McKay+Andrew

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. //American History X// reflections

I think the movie American History X makes a strong argument for the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate. The characters’ actions in this movie seem to be heavily influenced by their environment. Looking through the nature vs. nurture lens at this movie, one can find many examples of actions influenced by environment.

Derrick seems to be a product of his latest conversation. In the dinner table scene with his dad, Derrick refers to his teacher, Mr. Sweeney, in an admiring fashion. Derrick’s dad is quick to question Sweeney’s motives and although he doesn’t instantly latch onto what his dad says, the scene could be a reference point as to why Derrick funneled his rage the way he did after his father’s death. Cameron steps into Derrick’s life and Derrick immediately follows him. For many of the other characters in the movie Derrick is a leader, the alpha. But it seems that Derrick is always looking for someone to tell him what to do. That he is simply a product of his environment. This same train of thought can be followed when examining Derrick’s actions in prison.

Danny is an interesting character. He is also a good example of being a product of his environment. He is obviously enamored with Derrick and therefore follows him down on his downward spiral and Danny seems instantly ready to follow Derrick back up. This makes me question, was Danny really full of hate in the same way Derrick was? A revealing example occurs when Seth arrives at Derrick and Danny’s house right after Derrick gets back from prison with a video camera. The conversation that takes place between Danny and Seth could be an illuminating glimpse into Danny’s personality. Seth wants Danny to spew hate into the camera but Danny mocks him. Eventually Danny says what Seth wants him to say but he does so in a robotic way. So was Danny born with a predisposition to hate and violence? No. He was also a product of his environment.

One has to look very hard for an example of the influence of nature in this movie. And although I don’t see an clear example of a person being predisposed to hatred and violence, maybe we can find one through one of the character’s //non// actions. Think about Danny and Derrick’s sister, Davina. Why is she not filled with hate? We can assume that she had many of the same experiences, grew up in the same environment as Danny and Derrick. Why is she not angry? I don’t think being female is an acceptable argument as we have an example of a hate filled girl in Derrick’s girlfriend.

But maybe the strongest argument for the influence of nature could come in the form of a question. Are the characters who swallow Cameron’s hate genetically predisposed to be heavily influenced by their environment? Why are these people so easily manipulated, while others are not?

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.) I guess I wasn't really surprised by the trend in the violent crime data because I have recently read an article in the //New Yorker// that discussed whether or not the Giuliani effect that is often discussed is valid. You also commented on //Freakonomics,// which says that the decrease in violent crime in the US may be attributed to a whole generation of children who are at high risk for violent crime not existing. I think the world-wide, multi-century data you showed us does a lot to discredit this as you suggested, but I still wonder how if this could be causal. I also wonder about what you were proposing – that violent crime has gone down because people are better at conflict resolution a century ago. If this is the case, what is the explanation for the spike in the violence in the early 1990s?

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. 2. 3. 1. I need to spend and make more time for 1 on 1 talking with my students. Throughout the day, I feel like I spend so much time putting out fires that many of my interactions with students are short and abrupt.

2. I feel like we have worked hard to begin building an inquiry based yet meaningful curriculum and I would really like to expand on this.

3. I would also like to expose my kids to more culturally relevant reading. It’s hard to find English fiction books that are culturally relevant sometimes, concepts and vocabulary that would be easy for a 7 year old in the US are sometimes foreign to a student in Medellin.

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.

I did the personality profile with my father. His two highest categories were the same as mine, although he didn't score nearly as high as did in any specific category. When we were looking at the slides in class, I felt like I could agree with most of the things on the slides, that they did reflect my personality. I shared the info. from the slides with my dad and he didn't feel as strongly as I did about the indicators on the slides. I think this is because he didn't score above 30 in any of the categories, so he was more spread out. Module #5 Moral Dilemma - Develop a MD for use in your teaching practice. Outline it here. Use any lesson plan style or outline that you might have for your class / subject / or grade level. Describe your audience, age, demographic and what you will do.

2nd grade classroom. End of day reflection (tribes time). Students meet on the carpet for the last 15 minutes of class. Teacher prompts students with the question, "You are at a workstation with your partner. When you started the workstation, your partner went to blow their nose. When they came back from blowing their nose, they sat down and began to read the homework from the last station. But before they start they have to go to the bathroom. When they come back from the bathroom, they sit down to work and as soon as their pencil touches the paper, it snaps. You hear the clicker. It's time to go to the next station. You finished the work. Your partner asks you if they can see your homework. It wasn't their fault they didn't get to do any work. What could you do or say?

Class brainstorms a list of options. Teacher leads students in a discussion of probable outcome for each choice.

Next day discussion: Teacher reviews problem, list of options, and probable outcomes (outcomes should be immediate and clear for students).

Students make choice by themselves and show teacher their choice with fingers under chin. Then students move into groups based on choice and discuss why they made their choice. Group shares reasons with the class. Students are allowed to ask the group questions using the "did you consider?" model. Groups are not allowed to respond.

Teacher flips a coin for each group. Groups discuss the consequence of their choice AND what they would do next. Again, share with the class.

Module #6 Post 2 "I" messages - (positive) comment on the reactions. Post 1 "I" Message (negative or corrective)

When our class shows me they are listening during number corner and we find the solution together I know you know ALOT about fractions.

When you come in to class and quickly unpack you finish your math minute quicker and I feel happy that you have more time to read.

When you don't help your partner on the writing project I feel worried that you won't know the information for your presentation (I switched up the formula a bit on this one).

Module #7 My mission is to work hard everyday. To set an example for others through my actions. To not expect anyone else to work harder than me. To acknowledge inequality and unfairness and change it if possible. To trust others more. To do what I know is right. To be honest. To be fair.

Module #8

I read chapter 2 of the book. It seems to, excuse me, go right in step with what we have done thus far in the class. The chapter discussed the importance of knowing both your personality and your values. Two exercises I have recently done in the EDU640 class. The next step (sorry) in this chapter discussed the importance making sure what you do every day is aligned with your personality and values. Chapter three began with a theory discussion, it had lots of names I recognized. I really like the argument that if you know and do what is important to you, you will be a happier person. I believe that. The chapter discussed some methods for dealing with situations when you find yourself out of alignment. It talked about the consequences of not being in alignment. I really liked the last part of the chapter that dealt with perfectionism and how to deal with it.

I would like to do the first activity from chapter 3 with my 2nd graders. "Today would be a better day if..." although I think I would have to modify it to make it much shorter (15 minutes) or break it up over a couple classes. I am willing to bet that most of their answers would lead to a valuable discussion about conflict resolution.

Module # 9 I posted these two links on the video page:

This is a short video to introduce "I messages" to young children - Andy McKay []

This is an animated video of one kid picking on another kid. There are no words. I would suggest stopping the movie at 4:00 because the kid getting picked on retaliates using violence (or maybe discussing what he could have done with older kids). It would be cool to show the "I message" video first and then stop the second video and have your class practice using them every time the other kid gets picked on - Andy McKay

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Module #10 After watching the movie compare and contrast that film with the film American History X. Use specific examples from each of the two movies to explain.
 * 1) The role of nurture by the families of the two main characters, Derrick and Homer.
 * 2) The role of the mother in the development of each of the two main characters Derrick and Homer.
 * 3) The role of the teacher Murray in Derrick’s life and the role of Miss Reilly in Homer’s life.
 * 4) The role of the two principals in the lives of Derrick and Homer.
 * 5) The role of the community in the lives of Derrick and Homer.

I watched October Sky and American History X. I think both movies make a strong case for the role of nurture in the nature vs. nurture debate. I think it's a lot easier to see the role of nurture played out in Homer's family because the movie spends a lot of time focused on Homer's family life. We have just a few scenes (1?) of Derrick's life before his father died. I think it's easy to say that both Homer's and Derrick's fathers played a huge role in their lives. We see this in October Sky because although Homer is going to do what he wants (build rockets) he needs his father's approval - maybe even if he doesn't know it. We see this in American History X the way Derrick's world view completely changes after his father's death. He not only adopts his fathers opinions regarding race (we can assume from the one scene) but takes them to the extreme. The mothers in these two movies are radically different. Homer's mother has a strong role in his life. She supports him and even goes as far as threatening to leave her husband if he doesn't help his son. Derrick's mom seems very passive. She does not seem to have a huge role in his life and maybe this is what made it easy for Cameron to step in and take a larger role in Derrick's life. I don't think Homer would have succeeded without the support of his mother, maybe if Derrick's mother would have been stronger things would have turned out differently. Both of these movies feature a teacher who plays a significant role in their students' lives. Although Miss Reilly inspired and supported the boys (fighting off the evil administrator and giving Homer a life changing pep-talk when he needed it, if only things were that simple...) I don't think she had nearly as much of an influence as Sweeney did over Derrick. Even before Derrick turned to the dark side we see the kind of influence Sweeney held over him. On the other hand, Murray does not come into Derrick's life until after his father has passed and Derrick has swallowed Cameron's garbage. Derrick can not see anything in Murray other than a Jew. I wonder if Murray had met Derrick before his father's death if things would have gone differently. Homer's principal is just a little bit short of being such caricature of an administrator that he comes off as very Mr. Beldingish from Saved by the Bell. He was another naysayer to Homer's dreams of going to college and when Homer does some math on the board, he quickly switches sides and becomes one of Homer's biggest supporters. Mr. Sweeney was different. As I mentioned before, we see the immediate positive influence he has when Derrick was his student so much so, that Derrick can trust him after he is raped. That's pretty powerful considering the circumstances. Both characters seem to have the support of their community. I believe Derrick is supported in his neo-nazism by his community. Of course he has the support of his fellow white supremacists, but the fact that it is so easy for a community to be divided along racial lines tells me that there are some underlying factors. The black students at school and on the basketball court form a group. The white students form a group, we don't see it but I don't think it would be going to far to say that in Venice Beach in the late 90s things were probably drawn very squarely along racial lines for young people (or maybe just for this movie). So Derrick's community supported his actions, however indirectly. Coalwood was different. It seemed very much like the Andy Griffith show. Homer's actions were also supported by his community but you could say his community was a positive influence in his life where as Derrick's might not have been. We do see that initially he does not have the support, but as soon as people see his first successful rocket attempt, they are willing to do anything to help him. Which we get to see again when he gets his science project stolen in Indy. Homer's community even supported him directly against his father's wishes and supporting Homer almost cost one man his job.