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 well if everyone jumped off a cliff, would you jump, too!? 
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conformity - its such a nasty word in some connotations. being an individual is important in this society today. its almost a fad. slogans everywhere ramble out catch-phrases like "express yourself" and whatnot. but it's not so easy to be an individual. it's almost too hard - requires too much effort. why not just be one of the crowd? (this is me playing devil's advocate to what all of society would say these days.) we could all sit here and relate how difficult it was growing up to find our own notch on the totem pole. everyone has that story. but i think the thing is, even if i look and act just like a carbon copy of another person (meaning, i've conformed to something), there's still something different about me. but as teachers, i think we should all try really hard to find the different spark in every student. it's not the student's responsibility to be so overwhelming different that they get noticed. we should look beyond everything and straight into a student's heart and mind. in my honest opinion, a wonderful and effective teacher can look there and find something in that student that maybe he/she didn't even know was there. an awesome teacher is one who can help a student find the special thing about himself/herself and celebrate that difference. some teachers dont take the time though.

which leads me to the whole point of obedience. i mentioned in my small group tonight that obedience isnt an issue just in schools as children grow up. its everywhere - even in the workforce. and in the video tonight, we saw a very extreme example of such a case. so if i can get my thoughts straightened out enough to explain this, i think it's (for the lack of better words) a vicious cycle. this generation was programmed one way in order for them to produce another generation that'd be programmed another way. schools just happen to be one of the biggest institutional systems that aid in the process of what i call "assimilation." but i have hope because i just know that there are those few who are born with the instinct to not assimilate. for example, those were the helicopter pilot and soldier from the video who didn't obey orders. and there are countless people in society who don't obey society's rules. but we look down upon them as being wackos. i cant think of any specifics, but im sure you can think of a few on your own. but when a couple of these natural-born "disobeyers" make it into a school system as teachers, a wave of mass hysteria is likely to occur. sometimes it's good. sometimes it's bad. it's just a matter of giving difference a chance. where i come from, that doesn't happen. but luckily for the county i come from, i dont like to obey a lot of rules and i plan to return there to teach. :) maybe i'll only succeed in pissing people off. but hey, as was stated in another one of my teaching classes, you need to be okay with pissing people off if youre gonna be a real teacher. not just a mechanical person who carries out orders. but for the hundreds of people i piss off, i might help one student find his/her own special spark. and to me, one definitely outweighs another. the most talked about people in history are the ones who didnt obey rules. they utilized a whole new kind of freedom and may have suffered the consequences, but they made a difference. we just need to find our courage.

p.s. sorry this was so long. four hours of class just didnt cover what i had on my mind! :)

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Casey McKnight


Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:13 am
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I too believe we have to get straight into a student's heart and mind. I think this is what Gayle is trying to show us in our own class.I like you honesty and authentic approach. When people speak the truth, it often becomes a tuning fork for others who have "gone along" without thinking. Maybe school just touches the surface and doesn't get to the layers that mean the most and make the difference.

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Rebekah Smith


Thu Jan 29, 2004 5:58 pm
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