AGENDA:
1. Review Course Criteria/Morning Reflection: Suli Breaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y
Quickwrite: Your thoughts and post a comment
2. Read Why I Write and Write Your Own Why I Write Letter to Your Self
Date: October 10, 2011
Summary:
Prize-winning international poet, translator, and essayist Jane
Hirshfield's poetry speaks to the central issues of human existence:
desire and loss, impermanence and beauty, and the many dimensions of our
connection with others. She tells NWP why she writes.
JANE HIRSHFIELD
Why do I write?
I
write because to write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to
cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery.
A thought was not there, then it is. An image, a story, an idea about
what it is to be human, did not exist, then it does. With every new
poem, an emotion new to the heart, to the world, speaks itself into
being. Any new metaphor is a telescope, a canoe in rapids, an MRI
machine. And like that MRI machine, sometimes its looking is accompanied
by an awful banging. To write can be frightening as well as magnetic.
You don't know what will happen when you throw open your windows and
doors.
To write a new sentence, let alone a new poem, is to cross the threshold into both a larger existence and a profound mystery.
Why
write? You might as well ask a fish, why swim, ask an apple tree, why
make apples? The eye wants to look, the ear wants to hear, the heart
wants to feel more than it thought it could bear...
The
writer, when she or he cannot write, is a person outside the gates of
her own being. Not long ago, I stood like that for months, disbarred
from myself. Then, one sentence arrived; another. And I? I was a woman
in love. For that also is what writing is. Every sentence that comes for
a writer when actually writing—however imperfect, however
inadequate—every sentence is a love poem to this world and to our good
luck at being here, alive, in it.
RELATED ARTICLES ON NWP.ORG
- Why I Write: A Celebration of the National Day on Writing
- Poet Laureate Kay Ryan: Poet as Teacher, Teacher as Poet
- Billy Collins: A `Reader's Poet' Reads at NWP's 2009 Annual Meeting
4. Natalie Goldberg's "Test 1"
This video was very eye opening for many people. The issues he addressed will probably never be addressed or changed in society, I think it'll actually get worse. I feel the same way as he does, and I've been saying that for a while now. Many friends of mine, including myself are good at some subjects at school and bad at other but we still have to take the same classes and take the same tests even though we have different strengths and weaknesses. Also, many curriculums are designed for the majority of students NOT to pass, which happens all the time. I feel like everyone needs education to be successful, but we should be able to choose how and what we want to learn, and not take standardized tests created by people who've graduated years ago. It's becoming harder and harder to past important test, which in my opinion, is all a part of the government's plan.
ReplyDeleteIt makes you think about what are other people's opinions on education. But at the same time, people's opinion wouldn't really matter when it comes to that.
ReplyDeleteI felt as if the slam poetry was absolutely true. Everyone has different abilities and the RCSD enforces the same tactics and expects everyone to succeed. Parents have high expectations and doesn't see how hard or easy school could be for their child. Most of the time they are contradicting because they often try to lead us in the right direction, giving us life lessons and showing us things that we shouldn't do, but they what they tell us not to do in our present. I love getting an education to further in life, but I wish the system wasn't as closed minded.
ReplyDeleteThis video was both extremely powerful and relatable. This past school year I didn't do as well on my finals as I hoped I would and that seriously took a toll on my academic confidence. It's refreshing to know that there are other people who feel the exact same way that I do and gives me hope for a better, brighter future of education. I think it is VERY important to know that a test score doesn't determine your intelligence, as mentioned in the video, every person learns and showcases their intelligence in different ways so the same test for everyone is not fair.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the message Sully Bricks is trying to display. From a young age we are taught that if we aren't good at school we wont be successful and that simply isn't true for everyone. Similar to how Sota selects certain students there should be certain ways of education for certain students; we are individuals. Standardized education is a fork in the road where some succeed and others fail that would have succeeded if taught like an individual; we are individuals.
ReplyDeleteI could identify with nearly everything he was saying. Although I love to learn, school stresses me out thoroughly and causes me great anxiety. Sometimes I feel like my whole future is determined by how well I do in school, but that simply isn't true. My grades do not determine how good of a person I am. Although, I try to do my best.
ReplyDeleteA lot has changed since our parents were kids. Society has adapted with the time, and the kids have changed with it. the students theses days are not numbers but individuals and fight for that to be recognized. Exams shouldn't be the deciding factor on our future. Even though we are all taught the same stuff doesn't mean that we all learn it in the way we are taught. Just because some one can learn and remember things from a timeline doesn't mean the person next to them can. Our grades on our papers don't help us get jobs. Even if you get an A in the end it doesn't mean that will help you get an entry level job, they probably don't even bother looking.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me think about whether or not what I've been told since elementary school was just told to me to strengthen what my future teachers would be telling me. For example, whether or not I should be upset with getting a below average score on a test or exam or that a more advanced (and expensive) degree would give be a better chance at success. Personally, I feel like a piece of paper shouldn't dictate your future. What should dictate your future is what you retained from the years you stayed in school.
ReplyDeleteThe video really reflect who I feel about the issues of school. I like to learn and like to develop my skills, therefore I would gladly accept any offer to do so, but I dislike it when this knowledge comes back to hurt me. Beginning to learn something knew should not strike anxiety and fear into my heart, but that's the disadvantage that school provides to education. This is something that I liked a lot in the video with his use of the word 'irony'. School, the very thing that was supposed to facilitate and benefit education, only makes becoming educated that much more difficult. The tone, pacing, and atmosphere were also incredibly effective at bringing the point across. The judgment of one's worth through numbers as opposed to what actually exists within their minds, being dictated by what the school tells you to do rather than it asking you what you can do, is what is truly unnerving.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this slam poem, and I agreed with everything he said. Nowadays everything is determined by a test score. A test score is just a test score, your whole year as a student shouldn't be determined by your final test score. Kids are starting to hate school, because they put to much pressure on us with these tests. Our teachers and parents are pushing us to get that high score. This slam poem really showed a lot of emotion and showed the pressure we feel as students. Nodaway they judge everything on not how we do in class but how our test scores came out. The video was really powerful and really expressed how we feel.
ReplyDeleteTyshon White
ReplyDeleteI believe that our society is divided by a undefined caste system by poor average and ones that excel which abandons many of others dreams leaving them to grovel in their unfortunate fate.
This was a very inspirational video. It gave me a new perspective on the school system and how students are being taught. This video has taught me to go after my dreams even if I don’t have the scores. This video encourages students to not focus on the scores but to focus on who you really are.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with this piece completely. I think that (in some cases) it acts as a motivator or an excuse to not do your schoolwork. I do believe that test score are relatively high risk and that a test score doesn't determine our intelligence. Just because an individual may not see a future using calculus, doesn't mean that they should not learn it. Education is supposed to be an experience. Elementary and High school are supposed to introduce you to a variety of topics and help you discover your passion. College is were you specialize in your desired field. I do believe it is a powerful piece with a strong message.
ReplyDeleteThis video was really amazing to me because he was speaking what I had always felt. He touched upon how exams seem to determine our success and our futures and how we are judged by our scores and not by ourselves. Everyone is different especially when it comes down to school and learning techniques yet we all have to take the same test. I was glad to see someone understood how I felt about school because this pressure of society on our education is stressful and can tear people down. I also feel that his articulation and his accent added immensely to this piece because you could tell he believed in what he spoke and he made you believe too.
ReplyDeleteI almost shed tears from the message translated in the slam poem. It made the hairs stand on my back just to realize what he said. It really is a struggle being black since everyone subjects you to a criminal. Whenever me my girlfriend and her mom goes into Wegmans im being observed as in why the hell is this black guy with this whte lady and mixed girl. I once went to go get gummy bears from the candy section and a clerk asks me if I need help scooping candy into a bag while everyone around me was doing the same. I hate racism!! BLACK POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete