Reaction Paper to Movie Hoop Dreams Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reaction Paper to Hoop Dreams - Movie Review Example This is seen in the movie as it entails the story of two high school students In Chicago who had a dream of becoming professional basketball players. The two African American teenagers; Arthur Agree and William Gate, studied in a white, Roman Catholic high school called St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois after being recruited by the schools’ scout (Joravsky, 1996). Despite the economic adversity, long hours commuting, change in environment and difficult training, Agree and Gates worked very hard to enhance their basketball skills despite the competitive industry in the job. Their families also played an important role in supporting them with the school basketball program. In the film we get to see Americas’ present view of education, race, economic diversity, social class and values. William Gates of the two students is obsessed to play in the National Basketball Association. Four years down the line William Gates progresses to the Nike All-America basketba ll camp. During the camp one of the coaches, Mr. Lee, informs them that the only reason they were in the camp was to make their schools win and make a lot of money. At the camp, the college coaches tended to overlook high school players. This reveals the relentless procedure in which coaches and recruiting scouts neglect to recognize such people like Arthur Agree and William Gates. The life of the two students seemed to be opening up smoothly where William is aiming for a stunning college career as well as the pro basketball view whereas; Arthur Agree seems to progress downwards. The two are engaged into a system that is not ready to take them in easily (Joravsky, 1996). The film was also used as a tool to express the social issue in the American community which it achieves and puts in even more important questions. It also portrays how money affected the society as well as major institutions, for example in the case scenario where ‘coach Lee’ gives advice to Arthur Agr ee and William Gates that everything they were getting involved was at it about money and even quoted; â€Å"the whole thing is about money† and tried to explain how they were being used by the school so that it would win and make a lot of money. He even went to further to tell them that, the only way that people like them, people from the poor black neighborhood, would defend themselves as well as their interests from such situation, was through being aware of the fact that it was not just about playing basketball but everything was revolving around money (Joravsky, 1996). Arthur Agree lived with his parents who broke up but later made u and were back together after Arthur’s father had a drug problem (crack) but managed to get over it. They lived in the Cabrini-Green housing project, whereas; William Gates lived with his single mother and his older brother called Curtis who had missed out on his own basketball career in college but didn’t give up but rather inv ested his dreams in his younger brother William Gates. He had so much trust in his small brother such trust in his younger brother such that he even made a comment saying he does not see how the brother, William Gates was not

Teaching Tweens and Teens for Optimal Learning Research Paper

Teaching Tweens and Teens for Optimal Learning - Research Paper Example The brain is growing and changing, getting rid of information that seems to have no purpose and building pathways of behavior built upon observations on how to behave in the world. Where the family was once the center of learning, during the adolescent years, the world becomes the representation of knowledge. The size of the world is the key to finding the best possible outcomes, thus through understanding the way in which the adolescent brain works, a better understanding of how to teach teens and tweens emerges in order to create better prepared adults. The teenage mind is defined by its ability to appear to work like that of an adult, but in truth it is set to work in a very different manner. Parents are always shaking their heads and wondering why their teenagers behave the way that they do, making decisions that seem to have no reason and acting impulsively. The blame is often placed upon hormones, the common terminology reflecting an idea that it is the development of the body that is placing the teenage mind in a state of erratic behavior. Advances in neuroscience have concluded that it is not a hormonal issue that makes the behavior of teenagers so radically different than that of adults, but it is a development issue, the brain still in a state of construction in which it is still only at the stage of design, the grey matter physically being built and in the process of cutting away old synapses that are no longer needed (Feinstein, 2009, p. 4). The brain is literally growing and changing, the future of the adult in the hands of the choices made by the teenager, the brain growing in response to those changes. The nature of the teenage brain is such that in order to best teach them new methods in education may be important for producing higher levels of learning. Mind-mapping is a technique that allows for a broader use of the brain in order to see how connections are being made between varieties of concepts. Colors, pictures, symbols, and words are all combined to create a picture of how they combine to form thought (Philp, 2007, p. 17). This concept allows for an educator or academic to see how the connections between concepts are being formed for the teenage mind. According to Philp (2007) each of these conceptualized maps will be different, showing how the ways in which learning are taking place are is varied between individuals. Because the mind is being deconstructed and reconstructed, the mind of each teen is different, creating a chaotic social mix of individuals all trying to conform to teaching methods through perspectives that are all over the place. Sylwester (2007) breaks down the purpose of the brain into the â€Å"planning, regulation, and prediction of movements† (p. 15). The process of thinking can be looked at as a part of the idea of movement. One of the newest developments in understanding how learning is accomplished is through the idea of mirror neurons. The mind will function to accomplish a task, each section of the task being done through sequences of impulses that control the task. Templates of a task can also be created through what is termed mirror neurons that see the task accomplished and make plan from which the individual can also repeat that task (Stamenov, 2002, p. 273). In looking at adolescence, one can see that this process has begun new and is in