Many topics concerning education and its institutions are discussed in Amanda Ripley’s book “The Smartest Kids in The World: and how they got that way,” however, one of the most interesting can be found in chapter five “An American in Utopia.” The introduction of Kim, an American exchange student studying at a high school in Pietarsarri, Finland opens the chapter. Using Kim’s experiences in the Finish school system, Ripley continues to make a comparison between the students' in Finland and the United States. This segment highlights Finish teachers and students viewing education as a legitimate pursuit, while the American students more often than now saw it as a forced activity.
Into considerations of having children, many people have different outlooks on the proper way to raise their children. However, in The Glass Castle, Rose Mary and Rex Walls had their own method of parenting, which many people would find controversial. Throughout The Glass Castle, author Jeannette Walls, describes her childhood and her consequential living conditions that she had to deal with due to the choices her parents made. Although Rose Mary and Rex had their own methods of raising their children which would be considered neglectful, many would believe that they belong in a foster care, but since they didn't get taken away there must be a reason to it. If Jeannette was placed into foster care I don't think she would have benefited from
“Oh wow, what a smart child!” This is a statement that deceivingly seems inconsequential on the surface. However, once one digs below the surface, as Carol S. Dweck did in “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn,” one can see that having a certain mindset can be a determining factor of whether or not a child will be able to become successful. Dweck believes that a praise (similar to the type mentioned before) cause students to have a certain mindset on the way smartness functions, consequently affecting their work ethic. TO elaborate, she claims they either have one of two mindsets; a growth mindset, which is when a student believes they obtain knowledge by working hard; or a fixed mindset which is when a student believes everyone has a set level of smartness they have to live up to.
The common assumption that America is the leading nation in the world takes a hard hit in Amanda Ripley’s The Smartest Kids in the World, a book that explores the top education systems throughout the world, which are not that of the United States. After reading the book, it comes off with strong viewpoints, and makes you think critically about our education system. It highlights the PISA tests, both praised and criticized for their ability to calculate the knowledge and creativity and individual possesses. The book also features a unique narrative style involving three students from America embarking on journeys as “correspondents” to three of the tops ranking PISA countries.
What Girls Learn by Karin Cook In the novel, “What Girls Learn”, by Karin Cook, Tilden who is twelve years old and Elizabeth who is eleven years old, have been close to their mother all their lives. They were so close to their mother that they never lived with anyone else. Frances, Tilden’s and Elizabeth’s mom, moved all of them from Atlanta to New York, where their mother fell in love with a man who the girls never met, Nick Olsen.
As my brother plays in his tournament for high school basketball I hear my mother screaming at him. She's telling him to try harder, run faster, rebound more, and to have fun. Although it is a tournament and everyone wants the team they are for to win, they also all want those boys to have fun. Sports aren't always about winning. Especially since these boys are still in high school, they're just kids.
Everyone has different beliefs when it comes to raising children and what parenting methods lead to the best outcomes. The Glass Castle (1989), a memoir written by a well-known novelist and best-selling author of historical fiction, explores the topic of parenting. The author, Jeannette Walls, writes about her unconventional upbringing in the American West and West Virginia during the 1960’s and 1970’s. The memoir details the Walls family’s frequent moving to avoid bill collectors and their time in casinos, bars, and brothels. Along with the innappropriate places they visit throughout the memoir, the parents continuously showcase their questionable sense of responsibility.
Denise Clark Pope, “How we are creating a generation of stressed out, materialistic and miseducated students.” The Predicament of Doing School author, Denise Clark Pope in this part of the title believes that we are fabricating an age of consumerist’s and miseducated students. The Predicament of Doing School written by Denise Clark Pope is about how to “do school”. Properly “doing school” means passing classes by manipulating the school system and surviving without repeating.
I had an ah!ha! moment when reading the introduction to How Children Succeed by Paul Tough. There was a lot of information in regards to the GED program and how it began. The purpose of the program made sense; however, I always wondered why those students who passed the test are less likely to go to college. The reasoning according to Heckman is, that they lacked important traits learned in high school for instance, “…an inclination to persist at a boring and often unrewarding task: the ability to delay gratification; tendency to follow through on a plan—also turned out to be valuable in college, in the workplace, an in life generally” (2012, pg. xix). Therefore, getting out of school sooner does not seem to work well because students are less likely to stick to the long years college may bring.
To create an intriguing story, authors often use situational irony. Situational irony is when the opposite of what the readers expect to happen occurs in a story. This creates an element of surprise. In “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, situational irony generates a humorous effect. However, Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony in the necklace so that the reader feels sorry for the main character in “The Necklace”.
In the quote, “Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better? Why hide deficiencies instead of overcoming them” (Dweck 7)? Dweck insists that the reader thinks about this question thoughtfully. What this question is saying is, while having a “fixed mindset”, people waste their time trying to prove their greatness. While opposingly, having a “growth mindset” people choose to spend their time trying to improve.
The Mindset “Although people may differ in every which way- in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments- everyone can change and grow through application and experience.” Does the people that an individual is surrounded by have an impact on someone developing a growth mindset? For years people have been wondering why people think and act differently from each other. In the article “The Mindsets,” Carol Dweck talks about two different types of mindsets that she has studied for thirty years.
Today, you either get educated or you get stuck in a dead-end job without much prospect for the future. The gap between those with a higher education and those without one is becoming wider with advancements in technology and the growing competitiveness of the job market. There are many dangers of this gap. One such danger is the people who have a higher educations having the leisure to ignore those who are less educated. Joy Castro in her essays “Hungry” and “On Becoming Educated” discusses her life and educational journey.
Summary “Children Need to Play, Not Compete,” by Jessica Statsky is a thoughtful insight on the competitive sports for children. She is of the view that the competitive sports can ruin the enjoyment that games are supposed to provide. These methods of playing the games like adults can prove to be lethal for physical and psychological health. The author quotes from an authentic source that “Kids under the age of fourteen are not by nature physical.” (Tutko)
Drug by Condition – Cholera Introduction Cholera is a disease that is rarely seen in the USA. Reported cases of the condition come only from people who recently visited cholera endemic regions or eating poorly cooked seafood. However, the statistics around world speak a different story. Cholera is still a major condition that many people fight against. WHO reports that there are about 1.3 million to 4 million cases of cholera reported around the world annually.
