Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Week 4 Discussion Question

Howie decides to make a petition for the students to sign in the hopes that he can save Miss Gossim's job. The problem Howie faces though is that he promised her he wouldn't tell anyone about what is going on in her life. Howie ultimately decides that he has to do something by saying, "I couldn't do nothing for my pop, or Denny's dad, but I could do something for Miss Gossim...doing something was better than doing nothing." Do you agree with Howie's decision to write the petition, why or why not? Why do you think he really did it, even though he knew he was breaking a promise? Miss Gossim says to Howie, "Please, please, please don't try to help me again." Do you think Howie will listen, why or why not? Make sure to support your thinking with examples from the book.

Make sure to answer the question with a RAD response and use details  from the text to support your answer. Please check your grammar, spelling, capitalization, and conventions before submitting your response.

8 comments:

  1. I agree with decision to write a petition because if your favorite teacher was going to get fired and you could maybe help her then you would go for it. And you would want to help. Why I really think he did it is because he really likes Mrs. Gossim and he would always want to help her. Also he is very generous that's also why he would help. I don’t think Howie will listen because he wants to help. He wants to save his favorite teacher and from his past experience, (AKA the petition) it doesn't look like he will listen, and he will try to save Mrs. Gossim once again. I think Mrs. Gossim won’t be as nice this time since he is breaking a promise again so she will be mad.

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  2. I do not agree with Howie having the petition and giving it to Lomister because he might get suspended. If I were him, I would stay out of Miss Gossim’s life, and move on. Howie really did it because he wanted to help Miss Gossim and loved her. He might have thought if he saved her and Smitty didn’t come back, Miss Gossim would marry him. I think Howie will not listen and listen to Miss Gossim about giving the note to Lomister. He will listen because Howie will not give it to Lomister, but won’t listen because he will give it to someone else. Miss Gossims reaction will not be good. She is going to get really mad at Howie and will not marry him. She will be mad!!!

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    1. Aaron I agree with you, that Howie should have not done the petition. Like you said he might get suspended, but even worse is that he betrayed Miss Gossim's trust in him. Perhaps he could have written a petition but not included all her personal details (for example, pregnancy). His heart was in the right place but his approach was wrong. You suggested Howie might give the petition to someone else, who do you think he would give it to instead of Mr. Lomister? Will this other person be able to help Miss Gossim?

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  3. I do agree with Howies decision to write a petition because I know his heart was in the right place. I think Howie wrote the petition because he wanted to help her keep her job because she was nice and beautiful (To Howie she is). In the text on page 91 Howie said that Miss Gossim looked “Prettier”.
    I don’t think Howie will listen too Mrs. Gossim’s plead for him to stop. I think this because he has broken a promise to help her before and I think he'll try to do it again at a different approach or angle to try and help her.What I think Mrs Gossims reaction will be to cry in tears with disappointment because the petition revealed her personal life but also be happy because he was trying to help her keep her job.

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  4. I don’t think that Howie’s petition will work because he is breaking his promise and it is his teacher, and she doesn’t want anyone to know about her life. I think he did it because he wanted his teacher to keep her job. I think Howie won’t listen because he thinks she is a really good teacher and he likes her. In the text it says that his sister thought of a plan to get all of the kids in his class to go to Mrs. Wolch’s house to not fire Miss Gossim even though she is pregnant.And if he doesn’t listen he will get into big trouble and she will be mad.

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    1. Ye I get your point but put your self in Howie's shoes and think, if your favorite teacher getting fired. You would probably try to help. So I agree with Howie's decision.

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  5. I don’t agree with Howie’s decision to write the petition. Why I don't agree with his decision is Mrs. Gossim said she can handle it by herself and she does not want anybody else to know she is having a baby because back then that was very personal and people did not talk about it.I don’t think Howie will listen to Mrs. Gossim because he thinks his sisters plan will work so he is willing to risk getting in trouble again.

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  6. I disagree with Howie's idea to write a petition in order to help Mrs.Gossim keep her job. Howie promised Mrs. Gossim he would keep her secret. By writing a petition to Dr. Lomister, Howie would have to disclose information about Mrs. Gossim that he "pinky promised" to keep secret. This would violate her trust in him. I think Howie has a few motives for wanting to write the petition. Mrs.Gossim is his favorite teacher because she is so nice to him and gives him "second chances" especially when it comes to his math tests. Howie also has a big heart and wants to help someone. He can't help his "Pop" or Denny's dad out of the war but he could attempt to help Mrs. Gossim keep her job.

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