ADHD

In the passage "ADHD The Cloud Lifted," by Julie Gilbert it is questioned if she began her passage appropriately or not. Personally I believe that the introduction of this passage did its job at capturing the readers attention. After reading the first sentence, I was hooked because I wanted to know why she was in the Floating Hospital in Boston at the age of ten. Gilbert was introducing her newly diagnosed disorder: ADHD, which in my opinion is an often a disorder that is misunderstood. Although I do not know what its like to have ADHD first hand, I have experience with it through my younger sister. Gilbert closing sentence was what had officially hooked me to finish reading the passage. Through my sisters journey I have noticed that her teachers look at her as a lost cause and a bad influence, but I know that she's is just misunderstood. The experience that I have had the pleasure to become apart was a large factor in why I wanted to read the article to begin with. After reading the article I am able to understand the hardships of those who have ADHD.
On another note, Gilbert was put on Ritalin almost immediately to help with the ADHD. When my sister was first diagnosed with ADHD, the doctor tried to use Tea and Coffee as alternatives before putting her on medication. Maybe these children with ADHD don't really need medication at such a young age but rather a teacher that is able to understand that ways ADHD students learn. I do believe that Gilbert passage was able to serve as a great eye opener to those who are oblivious to what ADHD really is. I also believe that any child or adult that has ADHD could read this passage and use it as a motivational tool to overcome the hurdles of different stereotypes.

Suina's life changes

Joseph Suina wrote the passage "And Then I Went to School," where he discusses his transformation from being a Native American boy to the Stranger he becomes to himself. He was encouraged to go to school to better his life in the future, but during his journey he notes that he has changed. For instance, "I longed to be free"(Suina 6) is the most powerful quote that shows the reader how much he had changed due to his education. He wore pressed shirts and pants and shined shoes. HE no longer spoke his Native language or participated in his cultural dances. Though his life will get better for having an education, it hurt him for the majority of the essay because he lost a major part of his life: home. "There was no choice left but to compete with the white man on his terms for survival. For that I knew I had to give up a part of my life."(Suina, 7) This is able to support why Suina's education was improved but lost a majority of his life.
Personally, my education will provide me with a better future because I will ultimately be following my dreams of helping people. I believe that by attending college I will be able to live comfortable and be able to have a place of my own to call home, which is something I've never had. I grew up low- income and my mom was and still is on welfare and because she rarely could hold a job we were evicted numerous times and lived on the street or with friends and family. For these reasons, my college degree will allow me to finally settle in one place to call home and I will be able to keep the independence I've strived so long to achieve. At this moment I do not feel as though I will be leaving anything behind that is worth keeping. My plans are to move out west after graduation, but my family will always be there with me supporting my decisions and for what that's worth I will not be giving up anything that I don't want to give up.

Making connections between Rose and Tobias

     Mike Rose wrote a passage called "I just want to be average" and there is a moment where his experience becomes consistent with the information in Shelia Tobias's passage; "Symptoms of math Anxiety." Reading paragraphs 21-23 of Rose's passage I was able to aknowledge that there were some similarities between the two pieces. " A good teacher, to allay this myth, brings in the scratch paper he used in working out the problem, to share with the class the many false starts he had to make before solving it,"(Tobias, 151) is the one quote that struck me to make a comparison to the experiences Rose was having in English with Jack MacFarland. Rose makes it clear that all of the students had given MacFarland respect for the amount of hours that was put into his work. Jack MacFarland was the "good teacher" that Tobias talks about in her piece. Tobias also makes a discussion that states that most students are likely to quit when they don't understand. In Rose's piece he was given many assignments throughout the school year, which "startled" him and his classmates, but Rose never quit because of the way Jack MacFarland taught. The teaching process of MacFarlane was no doubt that of a good teacher, which explains why most of his students didn't quit. Those who did quit, however, were the troublemakers that "would look foolish rather than daring."(Rose, 140) Throughout Roses pieces we see him transform from a student that is really anxious to start a new education path, but who soon become devoured by the "good teacher" and the material of the class.         

Effectiveness of Teachers

     After reading chapter 4 of "College Culture, Student success," it has occurred that there are different methods to being an effective teacher. Azar Nafisi, Mike Rose, and Paul Roberts have excellent selections about personal experiences of having or being an effective teacher.  In each of these passages, a teacher had shown an interest in the students education which ultimately led to an effective teaching in the students opinion.
      An example of effective teaching is when Mr. MacFarland took an interest in Rose's writing and realized that Rose was not placed on the correct education path. Rose even states: "Jack MacFarlane couldn't have come into my life at a better time."(Rose, 139) This is an example that supports the effectiveness of a teacher because MacFarland was able to spike an interest in Rose that no other teacher was able to. Even past English teachers were not able to peak interests of Rose. The purpose of MacFarland in Rose's life was to establish an interest in Rose's education so that he may decide to better his future by going to college to receive a degree in English. Personally, if more teachers took this kind of action with students at a young age, maybe more students would have the ambition to continue their educations beyond high school. If my teachers become more involved with my struggles in history, I might have enjoyed the material and strived to achieve grades that were above average. The effectiveness of one teacher could be improved by playing such an influential role in the students life.
      In the case of Azar Nafisi, she was the teacher and opened up he house to students to join her in a reading session about books that were banned. It seems as though the students are timid at first, but through this interactions with Nafisi, the students became more confident in their readings and were reluctant to share their opinions or experiences. Nafisi showed manners of effectiveness by allowing her students to feel confident when they shared their experiences and opinions. These women, well, students were able to positively benefit from this positive interaction. In a way i can relate to this article because my high school English teacher showed me that reading the same types of books aren't very challenging or interesting. She was able to help me read other genres which led me to begin reading british literature, old horrors like Dracula, and even science fiction novels. This was an effective method to teaching her lessons because it allowed me to become more open minded in selecting books for assignments, and other experiences.
     Paul Roberts wrote the selection "How to say nothing in 500 words." In this selection he is very persuading and provides some very effective advice for writing papers.  "If you want the reader to believe college football is bad for the players, you have to do more than say it," Before reading this article, my arguments would typically look like a fourth grader had written it, where the explanation is " because I said so." A majority of Robets statements were quite effective, which helped me attempt to correctly write my rhetorical analysis. Also, Roberts was able to write out a step-by-step process that would help any lost writer establish a good argument. Although I did not take the more unusual side of the argument, I was able to provide evidence that helped strengthen my argument. Roberts work was quite effective for a student to apply to any paper they write.
    In conclusion, I believe that some teachers are able to be effective. The effectiveness may be different based on the student, but I feel strongly that any teacher that shows a genuine interest in the students educational successes, like Nafisi, students will show a genuine interest in the material being taught. Many teachers use different method in teaching, but there are some students that need an extra push and who better to help than a teacher.
    
    

Take this quiz!

     "Take this quiz" by Adam Robinson  is a guide to students about their grades and why they are earning lower grades than expected. Throughout this passage Robinson provides a quiz in which all the answers are false. He also provides numbered explanations for why the answers are false. This quiz was meant to serve as an understanding of your attitude toward academics. Students with the best attitude typically have a score that is close to zero. Also, Robinson discusses 12 principles that students believe in. In his discussion of principle 5, I was really able to relate to that. Principle 5 states: Making mistakes (an occasionally appearing foolish) is the price you pay for learning and improving. In my own academic achievements, I view my mistakes as areas that I need to address and take proper measures to regain the correct understanding of the material.
      After I take an exam and receive that grade, I will then look back at my mistakes to make sure it was either a misunderstanding of the concept of just one of those foolish answers. Depending on the mistake made, I will review my notes to compare the correct answer to the incorrect answer, which in turn helps me grasp the understanding of the material. If I had made a foolish mistake, it teaches me that I need to be more careful when reading the question. Out of the 12 principles of Robinson's discussion, I fully support his 5th principle, in that mistakes are made to help improve the understanding of the student.

Symptoms of Math Anxiety

In the article, "Symptoms of Math Anxiety" by Shelia Tobias, she discusses the different causes of math anxiety. She also goes further into her discussion by using evidence from graduate students to help support her argument. One of the graduate students she discuss, finds his mistakes "interesting" because they are a "window into (his) thinking". Through my personal experiences, I am able to relate to this student because I find that mistakes made are a great learning tool that helps build my understanding of my own abilities. It will also show me where I went wrong so I can try to better understand the correct path I need to take to get to the solution. Even though this section is only on mathematics, I feel as though I am able to connect this passage to other subjects such as chemistry, biology, and even English. "... the only was we know how to respond to our failure to understand a difficult concept is to quit."( Tobias 152) I find this line misleading because it is encouraging people to take the easy road when something becomes to difficult to understand, I would prefer to ask question and work hard to achieve the understand I need to succeed in the material at hand. I have always been told that the only dumb question, is the question that is never asked. This has been a way for me to feel ore confident about the material because chances are, another person in the class will have the same question, which is another reason to not quit.    

Upsilamba!!!

Upsilamba is about how Nafisi has meeting outside of school for women to discuss the literary works that have been banned from the classroom. These meetings were also a chance for the women to share their experiences of using their imaginations to escape situations where they feel trapped. In my own experiences, I have had my nose stuffed in a book through some of the hardest experiences in my life. During my freshman year of high school, my mother and my aunt were fighting for custody of my sisters and I. The first night of that experience, the state police showed up to the house and I instantly ran to my room and grabbed eclipse of my book shelf and began to read, before I knew it I was six chapters in and lost in the forest, jumping tree top to tree top. This was my attempt to escape from this reality I was faced with. Reading books to escape from uncontrollable situations can help someone clear their minds and rearrange their thoughts to try to deal with the situation that is at hand. I also feel as though escaping reality through reading can also give a person hope that the situation is able to get better.     

I just want to be average

" Students will float to the mark you set." This is a statement that was said by Mike Rose. I disagree with this statement because it is up to the student to meet the set mark. If a student is not interested in the subjection isn't willing to apply themselves, they typically are the students that don't meet the set mark. From my own experience, I never applied myself in history as much as I should have because I was simply not interested in the material. It was my senior year in Government and I still could not tell my teacher what year the revolutionary war began. He seemed quite disappointed seeing that I was his student in previous years. I also disagree with this statement because some students will go above and beyond the set mark because they are inspired by the material of the course. From a personal experience I know someone who was so involved with the material they were doing extra learning online at home and would return to have conversations with the teacher. Lastly, I will argue that a student will also let his/ her group of friends determine whether they like or dislike the material, which could have an effect on whether the student will achieve the mark set by the teacher.

In this section, it seemed as though Rose gave up to fast on his educational career when he was placed on the vocational tract. Throughout this piece he snaked further into an "I don't care" attitude, even though he cared; it wasn't until a mistake was found that his view began to change. If there was a lesson to be learned from Rose's selection, I learned that you shouldn't let a mistake, friends, or placement test make you feel like you can't make a change. I also learned that you shouldn't have to conform to a specific group because being different and showing our strengths is what makes us unique. Rose's education was a struggle from the beginning, but he was able to defeat that monster and continue his education on a path that made him feel satisfied. 

How To say nothing in 500 words

In response to Paul Roberts piece, I am able to relate to the frustration a teacher may have when reading 20 papers that argue the same subject. I was a freshman in high school and the same writing prompt was given to the entire class. When I received my graded paper I didn't receive the grade I expected to have, but yet the kid next to me, who never shows up to class, aces the paper without trying. The advice that Roberts writes about is very useful, especially for people, including myself, that cannot write and argument paper to save their lives. I'm absolutely horrible at creating an argument for any kind of persuasive or argument paper. Every paper I have written that has included an argument ended in disaster, mostly because my argument was never strong. With the advice Roberts writes about, I am able to take it into consideration when I am assigned the next argument paper. I really enjoyed how Roberts guides you through writing an argument paper by using different techniques and using professional papers to further support his statements of proving why you are right about your argument. I was convinced that this advice was good to follow after; "If you want the reader to believe college football is bad for the players, you have to do more than say it." This line convinced me to believe in the advice because he made a point. The point being that just because something is said, doesn't mean that it has been defended and is automatically the best answer for the question. Just making the statement is your opinion, whereas if examples and major points are made toward that opinion a strong argument can be formed.

Multiple Intelligences

After reading, Multiple Intelligences, about Gardner opinion and explanation of the multiple intelligence theory, I decided to answer question 3. The professional field I would like to aspire to is medical laboratory technology. To aspire to this professional field I need to have Logical- Mathematical intelligence and Interpersonal intelligence. To be able to maintain or even improve on these intelligences, I believe that I need to continue to challenge myself with higher education and training. I would also need to improve my social skills to have a better understanding of a persons intent or motivation.
In a way, I agree with Gardener that Intelligence isn't just something singular that is tested with an IQ test. I also believe that an individual can have multiple intelligences that should not be judged based on ones IQ of a certain material. Personally, I am not very intelligent in the fact that I am not able to navigate things as well as the "blind population" during the Spatial intelligence discussion. However, I do show strength in logical-mathematical and musical intelligences. Lastly, I am curious to see if an IQ test will incorporate this theory into the tests that are already performed for intelligence because I believe that more people could become satisfied with their IQ knowing that not just based on math or grammar problem-solving, but on numerous problem-solving intelligences.