McMullan,+Scott

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.

The film, American History X was released at the end of the 20th century and draws attention to a problem that has plagued American society for decades. The problem is racism and the film does an excellent job showing that no good will come when the heart is filled with evil and hate. The bigger question one must ask is where does this hatred stem from? If we address this from a nature versus nurture approach we must agree on the usage of this term. In its simplest form nature can be defined as a person’s innate (internal) traits, while personal experiences that may influence behavior can be regarded as nurture. In my opinion, the film gives us evidence that both nature and nurture can be held accountable for allowing hatred and racism to exist. A great example of nurture is at the beginning of the film when the school principal (Sweeney) is talking with one of his teachers (Murray) and he implies that since Danny learnt this racist propaganda, he can unlearn it as well. This implies that the environment plays a huge factor and if it can be changed, so can the learnt behavior. To demonstrate how environment can change or influence a person is evident while Derek is in prison. According to Lamont (black inmate), Derek is the “nigga” in jail and it is during his incarceration that Derek actually changes his racist ways. If there is still any doubt as to the influence of nurture, one must focus on the scene in the Vinyard home where Seth is videotaping a conversation with Danny. It is obvious that Danny needs some coaxing from Seth before he recites his hatred for non-whites and even then it appears as if these are truly not his beliefs. In the video, he states that non-whites are a burden to society but then shows his doubts by quickly adding that some of them are all right, much to the disgust of Seth. Finding examples of nature, or how innate traits influence beliefs is not as clearly depicted. If we analyze the role of Davina (sister) in the film we can get a better understanding. Davina is not a main character and her only necessity in the film is to show that nurture is not the main component for shaping one’s beliefs. Being the sister of Derek and thus growing up in the same household, undergoing the same experiences, one must assume that she would also hold dear to her heart the racist attitude of her brother. However, she clearly is not a racist and this is evident after Seth has videotaped Danny and she states that she feels sorry for Danny and that he does not truly believe in what he just said. Another scene focusing on nature occurs after a family dinner when Doris (mother) is yelling at Derek and she blurts out that she can’t believe that she gave birth to him. This is significant because Doris is implying that Derek’s racist attitude is innate and it is opposite to her own beliefs. Luckily, since it was a Hollywood movie, Derek undergoes a transformation and comes to realize that his racist attitude and actions were wrong. Understanding why this change came about, one must look no further than the two most influential characters; his teacher (Sweeney) and his mentor (Lamont). Their role in the film is critical and they help demonstrate how one must change and start doing things to make your life better. Through conversations with both Sweeney and Lamont, Derek slowly realizes that there are similarities between them, which allows for passage past the color barrier.
 * __ American History X __**

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.)

My initial thoughts were that, since 1973, violence must have increased over the years, with a slight decrease in early 2000 and then climbing again. With regards to numbers, I did not think it was a drastic increase and had hypothesized the maximum number of crimes to be around 7 million. After learning that crime has actually decreased, especially since considering the population increase, I was surprised. I think that my original belief of us living in a more violent society can be directly attributed to the media.

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 think displaying more student work would be beneficial. This would also involve doing more assignments/projects that are able to be put on display. 2. Making time to have more one on one conversations with my students outside of the classroom and on non-related School topics. 3. Incorporating more opportunities for discussion and debate. I am thinking that we could have a weekly discussion about a current topic in science whether it be from internet, journals, research articles, etc...

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 test with my wife (Alessandra). During class, when Susan was reviewing and explaining the different types, I knew exactly what prototypes my wife would exhibit. In fact, I hypothesized the correct rank of all 4 types. This was not difficult becuase her ranking was the exact same as mine. It is important to note that our scores were different. Alessandra is a Practical Manager with a score of 36, where I had a 31. It is no surprise that she had a higher score because in my eyes, she takes the organizing, scheduling, etc.. to a higher level. On a side note, I wish I had done this test many years ago, because it would have helped me realize one of the mistakes I used to make. Unfortunately, I had to learn the lesson from experience, after many "discussions". A major reoccuring "discussion" always occured regarding travel. Before a trip I would enjoy researching the places, making an itinerary, and in her own words making all the decisions. With experience comes knowledge, and we now both successfully plan a trip together and I can honestly say that it is much better, because she is involved and I don´t have to feel the pressure is on my shoulders to make everything run smoothly. We are both Learned Experts, my score 31 and Alessandra's is 25, it is no surprise that we like to gather research/information first. In reality, if I were to choose the prototype that best describes me, I would have put LE as my first. Throughout my life, I have been constantly told that I should be a lawyer. To know end, I love discussing and debating ideas, which I definately got from my father. As a child, my mom would later tell me that, I would always want to practice something first many times before actually demonstrating the skill. As an adult this is evident as well, when I analyze how I prefer to learn a new language. Alessandra and I both, will study the language on our own, soaking up as much information as possible, and will only begin conversing or taking lessons with others once a good foundation has been laid. Our 3rd protoypes was People Person (25 & 24) and I had the higher score. Lastly, for Creative Problem Solver, Alessandra scored an 18 while I had 14 points.
 * 21 || 25 || 18 || 36 ||
 * PP || LE || CP || PM ||

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.


 * 1) You are a scientist who has been unemployed for 8 months. You have 2 young children (18 months and 3 years old) and your wife of five years has just lost her job because of downsizing. Luckily, you just received a research grant that is being funded by a large pharmaceutical company. The research concludes that the drug has side effects; however the pharmaceutical company puts pressure on you to skew the data enough so that it can be approved. If you skew the data or withhold the information, the company has promised to keep you employed and financially stable for many years to come. If you share the true data, the drug will not be available on the market and many innocent people will not be affected by the side effects. What do you do?
 * 2) My audience is a 6th grade science class (11-12 years of age)
 * 3) As a class, students will brainstorm (no judging) possible solutions.
 * 4) Students will have to choose a solution.
 * 5) Group students with like choses together and have them discuss why they chose that solution.
 * 6) Mix the groups again so that each solution is being represented and have students try to pursuade others in their group as to why their solution is best.
 * 7) Allow students a chance to change their mind and choose a different solution.
 * 8) Group students back together with like solutions and have them explain to class why they chose their solution.
 * 9) Students can not attack the choices of others, but they can ask the group questions to think about.

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

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Most of the students reacted positively and it helped them remain focused on the assignment. It also enabled some students to encourage the disengaged students to get back on task. (Overall, it was much more effective than telling them that if they are fooling around, I will not give them anymore time to review.)======

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Positive #2: "Honey, thank you for making the hotel reservations and sending the email confirmations to print, because this helps reduce my stress, which means we can spend more quality time together."======

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My wife at first was surprised because she was expecting the worse when she saw the printed papers in my hand. After I finished the I-message she wasn´t sure if I was serious or not, but she still had a big smile on her face and was in a good mood.======

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Negative #1: “Student, when you talk in class with your neighbor and don´t pay attention to the instructions, you don´t know how to do the assignment and I feel you are being disrespectful to me because I have to repeat the instructions again to you individually."======

Module #7

Have the motivation to be the best that you can be. Treat people the way you want to be treated. To succeed, we all must behave and live our lives as if we are constantly being watched. Enjoy the simple pleasures of life, take care of your health, never stop learning and believe that you can do it. Life is too short to give up.

Module #8

I chose to read Chapter 2: All you need to know about stress. It was interesting to read that stress has always been around, since the beginning of humankind. As an adult, I have often thought how nice it would be to go back to being a child where times were “stress free”. I now realize that even childhood is plagued by stress, the only difference is that the stressors are not the same as when one is an adult. When I think about stress, I can always remember one of my high school friends asking me if anything stresses me out. In his mind, I was a person who was not affected by stress. So, for many years, I honestly thought that I was stress free. Well, with age comes wisdom and over the last 5-6 years I can easily recall many situations or events that have majorly stressed me out. I also realize that my responses, as an adult, in some of those situations were not too different from how I behaved as a child, and my mom will be the first person to tell you that they were not appropriate responses.

For my students (and also for myself) I plan on using a few of the activities. I think it is valuable to begin with having students identify what stresses them out. Hopefully we will be able to see that a lot of the students share the same stressors. I think for middle school students this is important because all they really want is to fit it. This is a time in life where they are going through so many changes that they feel awkward and uncomfortable. They want/need to know that what is happening to them is normal (in most cases), has happened before and that they are not alone. After this, it is only normal to discuss and use some of the stress busters. I also think using the activity sheet 7, where we rank the strategies that we use in our stress action plan is important. This will allow students to see what strategies (if any) they currently use and can also give them strategies to use in the future.

Module #9

I am not posting a specific link, but I highly recommend watching the HBO documentary PARADISE LOST 3. This documentary is about the brutal murders of three 8 year old boys in Arkansas back in 1993. The 3 teenage suspects quickly became known as WM3 (West Memphis 3) and spent 18 years in prison before they were released in August 2011. There is a lot of conflict in the story, but the main reason why I think it is so relevant is because of the moral dilemma at the end of the film. Jason Baldwin is forced to make a major decision... Be aware that this documentary is based on true facts and there are gruesome scenes of young children who have been murdered.

This is a video (10 minutes) from the 1950's on ways to settle disputes fairly. They include; Compromise, Obeying the Rules, Finding the Facts and Finding Opinions. - Scott McMullan

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Here is a short animated video (1 minute) based on the messages of Gandhi to help move towards World Peace. - Scott McMullan

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Module #11

The Emperor’s Club involves a preparatory teacher (William Hundert) and his attempts to mold the character’s of his students, by focusing on morals and values.

In attempting to bring out the best in his students, Mr. H becomes involved in a conflict with his own morals and values. Ultimately, he chooses to alter Sedgewick’s grade so that he is able to finish in 3rd place, allowing him to continue on in the Julius Ceasar Contest. Consequently, by doing so, he knocks out Martin Blythe who was the actual student who deserved to contest the title. I can only assume that this decision was made because Mr. H deeply believes that all the progress Sedgewick has made to date, will be for not if he fails to make it to the next round. So, by momentarily ignoring his values one can also assume that he justifies this decision because the end results still have the best interests of Sedgewick Bell, but not Martin Blythe. I personally don’t think I could have made the same decision, for the sole reason of how it affected Martin Blythe. If allowing Sedwick into the final rounds was so important, I would have made a tie and had Sedgewick and Martin do another assignment or contest to see who would get the 3rd and final spot. Or, if possible, have 4 students go on to the final round.

During the questioning round of the competition, Mr. Hundert is told to ignore the fact that Sedgewick is cheating. In this situation, he goes along with the director but decides to change the final questions, which successfully knocks Sedgewick out of the contest. I believe this is an indirect lesson attempting to demonstrate that you will not succeed by dishonest methods. I think that most people, I included, would agree that this was a reasonable decision, allowing him to follow orders and avenge his values.

At the end of the film, Mr. Hundert comes to the troubling realization that Senator Bell is correct when he stated that the teacher’s job is to teach and that he will not mold the character of the student. This is evident when the adult Sedgewick proudly acknowledges that in today’s world he will do whatever it takes to succeed even if it involves cheating and lying.

This realization goes against the hope of a teacher in that “ with learning, a boy's character might be changed. And, so, the destiny of a man. ”

It is difficult to know what would cause a person to walk the I-beam. I believe we can or will only be able to make that decision when the exact moment arises. Most people would like to believe that saving a loved one would be a strong enough reason. I am not sure if “love” is the only factor. For example, most of us love our elderly grandparents, but would we all risk our lives and increase the chance that our children would grow up minus a parent? Most would say that money is not a strong enough factor but how many people’s lives have been “ruined” by gambling and or other “risky” behaviors?

I honestly do not know what would cause me to walk the I-beam, but I do think that one day when I am a parent, I would be able make that decision to save my child.