First of all how dear you make me cry. No teacher has made me cry since Senior year in High School. Second for making me cry it truly is hard to find a college professor that takes the time to get to know their students that you do and be able to reach each in everyone of us individually. Third this is my third time taking this class and finally I have learned something from this class and actually have something to take away from it.
I actually looked forward to coming to your class. I never knew what to expect, one day we have heated class debates on topics such as the education system, or work in groups in creative manors to grasp the context of our readings, while other days we do "book work" which feels more like family time then work. For the first time in the two years that I have been in FIU did I actually find a class that I have a sense of community.
lol I'm still crying so to some it up I loved you and your class it was just amazing to have a teacher who truly cares for their students because I was beginning to wounder if people became professors just to make us run home crying to our parents but you reminded me why I used to love school.Thank you soo much!!! Muah
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Extra Credit Prompt #2: Definition
From this video I got many ideas as to what it could possibly mean. However there are two main theories that seem most probable. The first theory that came to mind when I heard the video was that he was saying that when the clock strikes us that it is our time to make a difference in the world. Everyone has an input in the world and the actions and decisions we make directly effect each other. So when it comes time for us to do something profound how what will be the affect of our action. Therefore we should always be prepared for change while still trying to make our difference on the world.
Another theory that I feel strong about is that this poet is trying to tell us that there is always time for change. And when it comes time for your life to come to an end and be judged by whatever higher being one believes in let it show humility and selflessness. That just because you live your life one way it does not mean that you are stuck in that rut. You can change it for the better and make it be the thing that stands out.
Another theory that I feel strong about is that this poet is trying to tell us that there is always time for change. And when it comes time for your life to come to an end and be judged by whatever higher being one believes in let it show humility and selflessness. That just because you live your life one way it does not mean that you are stuck in that rut. You can change it for the better and make it be the thing that stands out.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
The government is truly trying to make this some kind of utopia. however as a child who has grown up in America and knows all my civil liberties I WILL NOT stand by and watch the government strip our nation of its individualism. Every person has the right to wear, say, or write what ever they please. And any person who has educated themselves about this topic knows how the sagging pants started. It began in jails all around our country because the inmates were not allowed to wear belts for fear that they would hang themselves. Now at this time many African American were thrown into jail for no reason or were wrongly accused because they were blamed for a white persons crime. Now in today's society African Americans use it as not so much a fashion statement but rather a statement of freedom. The government has not right to determine what people wear. I feel as though only in America do people have a problem with exposure in most other countries people walk around half naked and no one seems to give it a second thought. American just need to get off their high horse strip down and explore the human body. Its actually a beautiful thing.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Education and Equality: Oxymoron or is This a Reality
FCAT, Regents, and the all time favorite SAT and ACT. Every state in the United States has their own form of standardized testing. Supposedly these test are designed for the state to know how well or how poor the learning rate is. From this the government decides how much money a school receives each year. However the questions we should be asking our-self is, are the standardized test fair? How are they ranged? And how did they come up with these ranges?
When I was younger I would get such a bad headache that I thought my brain was going to explode when I was taking those standardized exams. There is so much pressure put on us students today in terms of succeeding in school. Not only do we need to excel in our everyday school life but we also must be prepared for these exams that test if we are "on track" with the rest of our "peers". when in all actuality they are not testing us against our peers they are testing us against anther group of students from the year before. Then not only do they expect us to meet the past students level but also surpass it. This is not even fair to students, they are being told to be better then these children from the year before and based on this they are going to judge if they are making progress. I do believe that a child should be tested to see at what level they are at each year. However I do not agree that one test should determine if a child will continue on to the next grade or not. I also do not agree that a should be tested against a child that may not be at the same level that they are. Children's test scores should be judged based on the progression or digression that each individual student is making.
The no child left behind act is a really nice idea. However if one was to actually read the act they might not agree with a large portion of the bill. In the bill there is a section named "Reward and punishment", in this section the government talks about school that meet or excel in these standardized test while other schools that fail to meet these standards are punished by having federal funds pulled from the school. These federal funds often pay for administration, text books, and all the other essentials to having a functioning school. Now what makes me upset about this part of the bill is that this will mostly affect lower income schools or as referred to in the bill title 1 schools. Often times in these schools there are already so little funds that there becomes a shortage of text books making it impossible for teachers to assign homework, and in class students much share books. To add to the chaos schools are overcrowded due to poor zoning plans so teachers are struggling to keep control of 30 to 50 children at a time. In my opinion this is punishment enough. But to further punish them living in a lower income neighbor hood and not being able to afford private school or a home-school teacher they take away what little funding they were receiving for not preforming up to par. I believe that schools that are excelling should continue to receive their same funding and schools that are struggling to meet the standard should be given more funding so they can try to better their academic programs and in some cases purchase books or hire more qualified teachers. In addition schools that are falling behind should be thoroughly researched as to why the are doing so poor. I strongly believe that this bill was but in place to try to hold back more and more minority students.
Education is the groundwork to having any kind of success in life. In America the government has been dipping their hands in the education system. I believe that the no child left behind act has is a form of segregation and or genocide. With this low income schools are losing funding which will eventually cause them to have to close leaving children in inner city schools all around the nation education-less, which leads to a unemployment, which then leaves them with no other means of caring for themselves but federal welfare or a life of crime. Is this really the future that we want for our nation because if left in the hands of bureaucrats this is what will and is happening everyday.
When I was younger I would get such a bad headache that I thought my brain was going to explode when I was taking those standardized exams. There is so much pressure put on us students today in terms of succeeding in school. Not only do we need to excel in our everyday school life but we also must be prepared for these exams that test if we are "on track" with the rest of our "peers". when in all actuality they are not testing us against our peers they are testing us against anther group of students from the year before. Then not only do they expect us to meet the past students level but also surpass it. This is not even fair to students, they are being told to be better then these children from the year before and based on this they are going to judge if they are making progress. I do believe that a child should be tested to see at what level they are at each year. However I do not agree that one test should determine if a child will continue on to the next grade or not. I also do not agree that a should be tested against a child that may not be at the same level that they are. Children's test scores should be judged based on the progression or digression that each individual student is making.
The no child left behind act is a really nice idea. However if one was to actually read the act they might not agree with a large portion of the bill. In the bill there is a section named "Reward and punishment", in this section the government talks about school that meet or excel in these standardized test while other schools that fail to meet these standards are punished by having federal funds pulled from the school. These federal funds often pay for administration, text books, and all the other essentials to having a functioning school. Now what makes me upset about this part of the bill is that this will mostly affect lower income schools or as referred to in the bill title 1 schools. Often times in these schools there are already so little funds that there becomes a shortage of text books making it impossible for teachers to assign homework, and in class students much share books. To add to the chaos schools are overcrowded due to poor zoning plans so teachers are struggling to keep control of 30 to 50 children at a time. In my opinion this is punishment enough. But to further punish them living in a lower income neighbor hood and not being able to afford private school or a home-school teacher they take away what little funding they were receiving for not preforming up to par. I believe that schools that are excelling should continue to receive their same funding and schools that are struggling to meet the standard should be given more funding so they can try to better their academic programs and in some cases purchase books or hire more qualified teachers. In addition schools that are falling behind should be thoroughly researched as to why the are doing so poor. I strongly believe that this bill was but in place to try to hold back more and more minority students.
Education is the groundwork to having any kind of success in life. In America the government has been dipping their hands in the education system. I believe that the no child left behind act has is a form of segregation and or genocide. With this low income schools are losing funding which will eventually cause them to have to close leaving children in inner city schools all around the nation education-less, which leads to a unemployment, which then leaves them with no other means of caring for themselves but federal welfare or a life of crime. Is this really the future that we want for our nation because if left in the hands of bureaucrats this is what will and is happening everyday.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
"Zeitgeist"
Wow!! Is my initial reaction to the movie "Zeitgeist". When I first saw the assignment I was hesitant because I thought the movie was going to be some old paranoid hippie's home movie, designed to attack the U.S. government. Personally I do not agree with many of the ways that our country is ran and the decision that some of our leaders take, but sometimes I do believe that some people get a little carried away, therefore making it hard for me to want to continue watching. However after watching the clip of the movie I found myself hungry for more, which I believe was the point that the director was trying to make. I do strongly agree that my generation is directly affected by today's media from the music that we listen to, the books we read, or the shows we watch on television. Our media tells us what is acceptable and what isn't. We are suppose to be the age of knowledge however there most children today can not do a simple math equation such as long division in their head because they have been taught by a machine and simply memorizes the answers spat out at them. The same thing applies when it comes to politics and other worldly events. Some twenty years ago people actually took the time to learn and reach things to get a full understanding of the things going on around them. Now with these "worldly magazines" and television shows they rather just have someone else do the work and tell them the highlights. If anything this is the generation of laziness.
Education. Many people have different connotations as to what this word actually means. Some believe it is the amount of degrees obtained from a university while others believe it is the experiences in life and the knowledge obtained from these voyages. However in the last couple of decades one might have noticed that the level of education in today's society is in a steady downward spiral. Many blame it on the government and call it modern day oppression, others blame it on the individual family. Which ever way we as a people need to join together and pull our heads out of the clouds and focus on the issues at hand. We are supposed to be a self governing country that has the most access to resources of all types. We should take advantage of these opportunities and get the county back into the hands of the people and out of the hands of the "oligarchy" rules.
Education. Many people have different connotations as to what this word actually means. Some believe it is the amount of degrees obtained from a university while others believe it is the experiences in life and the knowledge obtained from these voyages. However in the last couple of decades one might have noticed that the level of education in today's society is in a steady downward spiral. Many blame it on the government and call it modern day oppression, others blame it on the individual family. Which ever way we as a people need to join together and pull our heads out of the clouds and focus on the issues at hand. We are supposed to be a self governing country that has the most access to resources of all types. We should take advantage of these opportunities and get the county back into the hands of the people and out of the hands of the "oligarchy" rules.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
The Ever Growing Use of Technology in Todays Society
In toady's society it is getting harder and harder to do anything with out something that talks, beeps or most often times in my case yells at you. And the scary part of it all is that it all started back in cave man times, when some crazy guy with too much time on his hands came up with an idea of a spear like tool to hunt with. Of course today it is way more complex than that, with computerized can openers and refrigerators that tell you that you need to buy more milk. But most the most common piece of technology that we all have been faced with has been the Internet.
Over the summer I was taking my 1101 English class for the second and was sceptical when I walked in to see this fairly young looking man posing as my teacher. I figured either he was one of those brainy guys whom graduated college really young or FIU was making some major cut backs and trying to majorly put my education on the cutting board with it. Then just as a was at the high point of my aggravation I realized that he finally got to be pay attention and was blabbing about us making a web-page and a blog and all kinds of random things that made my head spin. I had to look at the syllabus to make sure this was my English class and not some advanced computers class. Once i confirmed I was in the correct place I went directly to panic mode. However the next week we took a field trip to the library to ease the minds of my classmates and me, and give us a tutorial on how to set up or blogs and post or assignments.
Naturally me being the person that I am, I was not very happy about not being able to just scribble my feelings in my "throw back" black and white marble notebooks. And groaned about it for the entirety of my 15 minute walk to my apartment. But since I was unable to come up with a good enough reason as to why I would be unable to do the Internet based homework assignment I decided to suck it up and give it a try.
My first time was kind of awkward because I was raised never to trust computers and any information to them; so now here I am sitting here spilling all of my guts for not just my professor but for the whole world to read and judge. In the begining I found it really hard to find things to say about topics because I was afride of sounding stupid and for the whole world to read and see. The next day I spoke to a couple of my classmates and was put at ease that many of them were a bit hesitant about the idea of blogging as well. But as we talked I learned how to put change my settings so that only my classmates and select peolpe could view my page. Once I figured how to navigate around the site I started to feel really comfortable.
Eventually what I realized is that by me writing in this journal it helped me to anaylize my thoughts and put them into words then down onto paper; or in my case make them magically appear across the screen and in the homes of people across the world. Personally it even made me want to start sharing more of my personal writings even though I do still keep them in my old marble notebooks. Blogging overall is in many ways a positive and creative way of expression.
Over the summer I was taking my 1101 English class for the second and was sceptical when I walked in to see this fairly young looking man posing as my teacher. I figured either he was one of those brainy guys whom graduated college really young or FIU was making some major cut backs and trying to majorly put my education on the cutting board with it. Then just as a was at the high point of my aggravation I realized that he finally got to be pay attention and was blabbing about us making a web-page and a blog and all kinds of random things that made my head spin. I had to look at the syllabus to make sure this was my English class and not some advanced computers class. Once i confirmed I was in the correct place I went directly to panic mode. However the next week we took a field trip to the library to ease the minds of my classmates and me, and give us a tutorial on how to set up or blogs and post or assignments.
Naturally me being the person that I am, I was not very happy about not being able to just scribble my feelings in my "throw back" black and white marble notebooks. And groaned about it for the entirety of my 15 minute walk to my apartment. But since I was unable to come up with a good enough reason as to why I would be unable to do the Internet based homework assignment I decided to suck it up and give it a try.
My first time was kind of awkward because I was raised never to trust computers and any information to them; so now here I am sitting here spilling all of my guts for not just my professor but for the whole world to read and judge. In the begining I found it really hard to find things to say about topics because I was afride of sounding stupid and for the whole world to read and see. The next day I spoke to a couple of my classmates and was put at ease that many of them were a bit hesitant about the idea of blogging as well. But as we talked I learned how to put change my settings so that only my classmates and select peolpe could view my page. Once I figured how to navigate around the site I started to feel really comfortable.
Eventually what I realized is that by me writing in this journal it helped me to anaylize my thoughts and put them into words then down onto paper; or in my case make them magically appear across the screen and in the homes of people across the world. Personally it even made me want to start sharing more of my personal writings even though I do still keep them in my old marble notebooks. Blogging overall is in many ways a positive and creative way of expression.
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