Reflecting on the Importance of Relecting

I really enjoyed these chapters about reflecting, but they were also upsetting for me, I'll have to admit. I feel like this is just such a difficult educational point that we basically have no access to. I can teach my students all I want about reflection inside of my class, but that's often where it ends. I appreciated that thoughtful 7th grade health teacher who didn't call her student out after she came to class dressed provocatively  She started a conversation with her students about celebrity figures in which they were the experts. They were able to analyze what they knew about these stars, and what their reputations seemed to be. It was so interesting how she said that some students seemed to be conflicted over their views of the stars. Since they were the experts she was able to ask them a lot of meaningful questions not only to learn more information, but to also get them to think and reflect. Is life really so simple as having just the Anne Hathaway reputation or the Lindsay Lohan reputation? Just because they portray a certain life or image, is it accurate? (I liked her discussion point on that. Or at least it seemed to me that she was trying to make a point of what things seem like and what they are.) I mean take a look at Tiger Woods. They made a chart that shows he's like the richest athlete there is or something, but he's divorced from his life, and alone. Is he happy? Well, we don't know. But would that make you happy? This is especially interesting when you contrast this with President Obama's perceived life. They need to seriously evaluate if they want to use these people as a superpeer, as she calls it.

My favorite thing about theatre is that it is so reflective. With every role we play and play we research we can think about the lives of the characters represented. We can think about the characters we play. We think about their lives, pains, joys, griefs, successes, circumstances, interactions, where they're from, where they're going, and what's going on around them. Of course many plays are based on entirely fictional stories, but isn't it interesting how we can look at a character's life and ask: how is that like my life? Could that ever happen to me? Do I want it to happen to me? How can I keep it from happening to me.

I can't think of any disciplinary tools that I would use with reflection. I don't think that's what reflection is at all, or maybe I'm misunderstanding the question. One of the most important quotes in the Hobbs reading was, "The students do not tend to appreciate teachers who make them feel ashamed about their choices and lifestyles-- all in the name of helping them. Indeed, a number of them find this insulting and hurtful." If we discipline their actions or how it seems they're acting, thinking, or dressing outside of class it could ruin their respect for us. It could completely discredit all we have to say. Where I do see discipline coming in is obviously where she talks about hurtful online activity/personas. Sometimes students get mad and post hurtful things about peers/teachers to Facebook, Twitter, or whatever else. I don't think that teenagers understand the extent of their actions. They don't understand that this can deeply hurt a person, even if they're not serious. Even though I don't think what the girl wrote about on her blog (about the administration) was that serious, it was, of course, very disrespectful. I think that this was a meaningful lesson to that girl that people read what you post to the internet. As Hobbs son said, the internet is just like real life, but faster. It is real life. People lose jobs (or don't get them in the first place) because of things they post to the internet. People have to understand that you can't post pictures of you doing drugs (or other questionable things) and think that it won't affect the way people see you. I've seen this type of thing happen to friends. They've lost important opportunities. The internet is incredible, but also dangerous. As the reading says, the porn industry capitalizes on misspellings of popular websites and cartoons just to trap young children. It's disgusting. I think the best form of discipline is discussion. It's education. There's risks to all these things that I don't think kids understand. The sooner that they're informed of the facts the sooner you can start an open and honest discussion.

As far as Seeing & Writing goes, of course the Omayra picture was the most compelling. Media can do powerful, powerful things and tell important stories. But like the article about journalists needing credibility, I think the same is true for students. Don't misrepresent yourself. Don't misrepresent the facts. Like the OJ Simpson photo, people will find out. You will lose your credibility. You can never get that back.