Video Posting

1. I wonder how Lonnie and James did in their next year of schooling. I wonder if Lonnie still continues to lack the motivation or if he turns it all around.

2. I would have to say that Lonnie and James are very much the same. They are both very bright students and have similar goals in life. The teaching environments in their lives are very different, which defines how they learn in a classroom environment. Lonnie’s academic environment is very underprivileged and poor. His school can’t afford decently trained teachers and the teachers that do teach are very forceful in nature. James’ academic environment is very positive and the teachers know exactly what they’re teaching about. It seems like all of the teachers and parents want their children to be the best that they can be. They push them to do their best and really encourage parent participation.

Also, their housing environment has a lot to do with how they are affected. Lonnie’s mother is very supportive of him, but is a bit forceful when she talks about him in school. She is worried for his safety because their environment is not the safest, but she does want him to succeed and has very high hopes for him. James’ housing environment is also very positive, but again, his mother is worried for his safety and learning experiences at a public school because of how crowded and overpopulated it is. She said that she would love to get him into a private school, but the money is tight.

3. The main thing that was unequal about the two schools was the level at which the teachers taught at. At the poorer school, they can’t afford well-qualified teachers, so they just hire what they can get. At the middle-class school, it was stated that teachers are competing for teaching positions, which shows how high the teaching level is at that school. At both schools, there are definitely students that are at the same academic level, but are being stripped of their learning capacity because the teachers aren’t fully qualified to teach. For example, Lonnie is a gifted student and has been since the first grade, but because unenthused teachers and students surround him, he lacks the motivation and work ethic that James has.

4. Students from Riverdale would be more likely to succeed because models surround them and motivators (parents, teachers, peers) who don’t bring them down or make them feel upset. They have constant adult motivation and a stable home life, which affects them mentally as well. Toward the end of the video, I see Lonnie lacking motivation compared to the beginning of the video. Throughout the video, he talks about how bad he wants to become a lawyer and how hard he works in school. Once he goes in to talk to his counselor and his mother, he starts to get down on himself and resorts to talking about being a basketball player. He says that if the basketball thing doesn’t work out, he might become a lawyer. He seems a lot let motivated and driven to become what he previously wanted to become.