Weekly Journal Reflections:
For the weeks of 5/7 to 5/18:
Goals
The goals I had set for these two weeks from May 7th to May 18th were to contact interest groups, the Chicago Public Schools representatives and contact people of different communities to hear their input on the way schools and the way schools teach has impacted their goals and lives. I was hoping that after I had gathered some information, I could make a Venn-Diagram and represent what I have found to the rest of the world. Once I finished the Venn-Diagram, I would strengthen my video documentary with evidence from my findings and add the new addition to my website. Because the website is something I do not have help with, I am trying to build it based on my resolution, paragraphs from essays I have written and pictures to make it look interesting.
Daily Action and Evidence
· For the first week, I was more focused on my AP testing for AP English and AP Calculus. Although I love to talk about education, I love English more. This is evident through my absences on Wednesday, the 9th and Thursday, the 10th.
· On the Monday before the 9th and 10th, I was able to search the contact information for two interest groups, a private high school in Chicago, and a representative for CPS.
· With the information in hand, I called the contacts on Sunday, May 13th and left voicemails for the Center of Education Reform and the general information contact number for CPS. I realized that calling on a Sunday was not appropriate since business hours for both groups were Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
· During my AP Biology test on Monday, the 14th, I received a voicemail in return to my call for the Center of Education Reform. They had redirected me to go back to the website for any information I needed. I still have not heard from CPS.
· Tuesday, the 15th, after taking the AP Government and Politics exam, I started developing and planning my website, which I am still working on today.
· Today, the 18th, I plan on getting a video completed for the introduction to my website.
Challenges
Some of the challenges I’m currently facing involve getting through to the people I have to contact. Phone calls are not the best way to contact people. The whole point of me contacting the Center for Education Reform and the Democrats for Education Reform and CPS representatives was to ask some questions and figure out exactly what each group has accomplished so far in reforming education. With all the AP testing, I’ve gotten very behind in my investigation. It is kind of ironic that the concept I am trying to save—education—is the thing that is keeping me from achieving my goal. This is just a slight hindrance but I am sure I can figure something else to do for the action part of my project. I really hope to write to Illinois’s state legislature and ask them about education. However, I am easily discouraged so a piece of me is getting frustrated with trying to take action.
Weekly Reflection
I know I have not been lazy just very discouraged from continuing the struggle. It is hard to keep positive when even the most professional people are unwilling to protect the causes they fight for. When the woman from the Center for Education Reform redirected me to go back to the website, I felt stupid. She basically told me to do what I had already done. I wanted to get a more depth explanation of the website’s materials. This made me think that maybe the Center for Education might not be the best at helping fight for education. After all, when I went to the website, I realized the Center for Education was mostly for charter schools and getting rid of the public school experience anyway. That is not what I want from education. I want there to still be public education but I do not want there to be inequalities within it. The whole reason I am fighting against Chicago Public Schools and the system is because I do not agree with the way it is run. I do not want to get rid of it completely. I would feel better knowing that the politics of education is getting fixed and not any more wrong. Having people in charge of my education and the education of thousands other children who do not know anything about education makes me sick. What makes me sicker is the fact that CPS would not call a student that they reign over back to discuss in a formal setting, the quality of education and their own stances on education.
Despite the calling incidents, I have had better luck getting my website fixed. The more I think about it, I would prefer to know that I reached out and got rejected rather than not trying at all. Although my action plans will not be complete by the time of the Dream Conference, I still plan on struggling to fix the problems I see with education. I want there to be a human rights curriculum in school. I know it can be done because the American government has successfully added U.S. History and the Constitution test as a mandatory curriculum and aspect. I ask why can there not be another mandatory class—one that is actually universal and necessary.
Next Steps
· I plan to finish my website (or what I can finish in the meantime).
· Add my video log and upload it to the website.
· Keep calling (harassing) CPS and find out how I can get the officials to contact me back. (Email, perhaps?)
· Write the letter to the state legislature or find an email or contact that can connect me to the state legislature and propose my amendment to the Constitution as an example (from AP Gov), and get feedback.
· I cannot lose hope in this. I really think there can be a positive future to education that only a small select group can see right now. But after I bring it to the attention of those higher up, I know the word can be spread faster.
The goals I had set for these two weeks from May 7th to May 18th were to contact interest groups, the Chicago Public Schools representatives and contact people of different communities to hear their input on the way schools and the way schools teach has impacted their goals and lives. I was hoping that after I had gathered some information, I could make a Venn-Diagram and represent what I have found to the rest of the world. Once I finished the Venn-Diagram, I would strengthen my video documentary with evidence from my findings and add the new addition to my website. Because the website is something I do not have help with, I am trying to build it based on my resolution, paragraphs from essays I have written and pictures to make it look interesting.
Daily Action and Evidence
· For the first week, I was more focused on my AP testing for AP English and AP Calculus. Although I love to talk about education, I love English more. This is evident through my absences on Wednesday, the 9th and Thursday, the 10th.
· On the Monday before the 9th and 10th, I was able to search the contact information for two interest groups, a private high school in Chicago, and a representative for CPS.
· With the information in hand, I called the contacts on Sunday, May 13th and left voicemails for the Center of Education Reform and the general information contact number for CPS. I realized that calling on a Sunday was not appropriate since business hours for both groups were Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
· During my AP Biology test on Monday, the 14th, I received a voicemail in return to my call for the Center of Education Reform. They had redirected me to go back to the website for any information I needed. I still have not heard from CPS.
· Tuesday, the 15th, after taking the AP Government and Politics exam, I started developing and planning my website, which I am still working on today.
· Today, the 18th, I plan on getting a video completed for the introduction to my website.
Challenges
Some of the challenges I’m currently facing involve getting through to the people I have to contact. Phone calls are not the best way to contact people. The whole point of me contacting the Center for Education Reform and the Democrats for Education Reform and CPS representatives was to ask some questions and figure out exactly what each group has accomplished so far in reforming education. With all the AP testing, I’ve gotten very behind in my investigation. It is kind of ironic that the concept I am trying to save—education—is the thing that is keeping me from achieving my goal. This is just a slight hindrance but I am sure I can figure something else to do for the action part of my project. I really hope to write to Illinois’s state legislature and ask them about education. However, I am easily discouraged so a piece of me is getting frustrated with trying to take action.
Weekly Reflection
I know I have not been lazy just very discouraged from continuing the struggle. It is hard to keep positive when even the most professional people are unwilling to protect the causes they fight for. When the woman from the Center for Education Reform redirected me to go back to the website, I felt stupid. She basically told me to do what I had already done. I wanted to get a more depth explanation of the website’s materials. This made me think that maybe the Center for Education might not be the best at helping fight for education. After all, when I went to the website, I realized the Center for Education was mostly for charter schools and getting rid of the public school experience anyway. That is not what I want from education. I want there to still be public education but I do not want there to be inequalities within it. The whole reason I am fighting against Chicago Public Schools and the system is because I do not agree with the way it is run. I do not want to get rid of it completely. I would feel better knowing that the politics of education is getting fixed and not any more wrong. Having people in charge of my education and the education of thousands other children who do not know anything about education makes me sick. What makes me sicker is the fact that CPS would not call a student that they reign over back to discuss in a formal setting, the quality of education and their own stances on education.
Despite the calling incidents, I have had better luck getting my website fixed. The more I think about it, I would prefer to know that I reached out and got rejected rather than not trying at all. Although my action plans will not be complete by the time of the Dream Conference, I still plan on struggling to fix the problems I see with education. I want there to be a human rights curriculum in school. I know it can be done because the American government has successfully added U.S. History and the Constitution test as a mandatory curriculum and aspect. I ask why can there not be another mandatory class—one that is actually universal and necessary.
Next Steps
· I plan to finish my website (or what I can finish in the meantime).
· Add my video log and upload it to the website.
· Keep calling (harassing) CPS and find out how I can get the officials to contact me back. (Email, perhaps?)
· Write the letter to the state legislature or find an email or contact that can connect me to the state legislature and propose my amendment to the Constitution as an example (from AP Gov), and get feedback.
· I cannot lose hope in this. I really think there can be a positive future to education that only a small select group can see right now. But after I bring it to the attention of those higher up, I know the word can be spread faster.
For the week of 5/21 to 5/25:
Goals
The goals I had set for the last week of the Fire Project—May 21st to the 25th—was to tie up the loose ends of my website. Not having Digital Humanities made me really nervous about the website, so I tried to move as fast as possible through it. Once I understood how the website should look, I could finish taking action. My action goals were to mostly try the phone calls again. After the disappointing phone calls, my previous goals changed and I finished writing a letter. In the letter, I mostly explained who I was and asked for the Secretary of State, Jesse White and one of the Senators for support.
Daily Action and Evidence
· May 21st was mostly about reviewing my website and tying up the loose ends, such as rearranging the pages and adding what I did not have based on thedreamconference.weebly.com guide. I had completely forgotten about the Venn-Diagram but now I realize I did not want to focus too much on just learning more facts about the stances on education as much as I wanted to contact those with political power.
· May 22nd through to the 24th, I started the letter to the politicians. After looking online for appropriate addresses for Jesse White and Richard Durbin, I started the letter. The letter began with the basic, my name is, I’m from, and what I am writing about with careful diction that reflected both my purpose and my passion.
· On May 24th, I finished the letter and revised it twice before sending out the letter to both politicians.
· May 25th was dedicated to the final reflection for the DREAM Conference and other homework I had to complete before the next week.
Challenges
Some of the challenges I am currently facing involve the discouragement that the Secretary of State and Senator will not respond to my letter. I was really nervous to write the letter in the first place. I did not want to sound like another whiny, complaining teenager but a person who is really concerned about the wellbeing of the future scholars in America. The website has been holding me back from my other duties as a student. It was hard trying to find a way to balance my love for education and my classes because at the end of the day, what I really love shouldn’t hinder me from being able to support it.
Weekly Reflection
Getting a lot of a good thing—whether it be candy, sleep, or getting dramatically involved with education—is a bad thing. I know understand what that means. I haven’t had enough candy, have gotten very little sleep, but have been completely wrapped up in my education and getting involved with it. The fight for quality and equal educational opportunities will never end for me. I will always fight for what I think is right, especially in the educational context. Although I wish I could have done a better job in getting others involved just as much as I am, I took a different path and decided contacting the people who have more power than I and others like the Chicago Teachers Union, and CPS combined. I think if I did the mailing right, I will have better results. I fought with myself a lot when thinking about the next steps to take since the last two weeks hadn’t gone so well. Not being contacted back by the Board of Ed and the interest group made me feel exactly as every teen does sometimes, like I don’t matter. Like the cause I’m fighting for is worthless just like it is to not be called back. However, I stood up and went in a different approach. The interest groups are just missing out on something revolutionary. J
Next Steps
· Because the fight for education does not end here, with the end of my Fire Project, I plan on continuing the struggle. If I do not hear back from Jesse White or Richard Durbin, I will take my concerns to the next level and write to the President, email as many politicians as I can, and keep flooding people’s email boxes and voicemail boxes until someone hears the nobody (for now), Teresa Onstott.
· I want to keep my website going and so after the DREAM Conference is over, I want to create a blog where people can complain about school or share their thoughts.
· I need suggestions on how to get more people power and money power involved with education reform. Do I sense a PAC coming on?
[Add dramatic “dun dun dun” music here.]
The goals I had set for the last week of the Fire Project—May 21st to the 25th—was to tie up the loose ends of my website. Not having Digital Humanities made me really nervous about the website, so I tried to move as fast as possible through it. Once I understood how the website should look, I could finish taking action. My action goals were to mostly try the phone calls again. After the disappointing phone calls, my previous goals changed and I finished writing a letter. In the letter, I mostly explained who I was and asked for the Secretary of State, Jesse White and one of the Senators for support.
Daily Action and Evidence
· May 21st was mostly about reviewing my website and tying up the loose ends, such as rearranging the pages and adding what I did not have based on thedreamconference.weebly.com guide. I had completely forgotten about the Venn-Diagram but now I realize I did not want to focus too much on just learning more facts about the stances on education as much as I wanted to contact those with political power.
· May 22nd through to the 24th, I started the letter to the politicians. After looking online for appropriate addresses for Jesse White and Richard Durbin, I started the letter. The letter began with the basic, my name is, I’m from, and what I am writing about with careful diction that reflected both my purpose and my passion.
· On May 24th, I finished the letter and revised it twice before sending out the letter to both politicians.
· May 25th was dedicated to the final reflection for the DREAM Conference and other homework I had to complete before the next week.
Challenges
Some of the challenges I am currently facing involve the discouragement that the Secretary of State and Senator will not respond to my letter. I was really nervous to write the letter in the first place. I did not want to sound like another whiny, complaining teenager but a person who is really concerned about the wellbeing of the future scholars in America. The website has been holding me back from my other duties as a student. It was hard trying to find a way to balance my love for education and my classes because at the end of the day, what I really love shouldn’t hinder me from being able to support it.
Weekly Reflection
Getting a lot of a good thing—whether it be candy, sleep, or getting dramatically involved with education—is a bad thing. I know understand what that means. I haven’t had enough candy, have gotten very little sleep, but have been completely wrapped up in my education and getting involved with it. The fight for quality and equal educational opportunities will never end for me. I will always fight for what I think is right, especially in the educational context. Although I wish I could have done a better job in getting others involved just as much as I am, I took a different path and decided contacting the people who have more power than I and others like the Chicago Teachers Union, and CPS combined. I think if I did the mailing right, I will have better results. I fought with myself a lot when thinking about the next steps to take since the last two weeks hadn’t gone so well. Not being contacted back by the Board of Ed and the interest group made me feel exactly as every teen does sometimes, like I don’t matter. Like the cause I’m fighting for is worthless just like it is to not be called back. However, I stood up and went in a different approach. The interest groups are just missing out on something revolutionary. J
Next Steps
· Because the fight for education does not end here, with the end of my Fire Project, I plan on continuing the struggle. If I do not hear back from Jesse White or Richard Durbin, I will take my concerns to the next level and write to the President, email as many politicians as I can, and keep flooding people’s email boxes and voicemail boxes until someone hears the nobody (for now), Teresa Onstott.
· I want to keep my website going and so after the DREAM Conference is over, I want to create a blog where people can complain about school or share their thoughts.
· I need suggestions on how to get more people power and money power involved with education reform. Do I sense a PAC coming on?
[Add dramatic “dun dun dun” music here.]