Reading+Reflections

 ﻿ 1. **M1. Miss Brodie’s teaching views and techniques are easily depicted from the beginning of the book. She does not follow the curriculum the way she is supposed to. She often shares stories about her life experiences with the “Brodie set”. She goes above and beyond what a teacher is supposed to do by talking about her love life and giving her class life lessons. The girls also socialize with Miss Brodie outside of school for various reasons. Therefore, the girls have an ordinary relationship with Miss Brodie, which does not usually take place in most classes. She crosses the line as a teacher in regard to what she is expressing to her students. There are certain things that teachers should not discuss with their students. **

Laura:

You seem to be writing two things here. First, you seem to admire that Brodie takes teaching seriously and devotes herself to her craft and her students, but you think she crosses the line as far as the content of what she shares with her students. But, you also describe her relationship with her students "ordinary" which does not seem consistent with the other points you are making. I think this post would have been better if it was a little more specific so that we could sort out the different facets of Brodie's character and teaching profile. For myself, I think that teachers always teach a little about themselves. This is especially true with younger children and students with special needs. You need to establish a person bond to reach and motivate students. In addition, a large part of education is not mastering subject matter, but learning how to live and the teacher informs the students by how they carry themselves and the life lessons they share. I think Brodie does a good job sharing her experiences but does a poor job of modeling proper adult behavior. In many ways she lowers herself to the maturity of her students in the games and manipulations she engages in.

Mr. Brunelli

2. I was least expecting Sandy to end up having an affair with Mr. Lloyd. This seemed very odd especially since Miss Brodie was once involved with him. That goes to show how far set the boundaries are between these girls and their teachers. It was not surprising to find out that Sandy was the one who betrayed Miss Brodie after all. Alot of attention was placed on Sandy right from the start of the book and this continued throughout the whole book. It was unfortunate that Miss Brodie did end up getting fired and that she never found out which one of her girls went against her. Throughout all my years of attending school my teachers never spoke about their private life. Their jobs could have been placed in jeopardy by doing this, which is exactly what happened to Miss Jean Brodie. I am surprised that you are surprised. Muriel Spark is just laying about a typical "love triangle" here where Sandy targets/is targeted by Lloyd because of their mutual antagonism with Brodie. What better way to demonstrate that she is not just dependable, but desirable. Obviously, this is not appropriate, but Sandy is becoming like Brodie in that she uses relationships as weapons to settle scores. I think that Sandy turns against Brodie because she realizes the full consequences of Brodie's behaviors and the negative consequences and decides on another path. While attention is paid on Sandy from the beginning of the book, she is not a reliable narrator because her memory is obviously clouded and distorted as the style of the book indicates. I am not sure I think it is unfortunate that Brodie was fired; her actions were beyond the pale. It is unfortunate that a talented teacher lost perspective and that her talents will not be available for the many students who would have benefited from them.

Mr. Brunelli

3. Henry Higgens is rude and abrupt. When Eliza comes to him for help he treats her with no respect. I believe he knows that he can transform her into something beautiful. He criticizes and picks on Eliza to push her to do better. This is part of her transformation. I agree with Mrs. Higgen's statement "You certainly are a pretty pair of babies, playing with your live doll," She believes that these men are just having a fun experiment with this young lady. She does not think they are going to take it seriously. Eliza had every right to throw the slipper at Higgens. She was angry and hurt because Higgen's cares more about his slippers then her. She does not want to be seen as an object to him. Higgen's starts to realize he must treat her more as an equal.

4. All the books we have read throughout the year so far have been interesting. They have provided me with new information and a brighter outlook on teaching. My favortie books are the ones we read over the summer. I enjoyed reading them the most. They really got into detail about what makes a good teacher along with the struggles of teaching. Pygmalion and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie were two interesting books. I am looking forward to the next quarter and the new books that we will be reading.

**__Quarter 2__**
1. Our supply list scavenger hunt was a success. Adriana, Kim and I went to A.C Moore not knowing what we were going to buy. We were not sure of what we wanted to achieve by the end of this experience. When we left the store, we came out with a bunch of interesting, fun and educational objects. We were economical in our spendings and it taught me alot about creativity. As a teacher you will learn how to be creative and also learn that you do not need to spend alot of money while doing that. A classroom can be filled with many exciting materials and objects that do not need to be expensive or over the top. I purchased glitter, color flashcards, play dough, and a mirror as my contribution to this project. Each of those objects have their own meaning and purpose in a classroom. When I eventually have my own classroom I would like to incorporate some of these materials into my lessons. Overall I learned alot about being economic about my every day spendings and how this could help me in the long run as a teacher.

2. The chapter psychoanalysis and moral development described two different people dealing with different moral experiences. Ruby is a young black girl from New Orleans who initiated school desegregation. She was brave, well-adjusted and mature for her age. Some may say this could be a problem at her age. She never showed much anger towards the people that have tormented and disrespected her throughout her lifetime. Ruby said that her parents have preached to her that it is best to "pray for her tormentors". I believe a six year old should not have this feeling at such a young age. She should be able to deal with this issue the way she wants too. It is normal to get offended and feel trapped when people are racist towards you. Hank on the other hand is not racist and has no problem with Ruby. He sees everyone as an equal anqd does not judge. His morals make him a likeable boy and they make him seem care free and approving of all. Both of these characters have followed their morals. Sometimes morals are carried out for the rest of your life and other times people learn and grow from what they believe in a positive or negative way. In Hank's case he grew up to be troubled and rebellious.

3. I did my movie clip on the movie Beauty and the Beast. I chose the scene when Belle and the Beast slow dance to the song "Tale as Old as Time". They are surrounded by their friends; the clock, the candle, Chip, and Mrs. Potts. This movie relates to me in many ways. I relate to Belle the most. I look past outer beauty and care about what is in the inside of a person. I am not one to judge a book by its cover. I like to get to know someone as a person and I am willing to help them in any way possible. Belle is relaxed and down to earth just like me. I make sure that I enjoy life to the fullest and take up any challenges that come my way. Belle and the Beast shared a romantic moment during their slow dance which is why I chose this scene for my movie clip. I am a romantic and I just love the way Belle is dressed as well as the Beast. Belle is a beautiful and caring girl who looks past what is right in front of her and is approving of all. Therefore this movie describes me very well.

4. Bruno Bettelheim is the author of the book The Uses of Enchantment:The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. Bruno tricked America for over 30 years. He lied about himself in many ways. Bruno became famous because he wrote alot of controversial things. He became an expert in autism. He believed that autism was caused by cold mothers who did not really care about their children. He also believd that the cure for autism was to tell stories that were harsh and real ino order to form structure and guidance. Fairytales should relate back to the lives of children and teach them important life lessons. It was seen as a good thing to expose kids to gory,detailed, and shocking stories. I agree that kids shouldn't always be exposed to life as a fairytale with a happy ending. They must go through seeing the hardships and obstacles that life has to offer sometimes when reading fairytales.

5. I read Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the Grimm's book. This version of snow white is very similar to the fairytale version that I grew up with. The only difference is that the evil stepmother attempts to kill Snow White three times. She first tied lace around Snow White's waist so quickly and tight that she lost her breathe and fell to the ground. Snow White regained conciousnes and wakes up to the seven dwarfs. The second time, the evil stepmother brought a poisoned comb to her and she brushed her hair with it and fell to the ground. She once again woke up to the presence of the seven little men. The third time the evil step mother came to Snow White with a bright red poisonous apple. Snow White ate this apple and fell to the ground. The step mother assumed that she finally killed Snow White. The fairytale version is not as violent and cruel as the Grimm version. The Grimm version is better detailed and does not hold back on reality and describing what really happens in life.

6. I remember reading the short story version of Flowers for Algernon in eighth grade. It is a great story about a man who has a surgery to increase his intelligence. Charlie Gordon is determined to become smarter for many reasons. He wants to be able to read and write like everyone else. He wants to fit in with the rest of the world and be able to hold adult conversations with his friends at the bakery. He wants to impress his family and everyone around him. Most iportantly, Charlie's goal is to beat the mouse Algernon in the maze. Charlie is put through many physcological tests and is under the supervision of Professor Harold Nemur, Dr. Strauss and Burt Selden. They have completed this experiment on Algernon and are hoping to have the same results for Charlie. His is the first human to have this experiment tested on. I have enjoyed reading the book so far. Charlie has a different way comprehending and understanding the world around him. It is interesting to see how he writes his Progress Reports everyday. He does not know how to spell everything correctly. I never realized how difficult it was for people to read a write who had learning disabilities or a low IQ.

1. Charlie begins to lose hope since he is not feeling any smarter a few days after his operation. Alice came to visit him and reassured him that he cannot lose faith and he must continue to belive that he will get better. Later on their are improvements in Charlie's intelligence. He is better at vocabulary, grammer, and spelling. Hilda the nurse belives that the operation that was done to Charlie was sinful and we are to assume that Nemur and Strauss are the reason that she has been removed. Charlie's language has become stronger and this has allowed him to tell us more about his life. Charlie's past with his mother is uncovered and we see that this tense relationship that they had, has made a major impact on his motivation to become smarter. Alice Kinnian has shown alot of caring and sympathy for Charlie. She has been by his side all along, afraid that the experiment will go wrong.
 * __Quarter 3__**

2. Charlie has been showing major improvements. His co-workers are beginning to feel threatened by his intellligence because he now is like one of them. He can hold an adult-like conversation and participate in disscusion. They cannot joke around and insult him any longer since Charlie knows what they are trying to do. They are shocked at the new person he has become. The co-workders began to question their own knowledge. The doctors and Ms. Kinnian view Charlie's progress as a good thing. They see him as an adult friend and their partner rather then a person with a lack of intelligence. Charlie used to try and please people in order to fit in but after the operation he wants to do more for himself instead of trying to look good in everyone else's eyes.

3. In class we watched a portion of the movie Freakanomics. We watched the part where there was an experiment conducted to determine whether money based incentives will raise student achievment levels in school. Each student is paid fifeteen dollars at the end of the month if their grades are C or above in every class. They are also placed in a raffle for the chance to win 500 dollars. For some this incentive worked and for others it had no effect. The movie interviewed two students and one of them was motivated to do well and win the final prize while the other one was not motivated and ended up doing worse at the end of each month. This was extremely interesting to see because it relates back to my school. I can almost assure that if this incentive was placed in my school, many students would bring their grades up and be more willing to do well in school. The movie was good and I would like to see more of it. It gives you an idea of how schools work and how they can be improved.

4.We have been reading a novel called __The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time__. It is about a fifeteen year-old, autistic boy named Chistopher who is trying to solve the murder of a dog named Wellington who belongs to Mrs. Shears He cares about animals and wanted to find out who cruelly killed the innocent dog. He is a smart young man with scattered thoughts. Through the first few chapters I was confused because he talks back and forth bewteen math problems and the murder mystery. I finally got the hang of what is going on. Something seems suspicious because Christopher's father keeps telling him to stay out of others peoples business and that he should not try to figure out who killed the dog. Chistopher's mother died 2 years ago and I thought that it was a bit strange that his father would not let Chris visit his dying mother in the hospital. I am making a prediction that Chris's dad has something to do with the murder of the dog and the disapperance of his mother.

5. Christopher refers to his classmates as "stupid" while admiting that he should instead call them "special needs" He feels surperior to these special needs students and wants to prove himself smater then them by taking an A-level math test and doing well on it. He finally understands that he is too special needs and comes to this conclusion by stating that everyone has special needs inclduing his teachers because they wear big, thick glasses. At dinner one night Christopher explains to his father that he suspects that Mr. Shears has killed Wellington, the dog. When he says this his father slams down on the table. He becomes angered and orders him to never mention the killing of Wellington ever again. I find it interesting how Christopher belives that seeing four red cars in a row means that it is going to be a really good day but on the otherhand when he sees four yellow cars in a row it is going to be a terrible day and he sits in the corner to read and eat lunch. I understand that this occurs often in autistic children. They have their own mind set and way of thinking.

6. The Curious Indcident of the Dog in the Nigh-time was a good book. I got really into it and enjoyed reading about Christopher. I learned many new and interesting things about autistic children and how they go about their everyday lives. Christopher faces struggles with every day tasks that anyone without autism would have no problem doing. Chris takes things literally and that gets him into most of his troubles. he does not like being touched or yelled at. He has many techniques that get him through his day. This book not only expressed the autism aspect of Chris's life but also his struggles within his family. He uncovers alot of hidden stories and facts about his family. I felt bad that his father has been lying to him the entire time about his mother. His mother is not really dead. She ran away with Mr. Shears and his father had an affair with Mrs. Shear's. Alot of things occur throughout this novel. This is all alot for a young boy with autism to take in and accept.