The Achievement Gap

1.What do you think causes the achievement gap?
I think some students dont really care about their education. The teachers low expectations of students also have a lot to do with it

2. What can students do to close the gap?
Students can ask for help when they need it. They can also start studying and working harder in school. They shoud also have high expectations of themselves and not feel inferior to other races.

3. What can parents do?
Parents can get more involved in their child's life when it comes to their education. They can also start viewing themselves as teachers. They should put restrictions on their kids such as less television, less internet and video games, and encourage them to do homwork

4. What can teachers/schools do?
Teachers should encourage students instead of giving up on them. Schools should have a smaller ratio of teachers to students. Teachers should try to get to know students better to be able to help them.

Questions About Tom Hayden

1. What did you think of Mr Hayden?
I thought that he was very interesting. He seemed to know a lot about the Vietnam War. He had a lot of interesting things to say about it.

2. Tom Hayden does not think of himself as a Civil Rights leader. Do you see him as one? Why or why not?
I dont think of him as a civil rights leader because he wasnt really fighting for civil rights. He didnt necessarily fight for other races like Martin Luther King or Malcolm X. He was fighting against the Vietnam War. He was a political activist.

3. Tom Hayden feels that leaders are not as important as the hundreds of people behind them. What does he mean by that?
He means that the followers and supporters of the leaders are as or even more important than the actual leaders because they helped make everything happen. They worked hard to make it happen and they never get credit for it. If those people had not been there, there would be no leader

Its Friday!!! YAY, but it sucks that our soccer team lost. It also sucks that we have two weeks until christmas break while other schools get out in one week. Oh well I guess thats life. This weekend is gonna be boring because I have confirmation classes for 4 hours. Hopefully we get something other than pizza for lunch.....

The sign thats says "Stop Hurting Yourself" means to stop doing things that will have negative outcomes. I think its up there to encourage us to not get angry or frustrated and do something dumb when something else goes wrong. When my brother was a senior in high school, he began "hurting" himself. He had always been a good student but when he moved from Hamilton to Venice high, he suddenly started to hang out with the wrong people. He would go out every night with these people. He did things that were wrong and he almost didnt graduate. My parents and my grandparents were very dissapointed. He felt like a failure and he was depressed for many days. Fortunately he managed to rectify himself and graduate.