Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Welcome to Key Conversations in Literature and Language. This is a new forum for our classroom conversations; and for many of you, it will be the opportunity to publish your thoughts, ideas, and opinions about literature and language publicly for the first time. That's exciting (and maybe a little bit scary)! Allow your keyboard to be your voice; but be sure to use this space wisely and respectfully. Now go forth, my students, and converse.
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Ms. Brannon ,
ReplyDeleteI honestly love this book so much ! It is just an amazing book to read, it make me go into depth about what being an "Outlier" means. This book, makes me want to start this New Year with new goals, and new Everything ! Although, I'm a little upset that according to the passage that say's that the most talented athletes are born on; January, February, and March, like why Miss ?! That's not fair :( , I'm a September baby, and I have done about every sport such as; Swimming in elementary school , soccer, softball, and volleyball in middle school, and lastly track and field in high school ! This makes me want to proof all of the data wrong by showing that even September athletes could have talent.
Gladwell doesn't suggest that children born in later months have less talent than those born in earlier months. He argues that children born in later months are often overlooked because they are smaller or less coordinated than children born in later months... because they are younger. The children born in earlier months, therefore, have an advantage--a hidden opportunity. That doesn't mean that they are any more talented than their younger peers.
DeleteNow, given this information (that is, the information that in professional sports talent and hard work aren't the only factors in an athlete's success), has your own perception about successful professional athletes changed? Or your feelings about how we view/treat professional athletes as a society?
Don't worry we're already proving them wrong and will continue too by staying being in this class
DeleteI have found the book to be interesting. It certainly has opened my eyes and even inspired me to work hard for what I want to achieve in life. One of the surprising chapters of the book was Chapter Seven. The topic of power distance was interesting because I am sometimes afraid of expressing disagreement with someone older than me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Michelle. The book was really interesting. I think it is interesting how culture legacy is important and can change how one treats the situation of a plane crash. It is also interesting change only occurs after one accepts their cultural legacy. I agree with this because if someone ignores their culture then they cannot change how they act or who they are.
DeleteI found Chapter 8: Rice Paddies and Math Tests really interesting because people think Asians are smart simply because they are Asian, but I did not know they had a completely different number system. I think this explains a lot on why Asians are shown to be dramatically "smarter" that American students. It is also interesting how they have a longer school year, even though I would not want to be in school 243 days. However, it shows that countries like China and Japan really value education compared to the U.S.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I also found it really interesting about the part where it discusses KIPP academy because growing up, I remember people telling me about that school. As a kid I assumed that it was a bad school because whenever I thought of ' Bronx schools' I always thought it meant that the school was not successful. Now that I read about it in this book, my view of that school completely changed. I had no idea that it was such a rigorous school for children.
DeleteYeah, Serena. I agree. I remember in the 3rd grade, my teacher recommended my parents to look into KIPP because he felt that it was a good place for me to go. They were actually considering it, but then did not because of the times of the school and how far we lived from it. After reading about Marita's life, I'm happy/kind of disappointed I didn't go.
DeleteI agree, Gisselle. I think that being good at math is something that is "expected" from Asians. Over the summer my friend from China, Claire, told me that she was "the only Chinese student back home that was not good at math" and that made me think about whether or not that stereotype was actually a stereotype.
DeleteAs I was reading chapter seven, I was confused about what the point of the first few anecdotes that Gladwell was using. I did not see the connection between plane crashes and how that was suppose to connect to success. It may have been that the chapter was so long that I may have missed some key points in his argument, however, as I was finishing up that chapter I discovered the point behind his argument, which was that people from certain countries are raised to respect their elder, therefore when the time comes to speak up to them, they remain respectful and quiet because it was apart of their culture to do so. I though this was very interesting because its such a contrast on how New Yorkers are raised. Gladwell mentions that New Yorkers portrayed as rude and aggressive. Although he uses negative connotations to describe New Yorkers, for the most part they prove to be true! Our 'rude' and ' aggressive' nature is what allows us to call out our elders when we don't quite agree on something. From this chapter alone, Gladwell has changed the way I view different cultures. Thanks for assigning such an amazing book !
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Serena! I mean many people know that I am really into the Korean and Japanese culture, and I have learned that in Korea people have great respect for elders. For example, when you receive something from an elder person its customary that you have to take it with both hands and bow. Another thing that is very interesting is relationships, for example in America parents don't really have a say in their child's relationship but in Korea, parents have a very big influence in relationships, if they don't like someone that their child is dating then they relationship is over for them. Its very interesting to learn about how our culture in America is very different.
DeleteI honestly enjoyed reading this book very much!! A chapter that I feel like got me thinking the most was Chapter 5. It got me to think about my parents as immigrants in the U.S and how what they are doing now will impact me in th future. The example in this chapter that really got me to think about the future was when the immigrants first arrived they worked in small groceries, then their children went on to work in supermarkets and their grandchildren went on to be lawyers, doctors, psychologists etc. It just makes me if what my parents work as will influence me in my life and if it does how will it influence me and how it will influence my children in the future. Overall I really enjoyed the book very much!! Thank you so much Ms. Brannon! without you I would've never really realized everything I did now.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting how we can be influenced so much? It's surprising that we don't even think of how people become successful through the ways mentioned in this book. I can relate to how Chapter 5 made you think. If you actually see how our lives are now, our parents have been influencing us greatly because we are taking AP classes and we are a part of Minds Matter.
DeleteAs I mentioned in respinse to Serena and Gisselle, my parent and I were considering KIPP Academy, but eventually did not because of the distance. After reading about Marita, I find it incredibly hard to believe that this is the life of a 12 year old. It sounds like my life. I don't think this is healthy for a 12 year old. Just a little before talking about Marita, Gladwell mentions a study where they found that some people were driven to insanity because of over study. Espeically now in this era where colleges are harder to get into because they ask for SUPER STELLAR grades, and scholarships are harder to get because you need SUPER STELLAR grades, kids and teens are going to become crazier. At 16, I feel crazy at times, like is life real? I feel like knowing too much or trying to know too much isn't healthy. Of course, this is not to say that no one can handle all that work, but evetually, I think everyone has a melting point. Marita is only 12, but I think by high school she would have had that meltdown. I don't entirely disagree with how KIPP runs its curriculum, but I think it is a little over board.I think the time frame of 7:25 am-5 pm is reasonable in some light, but having the amount of homework that Marita was explaining is excessive for a 12 year old. I think about 1-3 hours of homework is sufficient enough, considering the students spend nearly 10 hours in school. However, school on Saturday and during the summer is outrageous. These are CHILDREN. The only people I believe should have classes on the weekends and summer are those who really need it. If they want to have something on the weekends and during the summer, let it be some sort of extracurricular or sports for the students to do something beneficial that doesn't involve mind-bending work. Becuase once again, they are kids, children, youngins. They should have a childhood while they can.
ReplyDeleteJosephine you are totally right, it worries me about the things really young children go through. It can just be too much when they are just young kids and there mindset hasn't fully developed yet.
DeleteMrs. Brannon the book was really.. really good. I was very surprised and like "Ahh what, noo" it was very interesting to see all the information Gladwell kept bringing up in each chapter. I was very shocked by what Josephine mentioned as well. I cant believe children that young go through what a college and even high school kids go through. If I sometimes seem to break down and cry because of all the pressure and overwhelming feeling I get, I can only imagine a 12 year old. There minds haven't fully developed yet and they can take it much harder than ever. Overall, the book was really good and it brought out many things for me to further look at.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point Karla.
ReplyDelete