Arango,+Gustavo

Course Assignments:

Module #1

“hate is baggage, life’s too short to be pissed off all the time” Danny

I loved this phrase as believing this myself has improved my happiness considerably.

Derrick was one of three children of a middle class white man who was clearly racist, showing this by the racial comments he made during family dinners or during other family time. It is obvious that for a great deal of time parents are going to be very influential in how their offspring’s character is going to develop later in life. Luckily for Derrick, in his early teenage years he was a student of Dr. Sweeny, who was clearly a very influential mentor for him. You could see how his class material was permeating through Derrick’s mind. Unfortunately, the murdering of Derrick’s father triggered the racist seed that had been implanted on his mind all throughout his life by his now deceased father. Derrick then became a vulnerable lost teenager, who fell under the mentorship of manipulating Cameron who used Derrick for helping him build an army of teenagers with similar vulnerabilities or lack of education. It was interesting how Derrick’s sister on the other hand was very little influenced by her dad’s ethnic comments towards racial minorities. Moreover, she was later sickened by how delusional her brother was becoming with all that neo-Nazi crap Cameron was feeding her brother. It seemed like she was more inclined to her mom’s side. The mother seemed like a woman who didn’t really share her husband’s racial inclinations, but had no choice but to keep quite as she was another minority in her own macho house. Sadly, Danny the youngest of the three children looked up to his dad also, and later to his brother Derrick. So during the time Derrick was imprisoned, he started following his brother’s footsteps, and became Cameron’s new pupil.

Dr. Sweeny seemed like a great human being, who also had events happen to him in his life that made him become the influential teacher he was to his students. The movie is very clear at showing that Dr. Sweeny’s mission in life was to help and inspire his students. To help them become great citizens of our society who would later work towards building a better and fairer society for all races and social classes.

Life being the greater picture to us. We have to be flexible about how our lifelong-plans go about so we can accept and resolve conflicts the best possible way.

I am glad I watched this movie again, as it has lots of moments in it that made me reflect on my own present life. When I first saw this movie I was looking at life from a very different perspective. It helped me think about situations in my own life where I had to overcome differences with my family. I had a very conflicted adolescence.

Module #2 Violence - Prediction, Prevention and Intervention - Myth vs Reality - Write 5 Sentences about your reaction to the statistical data showing the trend below. (Remember your initial estimate on violence in the last 30 Years.)

1. First I was surprised as I trully believed that violence had been increasing exponentially through the last 30 years!!!! 2. I thought the more populated the planet, the more violence there would be. 3. I am so glad of the fact that the result of a better educated society is actually helping our society be less violent (just physically?). 4. Is this graph showing results that are applicable to most countries worldwide? 5. Is this really true for all the under/developing countries? 6. What about all the other forms of serious violence that are non-physical that are appearing thanks to the www and other technology, increasing or decreasing?



Module #3 Hearts and Minds Describe three things you plan to do in your teaching practice to reduce stress and win the Hearts and Minds of your students and co workers. 1. I want to go back to being the teacher that I was when i began, I can see I was unexperienced but truer. 2. Let the students know more than they know about me. 3. Continue being comfortable with who I am as a person so I can bring that to the classroom.

Module #4 I had my wife do the test for me. Before she took it I was thinking that she was going to have the highest score in the Practical Manager category however she turned out to score higher in the Learned Expert one. I have to say that I'm still not convinced with this result, I believe that she shares more characteristics of the Practical manager than she does with the Learned expert.

After doing the test. She and I discussed the results. She wasn't fully convinced she was a Learned Expert, but she also didn't feel that much included in the other three categories. Sharing the result of the PP helped me review the qualities of that personality type. As teachers we obviously need to become familiarized with the material we are presenting our students.

Module #5


 * Lesson Plan for Moral Dilemma **


 * For: ** First Grade


 * Subject: ** Language arts and Character Education


 * Benchmark: **


 * LARL ( 1) Key Ideas and Details in Reading Literature **

RL.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.


 * Engagement Strategy: **

Go onto TumbleBooks (online program) and have the students listen/watch the animated e-book, // Burros Tortillas ( //based on the story Little Red Hen)


 * Procedure: ** When you get to the part where the tortillas are made and the Burro asks his friends ¨So who will help me eat the tortillas?¨ stop the book.

Have the students think about whether or not they would share what they made with their friends.

Students will brainstorm all the possible choices the Burro could make

- Not share

- Share equally

- Share a little portion

Have the students group themselves in the classroom based on what they feel is the right thing to do.

Have each group present their 3 strongest reasons for feeling that is the right thing to do.

Finish reading the story.


 * Closure: ** Have students in their journals write a response. They can either make a connection to the story to their experiences, or write what the central message is that the author was trying to teach

Module #6

Post 2 "I" messages - (positive) comment on the reactions.

1. Natalia, I really felt supported by you when you stood by my side while I was helping Luciano understand that having thrown the food on the floor that way was wrong and the best consequence for him was to clean up the mess himself.

2. Kids, when I call you to gather at the carpet and most of you do it right away, it helps us get to the lesson faster and we can probably have some extra time to go outside and play a little, and that would make me feel really happy.

Post 1 "I" Message (negative or corrective) 3. Max, when you post messages on your facebook picture wall that are personal like that one, and every contact can read them, it makes me feel uncomfortable.

Module #7

1. Open a copy of the book IN STEPP. Read the Chapter on Time Management. Including Ben's Story.

=Mission Statement= I am at my best when I have time to prepare. I will try to prevent times when I have to improvise. I will enjoy my work by finding employment where I can be myself. I will find enjoyment in my personal life through Listening to music, gardening and teaching my children to be good people. I will find opportunities to use my natural talents and gifts such as taking care of living things. I can do anything I set my mind to. I will provide education to everyone who wanted it. My life's journey is fighting corruption from power and money, for the good of all citizens, because we need to have a better society and I will succeed.. I will be a person who my wife, my daughter, my son and their children, my brothers and sister, my friends; would miss. My most important future contribution to others will be demonstrating that you can always get what you want without doing any harm to anyone. I will stop procrastinating and start working on:
 * always saying when I'm not happy
 * not being afraid of saying how i feel
 * being happier

I will strive to incorporate the following attributes into my life:
 * honesty
 * calmness
 * hard work

I will constantly renew myself by focusing on the four dimensions of my life:
 * exercise and eating healthy
 * Having a sense of spirituality
 * self confidence
 * happiness

Module #8 Select any one additional chapter to read. (Not Time Management) Describe the Chapter you read and your reaction to the chapter. Pick one activity from the book and describe how you will use this for Conflict Resolution [|InSteppPrintedVersion.pdf]

Module # 9 I'm trading this one for Module #11

Module #10

1. The role of nurture by the families of the two main characters, Derrick and Homer. In American History X, It is shown how derrick's father has some racist inclination, Derek doesn't seem to share his father's beliefs when he was younger, however the killing of his dad by Negroes seemed to have triggered the racist seed his dad had implanted in him. After that incident Derek becomes an easy pupil for Cameron who takes the role of his mentor and "father figure" nurturing his hate for minorities and desires for creating a supremacy of the white race. Towards the end of his incarceration, Derek finds that his old professor Mr. Sweeney understands what he has gone through, and is willing to guide him in a better direction. After his completion of his 3 year sentence in prison, he is determined to stop his brother Danny from following the same path that had led him to prison.

October Sky presents us with a different family problematic. Homer’s dad is a very hard working, macho man. Who refuses to consider the idea of his weaker younger son not becoming another coal miner like himself. From the beginning of the movie it clearly shown how he has no intention of following his father’s footsteps, which fills his dad with anger and shame. Fortunately, Homer had a very strong will, which helped him pursue his dreams and finally triumph.

2. The role of the mother in the development of each of the two main characters Derrick and Homer. Derek’s mom didn’t seem to be as strong as Homer’s. Both moms were married to old school conservative, macho men. The two families depended economically on the father’s income, while the two women occupied the roles of house wives. Which left them in an inferior position in relation to their husbands. Their job was to raise the kids, cook and keep the houses clean. Derek’s mom seemed to be more afraid of her husband than Homer’s. Unfortunately for Derek, his mom wasn’t able to shape his character positively to prevent him from falling into Cameron’s hands after his dad’s death. On the other hand, Homer was very fortunate to have the support of his mom, who believed that the most important thing for her children was to see them do whatever it was that motivated, challenged and made them happy. Plus Homer’s interests where of a good nature.

3.The role of the teacher Murray in Derrick’s life and the role of Miss Reilly in Homer’s life. I am not so sure that the teacher Murray had that much of an impact on Derek’s life, other than making him feel angry at him for dating his mom and trying to occupy his dad’s place next to her. However, the role of his teacher Dr. Sweeney was critical to help him reflect on all the confusion he was going through after all the things that were happening to him during his time in prison. Not only was Dr. Sweeny a negro, but one who was willing to guide him and understand him. It was clear that Miss Reilly was the source of inspiration for her pupil Homer. She obviously cared for her students further from just teaching them their subject. She knew those kids had very little chances of seeing anything different than coal for the rest of their adulthoods. She was there to inspire them, support them and help them see other opportunities for their lives, to help them pursue their interests and give it their best effort in order to succeed and become admirable adults.

4.The role of the two principals in the lives of Derrick and Homer. Dr. Sweeny as I mention in Module #1, was a very influential character to Derrick. He not only inspired him as a teacher when Derrick was a Teenager in high school, but he also took him as his personal duty to help his fore student who was now alone and lost in prison, surrounded by those he had regarded as enemies for such long time.

On the other hand, Homers principal was a very short sighted human being, who was only worried about his commitment to running a regional public school. Although he had no intention on influencing Homer, perhaps he did, as every obstacle he presented Homer and his team, seemed more like a challenge for overcoming to them.

Module #11

The movie showed us that Mr. Hundter had decided to adopt Sedgewick Bell about the same time it gave us clues about Mr. H’s own life experience with his busy dad. It was clear that he wanted to help that kid focus on something other than showing his own anger for being ignored by his father. Sedgewick had proven to be a very smart kid who was troubled by his own relationship to his father. This is fully covered towards the end of the film when they have their last conversation in the resort’s restroom just before Sedgewick's own son witnesses their argument. The movie left me with the question of what his son was going to do with his own life after hearing his dad put himself so low in front of his beloved teacher.

I believe that Mr. H made the right choice by trying to help Sedgewick Bell. After all Martin Blythe’s score wasn’t that high over Sedgewick’s. Yes, he was more deserving of the 3rd place in the Caesar’s contest, but perhaps winning would only improve his life more, whereas Sedgewick really needed the encouragement. This act seemed to me as him trying to make a deeper contribution to life as a teacher. The movie is very clear about the message Mr. H wanted to give his students and the audience by sharing Shutruk Nahunte’s message. "Ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance." He realices at the end that his bigger contribution lay in him being as honorable as he had always been. His students had a great passion for his class and had great admiration for him.

I really appreciate the fact that Martin Blythe’s life wasn’t a complete mess for having failed his dad and not becoming the Caesar’s that year. Perhaps the failure even helped him become a better human being than he already was. It seemed so at the end when the movie showed us the kind of grown up he had become. By him having his elder son enter Mr. H's class at the end of the movie, it ratifies the respect he felt for his old teacher, even after knowing that Mr. H had preferred Sedgewick over him.

My life has shown me that not always getting what I want or what I think I need is necessarily the best for me.