Coed can be no ed
Children who attend single-sex schools score higher on tests, stay out of trouble and are more willing to study a wider range of subjects than pupils in coeducational schools, researchers report.
"I will admit that separating students by sex is not an ideal way to prepare boys and girls for personal and public lives," Rosemary C. Salomone, a St. John's University law professor and researcher, told the Washington Times' Ellen Sorokin.
Research shows that girls in single-sex schools have more confidence and are afforded more leadership opportunities than they would have in coed schools, the Times and Fox News Channel reported Thursday. And boys studying in an all-male setting are more apt to be encouraged to participate in the arts and do volunteer work in their communities.
Before World War II, in recognition of the obvious fact that mixing teenage boys with teenage girls in a secondary setting created unnecessary distractions not conducive to a studious environment, few secondary parochial schools were coed.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/5/2/155112.shtml
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Single Sex Schools
In proposed changes to Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in
education, the Bush administration wants to encourage creation of single-sex public schools and classes.Our studies of sexism in America's education system have praised private single-sex schools becausethey offer the promise that education can transform the future of girls. Girls who attend these schools speak more freely in class, are more likely to major in math and science, and perhaps most encouraging,are more likely to attend college and graduate school.
There were anecdotal reports that the girls enjoyed being in an environment free of sexual harassment and classroom interruptions, while the boys' schools degenerated into a disciplinary disaster, becoming little more than
magnets for troubled youth.
http://www.sadker.org/SingleSexSchools.pdf
education, the Bush administration wants to encourage creation of single-sex public schools and classes.Our studies of sexism in America's education system have praised private single-sex schools becausethey offer the promise that education can transform the future of girls. Girls who attend these schools speak more freely in class, are more likely to major in math and science, and perhaps most encouraging,are more likely to attend college and graduate school.
There were anecdotal reports that the girls enjoyed being in an environment free of sexual harassment and classroom interruptions, while the boys' schools degenerated into a disciplinary disaster, becoming little more than
magnets for troubled youth.
http://www.sadker.org/SingleSexSchools.pdf
Going home...
Today I am going home for one night. I live in Staten Island, which is not too far, so it is easy for me to go back and forth between home and school. However, it is kind of frustrating because it takes a while to travel on public transportation. When I get picked up it only takes me around forty minutes to get home, but when I take public transportation it takes me about two and a half to three hours. This is because first I need to take a bus to a subway. Then I have to go to another subway. Next I have to go on the ferry, and finally I need to go on a train. Everything really adds up, but it isn't that bad to do.
I just wish there was one bus that went straight there all the time and not only during the week. The bus I am talking about is not the buses with the MTA bus system. It is a shuttle bus that is provided to St. John's students that goes from the campus in Queens to the one in Staten Island. This shuttle makes traveling home so much easier. The shuttle bus ride is about an hour and then I have someone pick me up at the campus in Staten Island. I just wish they had this on Saturday and Sunday because sometimes I can't go home on Friday.
The only thing St. John's has on Saturday is a shuttle bus that goes to Forty Second Street in the city. This shuttle is very convenient too. It takes you right to the movie theaters and then it can even take you back to school for free. My friends and I use this shuttle all the time.
I really use the shuttle system here, but I just wish they ran everyday and more frequently.
I just wish there was one bus that went straight there all the time and not only during the week. The bus I am talking about is not the buses with the MTA bus system. It is a shuttle bus that is provided to St. John's students that goes from the campus in Queens to the one in Staten Island. This shuttle makes traveling home so much easier. The shuttle bus ride is about an hour and then I have someone pick me up at the campus in Staten Island. I just wish they had this on Saturday and Sunday because sometimes I can't go home on Friday.
The only thing St. John's has on Saturday is a shuttle bus that goes to Forty Second Street in the city. This shuttle is very convenient too. It takes you right to the movie theaters and then it can even take you back to school for free. My friends and I use this shuttle all the time.
I really use the shuttle system here, but I just wish they ran everyday and more frequently.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Titanic
This may seem kind of weird, but for the first time two days ago I saw the movie Titanic. Whenever I say that everyone is usually shocked. They usually say, "Where have you been your whole life... Do you live under a rock?" But I finally saw it, and now that I actually saw it I understand why everyone really liked it.
I thought the movie was really good. However, it was really sad. No one even thought that the ship would sink, so when it happened everyone was so unprepared. There wasn't even enough life boats for half of the boat. However, this is because people that were not first class were considered unimportant. This is so unfair and I am happy things are not completely like that anymore.
Another thing about the movie I really liked was that it seemed so realistic. They even used cold water during the making of the film to make the actors and actresses look cold. The camera shots were done really well and as a viewer I got really into the movie.
I thought the movie was really good. However, it was really sad. No one even thought that the ship would sink, so when it happened everyone was so unprepared. There wasn't even enough life boats for half of the boat. However, this is because people that were not first class were considered unimportant. This is so unfair and I am happy things are not completely like that anymore.
Another thing about the movie I really liked was that it seemed so realistic. They even used cold water during the making of the film to make the actors and actresses look cold. The camera shots were done really well and as a viewer I got really into the movie.
Pictures...
I really enjoy taking pictures. I think that looking at a picture is the best way to remember something. I always used to carry around a camera and take random pictures with my friends. Then, once I got the pictures developed I would organize them in order of what they were taken in a photo album and put the date of when the pictures were taken.
Whenever me and my friends look back on these pictures we always laugh because we remember the story behind each picture. It really is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. We can really go on for hours about one picture of us. We talk about the day and what we remember happening around the time of the picture. It really ends up being a lot of fun.
Another thing we do with these pictures is compare how we look now to when the picture was taken. Some of my friends really changed a lot, but I didn't. I pretty much look the same since like seventh grade. However, some of my friends look completely different.
I love looking at pictures and remembering things that happened in the past. It's fun to talk about old times with friends. The best thing to do to remind you about the past and all those good times is to look at pictures that you have. Therefore, I always try to take as many pictures as possible.
Whenever me and my friends look back on these pictures we always laugh because we remember the story behind each picture. It really is true that a picture is worth a thousand words. We can really go on for hours about one picture of us. We talk about the day and what we remember happening around the time of the picture. It really ends up being a lot of fun.
Another thing we do with these pictures is compare how we look now to when the picture was taken. Some of my friends really changed a lot, but I didn't. I pretty much look the same since like seventh grade. However, some of my friends look completely different.
I love looking at pictures and remembering things that happened in the past. It's fun to talk about old times with friends. The best thing to do to remind you about the past and all those good times is to look at pictures that you have. Therefore, I always try to take as many pictures as possible.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sick...
I am so happy it is supposed to be 73 degrees out tomorrow. It is like spring is finally here. I love spring; it is my favorite season. However, now I am sick so I am upset. I have a bad headache, sour throat, and I just feel really tired. I also have a book report due in a class Thursday that I do not want to do because I feel so tired. Being sick really is not good. It makes you so lazy and you definitely do not work as well if you are sick.
I can't wait until this week is over, and until I feel better. This week is going by very slow and it is only Monday. I just can't wait for the weekend and I hope that it is nice over the weekend too.
I can't wait until this week is over, and until I feel better. This week is going by very slow and it is only Monday. I just can't wait for the weekend and I hope that it is nice over the weekend too.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Work Canceled
I was home this whole weekend and I came back really early today because I was supposed to have work at five. If I didn't come back really early I would not be able to get a ride back in time for work. So, I am really annoyed because now they just canceled the meeting we were supposed to have for work twenty minutes before it was supposed to start which means I came back for no reason. Plus, what I really was supposed to be doing today is going to visit my uncle and a couple other people from my family that I have not been able to see for a while because they live kind of far from me.
I do not think that it was right that my boss waited twenty minutes before work to tell us that it was canceled. I was all ready to leave and as I was about to leave I got a phone call saying that it was canceled. I thought this was very unprofessional and inconsiderate of everyone else that changed their plans in order to make time to go.
I do not think that it was right that my boss waited twenty minutes before work to tell us that it was canceled. I was all ready to leave and as I was about to leave I got a phone call saying that it was canceled. I thought this was very unprofessional and inconsiderate of everyone else that changed their plans in order to make time to go.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
NCLB
No Child Left Behind
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. The ESEA, first enacted in 1965 and last reauthorized in 1994, encompasses Title I, the federal government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged students.
Coming at a time of wide public concern about the state of education, the legislation sets in place requirements that reach into virtually every public school in America.
As the newest incarnation of the ESEA, the No Child Left Behind Act has expanded the federal role in education and become a focal point of education policy. Coming at a time of wide public concern about the state of education, the legislation sets in place requirements that reach into virtually every public school in America. It takes particular aim at improving the educational lot of disadvantaged students.
At the core of the No Child Left Behind Act are a number of measures designed to drive broad gains in student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable for student progress. They represent significant changes to the education landscape (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).
* Annual testing. By the 2005-06 school year, states must begin testing students in grades 3-8 annually in reading and mathematics. By 2007-08, they must tests students in science at least once in elementary, middle, and high school. The tests must be aligned with state academic standards. A sample of 4th and 8th graders in each state must also participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing program in reading and math every other year to provide a point of comparison for state test results.
* Academic progress. States must bring all students up to the "proficient" level on state tests by the 2013-14 school year. Individual schools must meet state "adequate yearly progress" targets toward this goal (based on a formula spelled out in the law) for both their student populations as a whole and for certain demographic subgroups. If a school receiving federal Title I funding fails to meet the target two years in a row, it must be provided technical assistance and its students must be offered a choice of other public schools to attend. Students in schools that fail to make adequate progress three years in a row must also be offered supplemental educational services, including private tutoring. For continued failures, a school would be subject to outside corrective measures, including possible governance changes.
* Report cards. Starting with the 2002-03 school year, states must furnish annual report cards showing a range of information, including student-achievement data broken down by subgroup and information on the performance of school districts. Districts must provide similar report cards showing school-by-school data.
* Teacher qualifications. By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in core content areas working in a public school must be "highly qualified" in each subject he or she teaches. Under the law, "highly qualified" generally means that a teacher is certified and demonstrably proficient in his or her subject matter. Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, all new teachers hired with federal Title I money must be "highly qualified." By the end 2005-06 school year, all school paraprofessionals hired with Title I money must have completed at least two years of college, obtained an associate's degree or higher, or passed an evaluation to demonstrate knowledge and teaching ability. That requirement is already in effect for newly hired paraprofessionals.
* Reading First. The act creates a new competitive-grant program called Reading First, funded at $1.02 billion in 2004, to help states and districts set up "scientific, research-based" reading programs for children in grades K-3 (with priority given to high-poverty areas). A smaller early-reading program seeks to help states better prepare 3- to 5-year-olds in disadvantaged areas to read.
* Funding changes. Through an alteration in the Title I funding formula, the No Child Left Behind Act is expected to better target resources to school districts with high concentrations of poor children. The law also includes provisions intended to give states and districts greater flexibility in how they spend a portion of their federal allotments.
Given its scope and detail, the No Child Left Behind Act has been the source of considerable controversy and debate in the education community. As the law’s effects begin to be felt—particularly with 11,008 schools identified as needing improvement in 2004-2005—some educators and policymakers have questioned the feasibility and fairness of its goals and time frames.
An opinion poll released in December 2003 found that nearly half of school principals and superintendents view the federal legislation as either politically motivated or aimed at undermining public schools. Likewise, a recent study Policy Analysis for California suggests that, because of its requirement to evaluate school progress on the basis of demographic subgroups, the law may disproportionately penalize schools with diverse student populations (Public Agenda, 2003; Policy Analysis for California Education, 2003).
Other education leaders, however, have expressed support for the law’s stringent accountability mandates, characterizing them as vital levers of change, inclusiveness, and transparency of results. The laws’ ultimate effectiveness, some observers have argued, may depend on how closely states and schools stick to its principles of "tough accountability" (Education Trust, 2003; West & Peterson, 2003).
A related controversy has swirled around funding for the far-reaching legislation. Some commentators have argued that federal support for the law is not commensurate with its demands and that compliance may place undue financial burdens on states and schools (Center on Education Policy, 2003; Mathis, 2003). Opponents have frequently characterized the law as an "unfunded mandate."
In response, federal officials have pointed to increases in Title I spending and new money to pay for testing as evidence of the government’s financial commitment to the law. They have also charged that the states have not taken full advantage of the federal funds available to them (Department of Education, 2003). Others have added that the accountability measures prescribed by No Child Left Behind Act may themselves help ensure that education resources are used more efficiently (West & Peterson, 2003).
Behind the policy debates, the states have been trudging forward in their efforts to comply with varied requirements the No Child Left Behind Act. In a survey of the states conducted for Quality Counts 2004, Education Week found that, while some are struggling to mesh their existing accountability systems with the federal law, all of the states now rate schools based on whether they are making "adequate yearly progress" under the act. In addition, 43 states are publishing report cards showing test results for each of the student categories required under the law.
One concern highlighted by the survey is whether states will have the capacity to help all the schools identified as missing adequate yearly progress targets. For the 2003-04 school year, 36 states planned to provide assistance to such schools, according to the survey. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia had consequences in place for consistently low-performing schools for 2003-04.
States were also struggling to meet the law’s testing requirements. According to Quality Counts 2004, only 20 states are testing in English and math in the required grades for 2003-04, inching up from 19 in 2002-03.
On the teacher quality front, many states have been trying to develop workable standards for the "highly qualified" teacher requirement. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia now required prospective high school teachers to demonstrate subject-matter expertise by passing a test in the subject they plan to teach, up from 29 in 2000 (Olson, 2003; Quality Counts 2004).
http://www2.edweek.org/rc/issues/no-child-left-behind/
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. The ESEA, first enacted in 1965 and last reauthorized in 1994, encompasses Title I, the federal government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged students.
Coming at a time of wide public concern about the state of education, the legislation sets in place requirements that reach into virtually every public school in America.
As the newest incarnation of the ESEA, the No Child Left Behind Act has expanded the federal role in education and become a focal point of education policy. Coming at a time of wide public concern about the state of education, the legislation sets in place requirements that reach into virtually every public school in America. It takes particular aim at improving the educational lot of disadvantaged students.
At the core of the No Child Left Behind Act are a number of measures designed to drive broad gains in student achievement and to hold states and schools more accountable for student progress. They represent significant changes to the education landscape (U.S. Department of Education, 2001).
* Annual testing. By the 2005-06 school year, states must begin testing students in grades 3-8 annually in reading and mathematics. By 2007-08, they must tests students in science at least once in elementary, middle, and high school. The tests must be aligned with state academic standards. A sample of 4th and 8th graders in each state must also participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress testing program in reading and math every other year to provide a point of comparison for state test results.
* Academic progress. States must bring all students up to the "proficient" level on state tests by the 2013-14 school year. Individual schools must meet state "adequate yearly progress" targets toward this goal (based on a formula spelled out in the law) for both their student populations as a whole and for certain demographic subgroups. If a school receiving federal Title I funding fails to meet the target two years in a row, it must be provided technical assistance and its students must be offered a choice of other public schools to attend. Students in schools that fail to make adequate progress three years in a row must also be offered supplemental educational services, including private tutoring. For continued failures, a school would be subject to outside corrective measures, including possible governance changes.
* Report cards. Starting with the 2002-03 school year, states must furnish annual report cards showing a range of information, including student-achievement data broken down by subgroup and information on the performance of school districts. Districts must provide similar report cards showing school-by-school data.
* Teacher qualifications. By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in core content areas working in a public school must be "highly qualified" in each subject he or she teaches. Under the law, "highly qualified" generally means that a teacher is certified and demonstrably proficient in his or her subject matter. Beginning with the 2002-03 school year, all new teachers hired with federal Title I money must be "highly qualified." By the end 2005-06 school year, all school paraprofessionals hired with Title I money must have completed at least two years of college, obtained an associate's degree or higher, or passed an evaluation to demonstrate knowledge and teaching ability. That requirement is already in effect for newly hired paraprofessionals.
* Reading First. The act creates a new competitive-grant program called Reading First, funded at $1.02 billion in 2004, to help states and districts set up "scientific, research-based" reading programs for children in grades K-3 (with priority given to high-poverty areas). A smaller early-reading program seeks to help states better prepare 3- to 5-year-olds in disadvantaged areas to read.
* Funding changes. Through an alteration in the Title I funding formula, the No Child Left Behind Act is expected to better target resources to school districts with high concentrations of poor children. The law also includes provisions intended to give states and districts greater flexibility in how they spend a portion of their federal allotments.
Given its scope and detail, the No Child Left Behind Act has been the source of considerable controversy and debate in the education community. As the law’s effects begin to be felt—particularly with 11,008 schools identified as needing improvement in 2004-2005—some educators and policymakers have questioned the feasibility and fairness of its goals and time frames.
An opinion poll released in December 2003 found that nearly half of school principals and superintendents view the federal legislation as either politically motivated or aimed at undermining public schools. Likewise, a recent study Policy Analysis for California suggests that, because of its requirement to evaluate school progress on the basis of demographic subgroups, the law may disproportionately penalize schools with diverse student populations (Public Agenda, 2003; Policy Analysis for California Education, 2003).
Other education leaders, however, have expressed support for the law’s stringent accountability mandates, characterizing them as vital levers of change, inclusiveness, and transparency of results. The laws’ ultimate effectiveness, some observers have argued, may depend on how closely states and schools stick to its principles of "tough accountability" (Education Trust, 2003; West & Peterson, 2003).
A related controversy has swirled around funding for the far-reaching legislation. Some commentators have argued that federal support for the law is not commensurate with its demands and that compliance may place undue financial burdens on states and schools (Center on Education Policy, 2003; Mathis, 2003). Opponents have frequently characterized the law as an "unfunded mandate."
In response, federal officials have pointed to increases in Title I spending and new money to pay for testing as evidence of the government’s financial commitment to the law. They have also charged that the states have not taken full advantage of the federal funds available to them (Department of Education, 2003). Others have added that the accountability measures prescribed by No Child Left Behind Act may themselves help ensure that education resources are used more efficiently (West & Peterson, 2003).
Behind the policy debates, the states have been trudging forward in their efforts to comply with varied requirements the No Child Left Behind Act. In a survey of the states conducted for Quality Counts 2004, Education Week found that, while some are struggling to mesh their existing accountability systems with the federal law, all of the states now rate schools based on whether they are making "adequate yearly progress" under the act. In addition, 43 states are publishing report cards showing test results for each of the student categories required under the law.
One concern highlighted by the survey is whether states will have the capacity to help all the schools identified as missing adequate yearly progress targets. For the 2003-04 school year, 36 states planned to provide assistance to such schools, according to the survey. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia had consequences in place for consistently low-performing schools for 2003-04.
States were also struggling to meet the law’s testing requirements. According to Quality Counts 2004, only 20 states are testing in English and math in the required grades for 2003-04, inching up from 19 in 2002-03.
On the teacher quality front, many states have been trying to develop workable standards for the "highly qualified" teacher requirement. Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia now required prospective high school teachers to demonstrate subject-matter expertise by passing a test in the subject they plan to teach, up from 29 in 2000 (Olson, 2003; Quality Counts 2004).
http://www2.edweek.org/rc/issues/no-child-left-behind/
No child left behind
THERE IS NO QUESTION that American students need to be among the most skilled and academically competitive students in the world. Yet there continues to be dispute about how educational excellence is best achieved within American traditions and values. After almost two decades of explorations, policy pronouncements, convocations, presidential councils, congressionally supported studies, and state and national legislation, there is broad agreement on a number of points, many of which were considered precedent-shaking at the time of their resolution:
* States, rather than local school districts or the federal government, should have the responsibility for identifying the standards — content and skills — students should attain;
* States should take the lead in creating or acquiring the tests to measure student progress;
* Standards and assessments should be challenging rather than minimal;
* Progress toward proficiency is to be made by each identifiable subgroup (for example, those whose first language is not English or those at socioeconomic disadvantage) in a school;
* Incentives should be available to increase the focus and efficiency of
the system;
* All parts of the system should work together to achieve the specified targets.
Easier said than done. The enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation is an attempt to clarify and strengthen the incentives for progress for all children. It requires the specification of targets for achievement growth and raises the number of grade levels that are tested annually. So far, the ramifications of the law are in dispute, with many districts reporting success based on test-score improvement while others complain of burdensome and intrusive regulations and high costs.
QUICK REVIEW OF RECENT POLICY may clarify why there is concern about the provisions of NCLB, which appear to focus attention on the learning of each and every child. Federal requirements related to state policies have, in general, been limited to concerns about civil rights, support for disadvantaged and handicapped students, dissemination of models for improvement, and research and statistics. The generation of national, not federal, standards and curriculum goals — what should be taught — began in the late 1980s in mathematics, and later in the sciences, arts, civics, history and language. Following a statement of National Educational Goals by the nation's governors, states for the most part voluntarily adopted or adapted subsets of standards to guide their teaching and assessment policy.
Many of the standards communicate on a general level what is to be learned but do not provide sufficient guidance for some teachers to select appropriate instructional methods, sample texts or analytical methods. Take, for example, this from California's History-Social Science Standard 6.1: "Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution."
This standard is so broad in its coverage that it is difficult to know what to teach and what will be measured. Consider attempts at specificity — for example, these from Grade 6 History-Social Science Standards 6.1.2 and 6.1.3: "Identify the locations of human communities that populated the major regions of the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments" . . . "Discuss climate changes and human modifications of the physical environment."
From these examples, it is clear that in planning instruction, a diligent teacher might miss by a mile the test designers' interpretation of the standards. This teacher will have inadvertently reduced the fairness of education for his or her students. Other standards are very clear about expectations and benchmarks. The key logic underpinning NCLB and other results-focused innovations is a clear relationship among standards, instruction, tests and learning. The idea is that, based on results of regularly administered measures, progress can be gauged, and if students have difficulty, educators will be able to fix their problems.
Factors including cost, tradition and technical reasons have led many states to use achievement tests that are relatively short and that necessarily represent only a few of the types of knowledge, skills and situations described in standards. For the most part, they consist of short, easily scored items.
What happens, then, when test developers and teachers have very different interpretations of a set of standards or there are too many standards to be tested by the state? As tests are kept secret, and details of test design and content are usually not readily available, it is possible for teachers to miss important areas that will be tested. In reality, the interpretation of standards by the test developer is given most weight. Because results on tests are used to distribute sanctions (for instance, classifying a school as needing improvement or restructuring), the test itself, not the standards, becomes the major blueprint that guides teaching and learning.
There is nothing wrong with the idea under certain circumstances; I am happy, for example, to have a Boeing 777 flight simulator used as the way to certify the competence of pilots in emergencies, bad weather and other difficult situations. However, flying a 777, demanding as it is, has a complex but agreed-upon set of procedures at its core. What about mathematics? Science? English language? These are open to wide and legitimate ranges of interpretation.
So one fundamental area of disagreement is whether current tests narrow or focus the curriculum and whether they result in consequences that are good or bad for learning. One option is to focus tests on a core of common skills while also offering other subjects and skills that broaden the curriculum but are not necessarily the subject of evaluation. But short of practicing the test items, or those similar to them, there is little reason to focus on standards rather than on the test. I believe this fact is contrary to the desire of the public for improved educational quality.
A second, related concern is how the targets that are set for performance improvement (adequate yearly progress, or AYP) interact with learning. AYP is the amount of improvement schools need to make, starting from their present point, to attain 100-percent proficiency within 12 years. Some policymakers thought this requirement would mean equal progress annually — that is, 1/12th of the distance would be achieved in Year 1 and, cumulatively, 12/12ths would be achieved at the end of the 12th year. If a school started at 20-percent proficiency, then it would have to increase the percentage of proficient students by a little less than 7 percent annually for all students to meet the standard. However, a reality is that students in schools do not often remain in place, and the formula must account for differences in expertise in entering and leaving students. Because sanctions are imposed far earlier than the 12th year, however, states have reacted in a variety of ways: While all are required to make sufficient progress early on, some states have chosen to defer major progress until the last few years.
Ironically, the AYP provisions created tension during the legislative process, even though states may choose their own standards and their own tests, determine their own levels of proficiency and develop a fully rigorous system or one that uses attainable standards and tests so that early progress is shown. Different states have interpreted the law in a wide variety of ways, and some states' well-defined procedures for measuring progress have been disallowed by the federal government. Added to the mix is the contention that NCLB carries great costs that are not now, nor likely to be, reimbursed by the federal government. There are numerous technical criticisms of the artifacts caused by requiring multiple subgroups to meet the targets, with raging battles about the accuracy, fairness and utility of the published results.
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/year2004/spring04_07_04.html
* States, rather than local school districts or the federal government, should have the responsibility for identifying the standards — content and skills — students should attain;
* States should take the lead in creating or acquiring the tests to measure student progress;
* Standards and assessments should be challenging rather than minimal;
* Progress toward proficiency is to be made by each identifiable subgroup (for example, those whose first language is not English or those at socioeconomic disadvantage) in a school;
* Incentives should be available to increase the focus and efficiency of
the system;
* All parts of the system should work together to achieve the specified targets.
Easier said than done. The enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation is an attempt to clarify and strengthen the incentives for progress for all children. It requires the specification of targets for achievement growth and raises the number of grade levels that are tested annually. So far, the ramifications of the law are in dispute, with many districts reporting success based on test-score improvement while others complain of burdensome and intrusive regulations and high costs.
QUICK REVIEW OF RECENT POLICY may clarify why there is concern about the provisions of NCLB, which appear to focus attention on the learning of each and every child. Federal requirements related to state policies have, in general, been limited to concerns about civil rights, support for disadvantaged and handicapped students, dissemination of models for improvement, and research and statistics. The generation of national, not federal, standards and curriculum goals — what should be taught — began in the late 1980s in mathematics, and later in the sciences, arts, civics, history and language. Following a statement of National Educational Goals by the nation's governors, states for the most part voluntarily adopted or adapted subsets of standards to guide their teaching and assessment policy.
Many of the standards communicate on a general level what is to be learned but do not provide sufficient guidance for some teachers to select appropriate instructional methods, sample texts or analytical methods. Take, for example, this from California's History-Social Science Standard 6.1: "Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution."
This standard is so broad in its coverage that it is difficult to know what to teach and what will be measured. Consider attempts at specificity — for example, these from Grade 6 History-Social Science Standards 6.1.2 and 6.1.3: "Identify the locations of human communities that populated the major regions of the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments" . . . "Discuss climate changes and human modifications of the physical environment."
From these examples, it is clear that in planning instruction, a diligent teacher might miss by a mile the test designers' interpretation of the standards. This teacher will have inadvertently reduced the fairness of education for his or her students. Other standards are very clear about expectations and benchmarks. The key logic underpinning NCLB and other results-focused innovations is a clear relationship among standards, instruction, tests and learning. The idea is that, based on results of regularly administered measures, progress can be gauged, and if students have difficulty, educators will be able to fix their problems.
Factors including cost, tradition and technical reasons have led many states to use achievement tests that are relatively short and that necessarily represent only a few of the types of knowledge, skills and situations described in standards. For the most part, they consist of short, easily scored items.
What happens, then, when test developers and teachers have very different interpretations of a set of standards or there are too many standards to be tested by the state? As tests are kept secret, and details of test design and content are usually not readily available, it is possible for teachers to miss important areas that will be tested. In reality, the interpretation of standards by the test developer is given most weight. Because results on tests are used to distribute sanctions (for instance, classifying a school as needing improvement or restructuring), the test itself, not the standards, becomes the major blueprint that guides teaching and learning.
There is nothing wrong with the idea under certain circumstances; I am happy, for example, to have a Boeing 777 flight simulator used as the way to certify the competence of pilots in emergencies, bad weather and other difficult situations. However, flying a 777, demanding as it is, has a complex but agreed-upon set of procedures at its core. What about mathematics? Science? English language? These are open to wide and legitimate ranges of interpretation.
So one fundamental area of disagreement is whether current tests narrow or focus the curriculum and whether they result in consequences that are good or bad for learning. One option is to focus tests on a core of common skills while also offering other subjects and skills that broaden the curriculum but are not necessarily the subject of evaluation. But short of practicing the test items, or those similar to them, there is little reason to focus on standards rather than on the test. I believe this fact is contrary to the desire of the public for improved educational quality.
A second, related concern is how the targets that are set for performance improvement (adequate yearly progress, or AYP) interact with learning. AYP is the amount of improvement schools need to make, starting from their present point, to attain 100-percent proficiency within 12 years. Some policymakers thought this requirement would mean equal progress annually — that is, 1/12th of the distance would be achieved in Year 1 and, cumulatively, 12/12ths would be achieved at the end of the 12th year. If a school started at 20-percent proficiency, then it would have to increase the percentage of proficient students by a little less than 7 percent annually for all students to meet the standard. However, a reality is that students in schools do not often remain in place, and the formula must account for differences in expertise in entering and leaving students. Because sanctions are imposed far earlier than the 12th year, however, states have reacted in a variety of ways: While all are required to make sufficient progress early on, some states have chosen to defer major progress until the last few years.
Ironically, the AYP provisions created tension during the legislative process, even though states may choose their own standards and their own tests, determine their own levels of proficiency and develop a fully rigorous system or one that uses attainable standards and tests so that early progress is shown. Different states have interpreted the law in a wide variety of ways, and some states' well-defined procedures for measuring progress have been disallowed by the federal government. Added to the mix is the contention that NCLB carries great costs that are not now, nor likely to be, reimbursed by the federal government. There are numerous technical criticisms of the artifacts caused by requiring multiple subgroups to meet the targets, with raging battles about the accuracy, fairness and utility of the published results.
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/year2004/spring04_07_04.html
Switched Majors...
I'm very happy I finally switched my major. I was majoring in Speech Pathology, but now I am majoring in Education. At first I was unsure if I wanted to switch or not, but I soon realized that I really wanted to teach. The only thing stopping me was my parents. However, I knew I had to do what would make me happy.
I have been working with children for many years. I worked at a camp for five years, and I will be working there next summer too. For my first two years at the summer camp I was a volunteer. I did not get any pay for what I did, but I loved it so much I was determined to go everyday. Also my current job involves children too. I currently work at Jumpstart which is a program that involves one CM, which is a person like me, and one partner child. My child is four years old. I enjoy helping him in his classroom and one on one while we have sessions together. I always enjoyed working with children and helping them. This is why I have been doing it for so long.
In the future I cannot see myself doing a job that does not involve children, but besides that I wanted my own classroom. By being a speech pathologist I would have been able to work with children, but not in the way I wanted to. I want my own third grade classroom that I will be able to teach myself. So, I am happy I decided to switch my major.
Also, after I graduate, when I am receiving my masters I would like to become a literacy specialist. This will make me more qualified as a teacher because it will help me with "tricks" on how to help children read and write. Also I would be able to be a literary specialist after school hours. As a literacy specialist I will be helping children learn to read or write that are struggling, or I would be helping children with problems such as dyslexia.
I really hope this all works out. Since I am determined enough, and since this is something I decided and want I think I will be able to accomplish my goal and enjoy it in the future.
I have been working with children for many years. I worked at a camp for five years, and I will be working there next summer too. For my first two years at the summer camp I was a volunteer. I did not get any pay for what I did, but I loved it so much I was determined to go everyday. Also my current job involves children too. I currently work at Jumpstart which is a program that involves one CM, which is a person like me, and one partner child. My child is four years old. I enjoy helping him in his classroom and one on one while we have sessions together. I always enjoyed working with children and helping them. This is why I have been doing it for so long.
In the future I cannot see myself doing a job that does not involve children, but besides that I wanted my own classroom. By being a speech pathologist I would have been able to work with children, but not in the way I wanted to. I want my own third grade classroom that I will be able to teach myself. So, I am happy I decided to switch my major.
Also, after I graduate, when I am receiving my masters I would like to become a literacy specialist. This will make me more qualified as a teacher because it will help me with "tricks" on how to help children read and write. Also I would be able to be a literary specialist after school hours. As a literacy specialist I will be helping children learn to read or write that are struggling, or I would be helping children with problems such as dyslexia.
I really hope this all works out. Since I am determined enough, and since this is something I decided and want I think I will be able to accomplish my goal and enjoy it in the future.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Handbooks
I really like the idea of the group project we need to do. I think it is a great way to learn and meet other people in the class. In most classes I don't even know other student's names, but now I am actually working with them. I also think that students learn better when they are not just listening to lectures. Lectures get boring which leaves students uninterested, and sometimes even fall asleep.
Another thing good about this project is that it teaches us teamwork. It shows us how to work together. This is a quality we will need in the future when we are working our real jobs. For example, we are going to have co-workers that we will constantly be interacting and working with. We need to learn a couple things about working in groups. For example, we learn to not slack off or become too bossy. Also we learn how to trust other people and that we can't do everything ourselves.
I believe that doing work yourself, like this project, is a better way of learning. This is because we are able to learn for ourselves. We aren't having a teacher that is explaining it to us; we are actually seeing what is going on. This is very beneficial to me.
Another good thing about this project is that it helps us with our public speaking skills. I always hated public speaking. I took the class last semester and dreaded it every day because I am not good at talking in front of a big group of people. However, since we are doing it with a group it should not be that bad. Maybe it will even be a way of making me more comfortable in front of people.
I think this project is a great learning experience. There is more that we will get out of it than just the explanations of rules from the handbooks.
Another thing good about this project is that it teaches us teamwork. It shows us how to work together. This is a quality we will need in the future when we are working our real jobs. For example, we are going to have co-workers that we will constantly be interacting and working with. We need to learn a couple things about working in groups. For example, we learn to not slack off or become too bossy. Also we learn how to trust other people and that we can't do everything ourselves.
I believe that doing work yourself, like this project, is a better way of learning. This is because we are able to learn for ourselves. We aren't having a teacher that is explaining it to us; we are actually seeing what is going on. This is very beneficial to me.
Another good thing about this project is that it helps us with our public speaking skills. I always hated public speaking. I took the class last semester and dreaded it every day because I am not good at talking in front of a big group of people. However, since we are doing it with a group it should not be that bad. Maybe it will even be a way of making me more comfortable in front of people.
I think this project is a great learning experience. There is more that we will get out of it than just the explanations of rules from the handbooks.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Arguments For Capital Punishment
Common reasons in support of capital punishment
bullet The Bible The Bible requires the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes, including sex before marriage, adultery, homosexual behavior, doing work on Saturday and murder. It even calls for some criminals (e.g. prostitutes who are the daughters of priests) to be tortured to death by being burned alive. Most Christians, with the exception of those in the Reconstructionist movement, feel that many of these grounds for the death penalty no longer apply to Christian societies. U.S. However, Bible passages are still used to promote the retention of capital punishment for murderers; some advocate that homosexuals also be executed.
bullet Justice/Vengeance Many people feel that killing convicted murderers will satisfy their need for justice and/or vengeance. They feel that certain crimes are so heinous that executing the criminal is the only reasonable response.
bullet Deterrence Many people feel that the death penalty will deter criminals from killing. This does not seem to be confirmed by an analysis of the available data. However, it feels intuitively correct for many people. 1 to 6
bullet Value of human life: "It is by exacting the highest penalty for the taking of human life that we affirm the highest value of human life." (Edward Koch).
bullet Cost: Once a convicted murder is executed and buried, there are no further maintenance costs to the state. This appears to be invalid; the cost to the state paying for multiple appeals is greater than the cost of imprisoning an inmate.
bullet Public safety: Once a convicted murderer is executed, there is no chance that he will break out of jail and kill or injure someone.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/executb.htm
bullet The Bible The Bible requires the death penalty for a wide variety of crimes, including sex before marriage, adultery, homosexual behavior, doing work on Saturday and murder. It even calls for some criminals (e.g. prostitutes who are the daughters of priests) to be tortured to death by being burned alive. Most Christians, with the exception of those in the Reconstructionist movement, feel that many of these grounds for the death penalty no longer apply to Christian societies. U.S. However, Bible passages are still used to promote the retention of capital punishment for murderers; some advocate that homosexuals also be executed.
bullet Justice/Vengeance Many people feel that killing convicted murderers will satisfy their need for justice and/or vengeance. They feel that certain crimes are so heinous that executing the criminal is the only reasonable response.
bullet Deterrence Many people feel that the death penalty will deter criminals from killing. This does not seem to be confirmed by an analysis of the available data. However, it feels intuitively correct for many people. 1 to 6
bullet Value of human life: "It is by exacting the highest penalty for the taking of human life that we affirm the highest value of human life." (Edward Koch).
bullet Cost: Once a convicted murder is executed and buried, there are no further maintenance costs to the state. This appears to be invalid; the cost to the state paying for multiple appeals is greater than the cost of imprisoning an inmate.
bullet Public safety: Once a convicted murderer is executed, there is no chance that he will break out of jail and kill or injure someone.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/executb.htm
Arguments Against Capital Punishment
Common reasons against capital punishment
bullet The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament): Some Christians feel that they are no longer bound by the legal codes of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that the death penalty is no longer required. Since the Bible was written, as society became more tolerant, we eliminated the death penalty for pre-marital sex, practicing a different religion, engaging in prostitution, homosexual behavior, blasphemy, rebellion by teenagers, etc. We should eliminate it for murder as well.
bullet The Christian Scriptures (New Testament): Abolitionists often quote Jesus' treatment of the adulteress in the Gospel of John as support for their position. (That passage, John 8:7, was probably not written by the author(s) of John). She had been sentenced to death by stoning, but Jesus used a cleaver ploy to gain her freedom. On many occasions, Jesus taught about forgiving people who have wronged you. However, may theologians believe that this story is not a
bullet The beliefs of the early Christian church: Some theologians believe that the early church was closer to Jesus' teachings than are the present-day churches. They were unalterably opposed to the death penalty.
bullet Playing God: Executing a person kills him before the time of their natural death. Some Christians believe that God places people on Earth for a purpose. If we kill them prematurely, then we may be thwarting God's will.
bullet Effect on society: Some feel that permitting premeditated murder is totally unacceptable, even if done by the state. Capital punishment lowers the value of human life as seen by the general population and brutalizes society. It is based on a need for revenge. It "violates our belief in the human capacity for change....[It] powerfully reinforces the idea that killing can be a proper way of responding to those who have wronged us. We do not believe that reinforcement of that idea can lead to healthier and safer communities." 7
bullet Lack of Deterrence: The death penalty has not been shown to be effective in the reduction of the homicide rate. There are some indications that executions actually increase the murder rate. 1 to 6
bullet Cost: The costs to the state of funding appeals by convicted murderers would more than pay for their permanent incarceration.
bullet Value of human life: Human life has intrinsic value, even if a person has murdered another individual. The death penalty denies the sacredness of human life. Live is so precious that nobody should ever be killed, even by the state.
bullet Unfairness: The mentally ill, poor, males, and racial minorities are over-represented among those executed. One pilot study of over 2 dozen convicted criminals on death row found that all had been so seriously abused during childhood that they probably all suffered from brain damage. Women convicted of murder are almost never executed; that is a penalty that is almost entirely reserved for men. A 1986 study in Georgia showed that persons who killed "whites were four times more likely to be sentenced to death than convicted killers of non-whites." 8,9,10 The Texas Civil Rights Project issued a report in 2000-SEP which was critical of the justice system in Texas. They made the following criticisms which could probably apply to most of the states in the U.S. which still execute prisoners:
bullet The defense lawyers are often incompetent. Judges sometimes appoint friends or political associates. Other times, no competent lawyer is willing to accept the case because of the poor compensation paid.
bullet District attorney are given "unrestricted discretion" in deciding whether to seek the death penalty. Poor people, and members of minority groups are more likely to be targeted because of prejudice and bigotry.
bullet Jurors who may support the death penalty, but have reservation about its use, are eliminated from jury duty.
bullet Jurors are often not given the option of a life-without-parole sentence in murder cases.
bullet The appeal process has "burdensome, if not impossible, procedures." The process seems designed to speed cases along rather than grant justice.
bullet The rules appear to be in flux: the highest appeals court in the state reversed about one out of every three capital sentences prior to 1995. Since 1995, this has reduced to less than 3%.
bullet The operation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles in Texas is severely flawed. They do not meet as a group to study evidence and discuss a case. Individual members are sent stacks of documents, and make their decisions via telephone or fax. 11
bullet Chance of Error: Many convicted murderers are later found innocent, and have been pardoned. It is impossible to pardon a corpse. In 1987, a study was published by the Stanford Law Review. They found some evidence that suggested that at least 350 people between 1900 and 1985 in America might have been innocent of the crime for which they were convicted, and could have been sentenced to death. 139 "were sentenced to death and as many as 23 were executed."
bullet Horror: Some consider capital punishment to be cruel and unusual punishment.
bullet Sending a person to Hell: Some Christians believe that an individual who dies without being "saved" will go to Hell for eternal punishment. By killing the person before the time when they would have naturally died, we are eliminating any chance that they might have for salvation.
bullet The family of the prisoner is victimized and punished by having their loved one murdered by the state. Yet the family is usually innocent of any crime.
bullet Lack of jury convictions: Some jury members are reluctant to convict in murder trials because of the possibility of executing an innocent person. Thus, many killers go free and are never punished.
bullet Uselessness: Killing a murderer does not bring his victim back to life. It achieves nothing but the death of still another person.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/executb.htm
bullet The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament): Some Christians feel that they are no longer bound by the legal codes of the Hebrew Scriptures, and that the death penalty is no longer required. Since the Bible was written, as society became more tolerant, we eliminated the death penalty for pre-marital sex, practicing a different religion, engaging in prostitution, homosexual behavior, blasphemy, rebellion by teenagers, etc. We should eliminate it for murder as well.
bullet The Christian Scriptures (New Testament): Abolitionists often quote Jesus' treatment of the adulteress in the Gospel of John as support for their position. (That passage, John 8:7, was probably not written by the author(s) of John). She had been sentenced to death by stoning, but Jesus used a cleaver ploy to gain her freedom. On many occasions, Jesus taught about forgiving people who have wronged you. However, may theologians believe that this story is not a
bullet The beliefs of the early Christian church: Some theologians believe that the early church was closer to Jesus' teachings than are the present-day churches. They were unalterably opposed to the death penalty.
bullet Playing God: Executing a person kills him before the time of their natural death. Some Christians believe that God places people on Earth for a purpose. If we kill them prematurely, then we may be thwarting God's will.
bullet Effect on society: Some feel that permitting premeditated murder is totally unacceptable, even if done by the state. Capital punishment lowers the value of human life as seen by the general population and brutalizes society. It is based on a need for revenge. It "violates our belief in the human capacity for change....[It] powerfully reinforces the idea that killing can be a proper way of responding to those who have wronged us. We do not believe that reinforcement of that idea can lead to healthier and safer communities." 7
bullet Lack of Deterrence: The death penalty has not been shown to be effective in the reduction of the homicide rate. There are some indications that executions actually increase the murder rate. 1 to 6
bullet Cost: The costs to the state of funding appeals by convicted murderers would more than pay for their permanent incarceration.
bullet Value of human life: Human life has intrinsic value, even if a person has murdered another individual. The death penalty denies the sacredness of human life. Live is so precious that nobody should ever be killed, even by the state.
bullet Unfairness: The mentally ill, poor, males, and racial minorities are over-represented among those executed. One pilot study of over 2 dozen convicted criminals on death row found that all had been so seriously abused during childhood that they probably all suffered from brain damage. Women convicted of murder are almost never executed; that is a penalty that is almost entirely reserved for men. A 1986 study in Georgia showed that persons who killed "whites were four times more likely to be sentenced to death than convicted killers of non-whites." 8,9,10 The Texas Civil Rights Project issued a report in 2000-SEP which was critical of the justice system in Texas. They made the following criticisms which could probably apply to most of the states in the U.S. which still execute prisoners:
bullet The defense lawyers are often incompetent. Judges sometimes appoint friends or political associates. Other times, no competent lawyer is willing to accept the case because of the poor compensation paid.
bullet District attorney are given "unrestricted discretion" in deciding whether to seek the death penalty. Poor people, and members of minority groups are more likely to be targeted because of prejudice and bigotry.
bullet Jurors who may support the death penalty, but have reservation about its use, are eliminated from jury duty.
bullet Jurors are often not given the option of a life-without-parole sentence in murder cases.
bullet The appeal process has "burdensome, if not impossible, procedures." The process seems designed to speed cases along rather than grant justice.
bullet The rules appear to be in flux: the highest appeals court in the state reversed about one out of every three capital sentences prior to 1995. Since 1995, this has reduced to less than 3%.
bullet The operation of the Board of Pardons and Paroles in Texas is severely flawed. They do not meet as a group to study evidence and discuss a case. Individual members are sent stacks of documents, and make their decisions via telephone or fax. 11
bullet Chance of Error: Many convicted murderers are later found innocent, and have been pardoned. It is impossible to pardon a corpse. In 1987, a study was published by the Stanford Law Review. They found some evidence that suggested that at least 350 people between 1900 and 1985 in America might have been innocent of the crime for which they were convicted, and could have been sentenced to death. 139 "were sentenced to death and as many as 23 were executed."
bullet Horror: Some consider capital punishment to be cruel and unusual punishment.
bullet Sending a person to Hell: Some Christians believe that an individual who dies without being "saved" will go to Hell for eternal punishment. By killing the person before the time when they would have naturally died, we are eliminating any chance that they might have for salvation.
bullet The family of the prisoner is victimized and punished by having their loved one murdered by the state. Yet the family is usually innocent of any crime.
bullet Lack of jury convictions: Some jury members are reluctant to convict in murder trials because of the possibility of executing an innocent person. Thus, many killers go free and are never punished.
bullet Uselessness: Killing a murderer does not bring his victim back to life. It achieves nothing but the death of still another person.
http://www.religioustolerance.org/executb.htm
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Leveraging early work experience
Should employers care about these trends? Why not continue to bypass teens in favor of immigrants, older workers or even workers in other countries?
"The private sector cannot just stand aside while Rome burns and say, 'That's too bad,'" states Anderson. "They live in Rome." He and other experts agree that teens gain critical skills from early work experiences; without widespread teen employment opportunity, the future workforce will be compromised, they say.
"Working as a team, completing tasks and taking responsibility. Kids learn these skills through employment," says Ivan Charner, director of the Academy of Educational Development/National Institute for Work and Learning, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit concerned with workplace development. "Can you learn those skills by playing a sport or volunteering at church? Yes, but if you are a volunteer, you don't necessarily have to show up. A lot of kids don't or can't play sports. Employment provides an important opportunity for kids to learn from adults other than their teachers or parents."
While getting a foothold in the labor market is especially important for teens who enter the workforce directly after high school, it is also true for those who attend four-year colleges.
Barbara Hewitt, senior associate director of Wharton's Career Services, says college graduates often leverage early work experience to win later employment. "I hear employers looking at a résumé say things like, 'He roofed houses in high school, he must have a good work ethic.' Employers understand the value of even manual labor," she says. During a mock interview for an auditing job, Hewitt recalls, one Wharton undergraduate explained how dealing with irate customers in his summer retail job prepared him for handling contentious clients. "That job may have seemed very irrelevant to him at the time, but it turned out to be valuable," she says.
Experts agree with Hewitt. "Employment is what we call 'path dependent,'" says Sum of Northeastern. "The more you work now, the more you will work later."
Rubrecht, of the newspaper association, recalls how teen carriers he managed at the Trenton (N.J.) Times in the 1980s sometimes rose to become district managers. Delivering newspapers -- and ensuring that customers paid for them -- gave carriers "a glimpse into the newspaper business," says Rubrecht, pointing out that the Washington Post's former circulation director, Tony Mineart, who died last year, began his career sweeping a newspaper office floor at age 10. "Young people think about becoming teachers because they attend school. They know about sports because they play them. Working is a great way to experience a profession."
A January 2007 story in the Wall Street Journal offers a host of similar anecdotes about America's corporate leaders. In reporter Carol Hymowitz's article, Pitney Bowes CEO Michael Critelli recalls how working as a dishwasher in a bakery as a teen -- and being yelled at by his boss for not reusing a piece of wax paper -- taught him the value of small cost savings; Critelli says he used that lesson to realize savings in Pitney Bowes' financial services.
Adequate Rather Than Excellent
Given the data, teens appear to be caught in the Catch-22 of employment: You can't land a job when you don't have experience, and you can't get experience unless you have had a job.
"We often ask, 'What's wrong with this generation? They don't have any work ethic?' but a deeper analysis shows they haven't had the same employment opportunities their parents and older siblings once had," says Neil Sullivan, executive director of the Boston Private Industry Council, a business-led intermediary organization that seeks to strengthen Boston's workforce. As a result, employers are finding that entry-level employees are lacking in what Sullivan calls "the habits of paid work."
In an October 2006 study, "Are They Really Ready to Work?" more than 400 U.S. executives and human resource professions reported that entry-level employees, including graduates of four-year colleges, lack critical skills.
A vast majority of high school graduates are deficient in written communications, professionalism and problem-solving, among other areas, according to employers surveyed in the study, which was published collaboratively by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Two-year college and technical school graduates were rated "excellent" in only one category -- information technology application -- and even that by only a quarter of employers. Four-year college graduates fared better, rating as excellent in IT application, diversity and problem-solving, yet a quarter of employers still found these graduates deficient in written communications and leadership skills.
"How can the United States continue to compete in a global economy if the entering workforce is made up of high school graduates who lack the skills they need, and of college graduates who are mostly 'adequate' rather than 'excellent'?" write the presidents of the study's four collaborating organizations. Demographic pressures make the study's findings all the more urgent, say its authors, because of the coming retirement of the baby boomer generation and the subsequent scramble for qualified employees.
The report calls on business leaders to take a leading role in creating employment opportunities for young people to master necessary skills, whether that means partnering with schools and non-profits, providing internships and summer jobs, or "using expertise in innovation and management to help identify new and creative solutions."
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1681
"The private sector cannot just stand aside while Rome burns and say, 'That's too bad,'" states Anderson. "They live in Rome." He and other experts agree that teens gain critical skills from early work experiences; without widespread teen employment opportunity, the future workforce will be compromised, they say.
"Working as a team, completing tasks and taking responsibility. Kids learn these skills through employment," says Ivan Charner, director of the Academy of Educational Development/National Institute for Work and Learning, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit concerned with workplace development. "Can you learn those skills by playing a sport or volunteering at church? Yes, but if you are a volunteer, you don't necessarily have to show up. A lot of kids don't or can't play sports. Employment provides an important opportunity for kids to learn from adults other than their teachers or parents."
While getting a foothold in the labor market is especially important for teens who enter the workforce directly after high school, it is also true for those who attend four-year colleges.
Barbara Hewitt, senior associate director of Wharton's Career Services, says college graduates often leverage early work experience to win later employment. "I hear employers looking at a résumé say things like, 'He roofed houses in high school, he must have a good work ethic.' Employers understand the value of even manual labor," she says. During a mock interview for an auditing job, Hewitt recalls, one Wharton undergraduate explained how dealing with irate customers in his summer retail job prepared him for handling contentious clients. "That job may have seemed very irrelevant to him at the time, but it turned out to be valuable," she says.
Experts agree with Hewitt. "Employment is what we call 'path dependent,'" says Sum of Northeastern. "The more you work now, the more you will work later."
Rubrecht, of the newspaper association, recalls how teen carriers he managed at the Trenton (N.J.) Times in the 1980s sometimes rose to become district managers. Delivering newspapers -- and ensuring that customers paid for them -- gave carriers "a glimpse into the newspaper business," says Rubrecht, pointing out that the Washington Post's former circulation director, Tony Mineart, who died last year, began his career sweeping a newspaper office floor at age 10. "Young people think about becoming teachers because they attend school. They know about sports because they play them. Working is a great way to experience a profession."
A January 2007 story in the Wall Street Journal offers a host of similar anecdotes about America's corporate leaders. In reporter Carol Hymowitz's article, Pitney Bowes CEO Michael Critelli recalls how working as a dishwasher in a bakery as a teen -- and being yelled at by his boss for not reusing a piece of wax paper -- taught him the value of small cost savings; Critelli says he used that lesson to realize savings in Pitney Bowes' financial services.
Adequate Rather Than Excellent
Given the data, teens appear to be caught in the Catch-22 of employment: You can't land a job when you don't have experience, and you can't get experience unless you have had a job.
"We often ask, 'What's wrong with this generation? They don't have any work ethic?' but a deeper analysis shows they haven't had the same employment opportunities their parents and older siblings once had," says Neil Sullivan, executive director of the Boston Private Industry Council, a business-led intermediary organization that seeks to strengthen Boston's workforce. As a result, employers are finding that entry-level employees are lacking in what Sullivan calls "the habits of paid work."
In an October 2006 study, "Are They Really Ready to Work?" more than 400 U.S. executives and human resource professions reported that entry-level employees, including graduates of four-year colleges, lack critical skills.
A vast majority of high school graduates are deficient in written communications, professionalism and problem-solving, among other areas, according to employers surveyed in the study, which was published collaboratively by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Two-year college and technical school graduates were rated "excellent" in only one category -- information technology application -- and even that by only a quarter of employers. Four-year college graduates fared better, rating as excellent in IT application, diversity and problem-solving, yet a quarter of employers still found these graduates deficient in written communications and leadership skills.
"How can the United States continue to compete in a global economy if the entering workforce is made up of high school graduates who lack the skills they need, and of college graduates who are mostly 'adequate' rather than 'excellent'?" write the presidents of the study's four collaborating organizations. Demographic pressures make the study's findings all the more urgent, say its authors, because of the coming retirement of the baby boomer generation and the subsequent scramble for qualified employees.
The report calls on business leaders to take a leading role in creating employment opportunities for young people to master necessary skills, whether that means partnering with schools and non-profits, providing internships and summer jobs, or "using expertise in innovation and management to help identify new and creative solutions."
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1681
Why teens aren't finding jobs.
What do Warren Buffett, Walt Disney and Ross Perot all have in common? Besides being iconic American businessmen, all three have "newspaper carrier" on their boyhood résumés. But don't bother looking for leaders of tomorrow's corporate America to be walking down your block at dawn: Your newspaper carrier today is most likely an adult in a car.
As recently as 1990, nearly 70% of newspaper carriers in the U.S. were teens. But that number dropped to 18% in 2004, and more declines are likely, according to Robert Rubrecht, director of circulation and marketing at the Newspaper Association of America."It's an evolutionary process," he says.
Although reasons for teens being edged out of this formerly youth-dominated profession are specific to the newspaper industry -- papers are delivered earlier now, and usually require driving -- the end of the boyhood (or girlhood) paper route reflects a dramatic but little-noticed trend: Teen unemployment has hit historic highs in the last three years. Experts in the field say employers who want to ensure a quality workforce down the line should sit up and take notice.
"It's a baffling problem. The economy is humming along, and employers are almost desperate for people they can hire and train. Contrast that with the lowest teen market penetration in 50 years. Somewhere the connection point is not being made," says Ken Smith, president and CEO of Jobs for America's Graduates, an Alexandria, Va.-based non-profit thathelps more than 40,000 youth each year transition from school to work.
According to data gathered for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 37% of teens nationwide worked in the summer of 2006 -- nearly 11% fewer than were working in 1989, the peak of a nation-wide economic boom.
Are teens working less because they are too busy with their MySpace pages, disdainful of teen job opportunities or just plain lazy? Adults are quick with anecdotal evidence to support such theories, but according to Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, there is no data to back them up. "When you ask teens if they want to work, a large number of kids say they simply can't find a job," says Sum, who is also a professor of labor economics. For the summer of 2006, according to the labor bureau statistics, teens had an unemployment rate of 16.5% -- four times higher than that of adults during the same period. "If adult employment fell by the same rate teen employment has in the last 10 years, that would be greatest job loss in American history since the Depression."
Like adults, teens were hurt by the mini-recession of 2001, but while the adult economy has regained its footing, teen employment has continued to fall, says Sum. "Employers are hiring immigrants instead of kids, especially in the last six years," he notes. Hiring one immigrant often leads to hiring more, because hiring usually happens through social networks. Another group replacing teens are workers 55 and older seeking to supplement their incomes. "If you walk into a mall or a grocery store, you'll see large numbers of older people working at jobs teens used to have," says Sum.
The shift of the U.S. economy from manufacturing to services has hurt boys in particular, says Bernard Anderson, practice professor of management at Wharton.
"Jobs in health, retail and other services pay lower wages and require fewer skills than jobs in manufacturing, transportation and utilities. Those jobs are more attractive to women than to men," says Anderson. Faring worst of all, he says, are disadvantaged, minority youth. White teens were almost twice as likely as black teens to work last summer, just as the poorest teens were least likely to work. "Many minority youth have just given up and stopped looking for jobs," says Anderson, a trend that artificially lowers unemployment figures for those groups. ("Unemployed" is used to define a person who is looking for work but fails to find it.)
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1681
As recently as 1990, nearly 70% of newspaper carriers in the U.S. were teens. But that number dropped to 18% in 2004, and more declines are likely, according to Robert Rubrecht, director of circulation and marketing at the Newspaper Association of America."It's an evolutionary process," he says.
Although reasons for teens being edged out of this formerly youth-dominated profession are specific to the newspaper industry -- papers are delivered earlier now, and usually require driving -- the end of the boyhood (or girlhood) paper route reflects a dramatic but little-noticed trend: Teen unemployment has hit historic highs in the last three years. Experts in the field say employers who want to ensure a quality workforce down the line should sit up and take notice.
"It's a baffling problem. The economy is humming along, and employers are almost desperate for people they can hire and train. Contrast that with the lowest teen market penetration in 50 years. Somewhere the connection point is not being made," says Ken Smith, president and CEO of Jobs for America's Graduates, an Alexandria, Va.-based non-profit thathelps more than 40,000 youth each year transition from school to work.
According to data gathered for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 37% of teens nationwide worked in the summer of 2006 -- nearly 11% fewer than were working in 1989, the peak of a nation-wide economic boom.
Are teens working less because they are too busy with their MySpace pages, disdainful of teen job opportunities or just plain lazy? Adults are quick with anecdotal evidence to support such theories, but according to Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, there is no data to back them up. "When you ask teens if they want to work, a large number of kids say they simply can't find a job," says Sum, who is also a professor of labor economics. For the summer of 2006, according to the labor bureau statistics, teens had an unemployment rate of 16.5% -- four times higher than that of adults during the same period. "If adult employment fell by the same rate teen employment has in the last 10 years, that would be greatest job loss in American history since the Depression."
Like adults, teens were hurt by the mini-recession of 2001, but while the adult economy has regained its footing, teen employment has continued to fall, says Sum. "Employers are hiring immigrants instead of kids, especially in the last six years," he notes. Hiring one immigrant often leads to hiring more, because hiring usually happens through social networks. Another group replacing teens are workers 55 and older seeking to supplement their incomes. "If you walk into a mall or a grocery store, you'll see large numbers of older people working at jobs teens used to have," says Sum.
The shift of the U.S. economy from manufacturing to services has hurt boys in particular, says Bernard Anderson, practice professor of management at Wharton.
"Jobs in health, retail and other services pay lower wages and require fewer skills than jobs in manufacturing, transportation and utilities. Those jobs are more attractive to women than to men," says Anderson. Faring worst of all, he says, are disadvantaged, minority youth. White teens were almost twice as likely as black teens to work last summer, just as the poorest teens were least likely to work. "Many minority youth have just given up and stopped looking for jobs," says Anderson, a trend that artificially lowers unemployment figures for those groups. ("Unemployed" is used to define a person who is looking for work but fails to find it.)
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1681
job search
Preparing for Your Job Search
Finding a job doesn't just happen: You have to make it happen. Implementing a successful job search requires you to:
-gain insights into what your career possibilities are.
-make intelligent choices concerning your direction based on your interests and personal circumstances.
-match your interests and circumstances with available employment opportunities.
http://www.asha.org/students/job/search/
Finding a job doesn't just happen: You have to make it happen. Implementing a successful job search requires you to:
-gain insights into what your career possibilities are.
-make intelligent choices concerning your direction based on your interests and personal circumstances.
-match your interests and circumstances with available employment opportunities.
http://www.asha.org/students/job/search/
Getting a job...
I feel like it was so much easier in the past to actually get a job. My dad always tells me how he was working since he was thirteen and now that is seriously impossible. If you don't have experience noone wants to hire you. Also last year I read a newspaper article on how adults are taking over jobs that used to be considered teenage jobs. For example, adults are waitressing, working at supermarkets, and are even working at summer camps which all used to be jobs teenagers were expected to work for. So, since adults are taking over those jobs it is harder for teenagers to find jobs which hurts them in the future because they are unable to find experience.
It really is very difficult to get a job. First you need to find a place that is hiring. Then you usually need to go for an interview and provide them with a resume. However, sometimes this stuff doesn't even matter. I think that getting a job is more about who you know than how qualified you are. If you know someone that has a high position some where it is not as difficult to get a job because you allready have someone to hire you.
I think the job process should become a little easier for teenagers that are looking to make a little pocket money by having a part time job. It isn't fair that every job requires experience. It also is not fair that the age for most jobs that used to be a minimum of 16 yrs old is now 18 and it keeps going up.
Getting a job is a very long process and it can even be very difficult. Many people do not want to hire teenagers because they can simply hire an adult. By hiring adults they don't need to worry about the job conflicting with school or anything like that. Also adults are considered more reliable, but this is unfair because teenagers should be given a chance to work too. Adults should not be taking over jobs that teenagers should be having because without experience teenagers will have a hard time getting jobs when they are older too.
It really is very difficult to get a job. First you need to find a place that is hiring. Then you usually need to go for an interview and provide them with a resume. However, sometimes this stuff doesn't even matter. I think that getting a job is more about who you know than how qualified you are. If you know someone that has a high position some where it is not as difficult to get a job because you allready have someone to hire you.
I think the job process should become a little easier for teenagers that are looking to make a little pocket money by having a part time job. It isn't fair that every job requires experience. It also is not fair that the age for most jobs that used to be a minimum of 16 yrs old is now 18 and it keeps going up.
Getting a job is a very long process and it can even be very difficult. Many people do not want to hire teenagers because they can simply hire an adult. By hiring adults they don't need to worry about the job conflicting with school or anything like that. Also adults are considered more reliable, but this is unfair because teenagers should be given a chance to work too. Adults should not be taking over jobs that teenagers should be having because without experience teenagers will have a hard time getting jobs when they are older too.
Speech Pathologists
Nature of the Work
Speech-language pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, swallowing, fluency, and other related disorders.
Speech-language pathologists work with people who cannot produce speech sounds, or cannot produce them clearly; those with speech rhythm and fluency problems, such as stuttering; people with voice disorders, such as inappropriate pitch or harsh voice; those with problems understanding and producing language; those who wish to improve their communication skills by modifying an accent; and those with cognitive communication impairments, such as attention, memory, and problem solving disorders. They also work with people who have swallowing difficulties.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos099.htm#nature
Speech-language pathologists, sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, swallowing, fluency, and other related disorders.
Speech-language pathologists work with people who cannot produce speech sounds, or cannot produce them clearly; those with speech rhythm and fluency problems, such as stuttering; people with voice disorders, such as inappropriate pitch or harsh voice; those with problems understanding and producing language; those who wish to improve their communication skills by modifying an accent; and those with cognitive communication impairments, such as attention, memory, and problem solving disorders. They also work with people who have swallowing difficulties.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos099.htm#nature
Literacy Specialists
The Literacy Specialist's Role:
-Assist with implementing the reading/language arts program
-Diagnose and implement the dyslexia program
-Model lessons in reading/writing and conference with teachers about effective strategies for classroom instruction
-Facilitate implementation of new materials, philosophies, and innovations
-Provide small group or one-on-one instruction to students identified with literacy needs
-Conduct formal and informal professional development programs for the reading/writing program
-Maintain and promote use of the Literacy Library
-Attend CARE meetings to assist in diagnosing reading difficulties and developing a literacy plan for qualifying students.
http://k-12.pisd.edu/schools/hightower/LitSpec.htm
-Assist with implementing the reading/language arts program
-Diagnose and implement the dyslexia program
-Model lessons in reading/writing and conference with teachers about effective strategies for classroom instruction
-Facilitate implementation of new materials, philosophies, and innovations
-Provide small group or one-on-one instruction to students identified with literacy needs
-Conduct formal and informal professional development programs for the reading/writing program
-Maintain and promote use of the Literacy Library
-Attend CARE meetings to assist in diagnosing reading difficulties and developing a literacy plan for qualifying students.
http://k-12.pisd.edu/schools/hightower/LitSpec.htm
The Perfect Man
Last night I saw the movie The Perfect Man with a couple of my friends. The movie was really cute, but it was pretty predictable. However, there was a little twist at the end.
The Perfect Man was about a girl, her mother, and her little sister who moved around a lot because her mother married so many different people that weren't right for her. Once the marriage ended they would be forced to move, and most of the time the marriages would not last for very long. Then one day they moved to Brooklyn. The girl was very sick of moving around all the time so she tried to come up with ways to get her mother to stay there. Therefore she created "the perfect man." This man sent her mother flowers and nice letters. He always said the right things at the right times. Eventually, she ended up falling in love with him. One day the girl had to tell her mother that this man didn't exist because it was beginning to be taken too far. However, she knew if she did this her mother would end up settling down with someone that was not good for her and they would end up moving again. So, she decided to try and introduce her mother to her friends uncle who she was getting all the ideas about the perfect man from.
The movie was really cute. Even though the viewer can probably tel what is going to happen at the end from the beginning there are little twists that make the movie worth watching.
The Perfect Man was about a girl, her mother, and her little sister who moved around a lot because her mother married so many different people that weren't right for her. Once the marriage ended they would be forced to move, and most of the time the marriages would not last for very long. Then one day they moved to Brooklyn. The girl was very sick of moving around all the time so she tried to come up with ways to get her mother to stay there. Therefore she created "the perfect man." This man sent her mother flowers and nice letters. He always said the right things at the right times. Eventually, she ended up falling in love with him. One day the girl had to tell her mother that this man didn't exist because it was beginning to be taken too far. However, she knew if she did this her mother would end up settling down with someone that was not good for her and they would end up moving again. So, she decided to try and introduce her mother to her friends uncle who she was getting all the ideas about the perfect man from.
The movie was really cute. Even though the viewer can probably tel what is going to happen at the end from the beginning there are little twists that make the movie worth watching.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
St. Patrick's Day...
Today's St. Patty's Day. I'm Irish so normally I celebrate it a little. My mom always makes corn beef and cabbage and we have a big family dinner. Since I'm not home and can't do that this year it seems a little weird. It doesn't even seem like St. Patrick's Day.
The parade in the city is supposed to be really good and many people go each year. I've never been there and wanted to go, but with the snow it seemed like too much of a hastle. I'm hoping to go next year so hopefully my St. Patrick's Day can be more fun.
The parade in the city is supposed to be really good and many people go each year. I've never been there and wanted to go, but with the snow it seemed like too much of a hastle. I'm hoping to go next year so hopefully my St. Patrick's Day can be more fun.
Text Messages...
I always found text messaging some one so much better and easier. Instead of calling someone up and asking them a question you can simply text them the question and wait for the reply. This helps avoid all the awkward silences and any other conversations the phone call may lead to that you don't have time for or don't want to talk about.
However, there is one bad thing about text messaging which is that you don't hear the person's tone of voice so you might take something they say the wrong way, but this same problem also occurs with instant messaging. Things that people say in a nice way may come off mean in a text. This is why you should not have any serious or important conversations through instant messaging or text messages.
Overall, I definately prefer to text people. Calling someone can get annoying because you run out of things to say and may feel weird just hanging up. Texting gets to the point and that's it. It avoids long conversations and doesn't even take much time.
However, there is one bad thing about text messaging which is that you don't hear the person's tone of voice so you might take something they say the wrong way, but this same problem also occurs with instant messaging. Things that people say in a nice way may come off mean in a text. This is why you should not have any serious or important conversations through instant messaging or text messages.
Overall, I definately prefer to text people. Calling someone can get annoying because you run out of things to say and may feel weird just hanging up. Texting gets to the point and that's it. It avoids long conversations and doesn't even take much time.
Cell Phones...
I was on my cell phone the other day in the middle of a very iportant conversation and all of a sudden I lost service. I have cingular and honestly I never usually loose service in the middle of a call, but when it happens it seems to happen at the worst times possible. Every cell phone service says they have "the least dropped calls" and "the number one wireless network in the country" but they all have their own good and bad qualities. However, I don't think any of them have drastic differences on how good or bad their services are. The only thing that I see as a advantage or disadvantage is the plans that they provide their customers with. Some have really good family plans while others have better plans for individuals. So, basically it depends on what you are looking for.
It is just so annoying that you can go one place and have perfect service and go some place else and have none. I just wish we simply couldn't loose service. It would make everything so much easier because then if you were in the niddle of a conversation you wouldn't have to worry about going some place else just in case you might loose service.
It is just so annoying that you can go one place and have perfect service and go some place else and have none. I just wish we simply couldn't loose service. It would make everything so much easier because then if you were in the niddle of a conversation you wouldn't have to worry about going some place else just in case you might loose service.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
What does "intelligent self-direction" mean to you?
I think that "intelligent self-direction" means that everyone has knowledge that allows them to guide themselves in a certain direction that is beneficial to them. An example of "intelligent self-direction" would be that even if the "normal" rules that are usually found in a classroom were removed a person should have enough "intelligent self-direction" to behave well because they know that behaving well will help them get a good grade in the future. I think that people are not directly talk "intelligent self-direction" it is just learned by seeing other people around them and having good examples or role models.
Response to Quote by Maya Angelou
"If you don't like something change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." -Maya Angelou
When Professor Marsh gave us this quote I like it. It basically means that if a person doens't like something they should not just sit there complaining about it. They should actually try and change it. Many people will sit and tlak about many things they don't like or want to change, but never do anything about it. I personally hate that. I feel that if you are not going to do anything to change it you have no right complaining about it.
However, another thing the quote is saying is that in life there are things that you simply can't change for whatever reasons. These things that are unable to be changed you must just accept. Since the things cannot be changed complaining about them is useless. Therefore, you should change your attitude about them. For example, maybe you should try and be more positive and find something good out of the one thing you hate that you can't change.
Basically, if you don't like something complaining will not do you any good. You should try and change it. However, if this is impossible you should try and accept it.
When Professor Marsh gave us this quote I like it. It basically means that if a person doens't like something they should not just sit there complaining about it. They should actually try and change it. Many people will sit and tlak about many things they don't like or want to change, but never do anything about it. I personally hate that. I feel that if you are not going to do anything to change it you have no right complaining about it.
However, another thing the quote is saying is that in life there are things that you simply can't change for whatever reasons. These things that are unable to be changed you must just accept. Since the things cannot be changed complaining about them is useless. Therefore, you should change your attitude about them. For example, maybe you should try and be more positive and find something good out of the one thing you hate that you can't change.
Basically, if you don't like something complaining will not do you any good. You should try and change it. However, if this is impossible you should try and accept it.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The Convenant
Yesterday I saw the movie The Convenant. It was okay. I wouldn't say it was the best movie I ever saw, but it wasn't bad. It was about these five kids who were like witches. They were given power when they turned thirteen, but they ascend when they turn eighteen. When they ascended they were given powers that were really great, but the problem was everytime they used their power it would age them because their body couldn't handle it. This is why they had to be very careful with how often they used their powers. Also they had to be careful that noone saw them using their powers because noone could know that they had them. The movie was interesting and the graphics were done very well. For example, the fights in the movie that took place seemed real and the effects really made the movie.
I usually don't like movies about witches because they seem so unrealistic to me. However, this one wasn't that bad. The story line made the movie interesting. Plus there was always something going on so I was not bored at anytime during the movie.
I usually don't like movies about witches because they seem so unrealistic to me. However, this one wasn't that bad. The story line made the movie interesting. Plus there was always something going on so I was not bored at anytime during the movie.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Dorming...
I think that dorming gives you a very different experience than commuting. I feel that dorming gives college students a chance to grow up and mature. It "forces" them to make their own decisions and live on their own. On the other hand, commuters still have that guidance given to them by their parents or guardians. Of course, this is not a bad thing, but it gives people less of a chance to grow up. For example, I know if I still lived at home I would have no idea how to do laundry. Also I would not be going to stores to get things like shampoo, conditioner, or detergent because I would rely on my parents to get them. Dorming gives me an oppurtunity to become more independent. It also gave me a chance to meet more people and not only have my group of friends from home. I definately like dorming a lot. I feel as if it gave me the whole college experience, and if I ended up staying home I would feel as if I was still in high school.
"Tanning: Is it Worth it?"
Many different studies have shown the negative sides of tanning. However, there are still many people that go. The one thing I do not understand is why. Since a person can harm their body by going tanning, what could be so great about it that overrides all the negative effects? I am from Staten Island and if there is one thing that Staten Island is known for (besides the dump) would be tanning. Even on MTV when they had the show “True Life: I’m a Staten Island Girl” one of the first things they showed was a tanning salon.
There are some advantages of tanning. One advantage of indoor tanning is that a person is able to maintain the tan all year round; even if it is cold outside. Another benefit of tanning is that a person can choose when and how long he or she would like to tan for. A person is even able to go tanning at night when they get home from a long day of work and the sun is not even out. Tanning is also beneficial because it helps the body produce Vitamin D (TanningInfoCenter). When a person is exposed to sunlight their body produces vitamins. However, regular sunlight would also be able to produce the same vitamins for the body. Vitamin D helps prevent people from many different diseases (TanningInfoCenter). For instance, it prevents the body from getting prostate, colon, and breast cancer. Also it even strengthens bones (TanningInfoCenter).
Besides the positive sides of tanning there are also many negative effects that many people have heard of and are aware of. For example, tanning can cause wrinkles and increase skin aging (Marketineros). It can even cause skin growths and diseases; such as, moles and skin cancer because of the Ultraviolet rays (TanningInfoCenter). Tanning can also distort and damage DNA strands, which can definitely have a negative impact on a person’s body in the future (TanningInfoCenter). This is because a tanning bed emits from fifty to one hundred percent more Ultraviolet rays than the regular sun (TanningInfoCenter). Another negative effect of tanning is that it can damage a person’s eyes (Marketineros). The Ultraviolet rays from a tanning bed can increase a person’s possibility of developing some cataracts, pterygium, and macula degeneration. Pterygium is a tissue growth on the white part of the eye, and macula degeneration is damage to the retina (TanningInfoCenter).
Even though all of these positive and negative affects of tanning are valid, one thing that must be understood is that they are bias. For example, the websites that I got the advantages of tanning from were all from tanning salons. Also the websites I got the disadvantages of tanning from were all health related from doctors. The last opinions, that of course are also bias, are my own and the people being interviewed. This is because over many years we all become influenced by our family, friends, and surroundings. Therefore, our opinions are formed by what we see in our environment or by what is told to us.
I have been tanning plenty of times. Even though I am aware of the harmful things tanning can do to my body I still went. I went for one period of time to become tan for prom. Another time I went was before I went to Cancun because I did not want to burn in the sun there. It was something I did to make me feel better about myself because where I am from the tanner a person is the better they look.
I interviewed one of my friends that goes tanning on a daily basis. He told me his view of it and how he feels about it. The first thing he told me was that he went tanning to feel better about himself. He believes that the tanner a person is the better they look. He also described to me how everyone around him goes tanning. It is very common for people of all ages and of both sexes to go tanning. He said, “Even people you would least expect to go tanning do. For example, teachers and even senior citizens go tanning.” Another thing that he told me was that the environment he grew up in had an affect on the way he thinks. In Staten Island he saw everyone that was tan and began to think of a tan person as the ideal person.
The last thing I asked in the interview was “Is the physical appearance that tanning gives you worth your life?” I think he replied by making a very good point. He said, “Well in a person’s mind they are more worried about the today rather then the tomorrow. At that moment in time is what matters most and whatever effects or consequences caused by it aren’t thought about or consumed within their mind.” This response showed me that people today worry more about what is going on in the moment. They do not think ahead as to how their actions may affect their future.
Another person I interviewed is someone that does not go tanning. They said that even though tanning is popular around them it is not something they do. She simply stated, “I never went tanning because it is bad for you.” Also, later in the interview she mentioned how she thinks that going tanning in tanning salons can make a person look very fake and orange which is also why she never had a desire to go tanning. This shows that even though she does not go tanning because she is aware of the risks; another motivation that prevents her from going tanning is her appearance. She does not want to look fake or orange.
Today’s society is very worried about their appearance. It is almost as if they will do whatever it takes to look better. I have been tanning plenty of times. However, I stopped because I became more aware of what it can do to my body and how it can harm me. Everyone has their own opinion on tanning and why they would or would not want to go. I just don’t think that being tan is worth all the risks a person is taking.
Work Cited
TanningInfoCenter. "Understanding the Effects of Tanning Beds." 2005.
http://www.tanninginfocenter.com/effects-of-tanning-beds.html.
Marketineros. “Tanning Beds.” 2006.
http://marketineros.com/tanning-beds/.
Interview with Brian.
Interview with Jessica.
There are some advantages of tanning. One advantage of indoor tanning is that a person is able to maintain the tan all year round; even if it is cold outside. Another benefit of tanning is that a person can choose when and how long he or she would like to tan for. A person is even able to go tanning at night when they get home from a long day of work and the sun is not even out. Tanning is also beneficial because it helps the body produce Vitamin D (TanningInfoCenter). When a person is exposed to sunlight their body produces vitamins. However, regular sunlight would also be able to produce the same vitamins for the body. Vitamin D helps prevent people from many different diseases (TanningInfoCenter). For instance, it prevents the body from getting prostate, colon, and breast cancer. Also it even strengthens bones (TanningInfoCenter).
Besides the positive sides of tanning there are also many negative effects that many people have heard of and are aware of. For example, tanning can cause wrinkles and increase skin aging (Marketineros). It can even cause skin growths and diseases; such as, moles and skin cancer because of the Ultraviolet rays (TanningInfoCenter). Tanning can also distort and damage DNA strands, which can definitely have a negative impact on a person’s body in the future (TanningInfoCenter). This is because a tanning bed emits from fifty to one hundred percent more Ultraviolet rays than the regular sun (TanningInfoCenter). Another negative effect of tanning is that it can damage a person’s eyes (Marketineros). The Ultraviolet rays from a tanning bed can increase a person’s possibility of developing some cataracts, pterygium, and macula degeneration. Pterygium is a tissue growth on the white part of the eye, and macula degeneration is damage to the retina (TanningInfoCenter).
Even though all of these positive and negative affects of tanning are valid, one thing that must be understood is that they are bias. For example, the websites that I got the advantages of tanning from were all from tanning salons. Also the websites I got the disadvantages of tanning from were all health related from doctors. The last opinions, that of course are also bias, are my own and the people being interviewed. This is because over many years we all become influenced by our family, friends, and surroundings. Therefore, our opinions are formed by what we see in our environment or by what is told to us.
I have been tanning plenty of times. Even though I am aware of the harmful things tanning can do to my body I still went. I went for one period of time to become tan for prom. Another time I went was before I went to Cancun because I did not want to burn in the sun there. It was something I did to make me feel better about myself because where I am from the tanner a person is the better they look.
I interviewed one of my friends that goes tanning on a daily basis. He told me his view of it and how he feels about it. The first thing he told me was that he went tanning to feel better about himself. He believes that the tanner a person is the better they look. He also described to me how everyone around him goes tanning. It is very common for people of all ages and of both sexes to go tanning. He said, “Even people you would least expect to go tanning do. For example, teachers and even senior citizens go tanning.” Another thing that he told me was that the environment he grew up in had an affect on the way he thinks. In Staten Island he saw everyone that was tan and began to think of a tan person as the ideal person.
The last thing I asked in the interview was “Is the physical appearance that tanning gives you worth your life?” I think he replied by making a very good point. He said, “Well in a person’s mind they are more worried about the today rather then the tomorrow. At that moment in time is what matters most and whatever effects or consequences caused by it aren’t thought about or consumed within their mind.” This response showed me that people today worry more about what is going on in the moment. They do not think ahead as to how their actions may affect their future.
Another person I interviewed is someone that does not go tanning. They said that even though tanning is popular around them it is not something they do. She simply stated, “I never went tanning because it is bad for you.” Also, later in the interview she mentioned how she thinks that going tanning in tanning salons can make a person look very fake and orange which is also why she never had a desire to go tanning. This shows that even though she does not go tanning because she is aware of the risks; another motivation that prevents her from going tanning is her appearance. She does not want to look fake or orange.
Today’s society is very worried about their appearance. It is almost as if they will do whatever it takes to look better. I have been tanning plenty of times. However, I stopped because I became more aware of what it can do to my body and how it can harm me. Everyone has their own opinion on tanning and why they would or would not want to go. I just don’t think that being tan is worth all the risks a person is taking.
Work Cited
TanningInfoCenter. "Understanding the Effects of Tanning Beds." 2005.
http://www.tanninginfocenter.com/effects-of-tanning-beds.html.
Marketineros. “Tanning Beds.” 2006.
http://marketineros.com/tanning-beds/.
Interview with Brian.
Interview with Jessica.
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