Chapter 15 response

I think the theme in chapter fifteen, is the children are not reaching their potential due to the school they attend.  Pineapple attends P.S 65 and is not as challenged as she should be. Jonathan finally keeps his promise and goes to visit the school and stops in her classroom. While there he observes that the learning material is not as hard as it should be for the children’s ages. He also sees that they spend a lot of the day wasting time waiting in lines. They wait to go to the lunchroom, wait to eat lunch, wait to go outside, and wait to get back into the classroom. Also, the staff and teachers are constantly coming and leaving. They send the most inexperienced teachers to P.S 65, which later quit or get fired. This takes a toll on what the children learn because it is hard to keep the lessons straight with different teachers teaching the lessons all the time. This theme followed throughout the chapter and struck me as the most important because, it shows how great the potential of the children and they are not getting a fair shake. How much better could the students at P.S 65 be if they had adequate learning materials and teachers that stay with them for longer than a few months?

The most important character in this chapter is Pineapple. She is one of the examples of the children at P.S 65 what are a victim of a bad school system. Also, since the chapter is names Pineapple takes control, which I think is about her leading Jonathon through the school. She wants to be his boss for the day in leading him around. She later wants to know why he didn’t come back to her classroom after lunch. He explains that he was visiting another classroom.

The chancellor of New York City’s Schools had taken over P.S 65 and had been trying to reconstitution it. Though he tried his best, it wasn’t enough for the school and would later be dismissed from P.S 65.  Jonathon says he doubts that any one will ever fix P.S 65 and that if the Board of Education wouldn’t send their own children there, then why does Pineapple have to go there. “An element of what appears to be regarded as acceptable unfairness is built into things, however, by the economic class that sets priorities and shapes public opinion in this city.” I choose this quote because it fits the theme of this chapter, that the children are being wrote off and being considered ok to have lower standards even if they want to learn more. If other parents wouldn’t send a child to the school, then why send any child to the school. It is unfair that students and a student like Pineapple would have to attend this school.

Chapter 16 response

The event that struck me as important in this chapter was the poem that Benjamin pointed out. The reason this poem stuck me as the most important event was because this poem, to me, shows how Benjamin feels about being in school. He roams around and looks out the window like an animal that is in a cage.

I believe the main character in this chapter is Benjamin because it shows how some of the older kids might feel about being in school. He was held back a year and is facing being held back again so I think that plays on his confidence because he doesn't want to be held back again. He also changes his whole outlook on life which makes him almost a completly different person from the time the chapter starts to the end.

I feel the writing was the best when Benjamin pointed out the poem and Kozol asked him to read the poem outloud to him which the poem was,


"A lion in a zoo,
Shut up in a cage,
lives a life
of smothered rage.

A lion in the plain,
Roaming free,
Is happy as ever
A lion can be."

The poem makes you see Benjamin in a different way and explains him perfectly.

Chapter 15 Double Dutching

  The idea that struck me as the most important in this chapter was the difference between the schools P.S. 65 ans P.S. 30. P.S. 65 is nowhere near the quality of school that P.S. 30 is. Although they are not far apart from each other in terms of distance, the quality operation at P.S. 30 shows the difference a few really good people can make in an education system. Even though P.S. 65 is not up to par with other schools, there are some really good people that come and go in this institution. Unfortunately, the kids that go to P.S. 65 do not have that option. They are stuck with the bad hand that they are constantly being dealt.

  I would say that Pineapple is the most important character in this chapter. Having Kozol explain the situation Pineapple deals with on a daily basis at P.S. 65, speaks volumes to her character. It is no wonder why she is comfortable taking control in situations. Her attending P.S. 65 only encourages this behavior. The lack of organization and lack of consistency in the school leaves Pineapple with no choice but to take control.

  I thought the writing was the best when Kozol was observing Pineapple at the school during lunch and at recess. He describes how she devours her food like it is the greatest food ever made and when he asked her if she liked her meal, she gave Kozol a nonchalant so so gesture. Pineapple also informs Kozol in this chapter that if she does not eat on time, she will get gas. After her lunch, and with a full belly, Pineapple goes to recess and shows off her double dutch skills. Kozol writes,"Her short and pudgy legs skip up and down and, as the girls increase the speed, her feet move very fast, not only up and down but also slightly outward to the sides, which, as she tells me later, is the key to doing it successfully"(Kozol 197). I chose this quote from Kozol because it was very detailed and I could visualize Pineapple doing the double dutch.     
  
   

Chapter 16 response- Colin Visconti

In chapter 16 of Kozol's book Ordinary Resurrections, I found that Ben finding the poem book was the most important event through the chapter. I feel this way because before ben found this book he was one person and after finding it he was completely different. When you first get introduced to Benjamin, you find out that he has a troubling time with school and the other children. Then after reading a poem in the poem book, he completely changes his out look towards his school work, the other children, and life in general.

 Also in chapter 16, I feel the most important character was Benjamin. I say this because Benjamin's story serves as a lesson in the chapter. Kozol showed how even young children can go through the process of introspection and find the right way to look at life and live. Benjamin shows that by completely changing his perspective on the world and that's a great accomplishment for a child.

During the reading of chapter 16, I found many important parts of the text that explain a number of characters. That being said, I feel the best section of the text that explained Benjamin clearly was on page 212 when ben reads a poem to the class:

"A lion in a zoo,
Shut up in a cage,
lives a life
of smothered rage.

A lion in the plain,
Roaming free,
Is happy as ever
A lion can be."

I feel this helped Ben and actually explained him very well.

 

Chapter 16 response

In this chapter I found that the event in which Benjamin found the book with poems was he most important. I find this the most important because in the chapter Kozol talks about how Ben had been held back and seems to pick on the smaller kids. He also mentions that he does not do his homework while the other kids are doing theirs and instead keeps getting out of his seat. It seemed as though Ben did not care for his education until he found the book with poems. Once he sat down with the book he read a poem bout a lion in a zoo, he seemed to relate himself to the lion while reading it. He read it to th class but once the other children left he read it with more passion and that is when Kozol realized that Benjamin liked poetry. It shows you that even someone like Kozol may missunderstand someone and not see who they may really be.

The most important character in this chapter is Benjamin. To start off the chapter is titled Benjamin, but also in this chapter Kozol is talking about the character and helping us better understand him. It shows the unseen passion the boy has. He was held back therefore old for his grade and almost being held back again. Kozol saw a boy who did not want to work on homework. Kozol states " I don't know if I'd gotten past my first impression of him as a rather loose-limbed, casual, and superficial boy who seemed to laugh too easily at other kids' mistakes" on page 213. He realizes after talking with Benjamin alone that he is a different person from the boy he thought he'd known before.

In this chapter Kozol has a lot of realizations. He finds that what his first impressions on people may not always be what he will later find of them. He also finds that though the kids that attend PS 30 still may struggle, they are still more fortunate then other children living in Mott Haven. He states on page 214 "They have this church in which to play and do their homework, with the help of tutors, after school. They have good books and toys, and games, and crayons, paints, and paper. They have supper. They have physical and moral safety. They have prayer. They have the fierce allegiace of the mothers and grand mothers. They have a priest whose vigilance is not flamboyant and whose loyalty is unconditional."  I chose this quote as the most important for the chapter because it talks about what the kids in the rough town are blessed with and how lucky they really are, compared to other children living in Mott Haven who do not know of Saint Mary's, or can not go there.

Kozol --Chapter Sixteen-- Journal Five

One of the events that struck me in this chapter was event that happened with Damian when he was almost kidnapped in board daylight in front of his uncle's house. It was the reaction of the other children that shocked me the most while Damian was retelling his story, they understood what it meant without actually knowing the full name and the mood of the room changed almost instantaneously. Yet when Damian was done with the story, the kids went into the possibilities of why a person would take a kid. I think that while some of their ideas were somewhat realistic, its the fact that these are kids and should not be able to understand the concept.

            I am going to say that Benjamin is the most important character in the Chapter. He is 11 years old and has already had to repeat the fourth grade once. He is developmentally challenged and is unable to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. He is important because he is the living embodiment of the phrase “Never judge a book by its cover.” Based on how he acts, one would think that he had more mental issues than what he let's on. But when Benjamin reads the Langston Hughes book and keeps on reading the poem over and over again trying to make sure that he understands what he his reading, able to pronounce and comprehend the words that he is reading. He showed Kozol that while he may have problems he is still going to learn and do the best that he can do.

The writing at its best, at least for me, is when Kozol using simple words to paint a very pretty picture. There was a time when Kozol just got done with helping the kids with their homework and they were all sitting down to eat supper, Kozol steeped outside for a breath of fresh air when he writes “After several days of snow weeping willow at the high point of the hill looks like a picture on a Christmas card. Its branches are bent down beneath big clumps that look like soft white comforters” (Kozol 213). A very serene scene for a book that is detailed on the level of poverty and what kids in neighborhood are having to deal with. I choose the quote because it reminded me that no matter how stressed out I feel or regardless of what is going on in my life that there is beauty everywhere in this world and one just has to stop and see it. 

Comments for Colin and Lacie

For your Comments on this Kim K Presentation:

1) Write about something done well.  What did you learn from this Presentation? What element or part of the Presentation stood out as particularly well done?

2)  Offer constructive criticism to help this group.  What seemed to need more work or development?  What questions do you have? Where could the Presentation have offered more or been more polished?

Post your Comment about these two things in the Comments section under this post.

Comments for Ashley and Alex

For your Comments on this Justin Bieber Presentation:

1) Write about something done well.  What did you learn from this Presentation? What element or part of the Presentation stood out as particularly well done?

2)  Offer constructive criticism to help this group.  What seemed to need more work or development?  What questions do you have? Where could the Presentation have offered more or been more polished?

Post your Comment about these two things in the Comments section under this post.

Comments for Sam and BreAnna

For your Comments on this The Walking Dead Presentation:

1) Write about something done well.  What did you learn from this Presentation? What element or part of the Presentation stood out as particularly well done?

2)  Offer constructive criticism to help this group.  What seemed to need more work or development?  What questions do you have? Where could the Presentation have offered more or been more polished?

Post your Comment about these two things in the Comments section under this post.

Comments for Amanda and Aleasha

For your Comments on this Harry Potter Presentation:

1) Write about something done well.  What did you learn from this Presentation? What element or part of the Presentation stood out as particularly well done?

2)  Offer constructive criticism to help this group.  What seemed to need more work or development?  What questions do you have? Where could the Presentation have offered more or been more polished?

Post your Comment about these two things in the Comments section under this post.

Comments for Stephon and Preston

For your Comments on this Drake Presentation:

1) Write about something done well.  What did you learn from this Presentation? What element or part of the Presentation stood out as particularly well done?

2)  Offer constructive criticism to help this group.  What seemed to need more work or development?  What questions do you have? Where could the Presentation have offered more or been more polished?

Post your Comment about these two things in the Comments section under this post.

Sam's Info

 Hi classmates! I just wanted to give everyone my info in case they needed to get a hold of me for future projects. My phone # 740-225-9608. You can also email me at  fox.1040@buckeyemail.osu.edu or fox.s.1040@gmail.com.

sam's blog

From what I remember in high school in the late 90's was the President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal. Some of the movies I enjoyed were Austin Powers and Something about Mary. I thought both of these movies were funny and I definitely had a thing for Cameron Diaz. Nintendo 64 was popular. Mario Cart and WCW/ NWO  Revenge were staples at everybody's house. My Childhood Idle John Elway also won back to back Super bowls with the Denver Broncos.  

Amanda's Pop Culture

I identified with the movies, music and television side of our pop culture during 2002.  The TV side that I most enjoyed most was the TV show “Friends.”

The show was about 6 friends, living in Manhattan, NY, trying to find success and love. The show first aired in September 2004 and made it through 10 seasons before being taken off the air in 2004 by NBC.

Courtney Cox’s character “ Monica “was the one that I remembered the most from the series as she starts out working this crappy job as a waitress, and through the series she had bad breakups and her friend Chandler who was always there for her. It was not realized until later in the series that they had a mutual attraction for one another. But, my point is that she brought herself up from a crappy job that she could not stand to work, to running her catering service.  Which just shows that if you work hard for what you want, eventually, you will get there through a lot of hard work and determination. 

 While it was more designed for comic relief; during the trials and tribulations of relationships and friendships. It did show me, at least that while you may feel like the whole world is against you, your friends are the ones who will be there with you on the curb, in the rain holding up an umbrella above the both of you while you cry on their shoulder.   

Lacie pop culture

When i was in middle school my brother and i were all about the show "the sweet life of zack and cody". My favorite person was maddie who is ashely tisdale. Her song "he said she said" came out and i thought it was the greatest thing ever. it was featured on the movie "bring it on in it to win it" which was my favorite movie at the time. The appeal of the show was the twins because im a twin and the appeal to the song was because it was an upbeat happy song anyone can dance to and the appeal to the movie was the cheering because i was a cheerleader. year 2007

Colin's moment of POP culture

Back in Junior high, the movie that was the ultimate influence on me and a lot of my friends would definitely have to be 300. not only was the style of the movie different but it pulled the badass out of everyone. it was one of the movies that even women enjoyed even though it had a total masculine and violent background. Facing the odds of thousands to 300, it was amazing how the director could capture the audience with such a sad defeat of our favorites, the Spartans, to the ungrateful Persians.

 

Preston's Pop Culture

When I was in Junior High a person who was in the pop culture that I most identify with back then was 50 cent. Back when I was in junior high rap was really taking off and everyone in my grade knew all the new 50 cent songs and sang them. I enjoyed it beacuse he came off as this tuff guy who talked about the real life in the hood and all the gangs that were in America. The appeal I had was that he rapped about the life of the streets and the days of his childhood and him struggling and then bringging himself up from nothing.

Another pop culture that had me going was the Pittsburgh Steelers, and having my mom being a big steelers fan and so that was a give in that I was going to be one. And so I remember watching them win not one but two Super Bowls and that was great because a hometown hero from where I am from won both of the Super Bowls and he was the QB for my favorite team, it couldn't of been better back then for the Steelers.

Ashley's Pop Culture

In middle school  I identified myself with different tv shows such as the hills and the wizard of Oz. I liked preident Bush Jr. just because my grandpa did. I liked and still do like the Bengals basically because most of my family likes them. I was interested in the tv shows because it would show different places along with different clothing styles that people have. It showed what was the hottest style.

BreAnna Baer Pop Culture

           When I was in High School the activity, well Show that was sticking with me was the Walking Dead. It is about the Zombie Apocalypse happening around the globe, and there are a group of survivors trying to find a safe haven, and its not going to well. I believed I clicked with the TV show so well because I love playing Xbox, so I play the Cod zombies and I really enjoy being the only survivor in the game, so applying it to a TV show and watching the cast survive and the ways they go about it is awesome. If there was a Apocalypse I would be a survivor! I believe that zombies are getting popular anyway, you had the world coming to an "end" in 2012 and people believing that there will be a  zombie apocalypse. To this day I still watch it and they made it to season 4 in February of 2014.

Homework for Monday, Feb. 10

Students, sorry we could not meet today and hope you are all doing well.

Can you please send me your revised drafts of Essay One to mikelohre@gmail.com?  Send it as an attachment in either Word format or RTF Rich Text Format.  Then I can open and print these, read them and give you feedback next week.  Then you can revise and polish them to finish the assignment.

For your reading, please read actively Chapters 10 and 11 in Ordinary Resurrections.

As always, bring your Cisneros book to class as we'll do a little reading together and brainstorm for our next Snapshot based on the book.

See you Monday!

Mike Lohre

Colin Visconti- response to "A Rice Sandwich"

In the beginning of the chapter, Esperanza shares her desire to be like the "special kids" (ones who are allowed to eat lunch in the cafeteria). She brings these thoughts home to her mother and asks for permission to eat in the "canteen." With a violent response from her mother, Esperanza then explains that all of her siblings have there own plans for lunch time and that there is no extra hassle for her to eat in the canteen. In return her mother decides to let her do as she wishes. so the next day at school she finds her self in trouble for trying to enter the canteen. in affect of her actions, Esperanza has to face Mother Superior. while having a note, Esperanza felt that she was granted access to the canteen, so she handed it to Mother Superior. Mother Superior had not taken the note very lightly an only granted Esperanza one day to eat in the canteen and she spent it crying.
     

Family of Little feet. Sam Fox

I do not like feet. So the beginning of this chapter made me a little nauseous. Especial when she describes grandpa's feet and how he stuffs them into his socks. But I think this chapter is more about how the shoes they acquire make them feel. These girls are still very young, but the shoes make them feel much older and a little dangerous.
The language that stood out to me the most was, "His feet were fat and doughy like thick tamales, and these he powdered and stuffed into white socks and brown leather shoes"(Cisneros 39). "Mr. Benny at the corner grocery puts down his important cigar"(Cisneros 40-41).
I picked these two sentences because, I got a visual of the feet, and I feel like I know Mr. Benny and his important cigar.

BreAnna's journal on "Alicia Who Sees Mice"

         The nutshell of the chapter is how the women in society do not go to college they were expected to work in a factory or stay home and keep things in order, even catching the mice. Alicia is afraid of mice and wants nothing to do with them at all. She is an intelligent individual, who has plans for herself in life. Alicia may be actually seeing the mice or just imagining them, but its the fear that will she carry her mothers place and be a housewife.
          The language in the chapter is descriptive, it stands out throughout the whole thing. My favorite sentences in the chapter are when Alicia is being described, "Inherited her mamma's rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university."  the other is her main description of Alicia it defines her goal for herself, "She doesn't want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin." These quotes stood out to me the most because I can relate, my mother graduated from high school and a few family members did not even make it to the end. My family does not go to college, we Baers have the tough skin and hardheadedness that we didn't need college, but I wanted to be different, I am the first Baer to attempt college and I will be the first  to graduate college and go far in my life.

Amanda view of "And some more" from the Cisnero's book

The And Some and More chapter started out with Esperanza, Nenny, Rachel, and Lucy trying to figure out the different names for Snow.  They each had their own ideas of how many names snow would have.Then they seemed to shift over to how many names clouds would have. Some technical and a lot made up. From there, seemed blow up a little into the name calling of each other.

It started out with a curious and some what funny mood, while tryuing to figure out the different names that snow and clouds would have. Then toward the middle when the name calling started seemed to get a little on the hurtful, mean side of things. The end went back to comicial as it was realized they all were being foolish.

Favorite quotes "You can do what you want to do, Nenny, but you better not talk to Lucy or Rachel if you want to be my sister."  I liked because it was funny. Realistically, it would not work. But it made me remember that I made that threat to my brother several times because I felt that was the only thing I could say and sound awesome at the same time. 

The second favorite quote I liked was "Uh-oh, Nenny. Better get the broom. Too much trash in our yard today." It reminded me of something my grandmother would do, if there was something or someone in her yard that she did not like, she was come out armed with robe, curlers and wide broom. Let me tell ya, my grandmother never missed her target when she got the motivation to throw the broom.

Aleasha's responce to "A Rice Sandwich"

In the story "A Rice Sandwich" Esperanza wants to eat in the canteen. The canteen is a place where the kids that live too far away to go home when it's lunch eat. Esperanza finally gets her mom to write her a note so she can eat in the canteen, but she learns it's not all it's cracked up to be.
My favorite quotes were from Esperanza's mom. One of them was "You kids just like to invent more work for me." because most parents will agree that their children sometimes make things more difficult on their parents. My second one was the letter that she wrote to the teacher saying,
"Dear Sister Superior,
Please let Esperanza eat in the lunchroom because she lives too far away and gets tired. As you can see she is very skinny. I hope to God she does not faint.
Thanking you,
Mrs. E. Cordero".
I found this humorous and a lot of the reason it stood out to me was because it's like the perfect example of what you don't say in a note to a school. It also made me remember when I was a senior in high school, it started snowing really bad and I texted my dad asking him to call the school and let me leave because my car sucked in the snow, well when my dad called the school he told them I texted him, and as you know most schools don't like their students having their phones on them, and my teacher wasn't very happy.

The Family of Little Feet.
Rachel, Lucy and Esperanza were given three pairs of high heeled shoes. They picked out of the three which ones they wanted, put them on and strutted past various stores and buildings and people in their town. They get a sense of new feeling, a good feeling and they say they're never going to take the heels off or wear any kind of other shoe again. They come across a bum man who Asks Rachel to kiss him for a dollar, and hypnotized by her new shoes and the dollar she actually thought about doing it until Lucy snapped her out of it and they ran in their shoes, ran all the way home, took them off and later on their shoes got thrown away.

The girls actually believed that the shoes changed their appearance when Lucy says, we are tired of begin beautiful on page 42. Why couldn't they feel beautiful without the shoes? In all reality if they were beautiful in the shoes then they were beautiful without the shoes.

When they previously said that they were never going to wear another shoe again that failed when one Tuesday her mother, who is very clean, throws them away. But no one complains. They never needed the shoes, they just liked how it made them feel for that day but i'm sure they learned that they could feel that way without them.

I highlighted those two ideas because they never needed the shoes to feel that way and everyone should know they're beautiful the way they are and that they don't need items to make them feel a certain way.

The Vargas kids are bad. They don't like to listen to people. Also they are loud and obnoxious. They are also disrespectful. The theme of the chapter is to show how bad that the Vargas kids are.

On my active listening I highlighted one sentence. "They are without respect for all things living, including themselves." This sentence to me just prove how bad and disrespectful  that the Vargas kids are.

So Many Children

Rosa Varga has so many children she didn't know what to do. She tried juggaling all of them the best she could, but at some point she lost control in the chaos.
 The kids are wild and off the wall, they swing from branches, break things, and jump of roofs. They have no repsect when someone tells them to stop or they will get hurt, they just run away.The neighborhood used to look out the them, but they have gave up due to the crazy behavior. They now just expect it and let them go devasting the neighborhood.

"From buttoning and bottling and babying"
"One day they are playing chicken on Mr. Benny's roof"
These were my two favorate qoutes from this chapter. I think it is funny and almost everyone can relate. In almost every neighborhood there are "Those kids", the crazy ones that are destructive and wild that everyone knows.

Preston's Post Darius & the Clouds

Darius and the Clouds:

In Darius and the Clouds talks about how a boy named Darius who was a fool in class and never really tried in school talked about clouds and how he see's God. Darius doesn't really talk much and he chases girls and does tricks looked up and showed the clouds and pointed out that the big one in the sky was God.

And what I picked out from this chapter was that not every bad or good persons does well but if they see God and believe in him then they can do anything they want and I think that was one of the points Sandra Cisneros shows. She also talks about how that there is a lot of sad in this town and that the clouds can keep you happy, said "here there is too much sadness and not enough sky". and she goes on and says that they take what they can and make the most of it.

Ashley's post on "some more"

In this chapter the kids were arguing about several things. It started with how mant types of snow there is and how many different types of clouds there are, It then quickly turned into an argument between the children and Racheal called Esperanza a fat face along with Nancy a pig-eye.
Two favorite phrases i like are " I'm saying your mama's ugly...ummm... like bare feet in September". Also I like the metaphor You are like the cream of wheat cereal. You're like the lumps.It is not the insults I like, but the metaphor.