Snowdon,+Harrison

=** Harrison Snowdon **=

Module #1 Write a brief - 2- page (500 word+ or -) report describing the influences you observed and discussed. Put you first reflection on your individual wiki page.


 * Nature and Nurture in American History X **
 * Harrison Snowdon **
 * EDL 640 **
 * Hank Nicols **
 * February 27th, 2012 **

 While watching the film, //American History X,// the role of nature and nurture, school, and mentors become evident very quickly. Derek and Danny are great examples of how these factors can impact human development in a negative and positive way. John Locke argued, “How comes [the mind] to be furnished? ... Whence has it all the materials of reason and knowledge? To this I answer, in one word, from experience ...” (Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book II, §1.2). It is clear that this experience comes from those people who we are in contact with first, our parents.

In Derek and Danny the role of their father probably played the greatest part in impacting their early development. Near the end of the movie, Danny wrote, “It is hard to look back and see the truth about people you love. I think if you ask Derek why it all went the way it did, and why it all started, he would still stay it started when my father was murdered. I’d say it started earlier than that.” Danny then went on to tell the story of when his father first began talking about affirmative action and how he did not think it was right because he did not feel it was fair. During our discussion this is one of the scenes that really stuck out for us. We felt this conversation really changed Derek’s mindset and how he felt about other races.

Once Derek could no longer be nurtured by his father he seaked out another father figure in Cameron. Cameron acted as his mentor and nurtured him into the person he wanted him to be. Similarly, once Derek went to jail, Danny followed down the same path and fell into the same trap as his role model and mentor, Derek. Cameron used the bad experiences of many youth to mold them into the “army” he needed to fight his cause.

Luckily for the boys they also had one good mentor in their life who they found at school. This was Dr. Sweeny. He was Derek’s teacher and Danny’s principal. When Danny got in trouble for writing a paper about Mein Kampf, Dr. Sweeny agreed to take him under his wing and designed a class entirely for him. It is apparent he understood the terrible things Danny had experienced, and wanted to try and nurture him into a being a good person. He asked Danny to write a paper about the events of his brother’s life, and their impact on his family. Throughout the movie, Dr. Sweeny’s role in the boys´ life became more apparent. This role is a strange one considering the beliefs of Derek, and Danny, but proved to be very important in the end.

In sum, this movie served as a great discussion starter for the topic of nature versus nurture. It clearly shows how these factors impacted Derek and Danny. One scene that really stuck for us took place near the end of the film. There was a great scene that showed the two boys at the beach playing peacefully. One can infer that at this time they were not impacted by outside factors and were truly happy just playing in the sand together.

Module #2 V iolence - 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.)

This statistical data surprised me because I made a line that increased on a 45 degree angle, like Hank suggested some people would. After further thought, this data does make sense to me over a historical period, but I would still think that violence has been increasing in the United Stated from what I have heard on television and from books or movies. I think we are just very influenced by these forms of media and therefore put more emphasis on their reports than we should. Similarly, I was also surprised by the date regarding school safety and school shootings. I would have previously thought that schools were more dangerous now than ever before in the United States. In sum, society must be doing a better job of managing violence than the media portrays.

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. The first thing I plan to do in my teaching practice is the addition of playing games to win the hearts and minds of my students. I would like to try the Block Building activity in my class this week and see how that goes.

2. Secondly, I liked the idea of having students write autobiographies about their families and backgrounds. In the article it does state that this is something that is better done at the beginning of year. However, I think it would still be beneficial at this point in the year to show students that I value their work.

3. Lastly, drama and role playing is something that I currently try to do in the classroom, but I think putting more of an emphasis on this would be advantageous to the class environment. Additionally, it would be great for improving students´ oral communication skills in English.

Module #4 Do the Personality Prototype test with another person. Discuss what the results mean. When you Teach you learn. Tell us on this site what you learned by sharing PP Results with another person.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">I completed the Personality Prototype test with Amber in the class on Sunday. Before, during, and after the test we predicted and discussed the questions and results. Amber and I know each other very well so our predictions were pretty spot on. From sharing my results with Amber I learned more about myself and the type of personality I have. Amber and I also discussed how both of our personalities differ according to this test, but we have adapted to each other’s ways and are able to avoid conflict because of this. It was interesting to analyze the individual questions and to see how we did share some similar answers. Lastly, we talked about how it might be difficult to live together if we both had the same personality. Especially if we were both “practical managers”, like myself. I feel that we balance well because Amber is a creative problem solver, and is able to bring creativity to a situation, whereas I am a practical manager, and can bring practicality to the same situation. I felt it was beneficial when Susan explained how to deal with other personalities, and how we should manage our own personalities to avoid conflict. This gave me a better understanding of how to deal with these conflicts in the future.

<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Module #5 Moral Dilemma - Develop a MD for use in your teaching practice. <span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Outline it here. What audience, age, demographic and what you will do.

My audience is my fourth grade class who are in between the ages of nine and ten. Here is my lesson plan:

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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Module #6 Post 2 "I" messages - (positive) comment on the reactions. Post 1 "I" Message (negative or corrective)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. When you focus during our mini-lesson, you are able to grasp the math objectives, and this helps you to have a better understanding in math.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">2. Amber, when you make a delicious dinner for us and we enjoy it together, I feel very happy.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">1. When you talk to each other a lot during your VIDA lesson and the mothers feel disrespected, they may not want to return to our class.

<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Module #7

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The mission of Harrison Snowdon is to develop into a well-rounded, hardworking person who promotes fairness and honesty while establishing strong family bonds. This will be accomplished by remaining goal-oriented and determined to be successful. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">

<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Module #8

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">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 <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For this module I chose to read chapter seven: Transitions: Easing the Way. This chapter caught my attention because I have traditionally been a person who has been resistant to change. I like to stick to a routine and get agitated when things change unexpectedly. This is definitely a characteristic I share with my father who becomes very uneasy after even the smallest change to his life. The chapter begins with a case study about a family who has chosen to go teacher overseas at a school in Africa. Their daughter, Tara, is initially very upset with this choice and becomes angry with her parents because of their decision. One great quote I picked out states, “Change is inevitable and our willingness to embrace it varies from person to person.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The chapter then moves on to discuss the S <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">even Stages of Change: 1. Recognition & Reaction 2. Planning 3. Leaving the old 4. Initial excitement 5. The shock of reality 6. Settling in 7. Recognition & Reaction After the seven stages the authors explain the different personalities towards to change and how to use the Creative Problem Solving to help with transitions.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My reaction to this article is one of understanding. When I began reading about Tara´s story I immediately connected back to my own feelings prior to leaving overseas for Asia and the anxiety I faced. I remember trying to find answers to all of the same questions as Tara: ―Where is Thailand? What can we do there? Are there elephants? Do people play sports? What language do they speak there? What kind of school is it? I also remember myself going through the “Seven Stages of Change”. I also remember that during our first week in Thailand are school had a meeting with all of the new teachers to try to talk about stages 4 and 5 and to try to ease us into our new life in Asia. Prior to arriving in Thailand we also spent a month teaching at a summer school in China. I remember going through stage 5 there, and how after “the initial excitement, when the dust settles and reality sets in we can often feel a let down. We realize that we are in a new and different place. We are not sure of the culture, the expectations, or how we will fit in. During this stage we begin to fill in the blanks.” This was a difficult stage to grow through there, however we made it through fine.

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">One activity I will use from this chapter is the session one activity where students describe transitions based on Tara´s case study. I think it would be great to try out this activity after hearing about a transition a student in the class is going to make. It would be great for them to have this background information and also allow the class to help them through their difficult time.

<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Module #10 Make a web site of your own choosing. Explain on your wiki page the relationship it has to conflict, and conflict resolution. <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[]

<span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Module #11 - Watch the movie Emperors Club. Then write a reflection of 250 words (+-) describing the values choices that Mr. H made and discovered through the end of the movie. <span style="color: red; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Describe your alternate choices or support his. For What would you walk the "I" beam?

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">After watching the movie, //Emperors Club// it was apparent that Mr. Hundert had very strong values. The movie begins with a quote that sets up the theme for the rest of the movie. Mr. Hundert is talking about teaching and states, “A man’s character is his fate”. I believe that throughout the movie Mr. H’s character was his fate. When Mr. H decided to change the grade of Sedgewick to allow him to make the Mr. Julius Ceaser contest I believe he compromised his values. I did not agree with this decision and I feel Mr. Hundert regretted this decision for the rest of his life. At the time it seemed the right thing to do because of the change that had occurred with Sedgewick. However, after the contest it became very clear that it was not the right decision. Sedgewick cheated in the contest and did not improve as a student. These traits also followed him later on into life. The opposite is true with the student who was knocked out of the contest, Martin. I believe Mr. H should have left the grades the way they were and stuck with his values. However, as Mr. H says near the end of the movie, “We cannot step into the same river twice. In the flow of time an opportunity lost is lost forever”. Mr. H lost his opportunity to help Sedgewick be honest, and this opportunity was lost forever.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">One thing I would walk the “I” beam for is family. I thought it was right the way Manolo made this choice during our class. A person can always earn more money or find another way to obtained money. However, a person family can only be gained in one way.

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