Sharing from students Spring 2004

What Is Math Class

 Last week, there was a presentation that one girl made on optical
illusion and I thought that this was an interesting subject to discuss.
Part of the chapter that Brian and I are working on for our presentation
is about optical illusion. However, Brian and I decided to focus on
perspective drawing and not talk a great deal about optical illusion.
Yet, optical illusion is an important aspect in perspective drawing as I
mentioned before. What is perspective drawing other than a trick of the
eye; making your brain believes one thing even though it is really not
true? I find it fascinating to look at the world and see how many
different optical illusions there are. There are the basic optical
illusions that you see at fairs and scientific displays with the circles
that appear to move and the parallel lines that appear to bend. There are
also the paintings and drawings that look like on thing but also, if you
look closer there is something else as well. I remember being fascinated
by these pictures when I was younger. I can't remember the painter's
name, but he draws amazing paintings of nature and Native Americans that
first appear to be one thing but end up making another picture all
together.
Now, when I look at optical illusion in a more broad sense I am beginning
to see it in the world around me more and more. An optical illusion can
be these items I mentioned above or they can be lies or facades that
people create to hide themselves. An optical illusion is used to trick
the eye and make people believe they see something they don't. Yet, if we
look at the big picture of life, optical illusions are teaching us a
lesson about ourselves and how we should live out lives. Optical
illusions are a lie. Everyday we lie to out love ones, to our community
(both local and global) and to ourselves, we make ourselves appear to be
different because we are afraid to show or tell the truth. The government
creates an optical illusion when they tell us lies about what is going on
over in Islam. They hide the truth from the people of the United States
by showing them clips of soldiers who are giving a tour of their camp
site. They only show the bombs from a distance. This makes the American
people think that going over to Islam was a good idea and that these
people, these terrorists deserve what is coming to them. But the
government fails to show the American people the countless millions of
innocent lives they snuff out when they release these bombs or invade
certain towns. They are not showing the dead women and children in the
street. They are not showing the look on the faces of those who have lost
a mother, a father, a sister, a brother or a friend. This optical
illusion that we, the American people, are allowing the government to
fool us with is blinding us from the horrible truth.
We create these illusions for ourselves because they make us feel safer
and make us feel just in what we do. Though optical illusions are
beautiful and amazing, there are some that are ugly and horrendous. We
need to learn from these optical illusions that there is always more to
the picture than first meets the eye. We need to look closer to see what
is actually right in front of us the whole time. It is like a magic eye.
When you first look at it, it doesn't appear to be anything, just a
picture with lines and squiggles. Yet, for some of us, we can look
closely at it and appreciate the whole hidden picture for what it truly
is. The real trick the picture is to figure out how to look closely and
see it and not give up. It is the same for all Americans when they look
at the media. They cannot accept what they see at first glance. They need
to take a closer look so they can get past the illusion and see what is
really there.

Perseverance

When all the world is looming dark
And things seem not so clear,
When shadows seem to hover 'round
Lord, may I persevere.
When it seems everything's been tried
And there's no way to go,
Just let me keep remembering
Sometimes the journey's slow.
I may just need to stop and rest
Along the path I trod,
A time to try to understand
And have my talk with God.
As I gain new strength to carry on
Witout a doubt or fear,
Somehow I know things will be right,
And so, I persevere.

-Anne Stortz

Response by Dani

 I am very happy that we had such a
good start.  The style of teaching is very different than many students
are used to but it seems to be working well for some and others are also
catching up.  My purpose is to raise awareness and foster an learnig
atmosphere of creativity and freedom.  After all what are we here for.
What will stay with us, in us? Learning does not happen though
memorization of facts.
I would like to introduce the class to the following chant that helped me
many times on my life journey.  I believe it is in Sanskrit.
Gate Gate
Para Gate
Para Sam Gate
Bodhi Svahaa
which means:
Going going

Sharing from Power Algebra Class:

I think that it may be useful to devote some time to share ideas using this medium.  I hope that each
student in this class will find something that will help them on their
Life Journey and will become a permanent tool.  Let us look at what a student from a past Power Algebra class wrote.
 

Response by Shelley & Kayla

That was an inspirational story.

Response by Justine Kurdes

 This story has made me
realize to work at my own pace and not compare myself to others.

Response by Natalie

 It is really an inspiration to
see people never give up on their aspirations and keep the perserverance
necessary to live and succeed in life beacuse life is never easy and is
always a challenge.

Response by Cathy

 I feel that the girl was lucky to
have found out a helpful tool to living, better late than
never***************************************************

Response by Erin and Tamar

 I agree with this person
that sometimes in life what is most important is not always what is
obvious at the time.  Visioins are often obscured by insecurities.  Once
you let yourself go you can be truly free.

Response by Melissa

 This story inspired me to not
give up on anything, even if someone else tells you that you should quit,
or you feel that you are not good at it.

Response by Alexandra

 I thought that the essay was
very honest. The writer of the essay did a good job expressing how she
transformed. I could relate with a lot of the writer's emotions.

Response by Helen

    I feel that the essay Dani
read in class was very inspirational, it takes a very strong and
determined person to find out what your flaws are and to fix them and
find new ways to work around your problems.

Response by Kelly Dickey

Response by Kelly Dickey

 I feel like this story
made me feel like I could do whatever I want as long as I put my mind to
it.

Response by Meghan

 The story demostrated valuable
lessons which the writer learned. The realizations she came to through
her experiences seem to have revealed many great opportunities for her.

Response by Yamira

 I thought the story was very
sad actually. She found a pasion in playing the cello but she let other
people bring her down, and she let herself doubt herself. Even though at
the end she did find the confidance at the end,I think she should have
been stronger than she was.

Response by Brendan F.

 The story of the cellist at
Ithaca was very inspiring.  I also felt dread coming into my first math
class at Ithaca, but now that I've been in Power Algebra for a few weeks,
I feel much more confident.

Response by Dom

 I thought the writing was very
inspirational and really made me think about the habits that i have,
especially comparing myslef to others.  The girl in the story realized
that no real good can come from judging ones ability by the ability of
others.

Response by Brant Penman

Zero is my hero!

Response by Sherri Feldman

 This story is
inspirational. My experience has been similar; I've played the flute for
12 years and wanted to be a music major but didn't get in the first time
I tried, so I became a writing major. I auditioned for the music major
again and got in, but decided writing was better for me, for my mind to
grow and my health. Now, I love writing more than anything, but I still
play music every day I can, for me. I don't worry about what auditions
mean - sometimes we have to do things for ourselves and not for others,
and we learn about ourselves that way.
I wrote that thing by "Brant Penman" - that was me. He's not a zero!