Last Blog

I am so excited to say this is my last blog! I have been so busy this semester and these blogs always seemed to be such a hassle. I have realized they are not so bad though. We are really lucky to have just had to write a paragraph or so about anything we want. I am sure my classes in the future will not be as easy. I really thought I would never be done with this semester. It is weird to think I will be a sophomore in college. I have a lot of work ahead of me and I really need to buckle down. This past semester I found myself waiting until the end for everything. It would not be so bad if all my stuff in every class was not due at the same time. I am just going to have to get my priorities straight and remember what I am working for. College is going to fly by if it goes as fast as my past two semesters. It is kind of scary to think I will be on my own and in the real world so soon. It is exciting though but right now I just cannot wait until summer. Hopefully this summer will be as good as my last, if not better.

Summer

So this school year is coming to an end and I am so excited. I do not have big plans for this summer but I know it will be great. My boyfriend works all week but we will have nights and weekends to hang out. I plan to get a job as well because I will need something to help pass the time and I definitely can use the money. Other than work we plan to take weekend trips occasionally, the first being a trip to Six Flags. We went last summer and it was lots of fun. I love roller coasters and it is a great way to get away and have some fun. July 4th is my grandparent’s anniversary and this year they are celebrating their 50th. My mom and her siblings have planned a big party for them so my boyfriend and I will fly up for that. My whole family will be there so it should be a lot of fun. My boyfriend has never been to Maryland with me so I will have a lot to show him. My grandparents live in Annapolis so the party is at the Naval Academy which is extremely nice I cannot wait for him to see it and we also plan to visit Baltimore so he can see the boardwalk and all. It is so hard to keep focused on my school work when I know summer is so close!

Last Class

I did not know what to expect going into class yesterday. I was actually kind of worried because I felt I had no clue for my final paper. Wendy really helped break everything down and now I think I have some idea to how I will approach my paper. It is going to take some time though because it will be hard to figure out the right way to put it all together. I have never written a 10 page paper but I know the four parts will make it a little easier. I am going to have to add a lot of extra stuff because I have realized I am missing a lot of statistics that are needed. I need to get started soon so I am not stressed out and left with everything at the end. It was really good to find out that was my last class. Having Tuesday off will give me extra needed time to work on all my final assignments. I really cannot believe this semester is almost over; it went by so fast! This class was really helpful and hopefully I will remember all the skills and techniques Wendy taught for future classes.

My Dad

My dad is the best. Not only has he brought my family up in church, he has also given us a good environment to live. Our house has been very structured my whole life. My dad is very strict but I know now he was doing it for the best. He did not want his kids to get hurt. I think most of his strictness and structure come from his life in the military. He has really good manners and is very orderly. My dad has taught me to have good morals and respect others. I am also able to enjoy life to the fullest because he introduces me to new things and makes me think so much. My dad takes my family on trips often, mostly to the Smoky Mountains. I have had the privilege to stay in the outdoors and have a good time without life’s accessories, such as television. My dad has always been involved with me and my siblings, from playing with us when we were kids to talking to us about our struggles as teenagers. I feel like I can talk to my dad about many things and he always has different point of view for me to reexamine the issue from.

No Child Left Behind

Education is very important and affects many aspects of a child’s life. The United States does care about education as seen through the attempt of No Child Left Behind. President George Bush and Congress put the No Child Left Behind Act into place in 2002. It requires every state and school district to come up with assessments and standards for Mathematics, Reading, and Science. These standards are used to see how well schools are doing. The law does try and pull everyone to equal educational levels, but does it in the wrong ways. We need to have national guidelines that make sure all schools are providing the same opportunities to learn for all students. Some students are going to be at lower level because of their economic background and other various reason and these all need to be taken into account when evaluating progress. These students are going to need more help due to their disadvantages. Although the underprivileged will need a lot of attention, the students working at a higher level need to continue getting the work and drives to stay and exceed the levels they are at. Altogether each child needs to be examined differently according to their needs and learning styles and be assessed accordingly.

My Weekend

It is finally Friday and I am so excited! I think this has been one of the longest weeks ever! So today is my boyfriend’s sister’s birthday and her boyfriend is throwing a party for her. My boyfriend and I are going to go to the party and I can’t wait because my boyfriend and I do not go out much since we have gotten our puppy. My sister is going to watch him tonight so we have no worries. It should be a lot of fun because people have come in from out of town and her boyfriend’s house is always a good time. Tomorrow my boyfriend and I are planning to go fishing with his little brother. We thought of going fishing last weekend when there was such great weather so I hope tomorrow is nice. I have not gone fishing in forever. I used to go fishing all the time when I was little with my grandpa. I was even in a fishing rodeo a couple of times. It is so exciting when you get that tug on your rod and you know you have caught a fish. I know it sounds lame but it is really relaxing to fish. You really forget all your worries and just enjoy the outside with friends and family!

Homelessness Again

It also upsets me that he would put a picture of Bellevue Baptist Church up beside the Fed Ex Forum and compare them by saying look at these buildings that had so much money put into but can’t give to the homeless. I do not know much about the Fed Ex Forum and Memphis’ spending but to back up Bellevue I do know that there are thousands of members so we need to be big to have enough seats and rooms to have worship and Sunday school class. Bellevue has been very blessed in the donations and money coming in and I think it is great that it was able to be built so nicely because it is a place to worship God. Bellevue also does a lot in the community. Right now Bellevue is reaching out to Memphis through “Bellevue Loves Memphis” which is a bunch of different opportunities for the members and others to help out in many different areas. People help tutor, work at soup kitchens, or do other things to help those less fortunate. It was wrong of Gathje to talk so negative about others. He should be happy that anything is being done to help. It is the small stuff that adds up in the end.

Homelessness Continued

So today I went and listened to Dr. Pete Gathje talk about homelessness in Memphis. He did have a lot of good stuff to say but I feel he was wrong in bashing others. I did not think so much about it while I was in there, maybe because I was still half asleep, but later when I was on my way home I realized how much this man offended me. For one he continued to talk bad about every other organization or people trying to help the homeless, almost like he was a politicitian trying to get everyone to go for him and his organization. I was really caught off guard I guess because I thought he was just talking more on statistics and how his organization was trying to help but he would slip in every once in a while how another group is either not doing anything or so little that it really doesn’t matter. I do not understand why he thinks these groups are so bad. There are groups downtown giving out food and other supplies, maybe not every day, but he said himself that his organization is not open every day either.

Homelessness in Memphis

Dr. Pete Gathje is the director of MANNA House. This is an organization put together to give homeless people a place to hang out, have coffee and some get free clothes and showers. Gathje talked about his organization, some statistics on homelessness, and how no one else cares. I was not aware of how many homeless people there are in Memphis. I see a few on streets every once in a while but really had no clue it was such a problem. He explained that many people that are homeless are working but do not make enough to have a house and support their needs. I always think of homeless people to be bums that just are lazy and do not want to try. I know there are some out there but I do believe he was right that there are others that are trying hard but just can’t make the kind of money needed. I do feel he was right in saying it all depends on where you are from and if your family has money. It would be hard for someone to start from nothing and become successful in this world. Some have done it but it really is hard.

Go Tigers!

So we made it to the championship! How awesome is that!! Monday my boyfriend and I had plans to go to his sister’s boyfriend’s house to watch the game. A bunch of their neighborhood friends were invited and it seemed like it would be a really good time! At the last minute a bunch of the guys decided to go to a party instead so our plans were ruined. We could have gone but decide not to since my boyfriend’s sister and I had school the next day. I was dressed up and actually had makeup on so I was pretty bummed that we had no where to go. In the end we stayed at my boyfriend’s house and watched the game with his brother. We had a really good time and the game was so exciting. I really thought we were going to win. It was a great disappointment to see our Tigers lose. It was so great to see our city come together and show so much support for our Memphis basketball team. I only wish we could have won to gain the recongnition we deserve. I am really proud to be part of a school that went to the National Championship; not many can say that. Our Memphis Tigers had an awesome season and this was a great ending to the year!

MLK and Racism Continued

After everyone gave their presentations one of our teachers got up and asked what they thought of the presentations. Right away one girl made a comment about my friend’s presentation and how she was mad that my friend would say “nigger”. Our teacher joined in right with the girl and was like oh yeah I heard it too and by this time a few others chimed in with their thoughts about it. All this time my friend was sitting in her seat bawling. My friend told the class that she was saying the word “negro” and not “nigger” and even contemplated on if she should say the word “negro” in the first place. Many others backed my friend up and assured her that we knew she was telling the truth. I will say that the only people who said my friend said the word were black, but there were other black girls who knew my friend and knew she didn’t say it and also knew that my friend would never say it in the first place. We had to leave for our next class so nothing was really done then. My friend did have a meeting with our two teachers but our class never was really able to talk about it. We did discuss the issue in our English class though and it went along the same lines as our English discussions this semester. I found it really ironic that we would be studying MLK’s speeches and saying how far we have come and how everyone is equal but yet we had some people speak out and say this word, “nigger” was found offensive. First off I would not say the word because I do know some people find it offensive but why these girls made such a big deal especially when anyone could tell that my friend did not say it or even if she did that it was not meant in an offensive way astounds me. Would these girls have gotten offended if my friend was black? Black people call one another “nigger” all the time. I do not understand why black people can say it but if a white person says it then it is found offensive? I would never say “nigger” but I personally do not know what to say. It offends some people to say black or some to say African American and many others. Why should I have to question what I say if all feel the same about one another? It goes both ways, I know, with whites and blacks and even other races, but why is that tension still there? I know we have come a long way and this is not as big of a problem in my generation but there still is racism and it is clearly seen from my ACAD experience.

40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Junior’s Death and the Remaining issues with Racism

Forty years ago today Martin Luther King Junior was shot and killed while speaking to a crowd from his hotel balcony here in Memphis. King was a great leader in the Civil Rights movement and from his work he has left a great impact on America. I really cannot say if Mr. King would be happy or disappointed in how America is now. I mean sure we are all equal and have the same rights but there is still turmoil and differences among races. I usually do not think about me being different from someone else, may they be black, Hispanic, or any other race but occasionally I am confronted with others who obviously feel all are not equal. One example that I feel fits in perfectly with the topic of Martin Luther King happened in my ACAD class last semester. In ACAD we had a group project that we were supposed to read a chapter from a book of MLK’s speeches and give a presentation on what it was about and how it pertained to us, who all were planning to be teachers. While giving her presentation a friend of mine used the word “negro” multiple times because that is what was used in our book. While my friend was giving her presentation a lot of people in the class started laughing. At first I had no clue what was going on, but then I heard someone whisper, “did she say nigger?” My friend started to notice the whispers and laughing and wondered what was going on. She finished her presentation, sat back in her seat and asked what everyone was making such a commotion about. She felt bad once she heard what people thought she was saying but figured everyone understood that she didn’t and it just sounded like it.

CLEP Tests

I have heard of CLEP test in the past but just never really looked into them or thought of them as an option. I have just switched majors and am really focusing on my future now. I know I would like to get out of school as soon as possible so that is why I have now decided to try and CLEP out of as many classes as I can. The tests are mostly for the basic classes so if I pass them I can get started on the classes for my major. I have no clue on how easy they are but I plan to study and prepare as much as I can. Unless they are extremely hard, I do not understand why more people don’t do it. A CLEP test is a test you take for a certain class that if you pass will take the place of you having to actually take the class. If I pass all the CLEP tests I plan on taking, I will have a whole semester out of the way. This will really help me out a lot. I can already graduate a semester early but with these CLEP tests I can possibly graduate a whole year early. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me but I know if I really buckle down and concentrate on my future I can get through it.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

The weather this whole week has been crazy. It has been raining almost every day and it seems like it will never stop! I thought the rain was over yesterday because the skies were so clear and it felt so great out but I was wrong. Today the rain has been just as bad as every other one this week. Rain always puts me in a weird mood making me so sluggish and lazy. Whenever it rains I just feel like curling up inside in my pajamas and watching a movie. I cannot do that though because I have class every day. Going to school in the rain really frustrates me too. Drivers in Memphis seem to freak out every time there is any kind of precipitation. This week I have seen so many accidents and have now been late to one class and missed another one all together. Once I finally get to school every day I have to walk in the rain, which totally sucks! It makes it so cold and dreary out and my feet and pants get soaked. When my feet are soaking wet I cannot concentrate. My feet remain cold keeping me from ever warming up and I seem to never stop thinking about the discomfort I am in. I am so ready for this rain to stop. When is summer going to get here?!

Autism

I went to CNN.com and a picture of three of the cutest baby boys caught my attention. I started to read the article that went along with the picture and soon found out these three gorgeous babies have autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects children’s social abilities. They often disengage themselves with others and almost act as though they live in another world. There are other milder cases, some that just cause the kids to have trouble making eye contacting and talking to others. It is so hard to believe that such normal looking babies could have such an extreme disorder. In the article over in over you read that doctors know very little about autism. No one has been able to find what causes autism or what can be done to cure it. There are some therapies that can help but it is best to start them when the child is young. Most times doctors do not diagnose children with autism until they are older because the disorder is not well known and this means the child does not start getting help until they are older. The triplets in the CNN article started showing signs at 18 months but were not diagnosed until they were 4. My cousin was diagnosed with a mild form of autism just a few years ago. We knew he was different growing up but never thought he had some kind of disorder. Now looking back we can see how a lot of what we thought was weird was just his autism. I hope doctors can find out more on autism because I know it is very hard on the families and it affects these children’s lives tremendously.

"Cherry Picking"

Cherry picking refers to choosing certain information to use for or against one side of a position. The data collected either is all showing facts for a side or against a side. When using cherry picking an actual situation is not fully presented. Often time people will only tell what they want people to hear in order to persuade the listener to believe their side. This can be a good tactic for writing if you do not care if what you are preaching is right but only want people to be on your side of an issue. It does get your point straight across but it can also leave the writer wondering why you are only giving one side of the story. If you are trying to win an argument this is a good way of going about it but if you are writing to inform people about an issue it is best to let them know both sides and figure out for themselves what they side with. I think most times in my own writing I use cherry picking unconsciously. I know what I think about an issue usually straight from the get go and I am sure I use facts that appeal to my own beliefs. This can be good if I am trying to make a point on an issue but I know a lot of times cherry picking causes me to leave some of the most important facts out of my papers.

Christine Kenneally, Josh Prager, and Stacy Sullivan

Last night I went to hear Christine Kenneally, Josh Prager, and Stacy Sullivan read some of their pieces of work. They all are in journalism but write about completely different topics. Kenneally’s piece was about the evolution of language and how animals are very similar to people when it comes to communication. It was really neat to hear about how animals have different calls for different predators but I was confused about what she was getting at on the evolution of language. I am guessing she was talking about the many languages spoken throughout the world and how they came into existence and how it was spread. Next Josh Prager spook about and read excerpts from his book about the Giants winning the National League pennant in 1951. I found him to be the most interesting because he took something that sparked an interest to him and went so deep into find out more. He had heard that there was a rumor going around that the Giants cheated causing them to win the pennant. No one would come out and say it at first but Prager was persistent and finally was able to interview many of the Giant players. The interviews from the baseball players directly involved gave great credibility and more personal effect to his book. I cannot believe the Giants actually stole the Dodgers’ signs and watched their practices. It really makes you question a lot of things that go on in the world. Stacy Sullivan spoke last and she read from her book on the war in Kosovo. I liked hearing about all the involvement people here in the US had in helping the guerillas in Kosovo. I had no idea all of this was going on. It was really neat hearing Sullivan talk about being right in the action. She really experienced everything she reported on and it gave her book great credibility. Overall the whole night was good. It is good to experience other peoples’ worlds and here people speak on how they interpret the things they experience through words.

Topics from Josh Prager and Christine Kenneally's writings

Things to help you understand Josh Prager’s work:

“The Giants win the pennant”: This is what the announcer yelled after Bobby Thompson hit the winning homerun in the National League pennant in 1951; urban legend says that Lawrence Goldberg was a Dodger fan who sought to torture a friend who was a Giants fan by capturing and replaying Russ Hodges' heartbreak from a Giants' loss. But according to Joshua Harris Prager's 2006 book The Echoing Green about the 1951 playoff, Goldberg was actually a Giant fan.
“The shot heard around the world”: from a classic poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, originally used to refer to the first clash of the American Revolutionary War, now used toward a dramatic moment, in 1951 Giants’ baseball player Bobby Thompson hit a homerun in the National League pennant, as a result of the "shot" (baseball slang for "home run" or any hard-hit ball), the Giants won the game 5-4, defeating the Dodgers in their pennant playoff series, two games to one; underdogs rise to the top
Bobby Thompson (baseball): Giant baseball player who hit the winning homerun for the National League pennant in 1951
Ralph Branca: Dodger pitcher who entered a game in the National League pennant in the ninth inning and threw a homerun hit to Bobby Thompson that caused the Giants to win the game

Things to help you understand Christine Kenneally’s work:

“I” first person in nonfiction: taught to not use “I” in nonfiction
Creative writing vs. journalism: creative writing, analyzing others work to see how they write, helps one gain the skills needed to work in journalism

Topics within Stacy Sullivan's writing

Here are some things to know that will help you understand Stacy Sullivan’s journalism:

Milosevic: the President of Serbia from 1989 until 1997, President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 until 2000, led Serbia’s Socialist Party, was arrested in 2001 by Serbian authorities for suspicion of corruption, abuse of power, and embezzlement
Yugoslavia: existed most of the 20th century on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, now the area is separated into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia,the Balkans
Bosnia Herzegovina: a country on the Balkan Peninsula, gained independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav war in the 1990s, made up of three ethnics: Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, decentralized with two governing parties: the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska
Albania: member of the United Nations, parliamentary democracy
Kosovo: under UN control, has received partial recognition of being independent from Serbia, mostly ethnic Albanians,
Serbia: in 2006 became an independent state after Montenegro left the union, Kosovo is under them but think it is independent
Ethnic Cleansing: displacing ethnic groups from a certain area to make a ethnically “pure” society
The Hague: a city in the Netherlands where all the governmental bodies are located
George Soros: Hungarian-born American financial speculator, stock investor, philanthropist, and political activist, is very rich and fund different organizations
Detente: her eyewitness account
Abu Ghraib: in Iraq, used by United States military where many Iraqi prisoners were tortured and pictures of it were revealed through the media, Saddam Hussein also used it for a place of torture

My Thought on NCLB

Teachers are only focused on teaching to test, not to help students learn information that will be useful. Schools know their students must do well on assessment test in order for them to get funding from the government. Since schools do not want to lose their money all the focus is on how well students do on the tests. Students are being taught only the information on the tests and how to take these tests. They are not adequately taught reasoning skills but only to spit back information. Teachers are not as creative in their lesson plans because they are more worried about students being ready to take assessment tests rather than using creative and more helpful ways for students to learn. This new curriculum is only damaging to students. It is taking the focus off the students’ individual needs and placing all the emphasis on the schools performance as a whole.

No Child Left Behind overall appears to be working but has many hidden glitches. We must evaluate every aspect and the real affects it has on education. Schools seem to be making better test scores, but the standards being used are not properly chosen in regards for every student. These are the leaders of tomorrow and we must make sure they are gaining the proper knowledge. Schools need to have the magnifying glass taken off the overall school and look closer at the students individually. These tests take away from the students’ importance and the real reason students are in school, to learn. The intentions of No Child Left Behind are good but I feel it is not be the best way to achieve its goals.