The following quotes are taken from the class 13 folder on vista

Quote 1- "Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in private businesses (particularly railroads), under the doctrine of "separate but equal"."

I enjoyed reading this section on Plessy v. Ferguson.  I didn't know much about this supreme court decision, but I found it to be very important to later decisions especially brown vs. the board of education.  I can't believe the fact that they would instill these laws and fight for the segregation of private businesses.  Nowadays, people can't get enough business in their stores and need to shut down.  

Quote 2- "On June 7, 1892, Homer Plessy boarded a car of the East Louisiana Railroad that was designated for use by white patrons only, as mandated by state law. Although Plessy was born a free person and was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white, under a Louisiana law enacted in 1890, he was classified as Black, and thus required to sit in the "colored" car. When, in an act of planned disobedience, Plessy refused to leave the white car and move to the colored car, he was arrested and jailed."

I found the story to be very comical although serious in a way.  How can you discriminate against a person who is one-eighth black and seven-eighths white?  This just makes me laugh because it was so wrong for people to think this way and act upon their hatred towards a certain color, especially if someone is barely a person of color.  I understand you can tell the difference in skin tone, but they shouldn't be treated that differently.  I know these cases helped vastly in the desegregation movement.

Quote 3- The named plaintiff, Oliver L. Brown, was a parent, a welder in the shops of the Santa Fe Railroad, an assistant pastor at his local church, and an African American.^[7] He was convinced to join the lawsuit by Scott, a childhood friend. Brown's daughter Linda, a third grader, had to walk six blocks to her school bus stop to ride to Monroe Elementary, her segregated black school one mile (1.6 km) away, while Sumner Elementary, a white school, was seven blocks from her house."

This quote goes along with what we have going on in schools today where students are being sent to schools that are further away from them because they can't afford to go to a school right down the street from them.  They didn't figure it out for a long time back then and we can't figure it out today.  What is it going to take to have our students no matter what race or economic status to go to the same schools and learn from one another?  How long is it going to take for people to understand that we live in a diverse world and we must accept others for who they are?

Quote 4- "Justice Felix Frankfurter demanded that the opinion in 1955's Brown v. Board of Education II order desegregation with the (somewhat contradictory) phrase of "all deliberate speed". The phrase gave the South an excuse to defy the law of the land.  For fifteen years, schools in the South remained segregated, until the Supreme Court's opinion in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education."

I think it is crazy to see that you can go against a law because of a phrase, but I guess that is how our law system works.  People can find the smallest ways to get around a law or anything in life.  It just makes me sick that they did not have to follow the desegregation and move on and realize that change needed to happen.  What is going to happen in the future of our education?  How are we going to handle issues of diversity and racism in our school systems?

Quote 5- "Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy filed a concurrence that presented a more narrow interpretation, stating that schools may use "race conscious" means to achieve diversity in schools but that the schools at issue in this case did not use a sufficiently narrow tailoring of their plans to sustain

 their goals."

I don't understand how the schools used "race conscious" means to achieve diversity and didn't use sufficiently narrowing tailoring of their plans to sustain their goals.  This is like a two way street where the schools can do one thing and then say another.  It is a contradiction of yourself, rather than an achievement of your ultimate goal.  Once again, this goes with my whole argument of our law system and the justice the law system serves our country.  I understand times have changed and we are receiving a better justice system than the past, but how come we can't change our nation now?  Especially in the education aspect!

The following quotes are taken from the class 12 folder on blackboard

Quote 1- "The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living. We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about being more, not having more."(earthcharterinaction.org)
I liked this quote because it talked about our global partnership to take care of the earth and one another.  We must make sure we care for our surroundings.  I particularly liked the end of this quote where it says that "human development is primarily about being more, not having more."  I can't begin to tell you how true this statement is.  Why do we need more when we can give more, not only to our earth, but to others.  People in our world are very selfish and are so needy.  Things need to change and can be done, but it will take some giving up of things in life.


Quote 2- "b. Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves."(earthcharterinaction.org)
I liked how they stated the principles that are expected of our world.  This was one of my favorites because I can relate it to our class on the foundations of education.  It relates by providing equality and empowering every human being possible.  Create equality by providing resources necessary for a secure sustainable livelihood.  Help those in need and give up a portion of your livelihood to help others.  The main thing is to help those in need and create equality for all, especially in the form of a equal education.


Quote 3- "Our work as teacher is to give children a sense of place-to invite children to braid their identities together with the place where they live by calling their attention to the air, the sky, the cracks in the sidewalk where the earth busts out of its cement cage." (Pelo 2009)
I liked how Pelo talks about inviting our students to find their sense of place not only in society, but in the classroom as well.  I like how the author connects nature to how students should perceive a classroom.  Notice the little things and care for them, then you will "bust out of the cement cage" and become a high quality student.  But more importantly don't take things for granted and notice your surroundings because our surroundings shape ourselves.  They make us who we are and are what we come from.


Quote 4- "The more we know superficially, the less we penetrate, vertically.  It's all very well skimming across the surface of the ocean and saying you know all about the sea.  Underneath is everything we don't know and are afraid of knowing." (Pelo 2009)
I liked the analogy they used between knowing superficially and penetrating vertically to the sea and what lies beneath.  How are we supposed to know if we don't explore vertically?  How are we supposed to spark creativity in our students if we don't know anything about their interests.  We must know what "lies beneath" in order to bring out the best and go further in our lives.  This relates to teaching our students and knowing them and their surroundings.


Quote 5- "In our work with young children, our focus in gathering these stories is as much about the children's imaginings as it is about scientific facts.  We can invite their conjectures to complement the facts, opening the door to heartfelt connections." (Pelo 2009)
This is a great connection between children's imaginations and scientific facts.  We can support these imaginings to scientific facts.  This will allow for the backup of the thoughts and conjectures.  This creates heartfelt connections just like critical thinking and questioning on the CMTs.  By doing this, students can create their own thoughts and find out things about their thoughts and if they are true or not.  If they are false conjectures, they are still looking for these connections and applying themselves in and outside of the classroom.


Quote 6- "We're often encouraged to see the earth as landscape, which is scenery-something to look at, but not to participate in.  But when we collapse the distance between the land and ourselves and allow ourselves to become part of the story of a place, we give ourselves over to intimacy.  This can be our work with young children-weaving them into the story of the place where they live." (Pelo 2009)
This quote reminded me of painting a picture in your readers mind when reading.  But more importantly,  we must make students aware of their surroundings and setting in which they live in.  Living here in New England, we have the best of all worlds.  We get four seasons with a vast difference in weather throughout the year.  An example of making students aware of their environment is to do lessons on the seasons and show new students to the area what the seasons are all about.  Students need to know where they come from before they can go further in life!

The following quotes are taken from Kozol Ch. 8

Quote 1- "Speaking of the nicely refined torture a man can experience from having been created and defeated by the same circumstances, Baldwin wrote, the best that one can say is that they are in an impossible position and that those who are motivated by genuine concern maintain this position with heartbreaking dignity."(Kozol, p. 198)
It is sad to hear that people can be "created and defeated all by the same circumstances."  I thought this quote was very powerful.  It made me think deeper of how this torture and defeat could happen to a person of color.  It made sense when I put it into the real world.  I, not only, put it into context today, but also related this quote to the past and apartheid.  A lot is expected of black leaders whether they lived in the past or present day.  A lot is expected of them when they come; too little is accorded to them when they leave." This statement says it perfectly not only in the past, but even to those in power present day.

Quote 2- "There are hundreds of principals in our urban schools who are authentic heroes, few of whom would emulate the posturing and bluster of Joe Clark and most of whom do not receive the notice and support that they deserve.  But there is a difference between recognizing the accomplishments of able school officials and the marketing of individuals as saviors of persistently unequal systems."(Kozol, p.200)
I liked this quote because there are several hundred principals out in our urban school systems that don't receive that support and get noticed as great leaders.  Some of these principals are given close to nothing for their amazing accomplishments and may not receive any recognition.  These individuals need to be given recognition for their accomplishments.  The poor principals of rich suburban schools still get more support than those amazing heroes in urban settings, where money is a big issue.  I think these principals should switch schools for a day to see what it is like and to compare it to how they have it at their own school.  Hopefully, this will help the under-achieving principals realize how much easier they have it and will help them do a better job.

Quote 3- "Strict demands for proof of adequate yearly progress in all public schools and penalties, such as the loss of federal funds, for schools that did not meet their goals, as measured by their students' scores on standardized exams."(Kozol, p. 202-203)
Again, we see the issue of standardized testing and the funding that goes along with them.  If these schools do not meet their AYP then they can have the penalty of losing all their funding.  Without this funding schools are pretty much on their own for getting their scores up for the next time around.  Not only do they have to try and get these scores up, but they have to suffer with less money from the government.  I feel like this can make or break a school and determine the outcome of what happens in the lives of the children.  A lot lies on the shoulders of these exams and it is all how well the teachers prepare the students to ready them for these high stakes exams.

Quote 4- "If the president had used his leadership to advocate for transfers not only within school districts, but between them, the transfer option might have had real meaning and, indeed, if earnestly enforced, it might have opened up the possibilities for mightily expanded racial integration in suburban schools surrounding our core cities."(Kozol, p. 203-204)
I really thought this quote had great insight to how our presidents should have acted in the past in order to help diversify our school systems.  It could even work in todays day and age, but in order for this to happen, there needs to be a big change!  I grew up in  a suburban town, where our high school had students bused in from Hartford.  This opportunity for them to learn was much better than in their own community, but also this opportunity gave us the chance to learn from them and understand their culture. I feel like having a diverse school district is very important not only for the equality for all, but also for the opportunity for everyone to coexist and learn from one another.

Quote 5- "Playing games of musical chairs with children's lives, when half the chairs are broken and the best chairs are reserved primarily for people of his class and race, is cynical behavior in a president."(Kozol, p. 204)
I really liked this quote and the analogy of musical chairs to race and class of the president.  It was a aspiring quote and a strike to all the presidents and how they cannot find out how to create equality for all.  They have been saying they will for the longest time, but instead do what they think will make them look good.  Will the problem of inequality ever be solved?  I think there needs to be a drastic change in our world or politics to allow for equality.  I hope it will happen in my lifetime, but I don't think there is much hope for that to happen.

Quote 6- "Highly implausible test-score fluctuations in the Houston schools have awakened suspicions of cheating on the part of principals who had apparently been pressured by administrators to do anything they could to boost the scores."(Kozol, p. 206)
Ha ha.  How could this be true, cheating on the part of a principal?  This quote makes me laugh to see that someone could cheat to get his/her school to pass the standardized tests.  I understand that there is a lot of pressure on people high up to get their school to succeed the first time at these tests, but isn't cheating just setting up your students to fail in life.  By promoting cheating, students will think it is okay to do throughout their schooling career.  Cheating doesn't allow for any learning and these students are set up for failure.  If I were these principals, I would feel bad for the failure of the students I was responsible for!

The following quotes are taken from Anthology Chapters 21, 22, and 23

Quote 1- "The call for educational reform has gained the status of a recurring national event, much like the annual Boston Marathon." (Anthology, p. 197)
This doesn't surprise me because we live in an ever changing world.  We are always trying to better our world and what we can do to benefit, not only in the moment, but for our future as well.  Our country is always trying to one up other countries in the race to the top aspect, so we are always changing what we can do to benefit our education system.  I thought it was funny to compare how we are always reforming our education system, just like the Boston Marathon occurs annually.  I guess you can say that this analogy means we are reforming quote often.

Quote 2- "But unlike many past educational reform movements, the present call for educational change presents both a threat and challenge to public school teachers that appears unprecedented in our nation's history." (Anthology, p. 197)
This quote goes along with quote one in what is happening in the reforms of the present day.  We, teachers, are the most affected of the reform movements.  Teachers have to worry about various aspects of the career, such as jobs being threatened.  Also, teachers are presented with a more challenging job due to the fact that they have deal with new rules, regulations, and laws put into effect.  I don't see this career getting any easier in the near future.  This is one of the most challenging and most jobs in the world.  I didn't choose this job for the money, but rather to teach children and learn from them at the same time.  I hope that these reforms can continue, but only in a positive way, that will benefit students and teachers together.

Quote 3- "Similarly, the debate provides teachers with the opportunity to organize collectively so as to struggle to improve the conditions under which they work and to demonstrate to the public the central role that teachers must play in any viable attempt to reform the public schools." (Anthology, p. 198)
I think this is very important not only for the conditions of teachers and their unity, but also to help benefit the students and give them the best possible learning chances.  Teachers need to come together and form these groups, debates, unions, and communities to help them through the struggle of education reforms and other topics in education.  These teams allow for the collaboration of ideas in order to reflect on the position teachers are in, as well as trying to come up with solutions to benefit their careers.   I think this goes hand in hand with teacher unions and how teachers are represented in order to help them through struggles and create equal opportunities for all.