· Question: What did you have question(s) about from this reading? What made you curious as you were reading? What would you ask the author, given the chance to talk to him/her?

Deborah Meier's The Power of Their Ideas was an incredibly rich read. How Deborah dealt with the trials, challenges, complexities of urban inner-city education was fascinating. She attempted not to romanticize the experience, but demonstrate concretely how she built a successful elementary school, then fallowed by a set of schools. The millions of power struggles, the teachers relationship with the parents, the role of the state, and the role of the administration underneath that, illuminates how teaching is a challenge that is so multi-task. I would ask, what type of structural systems were actually built. What were the norms, the laws, the systems of expectations and how were they implemented?

What quote(s) did you find particularly illuminating, frustrating, confusing, inspirational, etc.? Be sure to explain why this quote was memorable to you.· What did this book make you think of?

The book did not expose me to singular quotes that stuck out. But I did appreciate the first sentence of Chapter 8 that reads, "[teaching] more than virtually any activity...depends on quick instinctive habits and behavior." One cannot use formal theory as complete medium for teaching. As well the accumulation of experience in the classroom develops skills that cannot be bred through other forms. Young people, still at a key developmental stage, cannot control their spontaneous behavior. There has to be structures in place that they respect and recognize, but their natural behavior can challenge such systems unconsciously. As a response, teachers must have a counter to this, which is very much embedded in instincts in the classroom.

What connections can you/did you make with other readings? with your own personal experience? Do you have an overall opinion on this reading?

I worked at Alternative Learning Community In East Oakland. The school was out of control all the time with an administration that was very incompotent and negligent. The attitude of the staff is that this just how things are. I new with a more creative approach, with more teacher led activity, and real systems in place, that the school could thrive. It was very frusterating. How could one work hard in such a situation, and not feel like it was a wasted effort. But how could one not work hard, where the children were going to pay. Reading about Deborah's experience gives me a hope, but methodical based hope, that actual systems and structures can develop in inner city school that supply real education.