Elizondo,+Vanessa

BIOGRAPHY

Hello, my name is Vanessa Elizondo and I am 26 years old. I was born on April 27, 1990 in Monterrey, Mexico. My family consists of both of my parents, two brothers and two older sisters. I am the youngest of the girls, but I have a younger brother. I love spending time with my family including my nieces and nephews, they are the BEST! I got married in July and I am a very happy wife. Last year I was working at ASFM as a teacher assistant in Pre-Kinder, but this year I am substituting in Middle/High School. I left ASFM full time because I got married and my husband and I were supposed to leave in August for him to start his MBA in the US. However, plans changed, and he started something of his own here in Monterrey, so he differed for a year at Columbia University. Knowing that I would still live in Monterrey, I decided to apply as a substitute in ASFM, but I wanted something different, so that's the reason why I applied for higher grade levels. At first, it was very different for me because I was used to working with 5 year olds, but now I'm enjoying having more serious conversations with teenagers and understanding them.

Something I have learned over the past few months is that we can't control everything around us and although I tend to want to control my life, sometimes life just happens and you have to let it be. At first I got stressed with all of the change of plans and uncertainty of what city I was going to live in, but then I decided to let life unfold for itself and enjoy the ride. Just two weeks ago, an investment banking opportunity in Mexico City was offered to my husband, so it may be possible for us to move there in the next month. I am very excited because I've always wanted to live abroad as a newlywed. I am also looking forward to finishing my Masters in June when I present my thesis.

=ASSIGNMENT #1=

I think that a course in Conflict Resolution/Peaceable Schools might talk about ways in which teachers can implement strategies in their classrooms to manage problems within students. We might also learn about what components make a peaceable school, what peace in school really means. How can teachers contribute to a peaceful environment and how to interfere when there is hostility and violence. I believe that the course will also include topics like diversity, emotional regulation and tolerance because in order for there to be peace in a community, there has to be empathy, tolerance, acceptance of differences, maybe differentiation. When people learn to accept others as they are, there is less anger and more peace. We might also learn ways to communicate in order to establish peace and to solve problems or conflicts. Ways in which teachers can intervene and way in which students can approach others to solve their problems. It could be about how to identify strategies to solving conflicts and how to implement the right one when a situation arises. When to involve yourself as a teacher and when to let students deal with it by themselves. I would want to know the importance of peaceable schools and statistics of beneficial factors when it comes to schools who have this and those who don’t.


 * Five specific topics I would like to see in this course are the following:**

1. Basic principles of a peaceable school 2. Activities to enhance peace and problem solving 3. The effect of a peaceful community in emotional intelligence 4. Communication skills for problem solving 5. Strategies for conflict resolution

=ASSIGNMENT #2=

In the movie American History X, we see how the role of the school, teachers and mentors all come into action in the process of nature and nurture of some characters. For instance, at first we see how Derek has no official hatred against black people when he is having dinner with his family and is talking about a professor he admires (Mr. Sweeney). He goes on about how this teacher makes him think outside of the box and gives them literature written by African-Americans that is worth reading. But then, we see his father pointing out that he should not always believe everything his teacher tells him. His father has a strong opinion, which in my point of view is a bit racist and after the conversation, Derek seems to believe and support what his father thinks of black men. Afterwards, his father gets killed by some African-Americans in the community and that is when Derek shifts his attitude/views towards black men. If we are talking about nature and nurture, I think Derek’s decision to join and form a neo-nazi group was made by how he was raised by his father and then we see how nurture take place by how the environment affects what he sees and thinks of black people. There is a character called Cameron which plays a role in Derek’s nurture since after his father’s death, he is constantly inculcating this racist views to him which only fosters his anger and rage even more.

On the other hand, we see Dr. Sweeney, an African-American teacher/school director of both Derek and Danny, who never gives up on them. He is constantly trying to make a positive impact on them, and helping them become better persons. After Derek kills the two African-Americans outside his house and goes to jail, Danny his younger brother, starts to follow his path. At first, Danny was a good person, but after his father’s death and his brother’s incarceration, his anger grows on him and decides that Derek’s views and actions against black men was fair. Danny joins the neo-nazi group as well and shows constant hatred towards them and obviously his conduct and attitude at school was very shameful. Dr. Sweeney’s way of nurturing good behavior and actions is impressive because even though most other teachers thought Danny was a lost cause, Dr. Sweeney doesn’t give up on him and instead of expelling him, he takes him up as his student for the class he called “American History X”.

During prison, Derek befriends a black man called Lamont with whom he identifies himself and who literally saves his life during prison. When he first got in, he clearly states who he is and how he belongs to the neo-nazi group. He becomes part of the white men’s group, until he starts realizing how wrong he was once he gets to know Lamont and then decides to abandon his crew. Since he no longer had protection from the white men in prison, we can assume Lamont put in a word with the rest of the black men for not beating Derek up when they had the chance.

After Derek comes out of prison, he is transformed because of what he experiences. The impact Lamont had on him was life changing. He starts talking to Danny to make him abandon all of those crazy racist ideas they had.

In conclusion, although Derek and Danny were raised the same way, they were certainly not born being racists. The environment, including their father’s preference for white men and the experiences they suffered throughout their lives, lead them to become racists.

=ASSIGNMENT #3=


 * A. Remembering the film we just watched describe what the elements of a peaceable community or peaceable school might be.**

> A peaceable school or community would be a place where people respect differences including ethnic backgrounds, skin color, religion, gender, etc. There would be communication between teachers, students and parents and there would be conflict resolution skills.
 * **What would a peaceable school or community look like?**


 * **What elements of communication would be included?**

- Some elements of communication that would be included would be opinions, attitudes, feelings, views, orders, and suggestions of the whole community and everyone’s ability to be receptive listeners. Everyone would try to understand each other's problems and be empathetic when they are sharing their emotions so they can offer good feedback and solutions. - The school could offer peace talks throughout the year to create conscience and unity between individuals. Celebrating peace day and making activities during the day to make it memorable for everyone. - The school could bring guest speakers related to peaceable community traits like tolerating diversity, no bullying, etc.


 * **What would be tolerated and what would not be tolerated?**

Respect, empathy, and listening to others to solve conflicts would be tolerated in a peaceable community. On the other hand, bullying, aggressiveness, name calling, fighting and violence would not be tolerated.


 * **What would the rules be?**

The rules would be to:
 * Respect at all times
 * Tolerate diversity
 * Share emotions and feelings in a positive way
 * Listen to others when they disagree with you or when they have a problem


 * **Would would the expectations be?**

Expectations would be to be able to:
 * Handle conflict resolution
 * Be able to solve conflicts without violence using good communication skills
 * Learn from one’s mistakes and be able to forgive
 * Grow emotionally and spiritually every day

> The responsibilities would be the following:
 * **What would the responsibilities be?**
 * Everyone individual is responsible for their actions and consequences.
 * Teachers are responsible for setting a good example to their students in terms of manners, communication skills, listening skills, etc.
 * Parents are responsible in the values and principles they teach their children.
 * Students are responsible for their behavior.


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

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 * C. Read the Oscar Arias speech to the international educators at the Tri-Association**


 * D. Post Journal Entry #3:**

If Hank were to come into one of the classrooms that I am substituting in one of these days, he would see how the teacher (me) listens and respects the students and vise versa. He would see how I listen to everyone’s questions, comments, doubts about their tasks or about a specific problem they might have. He would be able to witness this by the communication that takes place inside the classroom. There is no bad language, bullying, criticizing or disrespect towards others. If there were to be a problem between some students, I would call them up to figure out a solution or let them come up with a plan on working things out that benefits everyone. In character ed class or social studies, he would see debates between the class of specific topics and how each students participates offering their point of view and how others respect and listen carefully even though they might not agree. He might even see me asking questions and trying to understand someone’s point of view instead of judging and making prejudices.

In some of the classrooms he would see posters and signs that say: “NO BULLY ZONE”, or some posters with positive and inspirational quotes. On the board he would see a different quote I write promoting peace and wellbeing in life.

I think I can promote peace in my community in the first place by setting an example. This would mean to listen to my students’ problems and help them come up with solutions. I could give them feedback on what they tell me. I believe showing respect at all time for everyone is crucial in creating a peaceful community because this will increase positive feelings of self-worth and self-esteem in everyone. If we create conscience of emotional intelligence, and help our students and staff develop emotional intelligence as well as values and principles, this will lead to an effective society were peace and happiness is promoted.

=ASSIGNMENT #4=

I believe that the rate of homicide violence has gone down in the last 800 years because there has been more law enforcement in the US. There are longer sentences for criminals to serve in prison as well. I could say that technology has influenced this rate since there are more advances in computer analysis, and police officers and detectives have new advanced tools to analyze forensic evidence.

I overestimated the violence in the United States by a lot and so did the 4 others who took the quiz. All five of us were sure that violence in the US had increased over the years. In the statement that said: “The United States is in a period of extreme violence”, we all answered: “true”. When I checked the answer key I was surprised to see that the answer was false. I think all of our misconception of violence has to due with the media and how we see everything that’s on the news, especially today with Donald Trump’s election and how people are reacting to his presidency. What I see on the news these days related to the US is hatred towards minority groups, racism and rage which has given us the idea that violence is at it’s peak.

I really liked this lesson because I am now aware of how violence has progressed or decreased throughout the years in different countries. It is important to acknowledge what it is that makes us as a society believe certain things because of what we see and it makes us realize how the world we live in is changing. It is an eye opener for me because even though violence is gradually decreasing, there is still a lot more I can do to create a peaceful community where I live in. If I start with myself and my own community, then eventually everyone will be doing the same and violence will be drastically reduced.


 * Waterboarding**

Waterboarding is a form of torture that involves pouring water over the face of an immobilized victim. This causes the person to feel like he or she is drowning. For me, waterboarding is an extreme interrogation technique which I think should not be used. To think that the person eventually can’t exhale more air and that the lungs collapse, is brutal to me. Although I can imagine how a person going through this horrible torture method will eventually break and reveal important information that will help deal against terrorist or others, I believe that they should use other ways to interrogate that are not so harsh because it is morally wrong to harm a person this way. As I was investigating on waterboarding I found out that it can cause permanent physical, emotional and psychological injuries, even death. This way of torturing a human being is just so wrong that I believe should be banned from all systems.


 * Journal Entry #4**

After finishing assignment number 4, I learned many new things and concepts. First of all, I was proved wrong that violence and crime rates in the US have increased over the years because on the contrary, they have been constant and homicides in western culture have decreased. I can see now how sometimes the media exaggerates things and only prints out or takes out videos that show the negativity in this world. I also learned about waterboarding. At first I had no idea what it was, until I saw a video and started researching about this form of torture. I have seen this before in movies and series about CIA agents who torture terrorists in order to get useful information, but I can’t imagine people practicing this in real life. This goes against my morals and way of thinking and I am completely against it. I am glad to have read that it is illegal in the US now. If we practice having more elements of peaceful communities in our societies, then violence rates can drastically drop. And although it may be hard to think of this happening, I believe that everyone has something to contribute that will make the change in the world we want to see in order to live more peacefully.


 * Extra Credit: Video Flighting Back**

When I first saw a video of “School Shooting Fighting Back” it seemed weird because I was not expecting students to throw cans at the shooter. The good thing about this method is that it would give students and teachers more empowerment and a little bit of control over the situation. Instead of just hiding from the shooter and feeling powerless, they know they can try this to stop him and save their lives. This is also helpful because it gives them skills and opens their minds to find alternative solutions in fighting back and not just waiting for it to end. It can help them defend themselves from this horrible situation if it were to happen and have a more active role. If the shooter would want to shoot everyone, then this method could help some escape and save themselves since it would distract him for a moment. I think this would save more students than if they were just to hide in the classrooms.
 * Pros**

It seems to me that not all students would react the same way when a shooter walks into their classrooms. Everyone has a different fight or flight response which will make them react different to the situation. It is one thing to practice throwing the cans at the shooter and another thing to be actually living it and having the courage to do so when he has a gun. I also think that if they throw cans at the shooter, it might not be enough to stop him or from everyone escaping. It could save some lives, but most probably, some of them would have to sacrifice their lives or wouldn’t have enough time to escape. I also think that it may put particular students on the spot of feeling the responsibility to step up and save everyone. If this were my child, I wouldn’t want him/her to feel responsible to tackle the shooter. It could also lead to an increase in anxiety if someone forgets to bring the can to school and students can be in constant stress which would affect their day to day lives. I think this is also complicated because this would mean that every student must carry a can in their backpack at all times to be prepared. I’m not sure how effective it would be because I’ve never read or seen in the news this kind of fight back in a school shooting.
 * Cons**

=ASSIGNMENT #5=


 * Amygdala**

The amygdala is the integrative center for emotions, emotional behavior, and motivation. It regulates additional cognitive processes, such as memory or attention. Stimulation of the amygdala causes intense emotion, such as aggression or fear (UTHealth, 2017).


 * "Hijacking of a Brain"**

In his book titled Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman refers to “hijacking of a brain” which means that the emotion center has taken over the rest of the brain so that we don’t have easy access to our reasoning ability. In this situation, the person acts or speaks before the brain has time to fully process the situation, and may act in an inappropriate manner (Goleman, 2005). This happens because brain impulses travel faster to the amygdala than the neocortex and the individual has no time to think rationally about their actions, because the emotional mind dominates the rational mind (Roy, 1985).


 * Describe a time when you saw someone's brain get "Hijacked" by their Amygdala**

I remember one time I was at a party with my friends and my boyfriend at the time. Then, accidentally another guy pushed me and I sort of tripped over. Since there were a lot of people and loud music in the party, my boyfriend just saw that I flew over to the floor because this boy pushed me. His immediate reaction was to push the guy over, grab him by the shirt and scream at him. By his aggressive response and strong emotional reaction, it is obvious how his brain got hijacked by the amygdala. As Daniel Goleman said, when the amygdala is threatened, one can respond irrationally. His immediate thought was that this boy wanted to push me, but when he saw his face full of fear and when I told him it was just an accident, he realize he was acting out of impulse. He immediately apologized to the boy and calmed down. I remember feeling scared of him because I had NEVER seen him act like that before and even though it was an accident, it took him a little while to cool off and realize that he acted very explosive and aggressive. I was shocked at his reaction. Today when we recall that day, he starts laughing and telling me that he doesn’t understand where that reaction came from since he is usually very easy going.


 * Journal Entry #5**

The TED talk I just watched was amazing. It even made me cry when she told the story about her student coming up to her and telling her: “I’m not supposed to be here”. This talk was given by a social psychologist who studies body language and movement. She starts by saying how our body language and gestures shape who we are and affect the impression we give to others. The way you move and the postures you make can have a strong effect on many things from something very simple like first impressions to job offerings. I was shocked to know that this woman suffered a brain injury when she was 19 and lost 2 standard deviations from her IQ. It is very impressive how she managed to finish college and never gave up. When she ended up at Princeton and Harvard she always felt like she wasn’t supposed to be in that place because she sort of felt she was helped to get in, but when her thoughts changed, her attitude changed and so did her behavior and her life.

This teaches us that what you think, you become. It is impressive how postures of power that were made for just two minutes made individuals feel with much more power, increased their levels of testosterone and reduced their levels of cortisol (stress levels). If we keep this in mind, we can begin to control how we act and our body language in order to have positive outcomes in our lives and become who we want to be. I related this to me because I hate public speaking in front of a big crowd. So when I give presentations I tend to get very nervous and I’m not fully focused on what I am saying. Instead, I can try some of this postures on my own and think that I am really good at what I am presenting so I can get better at it. I am going to try this in my daily life to see how it changes.

=ASSIGNMENT #6=


 * What is a conflict?**

As I was researching about conflict, I found several definitions:

1. Conflict is an opposition or a tug-of-war between contradictory impulses (Sharma, 2016).

2. A disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, interests or concerns. Conflicts occur when people (or other parties) perceive that, as a consequence of a disagreement, there is a threat to their needs, interests or concerns (University of Wisconsin, 2016).

3. Conflict is the result of competing desires or the presence of obstacles that need to be overcome.

In my own words I would say that conflict is a serious disagreement between to persons with opposing opinions about something important.

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 * What is conflict resolution?**

Conflict resolution is a way for two or more parties to find a peaceful solution to a disagreement among them. The disagreement may be personal, financial, political, or emotional (Community Tool Box, 2016).

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I would define conflict resolution as the process of solving a problem in a peaceful way in which interests of each one's sides are meet.

**1. Analyze one conflict that you have observed or participated in in terms of a "Hijacked Brain". This would be a conflict that started and escalated because of an emotional engagement.**
One time we were having Character Education class and we started talking about abortion. The whole class started debating about the topic and giving their point of view of whether they were in favor or against it. Two of my students started to really get engaged into the conversation and each one of them had a different point of view. The student that was in favor of abortion gave his points that explained why he was in favor, but the other student started to get emotionally involved to the point that he started shouting at him and saying that he was a bad person and how stupid he was to think that way. I can see how his brain got hijacked and that’s why he started being so aggressive. I had to break up the discussion and talk to both of them after class to calm things down. Afterwards, he apologized to his classmate and realized he only said those mean things because his emotions started to build up to the point that he wasn't thinking.

**Describe what happened in the conflict above or the one you observed. Who was involved in the conflict, and how the emotional engagement of the Amygdala were all working to hinder the conflict?**
The conflict held in Floyd County Superior Court was between Judge Bryant Durham and a defendant in a murder case Denver Allen. When the judge didn’t believe Allen about the other guy making a sexual advance towards him, he started to lose his temper. Allen got carried away and started cursing and swearing to the judge and even threatening to kill his family. It is pretty clear how his emotions took over his rational thinking because he was acting ridiculous in court, sort of like a little child would do. He was being arrogant and wanting to put words into the judge’s mouth so he would look bad towards the jury. We see how the amygdala triggered his impulses which interrupted his normal routines and took over his sense of calming down and answering more adequately.


 * Do the involvement of emotions and the Amygdala always hinder conflict resolution?**

I don’t think that the involvement of emotions and the amygdala always hinder conflict resolution because there are times when you need and are able to manage and control the way you are feeling in order to solve a problem. Of course that not everyone is capable of this, but I believe that we all need to work on this in order to create a more peaceful environment. One way to control this is by practicing mindfulness and staying present in the moment. If we start to regulate our emotions we will develop better ways of interacting and getting rid of negative thoughts, but of course mindfulness takes practice and time.


 * This is Journal Entry #6 A.**

After researching and doing this activities, I found out that the amygdala is an almond-shape set of neurons located deep in the brain's medial temporal lobe. It is essential for our ability to feel emotions and perceive them in others especially fear. It is good to know this information because when you find yourself in a situation where a person reacts crazy or very different than they usually do, you can understand the reason why they are reacting that way and it will probably make you feel more compassion. I am not saying that it is fine to tolerate aggressive behavior or comments, but as a teacher or psychologist, it gives you a better comprehension on how the human brain works and how stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol flood our system, immediately preparing us for fight or flight when we perceive threat.


 * Web site about swearing and or cursing**

The Surprising Benefits of Swearing by Tiffanie Wen []


 * Journal Entry #6 B**

After reading the previous articles and watching the video I found out that cursing and swearing can be beneficial. It could help express one’s feelings. It increase pain tolerance and reduce pain. It helps us communicate effectively since it gives emotional response to the meaning we are trying to explain. It helps us express our pain, anger and disgust without having to use physical violence. Various studies have been done related to this and they have found that swearing increases the effectiveness and persuasiveness of the message. In both the video and in an article I found, they mentioned that swearing increases tolerance to pain. Those who repeated a curse word, were able to keep their hand in a bucket of ice water longer than those who did not. These participantes also showed increase in heart rate meaning that there is an emotional response to swearing. It is very interesting to see what curse words are more common depending on different states and their history. I would never have imagined that cursing was so beneficial to us.

=ASSIGNMENT #7=


 * “I” Messages**

1) When someone makes fun of me in public, that puts me on the spot, and it makes me feel upset and uncomfortable.

Reaction: I told this to my brother in law who usually tend to joke around all of the time and his reaction was a good one. He told me that he loved me and that if he had ever offended me, that it was not personal and he would try not to do it anymore.

2) When you call me to let me know when you are staying longer at the office, I can stop my mind from thinking and imagining something has happened to you, and I feel relieved and relaxed to know that you are fine.

Reaction: I told this to my husband and he told me not to worry. That he would always let me know when he was going to be late since he knows how apprehensive I am, specially with all of the insecurity in Monterrey right now.

3) When you help me clean the apartment, I can see your good intentions, and it makes me feel happy and loved by you.

Reaction: I told this to my husband as well and he was so glad to hear me say it. He was happy to see that I felt happy and appreciated.


 * “I” messages to Gigi**

1) Corrective “I” Message

Gigi, every time you come into my house and grab my things without letting me know first, make me think I lost my belongings and it makes me feel stressed and worried.

2) Positive “I” Message Gigi, thank you for being so considerate in letting me know when you want to borrow something of mine, since now I know exactly where I have my belongings and that makes me feel at peace.

=ASSIGNMENT #8=



This behavior contract that I designed is for a particular student I had last year in pre kinder. As you can see, he had some behavior issues. He was constantly off task when he had to work, he never sat down during circle time and he had some issues with hitting and saying mean things to his classmates and sometimes the teachers. When I made the chart, I included this 4 key elements for him to work on: raising his hand when he wanted to participate or ask a question, sitting down with his legs criss cross on the carpet, finish all of his classwork and respecting his teachers and friends.

The purpose of this behavior contract is to help this student modify his behavior so he can have better relationship with his peers and have better academic achievement. The contract is designed for a preschool kid to understand, so that is why it has a lot of pictures instead of a lot of writing. The teacher would have to talk to him first and explain the purpose of this contract/chart and go through it with him, explaining each of the elements it has. I would have to tell him what his goals are and the rewards he would get each day according to the happy faces he accumulates. Since it is a type of positive reinforcement, in order to be effective, it is essential to consider giving him immediate reinforcement at the end of each day if he accumulates the happy faces.

The advantages of having the parents sign off on the behavior contract is that they would be aware of how their child is doing in school. In this case, they would know everyday of the week if their child respected others, raised his hand and finished his classwork. They would be able to be more involved in the process of modifying his behavior and it could help the student emotionally to have his parents support and praise when he gets a reward because of his positive behavior. I don’t see why having the parents sign off on the contract would be a disadvantage. For me, this is a great way in getting them involved in their child’s life especially if there is a problem going on in school.

This positive reinforcement helps in creating intrinsic motivation for the student’s good behavior. Instead of feeling he will get punished, he will seek praise and good feelings. This will boost his character development since he will attribute good behavior to beneficial consequences. It would also help his self-esteem since we are now focusing on the good qualities of his character and it will give him more confidence and it will eliminate people from labeling him as a troubled boy with behavior issues. The extrinsic motivation that he would have would be the short term rewards if he behaves accordingly. If he only does one of the behaviors from the chart, that is not enough to get a reward. If he does two of them, then he would get a sticker, if he does three behaviors right, he would get a lollipop and if he does the four of the positive behaviors, then he would get a chance to go to the treasure box and choose a surprise.

=ASSIGNMENT #9=

After taking the personality profile I found out I am a practical manager. I agree with most of the characteristics that define this type of personality since I like to organize people and things. If you were to come into my apartment you would see everything in its place and in my closet, my clothes would be all arranged by colors. I would have shirts on one side and pants on the other. The hangers would all be the same color and brand; I can’t stand to have different ones. The fights I usually have with my husband are because he is very disorganized and never picks up his belongings. That drives me crazy! I like to plan and I tend to want to control everything around me. Although I know this is not a good characteristic, I am working on letting things just be because I get disappointed when things don’t turn out as I planned. Practical managers enjoy having a plan and checking off tasks as they are completed. When I read this, I identified a lot with it because in my Iphone, I always write down my tasks in reminders for the day, and as I finish them, I mark them as completed. That always makes me feel good and relieved that I finished what I wanted to do for the day.

When I am doing projects or planning something for someone special I tend to be a perfectionist. Being like this can be a good trait to have when for example you have your own business of making name cards or crafts because your clients would always be happy with the product since it would look very neat in comparison to someone who is not so detailed oriented and could fail to identify flaws in their creations. I tend to focus a lot on details too. For example if I were to buy something, I would always revise it very well to see if it doesn't have a scratch or a mark before I buy it. This has been the case in some situations when I go shopping with my mother because many times when she is about to buy a shirt or some clothing, I automatically spot the small tear that is barely noticeable to her but I can see it. So many times when she wants to buy something she asks for my help because she knows I am very observant. On the other hand, being a perfectionist can affect your life in many negative ways too because you always expect the best of yourself and when you don’t do it, you are very self-critical. Also, when you are working with other individuals who have different personality prototypes, you can easily get frustrated and want to do everything yourself.

=ASSIGNMENT #10=

**1. The role of nurture by the families of the two main characters, Derrick and Homer.**
We see how in American X, Derrick is thoughts and views are nurtured by his father. This happens during the dinner table when Derrick talks about Mr.Sweeney and afterwards his father has a prejudice of him because he is an African-American. Derrick doesn’t try to debate his father, he just accepts that he is right and goes along with his way of thinking. But after his father’s unjust death, that when Derrick starts possessing more neo nazi ideas which support his father’s way of thinking. In October Sky, they lived in a coal-mining community there was not much of a future for them so that’s why they worked at the mine. For Homer’s father (John), that was a privilege and a family legacy and he wanted Homer to follow his steps. When John suffers an accident, Homer feels forced to work in the mine in order to support his family and that was when we see how his father nurtures him, telling him how great he was for the job, etc. In both movies it was the father’s who nurtured their children. At the end we see how they both fight those ideas inculcated by their father. In American History X, at the end when Derrick comes out of prison, he is transformed and starts taking back what he had done with his community and family. In October Sky, we see this by Homer following his dream of building a rocket and getting out of West Virginia to become something else than a mine worker.


 * 2. The role of the mother in the development of each of the two main characters Derrick and Homer.**

The role of both mothers in the films are similar in the way that they act submissive or not that involved during the discussions that take place. For instance in American History X, when they are at the dinner table, she doesn’t comment or refute his husband’s comment of not believing everything his teacher said, she just let them talk. In October Sky, we also see this when Homer and his father start fighting in the kitchen and the mother is painting on the wall and just gives them the silent treatment. On the other hand, they show differences when in October Sky, the mother shows more support for Homer when she lets him talk about space and his dreams during the dinner table on his birthday even though the father tells him it's nonsense. She also encourages him to pursue his dream of building rockets and is the only one to go watch him launch them on the field. When he goes to the science fair and someone steals an important item for the rocket, she takes charge of sending him a new one. In American History X, we never see much participation of the mother, she is always quiet or sick.


 * 3. The role of the teacher Murray in Derrick’s life and the role of Miss Reilly in Homer’s life.**

In my opinion, teacher Murray had no influence on Derrick’s life. He was just a teacher who got frustrated when he was faced with a challenge, in this case Derrick. I remember the scene when he goes to Mr. Sweeney’s office to complain about Danny’s behavior and how he wanted him to expel him. Instead of figuring out a way to get to him, he just went to the principal. Murray was interested in these boy’s mother, but he was not accepted by Derrick because he was Jew and he did not like him. Their relationship was not a good one.

On the other hand, we see how Ms. Reilly shows passion and compassion towards her students. She is an authentic teacher who only wants what is best for them and she is the one to motivate them into joining the science fair. We see this when she hands the book of math to Homer in the classroom, when she approaches them during the cafeteria to inform them about the science fair, she even gets disappointed at Homer for working in the mine. In comparison to Derrick’s relationship with his teacher, Homer’s relationship is stronger and beautiful. The only thing they have in common is that they are both in high school.


 * 4. The role of the two principals in the lives of Derrick and Homer.**

Mr. Sweeney was Derrick’s principal. He was a determined man who wanted to change his behavior and have an impact on his life. In the end, his goal is obtained because Derrick is transformed into a better human being thanks to the support he had from his principal who cared for him and visited him during his prison time. In contrast, in October Sky, the principal shows no concern for his students. He really doesn’t care for their future. I can justify this by his behavior when Homer and his colleagues want to go to the science fair and he doesn't give it the importance it should’ve had. Also, when the police arrest them in school for the fire they supposedly caused in the forest, and the principal just wants to blame them and takes the science fair opportunity away from them. In the movies, we see two profiles of principals, one who is willing to go above and beyond for his students and one that is close-minded and does what suits him the most.


 * 5. The role of the community in the lives of Derrick and Homer.**

In both movies the community seem to be closed minded. In Derrick’s life this is shown when he joins the neo nazi group and everyone has racist views. In Homer’s life this is represented by how the community thought the working in the mine was all there was for them. They had no aspirations to become something else or pursue their dreams like Homer did. The difference is that in October Sky, Homer gets more support from the community when he starts to become an expert at rocket building and everyone goes to the field to watch him and his friends launch it. Also when he comes back from the science fair, everyone is there in the bus station to hug him and congratulate him on what he had accomplished. In American History X, we never see the community come together as a whole to do good.