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In I just want to be average by Mike Rose, it is about how Mike Rose recalls his educational experience in a vocational school. A vocational school is a school full of bottom level classes. To be placed in a vocational school, students have to have a low score in their placement test. Rose accidently got placed in the vocational school, because his test got mixed up with another student named Rose. After realizing Rose accidently got placed in, he continued to still stay in the vocational school. Throughout the story Rose talks about each student he meets. He makes them seem like they are not just uneducated kids with discipline issues. Rose identifies a specific trait that stands them out from one another, despite them being lower leveled students; they are something more than that to him. Also, he describes how the teachers behave. The teachers are insensible and use violence to punish and get through to the students. Most of the teachers he describes show lack of control in the class, not only that, but they are not prepared for lesson plans; all but one teacher, Jack Macfarland.
Mike Rose stumbles on a new teacher, Jack Macfarland. Mr. Macfarland was different from the other teachers. Mr. Macfarland was engaging in the classroom. He seemed to care about his students. He pushed his students
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beyond their abilities. Mr. Macfarland changed Rose’s education. Rose was more eager to learn than before. All it took was someone to believe in him and genuinely care for his students. I believe without Mr. Macfarland Rose would not be as successful as he is today. Just that one person can change your perspective on everything. I believe you need someone for support and guidance. Mr. Macfarland was someone to help guide Rose to the right path to success and pushed him beyond his abilities. I think someone with Rose’s intelligence would eventually succeed, because you could eventually meet that one person who guides you and shows you what you are really capable of. Having a support system and some help can go along way. My goals for the future is to have my general studies completed, getting my associates degree, maintaining school and work, and getting my major in business.
My participation in class would help me achieve these goals. By participating in class and keeping up with all my work I get closer on getting my schooling done. My participation at staying at work, as well as being a full time student, will allow me to reach my goals of maintaining school and work. Not only will my participation help me reach my goals, but also having my professors and family guide me through challenges. Having a support system and help from my fellow class mates will reach me to the road of
success.
In the article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance” by Mike Rose, he begins with an anecdote of his mother working her blue-collar job at a diner as a waitress. Rose vividly describes her common day that is packed with a constant array of tedious tasks she has to accomplish to make her living. The authors goal appears to be making the reader appreciate the hard work of blue-collar workers because society places a stereotype on them as being less intelligent than someone with more schooling or even a white-collar job: “Our cultural iconography promotes the muscled arm, sleeve rolled tight against biceps, but no brightness behind the eye, no inmate that links hand and brain” (282). I agree with Rose’s conclusion that if we continue to place a stigma on
Mike Rose wrote “Blue Collar Brilliance” to showcase the underlying and previously unheard of intelligence of blue-collar workers that is often ignored by scholars because such workers are not commonly seen as conventionally intelligent. Rose challenges the idea that intelligence is solely based on the amount of schooling completed, and instead explains that blue-collar jobs require more intelligence than most would think. Using personal examples and various comparisons, Rose describes the true value of working blue-collar jobs. The arguments presented in the essay parallel the saying “It’s more than meets the eye.”
putting Rose in vocational classes where he is forced to learn things at a slower pace. The theme
I had read an essay called, “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose. The essay was about Rose revisiting his high school experience. He explains his adventure through school reflecting on his education, learning environment, & behaviors of students/teachers. Also he talks about the motivation or lack thereof in him and his fellow peers reflecting on them just wanting to be average.
...ild, when he would hide and daydream, up until his first years of college, when he would avoid areas that were difficult, the author recognized that there was important link between challenging the student on a meaningful level and the degree to which the student eventually produced. “I felt stupid telling them I was… well – stupid.” (Rose 43) Here, Rose shows an example of how poor preparation and low standards in the classroom can make a student feel inadequate. Indeed, one can see how many things seemingly unrelated do affect a student’s ability to learn.
In “I Just Wanna Be Average”, Mike Rose recounts his experiences in vocational program in high school, which known as bottom level. When he was a freshman, he accidently was placed in these classes but he decided to stay. Rose goes into details describing some of his teachers and classmates. Certain teachers he introduced were not enthusiastic about their jobs and they don’t believe their students can make good achievements, and sometime they even treat students violently, which also lead some students of the vocational program to slack off and not care about studying. Rose also focused on some of his classmates, who were seen as troublemakers. He found out that they actually were not always like fighting, being lazy and loafing, and they had some special skills showed their true personalities. There was one boy that very stuck out to Rose was Ken Harvey, who was asked by teacher to give an opinion of working hard to make achievements, stated that “ I just wanna be average” (Rose 335). I was pretty impressive about this quote because that I think being average might like some of students calm down and feel not so stressful to survive in educational system. Later in Rose’s life, he eventually moved out of vocational program and back to typical school system. At this time, his father passed away, which is not so relevant with the main plot. Later, Mr. MacFarland came into Rose’s life as his English teacher in senior year. Rose looked up Mr. MacFarland deeply because he sincerely cared of his students, told the importance of working hard to them and even encourage Rose to pursue further education in college. I can tell that Mr. MacFarland left positive impacts on Rose’s whole life, and helped him found his real potential.
In John Gatto’s essay “Against Schools” he states from experience as a school teacher that are current educational system is at fault (148). He claims that classrooms are often filled with boredom manufactured by repetitive class work and unenthusiastic teachings. Students are not actively engaged and challenged by their work and more often than not they have either already covered the concepts taught in class or they just do not understand what is being taught to them. The children contained in classrooms have come to believe that their teachers are not all that knowledgeable about the subjects that they are teaching and this advances their apathy towards education. The teachers also feel disadvantaged while fulfilling their roles as teachers because the students often bring rude and careless attitudes to class. Teachers often wish to change the curriculums that are set for students in order to create a more effective lesson plan, but they are restricted by strict regulations and consequences that bind them to their compulsory teachings (148-149). An active illustration of John Gatto’s perspective on our educational system can be found in Mike Rose’s essay “I Just Wanna Be Average” (157). Throughout this piece of literature the author Mike Rose describes the kind of education he received while undergoing teachings in the vocational track. During Mike’s vocational experiences he was taught by teachers that were inexperienced and poorly trained in the subjects they taught. As a result, their lesson plan and the assignments they prepared for class were not designed to proficiently teach students anything practical. For example, the curriculum of Mike Rose’s English class for the entire semester consisted of the repeated reading of ...
We live in a society where we are surrounded by people telling us that school/education and being educated is the only way to succeed. However, the school system is not up to the standards we want it to uphold. There are three issues we discuss the most which are the government, the student, and the teacher. In John Taylor Gatto 's essay “Against School”, we see the inside perspective of the educational system from the view of a teacher. In “I Just Wanna Be Average”, an essay written by Mike Rose, we hear a student 's experience of being in a vocational class in the lower level class in the educational system when he was supposed to be in the higher class.
Although this system is rigid, it can be manipulated enough to allow some movement if an individual will put in the time and effort it takes to learn how to do this. This movement cannot happen, however, if the person does not realize that this system is not absolute. When an individual is made to believe that they belong somewhere they will often not try to change that. Mike Ross wrote an article entitled “I Just Wanna Be Average” in which he describes his experiences at a vocational school and it’s effects on his motivation and view of himself. In this article, he states that a “student will float to the mark you set” (Ross 185). At this vocational school, he was expected to do poorly because it was decided that he was not intelligent enough to handle regular classes. Because this viewpoint surrounded him, he began to view himself as someone who was less than the average person. He would produce mediocre work and put in as little effort as possible while still maintaining a passing grade. When everyone around an individual believes that they can only be what the social system says they are, it makes it hard for them to imagine that they can be something different. This results in that individual only amounting to what is expected out of them, creating the illusion that these social structures are not only absolute but the only description of a person that is needed in order to assess their value. This can be perpetuated by rumors that are spread about them, making them fall lower in the hierarchy. Then if they try to fight back these rumors will only escalate, which creates a vicious cycle in which many people cannot escape. To break out of this cycle, an individual must realize their self-value and that they cannot be defined by a social order in which they are placed in by individuals who have
When Clark was observing at a high school he was talking to a teacher who was making substitute lesson plans and she was saying that in her morning class there are three or so “good” students and in her afternoon class is filled with the “average” students. She either never considered or stopped caring about what kind of background these students came from. Some youth try to rise to the top quickly while others learn to cope with abandonment. Whether an adolescent is on top or not they will be recognized for what they do. However, underneath the surface, even with those who are on top, have a fear that they will be found out and will lose everything. A senior male told Clark “I have to get the grades and play sports. I have nothing else”. Institutions no longer have their primary focus on the youth’s welfare and development, instead they have focused on the institutional competitiveness.
no excitement. regardless of what the teacher says, this is not a new challenge"(158). Rose shows how he felt abut his early high school as his teacher were supposed to be teaching exciting subject, but ruin subject by just reading out from the book. making it harder for any to really pay attention in class. " No wonder how so many student finally attribute their difficulties to something inborn, organic: That part of my brain just doesn 't work"(158). Rose state that student 's in the vocational education program having already lost interest in classes they try so hard to contemplate with, instead they decide to move on and blame their inability to learn for the reason they can 't understand what the teacher is teaching them. "They open their textbook and see once again the familiar and impenetrable formulas and diagrams and terms that have stumped them for years"(157). From the beginning of their high year the student in the vocational educational program were set to fail. The school treated them as experiment by placing them into class room with inexperience teacher or not caring teacher. where they have to either decided to go with what the school says or try as best they can to well in the
He directly challenges his students to succeed, and better their lives by avoiding routes that land them in failing statistics. He contends that his students are not dumb, but rather that they just do not know anything. Subliminally, his message is of perseverance by not giving up on troublesome students, and of the beauty in teaching, which is his true passion. Every student in Jamie’s class agrees to pursue higher expectations than the school has set for them. They enroll in summer school, evening classes, and even agree to learn calculus outside of normal school hours.
College is the main goal of my life. It is a life dream to go to college to get a degree and get a successful job. Everything that I have done until this point is to get to college. During my senior year I plan to apply to many colleges and to take the SAT's to get into college. My GPA and SAT scores will be crucial for me to get into college. With college I will further my business career, making more successful in the field I enjoy doing.
He taught to students and faculty of the school to not be conformist with what they have and that they can go beyond what the statistics say. The statistics were depressing: only 50% finished the high
James Hilton’s novel Goodbye, Mr. Chips is the story of an English schoolmaster who dedicated his entire adult life teaching young boys. He was a somewhat shy person. Nevertheless he was a competent school teacher, professional and attractive in many different ways. Although his first teaching experience was not successful, he was determined to become a good schoolmaster. After coming to Brookfield, he began to warm up to his students. But more important he brought discipline to his school which is the requirement for good teaching—something he did not achieve while teaching at Melbery.