seeking revenge for his frustration of being imprisoned in a bottle for all these years. The fisherman is perceived as the child in this fairytale battling with the jinny as an adult. The fisherman outsmarts the jinny diminishing any punishment upon him, thus children should place themselves in the shoes of the jinny and learn to express angry in a healthy manner.

The uses of Enchantment "three little pigs"
 * The pleasure principle v.s reality principle**

The most obvious moral of this story is that we should not be lazy and take things easy because hard work does come a long way. The pleasure principle is fulfilled by the little young "pigs" who seek immediate gratification without future thought. They do not see beyond immediate results, they are at an age where they just want to play all day and have no cares in the world. The oldest pig reaches the reality principle by predicting the reaction of the wolf, so he can plan step by step a house according to what the future may bring. This story allows for the child to do his own maturing and thinking about his own conclusions.

The uses of Enchantment
 * Cinderella

"Cinderella" is a very complex story when deeply looked into. Not only is "Cinderella" a typical happy ending tale, but it also addresses a child's unknown agonies and hopes of sibling rivalry. This fairytale sends a message to all children that it is normal and completely universally to feel emotions of sibling rivalry. A few morals that are clearly present in this tale include if a child can believe in oneself, he will then be able to trust that time will bring the reversal of fortune, virtue will be rewarded, evil punished and if one is true to oneself, one wins out over those who pretend to be what they are not.

**

Quarter 3:
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
 * Main Character**

The main character, Christopher John Francis Boone lives with his father because his mother passed away two years ago. In chapter three, he introduces himself as a very intelligent person. He knows all of the countries in the world, and all of their capitals, along with every prime number up to 7,057. Although, he is a math and science whiz, human emotions seem very complex to him. He is unable to recognize emotions beyond the basics (happy and sad). He likes dogs because they are so easy to read because they only have four emotions. I think that this makes perfect sense, a lot of times I cannot read human emotions, and sometimes I can be very blind to sarcasm. Although, I share similar characteristics with Christopher, it does not mean that I am autistic.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
 * Christoper, Autistic?**

A lot of behaviors and actions lead me to believe that Christopher suffers from a form of autism. He needs order and precision, he does not like change and lacks greatly in communication and social skills. Math problems seem to calm him down, which is typical for people who are diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome (a form of autism). When Christopher is feeling scared or uncomfortable, he rolls up into a ball and blocks out the rest of the world. Christopher shares similar traits with Donald from //Mozart and the Whale//. Although, Donald has Aspergers, he also is very brilliant in a sense that he can see numbers in multiple dimensions. Donald and Christopher both are unable interpret human emotions. I've also noticed these traits during my special ed rotation. Watching the movie //Mozart and the Whale,// and reading this book allowed me to see in the eyes of an autistic or mentally challenged person.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
 * Christopher's Mother**

I was really confused as to why Christopher was unable to to visit his mother in the hospital when she was dying. It seemed very weird to me, until Christopher found all of the letters his mother had written to him. I was in complete shock when I found out that Christopher's mother was still alive and his father was keeping this HUGE secret from him. I understand that Christopher's father only had good intentions, but I don't know how he ever thought he could keep such a big lie from his son. I feel like Christopher's father took advantage of his disability, thinking he would never figure out why he didn't go to his mothers funeral, or was never able to say goodbye to her. I think if I was in Christopher's situation, I would react the same way. I would have been mortified if someone in my family kept a huge secret from me and I probably would run away just like Christopher did.

Flowers for Algernon
 * Charlie's surgery**

Charlie is going to have an operation that is going to boost his intelligence. He was a little bit hesitant at first because the scientists are not positive that it is going to work. He decided to do the operation anyway, and once he woke up from the surgery he expected to be automatically brilliant. The operation will allow him to retain information so he has a chance to be smart, so he still has to work and read books. If I had the choice to do the operation, I definitely would not do the surgery. I think theres a reason that Charlie is the way he is, and also the surgery is not 100% guaranteed. Charlie is really brave for making this decision and taking this risk.

Flowers for Algernon
 * "Martch" 3- April 15 progress**

Although, Charlie is disappointed that their is no immediate change in his intelligence, from the beginning of the book to about 1/6th of the way through, you can diffidently see a great progress in Charlie's progress reports. He is beginning to make sense of his writing but using commas, and all sorts of punctuation. He auto corrects mistakes by looking up unknown words in the dictionary and reading grammar books. Soon, he begins to slowly regain memories of his childhood, especially those of his mother, Rose. On April 13th, he finally realizes that the people he called "friends", were not his friends because they were not laughing **with** him, they were always laughing **at** him. This is a significant sign of Charlie's progress because he is beginning to identify with human emotions.

Flowers for Algernon
 * Was Charlie better off without the surgery?**

Soon after Charlie had the surgery he began to revert back to his original intelligence. Although he was unable to spend the rest of his life as a genius, I believe this experience was well worth it for Charlie. He was finally able to understand "what it was like to be a real person". He received closure with his mother by finally being able to talk to her and find out why she gave him away. He saw how his friends were making fun of him and how everyone else saw him through their eyes. If I was able to have a conversation with Charlie I would rather speak to him as himself-not the intelligent Charlie Gordon. I feel this way because I believe their is a reason why everyone is created the way they are. The intelligent Charlie was not the **REAL** Charlie Gordon.

=Quarter 4:= There Are No Children Here
 * Underprivileged students: Are they to blame?

Some say that a lack of determination, or "bad choices" could be the reason underprivileged students have lower academic achievement. From reading this book, I was able to place myself in the shoes of Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers (two boys living in poverty in the inner city of Chicago) to understand the effects that poverty has taken on their lives and school. It seems almost clear to me that these children did not have a "choice" to live the way they do, nor do they lack determination, but they are forced to be limited by their deprivation of resources and motivation. Surrounded by gangs, violence, shootings, drugs, etc. it seems almost impossible to for these students to focus on academics when they have so much responsibility at home, let alone the tragedies that surround them can have a huge impact on their perspective on the world. It saddens me that there are people who believe children like those mentioned in this book, "chose" this hard and almost unbearable way of life. **