On November 16th I went to see Matthew Tully speak. He is a journalist for the Indianapolis Star and he is about to publish a book about this project he did involving Manuel High School. He was speaking and answering questions about his upcoming book.
I went to see him because we had been talking about him in my English 150 class. Manuel High is one of the lowest preforming high schools in the state. Matthew Tulley has always been interested in the education system and administrative policies. He wrote a political column for the Indianapolis Star, and wanted to write about school politics. His only problem was that he hadn’t been in a high school since he graduated and he had no idea what went on inside schools today. So he made an arrangement with Manuel to go and observe what was happening inside the school.
When he went in he didn’t know what he would find or how long he wanted to stay. But he quickly made the decision that there was so much to see that he would have to stay for a very long time. He observed the school for a year, finding inspiration in the teachers and students at this failing school. His book will be about the stories that he discovered there.
Because he was coming to Ball State and found out our class was talking about what he did he allowed us to read a chapter of his book. Though I read only a small part of his book, I was inspired. I want to be a teacher, but I had never wanted to teach in this type of school. But all the small struggles and achievements of these students really touched me. When our teacher encouraged us to see him speak I knew I had to make the effort to go.
The stories that Tulley shared were wonderful, and there were so many that I can’t even remember them all. He told of one teacher that he observed that was excited and engaged with his class. He was willing to go the extra mile to make sure the kids are learning, and in turn more students participate in class. Tulley also told us of a teacher that didn’t care at all. Students didn’t even pay attention to her and she didn’t care if they learned or not. It was clear that she hated her job and didn’t want to be there. That story made me so frustrated. I have had horrible teachers before, and I know how hard it is to do well when the teacher doesn’t even care. Those kinds of teachers shouldn’t be out there, yet they get treated the same as the other teacher who was great.
Another story that amazed me was the story of the boy who had no identity. He had been abandoned when he was a baby so his neighbor took him in and raised him. He went through life with no birth certificate or Social Security number. He didn’t even know his own name. He couldn’t get a job or a driver’s license. When he was 18 he realized that he couldn’t apply to colleges. He had to track down his documents so that he could graduate and go to college or get a job.
All of the stories that Tulley shared were awesome, and I cannot wait until his book comes out. Everyone is always talking about what is wrong with the educational system and trying to fix it. Matthew Tulley is the only person who has thought to look at the students’ side of the problem. As a future teacher I find his study to be very interesting.
Ramadan Panel Discussion
I attended a panel discussion on the Muslim holiday Ramadan in September. The actual event was quite simple –four students from Islamic countries each talked about what Ramadan was and what it meant to them. Then the people in the audience could ask them any questions that they had.
I went to this because I heard about it because one of the clubs I am in (International Ambassador’s Club) was sponsoring it and I hadn’t really done a whole lot on campus at that point in time. Also, I was genuinely interested in Ramadan. I love learning about other cultures, and this was a good opportunity to ask any questions without offending anyone.
I learned a lot. I hadn’t actually known anything about Ramadan, so I couldn’t help it. Ramadan is a period of fasting that lasts about a month and ends with a day of feasting. People who celebrate Ramadan fast during the day – not eating or drinking, but are allowed to eat at night. On the last day everyone cooks lots and lots of food and children go from house to house eating all day.
Though each speaker had a similar story, they each celebrated it a little differently. A lot of the difference came from the fact that they were from different countries. Muslims in Tajikistan go about it differently than those from Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. In some of the countries people are forced to fast, while in others it is more of a choice because there are fewer Muslims. Either way, it seemed extremely important to each speaker to follow the rules of Ramadan. Even when they are in the United States they made an effort to avoid eating for that time. The only people that are excluded from fasting are young children, pregnant women, and people who are sick.
The point of Ramadan is to show faith to God by refraining from doing things that can be seen as temptations. Though it is mostly fasting, Muslims refrain from other things such as smoking, impure thoughts, or sex. One guy told about how he gave up smoking one year for Ramadan and hasn’t smoked since. Another thing that is encouraged during Ramadan is praying and trying to be closer to God.
One fact that I thought made the whole thing harder is that Ramadan takes place during the hottest month of the year. It would hard to be in Saudi Arabia in the heat and not be able to drink water until evening. And that was one of the countries where fasting is mandatory. It would be hard to do.
I was impressed with all of the speakers for sticking to Ramadan even without the support of their families and a large Muslim population. I know that in Christianity there is nothing that asks that much self-control and disrupts our life that much. The closest thing that I can relate it to is lent, and I don’t even participate in lent. However, I do have friends that participate in lent every year. They have trouble giving up one thing for a month. I can’t imagine how hard it is to give up everything. Though, to be fair, they do get to eat at night.
We didn’t talk a lot about Islam in class, just read a small section of the Koran. We especially didn’t talk about Ramadan or any other holiday or celebration in Muslim beliefs. However, in the part of the Koran that we did read I picked up that Muslims are required to be very devout in their faith. This follows with what I learned about Ramadan.
Matthew Tulley
On November 16th I went to see Matthew Tully speak. He is a journalist for the Indianapolis Star and he is about to publish a book about this project he did involving Manuel High School. He was speaking and answering questions about his upcoming book.
I went to see him because we had been talking about him in my English 150 class. Manuel High is one of the lowest preforming high schools in the state. Matthew Tulley has always been interested in the education system and administrative policies. He wrote a political column for the Indianapolis Star, and wanted to write about school politics. His only problem was that he hadn’t been in a high school since he graduated and he had no idea what went on inside schools today. So he made an arrangement with Manuel to go and observe what was happening inside the school.
When he went in he didn’t know what he would find or how long he wanted to stay. But he quickly made the decision that there was so much to see that he would have to stay for a very long time. He observed the school for a year, finding inspiration in the teachers and students at this failing school. His book will be about the stories that he discovered there.
Because he was coming to Ball State and found out our class was talking about what he did he allowed us to read a chapter of his book. Though I read only a small part of his book, I was inspired. I want to be a teacher, but I had never wanted to teach in this type of school. But all the small struggles and achievements of these students really touched me. When our teacher encouraged us to see him speak I knew I had to make the effort to go.
The stories that Tulley shared were wonderful, and there were so many that I can’t even remember them all. He told of one teacher that he observed that was excited and engaged with his class. He was willing to go the extra mile to make sure the kids are learning, and in turn more students participate in class. Tulley also told us of a teacher that didn’t care at all. Students didn’t even pay attention to her and she didn’t care if they learned or not. It was clear that she hated her job and didn’t want to be there. That story made me so frustrated. I have had horrible teachers before, and I know how hard it is to do well when the teacher doesn’t even care. Those kinds of teachers shouldn’t be out there, yet they get treated the same as the other teacher who was great.
Another story that amazed me was the story of the boy who had no identity. He had been abandoned when he was a baby so his neighbor took him in and raised him. He went through life with no birth certificate or Social Security number. He didn’t even know his own name. He couldn’t get a job or a driver’s license. When he was 18 he realized that he couldn’t apply to colleges. He had to track down his documents so that he could graduate and go to college or get a job.
All of the stories that Tulley shared were awesome, and I cannot wait until his book comes out. Everyone is always talking about what is wrong with the educational system and trying to fix it. Matthew Tulley is the only person who has thought to look at the students’ side of the problem. As a future teacher I find his study to be very interesting.
Ramadan Panel Discussion
I attended a panel discussion on the Muslim holiday Ramadan in September. The actual event was quite simple –four students from Islamic countries each talked about what Ramadan was and what it meant to them. Then the people in the audience could ask them any questions that they had.
I went to this because I heard about it because one of the clubs I am in (International Ambassador’s Club) was sponsoring it and I hadn’t really done a whole lot on campus at that point in time. Also, I was genuinely interested in Ramadan. I love learning about other cultures, and this was a good opportunity to ask any questions without offending anyone.
I learned a lot. I hadn’t actually known anything about Ramadan, so I couldn’t help it. Ramadan is a period of fasting that lasts about a month and ends with a day of feasting. People who celebrate Ramadan fast during the day – not eating or drinking, but are allowed to eat at night. On the last day everyone cooks lots and lots of food and children go from house to house eating all day.
Though each speaker had a similar story, they each celebrated it a little differently. A lot of the difference came from the fact that they were from different countries. Muslims in Tajikistan go about it differently than those from Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. In some of the countries people are forced to fast, while in others it is more of a choice because there are fewer Muslims. Either way, it seemed extremely important to each speaker to follow the rules of Ramadan. Even when they are in the United States they made an effort to avoid eating for that time. The only people that are excluded from fasting are young children, pregnant women, and people who are sick.
The point of Ramadan is to show faith to God by refraining from doing things that can be seen as temptations. Though it is mostly fasting, Muslims refrain from other things such as smoking, impure thoughts, or sex. One guy told about how he gave up smoking one year for Ramadan and hasn’t smoked since. Another thing that is encouraged during Ramadan is praying and trying to be closer to God.
One fact that I thought made the whole thing harder is that Ramadan takes place during the hottest month of the year. It would hard to be in Saudi Arabia in the heat and not be able to drink water until evening. And that was one of the countries where fasting is mandatory. It would be hard to do.
I was impressed with all of the speakers for sticking to Ramadan even without the support of their families and a large Muslim population. I know that in Christianity there is nothing that asks that much self-control and disrupts our life that much. The closest thing that I can relate it to is lent, and I don’t even participate in lent. However, I do have friends that participate in lent every year. They have trouble giving up one thing for a month. I can’t imagine how hard it is to give up everything. Though, to be fair, they do get to eat at night.
We didn’t talk a lot about Islam in class, just read a small section of the Koran. We especially didn’t talk about Ramadan or any other holiday or celebration in Muslim beliefs. However, in the part of the Koran that we did read I picked up that Muslims are required to be very devout in their faith. This follows with what I learned about Ramadan.