blog number three

Pratt- "Sam learned the history of American racism and the struggle against it through baseball"




Ritter- There are many lessons to be learned from sports. The Jack Johnson - Jim Jefferies fight, of 1910 led to many race riots and deaths. Sports can bring the best and the worst out of society. It is a vehicle to see the world through. Jessie Owens disposed of many of Hitler`s myths, when he won gold medal after gold medal, in the 1936 Olympics. He did this in Hitler`s Germany showing courage that has been remembered long since. The Joe Louis- Max Schmeling fight, of 1938 has been considered  America`s first battle of World War II by some history scholars. Billy Jean`s King`s victory in 1973 over Bobby Riggs, changed the way the country looked at women. It gave them many outlets they did not have prior to that moment. There is a link, between sports and history. You can learn about race, war, gender ,and the ability to overcome adversity through it. Sports can be a time capsule, it can be a vehicle of how we judge a certain period of time.

Russell- "College writing proficiency requirement to show formal recognition of the fact that teachers in departments other than English may assume the responsibility of judging a student`s ability to read and write well".



Ritter- Literacy is a part of every subject's content area. Therefore, it should be taught in every class room, regardless of the content being taught. You can learn how to read in a History class, just as easy as you can learn how to read in an English class. Writing is a tool that is used in almost every class, therefore the responsibility to teach it, should not fall to the English teacher alone.



Gee- " They lower the consequences of failure. When players fail, they can start from their last saved game. Players are encouraged to take risks, explore, and try new things".



Ritter- This is Gee`s best point throughout the book. True success can only come after failure has been tasted. Any success worth having does not come, until one has failed at least once, if not several times. How many times have teachers heard a student say I am just not good at this. That is a line heard throughout a school many times every day. At that point a student can work hard and become better at the content area they are weak at, or they can quit and be bad at it forever. It is a decision that has far reaching consequences outside of the classroom. It sets a pattern of facing adversity and overcoming it, or running away from things, when they get tough. You must learn to embrace failure, before you can ever get to understand the true meaning of success.



Williams- "Amazingly, you`ve just created a css layers web page"(pg67).


Ritter- I am afraid to attempt to create a web page,because it seems extremely difficult.However, if you take the approach of one step at a time, it becomes much easier.This statement shows you that if you don`t get to far ahead of yourself,you can accomplish almost anything.