Extra Credit: Ted Talks Education

Rita Pearson who has been a teacher for over 30 years talked about how a good relationship or connection with a student is a key factor for their learning. I loved her speech "I'am somebody. I was somebody when I came. I'll be a better somebody when I leave. I'am powerful, I'am strong. I deserve the education that I get here. I have things to do, people to impress and places to go". This got me speechless, if I had teachers like that when I was in High School my grades would be better, because when a student have that motivation from their teacher it makes them work harder and get them more excited to learn. Every student needs a teacher to encourage them to do better everyday and who shows them that they can do it!!!

There was a short clip from stuyvesant High School, this clip was by a student who emphasize the difference between knowledge and understanding.

The psychologist Angela Lee Duekworth who was previously a teacher. She is interested in the psychological perspective of education. Her speech was fallowed by another short clip from a 16 year old girl who was doing bad in High School. Because she did not feel motivated. After giving birth to her daughter her life perspective changed.

Bill Gates also spoke in the video. He brought the idea of giving teachers specific feedback. Dr. Jeffrey Canada taked about the idea of changing  the education system. He says that almost every other technology has been innovated but schools have not changed. Pear Arredondo continues saying "teachers need to be motivators for their students. Last person to speak was Ken Robinson, this man confirms my belief that a truly intelligent minds all have sense of humor and that person without a sense of humor is incomplete in some way. Great speaker.

Blog assignment #7, Deviance

-Deviance: behavior that does not conform to basic cultural norms and expectations, and its relationship to these questions of self and identity. (Page 191, Experience sociology)

-Deviance is the act of rebellion against set of rules and expected behavior established by a certain society. Deviance is defined in many different ways. It depended on the norms of the society, and the religion. Individuals become deviant when people label their actions as deviance. Deviance has many meanings to unconformity on a cultural norm. It depends on that the state of society, and its religion.

Prostitution is a profession that has existed since the beginning of society. Prostitution is viewed as a sleazy way of making money; the United States outlaws this profession, because it degrades females. Yet it is legal and accepted in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Residents in Nevada view prostitution, as any other job.

An example of deviant behavior in my community would be the teen youth wearing baggy attire. Baggy attire is related to gangs, which in turn makes a person view teens that wear baggy attire to be a troublemaker. As a result it puts a stigma on the teen. This causes the teen to accept it.  and then becomes a deviant individual.

Another example of deviance in my everyday life is when I was in high school and I had a bunch of friends whom smoked, skip class and got into fights all the time. I did not follow the bad things they were doing but my family was telling me all the time that I will end up in the streets without a high school Diploma and doing drugs. For a second all these words got in my mind putting a stigma on me. And I was starting to believed that my future will be what they said; it was affecting me in so many ways. But later on I realized that the people around me were labeling my actions as deviant when they were not and the worst thing is that I started to believe it.

A person does not need to act in a deviant manner in order to be considered deviant. Sometimes people are considered deviant because of a trait or characteristics they possess. Punishing people for deviant reminds people what is expected of them and what will happen if they do not conform to society’s norms.

*Rules are created and broken by people who have strong social powers, and ties.