17 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2021
  2. Feb 2021
    1. That the said laborers are to receive, on the 25th day of December one thousand eight-hundred and sixty-seven, one third part of all the crops made on the place after they have gathered it and made it ready for market, including one third park of the pork made on the place. In consideration of which they are to work kindly and faithfully the usual number of hours each of the six days of the week. And to obey all orders given them by the said Mrs. S. J. Rayson and in no case make use of the mules or other movable property on the place without her direct permission. If any of the laborers shall quit the crops before they have been completed, they shall forfeit all their interest in it. All lost time shall be charged at fifty cents per day and the laborers are to receive one half of it.

      I wonder how long the contract that they worked for was; did they stay longer than 5 years or was it every seasonal harvest. Later on in the paragraph it goes on to say the usual number of hours for 6 days a week is how much the usual number of hours is the eight-hour workday or was it a 12-hour birthday for them. Personally I thought it was very unfair of the laborers to quit and lose all interest.

    1. They learn that history is messy

      History is very messy, and sometimes the truth is horrific.

      As much as many people sometimes want to- or wish that they never happened, they can't deny the impact and the travesty that occurred in humanity's darkest hours. To hide and deny it means to be ignorant.

    2. Greatness, in other words, is a moving target.

      Greatness changes from day to day, hour to hour, week to week. It's dynamic and everchanging.

      One thing that may be great for some, could be awful for others.

    3. Should they leave class feeling proud or ashamed?

      I think that it's okay to feel both. You can be equally proud or ashamed of your countries history, and that's a good thing.

      You've seen the best or the worst moments of your nation's past, and it's okay to acknowledge your feelings. Be ashamed and horrified that it was- at one point -okay to own slaves. But you can also be proud- that people saw that as morally wrong and horrifying, and sought to change it.

    4. “How did we get here?”

      One of the most important questions in a history class, but it's also a loaded question- It's almost ironic, how simple it is to ask but how long and expansive the answer is.

      We look to the beginning of humanity, and follow the footsteps and stories of our ancestors over thousands of years. We see them coincide and interact with each other, simultaneously and not.

    5. the point of U.S. history isn’t to have students revere or reject the country but to help them understand it.

      I agree with this. History is very important, as it helps us understand what things were like before, how cultures and nations formed over the years.

      Not to mention the mistakes they made in the past. We look to those mistakes and resolve to never do them again. We stare upon the awful things people did, and know to do better. To understand and say that "this is wrong, how can we change it for the better?"

    1.  We need to collect information about how students are doing, and then we need to share that information

      I don't understand when the author is saying need to gather information about the students and show it because if you're gathering information about the students aren't you essentially grading what they're doing or are you just looking at what they are learning and things the students are having trouble with

    2. “I remember the first time that a grading rubric was attached to a piece of my writing….Suddenly all the joy was taken away.  I was writing for a grade — I was no longer exploring for me.  I want to get that back.  Will I ever get that back?” 

      The idea of school has always come with a lot of stress especially when it comes with the pressure to receive a good grade on all of your assignments. Students have so much pressure to do the assignment correctly that they forget that the assignment was intended to teach them something and they forget the main reason why they're learning.

    3. “If it’s not worth teaching, it’s not worth teaching well,”

      This brings me back to one of my high school classes- it was a geography class. I could tell right off the bat that it wasn't something that the teacher particularly cared for. It was packets on packets, and lots of movies. I barely remember any of it.

      In contrast, I had a creative writing class in which the teacher genuinely loved their chosen interest. I can look on that fondly, and still remember the teachings.

      There's a difference between classes when one is uncaring and just cares about giving the kids a grade- and the other who genuinely wanted their students to learn and grow.

    4. Motivation

      I agree that motivation is a big part of going to school and learning at school instead of attending the class to learn everything because I feel like nowadays most students just go to school and attend the classes and just try to pass without learning.

    5. “Then 20 years,” the master responded.  Surprised, the student asked how long it would take if he worked very, very hard and became the most dedicated student in the Ashram. 

      In my personal opinion I feel as if grading has become a substitute for actually teaching the students the subject instead we tell the students to teach themselves and then we give them the grade based on how we feel they did.

    6. how many grammatical errors are present in a composition

      Especially for those who love to write, the knowledge that you have to be extremely careful with your words- knowing that it'll end up subtracting from your work- makes it feel like a chore.

      Writing essays- sometimes feel like slogging through mud, just writing enough to reach the requirements, instead of enjoying and learning from the research.

    7. motivated by grades

      I'm even guilty of this. In my case, I see a grade as more of a tangible goal, even if it's not the best example of proper motivation. Sometimes it's hard to get motivated to do certain things, so I need something with a sort of reference to cut to the point- in a sense.

    8. They may skim books for what they’ll “need to know.”

      I've noticed this a lot. Many times when people are assigned a reading, they do their best to try and 'save' time. Looking for topics and reasoning, and ignoring some of the more important issues a text is trying to get at. I don't know if this has to deal with time constrictions, or just wanting to skate by.

    9. They’ll choose a shorter book, or a project on a familiar topic, in order to minimize the chance of doing poorly

      Growing up as a kid, and knowing that grades were a big part of how people viewed a person as 'successful'. There were many times where, even if I wanted to do a more challenging project or topic; I would go with something I already knew because I didn't want to take a chance on having my grade drop.

    10. Even a well-meaning teacher may produce a roomful of children who are so busy monitoring their own reading skills that they’re no longer excited by the stories they’re reading.

      Assigned readings were always a struggle for me in middle and high school. While I loved reading, I was never the biggest fan of them being directly assigned to me, it almost felt like "Here's a book, you probably won't like this, but we want you to read everything and then tear it apart."

      I want to enjoy my reading experience, I want to learn and talk about it, but tearing it apart made it all feel so forced.