This is so true. When academics and overall access to education was rare, grades were a good means of assessing progress and prowess. However, since education has become more mainstream and with the advent of educational technologies as well as tools, the system itself is somewhat archaic. As such, modern systems that implement flexible grading options and laid back systems are usually much more beneficial to students and teachers alike since at the end of the day, the students are there to LEARN.

I LOVE THIS SENTENCE IT IS SO EMPOWERING AND HAS JUST SO MUCH CHARACTER TO IT!!!!!

This is actually really surprising to me and I had no idea such a thing even existed. To think that there was so much tension and animosity towards and between not only women, but women of color regarding labor concerns and bodies is striking. This actually makes sense in a way, but for the environment to be so extreme that it would be conducive to this much violence is surpising,

This is honestly a really interesting take. While I do understand that having a paternal figure in a child's life will make things easier for the child to look up to, I think a community raised child is just as good of a scenario if not better. In my culture, community plays a massive role in the development of one's person, any father/mother may be influential but they ultimately lack skills in everything that makes a "good" person a good person. From that, children observe and absorb characteristics from many throughout their lives and that ends up molding them to the people they end up as. For the man to suggest that being raised by a community is essentially unrelated strangers I feel like is a bad take and quite insensitive.

I find it really interesting how in this tribe's culture the act of piercing the ears of a child symbolizes the affection and love that the relatives have for the child. If a child or adult were to be spotted without piercings, it would be indicative that they have no family to honor them. I never knew this before.

I like how careful and aware both of the girls have. They are fully aware of the customs and traditions involving these kinds of arrangements and how they are placed in a disadvantageous position. Alila advises Waterlily to play the waiting game and let the man prove himself to her rather than immediately giving into him. Later in the passage we see how Waterlily slowly becomes more fond of the man and begins to hold in high regard after his successful hunt and treatment to her.

This paragraph really shows the unique perspective that Waterlily has about the influential women in her tribe. From the passage, it seems that the tribe doesn't respect Night Walker because she lost her virginity and has to continuously deny it to garner respect. On the other hand, most of the tribe and Waterlily respect and admire White Dawn for her innocence and her accomplishments as a head of her family. Waterlily is well aware of the social consequences of her actions and uses the experiences of others to guide her decisions of the future.

The contrast between the opinions held by the natives vs those held by the settlers is so discomforting. In nearly every aspect, the natives look for the beauty in things, whether its the differences in the physical appearance of the settlers, the clothes they fashion or their habits they find everything interesting and beautiful in its own right. On the other hand, while some people cherish and admire indigenous culture and practices, for centuries the indigenous people were scolded as primitive savages that just hold back the modern world. I find it heartbreaking that despite this cruel treatment, there were still natives that found the good in the settlers as they admired the diversity and beauty of the American children but feared what they would eventually become due to the generations of settlers prior.

I find it that several native americans were genuinely interested in the lives of the white americans. The natives were curious about settlers habits, possessions and families and how these things culminated into the lives that they lived. I wish the same curiosity was held by the settlers for the natives as I feel this open-minded and inquisitive nature is gentle and kind. If more people thought like this, maybe history would have treated the indigenous people better.

200 years later and the US government does the same exact things. When you look throughout the history of American treaties and agreements there is one common theme. These treaties are always passive-aggressive, vague, and damn near impossible to hold those who made them accountable. In the case with the Natives, they were ill-versed in the english language, especially with the special terminology people in power love to use to make simple matters seem much more complex. This form of writing and fear instilled into the native population led to them being coerced into agreements that would strip natives of 99% of their land with very minor if any compensation.

This is such a stark contrast to the Lincoln that we were raised to love and respect. To sign the emancipation proclamation one day then order the largest mass execution in the same week is honestly baffling. It really does allude to the notion that Lincoln was not as just nor honest as he seemed and while he did sign the Emancipation Proclamation, it was highly motivated by political gain rather than justice for the African American population.

To me it is sad how women in higher education during the 1920's were able to work their way up into the upper echelons of society yet were still held back by the system that they found themselves in. While they could technically achieve higher positions, they would be given the menial ones if any at all and this prevented a lot of these women from truly owning their fields or earning higher positions. This cast the illusion that the "educated" women of the time held positions of power but in actuality were sidelined despite their qualifications.

This is a super interesting and underappreciated fact. Many people don't know that cosmology was so important and a lot of the basis for modern cosmology stems from indigenous practices and traditions. Many see cosmology as its own field as its cultural significance has mostly faded from text books and sources. So to see this brought up so soon is wonderful as it really highlights how overlooked this topic is.

I find the internal strife that the author experiences tragic as writing about his love for nature and his culture conflicts with the negative stereotypes and ignorance his people face.To embrace the old and the new is something that a lot of people struggle with and to see Tommy struggle with such a thing commands respect and is so humanizing as I am sure many of us struggle with this.

This is such a bold opening. The idea that appreciating nature is looked down upon by the upper class of America is a really puzzling but honestly truthful view.

Such an interesting and very truthful quote that really puts things into perspective. The United States began and 13 colonies that were built on seized lands and the continuation of these 13 colonies expanded due to the same kinds of land acquisitions. Many people believe this was the end once the 50 states were formed but this is false. Almost every major university that thrives in America today owes some part of its success from land acquisition from indigenous people and this realization is honestly just so sad.

I find this absolutely insane. Not only did the US government strip the Natives for their land to build schools for an insanely low price, they didn't even bother to pay these prices and just took the land. I find it ironic that the universities who are supposed to raise and cultivate the leaders and working class of tomorrow can't even pay their own dues to the very people that they owe their existence too...

I think this form of grading would be very efficient and honestly refreshing. I personally don't mind exams and homework but after a few years of university the classes I remember most fondly were the more interactive ones. For example the classes where discussion was mandatory, in class participation with clickers and a final project rather than a final exam were far more memorable than the midterm then final courses. I can remember so many details from these diverse courses and actually enjoyed taking these courses, partly because getting a good grade was easier and also the profs went out of their way to encourage participation and engagement with the material rather than pure memorization and problem solving under time constraints.

Oh absolutely, when you inevitably have several difficult classes and the workloads seem to all collapse on each other, it is very enchanting to just take the easy way out and do the least possible work to remain more or less on top of your work. You either have to be incredibly passionate or very strong willed to consistently choose the harder tasks when balancing multiple classes.

I would have to disagree with this point as it really depends on the classes you are taking. There are some classes that I genuinely enjoy the content and grinding the course for a good grade hasn't seemed to have diminished my interests in those courses. However, there have been courses where I was not initially interested in the material and yes this has definitely made working hard in these classes difficult and diminished my interests in them. So I would say it's case by case but that is just for me.