Third Social Awareness post: Someone who Changes the World in a Not So Small Way (question #3)

Interview: Teacher/Lawyer, Joyce Heller

What do you do?

I’m a special education teacher at PS 261 in Brooklyn, NY.  I teach 2^nd grade in an ICT (integrated co teaching) classroom.  This year I have 11 students with special needs in a class of 23.

Why did you become a special education teacher?

It’s a long story.  I was a lawyer for 20 years. The first 5 years I worked at a huge law firm with over 400 lawyers. The firm had a pro bono program  (when lawyers do work for free for people who can’t pay) that sent young lawyers into legal services offices. I was sent to the housing unit at South Brooklyn Legal Services, where I defended tenants who were being evicted and overcharged. I really felt like I was helping people who really needed legal help. So after my 4-month rotation, I quit the firm and joined Legal Services. I stayed there for 15 years working in many different areas representing poor people in family, housing, benefits, medical, education, and other civil matters. I became a manager of the office and after so many years of practice I realized that one of the biggest issues for poor people was their lack of education and difficulty in helping themselves. That’s when I decided to become a teacher.

Do you and why do you like teaching?

I really enjoy figuring out how to help kids who have had great difficulty learning. I really feel like every kid deserves the opportunity to have a good education, even if it’s hard for the student and teacher and requires more time. I have seen as a public interest lawyer how hard life is without a good education. I have seen as a mother how important a good teacher is.

                  

My mother changes the world in a not so small way. She went from corporate law and making a ton of money to public interest law, and making  less money, to now public school teaching and making even less money. For my mom, it has never been about the money. She thinks she has enough. It’s about helping people who need it. My mom wants to be connected to all the people in her community.   She really believes we are all equals and should all be helping each other so everyone can succeed and have a good life. It’s amazing how my mom who is so smart (went to Ivy League schools for college and law school) is putting all her brain-power and effort into teaching when she could be doing anything. If there were more people, like my mom, who weren’t just in it for themselves this world would be a much better place. 

First Social Awareness post: An Unfair Process (question #2)

The New York City high school admission process is complicated, time-consuming and stressful. It favors families where there are educated and involved parents who can understand and deal with the process. The Department of Education wants every student to have an equal opportunity to attend a good high school so they created the current match process where students rank their choices and the schools rank the students. There are eight admission methods including the specialized high school admission test, auditions, screened, unscreened, ed opt and zoned. There are workshops, fairs, tours and open houses to learn about the process and varied schools.

While there are over 400 high schools, there are only a handful of desirable high schools with high academic standards, varied programs and activities and high graduation rates.  This means that students citywide are competing for a very small number of seats at the best schools.  Because the process is so difficult, not all of the most qualified students are able to go to the best schools. Students and families who aren’t able to understand the process are at a disadvantage. Students, whose parents do not speak, read or write English have difficulty understanding all the information, asking questions and advocating for their children.  Furthermore, students whose parents work multiple jobs to make ends meet don’t have the time to attend the various resource meetings, schedule the required interviews and auditions and discuss and decide between all the options. 

The Department of Education could change the process so that all students, not just the ones whose parents are directly involved, have equal access to the best schools. The Department of Education could eliminate the match process and replace it with a system where students are randomly selected into schools where they meet the admissions requirements. The Department of Education should also increase the number of good high schools by no longer allowing the best principals, teachers and programs to be concentrated in the best schools.  Additionally, the best schools could be required to admit some students that don’t meet the admissions requirements.  The Department of Education could also make the match process easier by taking over the scheduling of tours, open houses, tests, auditions and interview dates, which are now done by the individual schools.  This would make the current process easier and more convenient for students and their parents. The high school admissions process should not be so complicated, time-consuming and stressful and should be fair for all students regardless of their family situation.

Social Awareness reading response: Occupy the World

Members of a movement/protest called Occupy Wall Street camped out in Zuccotti Park in Manhattan near Wall Street to protest economic inequality.  The protest followed similar protests that took place around the world including the protests in Arab countries and Israel and Spain.  The Occupy Wall Street protestors have come together to complain about how banks, the stock market and rich people are said to be only 1% of the population but, control and influence our government and economy.  They believe that the other 99% of the population, which includes middle income and low-income people, has no say in our government.

While I believe that everyone should have the right to freedom of speech, I think that some of the methods the protestors use are not efficient and nor well thought out.  The protests are not efficient because there are no real leaders or specific goals to be accomplished.  The protestors say that corporations are bad and have too much power. But, the protestors do not really offer any solutions or alternatives to large corporations.  It almost seems like they are out there protesting just to protest. This is different than the protest in other countries. For example, in Egypt the protestors were demanding that the president step down and for an election to elect a new president.  I also think that camping out in Zuccotti Park caused problems for many of the people that the protestors said were being hurt by the 1%.  Businesses around the park were laying off workers and closing because customers did not want to have to deal with the protestors.  When the protestors tried to close the Brooklyn Bridge and the subway it made it hard for other workers to get to their jobs or go home. Despite these problems, I still do believe people have a right to be heard and their frustration recognized because a few people have a lot of power while many others do not. 

The social issue that the Occupy Wall Street protestors are angry about is global and affects people’s lives every day.  Now that the police have broken up the camp and do not allow the protestors to bring in tents, sleeping bags and generators, what will become of the protestors?  Will they just rant on the internet?  Will their ideas and excitement die out now that they are not seen on TV every day?  Or was their protest in Zuccotti Park the beginning of a social movement that will lead to a revolution that fixes our economy and creates economic equality?  Time will tell how much impact the Occupy Wall Street protests have on our lives.

Sources:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/business/occupy-wall-street-has-plenty-potential

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/protests-illustrates-dire-economics-aniety

Two Voice Poem

Bold = both people
italics = person 1 
Underline = person 2 




School is hard to get into.
I am working so hard to get into Harvard. I have a 98 average at Stuyvesant and have done all this community service and extra curricular activities. 
I'm trying to get back to my school after it was bombed by the Taliban.


My parents are worried. 
My dad has had a dream for me to go to Harvard, just like he did, since I was 10. 
My parents said if I try to go to school I could be killed by the insurgents on the street.


School will help my future. 
If I go to Harvard, then I can get a good job in business and make lots of money.
If I go to school, I can make something of myself and help my people get their freedom.


Why must it be so hard.
Why does it have to be Harvard? Can't I just shoot for Yale?
What will it take for me to get the education I need to help my country?


I wrote this two voice poem about the social issue of education. Person one thinks she has to go to  Harvard in order to be a success in todays economy and not to let down her dad. But she still has many other options. Although, some people in this country have the choice of which colleges to attend, some people in other less fortunate countries can't walk safely to school or even attend school on a daily basis. Person 2 lives in Afghanistan and his school was destroyed. His parents fear he will get hurt or killed when he leaves the house. Person 2 doesn't want to go to school to make money he wants to get an education so that he can help his country rebuild.  This  poem is 2 different people's interpretation on how difficult  it is to get an education and be successful  and how important education is to their families and countries.

A Diary Entry from the Other Side

                                                                                                12/16/11

Dear  Diary,

Few people care what I think or do anymore.  It’s all about Em. She stole my body and my job and now I’m nothing.  She doesn’t get it.  I don’t have the other things she has. I’m not smart. I don’t have people who care about me for what I am on the inside.  It was always about my looks.  No one ever liked me as a person, and now that I’m not in that body, I’m nothing.  I despise Em, she has everything and doesn’t even appreciate it.  She thinks I’m a brat because she thinks I just care about looks. But I don’t. I just want people to like me for what I am and what I’ve worked for.  It was my dream, my purpose to move to NYC and become a supermodel.  It’s so hard to see someone in your body doing the thing you loved most and following your dream.  Now I have no purpose and nothing to do. Em is doing it all.

I know that I will never have what I had before.  I know that what I did was wrong.  I shouldn’t have blackmailed my boss. I wasn’t thinking. But I refuse to believe that I deserve this punishment.  No one does!  It’s so unreal.  I woke up after months of recovering from surgery and I wasn’t in my body.  I wasn’t a gorgeous supermodel. I was an unknown girl who died.  I thought it was worse than what could’ve happened to me.  I could’ve been dead.  Em was in my body! I hated her! But I hated Robert Stark more and still do.  Robert Stark is an evil, crazy man.  What he is doing is immoral.  Project Pheonix is wrong.  How could he kill innocent people and put his old “shareholders” brains in their bodies.  But, of course, he could do something as horrible as that. He did it to me and Em. We were the first test of Project Phoenix except he tried to have me killed.  But he failed and now I will take him down and expose his crime to everyone and put him behind bars once and for all! If only I had Em and her friends on my side.  She is smart. Everyone would help her.  It’s just so hard to be nice to the girl who is in your body and living your dream. 

Nikki

This diary entry is not from the point of view of the protagonist Em.  It’s from the point of view of Nikki, the girl whose body Em’s brain is in. Throughout the series Nikki treats Em terribly. My theory is that Nikki is jealous of Em because she has everything Nikki wants.  Nikki isn’t really the spoiled brat that she’s thought to be.  She’s smarter than it seems. She’s worked hard her whole life for the things she wants. I don’t think she’s as selfish as she seems.  I’m trying to understand her point of view. She was almost killed and has lost her career and life as she knows it. She doesn’t know she has anyone on her side except for Em who represents everything she lost. Nikki and Em do have the same goal: to once and for all expose Robert Stark as the murderer he is. If Nikki could stop blaming Em, they could work together to take down their mutual nemesis. 

The Antagonist's Argument

After reading Runaway by Meg Cabot and many other books, I have noticed that there are often strong antagonists who go out of their way to get what they want and take down the protagonist. I have asked myself why is the antagonist so cruel and hateful. What could they possibly have faced earlier in their lives to make them do what they do? And why do books need antagonists?

 Throughout the Airhead series, there have been two very strong antagonists: Robert and Brandon Stark. Robert Stark tried to have Nikki Howard killed.  Brandon Stark kidnapped her and forced her to lie to and lose her boyfriend. Robert and Brandon Stark are power hungry men who just want money and attention.  They’re never satisfied with what they have and always want more.  Isn’t being the 4th richest man enough or having the press think you’re dating a supermodel sufficient?

I have come up with some theories on why Robert and Brandon Stark, and antagonists in general do what they do. Maybe something dramatic has happened to them earlier in their lives where they have felt “small” and they think the only way to forget about it is to make themselves “big.” Maybe they just don’t feel good about themselves and in order to feel better they have to put others down. For example, maybe Robert Stark wanted something when he was younger and couldn’t get it because he didn’t have the money. So he decided he wanted to start a huge corporation and become one of the richest men in the world. For Brandon Stark, his mother is never mentioned in the book. Maybe she abandoned him and he feels unwanted.

Although I have despised these characters and sometimes just want to yell “Why do you have to be so mean?!!!” They add lots of tension and drama to the plot. Without antagonists the protagonist would have nothing in their way, no task to overcome, no journey to go on and no lesson to be learned.  Books would be short, boring and have no point. 

So the next time you’re reading a book and the antagonist is really annoying you,

 just think  about why they do the things they do to better understand them. Remember there would be no plot without them.  I think you’ll be as surprised as I was to realize that there is a good argument for why books need antagonists.

Learning from my peers

I read Kiana's  and Regina's blogs.

Kiana's blog was about a girl whose boyfriend died and how the character felt guilty. Kiana's focus was why the book was meaningful to her. Kiana explains this idea by saying how the main character is powerful and expressive. She also thinks the layout and the title of the book are meaningful.  I admired how Kiana wasn't just summarizing the book, there is more to a blog post than just a summary. I also liked how Kiana backed up her focus, using evidence stating that the title and layout were meaningful. That's an interesting spin instead of just focusing on the plot. Kiana did this by explaining that  the layout was like the character's secret book of poems. All in all, Kiana did a really good job with the focus of her blog and making a unique point. Kiana's blog gave me the idea to look at the format of the books I read to better understand the author's purpose.

I also read Regina's blog that focused on her book's  message. The message of treating people the way you want to be treated was interesting  because it was similar to the focus of my blog post. Unlike my fiction book Regina's book was clearly a fantasy/sci-fi book, which I usually have trouble relating to. But, Regina's book's message was very relatable to the real world. Her post was also clear and very understandable. Therefore, I could  connect her book to my book and myself. I learned a lot about  kiana and Regina's books from their posts, as well as different ideas that I could write about in future blog posts.

It's Nice to be Nice

        

It’s important to be kind to everyone even if they’re not always nice to you.  You should try to understand other people and why they act the way they do. You never know if or when you could be in someone else’s shoes.

Em, the protagonist in Runaway by Meg Cabot, demonstrates this lesson. Em has gone through a very traumatic experience. Less then a year ago, she had her brain transplanted into supermodel Nikki Howard’s body.  Because of this, Em is kind and tries to understand other’s perspectives.

Em’s empathy is displayed in many different scenerios. For example, when Em’s friend was trying to save her from a “romantic getaway” with her evil employer’s evil son, Em refuses to leave without Nikki; the girl whose body Em’s brain is in (67).  While Em puts herself out for Nikki, Nikki is not as nice. She criticizes Em to her face and trash talks her behind her back. “Don’t think this mean’s I like you,” Nikki tells Em  (4).  Still, Em empathizes with Nikki and her family.  Em knows first hand how much Nikki has lost.  Em can relate since she lost things too, like her family and friends.  Em tries to make Nikki happy by giving Nikki money and other things. But all Nikki wants is her body back. “I had never seen anyone look as sad as she had,” (127) Em thinks when she tells Nikki she can’t have her body. This shows that Em really feels for Nikki, even if Nikki doesn’t appreciate her for it.

I can definitely relate to Em. I feel it’s important to be nice to people even if they’re not necessarily nice to me and especially if they’re not as fortunate as I am or well equipped. For example, at camp this summer, there was a girl in my cabin with a disability.  She wasn’ t always nice to everyone and everyone wasn’t always nice to her. She demanded my attention and friendship and got mad at me because I had other friends.  But I still tried to be nice to her because I tried to imagine how hard her life must be.  I put myself in her shoes and tried to understand why she was the way she was. I thought that she may have always been treated differently because of her disability and maybe always struggled to make real friends.  I felt how hard her life must be.  I could empathize for her. Like Em,, I tried to be nice and understanding of someone else and their situation. This is a guideline for everyone because you don’t know what it’s like to be someone else until you step into their shoes, literally, like Em.