In our final unit of Argument, we learned how to synthesis. In our Internal Investigation, we looked at how people throughout history synthesized in their arguments. For this Action Project, we were asked to investigate the role of a member of the president's cabinet. Then, we had to prove why this position was useful, why the current occupant was a good choice in the eyes of the president, and choose our own nominee for said position.
Showing posts with label Argument. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Argument. Show all posts
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Student Representation
In our second unit of Argument at GCE, we looked at the constitution and how it presented arguments. In our internal investigation, we discussed how the US government works and more importantly, how the different branches of government interact with each other. For our external investigation, we went to a courthouse to watch a trial and visited an Alderman to see how arguments are constructed in court and how elected officials view/use the principals of argument. For this Action Project, we were asked to come up with an amendment for the Code of Conduct. The amendment could change anything that we have the ability to support with logical reasons and solid arguments.
The part of the code I am amending involves who is a part of the disciplinary council. Currently, the person who is supposed to represent the interests of the student is the Director of Counseling. In the Code of Conduct, it says: “The Counselor’s primary role in the Disciplinary Council is to be an advocate for the student and to facilitate conversation between the members of the Disciplinary Council.” There have been reports of unfair treatment and decisions coming out of the council that do not fully take into account the need of the student. Thus, I am proposing an amendment to the Code of Conduct that allows a randomly picked student to be involved in the disciplinary process per student request.
P1: Students have bias to their peers in the decisions made and the opinions put forward.
P2: Students “on trial” has a right to privacy during the disciplinary process.
P3: Having a student on the council would infringe on the student in question’s right to keeping their issues private between them and the staff.
P4: Discipline can only be dispensed by professionals
C: Therefore, students should not have a place on the disciplinary council.
The argument above shows the assumed opinions of the people who originally created the Cod of Conduct. It describes how they would've thought and it helped me to think in their shoes when constructing my argument. In multiple cases, I have heard testimonies from students (former and current) that consistently say that the current student representative/mediator in the disciplinary council does not always represent the perspective of the student. By leaving the student to fend for themselves, they are much less likely to effectively present their side of the story and defend themselves. By adding a student representative, students being processed by the council can now have someone to relate to, feel supported by, and get defended by during the entire process. My changes to the rule are described in the syllogism below:
P1: The student rep does not have to have an empowered position on the council. Only a position that allows the representative to help the student in question explain their side and provide support.
P2: Student privacy and how it’s kept/broken is up to the student in question. It should be up to the student as to whether or not they want a representative and if they should know the details of the situation.
P3: With the point of GCE being a Lab school being constantly brought up, it would be counterintuitive to deny student representation based on the status quo definition of professional.
C: Therefore, students should have a place on the disciplinary council.
With this amendment, students will have more trust in how the staff deals with disciplinary actions. More students would be less resilient of the decisions that come out of the council. A student that supports my amendment by being a co-signer recently said this when discussing the details change: “Having a student on the disciplinary council would broaden the perspectives and make sure all sides of the story is heard and taken into fair account. It would also ensure all decisions made are justified.“ -SG
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| Cartoon jury (2008) bethtgirl
The above image symbolizes my argument because it shows a fair trial by jury and represents the how the disciplinary council could be more fair and just with student representation.
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The part of the code I am amending involves who is a part of the disciplinary council. Currently, the person who is supposed to represent the interests of the student is the Director of Counseling. In the Code of Conduct, it says: “The Counselor’s primary role in the Disciplinary Council is to be an advocate for the student and to facilitate conversation between the members of the Disciplinary Council.” There have been reports of unfair treatment and decisions coming out of the council that do not fully take into account the need of the student. Thus, I am proposing an amendment to the Code of Conduct that allows a randomly picked student to be involved in the disciplinary process per student request.
P1: Students have bias to their peers in the decisions made and the opinions put forward.
P2: Students “on trial” has a right to privacy during the disciplinary process.
P3: Having a student on the council would infringe on the student in question’s right to keeping their issues private between them and the staff.
P4: Discipline can only be dispensed by professionals
C: Therefore, students should not have a place on the disciplinary council.
The argument above shows the assumed opinions of the people who originally created the Cod of Conduct. It describes how they would've thought and it helped me to think in their shoes when constructing my argument. In multiple cases, I have heard testimonies from students (former and current) that consistently say that the current student representative/mediator in the disciplinary council does not always represent the perspective of the student. By leaving the student to fend for themselves, they are much less likely to effectively present their side of the story and defend themselves. By adding a student representative, students being processed by the council can now have someone to relate to, feel supported by, and get defended by during the entire process. My changes to the rule are described in the syllogism below:
P1: The student rep does not have to have an empowered position on the council. Only a position that allows the representative to help the student in question explain their side and provide support.
P2: Student privacy and how it’s kept/broken is up to the student in question. It should be up to the student as to whether or not they want a representative and if they should know the details of the situation.
P3: With the point of GCE being a Lab school being constantly brought up, it would be counterintuitive to deny student representation based on the status quo definition of professional.
C: Therefore, students should have a place on the disciplinary council.
With this amendment, students will have more trust in how the staff deals with disciplinary actions. More students would be less resilient of the decisions that come out of the council. A student that supports my amendment by being a co-signer recently said this when discussing the details change: “Having a student on the disciplinary council would broaden the perspectives and make sure all sides of the story is heard and taken into fair account. It would also ensure all decisions made are justified.“ -SG
Sunday, January 22, 2017
My Declaration for a New Course
In the first unit of Argument at GCE, we learned about how to properly structure our own arguments. To give us historical context as to have this has been done successfully, we analyze the Declaration of Independence and how the colonists made their argument against King George. For our Action Project, we were asked to write our own declaration for a new course at GCE using the concepts that we have learned. For my declaration, I choose to write about an advanced mathematics course.
As much as I’ve loved my time at GCE, there are also some things I would change if I could. One of these things is college readiness and the level of math. Because of the way GCE structures and teaches classes, I feel that many students are not as prepared as they could be for the next step in their academic careers.
I believe that education is not a privilege. Every person in the world deserves the right to know how to have the basic skills to function in a sophisticated society. The purpose of school is to prepare for the future. For some people it’s preparing for a deeper level of education and for others it could be starting their careers. Either way we learn things in school that are essential to all potential paths. I propose a class called advanced mathematics. In this course, students will have a personalized program to propel them to the highest level of math before they graduate. However, the goal of the course is not only to help students learn a higher level of math, but to also help them understand why they are learning it and where they could potentially use it later in life. Also, I hope that after taking this course, student will better understand the reason why they are learning math in school.
Personally, I've always loved doing math. Because of this, I think it's easier for me to understand the true value behind it. I've also been in many situations when applying to a school were certain a certain level of math was needed to apply but I hadn't reached it yet.
A good example of how people in the past used math to be successful is how Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan helped NASA do calculations for their space missions. Not only were these three people women, they were also African American. These women used math to liberate them from the idea that women could not do a "man's" job. Also, while not directly related to math, Phyllis Wheatley tried to promote change in other while her poems. In a way, I'm doing something very similar with this course. Something needs to change with how students think of math at GCE and around the world and I hope this course can help to start to do that.
Guiding Question: How can students use math to prepare for their future?
Course Details:
- The course would be one full term towards the end of senior year. However, in order to prepare for the SAT, the school may choose to teach it to juniors during the winter or spring.
- Most deliverables would not be large assignments. Each piece of homework would be small but focused on ensuring each student retained the information taught each day. New concepts would not be introduced in at home deliverables.
- The resources I would need are as follows: math teacher, classroom, writing materials
p1: Math is used in almost every aspect of your day and knowing more about it can save you money and valuable time. Also, even if you do not decide to go to college, knowing math can get you better paying job positions.
p2: A higher understanding of math can help you get into a better school or further your academic endeavors.
p3: The literal learning of math teaches a discipline of memorization and helps students develop conflict resolution/problem solving skills.
c: Math is an extremely valuable skill to learn for futures may or may not contain academic pursuits.
Overall, this syllogism tries to explain that both the principal of learning math and math itself can be valuable in anybody's life. That math can be valuable not only in the way that many people have viewed it, but in new ways that most high school students don't yet understand.
Usually, when people think of an independent study, they think of one person working alone all the time. However, collaborating with others can eventually lead to you being better as an independent learner. This is because after getting taught by someone else or working with another person, you can better apply the new tools and techniques youve learned to your independent studies.
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| LS. (2017) Class Discussion |
I believe that education is not a privilege. Every person in the world deserves the right to know how to have the basic skills to function in a sophisticated society. The purpose of school is to prepare for the future. For some people it’s preparing for a deeper level of education and for others it could be starting their careers. Either way we learn things in school that are essential to all potential paths. I propose a class called advanced mathematics. In this course, students will have a personalized program to propel them to the highest level of math before they graduate. However, the goal of the course is not only to help students learn a higher level of math, but to also help them understand why they are learning it and where they could potentially use it later in life. Also, I hope that after taking this course, student will better understand the reason why they are learning math in school.
Personally, I've always loved doing math. Because of this, I think it's easier for me to understand the true value behind it. I've also been in many situations when applying to a school were certain a certain level of math was needed to apply but I hadn't reached it yet.
A good example of how people in the past used math to be successful is how Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan helped NASA do calculations for their space missions. Not only were these three people women, they were also African American. These women used math to liberate them from the idea that women could not do a "man's" job. Also, while not directly related to math, Phyllis Wheatley tried to promote change in other while her poems. In a way, I'm doing something very similar with this course. Something needs to change with how students think of math at GCE and around the world and I hope this course can help to start to do that.
Guiding Question: How can students use math to prepare for their future?
Course Details:
- The course would be one full term towards the end of senior year. However, in order to prepare for the SAT, the school may choose to teach it to juniors during the winter or spring.
- Most deliverables would not be large assignments. Each piece of homework would be small but focused on ensuring each student retained the information taught each day. New concepts would not be introduced in at home deliverables.
- The resources I would need are as follows: math teacher, classroom, writing materials
p1: Math is used in almost every aspect of your day and knowing more about it can save you money and valuable time. Also, even if you do not decide to go to college, knowing math can get you better paying job positions.
p2: A higher understanding of math can help you get into a better school or further your academic endeavors.
p3: The literal learning of math teaches a discipline of memorization and helps students develop conflict resolution/problem solving skills.
c: Math is an extremely valuable skill to learn for futures may or may not contain academic pursuits.
Overall, this syllogism tries to explain that both the principal of learning math and math itself can be valuable in anybody's life. That math can be valuable not only in the way that many people have viewed it, but in new ways that most high school students don't yet understand.
Usually, when people think of an independent study, they think of one person working alone all the time. However, collaborating with others can eventually lead to you being better as an independent learner. This is because after getting taught by someone else or working with another person, you can better apply the new tools and techniques youve learned to your independent studies.
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