Bergner,+David

=**BIO**=

I'm David Bergner and I teach 4th grade at Busan Foreign School in South Korea. This is my 9th year teaching, but first time teaching 4th grade. I've taught 5th grade in Tyler, Texas (where I am originally from), Dallas, Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Santa Cruz, Bolivia. This is also my first time being in Asia, a transition which has been challenging since I have spoken the language in the other foreign countries where I have worked. So now I have a sense of what it felts like to be the other expats I worked with in Latin America that didn't speak the language.

I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in Radio-TV-Film and worked in entertainment in Los Angeles for a couple of years before changing my career path to education. My main interests outside of school are eating good food, dancing salsa, mambo, bachata, and watching soccer.



=**ASSIGNMENT #1**=

What do you think a course in Conflict Resolution / Peaceable Schools should be about? Please list five specific topics you would like to see included in this course.

A course in conflict resolution/peaceable schools should stress that though conflict is a natural part of being human, allowing it to escalate to physical altercations is something humans must overcome.

The course should focus on:

1 - Peer Mediation between students

2 - Reconciling conflict within staff through direct conversation and in doing so avoiding "stepping on toes," "going over someone's head," and not sharing resources.

3 - Dealing with competitive or clique formations, be it students or parents that influence their children. This behavior can result in bragging, academic dishonesty, and/or student conflict. A negative school environment can be a result

4 - how schools can contribute to real world movements that mitigate conflict or increase peace

5 - how to teach civil disobedience and other peaceful ways of stating opposition

**ASSIGNMENT #2 - __American History X__**
The principle characters of __American History X__ are impressionable youth nurtured by their mentors. They learn anger from these mentors, then unlearn it from new experiences. It is here, in this new experience, where nature plays its small, but important part in the film.

With the exception of Derek's self defense from the first attacker at his house in the film's first flashback, nature doesn't become important until Derek's interaction in prison with the black inmate with whom he has to fold laundry. It is here when Derek first gets to know a black person without the influence of anyone else that has a personal stake in his life. Based on the viewer's knowledge this is also the first time this has happened in his life. In high school, Derek did have the opportunity to be nurtured by his teacher Mr. Sweeney, but soon his natural impressions of the man were negatively impacted by his father's affirmative action speech. The natural rapport Derek develops with the black inmate paves the way for Derek to be more receptive to Mr. Sweeney's insightful words at the film's turning point. Mr. Sweeney merely asks Derek if any of his anger or participation in the skinhead movement has made his life any better. Combining Mr. Sweeney's nurturing with Derek's natural experiences in prison make Derek's realization that his life hasn't gotten any better, the film's most pivotal moment.

Chronologically, the first instance of nurturing in the characters' lives in the film is that of Mr. Sweeney as Derek's teacher. The responsive nurturing, Derek's father provides at the dinner table, first opens Derek up to the idea of the unfairness of affirmative action. After his father's death, Cameron becomes Derek's mentor, and Derek becomes a mentor for the vulnerable Nazi youth in his community, particularly his brother, Daniel.

Daniel appears to be still an innocent-minded, clean slate in the opening scene in which Derek kills the three black guys outside his house. In fact, Daniel yells for Derek not to stomp his victim on the curb knowing it is wrong. He is also non-committed to taking sides in the dinner table argument between Derek and their mother's date, Mr. Murray. In his father's absence, and Derek's imprisonment, we see Cameron become the mentor for Daniel, having led him to follow in Derek's footsteps as evident through Daniel's scribing of the Meinkampf essay for his history class.

Upon returning from prison, Derek's mentorship helps to enlighten Daniel. Despite, the struggle of keeping away from Cameron and the fact that the skinhead movement has grown to be a seemingly machine like force, Derek is able to talk sense into Daniel by sharing his experiences. It is both of them who take down the Nazi posters and flags in their bedrooms, showing that they have both unlearned what nurtured them. Unfortunately, for Daniel, there has likely been some equally negative nurturing influencing the actions of the young black males he encountered in the high school bathroom and the basketball courts. The look on the black boy's face after shooting Daniel in the bathroom, perhaps suggests, however, that he instinctively regrets what he has done. Human nature is that we do what we need to do to survive, and killing Daniel in this moment certainly wasn't necessary for the kid to survive, so he shames himself in that brief moment. Not at all do we see such regret in Derek's face as he commits the jaw-breaking curb kick in the beginning of the film. At this moment, the nurturing he has received is at it's pinnacle and he is proud as the police arrest him though instinctively Derek's character should have been befuddled by his actions for an instant like the shooter in the bathroom.

=**ASSIGNMENT #3**=

A. Remembering the film we just watched describe what the elements of a peaceable community or peaceable school might be. What would a peaceable school or community look like?

A peaceable school or community looks clean and organized because a peaceful place is one that's respected. As a result, the people in this school would be more attentive to their surroundings because of the respect they have for the place. Most libraries in the United States are very peaceable. In working abroad you can see libraries that range from a little bit to being much more lax thus lowering the bar for respect and peace in these libraries. In __American History X__ peaceable visuals include the dinner table flashback before Derek begins debating with his mom's date. Derek's chat with Daniel on the bleachers after they leave the party at Cameron's is a peaceful dialogue. Derek's interactions doing laundry with the black inmate end up peaceable. They do not start that way.

What elements of communication would be included?

You will see people in the school or community talking to each other calmly, taking turns actively listening. Dissent is done so in a controlled respectful manner. Electronic forms of communication such as email, social networking, and phone usage would be allowed as long as the former is part of the protocol for using them.

What would be tolerated and what would not be tolerated?

All verbal forms of expression would be tolerated as long as they adhered to an established social etiquette. This code would require students and staff to not interrupt each other, to use the appropriate tone of voice, and refrain from use of foul language. Physical altercations of any sort and shouting would also not be tolerated. Lastly, students would be allowed to agree to disagree in order to resolve all forms of animosity. Someone writing a paper like Daniel's essay on Meinkampf would have to receive special attention from an administrator not dissimilar to how the movie addresses the behavior though it officially does not break any rules (depending on the paper's content).

What would the rules be?

Treat all peers and adults the way you like to be treated. Speak clearly in a calm voice level from a comfortable distance when addressing another. Listen carefully to another person's statement and when responding address that person's feeling before adding your own. Provide a compliment before criticizing.

Would would the expectations be?

A violent free school community That students follow the rules A school community where friends help friends resolve conflicts with peers

What would the responsibilities be?

Students and staff would responsible for intervening to mediate any conflict that breaks rules.

B. Do a web search for Oscar Arias (use a minimum of two sites other than wikipedia)

I read:

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1987/arias-bio.html

and a great article he wrote in the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/oscar-arias-to-stem-the-child-migrant-crisis-first-stop-poverty-and-violence/2014/07/18/5e5bad82-0d2d-11e4-8341-b8072b1e7348_story.html

C. Read the Oscar Arias speech to the international educators at the Tri-Association, found at this link.

Great poem and great speech, except the Osama Bin Laden part which is unproven.

D. Post Journal Entry #3 on your web page. (250 - 500 words)

Describe how if Hank (your professor) came to your classroom or community he would observe the elements of a peaceable community.

What evidence would he see? How will you promote peace in your community?

Writing this after reading the Oscar Arias speech my first thought is my Social Studies class and how I already avoid glorifying war. In my class Hank would see students attempting to hypothetically change history and solve the problems that started wars before they occurred. I would be raising important questions for students to research on their own. For example, why would scientists want to help create tools for destruction like bombs or poisonous gas? If it were the American Revolution he would see students analyzing political cartoons against the various British acts against colonists. These cartoons are forms of peaceful dissent.

In dealing with conflict between students, Hank might witness a student writing an apology letter to the other student. He could also see a student gain another student's eye contact to give a personal apology or make a statement about how the other student's actions hurt his or her feelings.

I will promote peace in my community by stressing the importance of having friends. The students in my classes who struggle with peer conflict don't really have many friends. I will have private conversations asking them what friendships they have. I will have them determine why friendships are important and plan ways to identify why they don't have friends and change this. I want to start using I Messages, too. I generally know what they are, and know that I'll be learning about them in this course. I will use lots of role play situations for students to model peaceful behavior. I want to use the Oscar Arias idea of having students conduct mock peace treaties, which I have done once before, but not yet this year. = = =**ASSIGNMENT #4**=

When I took the quiz and read question number one, my first thought was about something I read in the book, __Freakonomics__. I kept waiting for it to show up in the Monnoken reading, too, but it wasn't there. The crime rate was steadily growing in US cities in the late 80s / early 90s, but then it suddenly dropped. You can see it on the graphs you provided, but why it happened isn't mentioned anywhere on the wiki or its links that I read. The answer presented in __Freakonomics__ is the legalization of abortion. Children who were once being born and raised unloved, in poverty, or in difficult single-parent situations were more likely to be jobless after high-school if they didn't drop out. Either way, these teenagers were more likely to turn to crime. The legalization of abortion significantly reduced the number of babies born into this situation, thus causing the reduction of violent crime in the US. I am still confused with question number one from the quiz for this reason and because the graph in the answer pdf doesn't match an answer of "true" for that question, especially considering the population has grown. Also, comparing questions 1 and 5, they shouldn't have very different responses as they're quite similar.

I don't see how this assignment relates to conflict resolution or peaceable schools. The homicide rate is an interesting statistic and homicides in schools are certainly part of the statistic, but in this course we are looking at how to improve usage of conflict resolution in our schools to make them more peaceful. I don't understanding how knowing about the US homicide rate or comparing it to Europe makes a difference. Regardless of the rate of homicide in schools, which is not really mentioned in the statistics presented, as educators we need to teach students to be peaceful regardless of the homicide rate.

I read the first half of the Monnoken article then, skimmed the rest. There are various factors involved, and theories presented in determining the reason for the US crime rate being higher than Europe. Of course you can't designate any theory as being 100% correct. I was surprised the article doesn't at all mention mental health of individuals. What I did like that it mentioned was that stats determine a nation's crime rate, when perhaps it should use crime rates only for specific regions. The example it mentions, I think was comparing a peaceful town in North Dakota and New York City, whose rates of course are poles apart.


 * Why do you think the rate of homicide violence has gone down in the last 800 years?**

I think homicide violence has gone down in the last 800 years because the ruling class has systematically become more effective at organizing mankind and in doing so decreased the percentage of humans living in desperate conditions.


 * Did you over or underestimate violence in the United States?**

I don't know. I think violence is the wrong word here as it makes me think of a lot more than just the violent crime rate. I do think the United States is an extremely violent country despite question number 4 on the quiz, which is written as an opinion and thus makes no sense. If you're asking if I over or underestimated the violent crime rate, then I overestimated it based on the graph for total violent crime. I knew that the crime rate had gone down, but I thought it was on the rise again, where it actually appears to be stabilized.


 * What did your 4 subject colleagues think about violence in general?**

After taking the quiz, my colleagues agreed with me about question 1. No one got it right. Everyone agreed that violent crime was steadily decreasing and that we're not in a state of extreme violence. With questions 2 and 3, two of my coworkers got them correct and the other two did not. In general they were split on how modern law enforcement is dealing with crime, which is what those two questions are about.


 * Write a brief comment about what you think about using torture or other "enhanced" interrogation techniques.**

Regarding torture of any kind, I believe it's unnecessary and should never be used no matter what the reason. Violence is not a means of conflict resolution unless you're killing a person with no family, friends, or acquaintances. Then you eliminate whatever conflict you have with that person and there is no one left that cares about that person to continue to conflict. Even then it's not right and it's been proven in water boarding someone, that they'll admit to anything.

I experienced mostly confusion in session four.

=**ASSIGNMENT # 5**=

I can name a few examples of amygdala hijackings and talk about a particular one that happened to me. Images of young girls crying in hysterics after Michael Jackson or the Beatles would come on stage are examples of positive hijackings of emotions. Luis Suarez, one of the best soccer players in the world has had two ear-biting amygdala hijacking moments, one of which was during this past World Cup. I recently watched a Youtube video of a man stand up and ask a question interrupting a speaking engagement of some high up military figure in the US army. Without hesitation another audience member nearby ran to this man and attempted to tackle him in a rage driven, amygdala hijacking.

I have had a few amygdala hijackings. One of which was during college. An acquaintance had invited himself to go on a trip with myself and a couple of friends. We didn't want him to go, but couldn't say no. We were going in a small truck and when the imposer declared that he was sitting shotgun it triggered my amygdala. A short argument followed by shoving and punches ensued.

I think having these amygdala hijackings is natural, but we as humans have to work on is how to better manage our understanding of others so not to harbor the sentiments that can be triggered into such outbursts thus limiting their frequencies.


 * Amy Cuddy - Your Body Language Shapes Who You are**

Sharing Amy Cuddy's TED talk with a few friends, most agreed that building up your body language before something such as an interview is definitely beneficial. One of my coworkers had actually seen the video prior to taking their current position at my school and remembers utilizing it at the last job fair.

I do like that she specifically tackles the doubt of faking it, versus becoming it. At first I think anyone practicing this technique of body language posturing has to suspend their disbelief that they are not that person. I really believe that a person can take this practice and really change, but it all depends on their attitude. Of course, the older we get, the harder it is to make these sorts of big changes in our personalities, but faking it is certainly doable.

One of my friends and coworkers, who is not exactly an alpha male has the son of the head of military operations in Busan in his 3rd grade classroom. Recently we had our parent-teacher conferences and afterwards he told me how he purposely used dominant body language, sitting up with his chest out, to try and show strength in front of the father. He said that eventually, the dad relaxed into less domineering body language himself, and the conference went better than expected.

Taking what Amy's experimentation has uncovered, I could turn her body language poses into role plays for students to practice conflict resolution. Also, in the event that I have an actual conflict with two students, I can isolate them before having them talk out their feelings. In this isolation phase I can have them posture the opposite body language of what they're feeling. For example, I could have a student who is super revved up, potentially wanting to turn a conflict into a physical confrontation, practice posing for two minutes in a victim pose. On the other hand, I could have the victim, practice the alpha male pose. This body language practice tool, is something that certainly could also be used to build up the confidence of emotionally disturbed students.

=**ASSIGNMENT #6**=

A conflict is when two people disagree about an issue and argue about it or physically confront each other because their emotions are so powerfully in support of their beliefs that they cannot control themselves.

Conflict resolution is ending a conflict so that two sides will not have to physically confront each other nor argue about an issue anymore and continue coexisting peacefully. I'd add to this, having already completed assignment #7 that emotions have to be neutralized for conflict resolution to really work.

Here's an amygdala hijacking from a few days ago resulting in physical confrontation.

http://www.10news.com/news/angry-driver-pushes-student-protester-on-blocked-i-5-112614

Here a protest is blocking a road for people to get to work. One man grabs a protester's megaphone when he loses his cool and emotions take over. I think an I Message here might cause the protester to feel sympathy towards the man, but the conflict is not only between two people, but a large group, thus more communication would be required. The police come in the end and just squash the protest. When this happens, the real conflict is not actually resolved, but only diverted.

Another amygdala hijacking I experienced was a bratty temper tantrum I threw when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I had been promised that I would get to have pizza from my favorite place for dinner, and when this was suddenly not possible for no fault of mine, the injustice of the situation overwhelmed me. I argued that it was very unfair after having a promise being broken. I completely lost it, yelling and throwing stuff around the house. I had to leave and go walk around the block to calm down. Had I not had this amygdala highjacking I still wouldn't have gotten my pizza, but perhaps I would have understood the reason why better.

I have had other amaygdala hijackings since and what I have recognized from each experience is that there is always a pivotal instant where you feel adrenaline kick in. You are transformed to an instinctive, survival mode where nothing matters except what you feel you need in that moment. Here's the example I gave in assignment 5 again:

An acquaintance had invited himself to go on a trip with myself and a couple of friends. We didn't want him to go, but couldn't say no. We were going in a small truck and when the imposer declared that he was sitting shotgun it triggered my amygdala. A short argument followed by shoving and punches ensued.

This is an example of an amygdala hijacking where I could say that using an I Message with the guy who invited himself to travel with us, might have helped to settle that conflict without a physical confrontation.

=**ASSIGNMENT #7**=

To use I Messages you must be within a rational adult to adult conversation without emotions interfering with communication.

I didn't hear a textbook I Message in the scene in American History X where Derek talks to Lamont on his way out of prison. He just says he thinks he's getting out in one piece because of Lamont and that he owes him. You could construct the separated lines into one i Message stating, Since you've helped me get out of here, I owe you, and I feel very appreciative (symbolized by the fist bump).

Corrective I Message: When you didn't return my messages, I contacted your friend because I felt worried about your well being.

Positive Message 1: When you cooked us dinner, I had time to take care of the kids, and I felt thankful.

Positive Message 2: When you completed your assignment on time, I was able to give you timely feedback, and I now feel comfortable in your understanding of the material.

GIGI when you enter my house while I'm not home, my privacy is being violated, and I feel that I cannot trust you. GIGI when you ask permission to borrow things from me, I have no problem sharing, and I feel that I can trust you.

The YOU STINK! link no longer works...

=**ASSIGNMENT #8**=

My real life student only has the issue of calling out answers. I will use the self-monitoring tool for calling out answers and raising your hand with him. I don't think it's necessary to include the parents in this tool. If it's self-monitoring, then I think notifying the student's parents would inhibit the student's motivation to accomplish the behavior improvement. I think it would be more valuable to share with the student that they can share the self-monitoring tool with their parent when they do achieve the goal. This also ties in with intrinsic motivation for the student.

The student I would give this behavior contract to is from my class last year. The first behavior I wanted the student to improve was for him to be a better self-starter upon arriving in the morning. The second was for him to be more responsible for leaving his area in an orderly fashion and on time at the end of the day. Instead of ever using a contract with him, a special teacher came in to shadow him every morning for the first five minutes and last five minutes of the day.

I think the advantages of having had parents sign off on this contract with this student would have been that they were very supportive and would have likely been consistent in checking in with the boy every day. Also, the boy did somewhat fear consequences from his parents. The disadvantages, however, are that he would have been more motivated to fulfill the contract for his parents rather than for himself. Also, these parents might have been the type that would have provided some sort of extrinsic reward for the boy. The contract should be in place, rather to prove to the student that being able to do complete the contract and in fact improve the behavior is the actual reward.

Contract for this student:

These are my goals:

1. Enter the classroom, unpack, check the morning message, and begin bell work without disturbing others. Threshold: Showing this behavior in under 4 minutes on two consecutive days

2. Write down homework in my agenda, pack up, and remain seated until dismissed with the rest of the class. Threshold: Showing this behavior for two consecutive days.

These are my rewards if I meet my goals:

I will be able to choose the class brain break activities for the following two days. If I am able to meet these goals for three consecutive days, the reward is for three days as well.

These are my consequences if I do not meet my initial goal:

I will have to stay in during part of recess time to practice my morning and end of the day routines.

=**ASSIGNMENT #9**= = = I agree with my personality profile. I scored 29 for people person, 29 for learned expert, and 27 for creative problems solver. I am well balanced in these three profiles. As a people person I am very attuned to others' feelings. I also prefer to express myself originally. I would rather work on an original project and do so working harder or alone, rather than do something in a group that is cliche. In striving to create certain originality I do at times lack attention to detail.

I don't think I was a learned expert as a child, but have grown more into it as an adult. There classic learned expert students in my classroom this year, and I was not at all like them as a child. Today I am very knowledgeable and can synthesize information well. I do like games that require strategy. At bars I never enjoy beer pong or darts. I would rather shoot pool because it does involve strategy.

As a creative problem solver I often come up with unique ideas and am very spontaneous. I like to have many options, and I like to weigh the pros and cons of my options before making a decision. I often have my own ideas that I want to express in answering questions or in participating in a project and I have to resist using them at times when they're only loosely related to the subject matter.

In scoring only a 15 as the practical manager I definitely agree that this profile least describes me. I do appreciate structure, with clear expectations and detailed directions.

=**ASSIGNMENT #10**=

__OCTOBER SKY__

__American History X__ and __October Sky__ are two very different films. American History X utilizes a unique narrative structure of flashbacks to make the viewer feel its protagonist's changes. __October Sky__ is presented chronologically with more predictable, formulaic elements. Both films do have protagonists whose behavior is nurtured by other important characters in their respective stories. That is the focus of this essay.

The families and communities of the protagonists, Derek and Homer, differ greatly in the two films. __American History X__ has an urban setting, while in __October Sky__, Homer's family is part of a rural coal-mining community, Homer's father being its leader. Homer's father only attempts to nourish him when Homer does in fact start working in the mine. Derek's father's early words, disdaining affirmative action do help to mold his son's views, but it's really his father's unjust death that is the driving force motivating Derek's plunge into the skinhead movement. No such tragedy sparks Homer's interest in rockets. It is, however, his sight of Sputnik combined with the realization that his community offers little future for him other than the mine, which leads him to pursuing a way out. While Homer wants to escape the socioeconomic limits of his community and the expectations of his father, Derek wants to change the socioeconomic landscape of his community.

The way their communities respond towards each protagonist is also worth analyzing. Homer has a clear goal in __October Sky__. He wants to win the National Science Fair and get a college scholarship so he can leave West Virginia. At each step along the way towards meeting that goal, Homer's community is supportive. Whether it be actually helping him to weld and design the parts for his rocket or coming to his launches, Homer's community is always there for him, except for his father. Derek's goal in __American History X__ is not so tangible. In his time before prison he achieves the small victory of conquering the basketball courts. Beyond this scene and the trashing of the grocery store, Derek and the skinheads don't have real long term goals. They are supportive of each other as a community and incessantly nurture hate. In this way, Derek is very different from Homer because he nurtures his brother Danny, while Homer is only being nurtured. After leaving prison, it is Derek's goal to undo this nurturing to his brother and save his family. Derek is attempting to be the father figure for Danny, while Homer spends the entire film wishing his father would be proud of his life choices. Again you have an issue of contrast with Derek doing everything to keep his family together and Homer who wants to leave his family and community behind.

The roles of the mothers in each film were different as well. In __American History X__, Derek's mother wanted to move on with her own life after her husband's death and take care of Derek's younger siblings. She's really non-existent in Derek's life as Murray points out to her when they're in the street after the dinner argument. He tells her, "Doris, you don't know the world your children are living in." Homer's mother was a supportive character, but only made a key contribution to the overall plot when she threatened to leave Homer's father if he didn't end the strike and help Homer.

Homer's relationship with his teacher, Ms. Reilly is polar opposite that which Derek has with his teacher Mr. Murray. Murray is Jewish and attempting to date Derek's mom so this sets up a nice little bit of tension for the dinner table scene. Murray tries to get Derek to realize that he's only hurting his family, but at this point Murray is nothing but the enemy and Derek's at a stage where he doesn't have the ability to really listen to a teacher. His amygdala is completely hijacked in this scene. Ms. Reilly admittedly nurtures Homer because it would make her feel better about herself if someone escaped the town, but there is nothing wrong with this. As a role model for Homer she encourages his rocket studies, informs him about the National Science Fair, and then gives him the advanced mathematics book. More importantly though, Miss Reilly, stands up to the principal for Homer, providing a platform in her classroom for Homer to prove that their rocket indeed did not cause the forest fire. This of course would also not have been possible without the Homer learning from the book that Ms. Reilly gave him. Homer says goodbye to Ms. Reilly, visiting her when she's sick and also names his last rocket in the film after her. Derek, on the other hand, does not receive closure with Mr. Murray, never encountering him for an apology after he's been released from prison. One can imagine, however, that he would do so if they were to meet again.

Obviously the most important difference between the protagonists' principals is that Derek's is initially supportive of helping him, while Homer's takes most of the movie to convince that Homer's endeavors are worth supporting. Derek's principal is attempting to save his life and I would argue is a much more important figure in __American History X__ than Homer's principal is in __October Sk__y. Homer's principal allows the boys to enter the National Science Fair after they prove they didn't start the fire. He also does allow Ms. Reilly to have some leeway in nourishing the boys, despite his disagreements about the purpose of the school and its relationship with the mine community. Mr. Sweeney, however, is instrumental in leading Derek to the necessary mindset to get paroled and protect his family once out of prison.

The nourishment goes much deeper in __American History X__. The characters feel more realistic and that's why I prefer it to __October Sky__.