Re: student's dreams

[Karen Canty <kscanty@PACBELL.NET>]

Judi,

Thanks for sharing this with all of us.  Sometimes I think we forget, in the
heat of the moment, what victories there are out there and so we all need to
be reminded that "victory" can be defined in lots of different ways.  And, I
also agree with your response to the person who wrote about "we can all be
Einstein."  I think the problem is that we THINK we have defined how to find
the "Einsteins" or the "Michael Jordans" and unfortunately,in lots of
places, it is believed that standardized tests will do that. I actually had
a conversation with my 20 year old daughter about teaching kids in different
ways, using different instruments to evaluate them, etc. so that MORE
students (I didn't even use the word ALL) would be successful.  She looked
at me and said, "Oh mom that sounds so good, but it will never happen."  I,
of course, asked "why?" and her response surprised me.  She said, "Because
mom there are people in charge who got there by doing better on tests, by
"winning" as the system defines "winning" and they don't want to let anybody
else in - unless they've "won" too"  Pretty cynical, I thought, for a 20
year old, but the more I see and the more regimented we become and the
harder and harder it gets to qualify for college, I am beginning to believe
that she is at least partially correct. And how do we fight that?  I don't
have a clue, yet, but maybe the fight over standardization will help start
the discussion at least.  I for one certainly hope so, which is why I
continue to be pleased that more and more discussion is going on around
testing and what's it's really doing - or not doing.  Joan Ryan's column in
the Chronicle, that Monty put on the list, is only one of many that have
been published in recent weeks - just questioning what's going on.  We had a
parent  come to our school board meeting a few weeks ago - at my
instigation - to talk about her concern about testing in the early grades.
We had only been hearing from parents who were "concerned" about our
schools' comparability ratings  and I wanted to make certain that the rest
of the board heard another voice.  So, little steps are being taken and I
feel gratified by that.  Anyway, that took a long time to say to keep doing
what you're doing - for as long as you can - cause it's obviously working.

Karen Canty
  -----Original Message-----
  From: Assessment Reform Network Mailing List
[mailto:ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU]On Behalf Of Judi Hirsch
  Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2000 7:40 PM
  To: ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU
  Subject: student's dreams


  Dear All,

  It is with great pride and tears in my eyes that I share this with you.
The student who wrote this piece as part of his graduation requirements at
our school has been with me for six years. We have changed each other's
lives.

  When I met him he was in worse shape than any other student I ever had.
His life is very hard and yet he represents all that I ever wanted for any
of the young people I work with to know-

  a very humble and proud Judi





  100 Things I Will Do In My Life



  1.  Get a high school diploma



  2.  Go to college



  3.  Go on a job interview



  4   Get job training



  S.  Get a job



  6.  Buy a car



  7.  Find a girlfriend



  8.  Get married



  9.  Raise a family, have two children



  10. Go to Cambodia.



  11. Become a famous, intelligent Cambodian artist



  12. Get some computer games and hip hop CDs



  13. Cut my hair like a gentleman



  14. Get my nails done



  15. Buy a tuxedo



  * * *



  16. I will build a big house.



  17. I will have my own acre so my family can plant their crops



  18. My farm will raise pigs, cows, chickens, and horses.



  19. I'm going to have a lot of fun.



  20.  I'm about to help OUT Poor People



  21. Make art



  22. Teach art



  23. Make a wonderful art pieces



  24. Learn to read



  25. Learn about computers



  26. Teach other kids who have learning disabilities just like me



                    * * *



  27. Go back to my country



  28. Help my country



  29. Make things



  30. Build a house down in Cambodia



  31. Make a school down in Cambodia



  32. Find out more about Cambodia



  33. Run a business in Cambodia



                    * * *



  34. Swim



  35. Run



  36. Jog



  37. Be outdoors on the mountainside



  38. Travel. Go to Marine World, Disneyland, Great America, Las Vegas, Los
Angeles, Seattle, New York, wherever, all around the world. The more you
travel, the more people you meet, and you can change the world.



  39. I WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD, make it a safe place.



  40. Change police brutality



  41. Change the Mayor of Oakland



  42. Help youth with activities. Give them a place to be where they can
grow up

   to be who they really are, not punk "gang-bangers"



  43. Play football and volleyball



  44. Go on a waterslide



  45. Become a vegetarian



  46. Become an art teacher



  47. Become a Cambodian bilingual translator



                    * * *



  48. Become Sotha, the real Sotha; the evil Sotha is gone, the new Sotha
has

  arrived, the Sotha who is brave and strong and hard-core.



  49. Be a role model for the kids here at Far West.



  51. Make a model of the world we will live in, a world that is happy, all

  living together.



  52. My children will be healthy people who grow the seeds of their
heritage,

  raise their culture up, don't abandon who they are, stick with it, work
with it



  53. My children will tell their children that we want no more war, no more

  guns or killing. We have had a revolution



                    * * *



  54. Be a musician, play music, make beats, play guitar and keyboard



  55. Spread my wings and fly like a kite and know how to glide



  56. Be a role model



  57. Be a peacemaker



  58. Be a father. My child will have a better life than I had



  59. Make changes in my ways



  60. Make progress in reading and writing



  61. Learn more interesting things, cooler things



  62. Become a millionaire



  63. Become an artist



  64. Become an Asian rapper



  65. Become a Khmer leader for my people



  66. When I go back to my country, I will change the Army. The kids in an
army

  don't want to kill their own people. You don't have to rob your own kind.
You

  have to stop all that hate and the killing. I'm tired of people killing
their own kind; why don't you just stop that. Then my country will be
changed a lot.



  67. I will teach the American activists who protest and help Cambodia
change.

  We need more organizing. The world will learn to be not just full of
greediness;

  no more "last man standing, wins" idea:  When you are on top you are
standing

  on the poor, your own people.



  68. I will go to my country one day and help my people to organize. For
example,

  I will build a healthy place to drink water. My auntie just got back from
there and helped with all kinds of projects. If I go to college, and get a
degree, then I can go

  to Cambodia and help my people to ORGANIZE!



  69. After I learn carpentry, I will teach them to build.



  70. I will be the youngest chief.



  71. I will be knowledgeable, because knowledge is power, which can bring
you

  many things in this world.



                    * * *



  72. Write.



  73. Get my writing published.



  74. All the young Cambodians will read my writings. I will teach the young
Cambodians how to get by in life. I will tell them: "You have to figure out
what

  is good. You could die at a young age, but wouldn't you rather die old,
like me?

  Do what is right so the people who are still down there will appreciate
where you

  come from. All the Americans want to know your story, who you are, what
you

  want to do in the future. This is your life story. Don't give it up. Rise
to the top,

  like me.



  75, Every week I will write my opinions on the world in the newspaper and
how

  it can change.



                    * * *



  76. Let the President know what needs to be done, and that this is not
easy to do

  by yourself.



  77. I will go to Cambodia and bring food and make roads so the whole

  population will be better. The Cambodian people don't want to be the next

  victims of starvation. You know what I'm saying??



  78. 1 will have an "education fund". The kids who are bilingual here will
go down

  there and teach them how to read and write. I will lead them.



  79. I will build my own house.



  80. I will build a temple to hold my grandmother's ashes.



  81. I will make sure my people are wealthy and that the ancient temples
are rebuilt.



  82. I will teach my people to be more Americanized. I'll teach English and
how to

  deal with American people, speak English, translate, help them fill out
forms.



  83. I will take a lot of photos of the people and places of Cambodia. I
will take it

  and then exhibit it as a gallery with all the photos and the stories of
peoples.  I

  will invite people (friends, family and teachers who have been there for
me) to my gallery of research to see pictures of a world that is different
from their lives here.



  84. I will teach people my Cambodian language and about my heritage.



  85. I will learn carpentry and get a job doing that.



  86. I will try out many jobs.



  87. I will learn many skills. The more I can learn, the more things I can
do.



  88. I will be the most famous Cambodian artist.



  89. I will be a local artist dealing with the place I live in, what I hear
and experience every day, changing it and making it better.



  90. I will build for them (the people who care about me), make things for
them,

  draw for them, publish for them, and they will pay me what I am worth, for
who

  I am.



  91. I can only guide my grandchildren. I don't want my people to drop any
more tears, or to cry blood on the land, all over the land, until it is
flooded with blood. So stop killing each other. I don't just mean
Cambodians, but people all over the world.



  92. When I am so rich and so popular, I will teach the kids so much and
give them so much stuff so they can use so they will turn it into a piece of
ART.



  93. My family is made of myself and my wife and our two children, who will
learn

  a lot of things about America, like how to speak three different languages
so they

  can be trilingual. They will follow in the footsteps of grandfather and
auntie, and organize even more than my auntie did, be leaders over there,
live down there for a long time, go to school down there and teach other
kids who don't have the money to go to school--EVERYBODY HAS TO HELP
EVERYBODY ELSE, OR WE WILL STAY ON THE SAME LEVEL. Know what I mean?



   94. I will be an old gray-haired man, sitting on the Mountainside and
just reminisce about the past when I was still young. I have many
grandchildren. I will sit under a shady tree to talk with my grandchildren,
teaching them about the land and the countryside, show them all the beauty
that is in the dark inside. Outside you see light

  but the true beauty of the land is in your heart, deep inside where no man
can hide.



  95. I will teach my children. I will put together all the pieces of the
puzzle of our heritage that was lost somewhere in the deep, deep ocean. The
French invaded the country a long time ago when you weren't born yet, so I
have to teach you. They stole

  a lot of our history and tried to ban our culture and they took the
ancient bible of the gods and tried to burn it and turn us into a Christian,
Catholic culture. They tried to

  change the real native people into a poor people so they could overpower
us and step on us. We fought a long time but the revolution never ended, and
so we lost many people who had knowledge, a lot of doctors and people who
knew about our world, and now all you see left are hard working people who
use their muscles, not their brains. You can change the world if you use
your brain. This I will teach them, let them see how many got lost in the
countryside. If they can change the world, I will be an old happy man.



  96. All the broken pieces of the wall of Cambodia that was destroyed by
guns and bombs I will repair.



  97. I will work to ban sweatshops so my people won't have to work for ten
cents an hour. In a week they get a dollar, that's cheap. I will work to ban
cheap labor and children's labor.



  98. I will have a big huge celebration, be on TV, telling the whole world
that it must change. You can make a change if you just stick with what you
have to do, talk about it, and actually do the work to make it really
happen.



  99. All I gotta say is I really love you.



  100. I will die a happy, wise, sad, been-there-done-that, helpful,
artistic, BRAVE, struggling, changed, changing, loved, and trusted old man.