Quintero,+Clara

)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.

Clara Quintero EDL 640

March 2012

__American__ __History____X__

"Hate is baggage” is one of the last quotes in the final scene of this movie and it is one that rings very true for the characters. The making of a white supremacist – Derek Vinyard and the effects it has on his family especially his younger, impressionable brother Danny is difficult to watch. I have seen this movie at least twice before, more than four years ago and watching it again with the assignment in mind was challenging. I made mental and written notes regarding the influential people in the lives of Derek and Danny Vinyard.

One of the most influential people in both Derek and Danny’s lives was Dr. Sweeney, their school principal. In the beginning of the movie we see Dr. Sweeney state that he won’t give up on Danny even after he turns in a history paper based on Hitler’s book “Mein Kampf”. He tells Danny that he has to re-write his paper and do it on his older brother Derek and that he will be his new history teacher. Even though Danny complains, he agrees and this shows us that Dr. Sweeney is an important person for him and one that deserves his respect. Later in flashbacks, we can see that Dr. Sweeney was also important to Derek as well.

An influential person in the negative sense to both brothers as well was Cameron Alexander, the white supremacy leader who was Derek’s mentor. He was also the person who pushed Derek to embrace his hatred of minorities and fueled the rage inside Derek. After Derek went to prison, Cameron took Danny under his wing and continued the work that Derek had already begun – mold him into a white supremacist and “brain wash” him in a sense.

Another person who was also a mentor to both brothers was their father. The circumstances surrounding his death lead us to believe that Derek’s rage against minorities was triggered by this. However, later we see that Derek’s father also has his own prejudices against African-Americans regarding affirmative action and his job as a firefighter. He reveals this as he tells Derek not to follow all of what Dr. Sweeney is teaching. In discussing Derek’s father we did not think he was as extreme in his prejudices as Derek was but, his death caused Derek to go to the extreme.

One of the most interesting influential people in the film is the young African – American man who befriends Derek while he is in prison. Derek first meets him when they are assigned to the same job of folding linens in the laundry room. Derek does not want to talk to him but, he listens. By the end of Derek’s time in prison, they not only become friends, Derek owes him practically his life as he keeps him safe from gang members who want to kill him. Through his relationship with this young man he learns that injustices exist for everyone not just “the white man” and also learns that true friendship has no color.

Derek’s encounter with white supremacists in prison teaches him an unforgettable lesson and this causes him to change his perspective and beliefs. After he is raped by his “friends” in prison, he is visited by Dr. Sweeney who wants to help him get out of prison, but Derek needs to do something in return. This is the turning point for him.

Last but not least, the greatest influence for Danny is his big brother Derek. After their father dies Derek becomes a father figure for Danny. He wants to follow in Derek’s footsteps and take on his beliefs even though throughout the film it never seems that he is fully convinced that they are right for him. While Derek is in prison, Danny continues to spend time with all of Derek’s “skinhead” friends and Cameron – he believes that this is what Derek would want. Once Derek is back, Danny is confused as to why Derek no longer wants to be a part of the movement. Derek finally confides in his brother and reveals what happened to him in prison. I think it would have been a happier ending if the film had ended at the scene where both brothers take down all the “white power” propaganda in their bedroom. Obviously the film does not end there and the way it does end is not only ironic but leaves you hanging in a sense. After Danny is killed by an African-American student at school, we see Derek hugging his dead brother covered in blood. One can only wonder, will he revert back to his old beliefs after his brother has been killed or cling on to his new ones?

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.) 1. I'm not that surprised that in general violent crime has gone down since the 1970's. I know that in N.Y.C. which is where I am from, the 1970's were particularly dangerous and the mayor at the time did not seem to have any control over the city. 2. I am surprised that reports to the police have gone down and I wonder why that is. Maybe people feel that there is too much bureaucracy in reporting a crime and they don't want to get involved. 3. I think it's interesting that arrests for violent crime has remained steady, it shows that the police are doing their job and their role hasn't really changed much. 4. I wonder why there is a spike in around 1991 for all four measures. 5. There is a decline in violent crime after 1991 and before 2009, I wonder if that has to do with the increase in use of technology by society around that time.

. 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. Try to take the first 10-15 minutes of each class to talk to my students on a personal level to let them know that their life is not just about the acdemics or how they're doing in my class. 2. Implement more creative activities so that students feel more of a sense of ownership with their work. 3. Remember that my students are children and they need to play and see me laugh every once in a while.

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 Prototype with my husband and aside from being fun it was also a surprise. I've always known that my husband and I are pretty much opposites and I was positive that his highest score was going to be creative problem solver. However, his scores were almost even throughout and his highest score was the same mine - Learned Expert! 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. [|Moral Dilemma Resource 1] [|Moral dilemmas 2] I chose "academic integrity" as a moral dilemma for my third grade English class. This is the outline: // Opening Discussion questions: // 1) Would you cheat on an exam? Why or Why not? 2) Is there a good reason to cheat on an exam? What reason would that be? // Review vocabulary: // Cheat, whiz, solve. // Present situation: // It's halfway through the spring semester, and you are taking a math test. You've been having a lot of difficulty in this class, and you know that this test will form a big part of your grade. You feel like you are doing well on the test until you come to the last problem. It is worth 20 points and you just can't remember how to solve it. As it happens, the class math whiz is sitting right in front of you and you can see he's just finished it. You are close enough to see how he solved it, and you know that no teacher can see you if you cheat. What do you do? //Divide students into groups of 3-4 and have them discuss what they would do in the situation.// //Each group to then give their answer or opnion.//
 * //Wrap - up discussion://** //The groups that chose to cheat - what would be a good punishment for them and why?//

Module #6 1. Post 2 "I" messages - (positive) comment on the reactions of the people that you used for the "I" message. Remember it MUST have Behavior, Consequence of the Behavior, and a feeling. 2. Post 1 "I" Message (negative or corrective) This does not need to be delivered but you must share the circumstances that lead up to the "I" message. These are the two "I" messages I used at home with my husband: 1. When you do the chores around the house, things run more smoothly, and I feel relaxed. 2. When you tell me about your plans, it allows me to make necessary arrangments and I feel prepared. I said these two messages to my husband and he was a bit suspicious as to why I was talking to him in this way! I guess it is a way of communicating that we should use more often. Here is a negative "I" message - but it wasn't delivered: I would use this message with my co-worker, we have to plan our classes together and our personalities don't really mesh, so sometimes it's difficult. 1. When you don't communicate effectively, misunderstanding occurs, and I feel confused.

Module #7 1. Open a copy of the book IN STEPP. Read the Chapter on Time Management. Including Ben's Story. 2. Go to this Web Site. [|Values and Stuff] Explore the links that you find on the page. 3. In the upper left of the page, under the heading of tools look for the Mission Statement builder. Click on the link. 4. Then when the MSB page opens click on the link on the far right of the page (Your Values) and build a mission statement. 5. Post a copy of your mission Statement on your wiki page. Always remain open-minded with any situation I find myself in.Give what matters to you your best - always!!Give yourself time to be carefree every once in a while.We need to always believe in ourselves even when no one else does.My family is unique and even though it's not exactly what I would like for it to be, I appreciate them.Patience will always be a virtue.Without ambition, what drives us?It's important for people to see you as reliable.Children are the future and parents are responsible for helping to make them an asset for society.You need to be honest with yourself before you can make any progress.It's important to know where other people are coming from in their perspectives and situations.I'm lucky to have had such an inspiring person to look up to. 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 I decided to read chapter 6 "Managing Relationships". The chapter is about how throughout our lives we will have and manage different types of relationships from parents, teachers, friends, co-workers to children, spouse, or life partners. It was divided into several parts: view of relationships is influenced by our personality profiles, how to use conflict management in relationships, and how response to anger is manageable. I found the information in this chapter to be quite useful. I was able to relate to the matrices which depict the personality profiles and how each one defines different relationships, their expectations for them, and possible consequences should the relationship not go their way. I identified myself in the "Talent for Management" matrix. This chapter also made me think about relationships between parents and their children and how maybe one of the reasons they do not get along is because they each belong to a different matrix and they are managing their relationship in different ways. The activity I chose was the "Evaluating Relationship" chart. I would actually try to use this not so much with my students but really with my co-workers. In my department - English, teachers work in pairs from grades 3-11. Each class of 35 is divided into two groups so the pair of teachers have to plan the class together and execute the same plans and evaluations. The department head decides how the teachers are paired up and which grade they are going to teach. Unfortunately there is no method to this madness and teachers who probably should not be working together or would not necessarily be effective together wind up together! I would love to propose this type of inventory at the end of the school year to prepare for the following year and pair teachers up accordingly.
 * MISSION STATEMENT **

Module # 9 Watch this youtube video [|Taught to Hate] Post two new resources for conflict resolution on our Wiki site under Video / other resources. Give your self credit. // I posted two resources for conflict resolution on the Wiki under video/other resources with my name. //

Module #10 offers an alternative of two assignments. You can do either A or B.

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B. Go to this site [] follow the directions to join the site and make a class specific Weebly site for use in your classroom. This is an easy to use web page making tool. Here is an example made by students in this course from Honduras.[] ====== Your weebly must include the following elements: OR See other Web Alternative Below

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 * 1) ======  A definition of conflict  ======
 * 2) ======  At least 3 resources that are grade specific to your teaching practice that could be used in conflict resolution.  ======
 * 3) ======  Identifying information to tell us who you are and for whom the weebly is intended to be used.  ======
 * 4) ======  At least 2 conflict resolution activities that are grade specific to your teaching practice that could be used in conflict resolution.  ======
 * 5) ======  This assignment is intended to provide you an opportunity to be creative and to use and apply the elements of our class experience. Have fun, be original and make something useful.  ======
 * Here is my Weebly site**: