4/23 Presentations

Wow, todays topics were all very interesting. The topic that was the most intriguing to me was that of deaf education. I really never thought about how deaf people interact differently in public schools. It just seemed so unfortunate how much going to a mainstream school can have a negative effect on social skills and how few deaf schools there are. That can be one paper on its own. Deaf schools definitely need to be more prevalent. Overall, great topic. I am sure that paper will be great, especially since Jessica has such personal experience with it.

April 23rd Presentations

Achievement gap:
It was really interesting that you incorporated how SAT scores are monitored and reviewed in the collegiate applications. I also thought it was interesting that it was stated that there is a large gap in sciences and people claiming that minorities do worse on the ACT because its based (45%?) on science related topics.

Autistic Children - Animals therapy:
The only reason I know anything about this topic is because it was included in the Nicholas Sparks book, "Dear John". I thought that it was really interesting that you included a variety of different therapeutic techniques that can be utilized. I think that they really strengthened your topic, and the variety provided alternative options.

Deaf Culture:
I liked how you opened with the question and signing. Overall your presentation was probably one of the best so far. You made it so much more interesting because of your clear enthusiasm and knowledge for/about the topic. But because of your previous involvement its probably important that, in your paper, you avoid sounding too biased.

April 21st Presentations

I thought that the presentation on ADHD was very enlightening. I had no idea that children with ADHD had such a problem focusing. I was only aware of kids with ADD who are prescribed Adderal, which leads to over diagnosis because of the affects of adderal on focusing. Many students abuse the drug, buying and using it to complete tasks. So I think its really interesting that the focus was on how parents and teachers can help these kids, and she didn't focus on how medications can help the students. Over medicating is problematic and if the focus is shifted away from medication to specific activities and teachings, I think we'd be better off as a society.

Response to April 21st's Oral Presentations

Lauren's presentation on ADD and ADHD is probably one of the most controversial of today. Not only are there plenty of mis-diagnoses but there are plenty real cases of it as well. I would like to see her discuss how the mis-diagnoses not only take away from the children who are actually struggling with the disease but also the effects of the drugs on those mis-diagnoses. It would be really interesting to see the effects on both those real cases and the ones who don't need the drugs.

Malika's presentation is another huge controversy of today. Many Americans are not education on current events around the world. I'm not so sure this is completely the teacher's fault though. Some students needs to take it upon themselves to maybe read a paper or watch the news once in awhile even if it is just "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report". After all, adults do not have the schooling that we do, and for them to be educated on current events the have to take it upon themselves. Maybe Malika could discuss the amount of news available to the students who may or not be knowledgeable on the subject.

On the holistic vs. Waldorf education I would like to see post schooling studies. You can't tell much from the studies during schooling. If you look at the kids in their college or post college life that is how you tell if their education foundation was better.

3rd Presentations

I forgot what order people presented in so im just gonna talk about them sporadically. I know that ADHD and ADD are supposedly over diagnosed because its most doctors approach to just medicate someone when the parents claim theres a problem and demand a solution. I would like to see if there are any studies out there showing the long term effects ADHD and ADD medication have on young children. Such as future drug use and depression as well as dependency.
I agree that the genocide in Darfur has been forgotten by the media for the past 2 years but why haven't the UN or some other global organization tried to actually intervene? As horrible as this may sound, its not the US's responsibility to stop it. Besides no matter what we do we will be criticized for our decision. If we take no action then history will look back and say that the current world power let crimes against humanity take place while in a position to stop it. However if do step in it will only worsen current US sentiment in other countries. People will claim that we are trying to be the hero and point out everything that goes wrong as we try to stop the genocide.
Finally I know very little about Holistic education. But I would agree that traditional education is not right for everyone. Some people just respond better to a different learning environment and I do believe that while grades and performance matter, that they should be introduced later in school so as to try and relieve pressure from kids who don't perform well in classroom because everyone is different.

Presentations Round 3

I thought Joyce's topic of alternative forms of education and their outcomes was a great topic. Like I had said in class, I have a little cousin who goes to a Montessori school Chicago and is already way ahead for her age. That had always lead me to believe that those kinds of schools usually had students coming out further ahead than other kids at their age level would (at a public school). After hearing Joyce's presentation and comments about how some the students fall behind or aren't used to the pressure of grading when in college, I realized that it is a more controversial form of education than i had originally thought.

Day 3

Malika's topic is interesting because I don't think many people know what's going on in Darfur. There are so many bad things that are happening there, and we aren't doing enough to stop it. Even though "Save Darfur" was a big organization at my high school, a lot of people don't even know what Darfur is, let alone that it's a region where there's a genocide going on right now. I thought she brought up an interesting point, that we are becoming numb, or immune, to mass destruction. We have been through a lot, with hurricane Katrina, 9/11, etc, that mass murder makes the headlines, but it is not shocking. It's not bad enough that people are getting together to do anything about it.

Lauren's presentation about ADHD was interesting too because helping a child through childhood is not just on the individual. Every party has to do their part. The student, parents, and teachers, need to contribute to the student's success. If one part is weak or nonexistent, the chances that the student succeeds and becomes like their peers is unlikely. Then there's the question of how do make it a reality. How do you change education to accomodate students? When Lisa gave her presentation, we talked about special ed. co-teachers, and that they weren't effective. So how does the education world make school a better place for ADD and ADHD children succeed?

Joyce's topic brought up a totally new perspective about non-traditional education. It really redefines what success is. The success in the Montessori and Waldorf school system is not based on grades, it's based on achieving goals and getting work done. Montessoris are focused on the children learning and doing the homework that they want to do when they want to do it. We talked about Montessoris in my child development classes in high schools, and I think they are given a packet of assignments for the whole week. The students can complete it in any order, as long as the packet gets done by the end of the week. It strengthens time-management skills from very early ages. It's a really interesting and different way to learn compared to traditional school. It would definitely strengthen your paper if you can find anything that tracks students from Montessori schools to collegiate success, to see if they do as well as traditional educated students.