Final Blog for fall 2012

Final Blog for the Last week of fall semester, 2012:

            The final week of discussion included the idea of America being symbolized as a melting pot.  I do not think this illustration is a good one to use.  America is very diverse and stays separated.  The immigrants like to stay with each other and the different races don’t like to talk to one another.  The combination of today’s society on this country feels more like trying to mix oil and water.  Those who were pretty good with science know that it is practically impossible to mix the two up.  The oil just likes to form little groups inside of the water and not let any water inside of its clumps.  The idea of having a melting pot in America is not that bad of an idea, but some understanding and commitment is needed to make that vision a reality.

            One of the stories in this week’s reading included the struggles of the illegal immigrants. The illegal immigrants do not have to be struggling if they came here legally and agreed to follow the laws. I believe that this country has a wrong view on how we should treat the immigrants.  If anyone crosses the border illegally, they are given benefits from the government and jobs to gain more money and they are even allowed to not pay any taxes.  This is unfair to those who are here honestly and have to pay even greater taxes to help those here on our soil without permission.  The unemployment rate of the citizens here continue to go up each and every day, but can be solved if the jobs given to the illegal immigrants were given to citizens.  The illegal immigrant also keep those from Europe, who have been on a list to legally become citizens here possibly for years, from being citizens because their benefits are being given away to those who chose not to wait. I am not saying we should deport the immigrants from the country that are here illegally, they would just walk back here like they did to begin with.  We need to tighten our border patrol and take away the government benefits so it would encourage the illegal immigrants to go back to their own countries and try to get in here the legal way.  If the immigrants in this country were only granted access here by honesty and responsibility, they would have more care and consideration to the country they wish to be in and have more respect to those in this country already.  When the citizens here have immigrants come here honestly and work like the rest of us for money and pay taxes, they would not feel like wanting to look at them differently. When everyone in America is here officially for the same reasons and have the same responsibilities and requirements, then we could start to have the melting pot of cultures we so richly want to have.

Blog for the week of 11/9/12

            This week was the third week of the chapter of the myth of education and empowerment.  This was also the week when we saw the film, Waiting for Superman.  In the film, they examined schools around the world and the power and direct connection of education to success.  I believe that the educational system does need work but it starts with the teachers.  The teachers need the inspiration to teach and should only be rewarded with their hard work and success instead of the promise of being paid either way, whether or not they teach well.  The tenure harms the whole school.  It takes away the potential knowledge the children could receive by careless teachers and the principals cannot get rid of the bad teachers, or “Lemons”. The principal and the super attendant need to have the right to fire the bad teachers and find teachers that can fulfill and exceed the required expectations.  The ability to teach should be a privilege and never a right.  Teaching is a skill that everyone has; however everyone cannot have a career off of it.  Education needs to be increased in this country because of our decreasing results of standardized testing compared to other countries in the world.  Educational limits keeps the big businesses from not having to hire international men and women to complete a difficult task, like engineering.   It should not be required of American corporations to look at other countries for employees, when if we had the right teachers and the correct learning environment, we could have provided the necessary tools for the children in our country to succeed and fulfill the occupations.

Blog for the week of 10/29-11/2

            This weeks reading was about the myth of education and empowerment.  One of the readings was about the author’s childhood as a boy developing through the educational system and his separation from his family.  He even lost the accent of his native heritage and found solace only through books.  He believed in order to be smart you need to study hard and read a ton.  He did not think about the knowledge you can gain through personal development and your own self-opinion.  He believed that education could be defined as imitation.  He discovered that he really did not have an opinion of his own.  Every thing he knew was based upon the hundreds of books that he read over the years and his own personal life, like his family, was a distant memory and not of any significance to him and his ultimate quest for knowledge.  He came to regret that decision and he eventually spent some time with his parents to make up for the time he lost being in college.  He discovered that he shared more characteristics with his mom and dad than he thought.  I really believe you need experience outside of the classroom to truly be well educated.  There is so much you can learn from the outside world and mistakes you have made in your life. He mentioned that he did not learn anything from his parents.  I think you can learn a whole lot from your parents, regardless of their past educational experience.  They have lived their own lives and can teach you lessons based upon their past mistakes. You cannot limit yourself to just the written world. Everything in this world has a lesson attached.  You can learn new things everywhere.

Blog for the Week of 10/22-10/26:

            This week’s articles were about the myth of education and empowerment.  This included the intro to the chapter and some very important articles describing opinions about today’s education and how it either enriches or destroys the society we live in today.  In the introduction to this chapter, an excerpt was given from a letter a Native American gave to a colonist in the early history of America, to complain about the education’s influence on the young members of their tribe.  They explain that because they were so far away from their old tribe, they forgot how to hunt, communicate, and defend themselves from enemies.  In short, going to college and getting an education made them good for nothing.  The author of the introduction also explained that getting an education could be a way for the government to even out the intelligence of the population of America.  This could be beneficial, in a way, to today’s society.  In this way, everyone will be able to understand the democracy that they live in and adapt to a learning ability to gain knowledge and understanding of the universe.  It could also, in this way, be destructive.  If everyone in this world stopped learning at a certain level, there would be no leaders and job variations would be a thing of the past.  I feel like there should be a basic education for everyone, however it should not replace the ability to gain knowledge through personal growth and development.  People should have the ability to go beyond the basic educational goals and further their own education through fields that matter to themselves.   To separate the people into different classes and teach them accordingly would be unfair.  If the poor society manages to send a child to college, the child deserves a right to learn as much or as little as they want and have the ability to succeed like their wealthier counterpart.

Blog for the week of 10/12/12:

                        The reading this week was about the roll of the gender.  Tuesday’s reading was a summary and argument about the different rolls of the gender. Thursday’s reading was about a little boy who wanted to be a girl and the problem that society has with this confusion along with that of little kids around the globe similar.  I was strongly moved to anger while reading this passage. Especially the part when the little boy (Brandon) told his mother that God has made a mistake by making him a boy.  Let’s get this straight out now. God NEVER makes mistakes. My lord and savior created this universe and everything that exists in it. He made it according to His perfect plan and you cannot tell Him what is right and what is wrong about it. What Brandon needs, along with the other children that have longings to be the opposite gender, is more patience and understanding and some loving discipline. They need parents who know how to be “parents”. They need parents who can persuade them without being too tight, to keep their mind off of the subject of gender and let them figure God’s plan for their lives and accept themselves for who they are as they develop. They have to keep a cool head and a mature heart.  Because of my relationship with God, I accept everything He has given to me and will continue to love and worship Him for that. I also accept me for who I am because of the way God made me. Parents also need to step back and let the child determine his/her destiny.  They should not be making any of their decisions towards something as dramatic and life changing as this. They need a loving discipline, but with a little room for the child to gather their own thoughts and emotions.