Q2 Editorial Project
Period 3
Post your group's editorial as a Comment replying to this post. Be sure you are posting the COMPLETE editorial; each group may only submit one.Include a title and all group members' names.
To be considered on time, you must post by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 21.
TEST POST
ReplyDeleteThe lateness policy is a necessary feature of the Wilson Charter School’s Code of Conduct. In a perfect world, everyone’s alarm clocks would work and the city buses would never run late, but the fact remains that people need to be responsible for their own success, and part of being successful is being on time. In addition to preparing students for the expectations of the professional world, serving a detention for being late reminds students of their mistake and will hopefully inspire them to come to school on time. It is true that some students travel from far away to reach our school because their neighborhood school is unsafe. While this is unfortunate, these students simply need to set their alarm clocks a bit earlier.
First, society judges people on their ability to meet the standards of professionalism, which include being on time and prepared for their job. Imagine a lawyer being an hour late to defend his client in court or a surgeon two hours late to perform a critical operation. According to Leon Daniels, the owner and manager of a local bank, workers “are fired if they are consistently late to perform their professional duties.” He agrees that “since it is a school’s job to prepare students for the working world, schools must hold students accountable for arriving on time.” Mr. Daniels shows how essential it is for schools to hold students to a high standard.
To that end, students must be punished if they arrive even one minute past the beginning of the school day. Some people argue that other schools provide a “grace period” of five minutes, but late is late. All a grace period does is make people think being minimally late acceptable. It does not matter if a student is five minutes or 45 minutes late. Students who are already late to school would be even later if 8:05 became their goal rather than 8:00.
Next, when a student receives a detention for being tardy, it serves as a warning not to repeat this infraction. Spending an afternoon in the detention room causes students to miss out on opportunities for extra help from teachers and prevents them from participating in extracurricular activities. If the student fails to learn the lesson taught by the detention, they will fall behind in school. Only beginning to come to school on time will allow the student to get good grades and add activities to their resume, which they need to be accepted to college.
This kind of policy has its basis in the American justice system, which punishes citizens for crimes committed. Although the late student is not committing a crime, they are hurting their education and taking resources from the school, because it takes a lot of time for the lobby monitor to write late passes and detention slips. This can be compared to the criminal who drains society’s resources by causing police officers to have to patrol the streets and public defenders to waste tax dollars in court on guilty people.
Finally, it is true that some students live in neighborhoods that are somewhat dangerous in the early morning hours. The student knew the school hours when signing up to attend Wilson Charter, however, and if they thought they would not be safe on their trip to school, they should have applied to a closer school. There is no record that any Wilson student being attacked on their way to school in the morning hours. Given the number of students who get to school on time, it seems it is the students’ laziness, not their neighborhood, to blame for their tardiness.
Siani Smith, Shayla Davis
ReplyDeleteGreen Shirts Go Away
Imagine being a 9th grader for the first time and being forced to stand out even if you do not want to. At Freire Charter High School, 9th grade students are required to wear a green shirt for their first year at Freire. The rest of the grades at Freire are allowed to wear anything they want as long as it’s appropriate enough for school. The only way 9th grade students are able to not wear the green shirts, is if they performed good behavior at school and that consists of good grades, good behavior, showing up for skill center and arriving to school on time. However, that type of behavior had to continue throughout the whole year or you would be right back in your green shirt until you showed that you have improved. There is no good reason that this policy even exists, it is a waste of money and makes kids feel like an outcast. The green shirt policy at Freire Charter School is ineffective and it should be terminated.
First off, Freire uniform shirts are very expensive. This was proven because Freire shirts are purchased at Cramers Uniform store. The uniform shirts cost $20.50 each and that's extremely high for a shirt that you are only going to be wearing for a year. Normally if I pay that much for a shirt I can wear it for as long as I want to and get my money's worth. Imagine buying around four uniform shirts to last you the whole year. That would be a total cost of $82.00 and that's ridiculous. That's just a waste of money that could have been used for supplies or regular clothes that you would be able to wear for the next couple of years. For the kids that get out their green shirts and never go back in, that is really a waste of money and of course those students might not buy four shirts. But for the kids that might have to stay in the shirts all year, or keep going back in, they might have to purchase four more shirts. After 9th grade, these kids may never pick up those green shirts ever again, so what is the point of even buying them in the first place just for one year. That is why green shirts should be terminated because that money wasted that could've been used for something else.
Another reason the green shirt policy should be terminated is because the ninth graders feel like an outcast. If Freire Charter School is a college prep school they should be treated like college students from the beginning. From the way they are told to dress to the way they are taught. When asked about the green shirt policy by a fellow ninth grader, Kahliyah Jubilee said,“I feel like an outcast because we stand out with these green shirts and I got back in because I was late too many times. This is so unfair, I was out since the first green shirt meeting and I had to get back in”. This means that the ninth graders really don't like the green shirt or the policies that go with them. If the ninth graders feel that these shirts make them stand out, the school officials should take into consideration how it makes them feel because they have to wear them. Freire wants the ninth graders to eventually go to college so they need to treat them like it from the beginning.
In conclusion the green shirt policy at Freire Charter School is ineffective and it should be terminated. The green shirt policy should be terminated because of the extreme prices of the green shirts and sweaters that they wear to go over their shirts when they are cold. Another reason the green shirt policy should be terminated is because it makes them feel like an outcast. They get called names by higher grades and everyone should feel as though they are equal. There needs to be some kind of meeting to figure out how they can get rid of the green shirts. Green Shirts, Must Go!
Naim Patterson
ReplyDeleteKiyah wade
Willie Pratt
Going against the grain.
(Intro) One odd and unique rule placed in Freire's code of conduct is the "75%" rule", which the academic policy states "Students receive academic credit for each class passed with a 75% or higher, any final year grade under 75% earns no credit". What this means is a 74% is the equivalent of a F and cannot be given the credit for the class. This is a problem for students who do not excel academically as well as others. A C average student would not be able to do good in Freire with the 75% rule in place
We think the 75% rule should be changed because it is a disgrace that we go to a college prep school but we do not have the freedom to get whatever grade we want, it has to be 75 percent or higher. The 75 percent rule is a rule in Freire Charter School that states you must get a 75 percent or higher in every class to pass your current class if you fail more than two classes you fail your current grade. Would you believe that seniors can not walk if they fail just one class. It is an outrage because so many student have failed because of this rule and most by one or two percentage points.
I do not believe that parents would agree with this rule. A student could be going through a lot of stress during senior year and your telling me they can not walk if they fail just one class. A parent would not have the joy of seeing their son or daughter walk because of a 75 percent rule that does not make sense. The only way this rule should be kept is if the senior workload was lessened. They have multiple essays and tests yet they can only fail one class and again failing is less than 75. This rule is not fair and should be changed without a doubt.
to be continued
ReplyDeleteWe Disagree with the 75% passing rule because we think that it is challenging for our peers to meet. Academically we want the bar to be higher but at the same time we want it to be lowered because its a 95% chance that students can maintain a 70% or above in classes without being on the verge of failing. Also the 75%passing rule should be lowered to a 70, in other schools passing is a 60-65 that's considered passing; reachable.
Someone might disagree and plead that the 75% passing rule is fine and the bar should be set higher for our peers just because its hard to get into college and setting high goals and standards for yourself can open more doors for you . and that's understandable but let's be realistic if you end the quarter off with a 74 and you're suppose to have a 75 to pass you just failed that class and now you're stressing about how you will keep your grades up in order to pass that grade. Or if you're a senior you can't walk. Everyone should be able to walk. Another reason we disagree with the 75% passing rule is that if you fail a class in 10th grade that still follows you to the next grade ect and that should not matter you should be able to start the next grade off with a fresh start instead of worrying about credits you didn't reach in 10th and 9th grade. Overall the 75% passing rule should be lowered to 70% everyone will be satisfied and won't stress everyday .
(Conclusion)The 75% rule should be changed to the 70% rule to help give students a better chance to prosper in Freire. To reiterate the reasons for this rule being changed to the 70% rule is so it gives Freire's seniors a greater chance to pass all their classes so come graduation time, they will be ae to walk and accept their diploma. It also give all Freire students overall a better chance to do better in more classes that they might struggle to get above a 75% in. Lastly, the rule should be downgraded to 70% so that a students past failures from former grades will not affect students in their current grade. If a student makes it the next grade they, his grades should not have to haunt him until graduation. The student body must come together and protest against the 75% rule so it can be lowered to the 70% rule, which will still push students to work harder, while giving them a leeway to succeed.
Tachani, Semir, Aliyah & Dajour
ReplyDeleteEnglish
Ms. Julie
Is Freire’s 75 Percent Rule Helping or Hurting Students?
Freire has an academic rule, which states that all students must have a 75% and higher in order to pass a class. Some people may think that reaching a grade of a 75 or above isn't hard to achieve. That’s not the case. In fact it is easy to reach, but the problem is maintaining that grade. Students start the quarter off with outstanding grades because its the beginning and we haven't learned anything yet. After a few weeks into the quarter, tests starts coming around, along with projects and homework assignments. This is when grades start to drop. Once a student grade drops to a certain level, it is hard to bring it back up to the passing grade. This is why I believe the rule should be changed. I say this because students struggle to pass, and its unreasonable. I feel as though teachers should also offer extra credit assignments.
This event is problematic because some students struggle to pass each class with an 75 or above. This is because the large amount of workload we have in each class. For an example, we may may have projects in three classes due on the same day, and on top of that, study for tests that we have to prepare for. This may all happen in the same week. This cause us students to stress, which eventually shows up in our academic work and effort. Therefore, I think that the 75 percent rule should be changed.
Not only is the rule unreasoning, it seems as though it sets us students up for failure. I say this because if you have below a 75 in three or more classes at the end of the school year, you will automatically be retained, even if you are failing by one point. In addition to that, some staff members feel as though the 75 percent rule is a low standard for students to meet. For an example: When asked about the 75 percent rule at Freire, The dean said, “The rule is too low. If it were up to me, I would change it to an 80 and above because C’s aren't going to get you into college.” If the Head of Academics were to agree with the dean, many more students will either be retained or will have to attend summer school.
When it comes to school I believe that teachers forget that our only duty isn't to just study. Everybody understands the fact that they want to challenge us, but not everyone can meet that demand. It's not because we as students don't want to, it may be because we have too much going on at home. There are plenty of people who go home and they have to take care of someone, rather it be . When you know that there's someone important to you that needs you they become a priority not school. Doesn't mean they won't try in school, they could be doing there hardest and just not making the 75 mark. Things aren't the same as back in the day where children only went to school and that was it. Now we take on the roles of parent, babysitter, breadwinner and doctor when we come home. It really hurts students when they have all of this to do but when they look at all this effort they put in they fail with a 74.
ReplyDeleteOn another note I wonder how many people think of the fact that some students may just not be a 75% student. When it comes to freire a lot of times they will paint this picture of if you're not getting A's or B's then you aren’t putting in the effort to be successful. This can be very degrading, especially if you’re a student who does their work, but ends the year with a 70. Is this a perfect student? No but they come to school on time everyday ready to learn. This person takes the time to sit in the front of the class taking notes every day with the intent to go to college and pass. They have tried to go to centers but always wind up with the same result. When it comes to extracurricular activities, they are always involved, ready to go and try something new which they know is great to put on colleges admissions. But sometimes I'm sure they say to themselves " I want to go to a great school but I just can't make the cut. I try everyday and nothing changes. I don't want to go to a public school but that 65 to pass looks really good right now." When it comes to the 75 rule, a lot of hard working students get forgotten about. Just because you may not get a 75 or above, doesn't mean that the student isn't doing their best.
The 75 percent rule should also allow students to have more extra credit opportunities. Students constantly struggle to pass, and although they may turn in all of their homework assignments, it is the tests and quizzes that brings down their grades. Once your grade goes down to a certain percentage, such as an 70, it is hard to bring it back up. This is one of the reasons why I feel the as though the 75 percent rule is a bit to high. This is a very pressuring and high expectation to be met. Teachers should also do a better job of helping students who are in need. If a teacher sees a student putting in the effort to pass, knowing that he or she is failing, then the teacher should be considerate enough to offer the student an extra credit assignment that will help their grade go up a few percentages.This also means that the student have to be willing to do the work.
On the other hand, One might say that the 75 percent rule is a good standard for a college prep charter school to have. A 75 is a low grade for students to achieve, and should strive for higher grades, rather than to settle for less. The amount of work we have in Freire is only preparing students for college. If you think that it is almost impossible to pass with a C or think that the work is unbearable, then students aren't ready for college because it only gets worse. For students to complain about a low standard grade is unacceptable because if one person can do it, anybody can.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBahsil Franklin
ReplyDeleteTahira Thurmond
M’le B
January 20, 2015
Ms. Julie
Lets Put A End To The Discipline Policy !
Freire’s policy is that if a person is fighting while enrolled in the schooled they can expelled from the school, no further questions asked. This entire policy is completely wrong for the student body of Freire Charter School. There has been altercations when a person was defending their self by fighting back and still has gotten removed from the school. The statement being made is that a student should be able to retaliate if they are in danger without receiving severe consequences. The rule is to stop people from violence and to make the school a safe zone but a student should not be penalized for defending himself. In that case this rule should be completely revoked and made in a different way.
One reason why this rule is challenging is it could lead to severe injuries or even death. Studies from Nasponline read that in 1994 and 1999 there were 253 deaths due to to students not retaliating when they are attacked. If these students were allowed to retaliate the amount of deaths in 1994 and 1999 due to this would not have occurred. In a situation of such it is harmful to oneself and their self-esteem if they are not allowed to defend themselves.
Another reason many people disagree with the discipline policy is it is extremely strict and unfair. A former student from Freire Charter School no longer attends the school due to the policy. This student, Brittany Gayot was involved in an intense verbal altercation with another student that is currently attending the school. When the problem occurred then dissolved later that day the two students received suspensions with different reinstatement dates. When both students returned from their suspensions Brittany was asked to leave Freire while the other student was put on a behavior contract issued by Ms. Lynn that lasted until the end of the school year. Since Freire has zero tolerance for violence, both students should have received the same punishment. This shows that Freire's discipline policy is unfair. Therefore many people attending the school disagree with the discipline policy because they feel as though the policy should be adjusted so that every student that has to face this will be treated fairly. Although this was not a physical fight, arguing is another form of violence and since one student started the argument and the other student retaliated one of the two students' career ended at Freire.
A third reason why this rule is challenging is if someone constantly taunts you. When asked about the discipline policy dean Lynn McGinley, “ when attacked you are not allowed to retaliate, you can block but not physically react. Although, this is the rule students find it hard to follow. A young male student from Greenwood Lakes Middle School committed suicide because he was attacked and could not retaliate. The news says, “ he was pushed down the stairs, knocked out of his chair, and mocked at lunch. This arrangement is harmful because it is causing children to lose their lives because they can not defend themselves when harm comes their way.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that a large amount of students that attend Freire say that the non-violence policy is unfair. Although there are people that disagree with this policy there are also other students that agree with this policy. They might agree with this policy because it makes them feel safe. They know that they can walk into Freire everyday and not have to worry about if somebody is going to hurt them today and interrupt their education with breaking out a fight in the middle of class. That is a valid point being stated but at any school no student should have to worry about if somebody is going to hurt them but people feel that if an altercation were to occur each student should have the right to defend themselves by retaliating. If one was to retaliate they should not get punished for something that they did not start. With the non-violence policy being held over every students' head people feel as though they cannot protect themselves if a problem were to occur in or outside of school. Thus saying that the non-violence policy is unfair to students if they feel that they are in danger.
To conclude the arguing statement for being penalized for simply defending yours, the school of Freire Charter should take this argument into consideration. It is unacceptable that people have to risk their lives and possibly be very injured just to stay enrolled in a school. Nobody should have to receive consequence for something that they did not cause. We need students to start standing up for this problem and speak up and maybe the rule should change.
Kierra, Nashid & Sherrita
ReplyDeleteFreire shouldn't be written up
There should be a discipline policy at any school but the write up at Freire Charter Highschool is extremely too strict because write ups' wording are overly dramatic. The negative write ups are valued too much and one write up earns you a detention. And also, the write ups affect other areas of students life inside and outside of school.
First, students are being deprived of education when being pulled out of class for minor mistakes. Both the student that is being a distraction, and the students who are trying to learn are being deprived of education because when a teacher has to pull a student out into the hallway to speak to them about why they are being written up, it takes away time for the other students to learn and time for the student who has made the mistake time to learn also. Mykal Washington, an intern at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, says, "Children need to learn from their mistakes, rather than be removed from a learning environment." (http://blog.aclupa.org/2014/02/19/zero-tolerance-a-students-perspective/). What Mykal Washington means is that pulling a student out of class is not doing them any good and is taking away from their learning time. In most cases at Freire, when a student is being disruptive in class, the teacher pulls them out into the hall to speak then writes them up or sends them to Ms. Lynn and writes them up, which, as the above quote has stated, is not helping that student. When a student is not in class, it makes it much easier for the student to fail that class. Which means that students getting pulled out of class and written up for minor mistakes should not be allowed. A student should only be removed if they are a threat to another student or mildly disrupting the class.
Secondly, when students are constantly being written up for small
Title is Freire should be written up
Deletethings (like talking in class or maybe eating in class) it can cause a student to go down a bad path rather than a good one as the schools are trying to promote. Sarah Carr, the author of the article The Painful Backlash Against 'No-Excuses' School Discipline says, "The harsh discipline is a civil-rights abomination, destined to push too many kids out of school and into trouble with the law." (http://hechingerreport.org/content/painful-backlash-excuses-school-disipline_18023/). What this quote is saying is that when students are constantly getting in trouble for simple things, they may begin to stop caring, causing them to get in trouble more and more, leading them to believe that they do not have to follow rules anymore since they are so used to breaking them, and ending them in prison. If students are being pulled out of class and written up it forces them to give up their learning time for simple minor mistakes, which can eventually lead them to going down the wrong path.
ReplyDeleteEvery time a student is written up he receives a detention for either before school, during his lunch period or occasionally after school. This problem needs to end because this interferes with Freire's soul mission of preparing kids for college. On a college campus you don't get punished for eating or drinking (non-alcoholic beverages) on campus. For a school that prides itself on treating student as future college students, the rules sure are elementary. Also, campus police don't go around taking students' phones if they notice them using it. These rules are extremely petty and make students feel restricted which can cause social unrest amongst the student body.
Sure some may say that students are in a school building and have to follow the guidelines of that building just as you have to follow the guidelines set for a college campus. While this may be true, that does not justify the rules of said building to be so far from what the administration is trying is trying to instill in the students.
In conclusion as one can see by write ups being over dramatic and weighed too heavily they have negatively effected students by students being deprived of valuable learning time. Also by being forced to become something that they're not. Finally the write up policy interferes with the soul purpose of the school
ReplyDeleteSara Bien-Aime & Adowa Sarpong
ReplyDeleteEnglish 3
Ms.Julie
January 21, 2015
No punishment for absences and lateness
The consequences of excused and unexcused absences and lateness are unfair and should be changed. Many students may have poor or no health insurance or no control over transportation or the responsibility of taking care of another sick person.
There was a student named Shyheim Perry kicked out of a school, because he missed too many days of school.He was a good and hardworking student who was passing, but since he missed too many days he had to go to a different school with less academic offers. Now, he is not getting a good education like he was getting before. Students like this should be able to attend a good school. The attendance policy about missing school excessively should be canceled.
Reasons why students are late to school are because they have responsibilities and transportation may pull them back. There is a student who takes her little sister to school everyday and arrives to school late. It happens to be Mle Barriner, a fellow student in the 11th grade at Freire Charter School. She is a student who is late to school almost everyday, because she has so much responsibility and Septa sometimes messes up her schedule. Taking care of siblings, getting breakfast, Septa breaking down, missing the bus or waking up late are all possible reasons on why she is late to school and maybe for others too. So there is sometimes no control over the time she gets to school. If parents sent a notice to let the school know the reason why their child may be late, their lateness should be excused due to the early notice. That way the student’s attendance would not be messed up, because many students have responsibilities.
Students may be absent from school, due to unexpected sickness and not being able to go to the doctor because of poor or no health insurance at all to get a note for their school. According to the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, pennsylvania had 8.2% of its population without health insurance in 2008 and of the 1 million people without health insurance, and of that number of people 13.6% were children from the ages 0-18. Which includes 90% of the population in schools. We should also consider that not all students at freire have good or any health insurance at all. So if they spend some time in hospital when they are sick, it may turn out to be more than they expect and because of their stress most students forget to ask for doctors note.
Even if the attendance policy was to keep people in school and learning it still is not fair. You never know when something happen or how long something will take. Things happen out of nowhere and are uncontrollable sometimes. So why bother and make a rule that sometimes get people to a bad school and bad education. Just let them catch up and stay in their school.
ReplyDeleteCONTERARGUMENTS
Some people may point out the fact the Obamacare is also something the student can get involved in, if they don’t have health insurance. They are right.The truth is that the healthcare the individual might have, may be cheating them. According to the website Gaudian, most of the popular health insurance refuse to cover the health care when it comes to critical illnesses.This website also says that the cheapest health care are the ones who cover the least amount of health problems, which is what everyone has.The Obamacare is basically a health insurance for patient protection and affordable care, signed by Obama. This kind of insurance is meant to fit people with low income, it is meant to help the greater part of the country, but some individuals do not have a financial problem, in that case getting a health insurance is their responsibily and therefore they can not blame any delay or misconduct on the hospital. That means that if the students are late or absent they cannot come to school. Meanwhile some students might say that the Obamacare requires some amount of money. So if normal health insurance require money and the Obamacare involves money what is the point of calling it free.The point is the Obamacare may be free, or not anyway if a student realizes that they have a little illness before they come to school and they don’t go to the hospital should the student be marked absent they did not hav
note?
ReplyDeleteSome people might feel that people can always get doctor notes when they go to the hospital, and they are again right, because doctor notes are really the only things that count went it comes to marking students absent or late, but in some cases the students do not need to go the hospital, because the illness might not be that important to go the hospital and the parents do not always have time to take the students to the hospital. In that case the students will not need to come to school because it will be impossible for them to concentrate. Coming to school without being focused is no use. Sometimes the student might not need to go to the hospital about every headache that they may have, and later get a doctors note to not be marked absent but if a headache is going on for some time , it is only wise if the individual sees a doctor.To add to that, others might say the rule in the school says that students who miss between 20-24 inexcused absences will placed on probation, so this number gives room for those unexpected little illnesses, but the rule also saids that 25-30 unexcused absences will lead to failing the year, but to think about if these little illnesses continue for some time, there is a good chance something worse and bigger is going to happen to the body, and that case you will have to see a doctor, in turn of relieving the student of unexcused absense, a doctor’s note is attached. So, should a student be held responsible for lateness and abseces by probation or failure, because of illnesses? The school council should sit with the family of the students and discuss if there are any course the student can take.
ReplyDeleteTaking care of a sick relative is something that most students go through in their school life,some are avoidable, but some are not.This is personal and should not interfere with school as some might say, but as the students avoid that responsibility the guilt of leaving the sick relative will linger in the mind of students, this is a reponsibilty they can not get away from. Some people might say that, the individual can ask other relatives to do the care taking while they come to get their education, but some of the students only have parents to do the job of taking care of sick relatives, and if the parents keep taking care of the sick relative then they might loose their jobs, therefore making it hard for the family to survive. So the students will have to drop out of school. Some of the sick relatives may not be elderly so they can not live in an elderly home, and the ones who live in an elderly home have no money to do that, so alternatively there is no choice.
Tyra G., Shanya B., Kayla B.
ReplyDeleteMs. Julie
English III
January 21, 2015
Time For A Change: Freire Food Policy Revamp
American poet Maya Angelou once said, “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude”. In society we face many problems that are not always adequately addressed. In Freire Charter School there is a food policy of no food or drink in the classroom, besides water; and the water must be kept in a clear bottle. However, we believe that food should be allowed in the classrooms for several reasons. One being that the ability to eat in class would allow students to be able to focus better. In addition, another reason would be that students are unable to access food during the school hours, which essentially damages the body. Lastly, Freire does not offer an adequate amount of time for students to consume their lunch.
For one, food helps one to focus better. Pennsylvania's average school hours range from eight o'clock to three o'clock. A normal life for a high school student at Freire Charter School is to travel through the hallways every fifty-eight minutes from class period to class period. Then, one must switch their mindset from class to class in order to obtain the needed information for the class. These changes tend to drain students of energy. Throughout the day one goes to six different class periods with one forty-five minute lunch break. Freire's food policy for the eleventh grade is "No food or drink permitted in the classroom unless it is homeroom." Many students disagree with this policy because homeroom is only thirteen minutes long. Although, homeroom is an opportunity for students to eat and listen to the announcements. Often times teachers will work through homeroom in order to finish their lesson. All foods give you energy and with out energy students become weary and loose the energized focus that one would have if food was allowed in classrooms.To add, many students skip breakfast due to not the early start of the day. Hence, it can be made clear that students go throughout the day hungry until they are able to eat during homeroom and lunch. Given that time frame, many students are unable to focus due to the lack of nourishment throughout the day.Thus, one should be allowed to rejuvenate the body and brain with food in class so that school would be more enjoyable for students to go through.
Some people might say that the food policy was set in place for good reasons, because it prevents trash from being on the floor as well as provides a clean and suitable environment for the next class. If so, then there should be a policy for no littering and not for food. Also one might say eating in class could cause a distraction to students. Although that is a great reason, students should then acknowledge that eating in class is a privilege and should follow the proper way to consume foods during class without distracting the others. The food policy should be terminated, because eating in class allows students to concentrate better. Also, the food policy is not found in Freire's code of conduct. Teachers also do not want students heads down while they are teaching; however, if students were given the opportunity to have a snack during the class then students heads would be more inclined to engage in class. All in all starting a class off with a snack can boost your strength mentally and physically for the school day that awaits.
ReplyDeleteAlong with food helping you focus better a lot of people do not know that food is a great energy source as well. The energy in food is measured in calories. Although calories are not always good,when too much is consumed one needs carbohydrates to keep the body running and able to function on a daily basis. Personally when I do not eat or do not eat enough I am unable to focus effectively, because I either do not feel well or I am still hungry and that distracts me from what is going on. Please listen, we are not trying to force you to let us eat full meals and things of that such in class; however, we should be able to have a snack here or there while in class. Kids tend to snack while they study. Food helps people in many different ways, but when that privilege is taking away it tends to make people upset. If able to eat is class there would be more participation, better attitudes, and healthier conversations. These factors and many more things would be set into place because now we would feeling much better.
One can empathize with teachers when it comes to people not picking up their trash. Students do not intend to make Freire an unclean environment so there needs to be rules set in place. Of course, if we allow this there would be a limited amount of food and limited types of food, even though this restricts a lot we still have to remember that we are still in school and we are here to learn not eat. Also this takes the stress off students who are pressured to run out to eat and enjoy their food in only a little bit of time. This is next to impossible for students at Freire, due to the overcrowding of food places around school. Students often crowd all the food places surrounding Freire, which then slows down the production of food. The slow production then leads to students not having enough time to eat lunch. That is why we propose that Freire should allow students to eat while in class for approximately the first fifteen minutes after lunch, or extend lunch time. Although, an extending lunch time would cut into learning it would be beneficial, because we would be open minded to learning new things. This is also where the better attitude part comes in because people feel much better when they do not have to rush, it relieves students from feeling like they are wasting their money and they are now able to enjoy their meals. All we are asking the teachers to do is just sit and think deeply about these things, these little things. Ultimately, it can really make a difference and even better a students performance in many ways.
In conclusion, we are standing for a change. If one does not stand up for themselves they allow the problem at hand to continue. The food policy at Freire is ridiculous, and this is the time for a change. As students of Freire we will no longer stand for these injustices, and will no longer deprive our bodies of food. The time is now to make a change!
ReplyDeleteKelsey F.
ReplyDeleteEssence R.
Shalese R.T.
Ms.Julie
English III
January 21,2015
Doesn't everyone deserve another chance?
Freire Charter School is a school in Philadelphia that has a zero tolerance non violence policy. If you violate the policy, you automatically get kicked out of the school, no second chances. This rule isn't always good because you can't protect yourself from harms way, it isn't always reliable because they kick people out based off what other people say happened and lastly it ruins the students education.
The non violence policy can be considered bad because it doesn't allow students to protect/defend themselves. If attacked, they could get injured or seriously hurt and couldn't even prevent that from happening because of the non violence policy. This rule is problematic because it puts the students in danger if they ever felt threatened. Even in law, self defense is allowed, so why doesn't Freire Charter allow it? Freire should allow students to defend themselves if a bad situation comes up. If freire allowed this there would be less problems in school because everyone would have let out their problems already and learned from the lesson before.
ReplyDeleteThis rule is problematic because it is not fair to kick someone out because of what someone said without real evidence. This can be compared to the fifth amendment, everyone has their right to due process. This means that every person has their right to tell their side of the story with evidence. For example, there was a case called Goss v Lopez, this case was about a student that got kicked out of school without a proper hearing. There was no evidence for what as Some This student actually did, just "he say, she say." Therefore this rule is problematic and unfair to kick someone out of school for defending himself in case of endanger.
ReplyDeleteTeachers always claim that they're here to help us when we need them the most because we need an education. Teachers don't want an outside situation to prevent us from getting our education so they urge students to stay in school. There is no way that kicking students out of school for defending themselves is going to help us keep our education. If we need help we should be kept in school, help us in school and give us the help we need. The "right" teacher that cares will do anything to keep a student on the right path. By kicking a student out of school they will not get the right education he needs. When a student gets into a fight they should at least get a second chance to prove he can be a better student with the help of a caring teacher.
Some people will say that the zero tolerance rule is will effective and should not change. The fact is however, that the zero tolerance is not a great rule, the rule is very strict which it doesn't allow the students another chance or the rights to a proper hearing and always involves witnesses.That put students at a more likely risk to get kicked out. Some might also argue why would you break the rule in the first place? While that is a good question, but many students don't really mean to break the rule they can just be playing around and an adult see and start to exaggerate what really happened and automatically get the students in trouble and closer along the line of expulsion out of the school. Some also arguing that if you begin to defend yourself it can get out of hand. This also a very strong reasonable statement, because if it gets out of hand there should be other consequences then rather kicking a student out because freire is supposed to be about helping students, how would you be helping them if you relinquish them from the school? Instead freire zero tolerance rule should be modified, if they are really about helping the students because if you kicked them out they would just end up in more trouble than what they were in.
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ReplyDeleteIn Conclusion, Freire should change their zero tolerance rule because everyone deserves a second change. and if Freire really want students to there best and look out for students they shouldn't give up on them right away just help neutralize the problem and give them another chance. This will also help students learn from they mistake and not to make them again,This would also help freire because this wont lower class rates each year as the grades progress through the years.We are standing up for those who agree the freire should allow the 2nd chance rule and not involve others that don't have to do with the situation and to help make freire zero tolerance rule better.
3rd Period : Shanya Battle and Mle’ Barriner - Leadership
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X was an influential African American leader who expressed his own thought through his words to the Nation of Islam. He also used his knowledge and his large collection of vocabulary during his speeches while expressing himself to his African American brothers and sisters. Malcolm X used many strategies to when leading others such as remaining calm, verbally expressing his thoughts though his language and making sure that every person clearly understands what he is saying and does not let them twist his words to be what they are not truly meant to be. He developed these characteristics from the time he spent in prison. While he was arrested he spent time thinking about his life, he took that time to understand who he truly was as a black man. Not long after, he met Brother Baines that helped him open his eyes and get a better perspective on life. This man led Malcolm X on a path of aspiration and successfulness. Also, being a leader Malcolm X broke off from the Elijah Muhammad in order to control his own ideas. This shows that Malcolm X was courageous because knowing how powerful Elijah Muhammad was to the Islamic Nation, it did not stop him from branching off. In doing so, Malcolm X realized that he can be just as inspirational to the Muslim brothers and sisters than Elijah Muhammad, and lead them to a life of Afro American unity. Malcolm X was a strong leader simply because of how he conducted himself, he practiced what he preached and to that he never feared anyone but Allah .